The Transience of Her

This Ain't a 24-Hour Quest, Part 2

It's an easy walk from The Sandwich Guild HQ back to Tulyasi.

Amidst the crowd of adventurers minding their own business, I briskly walk towards the item shop.

The item merchant greets me.

“Good afternoon! What will you get today?”

“I'd like 20 Revival Plumes, please.”

“Boy, that's a lot! You plannin' to go on a boss raid?”

“Of course.”

No sooner does he hand over the provisions as I fork over 20,000 yesos in exchange.

“Use 'em well, alright. Don't want too much profit from total party wipes, ya hear?”

“Thank you.”

“Yer welcome.”

I happily leave the item shop and head to another popular hang-out spot in town, the Arcadium Emporium.

This is where the mini-games are, bequeathing many awesome prizes in tests of skill and chance.

I can use some of the items I will win here in the upcoming raid.

From where I stand, I can see the many people flocking to the many mini-game stalls the Emporium offers...

...except for one.

“Ah, the so-called 'fortune wheel'... that brings nothing but misfortune to players from all parts.”

Nobody is occupying the stall that carries the cursed (?) mini-game.

Might as well man it up and push my luck on that.

As I bravely trudge the path towards the “wheel”, some players are reacting to my upcoming attempt.

“Man, that dude's got balls of steel.”

“Or lots of money to sink in that game of no-chance.”

“How's he ever gonna earn big-time there?”

“Go blame yourself if you lose miserably and torch this place down in angry frustration later!”

“Turn back now! That wheel is evil incarnate!”

I instinctively block out those reactions and more.

Who cares about others' opinions?

I get to do it, and I will reap what I will sow. Simple as that.

I take a good look at the wheel, especially the prizes it offers.

100,000 yesos? Don't need that much in the raid.

Lycanbane? Only sword-wielders will get that.

Frozen Teardrop?

Wait a minute...

If I recall correctly, the Frozen Teardrop has a random chance of blocking off certain attacks.

Other than that, further details on that accessory are scarce, since what exact attacks it can block off are not properly documented.

OK, I might aim for that one.

If that itsy-bitsy accessory can block off that one attack the guildmaster warned me about, I can turn my guild's fortunes around!

Let's this this, homes!

I drop 100 yesos into the coin slot, and spin the wheel.

I observe as the needle points towards several lucky (and unlucky) sectors of the wheel.

20 seconds later, the wheel gradually slows down.

Man, the prospects aren't looking so bright, since the needle is in danger of pointing towards the sector with a picture of the Grim Reaper in it.

If the needle lands there, I won't be necessarily KOed; but I will have my money and the current experience points needed to get to the next level cut in half, as well as get inflicted with the nastiest of status effects.

“Please, please, anything but THAT!”

Also, the rumors of the wheel sometimes tilting, which is the main reason players hate the entire mini-game with a passion, are becoming true.

As the needle hovers close to the dreaded Grim Reaper sector, the wheel tilts slightly towards a smaller sector right next to that, which contains the Frozen Teardrop.

And it finally stops. No further movement at all.

“D-Did I do it?”

The next thing I know...

Colorful lights that spell “CONGRATULATIONS!” surround the stall, and the accessory falls down from the sky (well, from the ceiling) and towards my hands that caught it in a split-second.

“YES! YES! YES!”

I did it! I was able to beat the cursed wheel!

And the players who saw me triumph drop their jaws as they clap their hands and cheer at my sheer luck.

I keep the hard-earned accessory, which I will equip later on before the raid begins.

I leave the Emporium and head back to the plaza.

I think I've prepared enough, earning some items and an accessory, so what will I do next?

I know. I can pass time by resting.

So while I'm still logged in the game, I rest my body onto the bed and recharge.

Again, I can't let unbridled tension ruin my concentration during the raid.

I check the time. In both in-game time and in real time, it's now 5:35 pm.

Alright, it's getting dark.

I must get to HQ ASAP.

After a brisk walk back to the guild HQ, I meet Lianna again.

“Hello again, Soren! I hope you're all stocked up for our upcoming quest.”

“Why wouldn't I? And by the way, where are the others?”

“They're now in their own rooms, passing the time until the T-minus hour.”

“Well, you can enter mine if you want. I've just recently acquired a decoration for my room.”

“Sure.”

I show her my room, which is sparsely decorated due to the fact that I've only just touched this room.

One of the perks on being in a guild is having an individual room where one can put all sorts of decorations that are either given away as rewards for certain quests or as simple monster drops.

That only applies when the guild itself has already an established HQ, and there are roughly a hundred of them just outside Tulyasi alone.

“Here's the decoration I'm talking about.”

I bring out the Animal Bowl I've won from completing the Noodlekin quest, and place it on a plain-looking dresser by the window.

“Wow! That looks incredible, Soren!”

“Hey, everyone's got their tastes.”

We stay in this room and chat for a bit longer.

Forty-five minutes pass, and...

The intercom sounds with the booming voice of our superior.

“Alright, my brothers-in-arms! In a few minutes, we'll be starting the quest! Please gather at the courtyard right now! I repeat, please gather at the courtyard right now!”

No sooner do we head out towards the courtyard as instructed.

We all face our guildmaster, the Arch Priestess Maricar van der Valde, as she gives her final set of instructions.

“Everyone, we are gathered here to attempt the 'Higher than the Sky' quest for the twenty-eighth, and hopefully, final time. With a capable recruit now in our ranks, we should be able to trudge through the Stratosphere of Isolation in a more efficient way. But our tried and tested strategies still apply.

“Number one, we must practice strategic item distribution among all our members. All of you must have at least five of the strongest healing items you can afford and five of the strongest revival items you can afford. You may never know when one must need an item in a pinch.

“Number two, due to the randomized nature of the puzzles in the dungeon we will visit, we all must come up with strategies on the fly. Ideally, we must not take more than 10 minutes. But due to the difficulty of one of the puzzles here, the overall length of all our attempts before we successfully solved that puzzle actually took us from 30 minutes to an hour. With our new recruit here, we should be able to hit our ideal target.

“Finally, when the boss battle comes, employ a high DPS approach, especially if the boss has built-in health regeneration which cannot be dispelled by any means. Also, watch the floor, since many of the boss' spells have specific attack patterns. Dodge the target areas while still maintaining our high DPS approach!

“Do I make myself clear, everyone?”

We all shout like soldiers all prepped up for combat.

“Ma'am, yes, ma'am!”

“Alright then. Let's all head to the adventurers' post. Move out!”

We all head towards the adventurers' post to validate the beginning of the quest.

The Higher than the Sky quest involves the investigation of the Central Segment of the Stratosphere of Isolation, which controls the weather of the surrounding floating continents. Rumors are abound of a hideous monster messing with the weather control system that not just causes extreme weather phenomena, but also spawns other monsters. It is of extreme difficulty (the highest difficulty level), the quest is completed upon defeating the boss, and the rewards are automatically given upon the completion of said quest. There's also an MVP bonus that bestows extra rewards to the best-performing player.

The receptionist asks us.

“You have attempted this quest 27 times so far, with all attempts ending in failure. But with the addition of this man here who has spectacularly completed a fairly easy quest yesterday, you can break that losing streak once and for all. Are you all ready, members of The Sandwich Guild?”

We all respond.

“Yes, we are!”

“Well then, please step into the portal in order to proceed to the Central Segment of the Stratosphere of Isolation. Good luck, everyone!”

One teleportation later...

We're now standing towards a huge stone door with strange symbols in it. The door automatically opens, as if to welcome us all into the domain of doom.

The first room, the main hall of the Central Segment, is filled with aggressive monsters.

No sooner do we fight back with both melee and ranged attacks, with the Shield Guardian Leggy acting as our tank.

The monsters are quickly vanquished, and the door that was previously sealed off opens.

We make our way through the door and the subsequent hallway.

So this is the second room at the end of the quite-long hallway.

I see a bunch of fluorescent floor switches that are arranged like the directional pad on a typical game controller.

As we still peer our eyes onto the switches, the switches then all light up in a specific sequence.

Left, right, down, down, left, right, left, left, right, left, up, left, up, left, up, left, down, right, right, left, up.

I comment thus.

“No game rich in puzzles would be complete without a Simon Says-like one.”

Giovanna the Psychic Synergist steps in.

“OK, let me handle this. I remember this sequence like the back of my hand.”

She steps onto the switches like she's playing hopscotch, nimbly and accurately.

We then all hear a chime that leads to the opening of another sealed door.

Well, what're we waiting for? It should be another long hallway beyond that!

After that hallway, we're now at the third room.

We stumble upon another switch puzzle, where the switches are in raised platforms and all of them must be pressed in order for the door to open. There's a time limit involved, as the platform will sink when the respective switch is pressed, making it impossible to reach to the next one.

Aulina Freya the Ableblade cuts in.

“I've solved that puzzle before, but with a great amount of frustration to get to that. In fact, in our previous attempts, I took around an hour just to get the timing and distance between each switch right.”

My reply?

“Hmm... just maybe... I can take your place. I've checked the party status before, and it seems I have the highest agility stat out of all of us.”

“It wouldn't hurt for you to try, Melchor. Go for it.”

“I sure will.”

Once I get onto the room's raised balcony, I peer at the switch pattern, and deduce the sequence from there.

And yes, I can jump not just horizontally and vertically, but also diagonally, which should make things easier.

But then, there are the matters of timing and distance.

If I don't time it right, I'll miss the next switch platform.

If I don't determine the right distance within the shortest amount of time possible, I'll just stumble and fall.

Here I go. Jump!

I successfully press three switches, but...

I calculate too much on the fourth jump and thus miss the fourth switch platform as the third sinks to the ground.

Bummer.

Good thing there's a reset button on the balcony.

“Come on! You can do it, Melchor!”

Lianna cheers me on.

It's now my second attempt. Jump!

With my innate agility and heightened senses, I perform much better in pressing the required switches with the right timing and distance.

I then hear a chime in the distance, followed by the opening of yet another sealed door.

I finally did it. In just two attempts.

Maricar congratulates me.

“Glad we have you in our team. We have saved so much precious time.”

While there are no time limits on raiding dungeons and defeating bosses, there's also the matter of not seeing our offline time, our social life, and especially our health, wasted due to spending too many hours just on a quest.

Efficiency should be the name of our game, and I'm the poster boy for that in their eyes, witnessing what I did.

We all proceed through yet another hallway.

The fourth room is decidedly more spartan. Only a bunch of unlit torches in the center of the room, and an LCD-like display on top of the northern wall.

“A torch puzzle, huh? Leave that to me.”

Zoredd the Dragon Warlock declares.

The torches have ancient numbers inscribed into them, and they are arranged just like a keypad typically found in telephones.

The puzzle involves lighting the torches corresponding to a numerical sequence, dousing the flames there, and then repeating the same thing for the next numerical sequence.

For each dungeon visit, the numerical sequences are randomized.

A numerical sequence shows up on the screen: 998.

Using his fire magic, he lights the bottom-right, bottom-right, and bottom-center torches.

The next sequence: 619.

He douses the lit torches, and then lights the center-right, top-left, and the bottom-right torches.

416.

Douse, center-left, top-left, center-right.

121.

Douse, top-left, top-center, top-left.

878.

Douse, bottom-center, bottom-left, bottom-center.

Bam! There's the chime and an open door.

And another hallway we must get through.

The fifth room is back to a nest of monsters.

Slash, blast, defend, rinse and repeat.

No more enemies, one open door.

As we proceed through the longest hallway yet, the guildmaster advises us.

“Never be overconfident in your abilities, and never be self-deprecating with those abilities, either. Be at the right mindset. Don't panic and unleash your attacks post-haste. I'm saying this so many times now, and I'll say this again to get through your skulls. Especially yours, Melchor.”

I respond with the terse “Ma'am, yes, ma'am”.

Silence then follows as we still walk through the hallway.

Eight minutes of continuous walking later, we're now at hopefully the boss room.

Before us is a giant glass cylinder with magical symbols that represent the four seasons.

Below the cylinder is a giant control panel with lots of keys and levers to be pressed and pulled.

And above us...

...is the boss itself, the Stratosphere Overseer.

It is a giant humanoid made of compressed essences of wind, sunlight, rainwater vapor, and snow; all twisted to a horrifying degree.

One provoking roar from its toothy maw later...

It's boss time!