Skins and mirrors. That’s all it was.
“Just swear to me you’re not going to suck my blood and ditch me on the side of the road.”
“Cross my heart.” Lev replied.
“But if you were a vampire you wouldn’t have a heart to cross.” I argued.
“Well, I didn’t know that.” Lev said happily and turned a corner.
The road opened up fully as we came over the hill. The truck got a nice overlook into a small town nestled in bet...
2025-09-17 02:03:07 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - loading...
***
The room began to shake and bits of debris fell from the ceiling.
“W-What is this?!”
“Hush, Elf.” Stole shot a scowl at Lety. “And focus.”
The mid-boss of a dungeon related to the Autarch.
Bosses were randomly generated in scenes like this. But the possibilities were limited to a boss-generation table that existed behind the code.
This dungeon was unique in the fact that multip...
2025-09-14 07:35:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe roads were clear of snow, thanks to the trucks that worked through the night. But the salt wasn’t enough and that meant the snow had to be put somewhere. Which meant that the sidewalks were all walled in. A barrier created from the combination of snow, ice, and wind blocked in most of the cars. The smaller sedans had no way out.
It was early enough in the morning (or cold enough, take your pick) that we were the only ones on the road. No other cars in...
2025-09-11 04:51:25 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - loading...
***
“Make me one of your comrades. I’d like to join your party.”
And I looked at Freier. Really looked at her, without the lens of a [Player], or as Han from Earth, but as Lock Slaveborn, adventurer of MSS.
Mechanically, she checked off all the boxes.
A priestess of the Nine, she wasn’t beholden to the Church. Even if I found a human healer, I would’ve looked for a priest who had left the church...
2025-09-09 07:14:25 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - Loading...
***
Sitting around in a circle, we listened to Stole’s story.
“After the ship broke, I don’t remember much. Just water. Lots and lots of water.” She sat with her legs crossed, hands on her ankles. The arbalest leaned behind her.
I noticed that her cheeks were sunken, and there were black bags under her eyes.
“You didn’t find anyone else?” I asked. With Stole’s talents, sh...
2025-09-06 06:02:19 +0000 UTC View PostI felt sick.
I flipped the photos over and set them down.
“Jesus,” I mummured, “What the fuck is this?”
“You look pale.” Lev chimed in cheerfully. “Don’t throw up now.”
I wanted to throw him a scowl, but didn’t trust any sudden movements for reasons he mentioned I opted to look out the window instead.
“Over the last couple of months, bodies like that have been turning up in a town not too far from here,” said Penelo...
2025-09-04 04:34:59 +0000 UTC View PostTook a small break for Labor Day weekend.
I'm back!
Updates resuming tomorrow :)
Missed everyone!
World: MSS - Loading...
***
We were running through the tunnels.
It was a disquieting experience. Compared to the outside, which bustled with the wind howling in your ears when running at this speed; down here, where the air was still, it was quiet except for our grieves pounding against the floors of the spire.
We had fully escaped the tunnel system, and starting to see stairs. These were no longer cavernous corridors with unpaved dirt, bu...
2025-08-30 05:04:30 +0000 UTC View PostHaving a tough time putting the finishes on the next chapter.
It's a crucial moment.
I want it to feel just right.
Might take a few days.
2025-08-29 07:47:09 +0000 UTC View Post“Ok. I believe you.”
When it was evident that he wouldn’t follow it up with anything, the girl elbowed him.
To my surprise, he apologized, “My bad. For kicking your door. And accusing you.”
The girl looked towards me.
“Yeah, no. I– uh, I’m sorry too.” I shrugged. “You ok?”
“I’m good.” He bunched his shoulders, as if noticing the snow for the first time. But he didn’t show any indication...
2025-08-26 22:09:47 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - loading...
***
“Kill them.”
I felt cold as I said it.
Maria Akka Xalud, the younger sister of Jason Akka Xalud; the one who razed Samak City to the ground and with it, the orcs that lay within. He was the one who recruited Arione last minute, using the Grade-2 Mage to wreak enough destruction. I theorized later; that Jason Akka Xalud wanted to fight the War Chief of Samak without his guards around him.
But that...
2025-08-24 07:48:53 +0000 UTC View PostStaten Island, NY The knocking woke me up. It definitely wasn’t the soft-sounding polite knocking either. Whoever it was, they were full-on
Staten Island, NY
The knocking woke me up.
It definitely wasn’t the soft-sounding polite knocking either. Whoever it was, they were full-on banging at the door; slamming it with their fists and kicking at it too. All telltale signs that the person had been at it for awhile, and that I had slept right throug...
2025-08-22 21:19:59 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - Loading...
***
I had the whole loot table memorized.
But that didn’t mean I was free to get what I wanted.
The treasure box, or [Vending Machine] as it was so lovingly referred to in the gaming community, had a strict set of formulas that you had to insert to get the desired output. The formula included a set list of ingredients plus the order that you had to put them in.
Items like potions, weapons, armor, accessories…
... 2025-08-20 05:23:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Hello, Hallow. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Soft and smooth like velvet, enveloping me. At the same time, it made me want to throw up.
Her hand. It crawled out from underneath the cover. Stuttering, like she was unused to the movement. Jerky. It reached towards the sandwich. She dragged it back towards her.
Her nails had been clean. Porcelain white. But pointed. Pointed, with fine fur around her knuckles.&nbs...
2025-08-20 03:47:19 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - Loading...
***
“I…”
L’teya hesitated. I could see her face going through a multitude of emotions.
And I waited.
Situations like this were rare, even in the game. Recruiting a former comrade that turned enemy? Recruiting an enemy? It would come down to the affection meter. How many choices you made that gained their ‘approval’, what kind of dialogue choices you made, all those things we...
2025-08-18 06:36:35 +0000 UTC View PostThey’d cut me off from the one thing I needed.
“Shit.” I swore at the chain of my thoughts, multiplying and giving birth to other ideas.
If the Ryus did that, who seemed so mild-mannered; just how far would the Valentines go? That old woman seemed to hate me and name-dropped my dad more than once. No doubt, at the very least, the Valentines would have taken the same measures that the Ryus did.
Which meant any Spirit connected to the Ryus and ...
2025-08-16 19:37:53 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - Loading...
***
A lot of times, expeditions in the game are mindless travel. Not every single second of an expedition is guaranteed death. The game lulls you into a sense of false safety before it throws its curve balls. That’s why it’s important to keep your guard up and never loosen up on the tension. But that’s part of the intended design too. Being on high-tension all the time tends to have an effect on your part...
2025-08-15 04:32:11 +0000 UTC View PostI looked down at the Circle I made.
It felt right.
I knew it would work. A sensation akin to seeing the right jig-saw piece, just knowing that it’ll fit into that one specific spot. Finally arriving at an answer that I’ve been struggling with. That ah-ha moment where the lightbulb goes off in your head.
I checked over the circle, making sure that it was closed. I played around with symbols, making sure they were in place. I did it w...
2025-08-12 22:43:52 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - Loading...
***
We took one of the tunnels that hadn’t been traveled by Borealis’ party, L’teya or us. By process of elimination, that left about four other tunnels. Without Jourgan’s talents as a Wayfinder, it was hard to choose. Eventually, I had Freier choose.
“Me?” She sat on the floor, her hands folded on her lap. Except for the all-black priestess dress and the veil over her face, she could have bee...
2025-08-10 03:04:36 +0000 UTC View PostI was ill-prepared. How could I be better prepared?
What I needed… wasn’t a permanent familiar. No, I wasn’t ready for that. What I really needed was someone who could guide me. They didn’t need to be on a permanent relationship basis with me. It was like dating. Just… getting to know each other, while still having the benefits of a pseudo-spouse.
Someone with whom I could kind of ‘break up’ if I needed to. Not a ...
2025-08-09 05:18:38 +0000 UTC View PostFinding the book and the remains of my half-eaten sandwich on the coffee table, I began to read. I rapidly flipped through the pages.
A passage. A summary. That could help me put reason to this new world I was part of.
I found it in ‘Fundamentals’, right beneath the ritual.
–new practitioners be forewarned that they will be subject to a new world view which could leave them paralyzed. Opening of the Third Eye means that the practitioner can ...
2025-08-06 07:35:33 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - Loading...
***
Scarlet letters that combined to form words.
Just a combination of lines. Faint thin lines of mana, that when put together made sense in our minds.
The moment the words came up, the entrances sealed themselves.
｢ Take a Life and You shall be deemed Worthy ｣
To take a life… I’ve taken more lives than I can count by now. All in the name of survival; in the name of protecting the people I’ve met in thi...
2025-08-05 03:53:36 +0000 UTC View PostSomeone screamed. Later, I realized it was me.
Let me correct that.
I fucking screamed.
A… A thing.
It was female. I could tell that much.
A wispy bipedal humanoid thing that looked like the wrinkled husk of an insect cocoon banged its fists onto the window again. It had these upturned eyes. Not a pair, but eyes. A whole three of them converged onto where its nose should be. Stringy hair fell in clumps...
2025-08-01 04:24:28 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - Loading...
***
“Wait.”
When I moved, it was Freier who spoke up. I surprised myself by actually waiting for her to finish the rest of her sentence.
She seemed just as surprised as me, but recovered her composure relatively quickly. “What do you mean to do?”
“It could be someone we know.” Kyrian answered in my stead. He also jumped to his feet.
“Or it could be an enemy. Or...” ...
2025-07-31 06:16:10 +0000 UTC View PostStaten Island, NY “There.” I read along with my finger by candle light. The process of awakening one’s third eye, or sixth sense, as some c
Staten Island, NY
“There.” I read along with my finger by candle light.
The process of awakening one’s third eye, or sixth sense, as some call it, is relatively easier for those with the ancient blood running through their veins. The gifted simply need to draw a circle (shown below), sit inside ...
2025-07-30 01:44:43 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - Loading...
***
Imugi.
Grade-2 Monster.
And I had it’s Core.
One of the most coveted Cores in the game, due to its synergistic nature with almost everything.
The black and white Core, which offered: Ascension (Active) and Imugi Cultivation (Passive).
The effects were simple. Ascension upgraded my next move into a whole new move. Yes, the mana costs were atrocious and being a Knight-class adventurer, ...
2025-07-25 06:02:59 +0000 UTC View PostStaten Island, NY
I…
I just sat there.
I read the letter one more time. Then once more and then another read.
At some point, I grabbed my backpack and rummaged around for my father’s letter. Taking the two, I placed them side by side. So that they were next to each other; the edges touching. My father’s handwriting was more shapely. More curves, a little bit akin to script but not quite. My mother’s was all an...
2025-07-24 16:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - Loading...
***
When morning came, we crossed the body of water without travel. At Kyrian’s protest, we cobbled together enough driftwood to build a raft of sorts. Spiky and unstable, but for the short distance required of us, it did its job.
“There’s a lot more of these islets than I thought.”
I looked to see where Kyrian was staring. Small patches of land, some sandy, some rocky; but all of them small enough to h...
2025-07-21 22:30:07 +0000 UTC View PostStaten Island, New York
Crossing the space between the hummer and the RV was torture. Dressed in nothing but a gray hoodie and black jeans, I was pretty sure I looked like an avalanche survivor when I left the cold. True to Emyrith’s word, the door was open and I managed to enter the RV.
The inside… it wasn’t what I had expected. I expected a version of my foster parent’s house. Heaps of trash piles everywhere, everything sorted into black ...
2025-07-21 04:34:52 +0000 UTC View PostWorld: MSS - Loading...
***
“Lock, wake up.”
…
“Lock? Lock Slaveborn, wake up.”
…
“Lock, please. Wake up.”
…n…
“Lock…”
The speaker trailed off and sighed.
My ears picked up the constant dripping of water. A single droplet falling from stalactite and falling into a puddle. It echoed. But such a small sound in the first place, that only those with enhan...
2025-07-19 05:32:00 +0000 UTC View Post