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A half naked woman waves at you from the corner of your small studio, however her shit eating grin catches your attention a lot more than her lack of decency.
"Hello! Good news! You're cursed and you are going to die by midnight! Bad news! You can prevent that if you manage to have consensual sex before time's up!" She exclaims cheerfully.
You stare at her, trying to think if you've inhaled some kind of mind altering drugs recently. You don't have the money for that kind of thing, so your best guess is a gas leak. The other possibility is that this woman is real, which sounds unlikely on multiple levels.

"Did you hear me right? You're gonna die! Midnight! Consensual sex! This is actually pretty straightforward as far as curse goes!" she makes a thinking pose before putting her fist in her palm as if she just realized something.

"I know! You just think there's nooo way someone like you could undo that curse in under a day right? Well, don't worry! The curse is mostly bad, but it does have one good thing about it: "

>Unforgettable presence.
Every memory people have of you is very vivid, making them think you might be more important in their life than you really are. While it won't directly change their opinion of you, it will generally exacerbate whatever feelings they may have already have towards you, negative or positive. Pretty uneffective against people you've almost never interacted with before.

>Unspoken but understood.
You have an unnatural understanding of body language that allows you to accurately deduce someone's emotional state, and to some limited extent, their thoughts. You also have a pretty good control of your own body language.

>The most important virtue.
If you so choose, a statement you make will automatically be assumed to be said in good faith by those around you. They might still think you are incorrect, but they will never assume that you are lying on purpose. The effect can be reversed so what you say can be forcefully perceived as a lie.

>Ice Breaker
You know exactly what to say to start a conversation with someone even if you've never met them before. Might make you say things you wouldn't normally know, which might have unpredictable consequences.

One of these effects will be picked by most popular vote, additionally, you can ask the woman any question, all of them will be asked as long as they aren't too redundant.

>>5892192
>Unspoken but understood.
You have an unnatural understanding of body language that allows you to accurately deduce someone's emotional state, and to some limited extent, their thoughts. You also have a pretty good control of your own body language.

Who are you? Did you curse me? Why should I believe you?

>>5892192
>The most important virtue.

This is probably our best odds of survival. Find someone (maybe even a gay guy if we don't have luck with women) and honestly explain our circumstances. Also, supporting >>5892227
in asking for proof

>woman in underwear says you have to have consensual sex or die
How convenient.

>>5892192
>Unspoken but understood.

who are you and how do you know of this curse ?

>>5892192


that is not how this shit works lady

in all my dating sims we had like 100 days to get the girl

you can't expect me to just have consensual sex tonight

I mean whatafuck

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>>5892227
>>5892231
>>5892342

"A good thing for you, but for me..." She smiles, but you can feel the irritation in her voice, even if you can't actually hear it. "You can read people's body really well, it's not actually something I gave you on purpose, curses sometimes just do that."

She isn't wrong, you can read her...somewhat well. It's as if you had known her all her life, and you knew every habit and tics of hers. But you can also tell something's slightly wrong, it's like she's missing a part of her body, and you're just guessing from what you can actually see.

She sits down at the dinner table, and taps it twice. "I'm sure you have questions, as you people often do, so ask away!"

You ask her the obvious things, who she is, why she cursed you, and why you should believe anything the home invader says.

"What is this, a job interview? Geez..." She twirls her hair with one finger, laying back on her chair with a bored expression. "So, I'm...a spirit? Call me Mona. As for the curse, I'm the one who put it on you, sorry! Curses, most people focus on the bad part of a curse, but the important part is breaking the curse. When a curse is broken, it makes a lot of..."

She makes a weird gesture with her hand, "...magic stuff. The harder the curse is to break for the victim, the more magic stuff is released. So in your case, sex? Really hard, especially if you add the consent part to it. Unless you take the easy way out that is~"

She lightly pulls on her cleavage, even though the gesture is clearly meant to be enticing, your heart beats faster more out of fear than actual excitement, as if your body knew something you didn't.

She sighs. "Whaaaatever, I'll be here if you need me. Oh, and if I were you, I'd be careful about who you go after. Just because someone is 'easy' doesn't mean there are no risks involved."

With that ominous message, she leaves the table and plops back on my bed.

You consider your options. You could try your neighbour, you rarely talk, and she's pretty reclusive, but it couldn't hurt to try.

There's also that small convenience store you often go to, the cashier is nice, but you're pretty sure she's nice to everyone. Still, she actually bothered to remember your name, so that has to count for something, right?

You could also do the safe but expensive option and try a prostitute, but you're not sure how the whole 'consent' thing works, what if paying someone doesn't count somehow?

Current time 7:15AM

>Talk to your neighbour
>Talk to the cashier
>Hire a prostitute
>This is probably just an elaborate prank, go to work.
>Write in

>>5892432
Could you describe what the neighbor and cashier look like prior to us choosing a route?

>>5892432
>haha sorry i cursed you and you have to have sex or die, too bad
>unless you wanted to do it with me haha that would be too easy haha
I think this "spirit" just wants to bang us and is being massively obtuse about it

>>5892432
Rape Mona

>>5892432
>Talk to your neighbour

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>>5892440

Extra info to give a better idea on what you're dealing with.

Your neighbor is Esty. You've technically known her since childhood, but it's more like you sometimes acknowledged each other's existence by the occasional accidental glance. She was always alone even back then, but you've heard she was a genius when it came to maths and science. Then, for no discernible reason, she dropped out of school before even you did.
She's hard to talk to and clearly prefer being left alone, but she never comes off as outright hostile.

Sawyer, a girl that is way too happy to be working retail. She's always smiling and treats every single customer as a friend. Which sounds special until you realize the store has maybe 3 or 4 regular customers, so it's a wonder how it stays in business at all.
You've actually talked quite a lot, but she rarely lets out anything about herself.
The only thing that comes to mind is how she once said she really liked "living, breathing things."
She never explained what she meant by that.

>>5892432
>Talk to your neighbour
The cashier is definitely cute, but i'm not sure we'd have much luck with her. Esty seems like she'd be a better pick, and she doesn't seem to be bad.

She kinda looks like mona, too.

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>>5892986
>>5892754
>>5892707

You do consider going for Mona, but realize that if something's too good to be true, it probably is. So you decide to go for your neighbor, she's not much of a people person, but neither are you, so that's something you two have in common.

Her shut-in lifestyle makes it hard to catch her outside, so you decide to go to her apartment door directly so you don't waste any time waiting for her to come out.

You knock once, no answer.
You knock twice, a little louder, you hear someone cursing and run towards the door. The sound of running stops halfway through as you hear a bunch of things fall over. More cursing.

Finally, the door opens.
Esty's head is the only thing that you can see from beyond the door, everything past that is too dark to see. She stares at you in silence, gripping the door even tighter, as if she was going to close it at a moment's notice.

Your ability can't get a great read from her face alone, but...

Body read: Distrust, Confusion.

>'Hi! I realized we never talked much before, so I thought we could get to know each other a little bit better.'
>'Do you want to hang out? I have the day off work today.'
>'Are you okay? Sounds like you bumped into a few things back there.'
>'Wanna have sex?'
>Tell her the truth about what happened this morning.
>Write in

>>5893062
Hnnm, if she's distrustful, going 'we should know each other better' might sound questionable. But saying 'wanna hang out' like we know each other will be weird. Therefore, i will go with.
>write in
>Hi! I realized we never talked much before, so do you want to hang out? I have the day off work today.'
A mix of 'lets hang out' and 'lets know each other more'

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>>5893065

>"Hi! I realized we never talked much before, so do you want to hang out? I have the day off work today."
She stares at you some more, then her eyes go left, then right, then back to you. This continues for what feels like eons as she performs some kind of inner monologue your power can only get bits and pieces of.
Eventually, she breaks the silence.

"Hang out...where?"

You shrug. "Wherever is fine, do you have any place in mind?"

"Inside is...wait, no, uhm, outside. I have to get something at a place. We can talk while I'm getting it."

You nod, and she slams the door in your face. You hear more things get knocked over, more cursing, this time accompanied by a strange whirring sound. Now you're really curious as to what the hell is going on inside.

She gets out with an oversized hoodie, an interesting choice considering it's the middle of the summer.

She doesn't actually lock the door behind her but instead taps a few things on her phone, and a big THUNK is heard behind the door.

She gives you a thumbs up, and you lead the way out of the apartment complex.

Her eyes go back and forth between you and the ground, she's obviously not going to start the conversation herself.

"I just thought that spending a day alone would've been kind of boring, and since we never got to talk much, I thought that was a good opportunity to get to know my neighbor."

As usual, she stares at you for a few seconds before answering. "I'm sure you had many days off before. Why talk to me now?"

"I like to spend most of my free days alone, but I wanted to spend that time with someone for once." It's not a lie, but getting to know her is one of those things you thought of doing a million times but never went through with. If it wasn't for the curse, you might have never tried.

She plays with the drawstring of her hoodie, mumbling something under her breath. "So it's not something you usually..."

As you leave the apartment complex, you notice that her body language implies she really wants to ask something, but she's afraid of how you might react. You try to steer the conversation into different subjects to see if you can get her to open up a little bit more, and when you mention the low rent price of your apartment, her eyes light up.

"Y-yeah! Don't you think that's weird? It's in the middle of the city, cheap, but there's about half of it is not used! A-and, it's- did you even see any of the other residents?"

You're a little taken aback by how talkative she's suddenly being, but it certainly make things easier for you. "I think I saw some of them but..."

"R-right? It's b-because they almost never leave their room. Everyone in this place, they could disappear and no one would notice! But then, some of them started acting weird. Doing stuff they normally wouldn't, like that one girl apparently robbed a bank even though she was pretty well off, and then she-" She stops to take a deep breath.

>>5893362
"-and she...uhm, no one saw her after that. And no one cared, it feels like I'm the only person who remembered."

She looks at you, a little flustered at how much she babbled what would seem like an incoherent word salad from the average observer, but you're starting to see what she's getting at.

The place you live in has abnormally low rent and is only inhabited by a certain type of people, the type of people no one would miss. Then they suddenly do something that they normally wouldn't do and then get wiped off the face of the earth.

Normally, you'd consider this a conspiracy theory, but considering the recent event, it's not the most insane sounding thing.

"...uh, like...on my phone there's-" She tries to show you something on her phone, but all you can see is the battery icon flashing. "Oh."

Body read: Severe anxiety. [He must think I'm insane.]

>Tell her the truth.
>"That sounds a little far fetched to me, but it's a crazy world out there."
>"It's fine, you can recharge the phone later and show it to me then."
>"So, who do you think is doing this, and why?"
>Write in

>>5893373
Hmm...how can we put this. I feel as though we need to say the truth soon. But if we do that, it'll make it look as though we don't give a fuck about her and just thought she was "easy"

Could we maybe broach the topic without making it seem that we're trying to use her? I'm asking the other anons in this thread.

>>5893406
I think this is a good time to do it, given she seems to be suspicious, so maybe do it without going full
>mmyes I was tasked with banging a girl, and I chose you
So something along the lines of
>I think I might have an idea, but I wasn't sure if it was real or not.
But then say that you didn't tell anything beforehand because you didn't want to sound like an insane schizo/a douchebag trying to use a badly made story.

Basically, frame it less as "I wanted to bang you because a spirit told me" and more "I have no idea what I'm doing and you seemed like the only person I could talk to"

>>5893425
Hmm, maybe something along the lines of
>I think I might know what you're talking about, [Tell her what happened], and then finish by adding that you didn't say anything because you weren't sure if this was just a loneliness-induced dream and that she seemed like the only person we could talk to

Obviously we shouldn't say that in public unless we want to be looked at like weirdos, but just try to make it look as though we didn't want to sound insane and manipulative.

>taps a few things on her phone, and a big THUNK is heard behind the door.
>She tries to show you something on her phone, but all you can see is the battery icon flashing. "Oh."
So she used her phone to lock the door, but it's dead now. Can she get back into her apartment?

>>5893453
We can probably just use a charger on our apartment if she can't. Unless she's got a fancy apple phone it should be compatible.

>>5893452
I can support this
>Obviously we shouldn't say that in public
And this even more.

>>5893453
Damn, that would be bad luck.

>>5893373
Supporting >>5893452 but I also want to add that we have no idea if the Mona is even telling the truth. I mean getting laid sure as hell isn't on the same level as robbing a bank and there's an obvious way to complete it through hiring a sex worker so it seems a bit fishy. If Mona really wanted us to fail why tell us a way to beat the curse in the first place?

>>5893373
>"So, who do you think is doing this, and why?"

>>5893749
>. I mean getting laid sure as hell isn't on the same level as robbing a bank
It seems to be more of a 'doing something you would never do'

As our protagonist has said himself, even talking to this neighbour girl is something he thought about but never did and probably never would. Telling a shut-in nerd to have sex in one day or die is a pretty big challenge.

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>>5893452
>>5893425
>>5893406
>>5893873

1/3
You sigh, there's no easy way to handle this, but you decide to say that something weird happened to you this morning, but you're not comfortable saying it here.

For the first time, you see her smile. "I knew it! I- I mean I didn't 'know' anything. A hunch, and I don't even know know what you're going to tell me so-"

You tell her to take deep breaths, She does so, and her smile fades back to her usual frown. At least you can tell that this is just her default state of being rather than her being offended by something you said.

She changes the subject to something that makes us less look conspicuous. "We'll get what I wanted to buy, maybe the store will let me recharge my phone here." She dangles a charger with the strangest looking adapter you've ever seen. "I always got my charger on me, it's custom-made, so I have to. A-although if they don't let me I could always go to your place and charge it there. I'd rather not talk anywhere that isn't my room though."

You nod. "So, what did you want to buy."

"A super capacitor- we're here," she says as she opens the door to the familiar convenience store where Sawyer works at. Maybe she prefers buying here because there's less people here, you prefer buying here because they're the only place with the flavor of energy drink you like/

Sawyer waves at the both of you with her usual cheerfulness. Your ability shows she's actually happy and not putting on an act for her job, which is somehow the most surprising thing you've learned today.

"Hello! Didn't realize you two knew each other! What brings you here?"

"A super capacitor," Etsy states.

There's an awkward silence. "Etsy, you just bought one last week, how did you-"

Etsy rubs her arm through the fabric of the hoodie, this isn't the first time they've had this conversation. "I overloaded it."

"But this one was super expensive! Even if it was overloaded, there's a safety measure so it doesn't br-"

"I went beyond that."

"...I'm just worried about you, you know? One day it's going to blow up in your face, and I'll be very sad."

"Sad you lost a customer."

"That too."

Sawyer sighs, leaves her counter and comes back later with what looks like a big battery with two wires attached. She looks at you, and passes you your favorite energy drink. "You can have this one for free, just look over her for me. Loneliness does terrible things to people."

Etsy is a little flustered at that comment, but tries her best to keep her composure. "Can I use one of your electrical outlet? My phone's out of battery."

"Wouldn't you rather spend time with your date than stare at your phone all day?" She opens the side of her counter. "Fine, but it's only because you keep buying expensive things."

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>>5894208

2/3

Sawyer sighs, leaves her counter and comes back later with what looks like a big battery with two wires attached. She looks at you, and passes you your favorite energy drink. "You can have this one for free, just look over her for me. Loneliness does terrible things to people."

Etsy is a little flustered at that comment, but tries her best to keep her composure. "Can I use one of your electrical outlet? My phone's out of battery."

"Wouldn't you rather spend time with your date than stare at your phone all day?" She opens the side of her counter. "Fine, but it's only because you keep buying expensive things."

Etsy doesn't react to the teasing, she crouches near the outlet and plugs her phone on it. After a few minutes, she pulls it out. "It's not fully charged but it's enough. I'll show you at my place."

"Oh, you'll 'show him' at 'your pla-"

"Is that the only kind of joke you have." You've noticed she never actually bothered correcting her on if you were dating or not; maybe she was waiting for you to correct her, or maybe she thought it wasn't worth arguing about.
That, or she wants people to think she did manage to get a boyfriend, whatever the case, she doesn't seem to see you *that* way yet.

You make your way back to her apartment in silence. She turns on her phone just long enough to unlock the door, and slowly opens it. She's clearly nervous, as you're probably the very first guest she's ever had.

"S-sit wherever, haha." She lets out a nervous laugh as you take in the sight of the 'room.' Every window is covered up and most of the floor is covered in machine parts, electronics and half-eaten food. "I was going to clean that up soon, you're just catching me at a bad time," she says as she picks up a spoiled pizza and throws it into the barely used trash bag in the corner of the room.

You don't even need to use your ability to know she's lying about that.

You try to do what she told you and 'sit wherever' which proves to be nigh impossible considering the state of the place, eventually she gives in and gestures you to follow her to her bedroom, which has 3 different locks, one with a key, one with a passcode, and one with a keycard.
Her bedroom is a little bit more organized, and her bed has some spots you can actually sit on.

"I made sure no one can listen to us here, I know it's a little bit much, but it's better to be safe than sorry. A-anyway, I'll tell you what I know first. As I said, this place has very...social averse people, and then they suddenly start doing stuff out of the ordinary, and then..." She makes an expanding gesture with her hands. "Poof, there's maybe one mention of them in some niche newspaper that no one reads, and then they're never heard of again. Nothing online, nothing from their family, just- erased."

>>5894209
"Why do you think that is?"

"I'm not sure. My guess is that it's some form of secret agency that's trying to make sleeper agents. They socially isolate people here, then give them subliminal messages and force them to do things for their agenda. Maybe it's a testing ground to see how much they can get away with. I don't have a lot of proof, apart from the fact there are cameras, tape recorders and speakers hidden in every apartment."

"There are?"

"Y-yeah, I've- uhm, investigated." She slips out of her hoodie, emptying its pockets on the ground. You're pretty sure you saw a gun in there. "So, what about you?."

You try to explain your situation with as much nuance as you can. You mention the curse and how Mona described it, you try to leave out the sex part until you make sure she understood your thought process as to why you came to her.
You weren't sure if you were going crazy, so you took a day off work and tried to talk to one of the few people you knew. She doesn't really seem to believe your story, but she still waits for you to finish.
Finally, you tell her how the curse is supposed to be undone, her reaction is immediate.

"W-what? Do you think I'm- wait..." She begins another internal monologue, but now that you can see her full body and know more about her, it's a lot easier to guess what she's thinking.
[He thinks I'm a nutjob and thinks if he just makes some bullshit up he can have sex with me.]
[Wait, that doesn't make sense, why would he say something about magic if I just mentioned the government? Wouldn't it be easier for him to go along with what I said?]
[The story is insane, but it's so specific that it could be true.]
[But if he's lying I can always ((UNREADABLE))]

She bites what little remains of her fingernails. "Sorry, I know you've trusted me thus far, but what you're saying is just...I'd need proof before I- uhm-" Her face goes red. "I'm not saying I'll-"

"It's okay, you don't have to do anything, I just wanted to be honest with you."

"Ah, yeah, sure. Uhm, it's not as if your story is fully out of line with my theory anyway. Maybe that woman is working with them, considering she broke so easily into your house. I'm not sure what they'd get from you doing THAT though."

"Even if the curse is real, we still have time before midnight."

She nods. But you can tell she's a lot more self-conscious about her body than before. "Time for what?"

Body Read: Insecurity, curiosity.
Current time: 9AM

>Investigate the appartment complex along with their residents.
>Ask her about all the things she's making.
>Search things online about the curse and your situation.
>Bring Etsy to Mona so they can talk and she can hopefully start to believe you.
>Help her clean her room, it's a bonding exercise and you feel like she'll never do it if you don't.
>Write in.

>>5894211
Wait, is Mona even there anymore?

>>5894220
She said she'd stay in your place, just in case you want to take the 'easy way out'. Of course you don't know for sure that she's still there until you go back, but it's only been about two hours.

Also adding thing while I can.

Body Read can't exactly read thoughts as much as it can infer what the person is thinking using how the person feels and what you know of them as context clues. Any specific information that can't be guessed using the person's emotions and previous conversation/knowledge is unreadable.

>>5894223
Mhmm, I don't think she'll exactly repeat everything we say if we bring in someone else. I think this place is safer.
>Help her clean her room, it's a bonding exercise and you feel like she'll never do it if you don't.
Let's clean her room first, then we can begin investigating this. Using the phone seems a bit dumb, but we can investigate the apartment complex later.

>>5894211
>Help her clean her room, it's a bonding exercise and you feel like she'll never do it if you don't.

You know what we should do? We should try to find a pattern. We should try to remember every case so far of the "disappearance" and what they did to see if there's a pattern. Did they succeed? Did they fail? Is there a difference in result between the two?

you repeated the ending of the first part in the second one
>>5894211
>Help her clean her room, it's a bonding exercise and you feel like she'll never do it if you don't.
>>5894223
alright, although since we saw the gun we can infer she meant kill

>>5894211
>Investigate the appartment complex along with their residents.

>>5894211
>Help her clean her room, it's a bonding exercise and you feel like she'll never do it if you don't.

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(Sorry for the repeat, I didn't expect to write this much and got thrown off.)
>>5894225
>>5894272
>>5894311
>>5894377
>>5894287

"I'd say it's about enough time to clean your room," you say to her absolute horror.

"W-wait, I was going to-"

"No, you weren't."

She raises her finger as if she was going to argue further, but lowers it a few seconds later.

You pick up a spherical object from the side of her bed.

"It's dangerous!" She yells.

"Then why is it rolling on your bed like a toy? You have a desk you can put this on."

"B-but there's no place on...I was also going to clean that up but-"

You keep pointing at random things that don't belong on the ground, and her voice gets more and more quiet. She's on the verge of tears at this point, so you try a different approach.

"Listen, I get it. You didn't think anyone would ever be here, and you thought: 'if no one shows up, then why should I bother sweeping dust if it doesn't bother me at all? Why should I bother arranging stuff if I know where it is? Why should I leave things on the table if I can work on the floor?' But then you stop doing stuff like the dishes because eating from dirty plates doesn't bother you, then you stop showering or brushing your teeth because it 'doesn't bother you'."

She stares at the floor, digging her fingers into her skin as she stares at one of the many gizmos she made. After what feels like years, she relents. "I...I'll try."

The next hours were a nightmare. There was mold everywhere, you couldn't enter a room because it would shower with bullets anyone that didn't have her genetic code, She refused to throw years old project because she 'might get back to them' or 'can always disassemble them for parts later.' You could find her underwears at every corner and you're pretty sure none of them have been washed since their purchase.

This wasn't cleaning anymore, this was terraforming.

After a lot of effort, bickering and actual blood, you both manage to make her apartment look presentable. Etsy is trying to hide it, but she's actually really happy about how neat and organized everything is now.
Unfortunately, this was incredibly tiring, you hope you don't have to do anything else that's too physically demanding today, or you might just pass out.

Body Read: Happy, Guilty.

Current time: 3:00PM
>Investigate the appartment complex along with their residents.
>Ask her about all the things she's making.
>Search things online about the curse and your situation.
>Bring Etsy to Mona so they can talk and she can hopefully start to believe you.
>Ask her to show you what's on her phone, since it seems she forgot to do that.
>Write in.

>>5894517
>Ask her to show you what's on her phone, since it seems she forgot to do that.
We still have plenty of time, but I wouldn't wait until it's too late. I don't trust Mona to bring her to her. But actually...this makes me wonder. Since this room is (apparently) safe from the governments peeping, would Mona/The glowies/Whoever is doing this be able to tell that we banged? Actually, that might be a good experiment. If sh was actually a spirit, she'd be able to tell.

>>5894521
Also, we need to rest for the eventual love making part lest we pass out mid-banging.

>>5894517
>Ask her to show you what's on her phone, since it seems she forgot to do that.

>>5894517
>Ask her to show you what's on her phone, since it seems she forgot to do that.

>>5894517
>Ask her to show you what's on her phone, since it seems she forgot to do that.

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1/2

>>5894521
>>5894522
>>5894531
>>5894618
>>5894800

You both crash on the bed, exhausted but satisfied from a job well done.

"I just want to lay there and do nothing," she says as she buries her head in the blanket, you feel the same way, so you decide to ask her about what she wanted to show you on her phone, you can both laze about while you look at whatever's on there.

She rolls her body around to face you, pulls the phone from her pockets, and throws it at you. "All the dangerous stuff on my phone is fingerprint locked, so you don't need to worry about pressing the wrong button or something."

You tell her the phone has about fifty different folders, and you might need a little help to know where to begin. She crawls towards you, and lazily puts her head over your shoulder. Seems she's too tired to even notice the skinship you're engaging in.

What she shows you is essentially a spreadsheet of the people that live(d) in the apartment complex. While there are all kinds of people here, they all share something in common, and it's that they all cut ties from their families, voluntarily or involuntarily. Another thing of note is how most of them work from home, you seem to be one of the few exceptions to this.

"That part's fingerprint locked hold on," She reaches for the phone and presses her finger against the screen, but it doesn't work. She looks at her finger and sighs. "I'm covered in sweat and grime, let me just..." She wipes her finger on the blanket and unlocks the phone. "M-maybe we shouldn't be on the bed when we're this dirty. We'll take a shower. Individually, I mean, like follow-up showers. Unless you- never mind."

You don't actually detect any naughty thoughts from her, she's just bad with words.

You're not sure if she unlocked everything within the phone before leaving, but you do have access to the camera footage folder. What she meant by "investigating" was apparently hacking the already present cameras and intercept their footage. Which means you can see recorded footage of nearly every room in the complex.

Etsy doesn't feel like the kind of person that would use this type of info for blackmail or a powertrip, but you'd be lying if you didn't feel a little weird about this.

You swipe through the footage, most people's lives here are rather uninteresting, your life even more than the rest. The disappearing tenant's 'weird behavior' can't exactly be observed much, other than the fact they suddenly start to go outside a lot more, and then never come back. At first, you thought Mona was related to this, but you can't see her anywhere...

>>5894995

Wait.

You roll back the footage, right before people started acting weird. They're clearly talking to something, this isn't how people talk to themselves. The body language implies surprise, then confusion, and then a mix of fear and excitement.

There is something else after that. About a month after a resident disappears, A tall man in what looks like a trench coat and a top hat comes to check the wall and pulls out a tape recorder from it with what you assume are his hands. There's something inherently wrong about the man, you can't see his face or body at all, it's as if light was averse to his existence. He stands there doing nothing for about 3 hours, then leaves.

You try to see if today's footage is available, but apparently it's still being processed.

You now have more questions than answers, and you're not sure what to believe anymore. Etsy comes out of the shower with a yawn.

You tell her that she left out a lot of stuff about what she knew in your last conversation.

"Oh, that. That part looks so unreal, I wasn't sure how to explain it. 'There's a massive guy with a trenchcoat and a top hat that also carries a sword around and lives in your walls'. I still feel like this is just edited footage that was made to throw off peepers like me, it just looks like a bad creepy pasta, no one would ever take it seriously if I showed it to them."

You didn't even notice the sword. Who carries a sword in the 21st century.

Body Read: Relaxed, tired, 'It's nice to casually talk to someone about this'.

Current time: 4:00PM

>Look stuff online about this. There's gotta be an end to this rabbit hole.
>This is all too much, you need to chill out and clear your mind before making any decision.
>Investigate the residents, you now know what to look for at least.
>Investigate the empty appartments, it's breaking and entering but there might still be evidence there.
>Write in.

>>5894998
>This is all too much, you need to chill out and clear your mind before making any decision.
We need to rest a bit if we want to be safe before midnight. If we continue, we might end up falling asleep and crossing over the midnight limit.

We should rest, but not too much. Until 6-7 PM seems reasonable.

>>5894998
>>This is all too much, you need to chill out and clear your mind before making any decision.

>>5894998
>This is all too much, you need to chill out and clear your mind before making any decision.

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>>5895231
>>5895042
>>5895033

1/2

This is too much. What can you do if it IS the government, what can you do if it IS supernatural? This is far beyond your control, and you need to take things one at a time.

You tell Etsy you'd rather chill until you can process all that new information.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I get it, it was a little much for me too when I started down this rabbit hole. I have some...anime DVD's, wanna watch?"

You give her a thumbs up, and she starts the show. It's about some guy that finds a book that can bring back the dead, and the way it starts to impact society.

Etsy seems determined to critique every aspect of the show, which is a little annoying.

"See, I don't get why he'd do that. He's supposed to be a genius, right?" She says, grabbing a handful of chips from the bag.

You retort with a half-ass theory about how it's meant to show his hubris, and how even smart people can fail if they get overconfident.

"It shows he's a dumbass, I just can't take the rest of the anime seriously after that."

You keep going back and forth, arguing over menial things. The conversation goes to your jobs, how she sometimes sells hardware designs for way too much money, how you sometimes had to draw straws to know who would clean the ice-cream machine. You start talking about school, a time that was hellish for the both of you for entirely different reasons.

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>>5895308
2/2

You don't remember what the last argument was about, something about the ethics AI, she pokes your cheek as she babbles something way too technical for you to comprehend, you shove her head lightly, she shoves back harder.
Next thing you know, she's on top of you. You're not sure how to proceed from there, neither does she.

"S-so yeah, it's not really r-realistic to treat AI l-like uhm-" she stumbles over her words, her breathing gets slower, she doesn't want to get off of you, but she doesn't want to take the lead either.

You put your hand behind her head, and it starts. It's awkward, stiff and a little uncomfortable. Her lips taste like chalk, her skin is full of bruises, you have to wait for what feels like hours for her to remove her clothes.
But gradually, a rhythm is found. It starts feeling natural, it feels like nothing is between you and her, your heart beats faster and soon-

You both collapse on the bed. Still lost in the afterglow, you hear a familiar voice.

"Just in time~"

It feels like you just got stabbed in the chest, your blood runs cold as *something* is ripped out of you. There isn't a doubt in your mind: you're going to die.
Was this a lie? You don't understand, you did everything right, didn't you? Or maybe they were planning to kill you from the start? How did they even-

[Unspoken but understood has reverted to its primal state: Magical Pattern Recognition. Body Read is no longer available.]

The pain subsides, as you regain your senses, you can see Etsy's worried face as she holds you by the shoulders.

You tell her you're okay. You look around her room, expecting Mona or some ominous figure to be standing there, but you find nothing.

You decide to sleep in her bed, you don't even think you have the strength to walk back to your place anyway.

You're happy to find yourself in one piece when you wake up the next morning. Once Etsy makes sure you're okay, she leaves to buy a morning after pill. You did forget to use contraception, after all.

Current time: 10AM

>Accompany Etsy to the store.
>Wait for her to come back.
>Check if anything changed about you.
>Check your appartment.
>Write in

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>>5895310
Congratulations, we didn't die a virgin.

>Check your appartment.
We did leave it for a long time.

Mmmm, thinking about it, have a bad feeling. I think we would be better off checking the store with Etsy. I don't trust that weird cashier...

>>5895310
>Check your appartment.
interesting, sothe reverting thing means we lost it entirely or that we now have a weaker version of it but we still have some edge on others ?

>>5895310
>Check if anything changed about you.

>>5895310
>Write in
Stop Esty and say she doesn't need it. Then look at her belly. Afterwards, take her out somewhere nice, like a bookstore.

>>5895810
that's very nice anon but we are both shut-in unemployed losers that are currently embroiled in a possible magic curse, we need to wait a bit before we get children

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>>5895316
>>5895485
>>5895523
>>5895557

You decide to check your apartment, until you realize that Etsy locked the door behind her and you have no idea how to operate it. You think you're stuck here until you ping and a robotic voice say, "Genetic sequence recognized."

The door opens, and when you leave, you hear it lock itself behind you. You try not to think too hard about what she used to get your genetic sequence.

You suddenly receive a bunch of messages from your boss, telling you that if you miss one more day of work, you're fired. You never thought you'd say this, but money is the least of your concerns right now, so you ignore the text.

You're afraid of what you'll find in your apartment, rightly so, as who awaits you inside is none other than Mona, who is looking a little worse for wear. She has her left eye bandaged, with a bloody scar running across her face.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my last minute gamble. I'm surprised you survived the curse breaking like this, it doesn't end well for most people." She leans against the wall, visibly wincing as she presses her arm against the hard surface. "If you're here for sex, I'm afraid you're used goods, so I'm not interested. Anywho, I'll be staying here for a few more hours, and I'll be out of your hair~"

Just looking at your room, it's a mess, there's blood, burn marks, and there are multiple cracks in the walls. Rewatching the camera footage is certainly going to be interesting.

While you can't read her body anymore, it feels like you can see her more clearly than before, you sometimes sees symbols you can't read, but that you can still understand on an instinctual level. If you had to describe it using actual words, it would be...

Magical Pattern Recognition: Incomplete name, Wealth, Possession.

As before, you can ask her anything, and all questions will be asked.
>Write in questions.

>>5896118
I have a question: Why?

>>5896118
What happened, and what is going on in this apartment complex?

>>5896118
Also ask what she meant by "risks" when she was warning us about going for someone who was easy.

>>5896118
What would have happened had I fucked you?
Who or what beat you up and why?
What stabbed through my body last night?
Is Esty right?

>>5896259
>>5896247
>>5896119

You ask her why, somehow, she manages to formulate an answer to this.

"Why? I told you I put the curse on you because undoing it would create more magical energy that I can use, I didn't lie about that, granted I didn't say that breaking the curse would almost kill you, but I didn't say it wouldn't do that either. Unless you mean, "why can't we have sex." The answer to that being: your virginity has been claimed, which means I can't claim you. I would've been more forceful, but you people have so many rules when it comes to consent, I had to respect some boundaries."

You ask her what happened to your room, and what's going on with the apartment complex.

She shrugs. "I come here sometimes because it tends to attract easy targets. Good magic potential, all a little silly in the head, generally too shy to ask for help so you can manipulate them easily, it's great! Or it WAS, until some weird black cat thing came in and attacked me while I was chilling on my- your bed. Thankfully, you broke that curse in the middle of the fight, which gave me enough of a power boost to blast it to smithereens." She makes an annoyed click sound with her tongue. "This isn't the first encounter I've had with it, and I'm sure it'll come back. I might need to move my area of operations at this rate. "

You ask her what she meant by 'risks' when going for someone easy.

She laughs. "That's because everyone in this city is dangerous, if someone is a little too eager to have sex with you, that should ring a lot of alarm bells. They can drug you, abduct you, turn your soul into paste, install a..." She stares at your arm. "...microchip on your left shoulder. What I'm saying is having sex with someone requires putting yourself into a very vulnerable position, and finding someone that wouldn't abuse that vulnerability in this city is pretty hard."

You didn't learn as much as you'd expect, but she seems to be mostly clueless about the operations going in the apartment complex, that, or she's lying, but it's not like you have any way to tell. You're a little put off by the fact she casually mentioned 'claiming you' as if it was no big deal, but you're not exactly surprised either.

(you can still ask last minute questions here right before doing whatever you'll be doing next.)

Current time 10:15AM

>Go back to Etsy's house and wait for her, it'll be safer here.
>If you speed up you should be able to catch Etsy on the way to the store, something's not right about the cashier.
>Go to your job, it sucks, but it's better than doing nothing.
>Write in.

>>5896387
>If you speed up you should be able to catch Etsy on the way to the store, something's not right about the cashier.

>>5896387
Ask if there is a way to contact her just in case. Maybe she would like to know if we spot that black cat for her.

>Write in.
Text boss that we're dealing with an emergency right now and won't be able to come in. What time is our work anyway?
Afterwards
>If you speed up you should be able to catch Etsy on the way to the store, something's not right about the cashier.

>>5896387
>If you speed up you should be able to catch Etsy on the way to the store, something's not right about the cashier.

>>5896387
>If you speed up you should be able to catch Etsy on the way to the store, something's not right about the cashier.

>>5896517
Before I forget, stripe & check our left shoulder & arm for any trace of an incision before we leave. Mona omits things but she hasn't lied yet, and fixated on our arm, so Esty might've done something to us.

>>5896387
>If you speed up you should be able to catch Etsy on the way to the store, something's not right about the cashier.

>microchip on your left shoulder
A side effect of sleeping with the paranoid tech genius. Might explain how the door was unlocked though.

>>5896605
I'm not particularly worried about the chip? If she's the one who put it there its probably just to ensure she can find us, I don't think she's a glowie. Otherwise we would have learned it with our sense.

>>5896673
It could be that redacted bit that we sensed earlier.

>>5896709
That one just implied she'd have something if we were a random jackass, but her thoughts otherwise imply her to be innocent.

>>5896387
>If you speed up you should be able to catch Etsy on the way to the store, something's not right about the cashier.

>"...microchip on your left shoulder.
Yandere?
Trust issues?
Cares too much?

>>5896605
>>5896530
>>5896517
>>5896478
>>5896413
>>5896403
>>5896367

1/2

You ask her what would've happened if she 'claimed' you.

"Oh, that's easy. I would've claimed your body, which means I would've been able to order you like a puppet, aaah...what could've been. Mhh? Don't look at me like that, my magic is all about material wealth, not my fault people are material."

You ask her if Etsy is right about her conspiracies.

"Etsy? Who- oh, HER. Is that the one you put loads into? That's...really funny, actually. The girl has contingency plans for everything except a guy being nice to her. She's smart, but the type of smart that thinks knowing a lot about one field makes you an expert in all others. She's a little bit narrow-minded because of this, so while I wouldn't put it past your government to be involved, the truth is probably a lot more complex than that. But what do I know, politics has never been my forte~"

You ask her if you can keep contact, but she waves you off. "Nah, no offense, but you're a little...weak right now. Maybe if you figure out your new magical gift, we'll be able to talk as equals~"

You do try to ask her about this new 'magical gift' which just feels like a more convoluted version of your previous ability, but she just retorts with 'it'll come naturally.'"

Before leaving, you check your shoulder and sure enough, there is a very small incision in the back of it, one that would be very hard to see without a mirror, so it's no wonder you didn't notice it.

You shoot a text to your boss telling you there's been an emergency and that you won't show up for a while. You get told that you'll need to work overtime, but you're not fired yet.

Once that's done, you go and catch up with Etsy to the convenience store, she smiles when she sees you approach.

"Hey! I'm glad the door opened for you, wasn't sure if uhm...did it lock behind you?"

You tell her that yes, it did lock behind you, probably thanks to the chip in your shoulder. Her face goes pale.

"A-ah, I was going to tell you about that, uhm, so like, when you almost passed out, I thought 'what if you get kidnapped while I sleep' or something, so uhm...promise you won't get mad?"

You say you won't, since you'd rather she be honest with her antics than hide it for you to find later.

"So uhm, I did put an implant that got your genetic sequence, and it tells me where you are, a-and your heart rate, and...other...unimportant things..."

You stare.

"O-okay! It also records your hormone and pheromone levels, because uhm, if you get sick or...err, it can change...and..."

You let out a sigh of relief, you expected much worse than what you assume is meant to be a horny-meter.

When you enter the store, Sawyer is delighted to see you both, you can't help but feel like there's something different about her, you think it's your ability acting up again, but it's a lot less intuitive than before.

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>>5896772

Etsy shyly asks for after morning pills and even more quietly for regular contraceptive pills, but instead of the expected teasing from sawyer, she frowns.

You've seen her pout, but you don't think you've ever seen her make this face before, she doesn't look mad, just...sad? Dissapointed? Your body read sure could've come in handy right now.

"Are you sure?" Sawyer asks. "I know it's hard to take care of a child but..."

"H-huh? J-just give-"

"If you're worried about the pregnancy cycle, it's not as bad as people make it up to be, giving birth is also relatively painless thanks to anesthetics."

You both stare at Sawyer a little dumbfounded, this is kind of a massive character shift from the bubbly, happy girl she usually is.

"I mean- I don't know, I can't exactly deal with a kid right now, it's not like I'm actually killing anything, it isn't a...fetus or something."

This is getting awkward.

"It's not about if he's alive or not, it's about the opportunity to live. You're denying him the right to exist in the future."

"H-huh? That's- by that logic, me not banging every guy I see is denying some kid the right to exist."

"Yes."

Etsy doesn't know how to answer. You've heard of natalism, but you don't think you've seen it taken to its logical extreme like this.

"Every day, every choice you make, you affect billions of lives, and you treat it as a given. A power you not only do not deserve, but one you wield like tyrants. I usually do not mind the wasted potential, because it is something you are all blind to. But this? You can see it staring at you in the face, a life changing decision that will culminate in so much more- perhaps raising him will be hard, perhas it won't be the best childhood, but-"
Sawyer's voice cracks, you realize she hasn't blinked a single time during this conversation, and you can see a color you've never seen before in her eyes.

Eventually, she closes her eyes, and goes back to her usual smile. "No, you're right, I'm sorry. This isn't my choice, besides, you were never impregnated in the first place. It was a safe day, after all."

There are patterns floating around her, they are so vivid, it's almost as if you could touch them.

Magical Pattern Recognition (Sawyer): Opportunity, Life, Powerless.

>Take what you came for and leave for work, this is getting weird.
>Stay to speak with Sawyer, there's something else to this.
>She might be dangerous, it's better to come back to etsy's place before choosing our next course of action.
>Write in.

>>5896773
>She might be dangerous, it's better to come back to etsy's place before choosing our next course of action.
This woman is up to somethubg, let's go back home because I do not trust her.

Also, yeah, the chance of getting pregnant first try is not the biggest.

>>5896773
Damn. Went for the wrong girl.
>Write in.
"She's right, Esty. You don't need those."
Then give her a wink.

>>5896786
We're not even sure anything happened, it was the first try, and Etsy is a nice girl and all but she's not exactly some idol of fertility.

>>5896794
Also, even if she was, do we really want a pregnant woman while dealing with crazy curse magic and possible glow-ops?

>>5896794
Sawyer has, if not the same, magical abilities and was able to inform Etsy she is not pregnant because she was not ovulating. Or Sawyer is like Mona, a being who trying to manipulate the real world. This response would show Esty we care enough about her enough that it wasn't a one time thing because we were going to die and reaffirms Sawyer's worldview, perhaps even seguing into further discussion on her eyes, her fixation on pregnancy, and how she knew Esty was not pregnant.

>>5896797
Pregnancy is one of the most potent, if not greatest, forms of magic. It's why satanists kill babies through poison and extraction centers to fuel their dark magick.

>>5896773
>Take what you came for and leave for work, this is getting weird.
Just hand over the drugs, retail worker.

>>5896773
>Take what you came for and leave for work, this is getting weird.

>>5896773
>Stay to speak with Sawyer, there's something else to this.
We can counter Sawyers complaint with the fact that if we were to take care of a child now and possibly fail, financially it may put us into a deeper debt that would prevent us from having another child. Whereas if we were to wait until we were more economically stable, we would be more likely to ensure our child's survival and possibly even make more with a higher chance of success.

>>5896773
>Stay to speak with Sawyer, there's something else to this.
If we can get Esty to leave first, attempt to placate her bu arguing this isn't her usual act and try to get to the bottom of this
If not possible:
>She might be dangerous, it's better to come back to etsy's place before choosing our next course of action.

>>5896773
>>5896786
I'd like to combine my write-in with
>Stay to speak with Sawyer, there's something else to this.
If that's not possible, switch the vote.

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>>5897153
>>5897024
>>5896976
>>5896900
>>5896869
>>5896797
>>5896794
>>5896786
>>5896780

1/2

While Sawyer has always been a little odd, she's never been so outwardly...judgmental like this.

You try to tell Etsy to leave with the pills and that you need to stay behind to talk something out with Sawyer.

"No! I- I mean, if it's something you need to uhm...discuss, why can't I be here?" Etsy protest. You suppose you'd feel left out too if she told you to leave without her.

Sawyer tries her best to go back to her usual cheerful demeanor, but it's pretty clear that it's forced. "It's okay, you don't need to keep me company, I'm sure you two are very busy after all."

You try to extract some more information out of her, but she keeps evading the questions.
As you get another message from your boss, you realize you may be out of time.

Etsy grabs her pills, and you tell her you have to leave for your job. She's clearly uncomfortable with leaving you so soon, but she doesn't stop you.

"I, uhm, I'll try to see if I can find something. I'm sure some of my old designs could s-sell enough to support us for a while, maybe. I just hate dealing with the paperwork, and corpo-speak...ah, they might ask me for my portfolio too, what do I even...?"

You tell her you'll figure it out together, what she makes is sure to sell for a lot, the main issue is not getting ripped off and attracting the wrong kind of attention.

As you leave for work, you notice a lot more of what you assume is magic around you. Most people seem to have letters and weird colors surrounding them, some of them have none at all. The more of it you see, the more things start to make sense.

(Magical Pattern Recognition can now somewhat understand someone's magical ability and quirks if you've spent a certain amount of time with them.)

MPR (Mona): Real name: Mammona. Immense magic potential. Can claim things depending on multiple factors, however she can lose that claim if someone exerts a stronger will over it. Much weaker when in a place she doesn't own.

MPR (Sawyer): Cursed. High magic potential. Can see the best possible future for someone and how to reach it.

You're glad your ability doesn't feel like random words anymore, although it feels like what you've learned is not all there is to know about their magic, it's a start.
You still wish you could throw fireballs or something, but you're still happy that you get magic at all.

>>5897335
2/2

You enter to the familiar sight of the fast food chain restaurant you've now spent two years working in. The fact that they'd fire you for missing two days of work makes you a little mad, but it's not like experience means anything in that type of work.

You hear two of your coworkers speak, a girl and Oliver. You remember seeing the girl once or twice, but your work hours rarely aligned with each other, all you know is she works part-time here to pay for college.
As for Oliver, he's...annoying, to say the least. He tends to aggressively flirt with every girl he meets, barely do his job, and his personality is so vapid that you wonder if he even has a life outside this shitty job.

Needless to say, the flirting isn't going great on Oliver's side.

Oliver closes his eyes and makes a terrible Chinese impression. "So it's like...Ni hao?"

"Dude."

"Did I not get it right?"

"How many times do I need to tell you this, I'm not- I'm a fourth generation immigrant, I don't fucking speak Chinese."

"But...you look- I mean, genetically-"

"Say one more word, and I'll shove your head in the deep fryer."

"Haha...good joke..."

The girl breathes a sigh of relief when she sees you. "Thank god, someone who knows what they're doing. I thought we'd have to survive 12AM with two people."

"You mean three-"

"You count as negative people, you waste of human skin."

You'd say she was being unnecessarily mean, but as someone who had to talk to him for an entire day, she's actually being pretty patient right now.
Maybe she's talking to him to protect the other girl working the aforementioned deep fryer in the back.

That will change soon, 12AM is when hell starts.

Current time: 11AM

>Try to use this opportunity to understand your power better, there's bound to be a few magical people coming in.
>Try to listen in for rumors, people say a lot of strange things when they eat.
>Work back in the kitchen and don't attract attention, you've got a bad feeling about today.
>Might as well get to know your coworkers better.
>Write in

>>5897340
>Write in
Go to the bathroom, find a mirror and attempt to self-read, then:
>Try to use this opportunity to understand your power better, there's bound to be a few magical people coming in.
IMO we can't stay passive, as if we can see other people with magical abilities, chances are so can others. We need an edge ASAP.
Also an idea for when we get off work is to corner Sawyer with what we now (think we) understand of her magical abilities.

>>5897340
>Work back in the kitchen and don't attract attention, you've got a bad feeling about today.

>>5897350
+1

>>5897356
Support
We can hit up the cute girl from the back.

>>5897350
+1

>>5897335
if that's sawyer power, that gives a new meaning as to her jokes about we dating the other day
>>5897340
>Try to use this opportunity to understand your power better, there's bound to be a few magical people coming in.

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>>5897350
>>5897356
>>5897361
>>5897376
>>5897388

1/2

Like the hero you are, you decide to abandon the girl to Oliver, you lie to yourself and say that suffering builds character, and you're doing it for her own good.

You pass by the girl operating the deep fryer, you didn't recognize her with the cap she was wearing, but you know her pretty well. You've just never considered her an option since you knew she had a boyfriend. You two might be the only people that have worked here for more than a year, so you've developed a friendship solely due to the shared trauma this work tends to create.

"Huh, and here I thought you blew your brains out," she says as she prepares another batch of fries. "You're not looking too good," as she turns around to face you, you notice she's also not looking much better, her eyes are swollen red, it looks like she's been crying all night.

You ask her what happened.

"Oh, you know, I found out my boyfriend cheated on me like, 2 days ago. We broke up, it is what it is." She stares at the fries a little bit too long, before snapping back to reality. "So, what's up with you? Not like you to miss, what, almost two days of work? Without notice, too. Deserting like this, that's got to be a crime."

Wait, did she say they broke up 2 days ago? Damnit, she *was* an option after all. Then again, you would've felt awful manipulating her at her lowest point like this, so maybe it's for the best.

You almost tell her that you were busy having sex, but considering she just got cheated on, you'd rather not rub salt in the wound. Instead, you just tell her you had a severe burn-out, and felt like you needed to take a break. She nods in understanding.

You also ask her if she can cover for you while you stay in the bathroom, because you really need some alone time right now.

She sighs. "... Alright, this battle sister shall cover for you on the battlefield. Risking her life once again with no rewards in sight, honor her only fuel, her body covered in scars-"

You shove twenty dollars in her hand and go for the bathroom, the service she is rendering is worth much more than that, so you'll have to think of something to do for her later, but right now you have something much more important in sight.

Magic.

You thought that reading people would be a good way to train, but you've thought of something much better: reading yourself.

You stare at yourself in the mirror, trying your hardest to see your 'aura'.

Nothing.

You focus harder, and while you can almost see something, it never reflects on the mirror, just the corner of your eyes. You suppose it makes sense, the camera couldn't see Mona, so maybe magic wouldn't reflect on a mirror either. That would mean that you don't actually see it with your eyes, but something else.

You close your eyes and focus, for a second, you can see what looks like a strange, distorted version of your body.

>>5897755

Aaaand it's gone.

You look at the mirror again, close your eyes, it appears for a little bit longer before vanishing from your mind.

It takes a lot of tries, but using your reflection as a reference, you manage to truly see...yourself?

You open your eyes, and the image is still there. It doesn't look like you at all, it's like someone splashed paint on the mirror, and the colors gained a life of their own in the process.
Despite the grotesque appearence, this might be the clearest reading you've ever had, clearer even than the body read you had before.

MPR (you): Magical Pattern Recognition is capable of noticing patterns (magical or otherwise) and extrapolate information from them given enough time and data.
As with all base magical forms, it will sometimes act as if it has a mind of its own to lower the burden of the host, and even morph itself into a specialized version temporarily during emergencies at a great cost.
While this magic is information focused, the patterns can sometimes be recreated or manipulated.
This magic will slowly evolve into a permanent specialized version, regardless of the user's wishes, which might make it lose some of its original functions.

You had some kind of epiphany, the answer was right there and it just clicked. You don't remember how you even came to that conclusion, but you know that all of this is undeniably true.

You feel like that with this greater understanding, a new opportunity- no, a new inevitability presents itself before you.
Who will you become?

>Unreliable Habits:
Disrupt the pattern of a small sized thing as long as the original pattern is predictable enough. A bullet will curve around you, a jumping cat crash into the ground, and a grenade be unable to explode.

>Mirror Match:
You become able to recreate a weaker version of a pattern you've observed in the past minute, such as a martial art, technical prowess, or magical skill. Recreating a skill that is far beyond your body's ability to sustain may have unforeseen consequences.

>God's Eye:
You become able to see in all directions, regardless of where your eyes are. You can extrapolate a lot more information from observing others. You are also able to see in the dark.

>Determinism:
If you focus on a particular object or person, you will predict with near absolute accuracy what it will do in the next ten seconds. Unfortunately, that level of focus will make it very hard to do anything complex during these ten seconds.

You can pick one, as of now, none of the specialization makes you lose anything, and it'll be mentioned when it does.

>>5897761
(Also it's better to see this like a class tree, specializing in something will make upgrades more like what you picked before appear.)

>>5897765
Interesting...we can either go down the road of fate manipulation, get a Byakugan, or acquire Epitaph.

Not sure which one would be the best...the existence of stuff like that sword-wielding guy might have to get into a fight, and Unreliable Habits could very well save our life in a hard moment. But at the same time God's Eye does allow us to read deeper into people, which is interesting.

>>5897761
>Unreliable Habits
Pattern weaver

>>5897761
This is getting interesting! Glad we picked that idea.
Now, the choice here is tough. Mirror Match is meh, and Determinism looks like it would leave us a sitting duck without more specialization.
I'd say either:
>God's Eye
for defense or
>Unreliable Habits
for offense.
At the moment it's an information game, but who knows when and who we'll need to punch to avoid getting Mona'd again. I'd say go for Unreliable Habits.
Also Mammona sounds a lot (only hit me now) like a female version of Mammon, which means middle-age demonology may be a good thing to investigate, or even better, put our info girl on. Just an idea for later though and to keep some trace of it if I close this private window

>>5897761
>God's Eye
I'd pick determinism if not for it's downside, even if we might lose it in another upgrade

I wonder if Unreliable Habits and God's Eye would be quite the powerful synergy as being able to see in all directions and being able to disrupt predictable patterns could give quite the useable range.

>>5897761
>Unreliable Habits

>>5898532
>>5897978
>>5897831
>>5897782

(I accidentally reloaded the page as I was writing this one and lost all the writing, this is why you keep the text in a file and not on the webpage. So frustrated that there's no drawing for this one.)

1/2

[Unreliable Habit.]

You feel as if you are closer to your true self. You're not sure what that means, but what you do know is that your true self has powers that you're very eager to try out.

You first target a flying cockroach who lives in one of the bathroom stalls, and nothing noticeable happen. The cockroach's flying is too erratic for you to predict, so even if your power did trigger, you'd have no idea what disrupting it would even look like.
You pick something easier like a roll of toilet paper. You roll it down and try to disrupt it, which makes it roll back up at about the same speed it was rolling down.

You rip some of the paper and crumple it into a ball before throwing it and disrupting it midair. Surprisingly enough, you seem to have some degree of control of where it'll fall. However, the more 'off course' you want to make it go, the harder it becomes to do, you also can't add more momentum than it already had. Even so, something light like a paper ball is not hard to disrupt at all, but you're sure something heavier and more complex would give you some trouble.
You decide there's only so much you can use to test your new ability in this bathroom, and that it would be wiser to go back to the kitchen.

You come back to your 'battle sister' with a stupid smile on your face, it's hard to contain your excitement with such a cool new power.

"Wow, you look way happier than before, almost makes it worth the fact I almost DIED out there," she says. "You didn't do anything *weird* in the bathroom, did you? I'm on cleaning duty, so I'd rather not have to wipe any sticky substances."

You tell her you'll do the cleaning for her, you're in a very good mood, and you owe her that much. Besides, you have to work overtime anyway.
The rest of the day is rather uneventful, although you do hear from the Chinese girl there were a lot of odd customers today. Because you stuck to the kitchen rather than the frontline, you didn't get to see them for yourself, maybe that's for the best.

You come back to Etsy's place much later than you thought you would, and beeline for the bed the moment she opens the door for you. She joins you soon after, but there is a noticeable gap in the bed between the two of you.

>>5898689

2/2

"S-sorry, it's just uhm- I'm not a teenage girl anymore, so then I start to think stuff like, 'Is this even love?' or 'did I not think this through?'. W-what if I'm just- it's all going so fast and-"

You tell her that you have time to figure this out, and that you'll be here every step of the way. You're not sure if you're telling the truth, but you don't feel like you're lying either, only time will tell.

She nervously nestles closer to you, last time was done in the heat of the moment, but this time it's deliberate. "I've been thinking about what Sawyer said, a lot. I don't know if I'm ready for a kid but...I don't want to live a life where I'm too scared to get one. I don't want to live in fear forever. So I'll...We'll fight back?"

She phrases it as a question, will *you* fight back with her? Whatever that means? You pull her into a hug, that's a choice you'll make with actions and not words.

---

You wake up with only a vague memory of last night, but considering the strewn about clothing, you can guess it didn't stop at hugging.

Etsy is tinkering with something as a brand-new day present itself before you. Today's sunday, which means work is not going to get in the way of whatever else you might feel the need to do.

Current time: 8AM

>Investigate the appartment complex and its resident, you've put this off for too long.
>Spend more time training your power inside Etsy's house, she might be able to find uses for it you didn't think of.
>Try to help Etsy sell some of her stuff for extra cash, funds are necessary to get anything done.
>Go back to talk to Sawyer now that you know more about her ability, she might be a powerful ally.
>Write in

>>5898693
>Try to help Etsy sell some of her stuff for extra cash, funds are necessary to get anything done.

>>5898689
>(I accidentally reloaded the page as I was writing this one and lost all the writing, this is why you keep the text in a file and not on the webpage. So frustrated that there's no drawing for this one.)
Sorry to read that, anon. Hope you're not getting too frustrated, I really enjoy your quest.
>>5898693
We can't risk talking to Sawyer now without Esty getting paranoid, so either we have to tell her all about the power, or we wait for an opportunity, so...
>Try to help Etsy sell some of her stuff for extra cash, funds are necessary to get anything done.
There may be time to talk later.

>>5898693
>Try to help Etsy sell some of her stuff for extra cash, funds are necessary to get anything done.
If we need to skip work again, we'll need to have some way to continue sustaining ourselves. On the bright side, if we're moving in with Etsy, that means we pay half the rent we used to.

>>5898693
>Write in
>Go to church.
Not to rain on the money parade, but I don't see how we can help Esty sell her stuff, aside from being there with her when she pitches her sale.
Maybe we can offer moral support or an uneducated second opinion on how to use the technology, but it looks like she's been doing it for a long time and we don't know jack about technology, selling, people who would buy it, or how to set up a meeting to get them to buy it in the first place.

>>5898889
>>5898764
>>5898719
>>5898696

1/2

You ask Etsy how much money she has left in her bank account.

"Mhh? About...fifty thousand, I think? It might be enough to last me a month if I save up."

You ask her how fifty thousand dollars can disappear in a single month, as that's more than you make yearly working full time.

"Uhm, the electricity bill is a big one, a lot of my projects require very specific parts which need to be custom-made, there's also the servers I keep running, then there's also-"

You ask her if all of this is really necessary, and she affirms that yes, this is the bare minimum that she needs to keep her defenses running.

She apparently made a very lucrative deal years ago and got millions from it. The problem is she was still a child back then, which resulted in a lot of controversy for the company, ultimately ending up in her being given even more money to tell everyone that she never worked with them, and that they came up with the design themselves, because having a design made by a literal child wasn't the best look for them.

She burned through these millions pretty fast, and she's starting to run out now. "If I had more money, I could... Oh! I forgot to show you something." She grabs your hand and leads you to the room that you couldn't enter before during the cleaning session. It seems the chip allows you to get even into the super restricted area of her place now.

The room is a workshop that is as messy as you'd expect, you're sure that's just what workshops are supposed to look like, so you don't give Etsy a hard time for this one like you did the rest of the apartment.

File: BFR.png (92 KB, 606x761)

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>>5899027
(2/3 actually, I underestimated the number of characters.)

"Let me show you the thing I've been making for years now, I-I present to you!" She points to a strange spider looking robot while smiling like a kid. "Uhm! Okay! So, it's a self-defense robot...combat...thing! It's programmed so that if something happens to me, like my heart stops beating or speak a certain codeword. It will umh, it will run to my location and kill everything around me, you're also included in this now. Now you may think, 'but Etsy, the spider legs are too big, won't that make the movement awkward?'."

This was literally the last question on your mind.

"But no! Cause you see, the joints can actually move up and down the legs, so it is incredibly flexible while still applying terrific pressure! It also has guns of different kind just in case-"

You ask her what would happen if her murderer fled the scene and an innocent civilian came in to check her body.

"O-oh, uhm, I guess they'd...get torn to shreds...and gassed...and a few other things."

Jesus Christ.

"Uhm, anyway! The main issue with it is that all the parts to make it are pretty expensive, and it can't operate for long because of the massive energy cost. It's not even complete, it's more of a functional prototype in its current form."

You fear to imagine what the fully realized version of this is capable of.

She's disappointed that you aren't half as excited about this as she is, but a thumbs up followed by a quick kiss is enough to make her happy again. You thank your lucky stars that she's easy to please, because she's not the kind of person you want to make mad.

Anyway, it seems that more funds is one way to deal with your enemies, and you both decide to gather whatever projects she has that could be worth selling. This is harder than it sounds, as it seems nearly everything she makes is illegal to some extent.
You do eventually manage to find something that isn't a literal war crime and is documented well enough that people can consider it actually worth buying.

You think of whom to contact for the design. Even though Etsy officially never worked for anyone, the fact that her mailbox has multiple job offers from big megacorp proves people are still aware of her tech genius status.

Etsy insists she doesn't want to take orders from anyone, but a lot of those corporations can offer pretty hefty benefits just for an exclusivity deal. In other words, if she promises to only sell her designs to this corporation, we might get not only a good source of money, but also benefit from the infrastructure of this particular corp.

>>5899030

3/3

>E.N.D corp:
The corp that invented the internet and its most popular web browser. They probably sell everyone's data, and no one can really do anything about it. If you take their side, you can maybe convince them to hide your presence on the net, and they can give you access to hidden websites, the best bandwidth and servers the world has to offer.

>Z.A.P corp:
A corp that specializes in computer parts. They make the best processors, hard driven and graphic cards. Etsy says their helpwould be invaluable to improve the machine's AI.

>D.I.Y inc:
A corp that makes the best alloys and have exclusive access to experimental materials. They can create custom parts fast and efficiently, and might even give you access to their factories for mass production, this idea excite Etsy greatly.

>Z.E.U.S corp:
A corp that specializes in energy. They have a monopoly on natural gas, oil, solars, batteries and basically everything else that you can use to power up your things. Etsy says this one's advantage is just that her machines will be able to operate for much longer, but maybe she can figure out a way to weaponize all that extra energy too.

>>5899032
(I forgot to put that here, but basically, pick one. An exclusivity deal doesn't force you to do anything for them, but they might offer more advantages if you do decide to go the extra mile, and Etsy will still be able to use whatever she wants for her own ends as long as it isn't trying to compete with her employer on the market.)

>>5899032
Goddamn, this escalated quickly.
>E.N.D corp:
I'm not particularly interested in bringing about the creation of a fucking Metal Gear and all this crazy AI stuff. This Corp can hide our signature, which we'll need if we want to investigate the magic curse shit. Something tells me we don't know even closely how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Also goddamn, I thought she was just like a nerd but I guess we got a Lex Luthor who just so happens to like living like a neet. We certainly got lucky.

>>5899027
>She burned through these millions pretty fast, and she's starting to run out now.
Jesus H Christ, Etsy.
Hmm, as the other anon said, that escalated quickly. Given that this may stay a war of info for a while and we don't know how machines stand against magic, I'd say
>E.N.D corp
Safest choice here though if any other 3 decides we are on their shit list, we're cooked.

>>5899048
>we're cooked
Lol fuck them, we have a murder bot.

>>5899032
>Z.E.U.S corp
Best choice, bar none. Yeah, END corp will hide us, but we would still need the computer parts, custom parts, and electricity, plus the money for them.

ZEUS corp takes care of the electrical needs, going a long way to powering the machines, maybe even to the point if the city loses power, we still have power, plus taking out a huge bill. ZAP and DIY would help with parts, but ZEUS would make sure they don't shut down.

>>5899032
>D.I.Y inc
I was divided between this one and zap, but for now getting better parts and having our custom made being done faster and cheaper will be of better use while we have to make money to fund other projects.

>>5899032
>D.I.Y inc

>>5899032
>Z.E.U.S corp
You can't properly test the robot if it won't stay on.

(Since there's a tie, I'll give it a little bit more time until a tiebreaker appears, otherwise E.N.D will win since they were the first votes.)

>>5899064
>>5899741
I'll change my vote to
>D.I.Y inc:
to break the tie.

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>>5899804
>>5899741
>>5899404
>>5899235
>>5899132
>>5899048
>>5899037

1/2

You decide to go for D.I.Y incorporated.

All the choices are good, but D.I.Y offers the highest quality materials along with a highly reduced price on custom parts. Etsy explains that with them on our side, she'll be able to adapt and change her designs much faster no matter what comes our way.

You contact them, and get a response near instantly. After talking over a burner phone, you're told to meet up with a representative of the corporation in person. Considering it's in one of their official buildings, it's unlikely to be a trap. Any fights or kidnapping would draw a lot of attention since it's in the middle of the city, and if push comes to shove...
You still have this metal abomination on your side.

Apart from Etsy's constant fidgeting, the way to the office is pretty uneventful. The office itself is situated in a big gray, blocky building. It's very depressing looking, and you'd expect one of the biggest companies in the world to put a little more efforts into their buildings, but maybe they are so well established that they don't even need to bother with how they look anymore.

You find the office without too much trouble, and contrary to your expectations, the person that opens the door isn't a suit and tie looking bigwig, but a modestly dressed, very muscular woman. You notice she has some magic potential, but it's hard to tell more than that.

"Pardon the getup, 'tis summer and all," she says, pulling a stack of documents from a drawer. "Business, let's get to it. Number one, you will not sell or give your design to any other party, no matter what kind. People, corps, government, just don't. If someone tells you that you have to, and they aren't one of us, we'll handle em. Etsy and her..." she narrows her eyes at you.

You answer 'partner', which is both true in a business and relationship sense. Etsy seems pretty pleased with that answer.

"Sure, you aren't married, so contract wise you'll be her assistant. If she's accused of something bad, you'll be considered an accomplice, 's that okay with you?"

You nod, partner in crime it is.

>>5900022

(2/3 again why do I keep miscounting the characters.)

She yawns, she clearly dislikes all that bureaucratic stuff. "Seeecond f'ckin... right. You're allowed to use your own designs for your own ends, even after selling them to us, however only you two are allowed to use them. We don't care what you do with em as long as it isn't directly affecting our business, of course we'd like to avoid bad publicity, and we might retract some benefits if you abuse our good will too much. We might give you more rewards if you prove to be a reliable asset to the company. Third, this one's not really part of the contract and more of a...tip."
She smiles a toothy grin, "illegality is a myth, if something isn't allowed in a certain country, it is allowed in another, and we're a global business. Don't worry too much about safety or ethics or all that garbage. People ask us to make stuff, and we make it for em. If they want it to be safe and consistent, then we'll make that, if they want the cheapest piece of shit that might kill hundreds at the slightest of malfunction because it would save them a few dollars, we'll make it too."

You review the terms of the contracts multiple time, and it does give the both of you a lot of freedom. As long as you don't things that would obviously screw over the corporation, they basically allow us to do whatever we want. As for the advantages we currently have, it seems you just take priority along with a discount when ordering things from them. We don't get access to our own factory or exclusive alloys yet, but you're sure you'll get there.

Etsy struggles to read the entire contract without spacing out, so you have to explain it to her in as little words as possible. You both sign it, and the representative breathes a sigh of relief. Etsy pulls out the plans of the design she plans to sell, along with a small prototype. The representative looks at it with great interest, her face lost in thought as she occasionally mumble to herself.

"Yeah that's...there are a few kinks to iron out here and there, making a bigger model will require a lot of testing, but the idea is pretty sound. Yup, that's a goodie."

You ask her how much she's willing to give you for it.

"Mhh, assuming you give us some more pointers during the testing process... eh, five...seven hundred thousand dollars, give or take a few thousands."

Etsy almost jumps at the price, "H-huh? It's just a more efficient rice cooker, is it really worth that much?"

The representative chortles, "I'm undervaluing it if anything, it's so efficient we can include it in a lot of other stuff and potentially save millions if it works the way I think it does. Since this is your 'first' design, I can't allocate too much money as that would be seen as a gamble. Off to a great start, though."

>>5900025

3/3

You knew she was a genius, but for a random project found in her workshop to be worth almost a million is crazy. You wonder how much she could make if she really put work into it, what if she started her own company?
The exclusivity contract you signed lasts for 2 years, it's not that long, maybe you could kick-start your own company once this blows over? You might be getting carried away here, one thing at a time.

Etsy gets excited about all the way she's going to spend this money, and you have to remind her multiple times that while it's a lot of money, it's not infinite, and you'll have to be careful about how you spend it.
Not just that, but anything you sell them will stay theirs forever, so if you do plan in the far future to make your own corporation, you might want to only give them Etsy's least valuable ideas.

It is good that D.I.Y cares so little about the legality of her designs though, as that gives you a much wider range of things to sell them, although you'd rather not give them anything too dangerous, as nothing stops them from doing business with those that would wish you harm.

Once back home, Etsy starts digging through all her older projects to find anything else she could sell. If looking at yourself in the mirror was your power up, then this money is Etsy's. Your options have now increased dramatically.

Current funds: 750K

>Buy a house to live in, her appartment doesn't have a lot of space and this complex is clearly not safe for you anymore. Price: 500K
>Let Etsy order parts to improve the death machine, you don't have enough money to fully finish it, but you can make it sturdier and faster. Price: 300K
>Buy the service of private detectives and informants to search more for you about the magical world, it's safer to send someone else to do the dirty work after all. price: 150K
>Spend nothing, we should save for something bigger.
>Write in. (Prices may vary. Remember that this town is a little special and some things might be more expensive or cheaper than expected.)

(re-reading it I made a lot more grammatical mistakes than usual, like constantly jumping between 'we' and 'you'. At least no important info is lost I think.)

>>5900028
Huh. Now I'm out of ideas there. Not sure whether we should go for the house (though that's hardly discreet and puts a target on our foreheads) or the private eyes. Or saving. Gah.
>Buy the service of private detectives and informants to search more for you about the magical world, it's safer to send someone else to do the dirty work after all. price: 150K
Fuck it, I wanna know more, though it might take some convincing. I do think telling Etsy everything is safer so two birds one stone.

>>5900028

>Buy a house to live in, her appartment doesn't have a lot of space and this complex is clearly not safe for you anymore. Price: 500K
Normally I wouldn't want to spend so much, but we don't wanna risk Mona deciding to come back for seconds and curse us with something that might fuck us up for real. But we're still gonna investigate eventually, so maybe somewhere close?

>>5900028
>Buy a house to live in, her appartment doesn't have a lot of space and this complex is clearly not safe for you anymore. Price: 500K

>>5900028
>Buy the service of private detectives and informants to search more for you about the magical world, it's safer to send someone else to do the dirty work after all. price: 150K
>Buy a house to live in, her appartment doesn't have a lot of space and this complex is clearly not safe for you anymore. Price: 500K

Do them both. The dicks can investigate the apartment residents better than we can and our place has been cased by Mona. I think the cat would have helped us against Mona if we couldn't find anyone, because Mona's honestly a bitch.

>>5900126
Yeah but if we do both, we'll be back to being broke. We might need an sudden expense later. Plus with that much money we could probably stop being a wagie and try to help Etsy full time.

>>5900028
>Buy the service of private detectives and informants to search more for you about the magical world, it's safer to send someone else to do the dirty work after all. price: 150K
let's get the house later while we plan things

>>5900133
100k isn't necessarily broke. If I had to choose one, I'd go

>Buy the service of private detectives and informants to search more for you about the magical world, it's safer to send someone else to do the dirty work after all. price: 150K

It'll be easier to meet at the apartment complex, the fortifications are already up, and there's still a lot to explore.

>>5900177
Sorry, meant
>Spend nothing, we should save for something bigger.

>>5900179
>>5900161
>>5900066
>>5900058
>>5900049

1/2

You decide to hire help to investigate any of the weird things happening in this town that may or may not be related to you. At Etsy's request, you'll communicate with them with handwritten encrypted letters, she says that it's so that even if the letters get intercepted, the enemy won't know how deep our knowledge goes. The service is undeniably expensive, but it still leaves you with a lot of money, and they will be able to cover more grounds than you ever could by yourself.

You decide to keep working a little bit longer, if only to keep up appearances. The amount you make from your job is negligible, but if you suddenly quit a job you've had for years, it might raise some attention. Maybe the people that are after you assume you're still cursed and that you have yet to pay your due. As far as you know, your ability to decipher people's magical state is pretty unique to yourself.

After a few days you hear back from your informants, with a lot more data than you expected considering the vagueness of your request.

The detective in charge of investigating the apartment found out that the complex was owned by someone that didn't exist, not legally at least. Even more fascinating, it seems the complex itself changed hands rather often, as if they were trying to cover their tracks. Because he now had an actual case against the complex, the detective obtained clearance to search the rooms that weren't already lived in. He found the expected cameras and tapes, and speakers, but none of them stored anything themselves. You suspect there are servers holding the data in the complex, but the detective wasn't able to find anything about it.

As far as the tenants go, you couldn't get any information you didn't already know. They were here, something happened, and they vanished.

Except they probably weren't. Turns out, there are people in the world that eerily resemble the ex-tenants, their face don't match exactly, but their voices are essentially the same. It looks like they had plastic surgery and tried to start a new life with a new name.

Speaking of name, and that's easily the strangest part: the town doesn't have one, and neither do you.

It's something that apparently only one of the investigator was able to notice, and no one else even considered it abnormal. The town has no records of a name, no title in official documents, it's just blank. The real weird part is how everyone acts as if there is a name, as if they did write it, as if it was right there. But the moment anyone is asked to spell it, they space out and act as if nothing was wrong.

It seems you are nameless in the same manner, with only one written 'record' that they could find: the receipt of one of your purchase from a store you know very well. The name couldn't be 'read', but they said there was absolutely something written there, just not legible. You'll have to ask a certain someone yourself about this.

>>5900824

2/2
You ask Etsy about this, and she's in clear distress when she records herself spelling your name, only to hear nothing when she plays it back. She feels awful about this, like her not knowing your name is a personal failure of hers. You tell her that it's a literal supernatural force and that even you don't know your own name, but she's still freaking out.

Did this start when you were cursed, or was it always a thing? There's really only one lead you have when it comes to this.

A lot of the informants actually quit right there when subjected to actually supernatural things, and even gave you back parts of the money you used to hire them on the way out. The ones that did stay worked twice as hard as their curiosity got the better of them, searching deeper than you think is safe for them.

From diaries found in a hidden corner of the apartment complex, to abandoned factories that were said to once have cult activities, you start to get a slightly clearer pictures on what you're dealing with.

Pet of the deep arbiter: A black cat that is said to only show its true form to those who kill it. The rumors imply it is a rather peaceful individual that only harms those who "break the rules before it is allowed", whatever that means.

Mammona: A being who is said to prey on the greed of people for a better life, only to end up claiming them herself. There is allegedly a cult worshiping her, although nothing online could be found about it.

The Sword of Dusk: A tall man with a top hat that surrounded in darkness. Has never been seen in person, but there are multiple recordings of him online. His status as an urban legend is actually quite big, but this also means that whatever info you find about him is likely to be made up.

Seer of an Unobtainable Future: A figure that is said to bring ruin to whoever she helps, there's a good chance that it's Sawyer based on the description.

There are a few more rumors, but you have no idea how real they are, and you might need to investigate them yourself to get anything more substantial.

You got a lot more out of this than you thought you would, your informants will work a little big longer, but you doubt they'll be able to find much more without putting themselves in mortal danger. You can't say you didn't get your money's worth at least.

(overall cost reduced from 150K to 125K because of the quitters)

Funds: 625K

>Talk to Sawyer, she knows much more than she lets on.
>Ask D.I.Y what they know about the town's history. They've supposedly been here since the town's inception, and might now things you don't.
>Etsy is pretty stressed out by all of this, maybe you should stay put until she sells another design.
>Investigate the rumors, your ability to see magic gives you an edge your informants don't have.
>Write in

(You can still invest funds like before as a free action, although getting more investigators will probably get diminishing returns for obvious reasons.)

(I think I got confused on the vote counting, and there were actually as many votes for house as detective, my bad. Buying the house is still an option at least, although doing it after the investigation will change things.)

>>5900825
>Etsy is pretty stressed out by all of this, maybe you should stay put until she sells another design.
>Let Etsy order parts to improve the death machine, you don't have enough money to fully finish it, but you can make it sturdier and faster. Price: 300K

>>5900825
>Etsy is pretty stressed out by all of this, maybe you should stay put until she sells another design.
Would we be actually able to get paid again if we improved the death machine? I'd like a house, we'd only have 125k left.

>>5900825
>Talk to Sawyer, she knows much more than she lets on.

>>5900825
>Talk to Sawyer, she knows much more than she lets on.
But tell Etsy about the plan. Wire us, have her nearby with the murder-o-tron at the ready if Sawyer just moves a goddamn eyebrow in a funny way. I mean that in a literal sense, given that if she is a seer, her source of power must be her eyes. If we talk to her, maybe we should take precautions (blindfold, cover, not looking in her eyes, idk), but I'm just being paranoid.
Also this has become so much fun

>>5900867
>>5900869
>>5900908
>>5900990

Another tie, I'll give it some time for a tiebreaker, if not it will default to waiting until Etsy gets the design because first vote priority. Also, because spending money can be a big deal, I'll make it so that if something costs more than half your current funds, there needs to be at least two votes towards it for it to count. In this case ordering parts is a little under half so it passes.

>>5900990
I'm glad people are enjoying it. It's my first quest, and one I pretty much started on a whim because I hadn't written anything in a long time, and I wanted an excuse to draw more. The hardest part was coming up with choices that all felt like legitimate options, rather than one being the 'correct' choice. I'm pretty self-conscious about my art, but being the guy that goes "haha my art is so bad" is just kind of annoying, so I just tell myself people will glance at it for 2 seconds to get an idea of the character/scene and move on. It helps me get over my anxiety a lot.

>>5901116
>I just tell myself people will glance at it for 2 seconds to get an idea of the character/scene and move on. It helps me get over my anxiety a lot.
That's exactly what I do so yeah, not to worry. It's serviceable and fits the mood of the quest, no need for more IMO.
I like the beat-up Mona and the buff lady ones.

>>5901116
If you're that worried about you're art, you should study and practice more.
If you're just doing it for fun, don't worry so much about it.

>>5901136
I do practice and study sometimes, but I'd also be lying if I said I was the type to draw 5 hours a day and read a super in depth book on the subject.
I draw, try to see where I went wrong, and try to do better next time. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to fundamentals like perspective and anatomy, but I'm in the /pre-beg/ stage where the best advice I can get is 'just draw'. So I'll just keep drawing and hope I'll get to a level I'm satisfied with eventually.
Even if I never get as good as I want, it's still fun to draw for stuff like this quest, so I doubt I'll ever stop drawing altogether.

I'll stop rambling, don't want to derail my own quest too much. I'll give it two more hours without a tiebreaker before it defaults to the third option.

>>5900825
>Etsy is pretty stressed out by all of this, maybe you should stay put until she sells another design.
>Buy a house [500k]
I think we need a house.

>>5900825
>Talk to Sawyer, she knows much more than she lets on.
>>5901116
you did other quests before or you wrote in other places ? also about your art they maybe simple but they give the idea about the characters and they have sovl, so don't fret over it.

>>5900867
>>5900869
>>5900908
>>5900990
>>5901266
>>5901309

You decide to not take any unnecessary risks and wait for Etsy to make something else to sell to D.I.Y. You thought of talking to Sawyer, but Etsy has apparently grown pretty jealous of her. Seems that she's not a huge fan of Sawyer knowing something SHE doesn't about you, as if it was a secret she wasn't let in on.

You keep explaining to her that it's not a shared secret if even you don't know what it is, but that doesn't seem to alleviate her insecurities much. You even tell her about your abilities in an attempt to be more honest with her, but it makes things worse as she asks why you didn't tell her sooner, and you have to admit you just forgot to do that with everything going on around you.

Her anxiety only got worse over time, she'd sometimes stay in bed for hours on end doing nothing, mumbling about how useless she is and how she's not good enough for you.

You figured that your latest actions were already suspicious enough that quitting your job wouldn't make much of a difference, so you did in order to be there for her.
Living with her became a careful dance of pampering her, but not so much that she'd become too lazy to take care of herself.
You had to cook, clean and do a lot of the chores when she felt too depressed to even move, and when she pushed her luck a little bit too much, you'd drag her to the shower and force her to do literally anything but procrastinate.
In order to cheer her up, you even chose to let her upgrade the death machine, or 'K.I.S.A' as she calls it, which stands for Knight In Shining Armor. She had a lot of fun adding extra plating and listing all the neat, terrifying features it is capable of.

This was pretty tiring, both emotionally and physically, but after a week or so, she comes back to a somewhat functional state. She says she's sorry about this, and that sometimes she just feels terrible for no reason. It's a good thing you were there for her, and you're sure it will happen again, but no one is perfect.

As Etsy finally gets back to work, you notice that the hardest part of selling a design is not actually making it, but documenting it in a way that is understandable enough for someone else to build it. Which is a problem as Etsy's 'documentation' is usually scribbles accompanied by the worst handwriting known to man. You spend hours helping translate her unhinged genius into a usable form.

File: ThereHeIs.png (188 KB, 546x674)

188 KB PNG

>>5901385
You feel like you're almost done, wondering how much this one will sell for, until you hear a knocking at the door.

That's not normal.

The informants slip the letters under the door, the landlord has never been seen in person, so it's unlikely to be them too, D.I.Y also only talk in their office or by emails.

Etsy installed a camera in front of the door, which answers everything.

Knock knock knock.

You hear it again as you stare wide-eyed at Etsy's phone. A bloody corpse is held in the air by a tall being made of pure darkness, a slight tinge of red can be seen under a top hat that it wears atop a head that merges with the amorphous body below it.
You recognize the body it's holding, it's one of your informants.

The sword of dusk is here.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

It's a little louder every time, it leaves a mark on the door. It won't hold much longer.

Etsy turns on K.I.S.A, and it gracefully, silently places itself between you and the door. Etsy goes into hiding, there's only so much she can do after all. But maybe you can help it fight somehow, you're the most magical thing in this room after all.

>Send K.I.S.A bursting through the door to get it by surprise.
>Hide with Etsy and hope K.I.S.A can handle it alone, better to not get caught by stray bullets, and maybe you can flee from the window if things really go wrong.
>Stand back and try to analyze the enemy, maybe you can figure out a weakpoint for K.I.S.A to exploit.
>Stand back and try to use your disrupting ability to help K.I.S.A survive.
>Open the door out of your own free will, it's knocking, so as naive as it may sound, maybe talking it out is the best course of action.
>Write in

>>5901309
(I never wrote a quest, although I did write a semi-popular web novel on RR with about 500 followers about 2 years ago that I burnt out on. I tend to write a little bit more loosely here, which is why I make some mistakes I only notice after posting. Like there's a bunch of words that repeat themselves in quick succession at the end, it's probably because once I'm done writing I get a little too excited about posting it early.)

>>5901387
>Open the door out of your own free will, it's knocking, so as naive as it may sound, maybe talking it out is the best course of action.

>>5901387
It's holding the corpse of one of our informants, so that's kinda bad. No way something that comes with a corpse wants to talk. Unless it needs one to talk, but that's something we can see later.
I'd say no rash actions, but we need
>Write in
I'll bite. Send Etsy in the back, open the door of our own free will, but stand next to K.I.S.A. and immediately attempt to read the entity using our magic. If it wanted to kick our shit it wouldn't knock, but chances are it can't just communicate as we do.
>>5901390
First time doing a quest here too, but still, I think the way you write here is fine. No need to try extra hard on the style and so on, this is 4chan after all. I'd say fun > great litterature in our case. You're doing a great job IMO

>>5901408
+1

>>5901408
I'll support this.

Also, i think having to take care of her when she's depressive is a pretty reasonable trade off for having an savant genius girlfriend. We should probably remember to look out for post-partum depression when we ever have children, though...that can end in non-pretty ways.

>>5901390
alright anon, I say it's pretty good for someone not used to it
>>5901408
>+1
alright, you got my support anon

>>5901408
I think that you should be careful about applying human logic to an inhuman entity. But I'll support it.

>>5901429
>>5901419
>>5901408
>>5901394

You think of all the ways this could go wrong. This is a being that is powerful enough to be widely recognized as an urban legend. It can act in the open like it's nothing, it can kill without care, and worst of all: you know next to nothing about it.

It knocks again, the cracks on the wooden door only get larger.

You tell Etsy to unlock the door.

"W-what? Why would- it's going to kill us! It's holding a corpse, for fuck sake!"

You tell her you have a plan. That's an overstatement, it's more like a wild guess that makes a little bit more sense than your other wild guesses. Begrudgingly, she unlocks it before going back into hiding. The door conveniently opens without your intervention, so you don't have to do the dreadful task of doing it yourself.

It stands still. It does not attack, move, or talk. The silence is deafening, you're not sure if it's courage or fear that stops you from throwing yourself out of the window right this instant. You can't even bring yourself to try to look at his magical pattern, as if you were afraid that looking at such a personal part of him might offend him.

Eventually, it lowers its 'body', and very slowly gets inside, its Top hat sometimes rotating as if it was inspecting the place.

It stands there in silence for a little bit longer, and you see that its magical patterns starts to increase in size, as if it wanted to make sure you couldn't miss them.

It only takes a few seconds for you to decipher sentences out of it.

[Convenient. Writing on the wall with my [[blade]] would've been troublesome.]

The patterns it uses to communicate are clearly awkward and fabricated, but the fact it can manipulate it well enough to make coherent sentences is still impressive. Some words don't feel correctly translated either, as if the actual word meant a lot more than what you translated it as.

[I will be brief. You are now a participant in what some would call a game, I find the term quite childish myself, but it is adequate enough if one consider the [[magic circle]] that the players tend to obey. You became a participant the moment you were [[awakened]]. Etiquette dictates that whoever [[awakens]] someone is responsible for them, and must teach them [[basic understanding]] regarding the game and magic. Mammona did not do so, as she cares very little for those things. Unlike what the pet would say, Etiquette is not a law that must be followed at all cost, but those that break it must know they are no longer protected by common courtesy.]

It rearranges the pattern again, Etsy peeks nervously from the other room, she can't read what it is 'writing' so from her point of view this looks like a staring contest. You give her a thumbs up so that she doesn't sic K.I.S.A on who you've decided to nickname 'Dusk'.

[Etiquette number 1: Do not intentionally harm or kill players until they have reached a sufficient understanding of their own ability. Self-defense is allowed.]

>>5901590
He shakes the corpse around.

[For the purpose of the game, [[cattle]] and non-players can be hurt to your heart's content.] A dark finger pokes out of the mangled ribs of the dead body to point at Etsy. [Your mate, while not displaying any magic potential, has been acknowledged by the game as peculiar enough to be considered an honorary player, a rare thing, but not unheard of. As for what counts as 'sufficient understanding', the definition varies. Magic is an [[art]], not an exact science.]

[Etiquette number 3: A title is expected for recognition and communication. What that title may be is up to your personal preference. Besides, your [[namelessness]] would benefit greatly from it. If possible, do pick a title that hint towards your abilities, as not everyone has the same level of [[literacy]] as you do.]

[That would be all for basic etiquette. It is not my duty to teach you about magic, but as you so graciously allowed me inside your home despite some possible...] He shakes the corpse again. [...misunderstandings, I will give you two ways to increase your magical potential. The first is unique to you, please remember how you first increased your potential, and try to replicate it on a larger scale. The second is rather simple, simply kill other players, and your magic will increase tremendously.]

It 'stares' at you for an uncomfortable amount of time, until it creates another pattern.

[If you do not pick a title, it is considered breaking etiquette. Your mate should have one too, if possible.]

Oh. If you break etiquette, then it doesn't need to follow 'basic courtesy'. You can guess what it means by that.

(You need two titles that fits the both of you thematically, if no titles are written in, it will default to 'Assorter of patterns and Meister of electronics'.)

>Write in two titles.

(also dusk skips etiquette number 2, this is a mistake and not some kind of weird foreshadowing.)

>>5901593
Hmm, I was thinking something like
>Eye of the Beholder
Since we have our reading ability, but it might not be broad enough for our pattern ability. As for Etsy,
>Lady of Circuits
Sounds cool while being correct.

>>5901593
>Patterner
>Maker
I'm fond of one word titles.

>>5901593
>Fate Weaver
>Brilliant Alloy

>>5901408
(that's me) Hey guys, that wasn't so bad, now, was it? What do you mean we're still being threatened?
>>5901593
>Weaver (or Akashic Weaver if we wanna go full chuuni)
>Lady of Circuits
I really like Weaver as it's short and explicit, and our understanding of patterns isn't limited to reading. Piggybacking >>5901626 for it partially and >>5901626 for Etsy's as it's cool and a bit corny.

>>5902005
>>5901765
>>5901717
>>5901626

(Right now, Lady of circuits has two votes and is in the lead. There are two votes with Weaver in the name, so if there isn't another vote to confirm anything else, it'll default to weaver.)

>>5902005
>>5901765
>>5901717
>>5901626

[Your mate shall henceforth be known as The Lady of Circuits. There used to be one with this title, but he has been silent for the past few centuries, so I doubt anyone will mind your choice. Some might refer to you as 'The New Weaver' and the other as 'The Old Weaver' for clarity.]

It shakes the body around a little more, it really likes doing that. [While my [[group whose interest align]] would've preferred you to fight back so that I could [[handle]] a potential future threat, there is much more to gain from harvesting you at your zenith. Do be warned, the next time we meet, I may not be so polite.]

Suddenly, K.I.S.A slumps to the floor, lifeless. [And please, do make sure to hide your friend's switch a little better next time. Just because it is internal does not make it inaccessible.]

It brings the corpse inside its jacket, and a sickening crunching sound can be heard. With that, it takes its leave, leaving a trail of black matters behind it that fades once you turn on the lights. You didn't even notice you were talking in the dark this entire time, as you were entirely focused on the pattern conversation.

The door closes at Etsy's command, and she walks towards you. Her hand caresses your cheek, as if she wasn't sure you were even real.

"I thought...I thought you were going to die back there- I couldn't- I-" She starts to cry. You think you feel a few tears roll down your eyes too. You're not sure if you're crying because you're scared, sad, angry or happy to be alive. Maybe it doesn't matter, you don't have to feel those things alone anymore.

You play with her hair, it's coarse and dirty. It reminds you of how she kept mixing up shampoo and soap, you made fun of her, and she swapped the labels later to mess with you. It's cute, it's stupid, it's mundane, but you want to protect that. You're not some selfless hero that's here to save the world, or some ambitious underdog that's willing to overtake god. You just want to protect those little moments of happiness, and you'll fight for it if you have to.


You both agree to never talk about the things you've told each other this past hour, as just thinking about it fills you with a cringe inducing sense of shame. You didn't even know you could be this cheesy, and you start to wonder if love really just makes everyone that dumb.
You change the subject back to the design that you were planning to sell. It's more or less ready, it seems to be a rather expensive cooling system, but one that can reach absurdly low temperatures even for larger rooms.

>>5902218

The D.I.Y representative is really interested in this. She says it might take actual decades to refine the design into something they can actually use, but that the potential it has is immense and could even revolutionize multiple industries.

She 'only' gives you 1.5 millions for it. She says that it's mostly because making this design functional will take so long and cost so many resources that if it doesn't work out she'll be blamed for giving you more money than needed. As a tradeoff, she gives you access to the experimental alloys that are usually only reserved for very special deals.

She does warn that most of the alloy's properties are not fully understood, and that they don't take responsibilities if something goes absolutely, horribly wrong.

Etsy checks the alloys from a catalog, and it seems that after your last encounter, she is absolutely determined to perfect K.I.S.A so they can't be so easily blindsided. You don't think you can talk her out of it, although she seems to be willing to at least hear you out on what to pick.

You decide to check your options in person, and sure enough, the alloys all have some magical properties to them. Since magic can't be observed by the naked eye, it's no wonder they can't 'explain' how it works, but you can get a pretty good idea.

(All alloys cost 500K, which will leave your funds at about 1.625M after that purchase. All previous purchases are still available as a free action.)

>Biological Nightmare:
When current goes through this alloy, it can cause plants, fungus, bugs and all forms of life to act in erratic ways. If harnessed properly, it could be used to control lower lifeforms.

>Tri-matter:
An alloy that can liquefy and solidify in seconds. Etsy says she could even use it for some internal components, so it could potentially transform into whatever physical form it needs with enough work on the AI.

>Light's Bane:
An alloy which becomes fully invisible when hot enough. You do mean FULLY invisible, heat sensors, radar, and your MPR detect nothing, and you only know it's there by touch, sound and weight, something K.I.S.A is very good at hiding from what you've seen.

>Devil's Gamble:
An alloy which absorbs the magic of things it touches, potentially nullifying it. While it may seem like the perfect alloy on paper to fight the supernatural, you have no idea what would happen to K.I.S.A if it absorbs too much magic.

(Oh, also forgot to post the MPR of Dusk.)

MPR (Dusk): Can control shadows he comes into contact with. Becomes stronger the closer to dusk it is. Immense magic potential. The sword is not tied to him as far as you can tell, but the blade is still magical in its own right.

>>5902224
>Light's Bane
Invisible death robot

>>5902224
Would Light's Bane work to hide it from being switched off by magical beings like the Dusk just did?

Also, would have been nice to know if it'd be considered "impolite" to change our home location.

>>5902277
In the case of Light's bane, Light and darkness will essentially go right through it, making it nigh invulnerable to that kind of attack as long as it's fully covered. Of course, that doesn't mean they can't grab something that isn't made of shadow/light and use that to hit K.I.S.A, but it does mean Dusk couldn't pull the trick he just did.

Also, because the alloy only becomes invisible when hot, it will consume more energy to camouflage, so fighting like this for extended periods of time may not be the best idea, and it might need to cool off during a fight.

>>5902300
I see. In that case, Light's Bane is fine for me.

What about the house, though? I'd like to buy one, but i'd rather not get memed into a bad ending because we aren't allowed to change locations.

>>5902380
As far as you know, there isn't any etiquette problem with changing homes. Etsy might whine a little bit, and the expenses necessary to keep things running will increase. You'll also need to move everything including K.I.S.A over there which might take some time.

>>5902224
>Devil's Gamble
We can vent the magic into ourselves, giving us a boost.
>Buy home

>>5902389
It's worth it nonetheless, this apartment is not safe.

>Light's Bane
>Buy Home

>>5902224
Oh yeah, it's all coming together. Good to know we made the right choice being polite, as attacking would've resulted in painful and deadly dismemberment.
>Devil's Gamble:
I say fuck it. Our MPR is cool, but we don't know how things like the Dusk perceive. They might see it anyway if they have a "higher" sensory canal.
We need something that can kick magic's shit in if needed. And as that other anon said, we could vent the magic ourselves.
As for a bonus purchase, no horse in this race, so I'd say default to house

>>5902409
+1
Good reasoning.
Esty might even be able to learn more about magic and build a converter for Kisa so he doesn't have to rely on electricity.

>>5901590
man, I missed this doot. I wonder if we went for the fight plan, it'd just turn our robot and still tell the etiquettes minus the tips or we'd get a false game over
>>5902224
>Tri-matter
I know I'm on the losing side, but the utilities seems very good for making new things.
>buy home

>>5902455
>>5902447
>>5902409
>>5902402
>>5902396
>>5902277
>>5902270

1/2

You are split between Light's Bane and Devil's Gamble. Light's bane not only counters Dusk really well, but it also allows it to move undetected for ambushes.

However, Devil's Gamble allows you to straight up nullify the biggest threat to you: the Unknown. It doesn't matter what kind of magic they have if you can steal it from them, and even if you're not sure what will happen if the metal gets overcharged with magic, maybe the metal being full of magic isn't an issue at all, what if you harvested it later for yourself? K.I.S.A certainly isn't using it.

You decide that K.I.S.A is already plenty good at killing non-magical things, and that the invisible part is just overkill. Devil's Gamble is the edge you need to make sure you can stand a chance against the supernatural, and so you choose it.

Etsy isn't a huge fan of that idea, she can't see magic herself, so she'll need to rely on you to test the alloy.

After a week, the parts are delivered to your doorsteps. They are incredibly heavy, and you think K.I.S.A's agility and stealth might suffer as a result. You also got very small tools made out of devil's bane to test its effectiveness on the only magical thing in this room: you.

You decide to go step by step, first you touch it. It doesn't do much, it becomes a little harder to disrupt things, but it's not that bothersome. Then, you decide to push your hand against it, it becomes a LOT harder to disrupt things, and you feel a little dizzy when you stop. You see some magic lingering where you left your hand.

You see a few patterns on the alloy, but they don't really mean anything. You try to get the magic back, but all it does is take more from you. From slightly more testing, you see that the best way for the alloy to get the magic is by internal damage, of course you tested it with a needle and not the legs of K.I.S.A, there's only so far you can test without risking your life.

Apparently, the only way to wring out the magic is by melting the alloy, which will require rebuilding the parts every time. At least you'll get a discount since you can return the melted material for them to use, but it'll still be pretty expensive overall.

The more Etsy worked on K.I.S.A, the more of a mess the workshop became. This isn't a problem of this place not cleaning enough, this apartment is just too small, and K.I.S.A can't even be properly tested without potentially breaking the surrounding walls.

>>5902600

"Oh, uhm, it's okay. I've always lived like this, so it doesn't bother me." Etsy says, as she stubs her toe on the corner end of a table for the third time this week.

Alright, that's it.

She might be okay with living like this, but that doesn't mean it's good for her. She hasn't seen the sun in days, the windows are never open, and there's only so much ventilation can do to get rid of the stink of oil and burnt wires that comes from the workshop.

You're buying a house.

Etsy keeps saying that it's okay, that you don't need to, that you can do it later when things are safer, but you put your foot down. If she can spend 500K on something without you getting a say in it, then so can you. Thankfully, she doesn't bring up that she's the one making all that money in the first place, so you're able to win that argument.

Finding a house wasn't hard, and you made sure to pick one with a garden, a basement, a garage and an attic. Plenty of space to store and make things, and it's close enough to the city center that you can get most of what you need by foot. It's nothing short of perfect.

Etsy despised the moving process. It was like all the cleaning we did before was for nothing, and despite her justified paranoia against the apartment complex, she really grew to like her flat that she had spent all her adult life living in.

Thankfully, D.I.Y industry are very good at moving a massive amount of things without asking too many questions, and graciously lend you their trucks to help you move your things to your new home.

When you're finally done furnishing the house, Etsy pouts and says that it isn't *that* great, but you see the same glint in her eyes as when you first cleaned her place. The rest of that day went pretty much the same way as back then: you watched anime and listened her complain about minor plot points, only to end up making out after some meaningless argument.

While the house was a great idea, both for your mental health and general safety, the cost for keeping it 'safe' monthly has quadrupled. You now have to pay 200K monthly to make sure your house stays secure, this is mostly due to the fact she incorporated the other experimental alloys in her security system: invisible cameras, morphing trapdoors and devil's gamble infused spikes around every corner. It's true that while the alloys don't mesh well without messing each other's magical properties, nothing stops you from incorporating them in different contraptions.

Still, this is absurdly expensive, and you'll have to be doubly careful about spending money now. Etsy says she's a little burnt out too, you don't think she'll be willing to work on another design for a few months.

Funds: 1.625M - 200K - 50K= 1.275M funds remaining.

>Talk to Sawyer, you're sure she knows something.
>Investigate the appartment.
>Investigate the rumours that your informants told you about.
>Take time to find more about your powers.
>Write in.

>>5902604

(also, I couldn't fit it in, but the 250K cost is from both the monthly cost of the old apartment + installation of the new system in your new home.)

>>5902604
>200K monthly
The magical enemies ain't going to be the thing that will do in Weaver. It's the house payments that will.
>she incorporated the other experimental alloys in her security system: invisible cameras, morphing trapdoors and devil's gamble infused spikes around every corner.
Should've just built more death robots.

>Take time to find out more about your powers. Find a bunch of mirrors to stare at yourself with.
I'm hesitant for Weaver to talk to Sawyer because of her description, 'A figure that is said to bring ruin to whoever she helps'

>>5902604
>Write in.
Ask Esty out on a date.

>>5902604
>Take time to find more about your powers.

>>5902628
It's a nice thought, but i'm pretty sure Etsy's definition of a date she enjoys would be watching anime all day..

>>5902621
It's good to remember that K.I.S.A is a project she worked on far before she met you, and one that she spent most of her first massive paycheck on. Creating another one from scratch would probably take around 1.5 million and about 6 months, and that's counting the help of D.I.Y, so it is an option, just a really expensive one. Getting your own factory from D.I.Y would lower the cost and time needed to make one by a lot, though.

>>5902604
>Funds: 1.625M - 200K - 50K= 1.275M funds remaining.
I'm pretty sure those maths are wonky if the house was 500K That should be 925K remaning, innit?
Also I'd say
>Take time to find more about your powers.
Talking to Sawyer is a risky move and I'm pretty sure we want to be armed to the teeth for that. And we need to convince Etsy, which is easier said than done.

>>5902655
I think my brain got mixed up because both the house and the alloy costed 500K, so I must have thought the cost of the house was already accounted for when it wasn't. but even then the math is still off because 1.625M - 250K would be 1.375M not 1.275M

I think it should be about 875K since it's

1.625M
-
500K(cost of house)
-
200K (cost of installing the security system upfront.)
-
50K (monthly cost of the security system of your old apartment.)
=
875K

so yeah, you have 875K left, if I didn't make another mistake.

>>5902604
>Take time to find more about your powers.
then we investigate

File: Shysy.png (312 KB, 670x717)

312 KB PNG

>>5902728
>>5902632
>>5902628

1/2

You decide to find out more about your powers, only to realize you have no idea how you're even supposed to do that.

You've experimented with your power a bunch, and you have a pretty good idea of your limits, but it doesn't seem like practice is how your magic actually improves, it's not exactly like a muscle you can flex until it rebuilds itself stronger.

You think about what Dusk said on increasing your magic potential. He said that you could absorb the magic of others, but also in a process unique to you specifically. He said that you should try to do what you did before on a larger scale.

There were only two cases of your magic changing: the original curse breaking (which made your magic weaker if anything), and looking at yourself in the mirror to observe your own patterns.

You have no idea how to even make a curse, which only leaves the second option: yourself. You try to think about what it would actually mean to look at yourself on a larger scale. You doubt it means using a larger mirror, you think it means looking at yourself 'harder'.

You know your patterns change slightly depending on your emotional state, that you can read symbols you couldn't before when let the weak part of you take over. The real you. You try to remember the moment you felt the weakest, the most 'you'. Only one time comes to mind in recent memory.

You have a terrible idea.

You call Etsy to the bathroom, and once she shows up, you tell her everything. The fact you actually feel like you can't even do much to protect her, that you're not doing enough to support her, that you love her, that maybe she'd be safer without you, that you really have no idea what you're doing, and you've done nothing but guess at the next best course of action.

It sucks, last time you were this earnest felt weird, but this makes you want to disrupt the pattern of a bullet so it lands directly in your cranium.

Her face is red, seems she focused more on the 'I love you' part than the rest, did you never tell her that? You thought you did. "Uhm, I'm not exactly...great either? I freak out over nothing, I'm a little jealous, and a lot of other things I d-don't like. Yeah, maybe you don't make that much money, or you can't make stuff like I can. But that's because I was...I guess, born a little talented? I'm just good at what I do, i-it doesn't make me a good person."

>>5903229

2/2

She takes a few steps backward, staring at the floor like it's the most interesting thing here, before closing the door at your face and sprinting to her room. She's probably going to scream in her pillow.

You look back at the mirror, and as expected, it's a mess of emotions. Buried feelings, insecurities, love, self-hatred and even a little bit of lust in there. But you can read them, even better, you can weave them.

You can read yourself better than before, and you're no longer ashamed. Seeing yourself truly naked before your own gaze makes you realize that despite all your flaws, you hold tremendous potential. Etsy is right, you may not be strong now, but it's only a matter of time until you become a force to be reckoned with.

Power Couple has been obtained:
Both you and Etsy's emotional resistance increase from knowing the other is safe. All natural and supernatural attacks relying on emotional manipulation are greatly weakened as long as you know Etsy is alive.

MPR(Weaver): Can read magical and non-magical patterns and extrapolate information from them, he can also disrupt the pattern of small sized things. His magical potential increases from reading himself at moments of intense emotional turmoil, in which case he will start to weave his own 'pattern', specializing his magic even further.

>Self-fulfilling Prophecy:
If someone is aware of a pattern that has a low chance to occur, you can instead make it so any attempt to stop that pattern from occurring by said person will make it more likely to happen. However, if someone is aware of your ability and actually wants the event to happen by acting against it, nothing will happen.
For example, if you tell someone that they will get run over when crossing a street with very little traffic, staying on the sidewalk for too long might cause a car to directly crash into them.

>Dangerous Habit:
Unreliable Habit can now affect large things, (about the size of a fridge, but smaller than a car.)
Affecting something unpredictable like a person is still really hard, and bigger things will require more focus to affect. Small things become considerably easier to disrupt and manipulate, however.

>Pattern Encryption:
You can now manipulate the way your magical aura is seen by others. Hiding powers, thoughts, and whatever else people might be able to infer from your aura.
This ability makes it considerably harder for abilities that rely on reading you to function.

>Speed Weaving:
Create a 10x10 meter zone where you can increase or decrease the speed of nearly anything that isn't a living thing.
Items may fall faster and bullets may be suspended in midair. The slower/faster you make something compared to the speed it is supposed to go at, the harder it will be to keep the zone active.
While creating a zone is instant, you can only make one at a time, and disabling a pre-existing zone requires enough focus that it can leave you vulnerable.

>>5903229
>>5903230
(I accidentally omitted something Etsy says right between the two post)
She gives you an awkward smile. "But you, uhm, even when so much is going on, you still do cool stuff. Like, you opened the door to that Dusk guy I-I would've just cowered in my room, but you made it work! Uhm, so what I'm trying to say is- you're good at taking risks, and making decisions. And if you aren't strong now, then I'm sure you will be at one point! Uhm, also, uh, l-lloo...l-love you too."

>>5903230
CUTEsy
>Dangerous Habit:
If we keep this up, we might be able to go full Wonder of U and just make fighting us a nightmare.

>>5903230
>Speed Weaving

>>5903230
CUTEsy
I like them all, except Speed Weaving! Do you take group orders?
>Self-fulfilling Prophecy:
This sounds really broken but also depends on the victim's "common sense", so in that case
>Dangerous Habit:
is my first vote

>>5903282
Ties are pretty common, so I'll allow primary and secondary votes.
The primary votes are counted, and if a tie occurs, secondary votes will be added.

If there's still a tie after that, I may choose to wait for a tiebreaker, or just pick the first votes that are part of the tie.

Self-fulfilling prophecy can technically be countered by someone who knows what it does, but it also means you can force them into certain actions. In the case of the street crosser, they now HAVE to cross the street if they don't want to get run over. Of course, the ability isn't so powerful it can make the impossible happen(yet), it's more like it nudges pre-existing things towards a certain direction.

>>5903230
>Speed Weaving:
Create a 10x10 meter zone where you can increase or decrease the speed of nearly anything that isn't a living thing.
Items may fall faster and bullets may be suspended in midair. The slower/faster you make something compared to the speed it is supposed to go at, the harder it will be to keep the zone active.
While creating a zone is instant, you can only make one at a time, and disabling a pre-existing zone requires enough focus that it can leave you vulnerable.

This is stupidly overpowered coupled with Unreliable Habit.
>Create zone
>Throw pencil
>Use Unrelaible Habit
>Undodgeable instakill

>>5903230
>Speed Weaving
2nd -> SFP
3rd -> DH

>>5903416
>stupidly overpowered
Just imagine if Etsy can set up Weaver with a super tech gun.

>>5903766
>>5903567
>>5903416
>>5903295
>>5903282
>>5903264
>>5903238

1/2

Ever closer to your true self, you feel your magic shift again. It feels weird, it's as if someone put chopsticks in your insides and started churning it like it was the content of a ramen bowl.

You wouldn't exactly call it painful, but it's good this doesn't happen too often. Once you're done recovering from what you think is a form of supernatural therapy, you start testing out your new ability.

It's...incredibly exhausting, for one. Doing a 10x10 meter zone is something you can only keep for about twenty minutes before you feel like you've exhausted whatever magical energy you have left.

Running out of magic seems to be more akin to mental than physical exhaustion. It's not making you tired as much as it makes you really apathetic and unfocused.
It takes about a day or two for your magic to get back to how it was, and instead of recharging by rest it's done by painstakingly 're-weaving' your own pattern into a usable form. Which is hard to do when you don't feel like doing anything, but Etsy's support make the process less dreadful than it would be alone.
You're pretty sure weaving is a thing unique to you, so you wonder if other magical beings have different ways of recharging their magic.

Needless to say, you don't want to use that zone at maximum size too often. Thankfully, a 5x5 meter zone can be kept for up to an hour without too much trouble, so it's not as if the power wasn't flexible. The zone itself is really obvious to anyone who can see magic, and Etsy mentioned that if she knew what to look for, even she could notice where the zone starts and end.

The zone not being able to move much is annoying, as someone can just decide to flee outside it, and items tend to go back to their normal speed when they leave the zone. Actually, increasing their speed is not exactly increasing their momentum, although it does increase their kinetic force.

In other words, if you throw something and speed it up, it will still go in the trajectory it was originally going in, akin to watching a movie sped up rather than it physically accelerating. However, even though it technically doesn't gain momentum, it does gain force, a sped up paper ball will crash through a window if sped up enough, even if it will go back to its normal speed once out of the zone.

It takes a little bit of experimentation to find a loophole to give things speed that will function outside the zone. If you have a sped up ball of paper hit another ball of paper suspended in midair, it will make a pool ball effect where the force of the first object will make the second gain actual, real momentum. With the help of unreliable habit, you can make some very fancy and unpredictable attacks that way, although it'd require some setup.

>>5904059

Etsy is actually losing her mind trying to understand the internal logic of your power, you just answer 'magic' with a smug grin. She's not satisfied with that answer, but magic really is just kind of...different from regular 'material' things.

If you had to describe it, it's like having a supercomputer doing stuff for you. It can calculate and react to things incredibly fast, but it also doesn't understand common sense, so you often have to tell it what you actually want from it.

Seeing it as a supercomputer also helped you figure out more ways to use said magic. For example, it's possible to condition your magic to trigger when certain events occurs, and after a lot of painful training with airsoft bullets you were able to condition unreliable habit to automatically trigger when it detects small, very fast objects rapidly approaching your squishy body, even if you can't see them or didn't even know you were being shot at.

Of course, if you're being shot at by too many bullets, or your magic is already highly focused on something else...yeah, it's not foolproof, but it means some random guy with a gun can't kill you just because they got you by surprise. You still know for a fact that K.I.S.A would tear you to pieces in an instant, as your zone doesn't work well because of its plating, and it does, in fact, have a LOT of bullets coated in devil's gamble. But you know you can at least slow down the 'devil bullets' with your zone enough to dodge them, even if doing so is incredibly costly in magic.

You'd make a really cool action hero if all you had to fight were regular human beings, but you're pretty sure conditioning your magic like you did isn't anything unique to you, so you should stay on your guard. After all, your magic potential is only around 'medium' level right now, and nearly everyone of importance you've met has had it at 'high' and above.

You don't think you can really trigger 'emotional turmoil' on purpose like you did last time, so the only way to increase your magic would be by...killing other magic users, you'd rather only go after those that deserve it if possible.

Now, what to do next?

>Talk to Sawyer, we've prepared enough as is.
>Investigate the rumours of your informants.
>Investigate your old appartment complex.
>Investigate the history of the town.
>Test out your powers on some criminal den, you need field experience, and so does K.I.S.A.

>>5904060
>Talk to Sawyer, we've prepared enough as is.

>>5904060
>Talk to Sawyer, we've prepared enough as is.
But put Etsy in the loop. We're in this together.

>>5904060
>Talk to Sawyer, we've prepared enough as is.

>>5904088
>>5904075
>>5904063
(1/3)

There are a lot of things you want to ask her, but you start by asking for your name.

"Sorry, seems like that item is out of order! But you got a new one, isn't that just as good?" She shakes a receipt in her hand. "You can't read this, literally, you cannot. It's something that would only make sense to someone who experienced a timeline where your name was still valid."

Even so, she gives you the receipt, and it's as unreadable as she said it would be. Your 'name' looks like a mad scribble, and there isn't a single bit of magic or pattern to decipher. You're pretty sure you saw the ink move, too. You ask her if she knows how you lost your name.

She shrugs. "If you really want to know, someone in a far future took it from you for petty reasons, which reverberated through the past. buuut, since that decision messed up the past too, that future is no longer relevant to anyone here."

Wait, so someone in the future took your name, but because that changed the past too, the future where that person takes your name will not happen. Doesn't that mean that-

This is confusing.

She laughs at your confused expression. "Time's weird, timelines are an easy way to think about it, but it's more like a bowl of soup. The rules change constantly, too, because there's always going to be THAT guy. He thought he was sooo clever because he got some high level magic that can alter time, and then the soup evaporated and no one knew what was going on anymore. Fun fact, the rules have changed 6 times in total, it even happened once in my and your lifetime, not like anyone normal would notice."

You're even more confused, so you decide to just not think about it. Just like magical patterns make a lot of sense to you, maybe time would only make sense to a seer like her, so trying to figure it out with your skillset would be fruitless.

Since she's clearly so comfortable talking about her magic, you try to push in a little further and ask her about her title.

"Titles, guess that means you're following etiquette? Do you just know the big two or...?"

You tell her you've only been made aware of two etiquette rules thus far.

"Yeah, the big two are the most important, but there are other ones that are considered more err...I dunno, like some people will appreciate you more if you do it, but it usually won't make you any enemies to NOT do it, right? The main ones at the top of my head are...
-if you awaken someone's magic potential, you are responsible for them until they gain a basic understanding of their own magic,
-It's considered foul play to kill another magic user at their weakest if you aren't the one who put them in that state,
-Religious arguments must be kept out of the game."

>>5904189
(2/3)
You ask her about the last one, since it seems very different from the other rules.

"Mhh? It makes sense considering...wait, you WERE explained what the 'game' is about, right? Didn't kitty explain it? Oh well, we've come this far. In short, god died, been a while actually, and there's a power vacuum. Magic users were usually kept in check from not messing with reality too hard by god, but then he just wasn't there anymore, so people have been trying to reach their magical peak to take the empty spot for themselves.
Of course, people have been very annoying about this, was it the Christian god? Was it Allah? Was it whatever they follow in the east? Tons of people are absolutely furious at the insinuation that their god could ever abandon them, or that they didn't pick the correct one, so it's kind of taboo to even mention religion. Actually, don't even call it god just to be safe, just say 'the old protector' and people will know what you're talking about, I just think god is shorter, and it's easier to explain."

Huh, that's a lot to take in. God is dead, or at least someone so powerful that people mistook it as god, and everyone's fighting for the spot it left behind. You ask her why those who are already powerful would bother with etiquette, since it only protects the weak and creates more competition for them.

"Oh, that's more of a moral thing. Catso says that it's because he believes that everyone should get a chance to claim that spot, and that being awakened late is not something in most people's control. Most magic users are only alive because of the etiquette, me included, so I'd be in favor of it even if it wasn't enforced by el gato."

She keeps using different names for the cat, which you assume is the pet of the deep arbiter. It makes you wonder if they talk to each other often enough that she can feel comfortable giving it cute nicknames like this. Finally, you ask her about her power.

She makes an exaggerated outraged expression. "Me? Why, I am but a powerless young lady, caught in a war I have no means to defend myself against. Ah, if only a cute guy like you were to sweep me off my feet, and hold me in his big strong arms, then maybe I could-"

You tell her to cut it out. Just because Etsy is mostly over her jealousy of Sawyer doesn't mean she'd feel comfortable with you being hit on like this, even if it's clearly done in an exaggerated manner.

"Okay, okay. Well, my power allows me to see the best possible future for someone and how to reach it. It's more accurate to say I can see 'opportunities' just like you can see 'patterns'. Oh, yeah, I know about your magic, being a seer is nice! Unfortunately, my power does have a slight teeny drawback." She takes a deep breath, her eyes are closed as she delivers the next sentence. "The harder I try to make the future of someone happen, the less likely it is to occur."

That sounds familiar, although you can't be sure where you've heard of a magic like this before.

>>5904190
(3/3)

"This doesn't mean the future can't happen just because I saw it, it just means I have to hope the person makes the right choices without my input. It doesn't mean I can't help people at all, it just means I should avoid peering into their future when I do, unfortunately sometimes my magic triggers without warning and... yeah, thankfully it's not the only thing it can do, or it'd be a pretty useless power."

You raise an eyebrow, hoping she'll demonstrate what she means.

"For example, did you know you forgot to take the ammo for your gun on the way there? What a silly little goofball you are!"

You check your gun in a panic, and find out that yes, your gun is not only empty, but that there are no spare magazines to be found anywhere in your pockets.

"It happens to the best of us! I guess the opportunity to pick the ammo up passed by you when you left the house. Just like when she bought-" She goes silent, a familiar blank stare present in her eyes. "You know, I feel like we've talked enough. It was nice, but I need some time to think about...girl stuff."

With another one of her mood swings, she pushes you out of the store. When you come back home, Etsy is baffled to find the ammo she swore she gave you still on the table. The cameras show that you did indeed 'forget' to pick it up in the footage, even though neither you nor Etsy remember that happening.

You're sure Sawyer has more tricks up her sleeve, but she doesn't seem to be a bad person. She's been pretty open about her powers, and despite her mood swings, you don't think she'll dismember you for saying the wrong thing--something you don't think you can say about Dusk. Although you are rightfully terrified about the fact you didn't even see her use her magic on you, you wonder if she did it before you entered the store.

You look at the receipt with your 'name' on it again. It still doesn't look like anything, so you give it to Etsy since she was bothered by not knowing your name, not like she can read it any better than you. Etsy also mentions someone tried to hack her security system while you were away, the firewall was airtight and stopped it near instantly (it better be at that price), but you're not a huge fan of having yet another threat to add to the list.

MPR (Sawyer): High magic potential. Can see 'opportunities' along with someone's best possible future and how to reach it. However, any attempt from her to make that future come to reality will instead make it less likely to occur. Can slightly alter someone's past decisions as long as it does not massively change the events that lead to the present moment.

>Investigate the old appartment.
>Investigate the town's history.
>Investigate the hacking.
>Investigate the rumours about other magical beings.
>Wipe out some criminal den

>>5904193
Sawyer seems really knowledgeable for someone who's not in the runnin'.
>Investigate the rumours about other magical beings.
I really don't feel like wiping some criminal den is a good idea, whatever Dusk said about "cattle". Since magic users are the biggest dangers about, we should at least do our due diligence.
Secondary: >Investigate the old appartment.
Also:
>-Religious arguments must be kept out of the game.
Really enjoyed that nugget

>>5904193
>Wipe out some criminal den
Time to become a superhero. Or at least test our's and Kisa's limits, plus earn a little extra spending money. Heck, we might even be able to take over their operations.

>>5904193
>Wipe out some criminal den

>>5904190
>That sounds familiar, although you can't be sure where you've heard of a magic like this before.
so we don't remember the other options of the "tech-tree" if we don't pick them ? interesting
>>5904193
seems like she really likes kids. btw what does mpr stands for ?

>Investigate the rumours about other magical beings.

>>5904291
MPR stands for 'Magical Pattern Recognition', which is the base skill you use to analyze people's magic. It's kind of a mouthful, so I shorten it whenever I can.

It's mentioned earlier that magic will sometimes act as if it has a mind of its own and even specialize without your consent, so when you 'upgrade', the MC doesn't see different options, the magic itself chooses what it thinks would best fit the user.
Weaver still remembers it subconsciously, but only because his magic was aware of it as an option it discarded.

>>5904312
alright, thanks OP. kinda of a neat mechanic, acutally for our power to evolve on itself. btw are you in the qtg server ?

>>5904356
I'm not, it's kind of my first quest I DMed (although I did follow a few other quests before), I wasn't sure if I wanted my main account linked to this quest since part of the appeal was doing it anonymously, but I don't think I care that much anymore, so I wouldn't be opposed to join even if I'll probably lurk most of the time.

>>5904193
>Investigate the rumours about other magical beings.
cat

>>5904819
>>5904291
>>5904248
>>5904212

You consider wiping out some criminal den, as they've always been a problem in this city, but decide against it. It's not as if the criminals here don't deserve a beating or two, but you don't know what kind of things you'll encounter in there. What if they have a magic user with them? What if they have more bullets than you can handle?

Besides, your main competition will be other magical beings, going after regular people, deserved or not, feels like it won't teach you that much. You're not sure if you want to 'win' the game, but you do want to be powerful enough to guarantee your and Etsy's safety.

So, you decide to investigate the rumors you've heard from your informants instead--informants you haven't heard of for a few weeks now, seems most of them dug too deep or decided to call it quits without telling you.

You try to think of what rumors to investigate yourself. Conveniently, your informants left notes as to where certain magical beings were most sighted.

Sword of Dusk(Magic potential: Immense):
Location unknown, it seems to have been sighted everywhere in the town, and even outside it. His status as an urban legend also makes any info about his whereabouts unreliable.
Etsy propose hacking the CCTV system of the town to get more info, as he shows up in camera footage a lot, but that's obviously illegal and could put you into some serious trouble with the authorities if you're found out.

>Pet of the Deep Arbiter(Magic potential: ???):
Because he looks like a regular black cat, there aren't many ways for people to identify him until he gets killed--which seems to happen more often than one would think, usually due to random car accidents.
However, most of the 'accidents' have happened in the radius of a small orphanage, which might be worth investigating.

>Seer of an Unobtainable Future (Magic potential: High):
This one's just Sawyer, she's in the convenience store. You could investigate what she did in the past, since she's never been too open about what she did before working retail.
You'd rather not piss off the girl capable of altering the past, but maybe she won't mind a background check.

>Mammona/Mona(Magic potential: Immense):
She supposedly has a cult somewhere. There's nothing about it online, as if E.N.D was purposefully obfuscating any info about it. There seems to be a hotel where most of the cultist are suspected to hang out, the hotel's price is exorbitant, but it's peanuts compared to what you usually pay for Etsy's endeavors.

>>5905026

Unconfirmed rumors: those are rumors that may or may not be true, but have enough sightings and evidence to be at least worth considering. If anything, they should be easier to handle than those mentioned before.

>Insectation:
Massive bugs have been seen in the sewers, carrying fleshy, pulsating eggs on their back. Unlike most rumors, you can't trace any of it back to a specific magical being, but you doubt this is a natural result of evolution.

>Supernatural Marketing:
Certain pieces of media (mostly of the anime and video game kind) have become exceptionally popular within a certain area.
While this wouldn't be weird to have a few hardcore fans here and there, it looks as if it is all the people here can talk about, even for people who were known to have many other hobbies before that.

>All-Peeping-Eye: Reports of a strange purple eye that stares at people in the comfort of their old home have been popping up here and there.
The eye has only been reported by rather attractive looking women, and it has a tendency to show up when those women are showering or...letting off steam, so to speak.
You feel like you'd be doing a public service by taking care of that.

>Demon of the Backstreets: A martial artist that has been said to live in the back alleys where they take everyone as a challenger. No one knows what they look like, or even their gender, as they only show themselves to those who challenge them.
Unfortunately, whoever challenged them was reduced to a thin red mist. While there's nothing inherently supernatural about this, you still don't think someone turning people into paste with a few punches is exactly normal, either.


You'll have to pick what you want to investigate, you'd rather check unconfirmed rumors, since those you know for sure exist are probably far more than you can handle.
Then again, nothing says you have to fight. It's an investigation, so as long as you keep your head down, it should be fine, right?

>>5905027

I didn't format the last two choices properly so it mixes with the greentext, my bad.

>>5905026
>Pet of the Deep Arbiter(Magic potential: ???):

>>5905026
>Pet of the Deep Arbiter
There was a mention of how the cat only broke the kneecaps of people who didn't follow etiquette. As long as we look respectfully, it should be fine, right?

>>5905027
>Demon of the Backstreet
This looks interesting, and we're way too low level to challenge other people.

File: Kitty.png (509 KB, 613x786)

509 KB PNG

>>5905059
>>5905033

You decide to investigate the Pet of the Deep Arbiter. Of all the big names you've heard of, he's the only one you haven't met in person, and he sounds pretty reasonable from what you've heard of Sawyer.

The issue is how to find the damn thing, black cats aren't uncommon, and you've even seen a few animals with some (probably unawakened) magical potential before, so just because you see a magical cat doesn't mean it is the magical cat.

The only lead you have is an orphanage that is located suspiciously close to most of the reports. The reason why the orphanage stands out more than the other buildings in that area is due to the high number of cats that get fed by the kids here, so it looks like a good place to start.

Going to the orphanage doesn't take long, and you're let inside under the pretense of being interested in adoption. There's usually more paperwork to this before you can straight up waltz inside the orphanage, but they have so many kids that they're willing to speed the process up.

The orphanage isn't that big, but big enough to accommodate the fifteen or so children that live here. The kids here look at you with both interest and fear, you're not sure if they actually want to be adopted or not.

You have to pretend to be interested in the kids, but really, you're just looking at the cats. There's a lot of them, a few cats are bringing back rats from who knows where, while a few others are napping on beds and other bits of furniture.

There are a few black cats, two of them even have some low magical potential, so you decide to examine those first. You're not sure how to analyze their pattern, it's raw and undefined. If you didn't know any better, you'd suspect they weren't awakened, but that can't be right.

As you ponder how to talk to a cat without looking like a crazy person, a kid bumps into you as they carry some boxes to the kitchen. It almost makes you stumble, but you catch yourself using a nightstand as support.

Then, the nightstand leans a little bit more than you thought it would.

You hear a hiss, and a gruesome SPLAT sound. You look down in horror as you see a cat bleeding, crushed under the nightstand. You pull the nightstand back up in a panic. The cat is still breathing, it's black, but it doesn't look magical like the two others.

One kid starts crying, another screams. This is bad, at least if it died you would've known for sure it was the right one, but now you have to make a choice.

>Pretend to bring the cat somewhere to save it, but let it die. It might be what you're searching for.
>Bring the cat to a veterinarian, maybe you can still save it if you're fast enough?
>Try to disrupt the wound, a cat is small enough for unreliable habit to work, but it's still a long shot.
>Write in.

>>5905255
>Try to disrupt the wound, a cat is small enough for unreliable habit to work, but it's still a long shot.

>>5905255
>Try to disrupt the wound, a cat is small enough for unreliable habit to work, but it's still a long shot.

>>5905255
>Try to disrupt the wound, a cat is small enough for unreliable habit to work, but it's still a long shot.

File: IsThatEvenACat.png (605 KB, 614x779)

605 KB PNG

>>5905352
>>5905316
>>5905279

If you take it to a veterinarian, it’ll die on the way there, and you’d rather not let a random cat die just based on a guess.

Apart from that one cockroach, you never tried unreliable habit on a living thing, but it’s the only option you can think of that could save the cat in this condition.

You focus, the pattern of the wound is, unsurprisingly, a mess. Generally speaking, the more ‘repeatable’ something is, the more ‘pattern-like’ it is. If you can say ‘I’m seeing a pattern here’ towards something, then it should count.
Problem is, the crushed ribs of the cat and the internal bleeding is all but repeatable. Even if you were an expert on cat biology, it would still be hard to figure out what belongs where. Even so, you push through and try to disrupt the wound.

The cat’s skin starts to stretch, until it detaches itself from the body and...nothing, the skin just stands there. You try to disrupt the bleeding, but the cat pukes more blood. You feel like you're making it worse, but maybe if you can hold the cat just right then-

It isn’t breathing anymore.

You stare at the bloody carcass under you, as if you expected it to jump back up at any moment. But it doesn’t, it was a normal cat. If you had better medical knowledge, could you have saved it? or if your powers were slightly different, or if-
No, it doesn’t matter, it was an accident, and you did the best you could at the moment. You carry the body of the cat to the garden, and starts digging a small grave for it. The kids are still looking at you, this time fear is the only emotion present in their eyes, you can’t blame them, you killed one of their friends after all.

Once the grave is finished, you feel the ground give way beneath you. The dirt swallows you and pushes you deep within the earth, then deeper than the earth, then deeper than death. For some reason, you aren’t scared, it feels like home.

“Acceptable,” A booming voice says. A thing towers over you, its multicolored, bulging eyes gazing at you like you are a caged animal in a zoo. You can’t read any pattern from it, because there are no such things here. A pattern-less place, this is the thing that bothers you most here.

“You sought me, yet you were willing to pass the chance to meet me to save another life. It wasn’t your fault, yet you felt guilt for the death of a lowly thing you did not know. You failed, yet you accepted that one’s path cannot be carved by mulling over one’s past mistakes, but by moving forward and learning from them.” It tilts what you think is its head. “You have my attention. I shall grant you one wish.”

You don’t say anything, you don’t think you can in this place. Somehow, it still understands.

“Granted.”

>>5905412
You open your eyes, a black cat is scratching itself against the nightstand. The kids are looking at you without fear, and there is a distinct lack of blood on your hands. When you come back home, Etsy asks you if you found out anything, you tell her you aren’t sure. You find out your magic has been nearly exhausted when you were there, and it takes some time for you to weave your magic back up.
While you were away, it seems a few of the ‘rumors’ have gotten a little bit worse. It’s not exactly your problem, but you hope they won’t get too out of hands. You also had to pay the exorbitant monthly cost of keeping Etsy sane. She says she’s still not feeling like selling something, if she doesn’t start next month you might have to be a little bit more forceful about it, or find ways to put money on the table yourself.

[Subconscious Etiquette Knowledge has been obtained. Before committing an action, you will know if it breaks etiquette, even if it is breaking a rule you weren’t aware of. You can still break etiquette if you wish, but doing it too often may anger him. ]

[Unknown Favor: The Pet of the Deep Arbiter has granted you a wish, only time will tell what it is.]

monthly cost: 875K – 200K = 675K

Funds: 675K

>Investigate one of the rumors. (refer to >>5905026 and >>5905027.)
>Investigate the apartment complex.
>Investigate the hacking
>Wipe out a criminal den.
>Write in.

>>5905413
>Investigate the apartment complex.

>>5905413
>Investigate the apartment complex.

>>5905413
>Investigate the apartment complex.