Rawl 2010/07/29(Thu)22:56 No. 213795 ID: a7adcf
File 128046936624.png - (81.50KB , 700x700 , 133.png )

Sam walks through the doorway carrying what seems to be a duffel bag.
"Okay, here's what I got. I couldn't find any shotgun shells, so I couldn't make the slam bang," Sam says with a tone of disappointment, "However, I do have a can of bear mace. Manage to convince my friend to buy it for me, although it cost me a good amount of money. I also have a jar of salt, some bandages, two bottles of water, six granola bars, and something special for you."
"Something special?"

Rawl 2010/07/29(Thu)22:56 No. 213796 ID: a7adcf
File 128046939735.png - (83.56KB , 700x700 , 134.png )

Sam pulls out something behind him.
"A metal bat!" He says although he was showing a brand new car, "I figured it would be more useful than your cane."
"I guess so."
"So, do we need anything else?"

Hmm, no that sounds good. The granola bars probably won't be necessary for food, but... we could use them to bait monsters!

>>213805

Don't knock the effects of having a calorie-dense meal after a fight. It can save your life, if you spent enough energy.

>>213795

Did you guys get the foaming type of mace or the regular spray? The foam requires that you aim it carefully, but it's more irritating. The regular spray is easier to aim, but you have to take note of the wind direction when you use it. If you spray into the wind you may end up macing yourself.

also want to try holding hands when your portal monster wakes up. maybe you can get sucked into the same place? if it starts hurting your arm though let go. don't want any dislocations in a fight.

Rawl 2010/09/11(Sat)18:18 No. 229696 ID: d844f8
File 128425428743.png - (114.40KB , 700x700 , 135.png )

>>213809
"The souls want to know what kind of mace it is."
"Bear mace?" Sam says not understanding the question.
"No, spray or foam?"
"Oh, spray. It's really orange."
>>213810
"They also want us to hold hands before the game starts so that we end up in the same place."
"It's worth a shot," Sam says complying with the demand.
After a minute of holding hands, the ball monsters awaken and begin to grow in size in unison.
'That's still creepy no matter how many times I see that,' The feminine voice says.

Rawl 2010/09/11(Sat)18:18 No. 229697 ID: d844f8
File 128425431470.png - (234.46KB , 700x700 , 136.png )

After the a few seconds, they begin their rush. In an instant, the monster bares its wide, open, loud mouth and is in front of Sam, who can only open his eyes in surprise.
'That is stupidly fast,' Sam thinks to himself before getting swallowed.
The two monsters begin to devour the siblings and begin to start tugging from different directions when they realize that the two are bound.

Rawl 2010/09/11(Sat)18:19 No. 229698 ID: d844f8
File 128425435393.png - (197.59KB , 700x700 , 137.png )

"Grgh!" Sam groans as he tries to hold on. Kylie's voice isn't heard, but she is probably in the same amount of pain.
The teeth begin to crush down on Sam's arm.
"Gnngh! Kylie! Let go! It's not gonna work!"
Kylie makes a small noise in agreement and they release each other.
"Woah!" Sam says as he begins to fall down the throat, if you could call it that, of the monster.

Rawl 2010/09/11(Sat)18:19 No. 229699 ID: d844f8
File 128425438427.png - (297.70KB , 700x700 , 138.png )

'Don't land on my face! Don't land on my face!' Sam thinks as he tries to position himself during this free fall. For once, luck goes his way as he lands on both his feet.
'Fuck yeah,' He thinks with a smile full of pride strewn on his face as the sound of other people falling down fill the air.
'Aw, I wanted you to land on your side again,' the whiny voice says disappointed.
'Fuck no,' Sam replies to him.
'Sam, there are a lot of people here,' The old voice says surveying the area.
'Huh, I wonder what they're planning.'
'Maybe they're gonna make you kill each other,' The manly voice says seriously.
'It's possible,' The feminine voice agrees.

Rawl 2010/09/11(Sat)18:20 No. 229700 ID: d844f8
File 128425440688.png - (289.92KB , 700x700 , 139.png )

Sam starts looking around at the people around him and notices the man with the chainsaw. He then lightly grips his sword just in case he did have to fight the people around him. In fact, most of the people around him look formidable.
Stigmas' voice suddenly chimes in to break Sam's paranoia.
"Welcome to the second game!"

Rawl 2010/09/11(Sat)18:20 No. 229701 ID: d844f8
File 128425442754.png - (151.50KB , 700x700 , 140.png )

Everyone around him turns to one direction, so naturally, he does the same. Stigmas is standing by a stone door that is embedded into the wall, which resembles the kind you would find in a cave. But that isn't the only stone door, in fact, there are several more strewn about this circular room.
"I will now begin explaining the rules for this day's game," Stigmas says cutting straight to the chase, "Around you are various doors, each with a different number but with the same letters. These letters represent words, M for monster and P for puzzle. The number below that door represents the level of difficulty of above letter. So this door would mean it has monsters with the difficulty of five and puzzles with the difficulty of five, which is the highest difficulty a door could have. The lowest would a door with M1 and P1, therefore this is the hardest door to get through, do you understand? You shouldn't go through this door unless you have confidence in your skills, or else your death would be a very quick and boring one. All of these doors have varying levels of difficulty. The goal of this game is, of course, to get to the end of any of these doors, but there is a limit of how many people can make it though."
Various sounds of discontent and anger fill the crowd.
"How many?" A random voice shouts out.
"Twenty of you will die," Stigmas says coldly.
The crowd falls silent with this decree.
"Of course if twenty of you die to monsters then it wouldn't matter much, would it?" Stigmas says smiling, "Oh, and no violence is permitted in this room, so you can take it easy here as long as you want. Just don't stay too long. Well, then any questions?"

>>229701
"Why give us the option? Aren't we all just going to go in the 1/1 door?" I'm... really expecting a trap or something.

...Wait a minute. "Twenty of you will die"? ...Exactly twenty? If you wait til last, after that quota is met, will you be safe?

>>229701
How many are allowed to pass through each door?

>>229701
Well this could be interesting. Forget goat guy for now. Go and look for Kylie, she should be somewhere here in this room. Yell out for her.

If you can find her then you will have someone you trust to work with and to watch your back. And you will be able to keep her safe. Then you need to pick a door, I would suggest a 3 or 4. With our help the two of you should hopefully be able to do it, and there's probably not going to be as many people who you need to watch out for in those. Who knows, the psychos might actually go with the easier ones because it's likely to be more people in those, and this here now is a place where they can kill someone without any repercussions in their civilian lives.

Other than that, hmm, is that sword sharp and can you actually use one without cutting off your own foot? There is a bit more to swordfighting than just waving it around.

But if we play it smart we should be able to get through it without having to fight.

So, lets go find Kylie and then get this show on the road.

Rawl 2010/10/03(Sun)12:21 No. 237804 ID: 37d2ab
File 128613368223.png - (290.00KB , 700x700 , 141.png )

>>229704
"Why give us the option of choosing? Wouldn't we all go to the 1/1 door since it's the easiest?" Sam says as the people around stare at him.
"Heh, that would be interesting in its own way, since it would end up being a big giant race, but I never said that easier is shorter. The length the doors vary, so of course, going through a door with a higher difficulty might make you reach your destination easier. It is all about how much you are willing to risk to survive."
"And by twenty people dying? Does that mean if twenty people die, we can take our time?"
"That's right," Stigmas says with a smile as though he was glad you asked that question.
>>229925
Sam opens his mouth to ask the next question, but another feminine voice chimes in first.
"So any amount of people can enter a door?"
"Of course, and you can also exit a door any time you please. Well, that should about cover it. I'll let you get to the game now," Stigmas say as he disappears into the ground.

Rawl 2010/10/03(Sun)12:21 No. 237805 ID: 37d2ab
File 128613371281.png - (339.02KB , 700x700 , 142.png )

>>229941
'I really don't have any experience with a sword unless you count years of gaming as experience.'
'You handled yourself pretty well against that bird though,' The old voice tries to encourage him.
'But he lost his shield in the process, even though it was a flimsy one,' The masculine voice says a little worried.
'Think about that stuff later! Go look for Kylie!' The feminine voice says to make everyone focus.
'Right....'
As soon as Sam thinks that, Kylie is standing front of him.
"Hi...," Kylie says stiffly.

i think all the people is making it hard for her to 'see'. ask her what's wrong.

>>237805
There is someone hiding behind her with their hands on her shoulders. They might also be threatening her. So don't indicate that you have noticed that yet, just ask her what's up.

You need to get close enough so that you can pull her out of their grip and see what actions need to be taken next.

Oh, and sadly years of gaming does not a master swordsman make. You need to get used to the weight and the balance, work in reflexes and a sense for where your body is compared to the sword and stuff. But if you just keep to stabbing and some general generic slashes you should be ok. But if you have time you should look into reading some fechtbucher later and get the footwork right.

But that's for later, if you survive. Now for the reunion with your sister and the revelation of who has their hands on her.

Rawl 2010/10/03(Sun)12:56 No. 237811 ID: 37d2ab
File 128613581687.png - (343.97KB , 700x700 , 143.png )

>>237809
"...What's going on?" Sam says as he approaches Kylie slowly.
"...."
"Kylie?" Sam says as he reaches out to her.
"Boo!" A girl behind Kylie says as she sticks her head out.
"Sang-hee?!" Sam says he retracts his arm a little, and then puts it down to his side, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, you know, I was thinking about seeing how you were doing and here I am," She says with a mischievous smile, "Even though I don't need to ask it, but do you wanna party up?"

i dunno. how much do you think she can be trusted? if you are SURE she wouldn't shove you into a death pit to save herself then sure.

>>237811
Well now, this poses an interesting question. Or two really. First, how much can you trust her? And second, what happened with that truck after it hit you? A large amount of people nearby seems to have been killed in whatever the aftermath was.

Anyway, she seems moderatly helpful and friendly. So I guess trust depends on how well you know her. If you trust her then bring her along, but watch her. If you don't trust her then don't let her tag along.

Sure, unless you have a reason why not. What do you know about her?

Also, in regards to the doors, something like 1M/4P is probably the easiest. Try to find one +/-1 that which not many other people are going in.

Yes, you should work in a three-man team with Sang-hee. We need to know what gear she has, but advertising that in the crowd is probably a bad idea.

I have an idea. Touch Sang-hee and we'll talk to her voices. It's secure, and we can talk faster to each other than you can talk to her. You really can't afford to waste much time.

Rawl 2010/10/03(Sun)23:52 No. 238106 ID: 37d2ab
File 128617515642.png - (315.28KB , 700x700 , 144.png )

>>237812
>>237813
>>237865
'Sang-hee is a good friends of mine,' Sam thinks.
'And by that you mean you like her,' The whiny voice says tauntingly.
'Yeah, yeah, she plays more games than me, and she can beat anyone one when it comes to them,' Sam says ignoring the whiny voice, 'She also has a good head on her shoulders, although she tends to rub people the wrong way sometimes.'
Kylie still stands there uncomfortably.
'Ah.'
"Sang-hee, you should stop touching Kylie. She doesn't like to be touched too long," Sam says pointing at her.
"Oh, sorry," She says as she lets go.
"Anyway, Sang-hee, let's-"
"Wait, let's go over there first. You already brought enough attention to yourself by asking those questions." She says as she points to a secluded part of the cave.
'She has a point,' The old voice says.
"Alright," Sam says as he begins to walk to the empty area.
"So, what did you want to say?" Sang-hee says with a tone as though she already knows.
"You're sure dressed like you're prepared for this," Sam says purposely to betray her expectations.
"Of course, I had a year to prepare after all," Sang-hee says with her chest puffed out a little.
"Anyway, let's team up," Sam says with a small chuckle.
"Of course."
>>238088
"Also, there's this," Sam says as he hold out his hand.
"What?"
"If you touch my hand, we can exchange souls. It'll make communicating a lot faster."
"Really? That's a useful function," She says as she reaches out and touches Sams hand.
'Did it work?' A gloomy voice says.
'He probably was lying to make you look like a fool,' A spiteful voice says.
'... It worked,' The manly voice says as though he with it didn't.
'Cool. I'm Sang-hee Ryoo. Nice to meet ya,' Sang-hee says completely breaking the cold atmosphere of voices.

... a year? how did you manage that? kylie and Sam only had less then a day.

Nice to meet you Sang-hee, we're the most successful souls we know. We've saved 96 souls, hopefully Kylie there will be number 97. Apparently we did something to merit a memory wipe, none of us remember what that was just yet.

Anyway, enough about us. Sam and Kylie had a day to prepare, and managed to get some decent weapons. Bear mace, melee weapons (bat and sword), salt for fighting slug-types and other vulnerable monsters, water, food, and painkillers.

I hope you have a ranged weapon type, we only have the mace. If we'd had more than a day to prepare we could have gotten them guns, but you got to roll with the punches right? Right.

What do you have, by the way? You've had a whole year to prepare for this, so I'm hoping you went all anarchist's cookbook and made some pipebombs or something cool. Distraction devices?

>>238106
Nice to meet you.

So, you had a year to prepare, what's up with that? Also, I'm gonna assume you have trained with those knives? Hmm, got anything else in that suit? Like maybe kevlar or a chain mail or something?

Oh, and it was nice of you to reunite Sam and Kylie. Really we need to find a way to restore Kylie's vision or something. She is good at coping with it but not being able to see is somewhat of a disadvantage here.

>>238106
Hi! Okay, if you had a year to prepare, then this means this game is probably an annual event or so. Which would explain why there's so many people around, they had a year to rack up candidates. Let's see... that means you basically got a free year of life, right? Unless we've got time travel on our hands, please don't let make us deal with time travel. Okay, we were at 96, Kylie, Sam, and you makes 99, so we've probably got one more person to help. Keep an eye out for anyone else you know.

Rawl 2010/10/04(Mon)21:45 No. 238617 ID: 37d2ab
File 128625391461.png - (311.56KB , 700x700 , 145.png )

>>238111
'By dying a year ago, I guess?'
>>238135
>>238163
'97 souls? How grand!' A preachy voice comments.
'97 souls and a memory wipe? Isn't that a grand tale you're spewing,' An unforgiving voice says with animosity.
'Quiet, I'm trying to think,' Sang-hee thinks as she tilts her head to the side and rests her arm on her hip as if that was her thinking pose, 'The things I currently have are five small firecrackers, the ones that need to be lit up, and a lighter in my front far left pouch, bandages and some painkillers in my front middle left pouch, about four very sharp throwing darts in my front middle right pouch, a good amount of sand in my front far right pouch, a hammer in my back right pouch, and a Molotov cocktail in my back left pouch. I guess my iphone that I keep in my pocket can be used as a distraction if I set it down and play some music on it. Of course, I'm trained with my knives, but not in the conventional sense. I would've gotten Kevlar or more destructive things if my parents weren't so overprotective. They usually have my older brother escort me everywhere. I used to have more Molotov cocktails too.'
'... A bear required three of them,' The gloomy voice says as though she was reliving that terror.
>>238180
'Don't worry, nothing stupid and impossible like time travel happened, then again this whole game is impossible. I did see some familiar faces I've seen at soon here, but no one I know too well and i would trust my life with. Anyway, about those doors! Which do you prefer? I personally want to try the 5/5 door!'
'Egomaniac,' the spiteful voice spits out with a hint of jest.

Besides the 5m/5p door, there is also the following:
1m/1p
2m/4p
3m/3p
5m/3p
4m/2p
3m/1p
2m/5p
4m/4p
2m/3p

Let's stick to 3m at most. I'd say 4p at most... but we may be able to handle 5p.

>>238617

If you and your friends had guns, and you had fought together before, I would agree with your desire to try to 5/5 door. As it is, you don't and you haven't. The Duke abides, but the rest of us cope.

Still, three people is a significant fighting force. I suggest risking the 4m/2p door. You want to finish quickly, before 17 other people escape. You, Sam, and Kylie are all well armed. Kylie's handicap only slows her down a bit in a melee fight.

A final note. While it doesn't matter who we enter the door with, we should leave with the person who is most injured. Experience has led us to believe the quality of repairs performed to your corpus upon the end of the night's game depends in part on how powerful your attendant souls are.

yeah, us souls are pro at puzzles. but your combined skill determines what M you should take. and 3m sounds about right, maybe 4.

>>238617
3/3 sounds good to me. While you have had alot of time to prepare the other two has had 2 days. And Kylie got busted up pretty hard in last nights little event. So they're probably not up to handling anything too dangerous.

>>238617
I vote for 2m/4p, but I just like puzzles.

>>238745
Agreed. 2m/4p allows us to clear the monsters with no trouble, and 100+ brains shouldn't have an issue with a level 4 puzzle.

Also, is this quest still alive?

Rawl 2010/12/28(Tue)18:21 No. 267425 ID: 86bbf7
File 129358931026.png - (335.66KB , 700x700 , 146.png )

'Alright, 3/3 sounds like a good balance to me then.'
"Let's go to the 3/3 door, any problems?"
"None here," Sam says with a shrug, "The people are starting to move also."
Various people are looking at the doors and wandering around.
"Why aren't they going in?" Kylie asks.
"Probably because it'll draw attention, but we already drawn so much attention that they're already bound to notice us, so let's go right now," Sang-hee says with determined eyebrows, her mouth, on the other hand, was curled into a smile that seemed to drift between cunning and sweet.
"Fine with me," Kylie says in her usual unfazed tone.
Sang-hee walks as soon as she gets the okay from her teammates and with steps filled with excitement that seemed to call on the people around them to look at them. Sam makes a worrisome face but grits down his teeth. Kylie... seems the same as usual.
"Hmmm," Sang-hee looks at the door and then just decided to push it open.
GRRRRRRRRRNNNN
The loud grinding of the stone door meeting the hard stone floor immediately calls the attention of the people who weren't paying attention to them.
"Let's go in quick," Sam says to escape the gaze of other contestants.
"Yeah!" Sang-hee says as she and Sam run on ahead. Kylie continues her walk at her own pace.

Rawl 2010/12/28(Tue)18:22 No. 267428 ID: 86bbf7
File 129358937960.png - (201.70KB , 700x700 , 147.png )

"A monster already?" Sam says drawing his sword.
"It sounds like it is asleep to me," Kylie says walking up to the two.
"You can tell? I don't hear anything," Sang-hee says keeping her eyes on the tail.
"Yeah, I don't hear any small noises, like the rubbing of flesh on stone, so I think it's resting or something."
"What do we do?" Sam says gripping his sword.

If you risk fighting it, Sam or Sang-hee should keep an eye on the door for anyone following you three. If you are followed, prepare to fight the interloper as well as the monster.

If you sneak by, you may want to take the time to set up a booby-trap for anyone who would try to follow you. It need not be elaborate, you just need a tripwire and something to make a racket to wake the monster. Do the firecrackers use friction fuses?

In either case, you do not want an interloper to benefit. You must get through the challenge as quickly and safely as possible, and you must be ready to stop anyone who would try to beat you to the exit.

>>267428
Sneak up on it. Keep an eye out for anyone following.

You will have a better idea of how to act once you can see the damn thing.

Rawl 2010/12/29(Wed)10:00 No. 267564 ID: 86bbf7
File 129364564581.png - (232.09KB , 700x700 , 148.png )

>>267452
>>267558
'No, my firecrackers need to be lit, which is why I carry around a lighter. What do you guys think we should do?'
'Kill everything,' the spiteful voice says a hint of forcefulness.
'Kill everything,' the preachy voice says in a condescending tone.
'...Kill everything,' the gloomy voice says probably just to fit in.
'Kill what you need to kill,' the manly voice says disgusted by the other three.
'...Let's just sneak up on it first,' Sang-hee said trying to reason with the blood lust in her head.
"Let's take a look at it first," Sam says before Sang-hee can speak.
"Yeah, you guys go, I'll keep a lookout here for any intruders," Sang-hee says as she turns around.
(Note: Control has switched to Sam.)
'Ah, crap. It's looking right at us.'
'It was waiting for us,' says a stern voice.

>>267564
Wave a stick a bit and see if it reacts. Don't wave it in a hostile fashion.

Oh, and see who is talking.

>>267564

While we haven't met anything intelligent in the challenge zones, this may be able to talk. Since it is not attacking you, it is worth trying.

Something like, "We need to pass, is that ok?"

>>267565
The 'stern voice' was one of the other spirits we got from... well, either one of our buddies.

I really honestly doubt this thing is intelligent. It does have eyes but I suggest you play it defensive and keep your guard up. Determine if it has some sort of weakness you can exploit... It might not be able to turn very fast or be clumsy with all those legs.

>>267637

Yeah it probably isn't intelligent, but it's not attacking even though it saw us, so it's worth trying anyway.

Rawl 2010/12/30(Thu)22:09 No. 267974 ID: 238861
File 129377574932.png - (418.73KB , 700x700 , 149.png )

>>267577
>>267637
>>267697
'It was waiting for us,' says a stern voice.
'This is a stupid idea,' the stern voice says stressing the word stupid.
'Shut up, new guy,' the spunky voice says in a somehow positive way.
'Hmph,' the stern voice grunts with a tone of that doesn't hold any anger.
'Might as well give it a shot,' Sam thinks.
"Hey, we-"
The moment Sam spoke the monster leaped up at him, but it was not a soft leap that ballerina or a frog would make. No, this was one was full of speed, with the force of a panther pouncing on its prey, except in this case the force was going on an angle up, toward Sam's face.
"Needagh!" Sam yelled as he rose his sword to guard, but a half-assed defense that uses the strength of one human arm is obviously no use against a full weight attack against a monster that is as long as a human.
"Sam!" Kylie called out.

Rawl 2010/12/30(Thu)22:09 No. 267976 ID: 238861
File 12937757892.png - (341.43KB , 700x700 , 150.png )

CLINK CLINK CLINK
Perhaps it was luck, or maybe the image of sharp, diseased ridden teeth is what caused the sword to be lodged in a way that allowed Sam's face not to be shredded up.
"Gngh!"
Sam grunted as he tried to raised the monster the monster off of him, but unfortunately, the strength of one human arm is not sufficient. It is never sufficient against these beasts. One of the claws began making a sort of squeaking sound.
'What is that?' Sam thought as he tried to stop the monster from crushing him and ending his life.
'You don't want to know,' the old voice says.
'Ah, it's the sound of my skull-'
Another claw digs into Sam's shoulder.
"Nngh!"

You're ground fighting. In a normal fight your stance depends on using the big muscles in your legs to deliver extra power to your blows. In a ground fight you don't have that.

Bring your knees up, press hard to buy a little distance, and then roll back slightly so that you can get your feet under it. Then, extend your legs just like you're making a big jump. You should shove it off of you, hard.

You just need to buy time for your allies to move in and help.

>>267976
The others should moving into assist. Just get some leverage and try to keep it from using those claws to cause further damage.

you have a sword...
it may be on your shoulders...

But I'm pretty sure you can take out its jaw...

>>268056

Won't work, he's got no momentum and poor leverage in this position. The blade would have to be as sharp as obsidian to do what you want, and it's not. Actually we're lucky it hasn't snapped yet, it looks like a cheap gaudy showpiece.