[OPEN] This New, Hollow World

[Tariri]

~~ TARIRI ~~

“Eternal flame
The hollow world I see, the sorrow deeply I feel
Now they're perfectly burned out.”

---

Tariri wakes up, and she sees… the blue morning sky. “This is a bit weird…” she said, then she looked at her right. “Hey, Russell,” she called out on someone, who’s named Russell. “Are you—”

—He’s not there.

“Now this is weird indeed. He was just here a while ago,” she muttered as she sat up. Wait, standing up? She was sitting on her chair, staring at her computer, and creating her character for Elder Tale. Why is she here? With that in mind, she feels like… she has a tail. And additional fox ears. “That’s strange.”

On the spur of the moment, translucent windows appeared before her. One was a status screen, showing her stats like her HP, MP and other stuff. But that should be in the game itself, right? She’s not even in Elder Tale right now…

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Someone who looked like a cat said. “WHY AM I A CAT?”

Tariri thought, ‘Wait, cats can’t stand on two legs for a long time, right? Then why is he even…’

Suddenly she gets knocked by two guys, who seem to be fighting. “It’s your fault! You shouldn’t have invited me to play this game!” Says the first man. The other man, the one the first was fighting with, replied, “I-I didn’t know that this would happen! If I did, I shouldn’t have got you involved!”

‘Wait, so…’ Tariri thought. ‘Am I really in Elder Tale?’

But then later she has an idea, then she said, “I saw a log out button on the top of my status screen, so…” As she said that, the two fighting guys looked at her. Tariri continued, “I’m wondering, can we log out?”

The first guy said, “Well… we can do that,” then he opened his status screen. The others around her opened theirs, and Tariri herself did so. At almost the same time, they all tapped the log out button. However, the status screen and log out buttons had disappeared.

“All our hopes up for nothing,” the cat-man earlier said. The two guys that were fighting earlier said in unison, “Tch, thanks a lot, girly.”

“And by ‘a lot,’ we meant ‘for nothing!’” The guy who said that ‘I didn’t know about this’ thing earlier said. Tariri stepped backwards, her eyes widening and almost with tears.

---

Words: 388
Tags: —
Notes: —

[Zivvy]

Zivvy Race / Human Summoner Lv.1 HP 100% MP 100% Buffs None Status Normal Guild None	Zivilyn realized too late that he was falling backward instead of sitting pretty at his computer, so the back of his head hit the moss-covered pavement hard. After wincing, he opened his eyes, and immediately noticed three details. One: he was looking at a blue morning sky. Two: there was nothing between his eyes and that sky. No screen, and especially no glasses. Three: his sight was normal- no, better than normal, such that he could make out the details of a building's top at the edge of his view. “What the hell?! Why am I a cat?” Snapped out of his reverie by the stranger's words, Zivilyn sat up to look at the speaker, and a window appeared over that person's head, identifying them as an Adventurer. Before he could question how that window appeared in the first place, more voices caught his attention. “It's your fault! You shouldn't have invited me to play this game!” “I-I didn't know this would happen! If I did, I wouldn't have gotten you involved!” Zivilyn's eyes spotted three more Adventurers: the two male speakers, and a tall, pink-haired woman with fox ears. Worried that the argument there might turn physical, he instinctively walked closer so that he could intervene if necessary. As he approached, he heard the fox-eared woman- Tariri, according to the window over her head- mention a Log Out button on her “status screen”, and as if on cue, windows flooded his vision. Dead center was the Summoner symbol, and surrounding it were buttons for Skills, Equipment, Items, and Quests. The status window on his top-right identified him as Zivvy, a Level 1 Human Summoner. He then looked to his bottom-left, and found the Log Out button. Pressing it out of curiosity only made the letters gray out while a no symbol flashed four times; he didn't really expect an easy way out of this situation anyway. “Thanks a lot, girly.” “And by 'a lot', we meant 'for nothing'!” Those quips aimed at Tariri made Zivvy look beyond his interface, and he noticed her about to cry. In one swift motion, he stepped in front of Tariri and glared at the rude duo. “That was uncalled for. So what if her idea didn't work? I don't see you wankers suggesting anything.”	Notes: Due to one week of inactivity, this post is scrapped. Do not reply. I'm going to use the many-worlds interpretation to handwave my appearance here. Zivvy's eyes look blank, like those of Hei from Darker than Black. Keep this in mind if you lock eyes with him. Since I don't know how those two bozos would react, I'm leaving full control of them to you, OP. Dialogue colors: Zivvy's. Bit characters'.
Tags: Tariri	Word Count: 381	Coding By Zivvy of LH

[Tariri]

~~ TARIRI ~~

“Eternal flame
The hollow world I see, the sorrow deeply I feel
Now they're perfectly burned out.”

---

Tariri then noticed someone confronting the two rude duo of male Adventurers. A man with brown hair. He was defending her, saying that the “wankers” never did suggested anything for them to go back to the real world. One of the two replied angrily, “Hey! This is our business! And you’re here, interrupting! That’s rude!”

Suddenly Tariri fought back, “Not as rude as you two, though!” She’s glaring at the two. “He’s right! You don’t even have some other idea how to get out of here!”

“Tch,” the other of the duo said. “Let’s just neeping forget this…” And so they left, seeming to be still cursing as they leave.

Tariri looked at the man. Then an interface showed up, showing his stats. He’s a Lv. 1 Summoner, named Zivvy, an Adventurer of the Human Race. She says, with a bit of stuttering, “Uh… t-thank you…”

She looked around after saying that. This place has the appearance of something like the real-life London. Buildings and all. However, there are notable differences, like how there are more buildings. “So, this is how the United Kingdom Server of Elder Tale looks like.”

‘But it looks like the real world,’ Tariri thought to herself. ‘To me, at least. I don’t know with the others.’

---

Words: 213
Tags: Zivvy
Notes: —

[Zivvy]

Zivvy Race / Human Summoner Lv.1 HP 100% MP 100% Buffs None Status Normal Guild None	Zivvy was about to point out which among them was actually lashing out, but Tariri beat him to the punch from behind him. Seeing the duo walk away, he kept a close eye on them in case they made a sudden attack on him or the girl, and sighed in relief when that didn't happen. “Uh… t-thank you…” He turned his head to look at her. “You're welcome.” A more detailed status window identified her as a Level 1 Fox Tail Shaman, and she certainly looked the part: the ears on her head and the tail on her back seemed alive, and her clothes reminded him of People of the Land ritual practitioners back in the Western Europe area of the original Elder Tales. “So, this is how the United Kingdom Server of Elder Tale looks like.” “I was fully expecting Atharva to reuse their existing maps, but there seem to be more buildings here than I remember from the original. Wait, how can you be so sure that we're in a game and not actually in a fantasy land? VR wishes it were this good-” Zivvy then realized that he was rambling: an old habit from his managerial duties in his brother's guild. Right now, he should be assessing the situation. “Sorry, I'm mixing up my priorities. My name is...” He wondered if he should give his real name instead of his handle, but decided against it; everyone can see his handle anyway. “My name is Zivvy.” He offered a handshake with his right hand, which was covered with the fingerless glove of a newbie Summoner. “What's your name?” Even if he knew it already from the interface, he still wanted to be polite.	Notes: Due to one week of inactivity, this post is scrapped. Do not reply. Google Maps image, for location reference. I'll be using realtime leveling within this thread; by the end of this post, Zivvy would become a Level 2 Summoner. Dialogue colors: Zivvy's. Tariri's. Lingering topics: -Zivvy's empty eyes -last moments before the Unfounded Kingdom release -unexplored parts of the Interface: --Buttons: Skills, Equips, Items, Quests, Friends List, Options --Windows: Zone Information
Tags: Tariri	Word Count: 285	Coding By Zivvy of LH