>>3530612
Well you look proud about that
>Stay put and watch the crowd, maybe you’ll see someone who you used to know.

>>3530612
>The classics worked just fine, damnit!
Words to live by.

>Look for minigames!

>>3530620
supporting, let's pass the time and maybe win money.

>>3530620
>>3530621
Search for some fun games within the game! Writing now.

>>3530616
The anon who made that is the best and I want everyone to see it.

>>3530624
forgot my code goddamn it. can't believe this.

>>3530624
>>3530625
Im disappointed, quest dropped

>>3530632
this is the worst timeline.

You decide to wait a few more minutes for her, opening your eyes and anxiously glancing towards a clock visible on one of the buildings. When Cinder doesn’t show, you let out an irritated sigh and stand up, pulling up your message menu and shooting off a quick text to her.

>I’ll be around the square, hit me up when you’ve arrived.

With that, you move past a group of girls with bright hair colors and into the throngs of people. It almost feels as if you’re being dragged along by a wave, the sounds of at least a thousand people chattering in your ears as you’re forced forwards by the crowd. You take the chance to look at the scenery as you do – there are stalls that have a variety of military items on display, their owners calling towards wayward players about the deals they have. A menagerie of digital signs litter the buildings and streets – flashing LEDs burning into your virtual retinas as attractive avatars show off clothing items and the like. You do see a few items that you yourself would wear, but before you can take in the store name you find yourself pushed away by the crowd.

Okay, you won’t lie, that’s super irritating – you force yourself from the stream of people and stumble as you make your way onto the sidewalk. Glancing around, you realize that you’ve gone quite a bit away from your usual location – and in front of you is EVEN MORE FLASHING LIGHTS. Thankfully it’s on a much smaller scale in the form of an old-school looking neon light simulating the rolling of dice.

So they added casinos, huh? Well, you are looking for something to do…

>Enter the casino – you’re bored and there don’t seem to be too many people inside.
>Find something else to do – your money is VALUABLE even if you don't have much of it.

>>3530644
>Find something else to do – your money is VALUABLE even if you don't have much of it.

>>3530644
>Find something else to do – your money is VALUABLE even if you don't have much of it.

>>3530651
>>3530657
You NEED THAT MONEY...probably. Writing now!

>>3530644
>Find something else to do – your money is VALUABLE even if you don't have much of it.
Meh about game of chance let's look for some games we can check our skill

>>3530644
>Find something else to do – your money is VALUABLE even if you don't have much of it.

Honestly, if these were around during your prime, you may have partaken in gambling. Back then you had much more money in-game than you knew what to do with, and with little options for you to spend it on, this would have been the perfect time sink! However, that $10,000 could mean the difference between getting something actually useful or not, so you turn on your heel and start down the sidewalk once more. Other than the initial crowd of people who rushed down the street, this area of the marketplace is surprisingly normal.

There’s space to walk here, people hanging around at a respectable distance from each other. You can spot a few people comparing guns with bright grins on their faces at a picnic table, there are some game stalls with some peppy owners pulling people off of the street – it’s surprisingly peaceful in this neighborhood. You look towards the game stalls and shrug, making your way over and checking them out.

It’s something to do, and you don’t mind hanging around until Cinder brings her lazy ass around.

It seems that the entire street is dedicated to fun little games like these; there are simple fairground games like scooping up a goldfish that would go inside a home base aquarium and a ring-toss for gacha tickets, as well as more intense games like knife throwing and dueling. Shit, some of these actually look kind of fun to you, and they’d certainly pertain to your (former) skill sets.

What do you choose?

>A gun booth manned by a cheerful blonde-haired boy with a blue hoodie. The aim is simple – you get three bullets to fire at some moving targets, and if you hit all of them, you get a prize. The entry fee is $500. [This will require a LOW roll.]
>A knife throwing booth owned by a cute girl with short strawberry blonde hair and a low-cut top. It’s similar to the first booth, only you need to throw knives at stationary targets – the entry fee is $1000 and up, and the sign says she’ll double whatever you pay if you win. [This will require a roll.]
>A dueling set-up manned by a woman with an eyepatch and a suit. You’ll be given a revolver and led into a very small-scale arena and fight as if you’re in a regular match. If you beat her, she says she’ll give you every bit of money she has on her, along with the guns. [This will require a HIGH roll.]
>Decline all of these, you aren’t too confident in your skills just yet.

>>3530680
>>A knife throwing booth owned by a cute girl with short strawberry blonde hair and a low-cut top. It’s similar to the first booth, only you need to throw knives at stationary targets – the entry fee is $1000 and up, and the sign says she’ll double whatever you pay if you win. [This will require a roll.]

>>3530680
>A knife throwing booth owned by a cute girl with short strawberry blonde hair and a low-cut top. It’s similar to the first booth, only you need to throw knives at stationary targets – the entry fee is $1000 and up, and the sign says she’ll double whatever you pay if you win. [This will require a roll.]

>>3530680
>A dueling set-up manned by a woman with an eyepatch and a suit. You’ll be given a revolver and led into a very small-scale arena and fight as if you’re in a regular match. If you beat her, she says she’ll give you every bit of money she has on her, along with the guns. [This will require a HIGH roll.]

Go big or go home!

>>3530680
>>A dueling set-up manned by a woman with an eyepatch and a suit. You’ll be given a revolver and led into a very small-scale arena and fight as if you’re in a regular match. If you beat her, she says she’ll give you every bit of money she has on her, along with the guns. [This will require a HIGH roll.]

File: 1557539693188.jpg (17 KB, 420x410)

17 KB JPG

>>3530701
kek I switch to this

>>3530701
>>3530710
>>3530712
Please roll me a 1d20!

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>3530714

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>3530714
Nat 1!

>>3530718
YO.

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>3530714

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>3530719
Hold on, I’ll check if this works the other way.

Nat 20!

>>3530718
EZ MONAYY!

>>3530718
She is wearing eye patch! She does not have depth perception. What does she do in shooter game?!

>>3530718
Well that super wins. Writing now!

>>3530718
BIG IROOOON, BIGGG IROOON https://youtu.be/999RqGZatPs

>>3530726
Did we pistol whip her into submission?

>>3530731
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFRa0KZsGhc

BOLTGUUUUUN, MARS BOLTGUN

This is the only good parody song 4chan has ever produced besides Space Asshole.

You linger around for a few minutes, before deciding with a shrug to go up to the dueling booth. It doesn’t seem to have an entry cost – so technically it’s no risk and high reward, however she must be pretty good if she’s willing to bet everything she has on-hand.

When you walk closer, you think you can see one of her eyes widen in recognition behind her dark green hair, but she shakes it off and reaches into a case beside her. You wouldn’t blame her if she did recognize you – even with the changes you had made to your avatar (blonde hair and red eyes), you couldn’t change your body or facial structure unless you went out of the way to make a new account. And while you could have made an alt, admittedly you hadn’t even thought of that due to the tension that yesterday contained.

“Think you can take me?” She offers little in the way of greeting, spinning one revolver with deft fingers and holding it out to you handle first. You take it out of her hand and flip open the cylinder, checking that all six bullets were within. Snapping it shut, you nod to her. You weren’t able to get in any practice yesterday due to the arcade’s repair eating up most of your time, but you planned to throw yourself all into it today to make up for lack of time.

An un-ideal situation? Absolutely, but you’ll make the most of it if only to spit in Rock’s eye at the end of it.

She smirks at you and an ethereal door appears right next to her stall, most likely leading to an arena of her own design. She jerks her head in a silent gesture to enter, so you shrug and do so. Stepping into the door, you see that the arena is a mirror image of this street, except all of the stalls are absent and the ends are gated off.

How simple!

“Go to the end over there. I’ll do the same, then we fight. If you win, I’ll give you everything on me.” She reaches into her inventory and flashes what you think is $100,000? Holy shit, that’s a lot. You’ll have to give it your all!

“When I win, you mean?” You can’t help but throw a sarcastic quip at her, feeling a familiar rush of competition thrum through your skin. You aren’t super a fan of it, but old habits resurfacing from the abyss die hard.

“Cocky, aren’t you?” She walks to her end of the street while you do the same. Everything is quiet except the distant sound of birdsong, the wind tousling your hair as you stare her down.

“GO!” She calls, raising her gun as quick as a flash.

>Destroy her.

File: 1558623003921.jpg (32 KB, 540x353)

32 KB JPG

>>3530767
>Destroy her.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

>>3530767
>Destroy her.

>>3530767
This is "Write in" time?

>>3530767
gonna go make myself some lunch, will write the rest when I'm back! hope you've enjoyed so far.

>>3530767
>Annhiliate her
>Spin revolver at the end
>Dramatic pose

We missed out on broody angsting earlier, we should at least get some posing practice in.

>>3530767
>Destroy her
Can we ask about the eyepatch? Seems counterproductive, but might be something cool...

>>3530795
don't forget to blow the smoke away from the barrel

>>3530767
>>Destroy her.

>>3530767
>Destroy her
If possible, load only the one bullet we need to win and discard the others in a flashy way.

>>3530612
Damn, I like the new thread picture Cir!

Everybody, don't forget your daily dose of Fuck 0phelia.

As the sound of her voice breaks the delicate silence of the street, you feel a calm come over you as you close your eyes. Unlike the match with 0phelia, there are no personal stakes here – if you lose, you don’t need to worry. You exhale as you hear the crack of her revolver, feeling a strange weight lift off your shoulders. Don’t worry about reality, don’t worry about the match tomorrow, don’t think at all. This was an old trick that you used to fully put yourself within the mindset of a match – and if you’re going to be taking things public once more, some old habits don’t need to die.

Your eyes snap open and your own gun raises, pulling the trigger and hearing the sound of metal clanging as sparks fill your vision. You can see her visible eye widen once again, and it makes your face twist into an almost vicious smirk.

You just shot her bullet out of the air. Reflexes were still working well, then.

You spin the revolver just as she had earlier, dropping into a running position and sprinting towards her. She composes herself quickly, raising the gun and firing two more shots. Just like the first, you take them out of the air without having to think. As you come up on her, you see her flick her free hand and a short blade falls out of her sleeve – that doesn’t surprise you much, carnies always need an advantage. She strikes out with it, but you duck under and drive a fist into her stomach, moving back and aiming a kick towards her head that connects with a meaty thud.

Another perk of this being virtual – you’re a lot more agile than you could ever hope to be.

>Player: ???
>HP: 80/100 (-20)

She springs away from you and does a pirouette, sending three knives from under her other sleeve in your direction. You feel two of them fly past your face, but you stop the other one dead in it’s tracks with the butt of your revolver. You swipe it out of the air and continue your rush – now the playing field is even. You close the distance between the two of you before she can get another shot off, your newly acquired knife clashing against her sword as you fire your gun into her chest.

>Player: ???
>HP: 30/100 (-50)

She scrambles to right herself, but she’s far too late – in her haste to switch into a defense position, she takes the blade away from your knife.

That’s all the opening you need to jam it into the underside of her mouth.

>HP: 0/100

You jump away from her defeated body and do a turn in the air, landing with both feet and one hand on the ground. As she falls to the pavement, you can’t help but gloat just a little – you spin the revolver’s cylinder and blow on the still smoking barrel, a sense of accomplishment filling your mind.

That…was fun.

>You Win! Congratulations!
>Funds Gained: $100000

>Be polite – go and help her up.
>”Who’s the cocky one, again?”
>Walk off – you won the fight, that’s that.
>Other.

This is what an in-game Nat 20 gets you.

>>3530946
>>Be polite – go and help her up.

>>3530946
>Be polite – go and help her up.

Also like how we first went from turning our avatar with black hair and red eyes into one with black hair and green eyes to look less edgy, only to then turn it to blond hair and red eyes.

Meaning essentially the only thing different between our current avatar and our look when we were famous is now we're blond. Surprised more people haven't recognized us, to be honest.

At least she can probably get a ton of views from a recording of the match.

>>3530946
>Be polite – go and help her up.

>>3530946
>Be polite – go and help her up.

Does this sort of training getting us more in-shape for Warscape? In a bonus to Warscape-rolls sort of way?

<Be polite, help her up.

Street Cred is what we need since we’re returning to the scene.

Plus I have a chronic condition that makes me want to be a good guy.

>>3530948
>>3530956
>>3530960
>>3530961
>>3530968
Be a nice guy! Writing now.

>>3530956
Yeah, if you could change your facial and body structure after the fact you probably would have done so, but since that's only at the start of an account you just opted for longer blonde hair and the return of the edgy eyes!

>>3530946
>Be polite – go and help her up.

You unload the gun and let the bullets clatter to the ground as you walk towards her, the gun disappearing as you do. A quick ping out of the corner of your eye confirms that it was transferred to your inventory as well, along with the one she had been holding. Only half an hour in the game and you’ve already made a profit, sweet! Maybe you won’t even have to make Cinder pay for some things?

Nah, you still will. She has a lot of money in her pockets.

You stand above the girl and hold your hand out to her – she takes it and pulls herself to her feet, rubbing the underside of her jaw as she does.

“Shit, that confirms it.” She scratches the back of her head, pointing towards the door that leads back out onto the street. “Knew I recognized you.”

Oh damn, your cover’s been blown! It’s not like you were really looking to have a cover at the current moment, you just don’t want people to swarm you in the marketplace with angry comments or worse. You had taken one look at your incoming friend request list when you logged on and said fuck that, you’d rather go undercover than put up with anything else right now. This was a practice day, not a contact everyone you knew and cared for day.

“Am I that obvious?” You ask as you walk through the door, the light din of the street gracing your ears yet again. She chuckles and pushes the hair out of her eyes, taking her position near the stall again and taking two more revolvers out of her inventory.

“The hair threw me off, but your gameplay confirmed it. Welcome back.” She looks behind you at another potential player and waves you out of the way, offering her pitch to him as she had done to you.

You glance at your messages – still no sign of Cinder. Ugh. What are you supposed to do now?

>Money: $110,000

>A gun booth manned by a cheerful blonde-haired boy with a blue hoodie. The aim is simple – you get three bullets to fire at some moving targets, and if you hit all of them, you get a prize. The entry fee is $500. [This will require a LOW roll.]
>A knife throwing booth owned by a cute girl with short strawberry blonde hair and a low-cut top. It’s similar to the first booth, only you need to throw knives at stationary targets – the entry fee is $1000 and up, and the sign says she’ll double whatever you pay if you win. [This will require a roll.]
>Buzz off somewhere else, you’ve had your fill of fun. Maybe you can find something to buy?

>>3531059
>Buzz off somewhere else, you’ve had your fill of fun. Maybe you can find something to buy?

>>3531059
>Buzz off somewhere else, you’ve had your fill of fun. Maybe you can find something to buy?

>>3531059
>Buzz off somewhere else, you’ve had your fill of fun. Maybe you can find something to buy?

>>3531065
>>3531071
>>3531075
Meander about like a wayward vagrant. Writing now!

>>3530961
Also I didn't see this but perhaps.

>>3531085
Is there no way we can check if Cinder is online? I feel like we're not being paranoid enough, what if something happened to her?..

They wouldn’t dare hurt our waifu. Would they?

Whatever, but we have hella cash now.

You frown at your messages and click on Cinder’s name, bringing up her in-game profile. It’s a bit weird that she’s taking this long to get on, especially since she’s a very punctual woman.

>Username: Dragon
>Level: 231
>Last seen: 27 hours ago

Would you need to head off and give her a phone call just to make sure she’s okay? The thought that 0phelia might have done something crosses your mind, and just as you feel panic start to well up in your stomach, you see the grey dot next to her name turn green.

Oh, thank god. You can see her typing as well.

>Sorry for the wait!!! Something took a little longer than expected! Meet me in the square, I got a surprise for you! :)

You raise an eyebrow at the excited message, but you feel the sudden tension start to fade from your shoulders – she’s okay, she’s safe. Man, you’ve been stressing a lot lately – for entirely good reasons definitely, but still. You begin to type up a response to her.

>Alright, I’m on my way.
>You come and meet me, you’re the one who stood me up!
>What kept you?
>Ghost her like a dickhead.
>Other.

>>3531125
>What kept you?

>Alright, I’m on my way.
>BTW got two revolvers and $100,000 beating an eyepatch lady in a quickdraw contest.

>>3531129
+1

>>3531125
>Alright, I’m on my way.
>What kept you?
>BTW got two revolvers and $100,000 beating an eyepatch lady in a quickdraw contest, Covers blown btw

>>3531135
This is more fitting

>>3531125
>Alright, I’m on my way.
>BTW got two revolvers and $100,000 beating an eyepatch lady in a quickdraw contest.

How... How easy is it for people to log into another's Warscape account? It's just password protected right? No sci-fi dna scan each time you join a lobby?

>>3531125
>Alright, I’m on my way.

>>3531146
Add
>What kept you?
to the list.

>>3531146
>>3531150
+1 to this

>>3531129
>>3531134
>>3531135
>>3531145
>>3531146
This wins! Writing now.

>>3531146
It's just password protected, yeah.

File: Cinder-Faceclaim.jpg (18 KB, 236x337)

18 KB JPG

You try and remember the way to the market center as you’ve walked pretty far, but your saving grace comes in the form of a little mini-map flickering to life in the corner of your vision. A few moments later, a blue line flickers to life and marks the directions you need to take to arrive there. How handy!

>Alright, I’m on my way. By the way, got two revolvers and $100,000. Beat some girl with an eyepatch for it, she recognized me though.

You move through the streets at a fairly quick pace, keeping your head down and dodging the attempts of shopkeepers trying to get your attention. One girl practically tries to drag you into the clothing shop she works at, but you extract your arm from her iron grip and hurry on. Christ, workers are aggressive here! You could probably play this game just for the amount of shops alone, Christ.

>Oh, that’s neat!!! I think you’re talking about Viola? She won’t tell anyone, she’s quite private herself! She still won’t tell me how she lost her eye IRL!

Damn, that’s kinda metal. She must have it on her avatar just for comfort’s sake then, you had been a little curious, but she waved you off before you could ask about it. You type out another reply to Cinder.

>What took you so long, BTW?

She responds instantly.

>It’s part of the surprise! You’ll like it, I promise!

Mmmmm, that doesn’t sound suspicious whatsoever. You consider asking further but realize that it would be fruitless – if Cinder didn’t want to talk, forcing her to would be like prying open a bear trap. Whatever, you’ll just see what she has for you when you arrive.

It takes quite a bit of walking to get to the center – this marketplace is more like a market city nowadays, to the point where you saw buses and trains leading to different areas! It’s certainly come a long way since your time, but you can’t bring yourself to say you detest it – if people were having fun, then what’s the issue?

Once you arrive you look around, trying to peer into the crowd of people running off to whichever shop they preferred. It takes a little bit to locate her through the rabble, but you eventually spot her leaning against a railing and watching the lower level of the market with amused eyes.

Well damn, you’ve never actually seen her avatar before – if people ever gave you shit for making one that actually looks like you, they haven’t met her before. From here you can’t spot a detail that would differentiate her from herself in real life – the only thing different is that she isn’t wearing a hoodie for once.

>Walk up and greet her.
>Try and spook her like she’s so fond of doing to you. [This will require a roll.]
>Other.

>>3531211
>Try and spook her like she’s so fond of doing to you. [This will require a roll.]

>>3531211
>Walk up and greet her.

>>3531211
>Try and spook her like she’s so fond of doing to you. [This will require a roll.]

>>3531211
>>Try and spook her like she’s so fond of doing to you. [This will require a roll.]

>>3531211
>Walk up and greet her.

>>3531211
>>Walk up and greet her.

>>3531211
>>Try and spook her like she’s so fond of doing to you. [This will require a roll.]
lets have some fun

>>3531215
>>3531221
>>3531222
>>3531230
Roll a 1d20 to do a scare!

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>3531233
DICE GODS PLEASE

>>3531235
ok

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>3531233

Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>3531233
Ro-
>>3531235
wut.

>>3531235
Well that's a win right off the bat. Writing now!

>>3531235
Yay!?

>>3531240
yay indeed.

>>3531235
Are we actually a god in-game?

>>3531247
Seems like it.

>>3531247
No. Just very good at hiding cheats.

>>3531254
We are incapable of cheating thanks to the band on our wrist in game.

>>3531257
does the band really stop cheating or is it just to shame past cheaters? Cause if it does stop all cheats then shouldn't every player have one?

>>3531260
It compares our account, the current game files and the source code to the official data before every match. It's a McGuffin.

You’re about to step forward and call out to her, but on second thought a devious smile spreads across your face. Too many times has she spooked you when coming into the arcade – hiding behind your desk and popping out, pulling you into headlocks on the street…THE CYCLE ENDS HERE.

Instead of taking the direct route to her, you hide yourself in the crowd and do a loop around the giant fountain in the middle of the square. When you emerge, you see her checking her menu idly – she must be wondering where you are. Little does she know you’re approaching with stealth forged over countless hours of playing Warscape…god you wish you could be this sneaky IRL. She probably would have caught you already if it were real life, in fact!

And because of these reasons, she doesn’t see you until you bring your hands down on her shoulders.

“HUH!?” Her voice comes out as a squeak as her body spasms, whirling around with wide eyes as she swings her elbow around to meet you. You duck out of the way and snicker, holding up your hands in a show of surrender. She takes a moment to calculate that it’s you, and she lets out a shaky sigh as she presses a hand to her chest. She looks up at you with a pout, a small flush spreading across her cheeks as she does.

“Just getting you back for standing me up,” You smile at her cheekily, to which she wraps an arm around your neck and squeezes hard.

Even with a metaphorical Nat 20, Cinder’s wrath is inescapable. She drives her fist into your scalp and holds you in place, and even if it doesn’t hurt like it would in real life, the sparking sensation that substitutes pain in this game still feels uncomfortable.

“And I spent all of this time…getting you something for your match…” She speaks through gritted teeth, although not in an unfriendly manner.

“Sorry, couldn’t help myself…” You respond when she lets you go, rubbing the top of your head as the sparks begin to fade.

>Ask her what she got for your match.
>Suggest that you go around and start to buy supplies.
>Cut straight to the chase – you want to PRACTICE first.
>Other.

>>3531262
>>Ask her what she got for your match.

>>Suggest that you go around and start to buy supplies.

>>3531257
Nah, total cheat. Cheating all the time. Everyone says it and everyone knows it. Don't you read the papers? Nova is the biggest heel in the game.
All hail Auxilia.

>>3531262
>Ask her what she got for your match.

>>3531262
"'All this time'? How long have you spent buying.. whatever it is? Not that I'm ungrateful or anything..."
>Ask what she suggests we do first.

>>3531262
>>Ask her what she got for your match.

>>3531262
>Ask her what she got for your match.

>>3531266
Cheating is limited, Auxilia is forever. Praise be to them..

>>3531267
>>3531270
>>3531273
Also this wins, so writing now!

>>3531277
always in the 1st spot but don't cheat hmmm
(insert anya suspicious face here)

>>3531296
Yeah my thoughts too, what are the chances our coach got access to the cheat so easily like he did?

>>3531277
I bet you had to wash your hands after typing that.
>>3531296
Clearly Auxilia has an eye for T A L E N T. And for spotting cheaters. Like Nova.

“All this time? How long have you spent buying whatever your surprise is, if you don’t mind my asking?” After shaking off the sparks, you join her in leaning against the railing – she keeps looking at your hair curiously, though.

“Man, I didn’t expect you to choose that color. Looks like it did when I first met you!” She comments, and you concede that it’s true. The night after you left everything, you went down to the store and bought a thing of dye to help dissuade people from recognizing you – it looked like shit honestly, and as soon as it faded you never dyed it again. At least you didn’t use the same contact color – you went for blue instead. “Anyways, this is something I figured you’ll need if you’re actually doing it on a public stage.”

“And what would that be?”

Rock had contacted you before you hopped in game – one reason was to tell you that he’d paid for everything that you needed as was promised, and the other was to tell you some bad news – the only way he could get it done publicly and locally was at the arena across town. This normally wouldn’t be an issue; however, they already have an event going on tomorrow – which means that you two are the exhibition that precedes it. That wasn’t what you had wanted at all, but he did what you had told him to do in your terms!

“I had to make a deal with a good friend of mine to get a custom item made since she’s a fuckin’ cheapskate, but here.” She pulls out a folded black square from her inventory and hands it to you. “Don’t put it on in public because it’ll let everyone know who you are, but it’s a new coat! I know you lost the last one against 0phelia.”

Yep, that was certainly true – you ran through fire with it and it fell to the abyss, in fact! You wish that clothes and accessories actually stayed on your character after they get destroyed in game, but Auxilia Systems needs to keep that money flowing, right? Capitalism, ho!

“Thanks.” You respond, sliding it into your own inventory. You’ll find out how much it’s worth later when you try it on.

>Suggest that you go and shop for supplies now.
>Ask if you can start practicing.
>Go and find a place to try on the jacket, style is key!
>Ask her what she suggests you do first.
>Other.

>>3531311
I am unclean. And hey, it's their job to spot cheaters - just because Auxilia is the developer's home team doesn't change that!

>>3531326
>Ask if you can start practicing.

>>3531326
>Ask her what she suggests you do first.
I really want to practice but the game's moved on.

>>3531326
>Suggest that you go and shop for supplies now.

>>3531326
>Suggest that you go and shop for supplies now.

>>3531326
>Suggest that you go and shop for supplies now.
Ayy, we're fashionable now.

>>3531326
>>Ask her what she suggests you do first.

>>3531338
>>3531341
>>3531342
Time to partake in MODERN WARFARE shopping. Writing now!

>>3531348
I can imagine there being a ton of product placement in a game like this. A virtual Wendy's or SportAid medpacks.

>>3531351
100%.

File: Storefront.jpg (41 KB, 500x333)

41 KB JPG

“Well, show me around? We came here to shop, after all.” You say to her, to which she chuckles and nods. She turns around and walks off, gesturing to follow her, so you do!

“Like I said earlier, your loadout is way too outdated. Stat-wise it’s okay, but a lot of weapons have little tricks to them that they don’t tell you about – it makes them a cut above the rest! Ones that fire different types of bullets, some that have odd functions – we’ll find some that work for you! Can I see the revolvers you got?” You open your inventory wordlessly and hand them to her, and she takes them while giving them a good look over. “Yep, these would look normal to any regular player, but these are a little lighter – the triggers are meant to be pulled faster, and they have a little mechanism that makes the bullets go farther. Viola always has high quality guns!”

“And they don’t…tell you that? Are those good for competitive play?” You’re baffled by the concept of something not appearing on the stats screen, as stuff like this wouldn’t have been kosher in the olden days.

“Absolutely! If you go into an official match, they screen everything you load up with. It can detect every little thing about your guns and armor, and if it gives you a major unfair advantage over other players, they’ll make you swap them out. These, though? Completely good to go.” She leads you into a shop with quite a few people inside. “It’s just like how a lot of items that are in casual won’t drop in ranked – the cube you found wouldn’t fly whatsoever in a match that matters rank-wise!”

What happened to just being able to pick up a gun and shoot? If you had all of this to worry about back then, you’d have been fucked.

“Does that mean some guns are…player-made? It doesn’t sound like the base guns from the game are any good.”

“You’re correct! When Auxilia Systems made the big attempt to draw in a lot of other audiences, they enabled a lot of different mechanics and ways to play. That’s why they put in swords, different armors, and player-oriented game mechanics like gunsmithing! That’s why a lot of stuff costs so much.”

You shake your head and look around at the store you’ve been pulled into – the area around the counter has a few guns on display, but other than that it seems to be mainly geared towards secondary equipment. Grenades, knives, little gadgets that you don’t know what the fuck they do – there’s so much everywhere!

“Here’s our first stop – we need to get you some stuff that will take him off guard. You didn’t even have any grenades in your last match!” She turns around and faces you, eyes alight with excitement – she’s getting a lot of enjoyment out of this, huh?

>[Every roll is associated with a 1d20 to see how good of items you’ll find.]
>Move towards the guns first.
>Browse the shelves for secondary equipment.
>Ask Cinder what she recommends.

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>3531403
>Browse the shelves for secondary equipment.

We already got good pistols apparently. need to upgrade our rope and junk

>>3531403
>Browse the shelves for secondary equipment.
Wait, Cir. What kind of arena battle will it be? A small circle? A false world like the one we fought 0phelia in?

We're the trapmeister who wins games with old tricks.

>>3531403
>[Every roll is associated with a 1d20 to see how good of items you’ll find.]

>>3531409
You don't know that information yet! There's a lot of maps in the competitive pool.

>>3531403
>Browse the shelves for secondary equipment.

I want full combat suit with rabbit mask and ears so we can get ours read eyes back.

>>3531403
>>3531410
I meant to say every choice, but I forgot because I wrote a lot lol. Can't believe this.

>>3531403
>Move towards the guns first.

>>3531403
>Move towards the guns first.
More guns.

Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>3531403
Find some decent armor with mobility

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>3531426
Opps wrong dice

Get a custom pair of eye gear that is a black floating censor bar over our eyes that says "CHEATER" in big blocky white letters. Because if we're gonna be dragged back into this shit we are probably better off owning it.

>>3531435
+1 to that. May as well accept our reputation and look fly doing so .

>>3531435
maybe not the cheater part but everything else yes

>>3531408
>>3531409
>>3531414
Please roll a 1d20! Sorry for the wait, I was taking care of some stuff.

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>3531435
Embrace the heel.
>>3531457
rollin

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>3531457

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>3531457

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>3531457

File: 1535854174212.jpg (17 KB, 320x320)

17 KB JPG

>>3531459
THIS IS WHAT """BAD BOYS""" DESERVE

Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>3531462
>>3531459
Okay.

>>3531459
Welp. Writing now!

>>3531462
If only this was two seconds earlier, anon.

>go to wash dishes
>come back to a nat 1
Auxilia Systems better give me a bonus for this.
>>3531467
Nova is a cheater! A cheater!!

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>3531403
>>3531435
This

The both of you move towards the shelves with a modicum of enthusiasm – you’re looking forwards to finding a bunch of things you haven’t seen before, and Cinder talks to you all the while.

“Alright, so you know how you found the backpack at the railing?” She whispers into your ear as you both look through the items – there’s a lot less than you were expecting, maybe all of the people here snatched up the good deals? If so, that’d be real shitty luck.

“Yeah?”

“You can configure everything that’s in that. Since you hopped right into the game, I assume they gave you the default loadout – rope, binoculars, patches, and a flashlight?” You nod to her as you’re about to reach out for an interesting looking grenade with pulsing purple lights, but another patron snatches it just before you’re about to grab it. “This stuff is all what would go inside of it – things are different now, you don’t spawn with your secondary equipment. It’s all within the bag.”

That seems a little bit silly, but if all of the product placement around the market has told you anything, you understand exactly why it’s that way. All for that sponsorship money.

It takes a long while for you to get through these shelves – everything useful has been taken by the din of shoppers, and all you’re able to secure is a piece of rope that’s moderately better than the starting version. Same length of rope overall, only a bit stronger and not as easy to cut – oh joy! You’ll sure trip up Rock with that, yes you will.

“Aw, maaaan…looks like we got unlucky. I was hoping we’d be faster than everyone else.” She looks at you with a bit of a crestfallen face, but she perks up shortly afterwards and punches you in the shoulder. “Must be that cheater’s karma coming back, huh?”

“I only cheated once, fuck you!” She snickers, and you try to smile back. You won’t bring up the fact that your parents fucking dumped you because you managed to convince them that this was more important than your education, only for them to find out you fucked up in the final match due to your own stupidity and lost everything you’d worked for.

Boy, isn’t your life just a gem?

>Go towards the guns and see if you can find anything worthwhile. [This will require a roll.]
>Look around the store and see if any customers have left any items unattended. Embrace the heel, baby. [This will require a roll.]

>>3531513
>Go towards the guns and see if you can find anything worthwhile. [This will require a roll.]

>>3531513
>Go towards the guns and see if you can find anything worthwhile. [This will require a roll.]

>>3531513
>Look around the store and see if any customers have left any items unattended. Embrace the heel, baby. [This will require a roll.]
E M B R A C E

>>3531513
>Go towards the guns and see if you can find anything worthwhile.

>>3531513
Actually, I'm going to take a bit of a break guys. My shoulder hurts like hell so I'm going to lay down for a bit. Leave feedback and your thoughts on everything if you'd like, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience! I'll be back at it as soon as I'm up.

>>3531513
>>Look around the store and see if any customers have left any items unattended. Embrace the heel, baby. [This will require a roll.]
Put those deft hands to use.

>>3531541
Do you slouch when you use the computer? That's okay Cir, have some rest.

>Go towards the guns and see if you can find anything worthwhile

>>3531541
feel better soon OP, take all the time you need.

>>3531513
>>Go towards the guns and see if you can find anything worthwhile. [This will require a roll.]

>>3531513
>>>Go towards the guns and see if you can find anything worthwhile. [This will require a roll.]

Yo, I return. My shoulder doesn't feel like it's dying anymore, so that's certainly neat.

>>3531519
>>3531520
>>3531532
>>3531625
>>3531707
>>3531907
Roll a 1d20 to search for weapons.

>>3531592
Nah, I don't slouch when I sit - my shoulder's been bothering me for most of the day, but it finally got to the point where I needed to rest it I guess!.

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>3531997

File: 1540543423310.png (711 KB, 700x677)

711 KB PNG

>>3531998
fucking Pog, first roll after reading the archives and it's a 20

>>3531998
nice job anon

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>3531997

>>3531998
Went to the bathroom and came back to a nat 20. The balance after the last roll has been restored. Writing now!

finishing out the rolls

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>3532060
This time for real

Cinder claps you on the shoulder and moves you towards the front of the store, some of the crowd beginning to exit due to similarly finding the equipment shelves mostly empty. You overhear some customers grumbling about this fact, but none cause much of a fuss – looks like this must be a purely player-item run store, because you can reasonably assume that an Auxilia weapon store would have no end to their supplies.

“Alright, so before we go perusing from here, I gotta catch you up to speed on some info. Have you seen any of Rock’s matches?” Cinder asks you, and you shake your head as a negative. The only time you’ve ever seen him play is when you were up against him, and the most you can remember is that he used a pretty fucking big gun. “Well, I’ll tell you this beforehand just so we can find something that’ll go against him well. He uses an LMG that fires twice as fast as it should from what I can tell, and he has a sword the size of his entire body.”

“…is there anyone who doesn’t use a sword now? And is that even legal?” You ask incredulously, making a vow right then and there that you will never pick up a sword in this game as long as you can help it. This is an FPS, not a fantasy game goddamnit! The absolute state of the community appalls you. Your knife has always suited you just fine – even if you have to move on with the rest of your equipment, you won’t give into peer pressure!

“I mean, yeah? It’s not like it’s an unfair weapon – all you need to do is dodge.”

You can concede that.

“Back to the matter though, his style is primarily geared towards suppressing the opponent and then closing in with the sword. I’ve been looking him up since yesterday, and it’s…well, it’s a sight to behold. What can we buy here that will counter that?”

Hoo, boy. Decisions!

>An up close build will suit you just fine – his LMG will be a non-factor if he’s too busy swinging the sword. You’ll look for shotguns and other close-range apparatus.
>Focusing on locking down the mid-range is a good tactic – if you can find an assault rifle more accurate than his gun, you’ll have the match in the bag as long as he doesn’t have any tricks.
>Long range is an absolute counter to his style – you can keep yourself hidden away in the shadows and try to pick off his health. Sniper rifles are a go this time around.
>Man, why the fuck do you care what his style is? That fight against that Viola lady made you pretty damn confident – you have two revolvers, why do you need to buy anything else? You’ll put a stop to this bitch with style alone.
>Other.

>>3532067
>Long range is an absolute counter to his style – you can keep yourself hidden away in the shadows and try to pick off his health. Sniper rifles are a go this time around.
Sniper rifle and Claymores if we can find em...

>>3532067
>>An up close build will suit you just fine
He's going to be charging anyway, and I don't know if we have control how much range/cover there is in the field.

>>3532082
He may like charging people, but if he has a reason not too (a full close range loadout) he won't, he will just stay back and dakka us to death.

>>3532067
>Long range is an absolute counter to his style
I'm gonna have to support this one if no one else is gonna vote for mid-range.

>>3532067
>>Long range is an absolute counter to his style – you can keep yourself hidden away in the shadows and try to pick off his health. Sniper rifles are a go this time around.

>>3532088
And a long-range loadout is going to be hampered if he gets inside. Staying mobile is better.

>>3532067
>An up close build will suit you just fine.
Same reasons as >>3532082

>>3532076
>>3532094
>>3532098
Writing now!

>>3532067
>Other
Midrange is fucked, short range hinges on us avoiding the lmg, and long range handicaps us when things inevitably go wrong.

>Marksman rifle and an smg or a sawed off shotgun

>>3532126
wish I'd seen this first >.<

“I figure that long-range is a good choice . Even if he tries to suppress me with his LMG, I’ll have the range advantage – plus since I won’t be close to him, he won’t have an opportunity to use the sword. If he charges me, I’ll probably be fucked – that’s why I won’t let him.” You explain your reasoning to Cinder as you look through the gun racks – some guns look sleek, others colorful, and most are being snapped off the shelves as quick as a flash. Even so, you make no move to grab one yourself – none have really caught your eye as of yet.

You glance over at Cinder to see if she’s found anything, and you find her looking at you with her eyes shining.

“Long range, huh? Yeah, that’s a good idea…especially for practice…” She mumbles to herself, lost in her own little world as she strokes her chin with her thumb and forefinger. Today was the day you truly have learned that Cinder is a fucking Warscape nerd – you legitimately haven’t seen her get this excited other than the times she won a tournament of moderate renown. With her being dead to the world, you turn your attention back to the shelf – and then you see it.

There’s a solitary rifle sitting on the rack, untouched as of now. It seems to be made of a very sleek wood, the surface flawless until you reach the barrel. The wood around there is cracked and blackened, scorched by what seemed to be a terrible flame. Embers still glow an angry red, and you reach out and snatch it as soon as you see someone else make a move.

>SKF-03 – Skyfire
>Creator: Dahlia
>DMG to limbs: 25 HP, DMG to body: 60 HP, DMG to head: 85 HP
>Ammunition: 6 rounds.

You turn it over in your hands and see a small lever right next to the trigger, sticking out in a way that wouldn’t interfere with your grip. You flick it, and you see a small notification pop up in front of the gun.

>Burst fire activated.

Well, looks like you’ve found the rifle you need.

“Oi, Cinder. How’s this one look?” You snap her out of her reverie and she looks to you, her eyes widening as she yanks the gun from your grip.

“H-Holy shit? One of Dahlia’s weapons? HERE!?” She starts mumbling to herself as she frantically inspects each and every inch of the weapon, shoving it back into your arms with force.

“Is that…good?”

“We’re buying this for you. End of story. This isn’t something we can miss out on.”

Well, Cinder is awfully adamant on this decision, and you certainly aren’t going to say no to a rifle that feels this good to hold. It feels like it’s almost made for your grip, honestly – even in the fight against 0phelia, the assault rifle felt a little clunky.

Is that all of the guns you need?

>You still have a spare weapon slot if you only use one revolver. You’ll look for something that supports this loadout a little better. [Other.]
>You’re confident that you’ll be able to get by with the sniper rifle and revolvers. Follow Cinder to the counter

>>3532164
Sawn-shotgun would be nice, in case he actually does manage to close

>>3532164
>You still have a spare weapon slot if you only use one revolver. You’ll look for something that supports this loadout a little better.
Get an SMG or a shotgun.

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>3532164

>You still have a spare weapon slot if you only use one revolver. You’ll look for something that supports this loadout a little better. [Other.]
Need a close range backup. Handgun shotty maybe

>>3532164
>>You still have a spare weapon slot if you only use one revolver. You’ll look for something that supports this loadout a little better. [Other.]
SMG

>>3532172
>>3532175
>>3532183
Seems that with all of these, shotgun is the most common so we'll fill out the short range! Writing now.

Yeah, a shotgun sounds nice. Any suggestions on a type of shotgun?

Double Barreled, triple, quad?

Of course there’s the boring option of one barrel.. but, what do I know?

>>3532211
There are full auto assault shotguns right? one of those sounds cool

File: Loadout.jpg (70 KB, 1280x720)

70 KB JPG

Are we becoming an MW2 meme?

>sniper
>akimbo 44s
>throwing knife

[Sorry for the wait, I have some family over at the moment.]

“Actually, wait. Think I’ll grab something else just to cover my bases.” You say to Cinder, turning around and moving through racks until you find an assortment of shotguns still left untaken by the vultures of capitalism. You pick each one and give it a once-over, none of them seem particularly low quality and all have different nuances to them. How they managed to survive this crowd is beyond you.

What one do you think you’ll go with?

>A single-barreled shotgun that’s easy to handle and could easily fit onto the back of your belt. It’s quick to reload due to having only a single capacity chamber, but the damage is a bit lower than the norm. DMG to limbs: 20 HP, DMG to body: 40 HP, DMG to head: 70 HP.

>A normal double-barreled shotgun that fits four rounds in the chamber for increased damage, but it’s a bit hefty and it seems to have some rust in it’s mechanism. Whether that will be an issue in the future is unclear. DMG to limbs: 35 HP, DMG to body: 55 HP, DMG to head: 85 HP.

>A fully automatic shotgun with a sleek design and an already included scope. Whilst it has a large magazine, it’s damage lessens each time it’s fired without pause and it will take time to get it off of it’s holster. DMG to limbs: 25 HP, DMG to body: 50 HP, DMG to head: 75 HP.

>>3532238
>>A single-barreled shotgun
SPEED

>>3532238
>A normal double-barreled shotgun that fits four rounds in the chamber for increased damage, but it’s a bit hefty and it seems to have some rust in it’s mechanism. Whether that will be an issue in the future is unclear. DMG to limbs: 35 HP, DMG to body: 55 HP, DMG to head: 85 HP.

>>3532238
BOTH
O
T
H

BARRELS
A
R
R
E
L
S

>A normal double-barreled shotgun that fits four rounds in the chamber for increased damage, but it’s a bit hefty and it seems to have some rust in it’s mechanism. Whether that will be an issue in the future is unclear. DMG to limbs: 35 HP, DMG to body: 55 HP, DMG to head: 85 HP.

>>3532238
>>A normal double-barreled shotgun

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>3532238
>A normal double-barreled shotgun that fits four rounds in the chamber for increased damage
What can possibly go wrong? *flag-raising intensifies*

>>3532249
>>3532255
>>3532260
>>3532261
High damage, potentially high risk! Writing now.

>>3532238
>A single-barreled shotgun that’s easy to handle and could easily fit onto the back of your belt. It’s quick to reload due to having only a single capacity chamber, but the damage is a bit lower than the norm. DMG to limbs: 20 HP, DMG to body: 40 HP, DMG to head: 70 HP.
Being a pest is the way to go

After shuffling through them a bit more, you finally decide on the double-barrel shotgun. Even if it has a bit of weight to it and has a bit of rust within, you feel that the damage outweighs the potential of it jamming. Besides, you don’t intend to use it unless he closes in – if you can prevent that from happening entirely, you’ll be golden. You make your way over to Cinder once more and hand her the gun.

She gives it a quick check and clicks her tongue, handing it back to you with a small bit of dissatisfaction. This doesn’t exactly surprise you though – Cinder uses dual shotguns as her regular load-out when she plays, so her eye is a lot more developed than yours in that sense. She leads you up to the counter and waits for the queue to leave, taking the rope and guns from you once more and handing them to the man behind the counter. He’s bald and has quite prominent facial hair, hands moving quite deftly for a man of his stature. He taps a few buttons on a menu in front of him, and then you see a window pop up in front of Cinder.

>SKF-03 - $25,500,000
>DBL-43 - $100,000
>Mk. 2 Rope - $500

“Huh!?” You find yourself saying as you stare at the price of the sniper rifle – that would have taken nearly half of your old bank account in game if you bought it yourself!

“Yeah, Dahlia’s weapons are some of the best you can get in this entire game. She’s a master gunsmith! I’m surprised that one was here – I came here because they sell good stuff for cheap! This is worth it, though.” She pays the price in full, and then hands off the items to you.

Did she just…buy you a gun that’s worth $25 million? You won’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but…damn. She’s rich.

>SKF-03 – Skyfire acquired!
>DBL-43 shotgun acquired!
>Mk. 2 Rope acquired!

After this Cinder moves you out into the street once more, maneuvering you to a quieter place as she turns to face you.

“Well, we got some guns for you! I’d wager that’ll at least put a few kinks in Rock’s gameplan, that’s for sure. Wish I could tell you what equipment he has, but as far as I can tell he doesn’t use any. What should we do now?”

>Ask her if you can practice – time to put these guns to the test.
>Go and try on your new outfit – you can find places to hold your guns ahead of time.
>Ask Cinder what she suggests.
>Find something else to do – there’s plenty to see around here. [Other.]

>>3532315
>Ask her if you can practice – time to put these guns to the test.

>>3532315
>>Go and try on your new outfit – you can find places to hold your guns ahead of time.

>>3532315

>Ask her if you can practice – time to put these guns to the test

>>3532315
>>Ask Cinder what she suggests.

>>3532318
>>3532321
Let's get on to the show. Writing now!

“Well, I seem to have my guns now. When do we start practice?” You ask her, leaning against the wall as you idly begin equipping the guns to your avatar. You’ll save the outfit for another time – it’ll be a surprise for the big event, you guess? You dunno, you’re just itching to put these guns to the test – might as well get into the spirit of things since you’re going to be playing for a while anyways.

Look at how far you’ve come – shunning the game a few days ago to brushing up on everything new about it! In reality you haven’t come very far at all, but at least you’re not mindlessly staring at your ceiling over everything 0phelia’s done. Gotta take the good with the bad, even if there’s not a lot of good to be found.

Cinder claps her hands together and looks at you mischievously, cracking her knuckles and smirking as she turns to face you.

“Well, I was going to put you in a few random 1v1s and watch if you’d allow me…but now that you’ve gone for a long-range loadout, I have a better plan!” She withdraws her shotguns from her inventory and shows them off – they’re mainly black, however there are images painted on each that resemble a dragon breathing fire. She giggles as you openly check them out, holstering them at her after you’ve gotten a good long look. “I’d say that my style is baaaasically pretty close to Rock’s, minus the LMG. I like to get close, and he’s gonna try to get close to you immediately – so as your teacher,” She winks as she calls back to your statement in your apartment, “Your first practice lesson is to beat me, if you think you’re up for it~?”

You blink at her as she stares you down.

Oh boy.

>Accept her challenge – Cinder will be a hard obstacle to start with, but you’ll rise to the task.
>Decline – you’d rather start with some rando’s and make your way up to her towards the end.

[And this is where I’m leaving it for the night, anons. I’m tired and I need some sleep! Apologies for being mildly sporadic throughout the day, I’ll try my best to make up for it in the morning! Also going to be making a proper character sheet for you guys just so you can keep track of inventory and OTHER THINGS™. Please leave feedback, your thoughts, or questions so I can see them – it helps improve my writing overall. Have a great night, guys.]

>>3532349
>>Accept her challenge – Cinder will be a hard obstacle to start with, but you’ll rise to the task.

>>3532349
>Accept her challenge – Cinder will be a hard obstacle to start with, but you’ll rise to the task.
Sink or swim.

>>3532349
>Accept her challenge – Cinder will be a hard obstacle to start with, but you’ll rise to the task.

>>3532349
>>Accept her challenge – Cinder will be a hard obstacle to start with, but you’ll rise to the task.

>>3532349
>Accept her challenge.
let's show our waifu that we're up to it! also goodnight OP, you're doing great so far.

>Accept her challenge – Cinder will be a hard obstacle to start with, but you’ll rise to the task.

Accept, she'll be just the right kind of practice for whats ahead. And so long as we don't embarrass our self we cant loose.

>>3532235
META = MOST EFFECTIVE TACTIC AVAILABLE

>>3532412
The rage I feel at this comment is simultaneously justified, yet out of proportion

File: 085F2405-00CB-4F79-B9FD-4(...).png (85 KB, 298x302)

85 KB PNG

>>3532349
>accept her challenge
I, for one, would love to encounter Cinder’s hard obstacle

>>3532349
>Accept her challenge – Cinder will be a hard obstacle to start with, but you’ll rise to the task.

>>3532435
wouldn't we all?

[Good morning, everyone! I slept like a rock, so sorry for the late start. Here’s a nice character sheet for our lovely main character: https://pastebin.com/uWMa5axC. Never made one of those before so please critique me on it so I can fix it lmao. Time to get back to it!]

You look at Cinder for a few seconds after she proposes her practice idea, her mouth set in a mischievous grin and eyes narrowed in challenge. Judging by her being a fan of you when everything went down in the past, you can pretty much guess that half of this for her is just wanting to face you. Hell, even before she knew who you really were she kept asking you to play her!

Her point is very valid though – from the sounds of it, her playstyle is pretty similar to Rock’s. It would only be logical to test this build against her.

“…alright, sure. Let’s play a round.” You eventually say to her, running your hand through this obnoxiously long hair you had chosen. As soon as you get out of sight of the public, you’re switching back to your regular style – blonde just isn’t your jam, and neither is long hair.

“Hell yeah!” Cinder exclaims, attracting the view of a few passerby’s as she jumps and claps her hands together. She mutters to herself as she flips through her menu, hands moving very fast as she organizes something or other. You see the fruits of her labor shortly as her long hair begins to shorten instantaneously, and her nice blouse turns into a grey undershirt with a red and white hoodie. On one arm, her username is embroidered in crimson red font, while the other arm has a few product placements visible. Some tech firm, and some fast food joint? You’ve never heard of them.

Either way, she certainly looks trendy compared to you – all you have is your white t-shirt and cargo pants! You do have that special outfit that she commissioned for you, but you don’t want to chance ruining it before the big fight against Rock.

“Let’s get to it, then?” She asks you, her eyes bright with joy.

You open your mouth to respond.

>Yeah – let’s test these guns out and see how well they do.
>Actually, you want to find different clothes. You have STYLISTIC STANDARDS.
>Other.

>>3532828
>Yeah – let’s test these guns out and see how well they do.

Morning Cir! Thanks for the character sheet!

>>3532828
>Actually, you want to find different clothes. You have STYLISTIC STANDARDS.

>>3532828
>GUNZ

Morning!

>>3532828
>Yeah – let’s test these guns out and see how well they do.

>>3532839
>>3532843
>>3532854
Your second actual Warscape match is upon you. Writing now!

>>3532828
>>STYLISTIC STANDARDS.
Can't be menacing without style.

“Yeah. Don’t go too hard on me, alright?” You ask her, opening your menu to take you back to your personal room. She puts her hand on her chin as if she’s thinking about it, and then she reaches forward to pat you on the shoulder hard.

“Well, you’re not gonna learn unless I go full throttle, right? I’m not going to baby you, Mr. Prodigy~!” She snickers as you cringe in displeasure, tapping the menu button and fading away into red polygons. You follow suit directly afterwards, vowing to get her back for that one.

You reappear on the couch of your base, taking in the scenery once more as you stand up. When you logged in earlier today, you adjusted the lighting so it wasn’t as dark as it was before – rather than a deep blue, it’s now more in line with your arcade’s lighting. You glance towards the matchmaking pedestal and yep, the same robot girl is standing next to it and watching you. Why did Auxilia even make the bands be associated with robot girls? You don’t understand, but you walk towards it regardless.

“Have anything to say today, bot?” You ask it, putting your hand on the pedestal. She says nothing, but you think you catch a reproachful look as her form liquefies and wraps around your wrist. A second later, you’re sent to the lobby.

Cinder already has an invitation ready by the time you get there, so you waste no time in clicking it. Against 0phelia you found yourself contemplating the fact that you were playing the damn game in the first place, but you feel calmer about the whole ordeal at the moment. With Cinder there’s no stakes, so maybe you can find it within yourself to enjoy this game against her – today will be the only day you can do so, because tomorrow will be filled with the dreaded phenomenon known as ARENA PREPARATION.

You really wish Rock could have found a random arcade to do it in (since yours is trashed), but he took your idea of doing it publicly and fucking ran with it. Doubly so since it’ll be the exhibition before an actual event, which means there’s gonna be an entire crowd present. JOY. YOU LOVE THAT IDEA. 100%.

You give a sigh before you load into the game. You’ve been sighing a lot recently.

[Here’s the part where I’ve rolled for a few maps, and you get to vote on one of the three! This won’t be happening against Rock because competitive, but this is casual. All of your loadout information is on the sheet!]

>Volcanic – a town built around an active volcano. This map offers a wide range of mobility; however, you may have to fend off the magma instead of your opponent.
>Green Hills – a map with plenty of forests and open hills. Whilst it provides many areas to hide, any and all items would be found in the small town at the middle of the map.
>Prison Island – a prison built in the middle of the ocean. This map offers a variety of close quarters combat, however there’s ample opportunity to create a sudden ambush.

>>3532891
>Prison Island – a prison built in the middle of the ocean. This map offers a variety of close quarters combat, however there’s ample opportunity to create a sudden ambush.

>>3532891
>>Prison Island
The WORST possible situation.

>Green Hills
let's use our range.

>>3532891
>>Prison Island – a prison built in the middle of the ocean. This map offers a variety of close quarters combat, however there’s ample opportunity to create a sudden ambush.

This is a practice bout, so let's train for the worst possible outcome.

>>3532891
>Volcanic – a town built around an active volcano. This map offers a wide range of mobility; however, you may have to fend off the magma instead of your opponent.
Nootral?

heading to the hardware store! be back soon, vote's open until I return.

>>3532891
>>Prison Island – a prison built in the middle of the ocean. This map offers a variety of close quarters combat, however there’s ample opportunity to create a sudden ambush.

>>3532891
>Prison Island

QM, what do levels actually do in-game? Are they just for bragging rights or will it actually improve our ability if we raise them?

>>3532891
>>3532905
+1 to this

>>3532891
>Prison time.

>>3532915
Iirc they unlock standard weapons and crafting materials to make weapons, in addition to LOOTBOXES. I could be wrong tho.

>Prison Island

I agree, should probably prepare for worst case scenario.

Plus if we beat Cinder in her natural environment, we look cooler.

FINALLY BACK. Apologies for the wait, decided to get some lunch with my dad while I was out.

>>3532896
>>3532899
>>3532905
>>3532914
>>3532915
>>3532916
>>3532924
>>3532960
Prison Island certainly wins by a long shot, so writing now!

>>3532915
Levels are a combination of both bragging rights and a way of acquiring money and tickets for loot-boxes.

>>3532957
Funnily enough, the loot-box tickets are sort of the materials for crafting weapons? Cinder wouldn't know this because she doesn't give two shits about doing it herself, but gunsmithing requires a base weapon to model after. That's why there are multiple tiers to the tickets - the better the base gun, the better the end product will be. When Cinder said "hey base guns aren't worth a damn anymore", they are but in a different way! Also you need to funnel a shit-ton of money into it, as well as extra if you want to custom design certain bits of it...it's a very time consuming process, and you need to play a lot to be able to do it. Sorry for the sudden text wall, I was looking for an excuse to explain gunsmithing - for both you guys to know and also for me to solidify the aspects!

As the game world comes to life around you, the first thing you notice is that you’re no longer in a standing position.

Your body is hunched over on a stone slab jutting out from the wall, your head down between your arms and legs. When you pull it up to observe your surroundings, you find that you can’t really see... anything. There’s no light in the room other than what seeps in from a few flickering fluorescent bulbs in the hallway, dim enough that all you can make out is your exit - a door hanging off of its hinges. The air around you is freezing, and you can hear the booming sounds of waves crashing against a distant surface.

This is…whatever you were expecting to come into, it wasn’t this. It’s quite eerie, the atmosphere being something that could have been taken out of a horror game. You step forward and nearly trip, a smattering of rubble and a bag blocking your way. Knowing what it contains already, you don’t hesitate in picking up the bag and slinging it over your shoulder. From the looks of things, the game’s decided the placement of your weapons for you – your revolver and shotgun are holstered to each side of your pants, and your sniper rifle is firmly strapped to your back.

As soon as the bag is firmly set in place, a familiar robotic voice booms down the empty halls, the acoustics and volume making you wince.

“Participants have found their starting items. Invulnerability has been removed.” Unlike the first time this occurred, you see a blue sheen drift away from your body into the darkness – you must not have seen it due to it being daytime before. “The time limit has been set at one hour. Good luck, participants. The match is officially started.”

Looks like you better get moving.

>Move into the hallway and try and gauge where you’re at.
>Take a look around the starting room to see if there’s anything usable.
>Other.

>>3533023
>>Move into the hallway and try and gauge where you’re at.

>>3533023
Other.
Find some stairs and get to a higher position.

>>3533023
>>Take a look around the starting room to see if there’s anything usable.

>>3533023
>Move into the hallway and try and gauge where you’re at.

>Take a look around the starting room

Take everything(useful) that isn’t nailed down. As any good protagonist would do

>>3533023
>Take a look around the starting room to see if there’s anything usable.

>>3533032
>>3533043
>>3533047
Time to scavenge! Writing now.

You drop down and attempt to feel your way through the rubble of the room – the floor’s practically covered in the stuff, and you find yourself having to move a lot of it out of the way just to see if anything’s underneath. It’s a bit of a process, considering how dim the light is! Fortunately, you do find something – it’s not the greatest, but it’s another melee weapon in case your knife goes missing.

>Nightstick acquired!
>DMG to limbs: 15 HP, DMG to body: 25 HP, DMG to head: 40 HP.

You loop it in your belt and contemplate the area in front of you. Do you wish to continue searching?

>Yes, there has to be more here – it’s the starting room! [This will require a roll.]
>No, you’ll head into the hallway and see what awaits you.

>>3533050
So invulnerabilities are removed when both (or more if not 1v1?) players find their starting gear. Is it possible to run around and figure out the layout while invincible by not picking up starting gear? If so, is there a time limit before you can be hurt?

>>3533069
>Yes, there has to be more here – it’s the starting room!

>>3533069
>>No, you’ll head into the hallway and see what awaits you.

>>3533069
>Yes, there has to be more here – it’s the starting room! [This will require a roll.]
I'm feeling lucky, bet there's a secret.

>>3533069
>>No, you’ll head into the hallway and see what awaits you.
Probably better to keep moving and be on the lookout for a Security Office. Better flashlights and all that.

>>3533072
That's definitely a possibility, and you would have about...I'd say a minute and a half grace period before the invulnerability drops! Some people can make extremely good pace in that time (and those with lighter loadouts often do). In 5v5 there is no grace period!

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>3533075
>>3533077
Since it's a tie, gonna roll between the two of these and if it lands on staying to search, please roll me a 1d20!

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>3533098

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>3533098

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>3533098

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>3533098

>>3533102
Writing now!

After sifting one side of the room, you decide to go to the other and continue the process. As you do, you mentally remark how lifelike this game feels now. Whilst you didn’t quite get the chance to really take it in during the match with 0phelia, you can feel the varying textures of the rock surrounding your hands, as well as the frigid air that fills this room. It must have taken Auxilia Systems more effort than you can imagine to encode all of this, but it certainly makes for a more realistic experience.

You’re starting to think that you won’t find anything at all within this chamber, but as you go to draw your hand back and move on, you graze what seems to be a small and long cardboard box. You hurriedly fish it out while trying to listen to the outsides of the room – no sound other than the waves, which must mean Cinder’s somewhere else. Upon inspecting it, you’re surprised to find a pack of flares!

>Pack of flares acquired! Five remaining.

These aren’t like the ones you’d find nowadays – the new flares are squarer shaped, these are as old-fashioned as can be. Hey, looks like you have a light source other than the flashlight now!

You’re tempted to work this room over further, but you remind yourself that time is of the essence. What do you do?

>Inventory:
>Mk. 2 Rope
>Three health patches (+20 HP)
>Flashlight (universally fits on any gun)
>Binoculars
>Pack of flares.

>Keep searching! There must be something secret here! [This will require a HIGH roll.]
>Move out into the hallway, you need to get your bearings.
>Search for a set of stairs immediately and try to ascend.
>Other.

>>3533150
>Search for a set of stairs immediately and try to ascend.

>>3533150
>>Search for a set of stairs immediately and try to ascend.

>>3533150
>>Move out into the hallway, you need to get your bearings.

>>3533150
>Move out into the hallway, you need to get your bearings.

We need cameras. Security is too obvious. The Warden's office is our best bet.

>>3533150
>Move out into the hallway, you need to get your bearings.
I agree with>>3533162. Cameras are the way.

>>3533157
>>3533162
>>3533171
Time to get a move on! Writing now.

>Move out into the hallways

We should probably find a map or something. You know, to best situate ourselves

You stand up and brush the dust and dirt from your hands, pulling the revolver from it’s holster and moving into the hallway, aiming from left to right as you scan the hallway for any hidden threats. When it’s apparent that she hasn’t gotten the drop on you, you lower the gun but do not put it away.

As you look around, you can figure right away that you are in a prison, albeit one in a state of abandonment. Cells litter this hallway, and at each end of it lies a door. As stated earlier, you can see that the fluorescent bulbs haven’t been changed in a very long time, and your cell is not the only one to be in a state of disrepair. A lot of the metal bars have been eroded by time, and many of the rooms that you can see are in a similar predicament as yours – rubble everywhere.

Fucking hell, this isn’t the map you were expecting – it also puts you at a bit of a disadvantage due to your primary weapon, however you still have your new shotgun! You’re glad you took the time to pick out a supporting weapon.

You move and try some of the cell doors as you make your way down the hallway – unlike yours, none are off of the hinges and each one is locked. You could probably brute force your way in if you needed to, but time was of the essence – your eyes immediately turn upwards, and you spot what you’re looking for.

Two cameras at each end of the room that are seemingly still functional, if the red LED light was anything to judge by. It must mean that they aren’t activated, and that implies that there are other cameras within the complex. Looks like you know what to look for! You pace to each end of the hallway and test the doors – they are unlocked, and have signs indicating where they lead to.

Which door do you take?

>The one leading upwards – the sign indicates that it leads to one of the upper cell blocks, mess hall, and warden’s room.
>The one leading downwards – the sign indicates that it leads to the security room, armory, and solitary confinement.
>Actually, you won’t take either – you can bunker up here and take her on in close quarters with the shotgun.
>Other.

>>3533225
>>The one leading downwards – the sign indicates that it leads to the security room, armory, and solitary confinement.
Keep an eye out for the infirmary as well.

>>3533225
>>The one leading downwards
Into the belly of the beast.

>>3533236
+1
Let’s take a looksie at the Wardens room. It might have some goodies.

>>3533240
The warden's is upstairs though...

>>3533236
>>3533239
Down into the depths. Writing now!

>>3533240
Also yeah, warden's is upstairs!

File: Hallway.jpg (611 KB, 1920x1080)

611 KB JPG

You spend a few seconds considering between the two doors, before finally deciding to take the downwards staircase. If any room would have cameras, it would have to be the security room – as well as that, there could still be some goodies left over in the armory if you were lucky.

You move through the door and step onto the staircase, and you cringe when the metal creaks under your feet. This staircase is just as fucked as the rest of the prison – at least it’s not missing steps, so you manage to go down as slowly as possible in order to not make much noise. Every time you hear something off, you pause and raise your revolver an inch higher. Eventually you make the trek down and find another door leading to another cell block. There are indicators of other rooms here, but they’ve been scratched out.

Well, this floor must be bigger than the one you just came from, as it seemed to only contain that hallway.

Seeing no other way around it, you brace yourself against the wall and edge open the door with your revolver ready. It makes a minimal amount of noise, as you’re being careful. You don’t know if Cinder spawned above or below you, so caution is of the highest importance. When you open the door, you’re greeted with another long hallway that looks marginally less shitty than yours. The bars aren’t as degraded, and the floor is actually clean for the most part – if you were to ascribe a meaning to it, it could be because not a lot of people came down here.

It’s pointless to speculate that, though, since it’s just a game.

>Move to the end and look for the security room, you need visuals on this place.
>Take your time examining each cell for anything useful. [This will require a roll.]
>Look to see if there are any signs of Cinder – she could have been here already and doubled back.
>Other.

>>3533312
>Move to the end and look for the security room, you need visuals on this place.
Watch out for coverpoints and traps.

>>3533312
>Look to see if there are any signs of Cinder – she could have been here already and doubled back.

>>3533312
>Look to see if there are any signs of Cinder – she could have been here already and doubled back.

>>3533312
>Look to see if there are any signs of Cinder – she could have been here already and doubled back.

>>3533312
>>Move to the end and look for the security room, you need visuals on this place.