How to read this:
Cast list, growing with each chapter:
Chapter one:
The screen of her laptop flickered once, twice. After that, finally the starting screen of her game came up. It was still flickering, but it was picked out of a messy, dusty old box at a garage sale so she wasn’t expecting anything huge. The CD was packed in some messy foil, sealed with tape and the game was just called ‘Legendaries’. The starting screen was plain and didn’t look like it was made in this century. There seemed to be a save file, but when she tried to view it a pop-up came into view reading ‘File is finished’. Apparently there was no replay value. So, all she was left with was the ‘New Game’ option. And when she pressed it the screen changed to some kind of intro.
‘Hello new player! Thank you for playing LEGENDARIES, a story like no other! In this world, the choices you make affect the game and story, so think carefully before acting! LEGENDARIES uses an unique system to give you the best playing experience, so sit tight and hold your eyes on the screen!’
Just sale talk. Pretty boring. But she kept her eyes on her screen. It wasn’t like she had anything to do anyway.
‘INSERT YOUR NAME’
Was that all? She had to insert her name? Very well then.
‘ALINE’
When hitting enter, the screen of her laptop flickered once, twice. Then everything became reality.
-
“Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? Are you awake? Hello?” The reply was a soft groan and a waving hand. Soon enough, she sat up and got a good look at her companion. “You’re a floating ball of light.”
“Yes, yes I am. My name is Ñal. Welcome, Aline.” She rubbed her eyes. Ad she rubbed them again. “Oh great, I am in the game, right?” She dusted herself off, noticing her attire had changed. “Oh great… I’m going to get killed by a dog with rabies now, aren’t I?”
“No, you are not. Why are you thinking that? You are only in the tutorial level.” Ñal was floating around her head. She tried to wave him away. Didn’t work. “I am your guide through the game. Are you ready to start the tutorial?” She was ready. She got up, dusting herself off some more. “I’m ready. Let’s start. The faster I get over it the better.”
“Great! First, I must explain you about your current class.” Ñal began immediately, leaving no time to look around. She did it anyway. Apparently, she ended up in a dark room made out of wood. “Your current class is mercenary. You will be able to change jobs both through quests and through choosing- Hey, are you paying attention?” She wasn’t, obviously, but she spun around quickly to act as if she was. “Yes? Good. You cannot change weapons, however. You must pick a weapon now and you can only upgrade it during the game.” She nodded understandingly. Ñal asked: “What weapon would you prefer?”
“I prefer bricks.”
Ñal apparently wasn’t expecting that. However, soon enough a brick fell on the floor front of her. It looked a bit ragged, but that was fine. She would throw it anyway. “A brick it is! We didn’t have it in our database, so it’s programmed as a boomerang. I hope you don’t mind.”, Ñal explained. She shook her head. “Perfect.”, was her answer. “Good. Your bag is right next to you, it contains potions and revivals. You’ll get a map and other key items later on. Shall we start the first level?”
“Fine by me.”
-
The first level was in a quiet town. Standard for a lot of games she had played. Ñal explained to her that she had to find a quest in here somewhere to make progress. And that was fairly simple. Talking to the first person she met ended up with a quest. “Have you heard of the dragon living just outside of town? It eats us NPCs if we don’t watch out at night!”
Quest: What about the dragon?
“So, our first objective is to get more information about this dragon.”, Ñal stated. “Let’s talk to other NPCs to find out more.” That was a good idea. They talked to more NPCs immediately.
“I think someone should ask the dragon to go live somewhere else.”
“I heard the dragon only eats faceless NPCs. Are we so unimportant for the story?”
“The Queen is giving out a reward for the adventurer that will kill the dragon!”
“I wonder why the dragon only eats at night. Doesn’t he get hungry during the day?”
“Hey, have you heard about that weird NPC up ahead? He looks all kind of square-y.”
The last message was different. It wasn’t about the dragon. “Can we check it out?”, she asked. “Of course, maybe it has some valuable Intel on the dragon-quest. Our goal is to collect information until the game gives is an option-screen.”, Ñal replied. She was interested, of course. She went north. All the way north. The last NPC was right. This one looked really square-y. And he seemed to have some kind of face. All the other NPCs she met until now did not have a face at all. Including Ñal, who was still a floating orb of light. “Hello?”, she tried.
“The dragon is my ******. They should leave him alone. He can’t help it he gets hungry. It’s just faceless NPCs anyway. ******”
Silence. She didn’t know what to say. Ñal kept silent too. Until he blinked. “We have our three options! Time for a quest end!. Shall I explain?” She nodded. “Alright then. Every quest ends with a quest end. The player chooses one of the collected three options to proceed, which usually leads to a confrontation with a boss. Do you understand?” She nodded again. It was easy. Easier than expected. “Good. Here are your three options.”
1. Ask the dragon to go live somewhere else.
2. Kill the dragon and claim the reward at the royal castle.
3. Listen to the weird NPC and leave the dragon alone.
Ñal floated in front of her. “So, what will you do?”
Read the chapter. At every chapter there's a link to a poll. Vote for your favourite option. The option that gets the majority of votes within a week will be picked. From that option I will write the next chapter.
Cast list, growing with each chapter:
Enbukyoku Aline
Ñal
Hakune Yuugi as the bug
Sonone Linako
Ñal
Hakune Yuugi as the bug
Sonone Linako
Chapter one:
The screen of her laptop flickered once, twice. After that, finally the starting screen of her game came up. It was still flickering, but it was picked out of a messy, dusty old box at a garage sale so she wasn’t expecting anything huge. The CD was packed in some messy foil, sealed with tape and the game was just called ‘Legendaries’. The starting screen was plain and didn’t look like it was made in this century. There seemed to be a save file, but when she tried to view it a pop-up came into view reading ‘File is finished’. Apparently there was no replay value. So, all she was left with was the ‘New Game’ option. And when she pressed it the screen changed to some kind of intro.
‘Hello new player! Thank you for playing LEGENDARIES, a story like no other! In this world, the choices you make affect the game and story, so think carefully before acting! LEGENDARIES uses an unique system to give you the best playing experience, so sit tight and hold your eyes on the screen!’
Just sale talk. Pretty boring. But she kept her eyes on her screen. It wasn’t like she had anything to do anyway.
‘INSERT YOUR NAME’
Was that all? She had to insert her name? Very well then.
‘ALINE’
When hitting enter, the screen of her laptop flickered once, twice. Then everything became reality.
-
“Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? Are you awake? Hello?” The reply was a soft groan and a waving hand. Soon enough, she sat up and got a good look at her companion. “You’re a floating ball of light.”
“Yes, yes I am. My name is Ñal. Welcome, Aline.” She rubbed her eyes. Ad she rubbed them again. “Oh great, I am in the game, right?” She dusted herself off, noticing her attire had changed. “Oh great… I’m going to get killed by a dog with rabies now, aren’t I?”
“No, you are not. Why are you thinking that? You are only in the tutorial level.” Ñal was floating around her head. She tried to wave him away. Didn’t work. “I am your guide through the game. Are you ready to start the tutorial?” She was ready. She got up, dusting herself off some more. “I’m ready. Let’s start. The faster I get over it the better.”
“Great! First, I must explain you about your current class.” Ñal began immediately, leaving no time to look around. She did it anyway. Apparently, she ended up in a dark room made out of wood. “Your current class is mercenary. You will be able to change jobs both through quests and through choosing- Hey, are you paying attention?” She wasn’t, obviously, but she spun around quickly to act as if she was. “Yes? Good. You cannot change weapons, however. You must pick a weapon now and you can only upgrade it during the game.” She nodded understandingly. Ñal asked: “What weapon would you prefer?”
“I prefer bricks.”
Ñal apparently wasn’t expecting that. However, soon enough a brick fell on the floor front of her. It looked a bit ragged, but that was fine. She would throw it anyway. “A brick it is! We didn’t have it in our database, so it’s programmed as a boomerang. I hope you don’t mind.”, Ñal explained. She shook her head. “Perfect.”, was her answer. “Good. Your bag is right next to you, it contains potions and revivals. You’ll get a map and other key items later on. Shall we start the first level?”
“Fine by me.”
-
The first level was in a quiet town. Standard for a lot of games she had played. Ñal explained to her that she had to find a quest in here somewhere to make progress. And that was fairly simple. Talking to the first person she met ended up with a quest. “Have you heard of the dragon living just outside of town? It eats us NPCs if we don’t watch out at night!”
Quest: What about the dragon?
“So, our first objective is to get more information about this dragon.”, Ñal stated. “Let’s talk to other NPCs to find out more.” That was a good idea. They talked to more NPCs immediately.
“I think someone should ask the dragon to go live somewhere else.”
“I heard the dragon only eats faceless NPCs. Are we so unimportant for the story?”
“The Queen is giving out a reward for the adventurer that will kill the dragon!”
“I wonder why the dragon only eats at night. Doesn’t he get hungry during the day?”
“Hey, have you heard about that weird NPC up ahead? He looks all kind of square-y.”
The last message was different. It wasn’t about the dragon. “Can we check it out?”, she asked. “Of course, maybe it has some valuable Intel on the dragon-quest. Our goal is to collect information until the game gives is an option-screen.”, Ñal replied. She was interested, of course. She went north. All the way north. The last NPC was right. This one looked really square-y. And he seemed to have some kind of face. All the other NPCs she met until now did not have a face at all. Including Ñal, who was still a floating orb of light. “Hello?”, she tried.
“The dragon is my ******. They should leave him alone. He can’t help it he gets hungry. It’s just faceless NPCs anyway. ******”
Silence. She didn’t know what to say. Ñal kept silent too. Until he blinked. “We have our three options! Time for a quest end!. Shall I explain?” She nodded. “Alright then. Every quest ends with a quest end. The player chooses one of the collected three options to proceed, which usually leads to a confrontation with a boss. Do you understand?” She nodded again. It was easy. Easier than expected. “Good. Here are your three options.”
1. Ask the dragon to go live somewhere else.
2. Kill the dragon and claim the reward at the royal castle.
3. Listen to the weird NPC and leave the dragon alone.
Ñal floated in front of her. “So, what will you do?”
