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gachahell2017-07-01 01:47 pm
GACHA CITY MINGLE - EARLY JULY
You arrive alone, gaining consciousness suddenly in a spartan waiting room. In your hand, a ticket, with a number slightly above the "NOW SERVING" sign above the only door, currently locked. As the number ticks up, all there is to do is read the fun and informational pamphlets explaining your situation. Congratulations - now you're a resident of Gacha City, and the only way you can get back out is going to be by rolling some ultra-rare item from the great Gacha Machine.
Welcome... to Gacha Hell.
☆ UPON ARRIVALWhen the door opens, it deposits you into a huge indoor plaza, along with a number of similarly-confused individuals. The plaza is dominated by the Gacha Machine itself (might as well give it a whirl - your free ticket has an expiration date, after all), but beyond that, it appears to be set up for... a dinner buffet?
As you emerge, a giant screen overlooking the plaza lights up, showing what appears to be a blob of slime with a cigar.
"Eesh, that's all we get? Pretty lousy for a first pull."
"Okay, folks, welcome to the game and listen up! The name's Smokey, and this is a little place I like to call Gacha Hell, and it's your beautiful new home! In case you didn't read the pamphlets, here's the basics: Ten orbs to pull three capsules from the machine, cross your fingers to get an item, ability, or memory that actually belongs to you. If you're REALLY lucky, you might even pull a piece of the Escape Key. Do quests to supplement your daily login orbs. Beyond that, just try to have some fun, eh? It's not like we put you in a murder dungeon, you have apartments and extra lives and everything."
"Speaking of quests, I've got one for you already! Things went a little haywire with the connection to Slimeworld, and we've got something of a slime infestation in the city right now. Fortunately, if you all work together, then you can surelY HAHAHAHA just kidding! Nah, your quest is to catch a slime or three, sneak up on one of your fellow rare drops and just splash that sucker right onto their head when they're least expecting it. There's up to 2 bonus Orbs in it for you."
At this point, the camera is pulled away from Smokey and on to a rather old-looking man. Liver spots, hair in ears, and all.
"Or, if you're a little more proactive, you can listen to ol' Sensei and head out in to that Slimeworld! You all may not be what we were hopin to roll, but that doesn't mean you can't impress us! Smokey, Chika - you'll meet her later, she's out fixing her hair I believe - and I would like to see exactly what you're made of, and this is an excellent opportunity.
"Now, the easiest way to do that is to mix with those locals, get a feel for everything - how they work, how they live - and then, by golly, get right in to the midst of it! But with conditions."
That sure is a twinkle in his eye. That sure is somehow forboding. Sensei's grin broadens even more as he reaches down...and pulls up a pink slime.
"This here is one of the local favorites, mainly for how cute it is! Cute'n useless. Lucky for it, I'm of a mind that even the most one-star of folks can still be useful, so you're gonna go out and impress me by using these poor unwanted fellows - 'jokes', they call 'em, can you believe it? - to clear some dungeons. Every dungeon cleared with a team of 'em gets an orb, so go out and get sliming!"
There's a pause, a loud cough from offscreen, and then a shrug from Sensei, followed by a fierce claking of heels as a woman's voice comes from just off-screen.
"Oi oi! I'm here! Gimme that! You two have no patience-"
The camera swivels sharply, focusing on a young woman - brown hair with red highlights, glinting green eyes, and a full-toothed grin that could make a shark nervous.
"Why hello Gacha City~! It's your new favorite Chika, here! Don't listen to those two, I for one am sure to be very impressed with your hard work from here on out!"
"Smokes and the old man are the ones giving you quests this time around, but don't you worry~! Once I see just how talented you all are, I'll give you something appropriate to your skill level~"
"But, if those spare orbs are burning a hole in your otherwise empty pockets, you can always pitch a few to the local Orbstarter Campaign~! Sure, you won't have them for the next pull, but I'm sure there's something that'll tickle your interest!"
The monitor returns to Smokey. "All right, that's a wrap! If you have any questions, I'll take them later. If I feel like it." Without any chance to talk back, the monitor goes blank.
☆ GACHA CENTRALFood from a dozen worlds and cultures is laid out in an extravagant spread for all of the newly-rolled characters to enjoy. Beverages as well - there's no concept of a drinking age in Gacha City, so booze is included and available to whoever wants it. All of it is free, as a sort of impromptu welcoming party for the newcomers.
There's nothing forcing you to stay here, though. Whenever you want, you can head out and see Gacha City itself, or find Gacha Heights to check out your new home.
Prompt 1 - Do a Pull. Each of you has a ticket for a free pull, equivalent in value to ten orbs. They expire in a few hours, so quick, line up to get your three capsules of fate. Your results are here - will you open them now, or wait until you reach your apartment? Either way, the results are bound to be worth something, right?
Prompt 2 - All You Can Eat. What better way to acquaint yourself with your stranded comrades than this? Stack your plate high, get totally wasted, and introduce yourself to a stranger. There's not enough tables for everyone to eat alone, anyway.
☆ GACHA CITYYour situation doesn't get any less weird once you leave the building. You're armed with an Orb Card with six orbs on it, a paltry sum of Gold, and the address to your new home (the Orb Card acts as your key, too). If you want to live comfortably, you'll have to find a new job in the city to supplement your basic allowance.
To make things more complicated, just like Smokey said, there are invasive slime species clogging up the city at random. Where did all these things come from? They're delaying the subway, holding up traffic, and making a total mess of Gacha National Park. Until this is dealt with, you'll have to try to dodge your way through roving bands of out-of-control slimes if you want to get anywhere without getting doused in goo.
Prompt 3 - Late for School. For all minors, or people who look like minors, it seems like you have mandatory school attendance! It starts the day after you arrive, but there's a catch - some kind of system error seems to have set everyone's alarm clocks ahead. Almost every teen in Gacha City is looking like they're gonna be late for school on their first day! Toast encouraged but not required, hope you don't crash into anyone. It happens more often than you might think. Also, once you arrive, you might find that your class list is a little bit strange...
Prompt 4 - Slimehaver's Creed. There's a quest afoot! Stalk your new friends from the shadows. Then, when they're least expecting it, slam a big, gooey slime into their head. It doesn't hurt, but it's super gross and takes forever to wash out. Or, you can try to talk someone into taking the hit willingly, for partial credit. This'd be a good one to do some advance plotting on.
☆ EVENT WORLDIt seems like the teleport station is already powering up. Where will it take you? Step through and find out.
Ember Resuine
She was used to dealing with video game systems in real life. This wasn't... completely new. But not like this. How did she even get stuck in this place? It's not like she was playing a virtual-reality-gacha. She was already trapped in a game.
Ember tried to summon up a menu and... nothing. Not even a gacha-game-style menu. She was cut off from her usual methods, it looked like. She glanced down at her ticker and orb card. "All right. Nothing else to do, then... Right."
Her outfit was currently a mismatched set of regular clothes that looked like they were pulled off the rack of a thrift store - a cheap green windbreaker, a yellow tanktop, and aqua-colored shorts. The colors didn't go together very well. Maybe she could 'pull' some better clothes. Maybe even her own - if things were as they seemed, her own outfits were probably somewhere in that giant gachapan machine.
Nothing else to do then. Right.
[ Post-Pull: Clothes Shopping ]
No items. Nothing of hers at all, really. She could remember a botched run of the ghost ship, now - odd that she had forgotten it, but regained it in what didn't seem to actually be her memory. She would never pull a Leeroy. And also wasn't a tank or DPS.
And then an item... fragment. And something else? She felt like she gained a cross-class ability, almost.
Still, no new clothes. This was... lamentable.
Which was why she was heading through Gacha City looking for clothing stores. She had an orb card, she was sure she could trade an orb or two for some better clothes.
Please have clothing stores, Gacha City. Ember couldn't take having to grind out dailies to get a better outfit.
Pre-Pull
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Second thought: Orion, what are you wearing?
She pushes aside the second thought for the moment. There are, arguably, more important concerns.
"We've been doing 'trapped in games' before it was cool. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more of us." It's a little hard to tell when half the people looking lost and confused like them also looked like they don't know how to dress themselves... also like them.
NO EMBER. Outfit comments later.
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"Ember, what the hell are you wearing?"
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WELL. IT WAS.
"At least they mentioned something about an Escape Key?"
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"But the point is, we probably can't count on getting that escape item. At least not without some serious grinding for... what was it? Orbs? Assuming the big grind is still a thing here."
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Gears turning.
"...We're gonna need a wiki."
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Post-Pull
Now? Now she's got a bit of an anchor. She can remember a few things, at least, all smoke and haze save for the incident in the swamp, but at least she can remember them. And it cemented even more the fact that she was not in the right clothes. Not even remotely. She'd tried on the outfit in her pull, but it had...not exactly suited her either. On the other hand, it was better than the trash clothes. So even if it was a bit drafty and out there the 'standard rigging' with it's nautical-theme stayed on while she went out. At least she seemed to remember how to walk in heels.
But the sooner she could spend some gold on proper clothing, the better.
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Well, Ember really had no right to judge. She'd seen worse event sets, and even worn some. Why weren't the socks the same length, though? Seriously?
She might have been staring a bit. She caught herself, but not before it was obvious, so she quickly segued into a conversation. "You must be new here too. Was that outfit yours, or a luck of the draw type of thing?"
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"Luck of the draw, but not particularly good luck, I think you will agree. This skirt is entirely too short, the undergarments pinch uncomfortably, and the collar is made of metal. And it's still better than what I started out in." She looked Ember up and down. "It seems you're no better off than I was."
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She gives Rozalin's outfit a quick once-over. "And not that."
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She sighed and looked at her outfit. "It isn't very regal at all, is it? I had a much better outfit, I can remember that much. Fit for a princess, which is appropriate. Kind of them to let me remember that much."
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Rozalin reflected. Inventory-a familiar word. Did she have one? Right now, she seemed only able to carry things so maybe not-or maybe it had just been thrown into the Gacha.
"Do you think they separated the things in your inventory into items, or is it all still in one block?"
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The subject of the inventory got her mind turning though. "If we take the set of all items in your inventory, and the sets of all identical items in your inventory...that's not much more manageable. Perhaps there would be some intermediate level of organization? They did say that there would be a limit on individual regains in the fine print on the brochure.
Post-Pull
That was all the warning Ember got before a slime descended on her head from above, flipped down by -- a book, apparently, that had used its own tome-body for leverage to pitch the slime off the edge of the awning above and onto a likely suspect.
super late
Now she definitely needed new clothes. This was The Worst.
Who even- a book??
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