[attr="class","bg"]REBIRTH

Could you just perform spells with such... thought? Again - not a mechanic he himself had thought about. "It's not like we've had long." Ippo grumbled back at them, he was doing better than they had; and they were Korean! Their entwined histories were not exactly popular with the either, so him helping them was because he wanted to. He continued thinking hard.

Whatever Sami was doing was working; stones were crumbling, but the non-battle hardened accountant merely had a bug he didn't know how it worked, and was doing his best at "taking on the bad guys" for a man who had never played video games. It lacked heart; direction, and general lethality. But, it was an attempt all the same.

He had to let go of Il-Seong on account of not being stabbed and his heart was overloading in a way, everything inside his body felt spiky with fear and adrenaline. For now though, he had both hands to work with. Sami was yelling orders and to be perfectly honest, was better for Ippo to be led than try to lead himself. He would take forward that advice, going to pick up the spear with his spare hand, so that he could two-hand it into having a weapon to keep other things away from him, while also doing damage. Spears were pretty cool! "Thanks, Tommy-" Ippo wasn't sure if Tommy would have heard it, for him being quieter than the rest. "Il-Seong, do you still need help?" Ippo was relying on the man using his words, because he couldn't hold a spear and him at the same time; he wasn't strong enough.

---

Core
Everything the Poet makes is a masterpiece, through and through, and the more they make the better subsequent works are. After an ability is cast, the Poet gains a buff to their [PWR] equal to 10% of their [MAGI]. This buff has no duration, however, it is lost once another ability is completed, but then it is reapplied. Upgrades at [WIL] Rank B.

Tick Two of "Tercet"
The Poet starts to magically generate a poem in the air in front of them, with the Tercet being made entirely of 3 lines. It takes 3 posts for the poem to be completed entirely, though it can be started and stopped as the user sees fit in the duration of a thread. Once completed, all members in the part gain a buff to their [PWR] equal to the Poet’s own [PWR] value. The Poet, unfortunately, does not reap the benefits from this buff. The buff lasts 3 posts. Upgrades at [MAGI] Rank B.

[attr="class","bg"]REBIRTH

People were using abilities.

"How do I use abilities?"

It was definitely the wrong time for him to mention but since he was an older man who never played video games, never really understood how all of this worked. Did he get an ability as a Poet? Gosh, he would really need to have a sit down to understand all of it. It was flatly led. Perhaps he could have gotten all of their attention - that being, the forced stone guardians. With one hand grasped at holding his objective in mind, they couldn't get away themselves, it only led to one hand being free: he could choose either the dagger, or the microphone and he chose the latter. Flicking it up using his thumb. "All bad guys, this way please." This was an attempt to aggro, though Ippo wouldn't know it by that way. Hopefully it would catch their attention and bring the heat off the others.

That plan would help Enigma's - what he said, anyways.

Ippo thought it was a poor idea to move closer to the boss; that was even more threatening. But the other was unwilling, he would have to go with it. To do the right thing, he would try to push through and go 'plus ultra'. Ippo would also have to attack the statues at some point as well, if they were moving with a whole game-like setting he had to obey. He put the microphone away, and started the process of unwrapping the weapon he'd had, clung to his body, but it would take some more time.


orvis peck Ella Moore enigma Sami sebastian

[attr="class","bg"]REBIRTH

There was a lot of information and not a lot of time to ingest it, and Ippo not being the most worldly wise in terms of "vidya" didn't know what he was looking for. A door had become noticeable, beckoning Ippo to go through it. At once they had all been in separate places and seemed to be corralling together now. When it came Ippo's turn to speak, he didn't really have much to say. Enigma had made a good point - but he didn't know what his own abilities were! How did he know if he was short, mid, or long range? Did that matter a lot? He hadn't been given any fancy weapon to use here.

"I'm Ippo... I chose the class... uh, Poet. I wanted to try and help people here, you know?" His heart ached in knowing he couldn't help his own family for the time being, but this was the gap he was going to attempt to try and fill. "I'm not really a fighter so, I'll help any way I can." He had a couple of items in his inventory now, not that he generally wanted to use them.

---

Having stepped through the door he was none the wiser to the figure three miles away as he was focused on his immediate surroundings; straight out of the door, he peered up, then around before stepping through and into the space. It was full of stone statues, that was petrifying. It dropped in his stomach, Ippo wasn't sure if he was ready to deal with this.

They did start walking though and continued in relative silence it seemed. "Should we form a party? I heard from youngsters saying it was a good idea." He didn't know how to do it himself, mind. Weren't they already in a party? Did this classify as one? If it was just a gathering then they had already succeeded.


"Like the legend of Sayohime..." his voice was particular, referring to old Japanese folklore. It was rather sickening to see it come to life, how it must've felt to the poor man. "Have some respect," Ippo pushed through, the boy was just that; a boy. He would shoulder the burden, even if it meant taking them back by himself. "You came here to help people, so help, young man." he was only thirty so he wasn't that old himself! Perhaps he could get more people if he used his microphone to call out for people?

orvis peck Ella Moore enigma Sami sebastian

[attr="class","bg"]REBIRTH

OK, SO,

Ippo had been speaking to enough people to establish that it appeared to be a game, they were in a game - sorry. They were in a game, that may have come because of the light that had hit earth? Obelisks rose from the ground and changed everything. In Ippo's mind, it was extra-terrestrial. Whether or not that mattered mattered little because it had manifested in such a way that was so human.

Well, except Ippo wasn't really the "traditional human" he still had the overarching objective of finding his family and without the notification of people loading in late he had no idea. He kept returning to his home estate, marking it as his own if that made sense so that if they did return - he would be there for them.

Only, even his place of living seemed different with changes. But, he needed to still go out and get groceries, only it had all been looted from when the tutorial had taken place. The world had effectively ruptured, the guns weren't working (he had only found this out because of the poor attempt at martial law by the Japanese government; their equipment, including guns, did not work.) So it was no longer uncommon to find discarded weapons on the floor. Nobody could use them anyway. Ippo thought it might've been a good idea to grab one of them anyway just in case things changed, but right now, it was a lump of metal. He pocketed a handgun 0 even it if was better as a doorstop right now.

But right now, he was just looking for what he could eat - did that mean looting? His consciousness didn't like the idea of that. What was meant to be a polite, nice, long walk across the new neo japan made it difficult when all of the stores he knew of formerly were gone and replaced with new and improved stuff he couldn't access. Maybe he could force his way into some place?

Did he have to kill more mecha bugs?

He shuddered, not wanting to even do that again.

[attr="class","bg"]REBIRTH

It seemed that "Earth-Chan" had gotten sick of people trying to find their loved ones and disabled the feature that people were clearly abusing the message boards in trying to find their other people.

To be fair, Ippo had intended on doing the exact same thing to try and find his own family as well. But, that would not be allowed, it seemed - Ippo had been lucky enough to dodge and dive his way out of any true harm thus far and as such had been able to find a waypoint on account of being a lot more cautious, an older man in this world that had absolutely no idea how it worked.

Some people it seemed according to the leaderboard had taken to it with much more fervor than he had. But, the hub - was a good place to go on having found a safe zone. It was a safe zone, which he understood words - what that would mean, right? But, if he knew his Asuna-chan, that was where she would go. For now, Ippo found himself endlessly wandering, not really going to restaurants, not really visiting the "sights" as people were taking in this all with a sense of wonderment.

No, his eyes were keenly scoping out the area - was there a museum just there? His mind was full of worry for his family, or his children: they could not fend for themselves. He was going to find them no matter what. Even if Earth-Chan hadn't said that people were loading in late, and they were already safe. Ippo did not know that.

So, this was where he was going to look around, each nook and cranny, if he needed to.

[attr="class","bg"]REBIRTH

He wiped at his mouth with his forearm, only to notice the six neon cyber bugs on him. Of course, being on the corner of a building, his eyes widened. A loud scream came from his mouth, much higher than he thought himself capable of. Nonetheless, he had no training to deal with this. But someone else did; standing in front of him, somehow holding what appeared to be a shield of some kind, only this one wasn't real. "Old man! Get inside!" their free arm pointed toward the shop of the corner he stood on. There, he yelled a second time, and Ippo's secondary fight or flight instinct took over. Inside a clothing store, knocking over the racks and falling down as he heard noises of grunts and sounds, and also screams.

The man had given his life for Ippo, if the pool of blood was anything to go by right by the door. Four bugs remained. And they weren't going to be held back by glass, bursting right through.

Quite flatly, the charging of the eye beams, the laser he'd seen bisecting someone was clear enough. He could only dive at it, on top of it's humanoid carapace and though being a human male, had some level of average strength enough to twist it's head when the charge went off - slicing through two of the bugs itself. Its legs tried inverting to grab a hold of him. And, Ippo was felled and swung off - right into a clothing display. Already receiving bruises, covered in clothes, two bugs remaining on him. One took to flying, but wasn't having much luck while the other crawled across the floor using its mecha-legs that seemed half biological, half mechanised with little pistons.

Notifications that got swiped right as soon as they came by him when it took place.

Two remaining!
One Remaining!

Ippo couldn't really do much beyond throwing a hoodie at its face, which it had effectively blinded one, and allowing Ippo to stand. What else was there to do? He ran for the back rooms, behind the tills and into another room to block the door behind him. He noted there not being anybody else, as he desperately tried to find something he could defend himself with. But, there was nothing. Except!

As the door was being broken into and down, legs being pressed, Ippo heard another charge of lasers that would inevitably break through giving him but a few seconds. That was not spent in vain as he kicked a chair's wooden frame off, it was made of a weak metal but it would suffice. The door broken into, the two bugs tried at the same time - for Ippo to turn the corner and stick the metal into one of their eyes, driving it in as hard as he could. The other, was squirming and being blocked by the primary target Ippo had chosen.

Zero remaining!

Tutorial complete!

Would you like to return home?

Ippo pressed the yes button so fast, and was quickly teleported from the scene.



-END

[attr="class","bg"]REBIRTH

Mecha bugs?

Was this a game?

Ippo pinched in skin in lieu of wondering if this were real or not. As the minutes rolled by, he hadn't moved from his seat - and had his first spark of interest in looking outside his window and to the streets of -

Oh my.

What he had expected to see were a row of similar houses, but unlike that everything had seemingly grown in the span of five minutes, sprawling out into a necropolis of technology. Japan had always been a modern place, but this wasn't possible in the one day that Ippo had spent inside the house. Much more worry and panic went into his voice and pep to step when he ran around the house trying to find his wife or his two children. Then out into the street. "Asuna-chan!" and he collapsed manga style in front of his house.

What was this?

He couldn't believe it at all.

He wasn't the only one - as the time seemed to roll by, he began to wander the streets in search of his family. But, he didn't appear to be the only one, and as he talked and rolled through crowds: he hadn't anticipated there being such a stream of people. He overheard many younger folk - trying to understand what happened he spoke to them and understood that they were now a part of a video game? Ippo had never played video games. This was a poor video game.

But, he was very quickly learning what it meant to be in a game. He felt relieved in spite of it all that he wasn't alone in his confusion, but his heart was breaking as the time went by. Then the rioting started. People thought this was the same world and as Ippo perused the streets, people hadn't yet realised that technology was no longer the same. But, he had not yet encountered these "mecha bugs" that were spoken about...

He worried, because a video game like pac-man would meant that he would have to eat them or be eaten.

Time Remaining: 10:23..