NOVEL NEXT Cycle 27(3)
Dear Diary,
It’s been… almost three weeks since my last entry. We’ve been a weird mix of super busy and nothing happening.
So, most important thing first: my marble team is currently in the gold spot! There’s only been one race where we didn’t get a medal. I’m super proud of my team this cycle. If we get the championship gold, I'm going to make them a special pedestal or display case or something, and save them forever in a place of honor. Go Momos!!!
Aside from racing, Kimi, Mika, Aya and Lilly have been fighting. They agreed to let Via and I sit out the fights, and instead practice healing and other helpful spells. So that’s nice.
But most of all, we’ve been making an art piece.
Via has a duplication spell. So far, she can duplicate anything worth up to 25 gold ten times. After that, the original item goes poof. Duplicated items themselves can’t be duplicated. If the keys are worth 25 gold, that’s great. But we don’t know how much one is worth. So Via has been spending most of her time duplicating the crap out of anything she can get her hands on, trying to level up her spell. Hopefully by the time the players get here, she’ll be high enough to be able to duplicate the key at least three times.
That way, we won’t have to steal a key. We’ll just borrow one.
First, we’ll try asking to see it. Well, I’ll ask to see it. Since most players stop at my diner first thing, it’s a good bet that I’ll be able to talk to them first. So a player will show up, and I’ll ask if I can see their key. If I get it, I’ll teleport straight into the inn, Via will duplicate it, and I’ll teleport back with the original and an apology.
If that doesn’t work, Lilly will come over. She has a persuasion spell that should charm them into gifting her the key.
If that doesn’t work (she says some magical items give buffs against being charmed), we’ll give them free milkshakes. With sleeping poison mixed in.
Our art piece looks like a giant steel lotus flower. But if someone steps on the plate in the middle, the petals all fold in, trapping the person. It’s basically a giant ornamental bear trap.
And, thing is, when players die, they respawn in the exact center of our plaza. Standing up.
So while the players are asleep, we’ll drag the lotus to the exact center of the plaza, and kill one of the players. While the player’s friends sleep, he or she will be trapped in our lotus, slowly having their HP drained away, while we explain what’s going on.
If the player refuses, they’ll just be trapped there forever, slowly dying and respawning in the exact same place. If the player gets out of the lotus, we’ll kill them. Rinse and repeat. Until the player gives us the key, and we’ll move the lotus into its home between Mika’s shop and the inn.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, right?
The lotus really is pretty, though.
Goodnight, Dungeon.
