TEST DRIVE ; no. 1

[powergamer]

TEST DRIVE MEME

So first of all, welcome to Dyspros' very first test drive meme! We're happy that you're interested in the game, and we hope that you have some fun playing with the setting, regardless of whether you decide to join or not.

As a general reminder, we recommend that you look over the game information before jumping in. In addition, if you decide you're ready to join, you're welcome to put in a reserve, and applications will open on May 4th at 12:01 AM (EST). Finally, if you have any questions or concerns, please send us a message!

So now, without further ado, let's get to playing:

A ; NEW RECRUIT

Well then, welcome to the guild, Initiate! After some thought (or maybe the choice was obvious), you've finally settled on a guild, and you're ready to get started. You're welcome to check out your accommodations and see what kind of people you'll be living with for the foreseeable future. This is your home now, so hopefully you get alone with them. If not, then you can just spend all of your time sharpening your skills!

Whether you're just claiming your bed or you're jumping right into the thick of things to practice or sign up for a mission, a new recruit is unlikely to go unnoticed.

B ; MISSION TIME

It's your first mission, which is pretty exciting, right? You have all these pictures in your head of going off to fight a dragon, to come home with great riches and valor...

Too bad those missions are for the higher ups.

No, it's the middle of the night, and you're out guarding the small fields just outside of town from wild animals. Right now you're standing by the cucumbers, which are considered especially important to guard, for some reason. You have to fight off sleepiness somehow, so maybe an animal will come out for you to scare off, or maybe you'll just end up chatting with whoever is stuck doing this with you.

Or you know, if you're a dick, you'll steal the vegetables for yourself.

C ; STORM THE CASTLE

Okay, the missions for initiates are pretty lame, and you're ready for some real fighting. You can go alone, or you can go with some other people, but it's off to Castle Dyspros! You'll find a variety of creatures to fight, and the power of teamwork will help you make progress through the castle!

Or you'll die. There's that too. Good thing it's fairly inconsequential, if weird!

Either way, have fun fighting to your heart's content!

D ; PICK YOUR OWN

Just like it says, if none of the others appeal to you, feel free to make up your own prompt!

Comments

[hasavision]

Oh. Yeah, it kind of is, isn't it?

[Even though he'd gotten used to living in a fantasy-like world, it wasn't like he had expected to suddenly find himself in yet another one just like that. And his own case was most likely pretty unique, even among those who had been dragged here.]

I guess you're probably not used to worlds like this?

[totallysane]

[Mikado shakes his head.]

It's very different from home. I should just study the same things I did there but... there are so many options here...

[hasavision]

Huh? Is there some reason why you can't try something new? I mean, if you really want to do whatever you did at home, that's fine too, but it looks like you can do pretty much anything you want here.

[totallysane]

Well, no.

[Mikado pauses, a very serious expression on his face.]

But these are career decisions, right? So shouldn't we think about what we're actually suited for? I mean, if I were to say...

[He still has that one piece of paper crumbled in his fist, but he points with a finger toward another one, nudging it.]

Sign up to be in a guild focused on fighting, they'd just laugh at me, right?

[hasavision]

[He just kind of stands there, blinking at Mikado.]

You want to be a fighter? I mean, you probably could, but...

[He just... doesn't look like he'd exactly be the type to even want to run around swinging a sword.]

[totallysane]

Well. Not exactly.

[It's not exactly the same look he'd gotten at home when he'd declared his identity, but it's pretty close. He sighs, looks away.]

I just wonder if I could. Or do anything other than study academics or economics or something.

[hasavision]

Well, it's not like I started out as a fighter, either. If I'd ended up here when I was still at home doing normal stuff like attending school, I think I probably would have gone for the magic guild instead. Being able to use spells and that sort of thing sounds really cool, don't you think?

[Not that there's... anything whatsoever to indicate he's a fighter on his person right now. Darn guild and its ageisms.]

[totallysane]

Are you a fighter?

[Mikado sits up a little more, obviously interested.]

Doing spells sounds interesting too, but I guess it's a little harder to wrap my head around as a possibility for me. Since I'm just a normal person.

[hasavision]

[His expression becomes slightly annoyed here.]

I'm trying to be. But they won't let me join officially until I've practiced for a month to prove I can handle it.

[But putting that aside...]

I was just a normal kid before becoming a fighter, too. And I know this other boy my age who went to another world like this and became a sorcerer. I bet you could do it, too!

[totallysane]

Oh. They'd probably make me do the same thing then.

[Mikado stops to think about it for a minute, but he's distracted from his thoughts about himself by something else.]

But you're still going for it, right? I think that's really great.

[What would he go for, if he could really choose anything? Would he dive into the underworld like at home, really? He'd just talked about it with Izaya-san so recently, but... would this city move as fast as Ikebukuro?]

Did you just walk in there and say HEY I'M GOING TO BE A FIGHTER?

[hasavision]

Huh? Well, not exactly...

[He scratches at the back of his head awkwardly.]

It's because I'm only eleven. They think I'm too young to join, so that's why I have to practice for a month first. But if you just walk in and ask them if you can join, I think just about any guild would let you in!

[totallysane]

I wouldn't have thought that would be an issue, since historically most-

[Mikado cuts himself off here, at least, instead of going on a nerd-ramble about the history of apprenticeship of youths in various warrior traditions.]

I guess it doesn't matter then, huh? I was all worried about nothing.

[He smiles.]

[hasavision]

I didn't think it would be, either. I used to be part of a group that fought to protect people before I even came here.

[Yep, he is still kind of miffed about this.]

But yeah! I don't think you have to worry about anything.

[totallysane]

Oh. That's really amazing. What you did at home I mean.

[He's not looking away because it makes him ashamed of what he does at home. Of course not! He's not at all ashamed about the gang war he's caught up in or his own uselessness involving it.

Right.]

I guess there's nothing to worry about. Then I just have to decide based on what I want, and not what anyone else might think. Thank you.

[hasavision]

Huh? That wasn't at home.

[His home is about as normal as you can get. Vision, on the other hand...]

Anyway, good luck picking a guild!

[totallysane]

.. wait, before you came here..?

[Now he's curious.]

[hasavision]

[A nod.]

I was in a different world before I showed up here. Uh, different from my world, too.

[totallysane]

Really?

[For someone who is older than the person he's talking to, he certainly doesn't come off very grown-up at the moment. In fact, the sixteen-year-old's eyes light up and he pushes himself up excitedly.]

Will you tell me about it?

[Meeting people from other worlds when in another world himself shouldn't be all that exciting, but the idea of having traveled to multiple other worlds is just too much for a kid that hadn't ever left his hometown until high school.]

[hasavision]

[Meanwhile, Wataru seems to be just as excited at the prospect of explaining everything. Let him tell you about Vision.]

Mm! I used to just live in Tokyo, but I ended up in this world called Vision. It's a lot like an RPG - you know, with magic and monsters, things like that? If you go there from earth, you're called a Traveler, and you can get the chance to meet with the Goddess at the very top of the Tower of Destiny so she can grant your wish. But before you can go there, you have to collect five gemstones.

My friends and I were traveling around looking for them when I ended up here.

[totallysane]

[Excuse him while he sits here looking like he's just heard the best thing ever. And he doesn't even think to doubt it, at all.]

Like a video game? That sounds... really exciting. Were you scared?

[hasavision]

[There's a slight wince here as he remembers some of the spookier moments. Fighting that priest and his undead followers for his first gemstone? Pretty darn creepy.]

...Sometimes.

[totallysane]

I think you're really amazing.

[Mikado smiles here.]

At your age, I didn't even want to leave my hometown, so I think you're really amazing for being able to do something like that.

[hasavision]

Huh... Really? Not even for vacations or anything?

[Even at home, he's used to going to Chiba for the summer.]