“This is suicide. You'll never make it across. We already lost a squad of our best men and upper brass won't even allow us to retrieve the bodies. What makes you so different? Why would the Inquisition choose you?”
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Wed 27 May 2026 08:26:55 No. 6418734 Report >>6418694 >>6418711 >>6418724 I didn't notice this until I started posting. Sorry about that gents. I tried to make it work as best as I could since I had similar thoughts as discussed. But since it had been 4 days without a word, I didn't want to make people wait any longer for a post so I ran with it as best I could.
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Wed 27 May 2026 08:30:10 No. 6418735 Report >>6418734 As an added note, I did try to write it as John basically trying to play both sides against each other. Whether or not that pans he doesn't know but the gears are in motion. Once the loot situation is settled, Solstice and Co are heading inside and whatever happens outside is out of his hands.
Anonymous
>>6418734 I wasn't expecting to win desu. I'm alright with where this is going, but maybe the others want to comment?
>>6418733 Definitely getting the charge rifle, no questions.
I assume the throwing daggers and grenades will get proficiency separately, so we may as well aim for those.
I'm thinking Ryuji should take the cryo staff though, casting ice wall for free should help him tank for vital fuel facilities.
Anonymous
>>6418733 We take the alchemy bombs, as we bypass the restrictions. And give us the grenades and throwing daggers.
Staffs for Sera, let her duel weild.
Ryuji takes the mini gun and sniper
Gloria gets the twinned swords.
Everybody gets 4 bandages and we get 3.
Everyone gets 2 healing potions but we and Gloria get 3.
>>6418735 The damage of the trust is. . An issue, but an issue for later. The inquisitor doesn't trust easily, which is good in her profession, but I would like to avoid alienating her completely.
Maybe let's save any more brilliant ideas involving her until after we have saved the facility.
Anonymous
>>6418733 John
>Minigun >Charge Rifle >Cryomancer's Staff >Enchanted Throwing daggers x1 >Stun Grenades x1 >Flechette Grenades x2 >Lesser Healing Potion x 2 >Bandages x6 (Use two immediately) Roland
>Stun Grenades x1 >Flechette Grenades x1 >Lesser Healing Potion x 4 >Bandages x2 Gloria
>Twinned Antlion Scimitars >Enchanted Throwing daggers x4 >Alchemist Bomb x 2 >Lesser Healing Potion x4 >Bandages x2 Serena
>Mage's Staff of the Inferno >Bandages x 5 Think that's everything.
We don't have a gunner but John can use guns once, same goes for the staff. We could try to sneak in and use the Charge Rifle to take out the druid e-girl first. Other than that, we just make good use of our weapon proficiency ability once the battle starts. We can even use the enemies weapons as each one dies. Might also be a good idea to stick close to Serena though to make sure nobody gets too close to her.
Also, did we give Roland that magic sword from the Yeti bossfight?
>>6418734 Yeah I'm happy with how it panned out.
>>6418740 >I'm thinking Ryuji should take the cryo staff though, casting ice wall for free should help him tank for vital fuel facilities. That's a good idea, assuming Roland can use the free ice wall without proficiency.
>>6418742 >Ryuji takes the mini gun and sniper Why? He can't use them, he's a Fighter.
Anonymous
>>6418748 He can't use them, but he can sell them
Anonymous
>>6418755 We have to kill the e-girl and her simp squad first. It's better that we keep them, for now. We can always give them to Roland or Serena later.
Anonymous
>>6418757 The mini gun isn't useful here, and I'm rather concerned about weight distribution.
To use our affinity best we need to hotswitch between things fast.
There is the bow already, and the charge rifle, what good does the mini gun do?
The staff is useful as a melee weapon.
Anonymous
>>6418760 The charge rifle is fantastic for starting a fight, so I'm not sure why you're giving it to Ryuji.
I'm still thinking about the staves. Surely Serena's super special keepsake is better? On the other hand, fire pierce is pretty great and they won't expect it. Smacking someone for fire damage on the other hand is still fair game.
Luo on mobile !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Luo on mobile !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Wed 27 May 2026 09:59:13 No. 6418763 Report >>6418748 >That's a good idea, assuming Roland can use the free ice wall without proficiency Staves are technically melee weapons so Ryuji can wield them as he can any other melee weapon. He can also use the spell on the Cryomancer staff's power specifically because its an on use effect. He's not casting a spell, he's using the staff's innate magic.
>>6418742 >Staffs for Sera, let her duel weild. Serena can dual weild staves, however each spell she casts must be channelled via one staff/wand/whatever magic implement only. Magic users can only benefit from one implements bonus. Also she'd need to carry three staves leaving her with no open hands and one slung on her body somehow or in her inventory out of reach.
Which does bring up a point. There's only so much space you can strap weapons onto yourself. I can say inventory is sort of a hammerspace/bag of holding/digitizer kind of deal so we don't get bogged down in details of how you carry a dozen swords on you with only a small pack. Unless you gents want Nevermore to have that level of immersion where you need to realistic be able to carry all your gear somehow. But I will say that once an item is in there, you'll need to go into a menu to retrieve it and having the inventory UI in your face during combat or tense moments probably won't play well. But to have weapons at the ready without that means it needs to be on your body somehow so there's only so much you can carry around before it begins to get in the way.
>>6418760 >The mini gun isn't useful here, and I'm rather concerned about weight distribution Basically this.
>>6418748 >Also, did we give Roland that magic sword from the Yeti bossfight? Yeah we can say we did.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6418763 >Inventory is hammer spaced Oh thank the developers.
I genuinely wasn't sure if they would use the sane option here when the maker is so reality obsessed.
>>6418762 I gave it to Him as LOOT not as a useful implement.
Because I don't think any of the devices are good for him. So it's just spoils of war to sell later.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6418733 Wow, that's a ton lf loot. No opinions of dividing it, but all very cool in a very cool story that I am enjoying
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6418740 >I wasn't expecting to win desu. I'm alright with where this is going, but maybe the others want to comment? I think we will essentially be Eleanor's nemesis soon, and I feel a bit bad for her, even if she is a glorified chatbot. I mean, there's no way she will tolerate us once we revive the dragon and get our sweet dragon armor back.
>>6418742 +1 to this distribution, I guess.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6418733 >>6418740 Okay, if we're really going for detailed lootsplits...
>John Charge Rifle
Staff of the Inferno(borrow)
Alchemist Bombs
Throwing Daggers x4
>Roland Cryomancer's Staff
Minigun
Throwing Daggers x1
>Gloria Twinned Antlion Scimitars
Flechette Grenades
>Serena Staff of the Inferno
Stun Grenades
I don't think we really need to micromanage the healing so much.
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Sun 31 May 2026 04:47:56 No. 6420733 Report Alright. Gonna read everyone's suggestions and get to writing tomorrow. Time to storm the facility proper.
Anonymous
>>6420733 Looking forward to it!
I also just started watching Shangri-La Frontier. Was that by chance an inspiration for this quest at all?
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Mon 01 Jun 2026 03:27:06 No. 6421318 Report >>6421157 I only ever watched the first episode but I liked the premise. Work and stuff just got in the way of me continuing it. I've always loved the idea of full dive mmos or the isekai'd to an mmo world but for this game my biggest inspirations was a Chinese anime, or Donghua I think is the term or that might be chinese comics, called The King's Avatar. I'll also throw in an old quest Guns x Glory that I used to follow was a big inspiration too, though I don't think I could measure up to their level of writing. Both have the same premise of professional players who are no longer allowed to play the game they used to play in the pro scene so I decided to throw my hat into the mix. I do wish I had more concrete rules and mechanics in mind but I feel like adding rolls and the like now would slow things down even further.
As for loot I think I have this general set up by combing the two most voted on set ups.
>John Charge Rifle
Minigun (Stored in inventory)
Bow
Throwing Daggers x3
Stun Grenade
(May borrow the Fire Staff if needed)
Potions x2
Bandages x 3
Ryuji/Roland
Cryo staff
Throwing dagger x1
Potions x 4
Bandages x 4
>Gloria Twinned Scimitars
Flechette Grenade
Alchemist Bombs x2
Throwing dagger x1
Bandages x 4
Potions x 4
>Serena Inferno Staff
Stun Grenade
Flechette Grenade
Bandages x 4
That being said, I'll need to pop open a google doc and keep track of all this stuff since we still have the loot from the Frozen gorge somewhere in the group's inventory.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6421157 >>6421318 I've read the manga, I really should get back to it sometime
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Mon 01 Jun 2026 08:21:58 No. 6421415 Report Quoted By:
As you and your friends divvy up the loot you take the time to bandage up and recover. "That's everything." Ryuji says as he slings one of the staves over his shoulder. You bite the end of your bandage and tie it down before grabbing the charge rifle. "Hey dude, you need any tips- oh..." Ryuji begins but you're already midway through your inspection of the weapon. Born out of a thousand repetition, and a few hundred lectures from Ming, you deftly eject the weapon's power cell and examine charge level. It was fully charged but when you slot it back into the weapon, your HUD indicates that each cell only offered 3 shots each. You lock it into place, snap the safety on and level the weapon to peer down the scope. Old instincts kick in and you can already feel the glare and oncoming lecture about proper weapon modification from Evolution's top gunner. The sniper was either short on money or decide to be frugal with their weapon's scope. The scope was capable swapping between magnifications but rather than gradually moving between magnification levels, it instantly clicked into place. Simply put, all you got was x4, x6, and x10 and nothing in between. The scope wasn't even capable of x1 despite replacing the gun's iron sights. You turn the laser sight off and sling the weapon over your shoulder.
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Mon 01 Jun 2026 08:22:59 No. 6421416 Report Quoted By:
"Yeah, I can pretty much use anything." You explain, in a hushed voice. "Not for long though. I only get a single attack before I have to swap weapons. Most classes are locked into specific weapons. You can hold and carry other weapons but if you try to use them, you'll be doing minimal damage if you even hit. The game won't assist you in combat with weapons you're not proficient with with." You unsling your bow and hand it to Serena. "Try pulling back the string." Serena takes the bow and immediately seems to feel the difference. Her grip is awkward and she seems to be unsure where to hold the weapon exactly. When she tries to draw the string back, she visibly struggles before handing the weapon back to you. "Felt weird, didn't it?" You ask.
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Mon 01 Jun 2026 08:23:59 No. 6421417 Report Quoted By:
<span class="mu-g">Party:
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Mon 01 Jun 2026 08:24:59 No. 6421418 Report "You should do whatever you want. The game is yours as much as it is anyone else's and that's the best part of it. It's up to you to decide not anyone else's." You say. "Speaking of deciding..." You trail off. As the far back of the facility you stand before the entrance of a large building. The refinery or at least the entrance into the mountain itself. Beside it you see a smaller building and through it's broken windows you can see what seems to be a control panel and the entrance to a lift. Most likely a way for the workers to reach the lower levels of the facility without needing to walk the main area and down tons of stairs. You doubt the lift would take you into the deepest parts of the facility but it could cut out a lot of walking assuming it wasn't guarded somehow. Then again, going through the main building would also mean more chances to get ambushed or run into the rest of the players raiding this place.>What do you do? >Go through the main building. You can search for any survivors/workers. >Try the lift. The faster you get to the heretics the better. >Write in.
Anonymous
>>6421418 >Main building Sweep and clear.
Anonymous
>>6421418 >Go through the main building. You can search for any survivors/workers. Anonymous
>>6421418 Did the team see any other groups of players on their way in? We can take our time grappling people over to tackle the place from a different angle, somewhere good to use the bow.
Anonymous
>>6421418 >Go through the main building. You can search for any survivors/workers. Anonymous
>>6421418 >Go through the main building. You can search for any survivors/workers. Less likely to run into a huge crowd we can't handle without anywhere to retreat. Less likely to get pincered, too.
Anonymous
>>6421418 >Go through the main building. You can search for any survivors/workers. Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Wed 03 Jun 2026 21:30:33 No. 6422753 Report Quoted By:
>>6421445 No your team didn't see anyone along the way. Most of their time was taken up getting gliders ready. They flew in, landed, and rushed to flank. Gloria would let you know that the Gunner wasn't lying about their numbers outside. As far as your team figures, the outside group was just to act as a deterrent or worst case serve to buy time as any invading force manages to fight through the bridge. But it's the risk to the facility itself that was holding everyone up and still partially is. John and co have essentially become an elite task force straight out of games/movies. At least, that's what the rumors are starting to say within the people making their way across the bridge. So, no pressure or anything.
>>6421424 >>6421437 >>6421638 >>6421653 >>6421677 We're taking the main entrance. Writing.
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Thu 04 Jun 2026 01:10:49 No. 6422866 Report Quoted By:
"Front door or elevator..." You thinking out loud for a moment. "We should take the front door. We can search for survivors and clear an exit for them." You decide, motioning to the large double doors. They were tall, almost twice the size of a person and each about twice as wide as one. The ground near them was well worn and scratched from the coming and goings into the facility but you don't see anything to show which way they swung open leading you to assume the slide into the walls themselves. You move to open them when you hear Ryuji speak out.
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Thu 04 Jun 2026 01:11:49 No. 6422868 Report Quoted By:
"It was Nevermore's original endgame project." Mae explains. "A huge magical focus that connects any locations that have one. Think of it like a magical radio tower and teleporter combined. Players could attune to it and then burn all their mana to instantly teleport to any other magical focus in the game they're already attuned to. Not only that but you can use the magical energies of it be able to contact other people's sending stones if they're within the range of one of the giant foci. Kind of like a cell phone, you simply attune your stone to someone else's and you're free to communicate across the game. But building one of the foci is a massive undertaking that requires multiple guilds to even attempt. On top of that, a single foci only covers a single region. So say we built one in Valford, we wouldn't be able to speak to anyone in Effelume until they built their own tower and then we'd need to do it again for every other zone in the game. It basically takes everyone pitching in to get the network up and running and thats not even considering getting permissions from the city itself."
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Thu 04 Jun 2026 01:12:50 No. 6422869 Report The doors creak and groan as you and Ryuji pull them apart. Their size was only matched by how thick they were and as you open them you feel the sudden flush of heat race outside to meet the cold. Even at the entrance, the heat generated by the machinery within the mountain and the doors served to insulate and keep it held in. You reach the end of the door's tracks and they seem to lock in place with an ominous clang. A series of steps is all that is there to greet you and from the unseen depths of the mountain you can hear the hissing and grinding of machinery. "Alright. Ryuji, you take point. Mae and I are going to flank and cover Serena behind you. Serena, for now stick with basic spells and try to avoid machinery. This is still a refinery down there and we can't risk setting off an explosion. Once we find an entrance to whatever secret research facility they have, I think we should be safe. I doubt they would have built it under a fuel refinery without keeping it safe from possible explosions." Your party slowly shifts into formation as you all begin your descent down the stairs. Soon the rock walls give away to more open areas and hundreds of pipes running around all over the place up the walls and on the ceiling. The loud gurgling or pure fuels joins the chaos of noise and heat. Once you finally reach the first floor it's merely a series of walkways that overlook the massive expanse of the refinery. In retrospect, or at least to your untrained eye, this massive expanse of this place made the walkways feel a bit pointless. Even from your vantage point, you couldn't even see the other end of the floor clearly. You had not idea how a worker would even be able to make heads or tails of anything from here. >What do you do? >Continue wandering the walkways level. See if you can find another stairway down without needing to cross the maze of pipes and boilers. >Search for a map of the facility or at least these two floors. Otherwise, you might be wandering for hours. >Spend some time searching for some kind of off switch. With all this noise, it'd be easier for someone to sneak up on you. >Write in.
Anonymous
>>6422869 >Search for a map Closing the machines off is actually a negative. It alerts them, and they can hear us.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6422869 >Search for a map of the facility or at least these two floors. Otherwise, you might be wandering for hours. Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6422869 >Search for a map of the facility or at least these two floors. Otherwise, you might be wandering for hours. >>6422873 >Closing the machines off is actually a negative. True, and when we leave, we want aether production still up and running.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6422869 >Search for a map of the facility or at least these two floors. Otherwise, you might be wandering for hours. Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6422869 >Use the grappling hook to search for stairs, and lead the party in that general direction Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Mon 08 Jun 2026 20:39:24 No. 6425301 Report Quoted By:
Sorry about that. We're looking for a map. I'll get writing.
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Mon 08 Jun 2026 23:48:14 No. 6425351 Report Quoted By:
"We should leave everything on for now!" You shout over the din of machinery. "If anything this helps us keep hidden! They won't be able to hear our footsteps. Not to mention, they'll know we're here if we turn everything off! For now, let's go find a map and get our bearings!" You motion for everyone to move forward and your group proceeds at full pace. The sounds of your boots and shoes are drowned out by the constant slamming of machinery as the ore is being processed on the floor below.
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Mon 08 Jun 2026 23:49:15 No. 6425352 Report "There's this path that leads deeper into the center!" Ryuji shouts. "But it's probably what they want us to do! I do think I can see some kind of building in the distance! Like one of those overseer offices!">What do you want to do? >Try and disarm the traps then press onward. You want to make a wide berth of where your enemies want you to walk through. It might even let you get the drop on them if you can see them from afar. >Head towards the room Ryuji saw. It could be a good place to hold up in and draw attention to yourselves then pick off anyone who approaches. At the very least it contains the information you're looking for. >Zip down and continue on the lower floor. You'll be harder to track down there since no one expects you to just jump over the rails. It'll be more difficult to traverse since you'll be dealing with active machinery but that hopefully applies to your opponents. >Try and salvage the grenades themselves. It'll take even longer but you'll have more supplies on hand. Hopefully no one comes over here while you do it. >Write in.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6425352 >Try and disarm the traps then press onward. You want to make a wide berth of where your enemies want you to walk through. It might even let you get the drop on them if you can see them from afar. Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6425352 >Try and disarm the traps then press onward. You want to make a wide berth of where your enemies want you to walk through. It might even let you get the drop on them if you can see them from afar. Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6425352 >Try and salvage the grenades themselves. It'll take even longer but you'll have more supplies on hand. Hopefully no one comes over here while you do it. Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6425352 >Try and disarm the traps then press onward. You want to make a wide berth of where your enemies want you to walk through. It might even let you get the drop on them if you can see them from afar. Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Fri 12 Jun 2026 23:07:43 No. 6427248 Report Quoted By:
Disarming the traps it is. Writing.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
Damn, I forgot to vote. I had the 1000 IQ idea of just rolling a barrel down the catwalk to set all the traps off ahead of us instead of cocking about trying to cut the correct wire. I wonder how that would have turned out.
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Sat 13 Jun 2026 07:33:18 No. 6427401 Report Quoted By:
You unsling your gun and bow before removing the quiver hanging off your hip. You didn't want to risk any of your weapons accidentally setting off any of the bombs because you leaned too far and they caught a wire. "Cover me. I'm going to try and disarm these tripwires." You call out as quiet as you can. Even with all the noise, you couldn't help by try and keep the information from getting heard from unseen ears. Getting on all fours, or three as you hold the torch for light, you begin to examine the traps more thoroughly. The silvery wires are more intermixed than you had initially seen. They run behind and in front of others, almost like a web, and are stretched so tightly that you worry cutting even a single one too quickly it would not only snap and take the other wires with it but set of the grenade attached to it because of how precariously loose the device's pin was. You let the game take over and decide to use the ease of access mini-game to guide you through disarming the traps. If you did this manually, you could certainly go much faster but playing it safe would be the best option. You play through the game, adjusting the wire's tension, cutting it, and slowly guiding it to slacken and letting it go.
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X
Storyteller Luo !!L+CpM0G8T5X ID:2JEXnLS+ Sat 13 Jun 2026 07:34:19 No. 6427403 Report "Let's go! Come on!" You hear Ryuji shout as he grabs you by the scruff of your cloak and pulls you to your feet. You feel him shove your bow and quiver into your arms as all of you break into a run. You sling the bow over your arm and equip your quiver as Ryuji tosses your rifle into your arms. "I think they saw us! I saw a group making their way towards us or at least heading in our direction." >Write in.
Anonymous
>>6427403 >1a: Walkways We can use the bow and throwing knives now. Use the grappling hook while the others are checking the maps, and try to take one of them down so that they slow down, wary of ranged attacks.
Anonymous
Quoted By:
>>6427403 >>6427419 That is after we've confirmed they're actually looking for us. we can also potentially set off those traps if they're dumb enough to walk into said walkway.
