[Shinon is up to her usual level grinding! But this time she's armed with a new weapon. To fully test it out within the restraints of The World, she can be found in a couple of different situations.]

[Field]

[Maybe you just spotted that group of monsters and were about to go in for the kill. Or maybe you were just enjoying the scenery - it is a lovely day out in this area, after all.

Either way, that group of monsters? The biggest of them just got a large hole blown into its head, even though there doesn't seem to be anybody nearby to make the attack. Before long, the remaining two follow suit.

Those who are observant may be able to trace the shots to a small figure on a different island, armed with a sniper rifle nearly as long as she is tall. Want to go investigate?]

[Dungeon]

[While she's still carrying that same weapon along with her, she seems to have paused in an empty area for the moment. It's hard to say whether she's just resting, thinking, or both. Now would be a great time to catch her for the curious or talkative, though!]

[SPLASH!!

Anyone who might be in the square today may find the unusual sight of Tsubaki by the fountain, arms dipped inside as he tried to search for something. His makeshift tent was situated nearby, one he had been staying in due to the lack of an inn. Why he chose to camp right in the middle of the city, no one knows. Still, that was hardly the dilemma.

Nope, him blindly reaching through the cold waters was the dilemma. Anyone who knows him may also notice he is squinting badly, and he can't seem to focus at all on what he's looking for.]

Just where did it go?

[ Some days start out kind of bizarre, some days stay kind of normal

needless to say that bizarre is pretty much the default here, but it can always be upped a bit, right? Not that there is need to worry, the extra weird today is mostly harmless!

When you walk around the town you'll see different posters pinned to buildings, walls, trees? maybe even trees. Also: to people's backs, because someone has no shame.

They look like regular wanted posters really, or as regular as it gets here. There is a text ('Tulip Killer, not all that dangerous! Needs to be caught as soon as possible' or 'Lost Puppy, not properly house-trained yet. Would be happy to have him returned to us!'), a probably unfamiliar member address as well as a self-drawn picture above that. Amusingly enough, both types of posters show the same thing: a pretty boy with smooth features and light-shaded hair.

The likeness is easily good enough to recognise one (1) Hope Estheim for those who know him.

So, what will you do? Ping that number? catch Oz while he is pinning a poster to something/someone/you? ask him how he keeps those things to actually stay stuck?

or be sane and walk away from this nonsense ]

[Yuuta's sitting on the edge of the fountain beside Takeshi. The two of them have their heads put together and it seems like they're studying something that Takeshi is holding. If anyone were to walk by, they might overhear the two of them talking amongst themselves.]

See, here, it was different for me. I went home after this point and stayed there for awhile before turning up here again.

[Takeshi frowns, puzzled.] Really? I wonder why that didn’t happen to me. I’d like to have gone home, too. I’m worried about Sumire-chan...

[He trails off for a moment, then points at the one of the notes he’d been taking on his Relic. It might be nonsense to some, but it would definitely make sense to people who’ve been in The World before.] Oh, you find this weird too, right? This is the last place I remember going, but I can’t seem to access Lumina Cloth anymore!

Yeah, I noticed that too! [Yuuta taps his chin as he thinks.] I wonder what made the World change like that so suddenly. The BBS disappeared too. I kinda miss that.

I miss it too. It was way easier to contact people with the BBS for parties and dungeon crawling and events... [Takeshi sighs and his shoulders slump down, looking like he’d been dumped by the girl he loved the most (which he’d really rather not happen, actually).]

I talked to one of the GMs, though. Kain. He said there was something like budget cuts and company... things that happened. Couldn’t get more than that from him, though.

[Yuuta frowns. He guesses that would make sense although the timing is still bugging him a little.] By the way, did your levels get cut too or was that just me because I went home?

Mine got cut too! I was almost 10 the last time, but then it got cut in half. [He notes this down. The list just keeps getting longer and... messier; Takeshi wasn’t very organized and his notes on the difference between the first version and this one was all over the place.] At least it’s pretty easy to get them back. I’m almost 20 this time.

[The state of the notes is actually getting on Yuuta’s nerves. He’s naturally neat and organized so it’s easy to see why but despite his giant want to fix them, he tries to ignore it.] I guess ‘cause we’re used to it by now. If you think about it, we’ve been here ages.

Ugh, don’t remind me! I already feel like a grandpa, and I’m just 20!

[There is a Steam Gunner who may or may not look familiar hanging around Mac Anu today. Really, it's more like she's just gazing in the distance while she eats a small meal - some fruit and water purchased from a nearby store. It's not a whole lot, but it's enough to fill her and give her the energy she needs to do some more level grinding.

While it does look like she has some things on her mind, she's not exactly exuding her usual "don't come near" aura. In fact, given her tendency to be out in the dungeons more often than not, now might be the perfect time to chat her up a bit.

That, or try to prank her while she's not looking. Whatever floats your boat really.]

[Newbies. Always the same, no matter how many other MMOs they've played before. Aradia is no different. She's taking in the sights and sounds of Mac Anu, soaking in the atmosphere.

At least for a little while. It isn't long before she's either poking at the quest shop, bugging NPCs, or poking around at the Chaos Gate, trying to spin up an interesting combination of Area Words.

Come bug her?]

[Usually Shirou would have thought about this long ago. However, between the very odd world that he was in, and the fact that somehow a week had disappeared in the blink of an eye, literally, it had taken him about a month or so before the thought of level grinding occurred to him. He had been busily spending most of his time beforehand exploring the town, fields and dungeons and understanding the leveling system and weapons.

Now armed with a fairly good understanding of the leveling system, it was time to actually gain some levels. He wanted to reach level 20 as soon as possible so he could access his cell phone and check the status of his demons and abilities. There was a slight problem though... The Shadow Warlock class was magic based, and he probably didn't have the Repel Physical skill equipped, so if he went alone, things would get nasty fast. He would have to find some party members to grind with.

Today, you may be approached by the blue eyed Shadow Warlock, who was going around asking everyone the same question.]

Would you like to join me in level grinding?

[Anyone who decides to go to this cave? May end up finding one very frustrated student council member. Never mind that he's lost, he's been ending up with random enemy encounters, enough to tire him out faster than he liked. That, and no matter how many times he uses Tsubaki explosion, for some reason it never seems as strong as he remembered.

And who the hell designed this place?!]

Just where is the exit of this place?!

[OOC: Sob I hope I am doing this right.]

[ It takes awhile, getting used to light again, when the last thing Asuka remembers is a dark sky and an even darker sea, sand beneath her back and a wide-eyed Shinji staring at her. But she doesn't awaken to his face, but rather a slew of unfamiliar ones, coming and going, coming and going. She blinks a few times, sits up and instinctively presses a hand to her forehead. Dizzy. She gives herself a few more minutes before trying to rise. Everything is unsteady. Everything is unfamiliar.

She already hates it.

Once she's (relatively) certain of her footing, she hobbles upright, loose bandages wound around her head and arms shifting. Tries to ascertain where she's been taken. She opens her mouth to speak, but no words come out. Her throat feels hoarse. Everything is still fresh in her mind. Unit 02...

Her attention is immediately drawn to the bright ring in the corner of the room, and without even thinking, she steps through it. The world disappears in a flash, replaced by a bustling city. She should be surprised, but isn't. Too tired to care. Dully, her one good eye crawls to the friendly sign posted in front of her. ]

Mac Anu, huh?

[ Answers. That's what she needs. So the next unfortunate soul is getting tripped from behind with an insistent boot shoved into their back as soon as they hit the ground. ]

Hey, you. You're going to answer a few questions for me, got it?

[ She sounds like she means business. Probably not a good idea to argue. ]