>>5578776
>Red White

>>5578783
>+1

>>5578776
>Mama Joe
This is actually her name, her parents just have a strange sense of humor.

>>5578776
>Akane Shirakawa
Weeb it up a little

>NAME ENTRY ATTEMPT: RED WHITE
>FAILED

You can feel yourself spacing out a little. For a second you seem to rethink your name. Red White… That is what you wear. So maybe that’s your true name?

You shake your head. Preposterous. You’ve known your name all 17 years of your life! You really gotta stop getting so distracted on mundane thoughts like that…

>NAME ENTRY ATTEMPT: REIMU HAKUREI
>SUCCESS

(Continued…)

File: 2C2D6D64-7FCF-4965-B602-8(...).jpg (688 KB, 1170x936)

688 KB JPG

>REIMU: Examine surroundings.

Your name is Reimu Hakurei. You are sole caretaker and shrine maiden of HAKUREI SHRINE, the site of which maintains the GREAT HAKUREI BARRIER that separates the region of GENSOKYO from the OUTSIDE WORLD. Though the barrier mainly serves to disallow mischievous YOUKAI from harassing everyday humans, it also serves as a safe haven for these same Youkai to live out their lives. Maintaining this border from within Gensokyo is your job. You take some pride in it, but protecting the shrine from threats, not to mention eliminating threats to all of Gensokyo, can get really exhausting… Plus, you get very few visitors, and even fewer donating visitors…

Over the years you’ve had to repair the shrine more than a handful of times. Thus, it’s gotten a tad more modernized recently. It’s still not much, but it’s at least a little more comfortable than it used to be. You’ve had to rely on a lot of favors from friends to get your hands on an actual TV and kitchen. The TV plays nothing but DVDs you sometimes manage to haggle off of Rinnosuke, a shopkeeper in the HUMAN VILLAGE of Gensokyo. As for food, you don’t cook much. The most you use it for is brewing tea, or chopping fruits and vegetables to eat on the spot. There’s also a small decorative section on the east side of the main room where your YIN-YANG ORBS sit. These are the prized ritual implements passed down from your family’s history. You don’t know much about your family, Gensokyo has always operated with a lone shrine maiden, and by the time you were old enough to begin those duties your parents retired to the outside world. You’re hardly lonely though, what with all the inhabitants of Gensokyo you’re familiar with.

>>5578795
You also have a workshop in the shrine’s basement, after managing to rehouse a certain clown who’d been living there for awhile. You began using it just for some wood carving to decorate the outside of the shrine, but lately you’ve taken a liking to metalwork, inspired by a friend of a close friend of yours. You’re still a beginner though. It’s also housing you and that close friend’s SECRET PROJECT.

The tiny loft you installed the last time you repaired the shrine is where you now sleep, and where your PC setup lies. Gensokyo unfortunately lacks internet connectivity, so much of its communicative features would normally be useless if it weren’t for that secret project... You pretty much only use it to write memos. Documents of incidents, more like basic reports than a biography. Some people suggest you actually write a book about your escapades, but you’re not sure that’s necessary due to how small Gensokyo is. It very well could sell under the right circumstances, and you’re going to need more than the money you currently get if you want to repair the shrine should any of this modern equipment get damaged, but you’re not sure how feasible it would be. Prose and perspective isn’t your strong suit.

It’s an average and warm spring morning…

What should you do?

>ACTION (Select 1 CHECK or multiple OTHERs)
>>Check out the basement.
>>Check out the loft.
>>Check outside.
>>Examine Yin-Yang Orbs
>>Turn on the TV
>>Write-in

That choice not working was a gag, that won’t be happening often

>>5578797
>>>Examine Yin-Yang Orbs
i don't know about 2ho but i know about hussiefics

>>5578797
>>Examine Yin-Yang Orbs
>>Turn on the TV
I'm guessing this is what 'others' means?

>>5578776
Is this supposed to be Touhou combined with Homestuck?

File: 06721DFB-0B86-4FBA-B9A6-9(...).png (689 B, 107x107)

689 B PNG

>>5578799
>>5578804

>REIMU: Examine Yin-Yang Orbs.

You take a moment to admire the family heirloom. Legend has it that the Hakurei God sleeps within. They definitely have some sort of spiritual power, bolstering your own magical prowess when wielded. However, if the patron deity of the shrine really is in there, he’s probably not all too happy about how few prayers he gets from Gensokyo’s residents…

You figure you’ll take them with you. Never know when you’ll need to float with a little more efficiency…

You grasp the two orbs with your hands and utilize one of your ITEM CARDS to encapsulate it into your INVENTORY.

>REIMU’S INVENTORY [FAITH INDEX]
>Current Submode: Stack
>[0]~Heirloom Orbs (Faith: Neutral, +10 to magical attacks)

Ah yes. The INVENTORY SYSTEM. Something you implemented recently. It has been awhile since you’d made any sorts of law decrees other than “Don’t try to kill eachother.” The last time you did was several years ago, with the invention of the SPELL CARD SYSTEM. A magical limitation imposed by the Hakurei Barrier that allowed ordinary humans to fairly challenge the power of Youkai, and for Youkai to fairly challenge, well, you…

All inhabitants now have to utilize an inventory system. Like the Spell Cards, these can be programmed and customized in many ways. You came up with the concept when during a previous incident, a certain someone managed to cheat the Spell Card system using some rather illegal items…

Your personal inventory modus, FAITH INDEX, can track the spiritual balance in items. You can already partially sense this sort of thing, but it helps you trace changes in this balance with a little more accuracy. You don’t want to be messing with cursed objects on accident… Most of the time, anyway.

(Continued…)

>>5578817
Yes.
>>5578837
You’ve lost the remote somewhere around here. So you just flick the switch. It’s an old Cathode Ray Tube TV, so the picture isn’t the best, but you know you can’t exactly ask for much better (or pay for much better, either.)

https://youtu.be/yQLgp8trSDc

It takes a moment to boot up, but from the static is the DVD you were watching last night before you fell asleep on the couch. Some old martial arts flick. You don’t really care to hone your fighting skills when most of Gensokyo are magic users, but maybe you should try sometime…

You decide to leave the film on as white noise while you get started with your day.

>ACTION
>>Check outside.
>>Check out the shrine basement.
>>Check the loft.

>>5578847
Oh I forgot

>Write-in

>>5578847
>>>Check the loft.

>>5578847
>>Check out the shrine basement.

>>5578847
>>5578874
Changing my vote (if that's allowed) to
>>>Check the loft.

>>5578851
You climb the short ladder to the loft. Your small bed with red sheets sits perfectly made. Truth be told, you usually just crash on that couch down below after dinner. You really should make more of an effort to sleep in your actual bed at night, but it’s not like you’re a lazy person all the time…

Okay, maybe a little.

You decide to pick up your GOHEI. This rod adorned with paper charms wards off Youkai. Well, not really anymore. You’ve got your own strength to do that now, so it’s not so bad. Carrying it around lets you feel at least a little bit official as a shrine maiden.

>[FAITH INDEX]
>Current Submode: Stack
>[0]~Charmed Gohei (Faith: Lesser, +5 to melee attacking, +0 against Youkai)
>[1]~Heirloom Orbs (Faith: Neutral, +10 to magical attacks)

(Continued…)

>>5578889
You left your PC on. The screensaver is a photo of the shrine, supposedly taken by one of your ancestors in the mid-20th century. You’ve got the actual copy sitting around one of those boxes in the basement, but you’re not gonna bother looking at those much anymore. Digital archival is a wonder. Besides, clinging to the shrine’s past is useless when it’s in rubble once every four years or so.

You notice a red marker next to the GENSOCHAT CLIENT. You smile. This is the latest development of that secret project, and you know who the new messages must be from.

You’ve been working on creating a magically-emulated computer network service for Gensokyo as a whole, alongside your close friend, MARISA KIRISAME. She’s the brains behind the implementation, while you’re the one embedding it into the Barrier. Marisa often wonders why you stress keeping this top secret, and you often wonder how in Makai it’s not obvious to her. Any kind of sweeping changes in the barrier, or magical tampering in Gensokyo, could be exploited by some new threat trying to take over or exploit everyone… You really can’t be bothered to deal with that, especially not if it came as a result of your actions. You’re going to keep this a secret until you’re ABSOLUTELY sure the network is secure.

>ACTION
>>Respond to Marisa’s message.
>>Check out some of your memos, maybe even write one for today.
>>This can wait, you should probably patrol the other shrine areas first.
>>Write-in.

>>5578901
>>>Respond to Marisa’s message.
scratch what i said before, i know scarlet flandre, maid dio, cirno's math class and marisa stole the precious thing

>>5578901
>>>Check out some of your memos, maybe even write one for today.

>>5578901
>>Respond to Marisa’s message.

>>5578905
>>5578914
>>5578915
>REIMU: Respond.

You sit down and double-click the desktop shortcut. The client window opens, showing all of your currently active conversations, of which there is only one. You open the tab containing your ongoing correspondence with Marisa…

———
DazeMage: hey
DazeMage: …helloooooo?
DazeMage: the couch AGAIN, reimu? serious?

RHakurei: Maybe if a laptop would end up getting spirited away I’d get to you a little sooner…
RHakurei: It’s the weekend. I’m already up way earlier than usual. What’s up?

DazeMage: JUST the weekend?
DazeMage: i see you never even touched the calendar feature…
DazeMage: oh, uh, happy BIRTHDAY btw.
DazeMage: did you even get it?
———

You pause. Puzzled. Then it clicks. Today IS your birthday. It looks like you totally forgot. This isn’t just any normal day, this is a day of celebration! You’re older! You’re wiser! You’re gonna… Probably lay down after your morning routine…

That said. You were wrong before. You haven’t known your name for 17 years. You’ve now known it for 18. Making that strange thought that popped into your head that much stranger.

———-
RHakurei: Get what?

DazeMage: thought the first thing you did every morning was check the donation box? left you a gift.
DazeMage: dont tell me you forgot it was your whole entire birthday.

RHakurei: I didn’t forget. It’s just, not really that big of a deal, is it? You already bring me things all the time!

DazeMage: but this ones special.

RHakurei: How so?

DazeMage: well, i did not steal it. thats kinda rare.

RHakurei: I’ll cherish it dearly. What is it?

DazeMage: get off your ass and find out!!
———

You sigh. Marisa’s consistently aggressive nature sometimes gets on your nerves. For her, there seems to be no shortage of slow days, and it seems she’s going to make yours a bit interesting as usual. About time you got some fresh air, but first…

(Continued…)

>>5578932

>REIMU: Check out your memos.

You probably don’t have the time to crank out a new one for today. But you always do like looking at and continuing to organize your archival memos.

You click open the folder containing all of them, neatly sorted into folders of their own. There’s your daily memos which basically detail what you did on any given day, you know, when you can be bothered to write one. Then there’s your incident archival memos. These are digital records and notes on past incidents you’ve resolved, as well as ongoing investigation into some loose ends regarding them.

You open one at random for nostalgia’s sake…

———
[GENSOKYO INCIDENT MEMO ~ CODE “PERFECT CHERRY BLOSSOM”]

TIMEFRAME: May 2003
INCIDENT STATUS: Fully resolved.
SUBJECTS: Yuyuko Saigyouji, Youmu Konpaku

Winter in Gensokyo lasts from late-October until around mid-March. So when there’s still snowstorms in late-May, of course I got pressed to investigate. I’m going to admit, it took a lot of prodding, I didn’t think there was an incident. Perhaps the climate was simply shifting. Lots of the region can change and shift without warning, what made the weather different? However, upon further investigation, it turns out much of the “snow” was actually decayed sakura tree leaves, falling from far above the clouds, from an opening in the gate to Hakugyokurou, a region of the “Underworld.” The moment I made entry, everything became clear. The crown jewel of Hakugyokurou is a massive tree known as the Saigyou Ayakashi. Spring didn’t just disappear from Gensokyo, it was stolen by the ghosts of this Underworld in order to make the tree bloom. A spirit known as Yuyuko was going to use Gensokyo’s spring to revive the tree, but I couldn’t simply let that happen, restoring the weather balance and all. So she and her half-phantom gardener had to be defeated. Spring returned, everything was fine… I wasn’t quite convinced.

Sure enough, researching found that some years before the formation of the Barrier, a large tree in the area became a popular location for humans to commit suicide. According to urban legend, the blooming of the tree would lure people to wish for death under such beauty. So, perhaps it’s for the best this thing stays dead within Hakugyokurou…
———

You sigh. That was quite a long time ago. You’re glad you managed to get Yuyuko to back down “peacefully.” She hasn’t tried anything since, and has been rather friendly. Unfortunately, breaking into purgatory made it so ghosts could wander Gensokyo a bit more often. You still get complaints about townsfolk being victim to spooky pranks at the hands of the dearly departed…

At least Hakugyokurou isn’t hell. Hell’s way worse.

That’s when a thought strikes you. It’s been a rather uneventful year. Spring has just begun, and there hasn’t been any major incidents, except one… You open the most recent archival memo…

(Continued…)

>>5578948
———
[GENSOKYO INCIDENT MEMO ~ CODE “SHADOW KNIGHT STORM”]

TIMEFRAME: February 2009
INCIDENT STATUS: Resolved… maybe?
SUBJECTS: “The Black Knight.”

Residents and Youkai are all buzzing about a mysterious being in black armor stalking in the evening. All the reports differ. Some describe a dark hooded figure, some describe a hulk of armor on horseback, and I think all of them are just seeing things.

Nobody I trust close has seen anything, and neither have I on numerous (very unwelcome) night patrols.

The reports have died down since Aya’s article on the matter went public. So I’m going to chalk this up to a hoax for now.
———

It’s been a whole month since you wrote this one. You’re not sure what to think of it. You’ve written memos for far less, but this kind of description doesn’t fit the typical nature of Youkai in the area. You theorize if this “black knight” does exist, it’s someone from the Human Village playing a prank. But you’re not going to harass anyone over there for this…

You blink, refocusing, you really should get going…

>REIMU: Go outside and check your donation box.

You descend quickly and slide open the southern door to the shrine’s front yard. The garden is blooming lively this year, which is a beautiful site, if not one with a bit of dissonance… Gensokyo being a realm divided by a spiritual barrier of “sense” tends to spirit away various things. That’s how you managed to get your hands on outside-world technology you normally wouldn’t have access to. However, much of the objects spirited away are items that have become forgotten or mystically taboo in a sense for the outside world. Most often this comes in the form of new demons or Youkai, but just as well this can come in the form of extinct or near-extinct fauna.

The sky is clear, and stretches for miles. Gensokyo is a strange space with many planes, so its true size has never been documented. The outside world is also hidden from view. Those who collide with the barrier would experience looping scenery, until they turned away to go back from whence they came. The same goes for those trying to forcibly enter. It’s a subtle defense.

Jeez, can people really call your shrine “run-down?” Sure, it’s not as big as your recent competitor, but it’s still quite beautiful…

(Continued…)

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>>5578951
You lift the rusted handle of the donation box, sometimes you wish that they’d destroy it, just so you have a good excuse to fix the old thing. Peering inside, you find box wrapped in black paper with white dots adorning it. You raise an eyebrow. You almost NEVER receive mail. There’s no address label, but the coloring lets you know that it’s probably Marisa’s gift.

You place the GIFT BOX into slot 0 of your FAITH INDEX.

You turn to close it when a glint catches your eye, a small reflection of the sunlight bouncing off of an object in the corner of the box you hadn’t noticed…

It’s small and at the very bottom, so you bend down and stand on your toes to grasp it. It appears to be some kind of amulet… But you don’t recognize the emblem.

Probably just some Youkai treating your donation box like a trash bin… Right?

>ACTION
>>If it’s from a Youkai, you shouldn’t touch it. This doesn’t LOOK like a birthday gift. You’ve been forgiving and open before and it’s bit you in the ass one too many times…
>>You should probably investigate it. How many coincidences have you overlooked in the past until it was almost too late? Like that time with the long winter…

>>5578958
>>>You should probably investigate it. How many coincidences have you overlooked in the past until it was almost too late? Like that time with the long winter…

>>5578958
>>You should probably investigate it. How many coincidences have you overlooked in the past until it was almost too late? Like that time with the long winter…

>>5578958
>>>You should probably investigate it. How many coincidences have you overlooked in the past until it was almost too late? Like that time with the long winter…

>>5578958
>>>You should probably investigate it. How many coincidences have you overlooked in the past until it was almost too late? Like that time with the long winter…

>>5579054
>>5579020
>>5578979
>>5578959

>REIMU: Take the amulet.

You decide it’s for the best if you look into this. Talismans left behind are bad blessings after all. You’ll ask around and see if it belongs to anyone… You’ve had major incidents arise from even smaller coincidences.

You take the STRANGE TALISMAN.

>[FAITH INDEX - STACK]
>[0]~Strange Talisman (Faith: Blessed, No effect.)
>[1]~Gift Box (Faith: Neutral, Storage item, 1/1 inside.)
>[2]~Charmed Gohei (Faith: Lesser, +5 to melee attacking, +0 against Youkai)
>[3]~Heirloom Orbs (Faith: Neutral, +10 to magical attacks)

>REIMU: Open the gift.
You enter the shrine and kneel at the dining table, hoping to retrieve the gift box. However… You just picked up that Talisman. Your inventory works off of a “Stack”, that is, you can only retrieve the top item from the cards, the 0 slot. Additionally, you’ve only got five cards for storage. If you go over, it’ll expend whatever’s in slot 4. This wouldn’t be an issue, but you’re kind of a stickler for nurturing the faith of your inventory, being a shrine maiden and all. Faith is a mysterious force that can change for a multitude of reasons, but generally, using items builds their faith, while neglecting them drains it. If an item is blessed enough, it might grant you something good. But a cursed item could bring bad luck.

It looks like you’re going to have to pop the Talisman out of slot 0 first either way. Strangely, it’s a blessed object. It has quite the amount of faith essence stored in it… You retrieve it from your inventory, which emits a faint light in response. You wait around as if something might happen, but of course, nothing does. This isn’t like magic, the effects of good blessings and luck can’t be easily felt, but maybe this talisman isn’t so bad? You set it aside and pop the gift box out of your inventory as well. No light effect, as the box held no divine energy whatsoever.

You carefully peel the wrapping paper from the box, actually you just carelessly tear it open and toss the paper aside…

(Continued…)

File: 9EA3BB4E-5FD4-466A-B582-5(...).png (406 KB, 2048x2048)

406 KB PNG

>>5579185
You’re kinda puzzled. There’s a CD jewel case in here with a strange logo on the front. You thought Marisa might send you something magical or something to eat. Where’d she even get software from?

You open up the case. Inside is a single disc that reads “SBURB DISC I-CLIENT INSTALLER” while the section where the software manual would be is empty. That begs the question of where the hell Disc 2 is…

You hold the disc in your hand rather than your inventory and ascend back up to the loft, leaving the Talisman on that table for now.

———
RHakurei: What’s this disc?

DazeMage: took you long enough to go get it…

RHakurei: Well there’s one disc inside, and it’s labeled as Disc I. So that means?

DazeMage: yeah. ive got the server disc.

RHakurei: The what?

DazeMage: the server! do you not know how this works?

RHakurei: Well, no, you took the manual also…

DazeMage: as the server im gonna need it more. all YOU have to do is install and connect to me.

RHakurei: What, is it gonna play happy birthday when I do?

DazeMage: nope.
DazeMage: its a video game.
DazeMage: an ONLINE video game.
DazeMage: this is a multi-layer gift! layer one is we get to play a fun game together.

RHakurei: Layer two is stress testing the project some more?

DazeMage: exactly!

RHakurei: I mean, clearly we can run processes over the network just fine. We got this chat thing to work…
RHakurei: Are you SURE you weren’t just bored and wanting to play this game?

DazeMage: well i know youve got nothing better going on, you forgot your whole birthday after all.
———

She’s not gonna let you off easy. It was kind of strange that you’d forget… You’ve spaced out quite a bit this morning. But you’re not quite sure what the issue is, you’re certainly not hurting for sleep.

———
RHakurei: Before I slide in this disc.
RHakurei: What kind of game and where’d you find it?

DazeMage: its a building game.
DazeMage: and someone sold it to my magic shop yesterday.

RHakurei: Someone sold YOU something? You didn’t have to scam them out of it?
RHakurei: I’m so proud…

DazeMage: i wouldnt have bought it if it wasn’t dirt cheap and the perfect gift for us
DazeMage: i mean you

RHakurei: Well, we’re the only ones with the equipment to actually use discs, so it makes sense they weren’t asking for much. Might as well have been junk to them.
RHakurei: Alright, I’m installing, be right back!
———

(Continued…)

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865 KB GIF

>>5579204
You press the disc gently into the drive. It starts loudly whirring as it takes a moment to read the data. A window instantly pops up, showing an install progress.

———
DazeMage: hey bday girl
DazeMage: dont i keep telling you to change that dumb username

RHakurei: Oh, you think my name is dumb?
RHakurei: Consider our friendship over. However, for ¥5000… I might let this slide~

DazeMage: you shouldnt use your real name online even when its just us!!!
———

She’s got a point. Maybe you should think up some kind of username… Would pass the time while this weird SBURB program installs…

>ACTION (Create a username.)
>>Write-in.

>>5579209
>Red White

>>5579209
>chillMaiden

>>5579209
>armPits

>>5579209
>totalyoukaideath

>>5579209
StarLady88

File: 5924C155-90C4-4A57-B9A3-A(...).gif (3.41 MB, 500x319)

3.41 MB GIF

>>5579213
>>5579218
>>5579221
>>5579225
>>5579242

>REIMU: Think up a username.

Your mind wanders thinking of what exactly to call yourself on the Gensokyowide web…

Of course your mind spaces out back to Red White but you catch yourself. That would be a really silly name. Plus, no spaces allowed.

You think harder. What about a part of yourself? …armPits… Ew. Why did you think of that!? You shake your head.

What about your job? Well, your actual job description is kinda lame… What about adding some edge to it with something like TotalYoukaiDeath? You do exterminate many, but you’ve never KILLED… Except that one time way back when. Still. It wouldn’t fit… Next…

Okay. Something simple and cheerful then. You type it out into the pref settings…

———
StarLady88: Okay. How’s this?

DazeMage: terrible!

StarLady88: How???

DazeMage: did you forget stars and light magic are MY thing!? i think you need to see a doctor about short term memory loss at this point.
DazeMage: change it.
DazeMage: and dont change it to MasterSpark or another one of my signatures!

StarLady88: Gensokyo doesn’t have a copyright law~

DazeMage: dont you dare
———

Shit. This is way too hard for what it really is… You think a bit harder, and this time it seems to click. You’re a shrine maiden and you just want to chill out, so…

———
chillMaiden: There. Happy?

DazeMage: ecstatic
DazeMage: but uh
DazeMage: dont you typically stress grammar and capitalization and stuff? whats with the camelcase. even i capitalize mine

chillMaiden: I’m not sure. Everyone makes mistakes I guess. Don’t feel like changing it again…

DazeMage: well i really appreciate the effort you put in lol

DazeMage: is the install done yet?
———

You glance to the install window, just as it finishes…

———
chillMaiden: Yeah. Just now.

DazeMage: found ya. connecting.

chillMaiden: Whoa wait, don’t you wanna tell me how this works???

DazeMage: youll see
DazeMage: its a building game mixed with like an rpg but its really
DazeMage: advanced
DazeMage: the manual doesnt even say much but it alludes that theres a ton of mechanics to learn later

chillMaiden: So how do I open the game and start building?

DazeMage: not your job

chillMaiden: What.
chillMaiden: Your gift kinda stinks…

DazeMage: just wait! its initializing. youll see
———

You raise an eyebrow what the hell is going on?

You close the install wizard and sigh.

That’s when you hear a loud THUNK coming from outside.

You pull the curtain and peer out the narrow window. There’s now a snow-white white cube sitting on the ground outside. You glance back to the screen.

———
DazeMage: see it?
DazeMage: please tell me you see it

chillMaiden: See what? The random large box that just appeared outside? What are you plotting?

DazeMage: oh fuck YES
DazeMage: im the motherfucking builder!!!
———

Oh no. You have the feeling it’s going to be a long day…

(Continued…)

>>5579256
———
chillMaiden: I’m uninstalling this and starting a new incident memo.

DazeMage: NO NO WAIT
DazeMage: come on im way bored over here at SD manor

chillMaiden: What?
chillMaiden: You brought the PC with you?
chillMaiden: I thought I told you a million times! Top secret!

DazeMage: and its still a secret! these old vampires dont even know what theyre looking at
DazeMage: im helping out with their meteor shower viewing party tonight…
DazeMage: currently on break

chillMaiden: Ugh. Fine. But you’d better clean this up and not make a mess…

DazeMage: magician’s honor!! check it
———

You hear another noise, like a THUNK in reverse. Taking another glance, the cube has disappeared.

…Along with a small chunk of the stone walkway to the shrine, leaving behind a pothole.

———
DazeMage: whoops. tad too much depth

chillMaiden: Kirisame!!!

DazeMage: ill be more careful… ill only build where you want me to! its your day after all.
DazeMage: also, i can see you. meiling would really love that movie on the TV…
———

Hmm… Maybe this could be a bit useful. If only for a moment.

How should you test this out?

>ACTION
>>”Can you lift up my couch? I lost my remote down there and can’t be bothered.”
>>”Build me a new donation box. You can delete the old one.”
>>”I found this creepy Talisman. It’s on the table down there… Wanna do me a favor and get rid of it?”
>>Write-in.

>>5579271
>>>”Build me a new donation box. You can delete the old one.”

>>5579271
>>”Can you lift up my couch? I lost my remote down there and can’t be bothered.”

>>5579271
>Swap Moriya Shrine's donation box with ours

>>5579271
>>>”Build me a new donation box. You can delete the old one.”

>>5579273
>>5579287
>>5579295
>>5579301

>REIMU: Issue orders.

You decide to start simple.

———
chillMaiden: The TV remote’s under the couch. Lift it up for me?

DazeMage: wha?? im a builder not a servant!!

chillMaiden: You promised.

DazeMage: i did, didnt i…

You glance down over the loft railing. Sure enough, your couch has started glowing a faint emerald green, and starts to levitate upwards.

So this is the power of video games…?

You float down to the main floor and swiftly pick up the remote, setting it on the coffee table before climbing back to the loft. As you make your way up, Marisa drops the couch. You hear the floorboards creak beneath the weight.

———
DazeMage: sorry!!! getting used to the object select tool.

chillMaiden: It’s fine. Nothing broken. Yet…

DazeMage: so what else do you want?
———

If she can just lift and move objects, then really what are the limits of this strange magical game?

You get a perfect idea.

———
chillMaiden: Marisa, it’s your favorite.
chillMaiden: Stealing.

DazeMage: Yo???

chillMaiden: The Moriya Shrine’s donation box… I’m finally getting paid.

DazeMage: you got it boss!
———

That rival shrine needed to be taken down a peg. It’s not like they’re hurting for cash with that shrine in town, they actually get real traffic. So you don’t think they’ll mind. Besides, if Marisa deletes the box afterwards, none will be the wiser.

———
DazeMage: shoot.

chillMaiden: What’s wrong?

DazeMage: I can’t move the cursor or camera too far from the source of the client…

chillMaiden: You win this one, Byakuren…

chillMaiden: Fine. Just build me a new donation box, then? The one out there’s been around since forever, and it’s rusty…

DazeMage: aye aye
———

You hear the telltale sound of deletion, praying that she didn’t mess up the depth this time…

You wonder. Marisa called this an “RPG”, but what the heck is the objective of the game? And why don’t you get to DO anything?

———
chillMaiden: So what are we actually SUPPOSED to build?

DazeMage: After I’m done with this bin, I’ll deploy the toolsets.
DazeMage: One more issue. I can’t make a lid for the box. You can’t build from thin air, and you can’t build with physics properties.

chillMaiden: How the hell am I going to lock it away from thieves, then?

DazeMage: we’ll figure something out.
DazeMage: aaaaaaand done.
DazeMage: while that was going on, Aya just dropped off the morning paper. its probably about the meteors tonight…
DazeMage: standing by! tell me when you’re ready to deploy the real toys. at least the ones in the manual. it keeps alluding to unlocking more down the line…
———

Amusing thing, this game.

>ACTION
>>Go check out your new donation “bin” and collect the newspaper.
>>Save that for later. Let’s get this game over with!
>>Write-in.

>>5579313
>>>Go check out your new donation “bin” and collect the newspaper.

>>5579313
>Go check out your new donation “bin” and collect the newspaper.

>>5579313
>>Go check out your new donation “bin” and collect the newspaper.

>>5579313
>>>Go check out your new donation “bin” and collect the newspaper.

>>5579313
>>>Save that for later. Let’s get this game over with!

>>5579313
>>Go check out your new donation “bin” and collect the newspaper.

>>5578776
Name should have been Rei "Reimu" Muzukashi.

QM? You still here?

where are you prince, I'm starting to miss you a lot forever

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>>5582337
>>5582947
Hi. I’m here. Had some bad things going on over the last few days, but they’re cleared up now. I’ll be updating again today in a few hours once I’m awake and started with my day. Sorry about the long wait.

>>5583556
Also, thanks for your patience. I have no intentions of flaking for this quest, so if I disappear for a day or so, or if the thread dies, I’ll continue on any way I can. I don’t have a formal way of announcing updates or new threads outside of /qtg/ though. That might change later.

>>5583556
The QM curse is a frightening phenomenon.

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>>5579317
>>5579338
>>5579575

>REIMU: Retrieve Paper.

You make your way outside and take a look at Marisa’s handiwork. It sure is just a bin made out of that white material… You place a hand on it. It’s not rough like concrete, but it’s not frail like plastic either. What the hell is this stuff made out of?

It’s magic. Without that manual, none of this makes sense. Not like much in this realm ever did.

You briefly brainstorm some ways to build a lid for this thing. Maybe you could have Mari construct some kinda flap you can access from inside, and then just have a small hole for donations that can’t be reached into… Or maybe, you could somehow get that server disc off of Marisa and just delete and rebuild the bin once every morning… Wow. That’s a lazy thought, even for your standards.

On the final step to the shrine is a bundle of newspaper. You don’t read most of these, but you’re intrigued. A meteor shower, huh?

———
[BUNBUNMARU NEWS - SKYFLARE PANIC! METEORS DESCEND UPON GENSOKYO.]

Scarlet Devil Manor’s observatory was installed just a few years ago, and it’s finally made a first major discovery! Several meteors were sighted in deep space through its innovative ocular telescope!

And they’re headed our way!

We had the chance to interview the source of this discovery, and gather her thoughts.

>AYA: “So, what’s it like to be able to see the end times?”

>PATCHOULI KNOWEDGE: “What? Whatever do you mean?”

>AYA: “Aren’t the meteors going to crash into Gensokyo?”

>PK: “No. I never said anything of the sort. The meteors shouldn’t even enter atmosphere… Is this your idea of a prank?”

>AYA: “How do you think people should prepare for the oncoming apocalypse?”

Patchouli Knowledge declined to comment, in that next instant I somehow found myself outside of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, unable to re-enter. Anyways. You should probably stay indoors today. Or attend the meteor shower viewing being planned at SD Mansion. Even with the apocalyptic implications, there’s probably nothing Gensokyo can’t handle.

OR IS THERE? What if a meteor lands on your favorite journalist? You’d better keep subscribing if you want even a small hope of survival…

———

You blink. Aya’s using the meteor shower as bait to get more readers. You wonder if the creation of a digital network would make her job easier or harder. You wonder that for everyone who lives here. Ultimately, this is for them.

>REIMU: Deploy.

You make it back to the loft to let Marisa know you’re ready.

(Continued…)

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>>5583603
———
DazeMage: still there?

chillMaiden: Back.
chillMaiden: Are we SURE this whole meteor shower thing isn’t going to go bad?

DazeMage: patch said it wouldnt. even if it did, weve handled worse.
DazeMage: itll be a normal thing! just like this game.

chillMaiden: Oh this game is NOT normal.
chillMaiden: But I am starting to enjoy it…

DazeMage: ok. youll love this next part.
———

You feel the ground suddenly tremble, like a massive object was just built or placed.

———
chillMaiden: What was that.

DazeMage: big ol tube thingy
DazeMage: manual says you have to open it
DazeMage: i put it in your basement because its probably too heavy for anywhere else

chillMaiden: What’s inside?

DazeMage: more birthday gifts. a bunch of red tube thingies!

chillMaiden: Nice of you to get me my color.

DazeMage: game did that on its own. game interface was not red before i connected to you, its like it automatched it…
DazeMage: rad

chillMaiden: What’s this game called again?

DazeMage: SBURB. idk what it stands for.
DazeMage: sad about the camera limitation though…

chillMaiden: On your birthday, I’ll help you commit as many crimes as you want. As long as we’re stealing from Sanae.

DazeMage: thank uuuuuuuu
———

>REIMU: Retrieve.

You make your way to the basement. There’s a small metal forge in the center. Along the corner is all the network equipment for your project tests. In another corner sits Ruukoto, your most ambitious idea. A robotic maid that will handle all mundane shrine duties for you. But you have to finish building it first. So for now, it’s just an unfinished metal body. You managed to coerce the maid of Scarlet Devil Mansion to give you her measurements to use as a base.

Along one of the walls is exactly what Marisa described. It’s a very large machine made of that same material used for static building, with a tube jutting out of the center. You have to float to pull the valve that unlocks it, and sure enough, with a flash of light, four red cylinders pop out and land on the stone basement floor.

What the hell are you supposed to do with these? Unfair that Marisa gets to build shit and you get to mess around with geometrical doodads at her whims. You hear her placing a few more lighter objects above you…

>REIMU: Pick up the rounded objects.

You swiftly intake all four of the cylinders. Each one takes a single card within FAITH INDEX-

Oh no.

In your eagerness to get this game over with, you forgot about how your inventory system works. Items can only be used or dropped from the top while in stack mode, but you only have five cards. So if you happened to pick up a sixth item…

(Continued…)

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>>5583606
>REIMU: Experience a curse.

You helplessly watch as the Hakurei Heirlooms float out of your inventory with an evil purple glint.

You reach up to grab it but it shoots away from your grasp. It’s too late. The curse is in motion.

Thankfully from experience you know that while you aren’t on great terms with this object’s god spiritually, it’s still neutral towards you (though, isn’t that bad for the patron deity of your shrine???) and so the curse probably won’t be too bad.

You sigh.

“Bring it on.” You murmur.

One of your Yin-Yang Orbs swiftly flies over to your network equipment, rapidly slowing down so that it gently taps the shutdown switch.

You hear a large THUD that shakes the whole shrine, but it sounds like it came from above…

Your Yin-Yang Orbs hit the ground, content. You almost pick them up again, but remember you’ve got a full inventory. You’re just going to leave them.

You walk over and tap the button to turn the network back on. This is going to take a few minutes… Actually, that loud noise was probably Marisa losing her connection and dropping whatever she was deploying. You just hope that didn’t damage anything…

>REIMU: Investigate.

You climb the ladder back up to the main room to find some interesting things.

There’s a weird looking mechanical machine with a bunch of valves on it resting against the wall across from your kitchen. You can see that just below the window Marisa placed some sort of desk with an old-looking keypad on it, and a suspiciously card-sized slot.

And then you look further up.

>REIMU: Begin to feel slightly powerless under the power of the ultimate divines.

The Hakurei God was unforgiving with his NEUTRAL CURSE. But ultimately, you have no one to blame but yourself for not cherishing his gift in your inventory.

You can see a large platform of sorts has partially crashed through the roof. Marisa seems to have built a bit of support to make sure that wouldn’t happen, but due to the disconnect, she only half-finished it.

On the bright side, you can easily float to this roof platform without having to exit through the main door. Sleeping is going to be harder, though.

While you wait for Marisa, you should get a head start with these STRANGE IMPLEMENTS.

>ACTION
>>Investigate the mesmerizing machine.
>>Investigate the weird workstation.
>>Investigate the perplexing platform.
>>Write-in.

>>5583610
>Investigate the weird workstation

>>5583610
>Investigatively regard the workstation.

>>5583610
>Investigate the weird workstation.
That has to be the punch designix

>>5583610
ah fuck, alchemizing, how the fuck did this work?
>>Investigate the weird workstation.

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>>5583630
>>5583648
>>5583736
>>5583808

>REIMU: Sit at the workstation and ponder its use.

You float up to the loft and wheel your desk chair over to the workspace. The bench itself is made out of that same anomalous material, but the keyboard is a reproduction of an old mechanical keyboard. Like the thing was hastily spliced together. Odd.

You turn your gaze to the panel with the suspiciously card-shaped hole. You glance and notice a small etching underneath, seemingly some kind of instructional art.

Sure enough, depicted there is an item card. It appears you have to turn it over, type something into the machine, then stick the card in…

(Continued…)

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>>5583983
This is raising far more questions than answers. How could the game programmers have predicted the use of the Gensokyo Inventory System you created? You suppose there’s only one way to find out.

>REIMU: Flush out your INDEX.

You concentrate, and manage to pull all five of your item cards out of your FAITH INDEX. The items within are neatly displayed.

You turn them over. On each the back of every item card distributed is a unique code generated for the item, to ensure no two similar items perform differently alongside the Spell Card System. As expected, the four cylinders each have the same code, while the Gohei has a different one.

You attempt to place a card into the slot, but it looks like it’s blocked from entry until you’ve entered a code into the keypad. You’re a bit hesitant…

>ACTION
>>You should wait for Marisa to explain all this maybe?
>>Enter the code for the GOHEI.
>>Enter the code for the TOTEM.
>>Enter a random code (Write-in).
>>Pop these out of the cards and acquire some other items to use (Write-in).

>>5583985
>>>Enter the code for the TOTEM.

>>5583985
>>>You should wait for Marisa to explain all this maybe?

>>5583985
>Pop these out of the cards and acquire some other items to use (Write-in).
On the off chance this machine will allow us to print money, we should acquire some.

>You should wait for Marisa to explain all this maybe?

>>5583985
>Enter a random code (Write-in).bf284m8J

>>5583985
>You should wait for Marisa to explain all this maybe?

>>5584315
That is technically possible but we shouldn't use it with bills since it might copy the serial numbers as well

>>5584454
Good thing Gensoukyo likely doesn't even have paper money

>>5584218
>>5584315
>>5584417
[Spoiler]Taking this write in as well. Again, apologies for slow updates while I unpack my life. Expect a greater speed of them by Thursday.[/Spoiler]

>>5584460
[Spoiler]Gensokyo actually utilized modern day yen. But that won’t be terribly relevant in a moment…[/Spoiler]

>REIMU: Hold off for now. But make some preparation…

You shouldn’t touch this until Marisa reconnects. However, you do a bit of organization. You carefully empty your inventory, keeping the totems by that desk and placing the Gohei back in its rightful place resting against the wall by your bed.

It’s time to bust open the emergency cash. You take the lucky cat statue on your nightstand and nonchalantly smash it into a wall.

>MANEKI-NEKO: Question your master’s actions.
Were you simply not good enough? Was your beckoning stance not enough to bring your master the prosperity she desired? You know of the tale that predates you, and you know now that you’re a mockery of it. But you’ve watched that shrine maiden… You don’t understand. She put one bill within you to keep guard over. But you’ve seen her gain and spend more, sometimes on valid repairs for the shrine, but other times on many jugs of sake. Did you bring her ruin? Is that perhaps what she deserved? You ponder as you feel your body shatter.

>Item BROKEN MANEKI-NEKO has become CURSED (Questioning)

>REIMU: Acquire wealth.

Falling gently from the debris, a singular ¥5000 note…

You take the ¥5000 into your FAITH INDEX. You recall that traditional bank notes like these utilize a type of watermarking that should prevent stacking in the inventory system. These are Showa Era notes, minted and distributed through Gensokyo by one of your ancestors in the early 20th century. Most Youkai don’t really care to counterfeit money, they’ll just attempt to steal it in a battle, so there hasn’t been any issues with the economy… Except that one time not too long ago. The FREE MARKET sure is strange…

You glance at your computer. Marisa’s still disconnected… How could you be so careless? What’s the Hakurei God’s beef with the internet anyways?

(Continued…)

>REIMU: Look at the glowing orb right behind you.

Hm? You feel as if you’re being watched in the sudden silence of the disconnection and the ambience of nature coming from the hole in your roof.

You whip around, expecting there to be a glowing orb of sorts.

You don’t see one.

Then you hear something quietly and flatly humming next to year ear.

What… is this thing? Where did it come from? It sort of looks like the game’s logo, so you’re assuming it’s another construct…

You’re getting a bit impatient with Marisa’s holdup. You’re not gonna wait around for her to read from the manual she should’ve given YOU.

>ACTION:
>>Attack the glowing Sprite. (Violence usually answers mysteries for you.)
>>Toss an item at the Sprite. Experiment. (Write-in.)

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>>5585069
Oh. I guess I did spoiler tags wrong? Or is it because my ID changed for the day. Doesn’t matter much.

I forgot the image for the post as well.

>>5585072
Also. We’re getting into gameplay stuff now. I’ll be delivering tutorials for how each item aura type works as they happen, unless you guys don’t want that then I’ll just publish it all immediately.

>>5585069
>>Attack the glowing Sprite. (Violence usually answers mysteries for you.)

>>5585072
try using control+s for spoilers
>>5585069
>>Toss an item at the Sprite. Experiment. (Broken Maneki-Neko)
Ah, the kernelsprite. Lots of potential for this thing.

>>5585069
>>>Toss an item at the Sprite. Experiment. (Broken Maneki-Neko)

>>5585069
>Toss an item at the Sprite. Experiment. (Broken Maneki-Neko)

>>5585072
Spoiler tags must be all lowercase.

>>5585069
>Toss an item at the Sprite. Experiment. The unfinished robot maid.

>>5585069
>>Attack the glowing Sprite. (Violence usually answers mysteries for you.)

>>5585094
>>5585321
>>5585384

You didn’t wanna mess with the crazy machinery, but this thing is just begging to be messed with. It’s a floating epilepsy warning in itself. Which reminds you. Do Youkai have human conditions such as epilepsy? You’ve never heard of such a thing, but considering that Youkai are affected by substances like alcohol it’s not out of the question that they may be subject to the same kinds of illnesses…

>REIMU: Experiment.

This thing won’t leave you alone. So you try to reach out and grasp it…

It darts out of the way, you nearly fall over the small loft railing by overextending your reach. You try a few more times, damn, this thing is fast. But despite your attempts, it’s not shying away. You chuckle, slowly turning away before swiftly picking up the myriad pieces of that cat bank you just smashed and tossing them in the direction of the seizure kernel.

Looks like it couldn’t react in time to that, and it flashes for a few moments, holding onto the shards, before emitting a bright wave of light.

When you recover from the blinding glow, you see something new before you. It’s the same floating object, but now… It has the appearance of a lucky cat statue, with a noticeable crack running through its center. You notice that its beckoning paw is actually moving.

Neat. A personal trash bin, perhaps?

>REIMU: Throw something else.

You decide to toss the jewel case your SBURB Client CD was housed in at the lucky sprite. This time, it moves out of the way with seemingly even more speed…

>JEWEL CASE: Land on the floor, understand the movement of your journey.

The Jewel Case lands with a thud. The dull pain of falling a short floor is not lost upon it, but it knows that this must be progress. Its mission is simple. Reuniting the two discs, after their tragic separation by that thieving witch…

>Item JEWEL CASE has become BLESSED (Motivated)

Just then, there’s a notification coming from your PC.

(Continued…)

>>5586529
>REIMU: Reconnect.

———
DazeMage: what the hell???

chillMaiden: Oops.
chillMaiden: Divine incident. Promise.
chillMaiden: I see all these strange tools. And this glowing thing wearing that skin of my maneki-neko statue.
chillMaiden: Care to explain?

DazeMage: its an alchemy system!

chillMaiden: Huh? I don’t know how that works. You’re the magician here.

DazeMage: not that kind!
DazeMage: its like a crafting system.

chillMaiden: I see…
chillMaiden: What do you remember about who gave you these discs?

DazeMage: a woman in a hood, she looked a little under your age, she was definitely human.
DazeMage: not like a shadowy hood. just a hood and some black robes.

chillMaiden: This crafting system utilizes Item Cards. That can’t be a coincidence.
chillMaiden: This game was either made by a resident of Gensokyo…

DazeMage: i wouldnt call it impossible, but our network plan is still sub rosa. idk how theyd plan for us to actually play it like this.
DazeMage: OR???

chillMaiden: This game was made FOR Gensokyo. Is there a date on the manual?

DazeMage: lemme see
DazeMage: copyright Skaiacorp 1999-2007
DazeMage: sounds like it languished in development hell if it only released last year.
DazeMage: look, maybe its just really well programmed? it knows how to optimize the alchemy to utilize the cards. just like it knew your favorite color and everything! i mean, its literally a reality altering game. not out of the question.
DazeMage: we can stop playing if you really want.
———

No. At this point, you’re going to see this game through. Better to get to the source now than to have something horrible happen later. Who knows if more of these discs are getting distributed by unknowing humans?

(Continued…)

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>>5586531
———
chillMaiden: Give me the tutorial, I nearly used the desk thing but didn’t wanna mess something up.
chillMaiden: Unfortunately I could not resist the temptation of the floating rave machine.

DazeMage: i feel that!
DazeMage: i only skimmed this part but, that thing is the Kernel Sprite. It’s like a party member I think. But you get to build it.

chillMaiden: Ruukoto’s already obsolete, and I never even finished building her…

DazeMage: i dont think itll do your chores.
DazeMage: you build it by inserting two objects. says the first object is a grey square and the second object is a heart icon. idk what that means.
DazeMage: theres a disclaimer NOT TO TOUCH it after the first prototyping entry.

chillMaiden: Okay. How about you keep chucking stuff at the kernel until it works, and I’ll keep up the busy work? What am I crafting, and how?

DazeMage: the section on crafting is several pages long!
DazeMage: here’s what i got: input a card code, insert a card, that will punch some holes in it. take the punched card and a “cruxite dowel” (the red things) to the “totem lathe” (main room). thatll make your cylinder into a weird shape. finally, take the cylinder to the platform I put through your roof, put it on the stand, and turn it on.
DazeMage: the sections after that are all about combining items. its confusing.

chillMaiden: If the workstation punches through an item card, the item will become trapped in there due to the tampering clause…

DazeMage: there’s a pre-punched card. im spawning it on your desk. they say you can use that as an example of what a punched card can produce.

chillMaiden: Thanks.
chillMaiden: Now go build my kernel or whatever.
chillMaiden: Don’t put something dumb in there, now~
———

You look down as a red item card with a bunch of square holes materializes onto your desk.

You’re still VERY lost, and getting a bit impatient. Both at how slow this game progresses, as well as how it keeps dropping red flags everywhere.

You wonder how Marisa can’t put two and two together that this is suspicious. If you were her, you’d have put all this machinery outside rather than inside firstly. Then you’d actually put something in the sprite that’s useful, like a broom or something. Then you’d actually ask for the NAMES of customers who sell you strange things at dirt cheap prices. You may be lazy, but you’d like to believe it’s better than being too confident.

If only you were her.

>REIMU: Be the magician.

A young magician sips tea from the guest room of a lavish mansion. It’s owned and operated by a few of her strange friends.

What is her NAME?

>SIMULTANEOUS ACTION
>MAGICIAN (Enter NAME)
>>Marisa Kirisame
>>Write-in.
>REIMU
>>Use the pre-punched card to alchemize your first object.
>>Punch one of your existing items (Write-in.)

>>5586535
>>Marisa Kirisame
>>Use the pre-punched card to alchemize your first object.

>>5586535
>klepto withc
>>>Use the pre-punched card to alchemize your first object.

>>5586535
>Ma... PSYCH, no, it's actually Byakuren Hijiri. Bet you forgot she's actually a magician.
>Use the pre-punched card to alchemize your first object.

>>5586545
+1

>>5586535
>MAGICIAN (Enter NAME) >klepto witch
>Punch one of your existing items Martial arts DVD

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>>5586717
>>5586688
>>5586574
>>5586557
>>5586545
>NAME ENTRY ATTEMPT: FAILURE (Defined Entity Already Has A Name)

>NAME ENTRY: MARISA KIRISAME

Who are you? What kind of absurd question is that?

You’re just an ordinary magician, which makes you not-so-ordinary for a human. Whereas your friend has been gifted with a magical prowess by spirits not even she can claim to understand, you’re the one who studies with rigor, seeks to replicate, works to perfect, and strives to innovate. Magic outside of Gensokyo is a long-lost art, your studies brought you here, and it has made you somewhat of a name.

Your name is Byakuren Hiji-

Eh? No, no, she is technically a magician, a little known fact you find mildly intriguing. But that isn’t your name.

Your name is The Kleptomaniac Witch!

Oh dear… You always try to downplay your desire to take things that don’t belong to you. When you can’t get away with claiming it as for the good of research, you settle for just flat out denial.

One more time, perhaps?

(Continued…)

>>5586935
>MARISA: Examine room.

Your name is MARISA KIRISAME. You’re a magician of foreign descent to Gensokyo, and Japan as a whole. Despite this fact, you’ve not known much about your homeland, other than hailing from Italy. Your father, while not being a practicing magician, was ousted for keeping tomes of magical knowledge for historical archival. In your very early youth, you remember old unmarked planes, boats traversing stormy waters, false names, and more before you and your father safely made it beyond the Hakurei Barrier. However, other than her Japanese descent being the basis for your surname, you’ve never known your mother or her fate. Father doesn’t like talking about those days, and you wouldn’t care to listen anyways. You’ve taken on the practice of magic he sought to preserve. Gensokyo itself is a realm of preserving the supernatural from the decaying faith of the modern world, at least that’s what its current shrine maiden works toward.

However, you’re currently not home to see him. You’re sitting in a guest room of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, more of a castle really, owned by the eccentric vampire REMILIA SCARLET. You agreed to help decorate before the meteor shower viewing party tonight, but the party’s in about thirty minutes. You think Sakuya and Meiling have got that stuff covered. You’re currently indulging in the sport of VIDEO GAMING on a laptop that Reimu gave you a few months ago in order to facilitate your Gensokyo Network Project.

You of course have an interest in MAGICAL STUDY. As a human being without a natural magic inclination, your magic is derived from outside energies, which you synergize into spells of these types. Magic isn’t random, it’s a science……. sort of.

While general ABILITY of the user, TEMPERAMENT of the soul, SUBSTANCE of the spell material’s energy, SPACE of the spell’s use, and TIME of the spell’s performance are important, ultimately FORTUNE can account for potential failings in these other aspects.

You, however, are always one to tempt fate and push your luck, and you’ve found it very rewarding to do so. You specialize in the higher magical types of LIGHT and HEAT, the fields of which were honed in old Europe before magic became feared by most humans.

(Continued…)

>>5586936
Your laptop currently displays the SBURB Server Execution Platform. You can see the Hakurei Shrine, as well as its sole resident, beginning to mess with the pre-punched card that came built-into SBURB’s apparatus builds. You’ve done all you can with apparatus spawning, as the other apparatus listed in the manual are either SECRET or usable at a LATER TIME.

What should you do?

>ACTION ([1] MARISA)
>>Chuck an object into the Kernel Sprite (Write-in.)
>>Read more in-depth about the crafting system from the manual. Don’t be lazy!
>>Reimu can wait, you should probably check up on the party before the manor’s maid gets on your case…
>>Write-in

QM NOTE: So some policy on write-ins. How write-ins get utilized is sort of up to me, but if it’s a harmless write-in that won’t contradict the actual voted on action I may try to incorporate it. For more intensive write-ins, I’ll need to see majority support. Just figured that should get some clearing up.

>REIMU: Experience the tutorial.

You examine the pre-punched card. Inbetween the holes you can see the symbol of a red fruit-like object. It’s already punched, so there’s no need to use the workstation.

You take the card and one of the totems to the machine in the main room, then follow the etched instructions. You insert the card and place the totem into the position. It whirrs to life after a moment, and I’m only a few seconds the totem has been sculpted into a strange shape…

You leave the card in the machine and take the PPC TOTEM (No Aura) into your inventory.

(Continued…)

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>>5586938
You float up to the platform, briefly shutting your eyes to adjust to the sunlight. The hole in your roof can be fixed pretty easily, but you’ll need money to do so. ¥5000 won’t cut it… You’d ask Marisa to repair it with the SBURB Server, but it would probably make the shrine look really strange. You can’t have that.

This is the final part of the puzzle. You place the PCB Totem onto the stand while the arm of the large machine extends to scan it. A panel under the stand lights up, asking for an input as to how many to “alchemize.” You try to input some numbers, but for some reason you’re limited to just one for this totem.

With a flash of red light, a SBURB FRUIT is spawned.

You are getting a little hungry, but as you pick it up, you pause. It’s made of the same material as those totems. You probably can’t eat this… Then what CAN you use it for? Perhaps it’s just a tutorial showcase and has no real purpose…

You look out into the Gensokyo skies. Despite being midday, it seems one star other than the sun can still be seen sparkling in the sky.

No, wait, that can’t be true…

You stare, trying to make sense of why you’re seeing small gleaming lights in the distance at this time of day, and then it dawns on you after a few minutes. The meteor shower. The party must be starting in a moment, or perhaps they didn’t anticipate it to start this early? You laugh to yourself. You wasted quite a bit of time pondering the seemingly obvious.

You laugh a bit more nervously. The object you were staring at has seemed to grow, if you’re not seeing things that is.

>ACTION ([2] REIMU)
>>Go ask Marisa about this development.
>>You’ve faced worse… Maybe. Take flight and examine the occurrence closer.
>>Write-in.

>>5586938
>Read more in-depth about the crafting system from the manual. Don’t be lazy!
I imagine Marisa is used to reading manuals.

>>5586940
>You’ve faced worse… Maybe. Take flight and examine the occurrence closer.

>>5586938
>>>Chuck an object into the Kernel Sprite (Hakurei Heirlooms)
how bad could it be?
>>5586940
>>Go ask Marisa about this development.
if you think about it, a meteor shower is basically like a bullet hell! It'll be fine

>>5586938
>>Read more in-depth about the crafting system from the manual. Don’t be lazy!

>>5586940
>>Go ask Marisa about this development.

>>5586940
Oops. Forgot to reenable my trip.

I’m gonna wait around 45 minutes for more votes, then I’ll update. I’m gonna try to make updates come a bit faster now that I’m all packed and ready for home.

>>5586938
>>Read more in-depth about the crafting system from the manual. Don’t be lazy!
>>5586940
Go ask Marisa about this development.

>>5587051
Okay y’all. That didn’t go as planned. QM Curse is real I suppose.

So I have my flight home this afternoon. I’ll be able to post an update in around 3 hours before I leave for the airport early, but then you probably won’t get an update until either much later this evening or tomorrow. Apologies.

>>5587589
Get better soon?

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>MARISA: Check out the manual for more info on crafting.

You get the feeling Reimu’s going to want to mess about with the crafting system while you’re gone for the viewing party. So you decide to take a peek at those manual sections you skimmed over.

———
[PUNCH CARD ALCHEMY - ADVANCED]

In addition to being able to produce duplicates of items from item cards at the expense of BUILD GRIST, players may fabricate entirely new objects in a number of ways. Through combination, and differentiation the everyday objects around you may take on mythic value…

>COMBINATION, BITWISE &&
Let’s assume we have two item cards. A and B. We punch card A to fabricate item A, and punch B to form item B. What if we were to overlap the two cards within the TOTEM LATHE? Some of the holes will end up partially obscured, but indented in such a way that the Lathe may still recognize the data. This leads to the data of card A being the basis for the item itself, while card B is scanned in as a function of A. For example, if you overlapped a punched card of a sword on top of a punched card of a pillow, you’d formulate a sword made from pillowy material. Likewise, if you swapped the two with the pillow on top, you’d create a pillow with a sword decal on it.

>DIFFERENTIATION, BITWISE ||
If we punch an item card using that item’s code, the item produced will be the same. However, if we were to punch that same code onto a card for a different item, what would happen? If we take the example from before, the pillow and the sword. If we punch the sword card with the pillow’s code, we end up with a sleeping blade, a blade that has a blunt tip and inflicts fatigue to a foe. If we punch the pillow with the sword card, we get a pillow with the crests of 100 knights upon it. The item punched is the main item, while the code used will add upon it a spiritual quality (this may vary depending on the presumptions of the player performing the alchemy.) Effectively, we can make totally different sets of objects both exceeding and underperforming the items created with combinations. While this seems quite strong, there is a drawback. In the off chance you get a less-than-useful item, the item card’s tampering clause will mean you can NO LONGER extract the original object. You will be TRAPPED WITH WHAT YOU HAVE CREATED..

At 1 server-client formation.
>Sharing Disc (GristTorrent)
Program server for trading BUILD GRIST from other sessions.
>Jumper Block Extension
Upgrade to ALCHEMITER allowing connection of punch card shunts. Eight shunt slots available.
>Punch Card Shunt
When a punched card is inserted, and the shunt is connected to the jumper, the ALCHEMITER will take on an upgrade based on the inserted item.

At 2 S/L formations.
>Alchemiter Holopad
Allows for items to be previewed from the ALCHEMITER without fabricating them.
>Intellibeam Laserstation
An all-purpose intelligence extraction tool.

>Beyond.
To be learned, hopefully…

(Continued…)

>>5589736
My trip keeps disappearing……
>>5588546
I’m not sick! Just… Sick of planes. No worse way to travel in North America.

>>5589738
Prince? You alright there?

Another victim to the curse?

RIP quest. Was fun while it lasted.

Three weeks is enough to be considered dead and buried, right? Regardless, I archived the thread just in case https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2023/5578776/
At the very least it's there for posterity