selfconcept | for trollophoroi

[ It's a gloomy place, but moreso than gloomy, it feels downright oppressive despite there not being many things in this vast room. It has a carpet floor, at least? To cushion that fall from the portal that was conveniently placed midair. It has some craters on the floor, but from what? Who knows?

There's also a single half chair in the center where the head admin sits comfortably with that grim reaper get up and all. His character information reads as "Hien". It looks like this is his throne and fandaniel is on the floor. ]

What do you have to say for yourself?

[ Now that was rather abrupt. In Mac Anu one second, landing with a oof on the carpeted floor of the Head Admin's... dungeon? The next. The landing sends a jolt of pain through Fandaniel — he hasn't bothered to turn that off because, of course, he wouldn't — and he grimaces, but it's hardly worth a complaint.

No, that's left for, ]

You know, I've been put in time-out by plenty of GMs in the past, but they never bothered with decor. [ He gives a slow look around the dour place from where he remains sitting on the floor, curious, taking in every detail, few though there are. ] Not that you've done much with the place.

[ That isn't what this Hien wanted to hear, he knows, but he's quite the talker. There's no way he cuts right to what the admin wants to know. ]

We could have it simulate the void if you'd like, akin to white torture.

[ Is he serious? It's hard to tell. The tone of his voice sounds dead and monotone, but perhaps that's just his normal way of speaking. ]

Or would you like to be punished like a little kid and write an apology letter instead?

I don't believe that you would.

[ He claims as much as he climbs back to his feet and brushes himself off, out of habit out of necessity. After all, it's a digital world, is there even digital dust to get on himself? Although... Would he? Could he? How would it feel if he did? ]

Though I can't see why you think I should be punished in the first place. [ Done dusting himself off from the fall, he levels his gaze at Hien and offers the head admin a smirk. ] You invited us to test your game, didn't you? I'm doing exactly that.

Testing is one thing, but another is to intentionally cause havoc. You have no remorse and you lie as if you just learned how to speak. Like a baby, who just found a shiny new toy.

[ Hien doesn't stand from the half-chair just yet, but he returns the gaze just as evenly. ]

This is your last chance, fandaniel. Just say that you're genuinely sorry and I will let you go.

[ A moment of silence passes between the two as Hien's troublesome little player rolls over several answers to that in his head. Would this guy hand out a ban this early? Day one? ]

Tch. [ He lets out a faint scoffing sound and plants his hands on his hips, cocking them to one side into a rather annoyed stance, not entirely unlike the huffy child Hien is comparing him to. ] You really are no fun... And what happens if I do not? Am I no longer in the beta?

I'll be generous and allow you to stay in the beta either way, but we'll be keeping an eye on you for any future mishaps.

[ "We". Not him though. He's diligent, but not that diligent. His voice gives off the feeling that he can't be bothered for constant surveillance. That's not where his energy goes. ]

However.

[ He slowly stands from the half-chair. He stands at a height of 5' 10", but that black cloak that ends at his shins and perhaps, his presence, makes him seem a little taller. Maybe that was the look he was going for. ]

I'll still be doling out a punishment for you if you don't genuinely apologize.

[ He doesn't believe fandaniel will though. People don't "apologize" that easily unless threatened. Now that Hien "relaxed" the potential circumstances, he doubts that he'll receive an apology at all.

So is this a test to gauge his reaction? Probably. ]

Oh? Is this the only time I'll get special attention from you?

[ It doesn't take much to be taller than Fandaniel, who stands at 5'6" and will only go lower when he swings his hands back to clasp behind himself and he bows forward some, head tilting to one side and up to keep his eyes on Hien. ]

How disappointing. [ Is it, though? ] Well, if that's the case, I shan't insult us both with a phony apology. It would only turn the stomach. I've no plans on doing anything but testing every iota of your game here in any way I can, so if you want to avoid mischief, you'll need to fix your bugs quicker than I can find them, Hien.

You're not my type.

[ Hien takes several steps towards Fandaniel, but doesn't get too close. Fandaniel is right though--a fake apology would probably irritate Hien even more and he's just really hoping for a chill opening day. His hopes are dashed, but it is what it is. ]

That's also not my job. If CC Corp wants me to fix the bugs, they'll have to pay me double. But at the very least, I can purge it from your system.

[ He raises a staff that definitely doesn't look like it should be called "Summer's Staff". Thanks, weapon skins. Yes, this guy is a Harvest Cleric.

A soft color glows under Hien's feet. ]

Mejuk Cruz.

[ A level 2 AoE wood spell that creates a swirl of sharpened leaves all around Fandaniel is brought to life by the quick casting. Even though the spell could be considered mediocre, his stats makes up for it to give a one-hit KO. Hope Fandaniel turned his pain sensors off or it'll hurt big time. ]

[ Any sarcastic retort he might have about the actual developers keeping up with him will now never be heard because his expression is quick to change when Hien lifts his staff. ]

Wai——!

[ Nope, Fandaniel has absolutely not turned his pain sensors off. Maybe he'll consider it after this! But that'll be a consideration for future him. Current him jerks back in pain as the spell swirls to life around him, arms thrown up as if that might somehow protect him.

His HP is wiped out in one go before he can even do more than let out a gasp, not even a shout, before collapsing on the spot. In the real world, he's definitely cringed back hard enough to overturn his chair, oops. ]

[ RIP. If the headset is still on, Fandaniel will see Hien slowly walking up to him, lowering himself and gently patting Fandaniel's head. His voice is quiet and is almost creepily gentle. ]

Good boy. I look forward to see you behaving from now on.

[ Hien sends him off with an absolutely condescending smile so that Fandaniel can respawn back in Mac Anu. ]

[ Fandaniel will receive a message from Hien in the game with an invitation. Should he accept it, he will be teleported to a different room than before.

The place looks relatively normal except whatever is supposed to be displayed past the glass is just full of muted static, and Fandaniel can see that PvP is disabled in this particular place. There's a chair for him to sit on if he'd like, but Hien will remain standing with the hood off his head. ]

[ The invite is accepted in a heartbeat and then he's in a shockingly normal-looking room, provided one ignores the muted static of the windows. Is this Hien's white room? Is this where he stays most of the time?

Questions he won't ask. There's a more important issue at hand. He ignores the chair and instead, opens his inventory to get the book again. The rest of his gear is indeed the set he was sent, the Eternal Damnation set, which are jet black robes that reflect nothing at all, not even the brightest light. The hood of this set perfectly obscures the wearer's face, cloaking it in shadow, though Fandaniel will push it back so that he, too, is standing there with his hood off. ]

This set. It came from no dungeon or quest.

[ Hien walks over to Fandaniel, observing the set. Despite what he typed over in the emails that made him seem disinterested, Hien seems to be genuinely concerned about this problem at hand in-person. He looks at the book closely, trying to inspect the code on it since that seems to be the main issue. He assumes Fandaiel doesn't have a problem with the armor specifically since he's wearing it. However, upon trying to inspect the code, only Hien sees what is displayed in front of him and his frown deepens.

Access denied.

And he tries again.

Access denied.

...

He quietly breathes out. ]

What the fuck.

[ Hien looks over at him. ]

Mute your audio. I want to open this book.

[ Fandaniel can mute every single sound system and he will unfortunately still hear the screaming. Just that. ]

[ "What the fuck" isn't the answer he was hoping for here, Hien! His lips pinch together, frowning briefly, but he won't harass the administrator for what's happening just yet. Instead, he does as told, opening settings and muting every single sound in the game.

Or so he thought.

Whenever Hien opens the book, nothing will happen immediately. A spell needs to be cast first and so the book remains silent, for now. ]

The sounds activate on spell use.

[ Fandaniel won't be able to hear Hien if he responds but it wouldn't do for the book to simply be opened and then for him to be deemed insane right off the bat when nothing happens. ]

[ Right. He disabled PvP here. But in this relatively empty room, a little slime dummy appears on the other side of the room. Hien gestures over to Fandaniel that he can attack that thing. ]

[ What Hien wants is clear enough with the arrival of the lil' slime dummy. He flips the book open and turns to gesture sharply towards the slime, a bolt of lightning from a MeRai Kruz striking it with a... well, there is a crack of sound with that, though Fandaniel won't hear it.

What he does hear are the screams again. They wail through the spell and it startles him, him, of all people! It's unexpected. His sound is off. His sound is off. The book falls from his grip and he jerks away from it, hands going to his head, for without any other sound, the voices of his family are crystal clear and loud, louder than ever before.

Distress is not a normal look for Fandaniel and yet... ]

I can still hear it?! How?!

[ The fact that it's not a normal look only concerns Hien a little more as he frowns upon seeing his reaction. Hien can't hear it, but he's very inclined to believe Fandaniel now. He's not sure if Fandaniel still has the audio off, but he grabs onto his shoulders to try and get his attention. He keeps the grip very firm. If he gets Fandaniel's attention, he mimics a breathing gesture by pressing a hand to his own chest and doing just that.

BREATHE!!! ]

[ His audio is indeed still off and it takes a moment of quick fumbling to toggle them back on when he feels Hien's hands on his shoulders. This has the total opposite effect of calming him down. Instead, thanks to how real it feels that he's being grabbed at in the midst of what feels like panic, he jerks away violently and strikes out at the offending hands with an arm. ]

Don't you dare touch me!

[ The only blessing here is that with him having dropped the book, having ceased casting, the screams do trail off for him. ]

Did you hear?! Did you hear them?! Where did these come from?!

[ Hien just grabs his lashing arm tightly, but not enough to hurt. He's still not letting go, his hold firm on his shoulder and arm. Hien knows he's bad at this, but he's trying so hard right now. ]

I didn't hear them, but I believe you.

[ He keeps his voice steady and his voice no longer sounds like the usual tired drawl-like tone he has. He actually sounds alert for once. ]

Tell me what you see right now.

You can't...?

[ Ah, but he says he believes him. Does he, though? Or is he merely trying to calm a madman down? Is that what this is? Wasn't he done with this as an adult? Hadn't he outgrown the trauma? Why now?

Laughter bubbles up from his lips and while he lets Hien keep ahold of the arm he'd struck out with, his other reaches up to cover his face as he bows his head against it. The laughter is wild, even unhinged, a stress reaction he hasn't let loose with in a long time.

It wouldn't do, after all, for such a serious scientist to cackle like a maniac every time this horrible world became too much to bear. ]

See? I see only you and me and this awful gear and that awful book and this awful room!

Yeah. It's awful. It's all awful.

What do you feel? My hand? Do you smell anything?

[ The room doesn't smell like anything at least. ]

Smell?

[ That's a strange enough question to snap him out of the wild laughter for the moment. It trails off as he focuses on that instead, the hand at his face slowly lowered. He stares down at the room's floor instead, silent, considering. ]

I can feel your hand just fine. The room smells like nothing in particular. [ A pause, then he adds, asking, ] Should it?

[ Hien seems relieved when he sees Fandaniel calm down and snap out of the laughter. The senses tactic worked, and he sure as hell isn't going to ask him about what he's hearing. ]

No, it shouldn't.

[ His grip loosens on both his arm and shoulder, but he's still holding them. ]

You're fine. You're good.

[ He quietly breathes out. ]

You'll be okay.

[ He says that firmly like he really believes in it. Maybe he does. ]

Unfortunately, I can't do anything about that shitty tome right now. However, you can join another guild to deposit it in their storage and never go back there again.

[ Yes, he saw that Fandaniel made his own guild. He's not going to tell him to store the book in there where it's easily accessible in a place that he'd possibly frequent. Just dump it in Moon Tree, or something.

Even then, he can't guarantee that it'll work, but it's the only suggestion he has. ]

The reason why I'm telling you this is because I can't do anything about it. At least, not right now. Go run a dungeon with a different weapon and hope to get the second best weapon from the drops if you even care about the stats. Cover it with a weapon skin if you have to.

[ Dump it in another guild's storage... A good idea. Too bad Hien will have to be disappointed when Fandaniel decides to keep the terrible tome in his very own guild room. Will he obsessively cause the screams on occasion? Maybe, once he's gotten past the initial horror, but that will be a problem for future Fandaniel. ]

...you truly have no idea where any of this came from?

[ How strange that something like cursed level cap rewards would go out without even the admins knowing about them. What game was CCCorp playing here? ]

I really don't.

[ Hien only said that he wouldn't tell Fandaniel in the initial email because he thought he was being trolled. And that Hien is a spiteful bastard, but it's fine.

He finally lets go of Fandaniel's arm and shoulder. ]

It's what I'll be looking into right after this.

[ Don't worry, the next time will probably be for trolling purposes. Look forward to it but until then, Fandaniel will have to take Hien at his word on this. A sigh escapes him and the tenseness he'd been holding himself with drains away. Now he just looks tired. ]

I see. I think... I will put this away and log off for the evening.

[ Gotta go touch some grass or something. ]

... Yeah. Say hi to your snake for me.

[ He gives Fandaniel a small pat on the head before he sends him out of the room to reappear in Mac Anu where the view of the sunset is the best in the area.

Time for him to get to work. ]

for trollophoroi

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8/6

we're going to use this post a lot aren't we

:eyebrow_waggle:

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1/2

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