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1040. Pain Is Scary

The stats were overwhelmingly in Joy’s favor. Even a child could tell this was the case at a single glance. If one were to make a choice between a smaller number versus a larger number without context, then the latter would be chosen most of the time.

Despite this, Joy’s stance didn’t evoke the same confidence she had back in the Ghost Site.

“Malgam…!” Her heels dug in rather than her toes.

It was a sign that she was ready to dodge rather than to press the advant...

1039. Joy? Sad

The ground quaked as a thousand wingbeats swarmed through the forest.

A low-pitched droning sound came from various giant yellow and black-stripped bees that soared through the trees at a rapid speed. They were soft in appearance, possessing what appeared to be fur lining their exoskeleton.

But the purpose of that fur was made apparent when a patch of shrubs trembled. Seven mandibles that were stacked upon each other snipped the air and revealed rows of human-shaped teeth.

T...

1038. The Conditions of the Play

Two unspoken Conditions came to light an hour into the Audition.

The first was that they were all inflicted by a personalized Condition. Frost for instance became incapable of violence.

Even her thoughts were marginally suppressed by a sense of what she could only describe as impartialness. When they encountered another batch of Devotions Frost found herself struggling to form hostile thoughts, like they were being suppressed by a foreign force.

Then, there was the second Co...

1037. Hello, Frost!

“Oh cool! That pairs well with my Light-transferring Ability. Light batteries. Cer’s gonna love this.” Frost hummed before suddenly falling into deep thought.

They passed over a deep crevasse.

She had to move a log into place to let them cross. While she could easily leap across, the same could not be said for Raoul.

Furthermore, Frost had the strange urge to keep her hands off Raoul, so she could not carry her. The urge extended to punching inanimate objects as well. ...

1036. The Lodefruit

Ten miniature Frosts ventured into the mist in all cardinal directions. Their relatively low HP and AGI meant that they had to use cover to avoid powerful predators.

The lack of any defensive stats also made it difficult to navigate treacherous terrain, such as jumping from tree to tree, or over gorges without risking an instant death.

Nevertheless, they patrolled the immediate kilometer around Frost and they began wandering along its circumference.

Meanwhile, Frost and Raou...

1035. A Big Raoul and a Little Frost

An Ability! I got one from an Anid again! That confirms this isn’t human meat.

“Anids use liquefied people as blood.”

It was a shot in the dark, but Frost came out with a brand new Anid Ability. She didn’t know why or how Anids were able to grant her Abilities, but she wasn’t complaining. She happily downed the food she was given, hoping that the Mother Black Bird had eaten another Anid.

Liters were dumped into her, and yet, she did not bloat like...

1034. Mother Black Bird

Drip

“Ugh…”

Drip

Rustling

A faint voice came from somewhere above. A thick fog enveloped the world, making it impossible to see beyond five meters ahead.

Yet something soared through the fog as though it did not exist.

It rapidly approached the origin of the groan as great wingbeats caused a hidden canopy to rustle.

Chirp Chirp

“… Chirp?” The voice spoke again. It came from the middle of a giant bi...

1033. The Waiting Room

They were closer now.

The bottom of the floating fortress blanketed the skies like a giant storm cloud. It stretched as far as the eye could see and plunged the world into darkness.

Yet, the faint light of the star shone through the structure. It guided them deeper into the concrete plains, and before long, they were plunged into near total darkness. The blue hue of the fog surrounded them till they could no longer see past 50 meters, and within the fog they noticed passing humano...

1032. Yummy Puff Puff

Acedia was right.

The only people who could observe the star were those Frost had agreed to bring along. The rest were to stay within the Leviathan. How it knew concerned her, as she was supposed to be invisible to the Fate Mechanism.

But that light wasn’t the Fate Mechanism.

It belonged to Act X.

Suddenly, the land shrunk to a kilometer wide bridge. There was multiple running in parallel.

Colossal pits separated each land bridge. Countless severed strings hove...

1031. Analyze Target I - Pages

Brutalist architecture passed by as the train sped down a floating highway. It only appeared to be floating because the strings that held it up were imperceivable to the naked eye.

But to Frost, the highways reminded her of the suspension bridges back on Earth. These highways were recessed between two flanking pathways reserved solely for pedestrians. The roads above curled into themselves and were built as though their blueprint was based on the configuration of a scrunched string.

Character Q/As!

Character Q/As are back!

Please use the format of: [Character] - [Question]

I.e: Jury - Why do you like to eat? Please make it clear which character you wish to ask a question to.

I will try to get the characters to respond to every single question. If you want to make multiple entries/questions, please keep them all in one message if possible.

Have fun!

This will be open for around a 1-2 weeks!

1030. The Light of the City of Strings

The First Night was a phenomenon tied to the existence of the White Horseman.

Frost had seen those creatures before. They were weaker versions of the monsters who accompanied the White Horseman through her portals. But there was no portal to be found, and the creatures currently swarming the City of Strings had a defined place of origin.

“Nocturnal monsters. Werewolves. Harpies. Goblins. Giant non-humanoid insects. Feral Arachnids and Orcs.” Frost only listed the monsters she ...

1029. Welcome To The City of Strings

< Leaving CA | A 04 – 52 | Brandar | 5 minutes >

The tall spires of the City of Clubs flashed for a brief moment. The outside world barely shone through the thick webbing of dilapidated buildings, and industrial pipes that were built beneath the Sectors.

All pipework of the City of Clubs ran through the ‘A’ level. Old pneumatic pipes and blown out pipes wrapped around the newly installed ones like overgrown ivy....

1028. Originals, Derivatives and Counterfeits

“Predictions don’t work how you think they should in the Eternal Library. Sure, we can see the future if we find the right book, but the act of viewing stops that future from occurring. It wipes it clean. I believe it’s the opposite with the Fate Mechanism. The act of looking at a future locks it in but requires an immense amount of ‘calculation’. I put that in quotes because the calculation is done through the Commandments.”

Anna spoke to Nav from somewhere within the Etern...

MA: 107. Why You Bully Me?

Rockie, who was also present, tilted its head as another party member, who looked like a girl wrapped in rags, spoke up.

“Yeah… T-Thrum. You should b-be figuring out how to shovel d-dirt.”

Red blankly blinked. Their words went from one ear and out the other as she took an interest in their dog tags.

“Silver? What does that mean?”

“Heh. Plebian. Who doesn’t know what being a Silver Ranked Adventure means.” Another party member said.

“Me. That’s...

MA: 106. The Bulletin Board

The second day at Aire was less linear than the previous days. This was to mean that Red now had the freedom to do as she wished, albeit within reason.

If Red was a bird, then Snow was her mother. But calling her ‘mother’ seemed to strike an off chord inside of her.

Red washed up in the shared washroom.

Walls of crumbling brick and mortar separated each shower station.

Each small meter by meter shower section came equipped with a detachable shower head powered usin...

1027. A Commandment Violation

Much later, a certain wolfman stirred awake. He remained in his tomb of warmth rather than shooting up. His body was exhausted, and his post-Corruption headache did not make it any easier.

… I Corrupted.

His first thoughts baffled him. He didn’t expect to Corrupt against the Head herself. But having those memories return to him caused his mind to reel, and when faced with an insurmountable wall…

… Did I want to succeed? Tch. No. I wanted to lie down and ...