AJ followed the line of slow-moving Aspirants, his head down and his mind lost in thought. He knew that he and the rest of Atlus’ fighters were being funneled into some new destination, but what could he do? Going backward, although there was no rule preventing so, would be little more than suicide given the freaks they cal...
2025-01-04 18:11:36 +0000 UTC View PostAJ took out a notebook and pen and scribbled something on its pages before showing the four others.
From now on, we communicate through paper. And for god's sake no one fucking break any of those rules, unless you want to end up like that group.
The others understood quickly and pulled out w...
2025-01-04 05:17:46 +0000 UTC View Post“Is that the last of the squads?” AJ, the leader of the siege, shouted.
“That should be everyone, sir,” one of his lieutenants said, “All squads and battalions are accounted for.”
AJ frowned. “Then why isn’t the mission completed? We made it well within the time limit. Are you sure this is the lobb...
2025-01-03 04:52:41 +0000 UTC View PostOnce I double-checked that the last of the scouts were fully out of the hospital, I picked up the intercom and addressed the hospital. “Alright, ladies and gentlemen of Hope’s Memorial, the invaders have bit the bait. Everyone in positions, please. Patients who need extensive care are to be moved into the basement medical...
2025-01-01 03:38:55 +0000 UTC View Post“What kind of fresh hell is this?” Carlton muttered to no one in particular. This new siege mission had dropped them in a rain-soaked hillside overlooking the damned creepiest hospital that the veteran Aspirant had ever seen. The horrid storm was making their more sensitive equipment act up already, and they hadn’t even...
2024-12-31 04:54:11 +0000 UTC View PostIt took a lot longer for me to get used to the new access that I had as vice director, so much so that I had to skip dinner and had to have a nurse inform Vadeem and Noel of the fact. I had thought that I’d be done with it in a few hours at most, but my short introduction of had lasted into the night. By the time I had some...
2024-12-30 00:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostAbigail and Molly took the next hour or so going over the key points of the Hospital’s operations, and what it truly meant to be the acting Director. The end results were… well, they were strange, to say the least, but the key takeaway was that everything hinged on that plain receptionist Sarah. I was also able to figure ...
2024-12-22 07:11:42 +0000 UTC View PostNoel’s form shifted and blurred as she approached the counter, but as she was almost within touching distance of the woman, her entire body melted into the background. Those colorless flames started to leak into the reception room, painting the drab walls a wiggling black as if Noel was in the process of infecting the whole...
2024-12-19 17:39:14 +0000 UTC View Post“Damn, Walter,” Vadeem muttered in awe as we opened the glass doors and entered Hope’s Memorial proper. “You were stuck in here as that thing last time? Damn, maybe our time in that sitcom wasn’t that bad after all.”
I waited for Noel to quip back, but surprisingly, she didn’t. What the hell… did the tra...
2024-12-16 17:20:54 +0000 UTC View Post“I knew we should have gotten an extra table,” I grumbled as I dodged another flying piece of meat.
Vadeem, Noel, and the twins were engaging in another battle to see who could horde the most food in our BBQ session, and unfortunately, that meant that the rest of us were at the mercy of their bickering. Sauces...
2024-12-12 18:53:27 +0000 UTC View PostIt was smooth sailing after that meeting at the bar, and before long, my small faction was growing at an impressive rate. Sure, there were only about 150 members of the resistance, but given the strict conditions for joining, and the intensive vetting process, it was an impressive number. I took another sip of my martini and ...
2024-12-09 20:12:26 +0000 UTC View PostThings got busy once the Regressor’s plan of sticking people into the Omen Machine started in earnest. At first, we were able to find a few thousand volunteers to enter the thing, with the prospect of getting stronger as the motivating force, but new volunteers quickly dried up once the first few batches made it back out. T...
2024-12-06 15:06:38 +0000 UTC View Post“Okay,” I mumbled half intelligently between bites of perfectly seasoned ribs, “How the hell did the food here become so good? It was a glorified cafeteria before.”
Hell, even the decor had changed since I was here last. Gone was the bland motel restaurant feel with its old carpeting and drab dining clothes, and...
2024-12-03 14:17:19 +0000 UTC View Post“Fascinating… I’ve never thought of using spatial tech like this before, but how did you… Hm, I see! This is quite…” my chubby friend continued to mumble incomprehensible things as he examined the trinket in great detail, “Have you linked it anywhere yet?”
And of course Big Bob’ll be the first to under...
2024-12-02 13:21:36 +0000 UTC View PostThe Director finished what she was doing a short while later and, exhaustingly, got up from her seat to envelop me in a friendly hug. I could tell the poor woman was past the point of exhaustion and was well into some new kind of delirium. I’ve never seen her like this before, even when she was waiting for me to finish maki...
2024-11-27 17:32:52 +0000 UTC View PostI left the office and made my way into the prepared room where I’d receive Claire’s brother. Aside from me, there was only a pair of Central staff - the same ones who the Regressor had somehow managed to rope into keeping the whole building running - to help out with my “procedure”, although their real purpose was to ...
2024-11-26 14:26:22 +0000 UTC View PostWe all sat back in our seats once Claire left. She had told us that it would take some time to get her brother and his things moved over, apparently, she was quite paranoid about her enemies exploiting that relationship and had hidden his whereabouts thoroughly. That meant that we had time to discuss the other important part ...
2024-11-20 18:31:50 +0000 UTC View PostI didn’t decide to stay with Claire for much longer after that. Yoona had come a few minutes after me, and I left it up to her to guide our new addition around the preplanned sights and her new dorm room while the Regressor was busy tinkering in the background. For once, nothing catastrophic went wrong, and Jae-Hyun was abl...
2024-11-18 18:38:56 +0000 UTC View PostLady Awesome: Man, little bro, you got the strangest requests, but hey, whatever tickles your fantasies.
Walter’s Fine: No, Noel!
Lady Awesome: Dunno why you’re still so shy about it, but you know I’m always gonna be here for ya! ...
2024-11-14 18:20:33 +0000 UTC View PostI walked over to Claire, who was still staying vigilant for any new threats and informed her of my findings. Well, more like I lied about what I had been talking about, but that wasn’t anything new. Now that things have gone a little off script - which was also nothing new now that I thought about it - I had to improvise th...
2024-11-12 17:57:36 +0000 UTC View PostMan, it was times like this were I wished Noe’s Absolute Luck skill could manipulate what I say to acquire the best results, but if just muttering the right name costs hundreds of charges, then stringing along the best words for an entire phrase, no matter how short, would cost way more than I could ever afford. Alas,...
2024-11-08 19:55:31 +0000 UTC View PostNoe… please tell me I don’t have to act like this for the remainder of my stay here.
“You can end it early if you wish, my Host, by eliminating Aspirant Claire,” Noe replied with a chuckle. “But I must warn you that I detect that the Lady Malice has established a Sponsorship agreement with her.”
... 2024-11-07 14:03:31 +0000 UTC View PostClaire woke up to a brutal migraine, eerily similar to the one she felt when she first arrived in these Trials all those months back. However, unlike the confused and terrified fool that began the Ascension process, Claire had grown accustomed to unforeseen and strange occurrences. Her instincts told her to regulate her breat...
2024-11-05 20:22:31 +0000 UTC View PostIt was 1 in the morning by the time that I had everything I could do on my own setup. Now Noe’s abilities might be impressive, but it costs way too much Luck Charges to keep all of her activities on, so I did my best to ease her burden by dimming the lights to the bare minimum and making sure that I had some preexisting pro...
2024-10-31 13:57:48 +0000 UTC View Post“Alrighty, little bro!” Noel smiled as she dragged me out of the guild building and into Pandora’s (not so) busy streets. “The world won’t be ready for the amazing duo of Noel and a Nobody!”
I sighed and allowed myself to be tugged along. I wasn’t sure where she was taking me, but I didn’t have the...
2024-10-30 13:49:44 +0000 UTC View PostThe core members of the Abyss Guild spent the next few hours basking in the sun and occasionally pulling up some fish. Thankfully, my worst fears were avoided and the fish, at least the ones that were near Pandora, were familiar species and not eldritch sea monstrosities. I’m not sure what I’d do if we somehow managed to ...
2024-10-29 17:36:58 +0000 UTC View Post“There’s not a lot to say,” I shrugged. “I think I’ve told this to Yoona and her brother before, but I was an amateur MMA fighter before this, just local gigs, small crowds, stuff like that. I mean, I’m pretty sure some of the fights weren’t exactly legal, but it paid for my bills.”
“I know a few venue...
2024-10-28 02:54:29 +0000 UTC View PostA few days had passed since my little stunt with Q, and the Abyss guild had done an admirable job getting Pandora’s situation back in order. Jae-Hyun and Marcus did the heavy lifting, of course, what with having many a late-night meeting discussing the merits of each of the five city-states that we could incorporate into ou...
2024-10-24 17:59:31 +0000 UTC View Post“Now then,” Q continued, wisely not allowing the other Aspirants the time to regret my choice, “you can all discuss the details of the contract at a later time, but for now, I believe that I should fulfill the first part of the bargain.”
Jae-Hyun visibly looked uncomfortable at the mention of the contract again,...
2024-10-23 18:14:09 +0000 UTC View Post“We refu-” Jae-Hyun began, but before he could finish his sentence, Q snapped his finger and all sound disappeared from the room.
“Ah, it would be best if you all just listened to my words first,” the Admin said with a knowing smile. “It’s unwise to make decisions without knowing all of the facts first...
2024-10-18 17:20:45 +0000 UTC View Post
