RPG C://Progra~1/dothack_EXPANSION/dhEXP.exe

[Braidless Baka]

Warily, Traumerin watched Hood rise again. "Y'know... You shouldn't be picking fights with newbies..."
"You're no newbie."
Quickly, Traumerin sprinted in, rapping Hood's weapon's hand across the knuckles, making her drop the weapon with a curse. "Okay, I'm going to lose... I know that. Let's stop this." He paused before smirking slightly. "Besides, I haven't had a chance to save since I got here." He watched as Hood fixed a wary gaze on him, perhaps suspicious as to why he didn't want to fight.
Why fight?! He'd get trounced!!
"Can I consider my lesson learned?"
Hood frowned a little more before relaxing. "I suppose so..."
"Are we still a party?"
"I suppose that too."
"Then shall we?" Traumerin made a grand gesture as he asked the question, so that Hood couldn't help but smirk at the boy's antics.
"I suppose we shall..."
"I suppose you should stop saying 'suppose' then huh?"
Hood smirked a little more. "I [i]suppose[/i] you're right." She paused then, glancing around at the small gathering. "And what're you all looking at?!"

[Walnut]

The group slowly dispursed and she heard the remark , [i]"That Hood. She's just out looking for trouble[/i]". She grinned and picked up her spear, at least she was getting a self-created reputation around here. She picked up her spear and pointed in a north direction. "Before we start exlporing, I need to go to the Farm. There's something there I need to collect. That okay with you?" she asked.

[Makai Kite]

[COLOR=crimson]
Marika and Kaya ran to a Chaos Gate. They stood in front of it for a bit.
?Uh? what do we do now?? Kaya asked.
?Did you bother to read a single page of the manual?? Marika asked in disbelief.
?Well, I read the Health Warnings and stuff about creating accounts and I read the stuff about character classes, too? but nothing else. I mostly just get info from other players.?
?Jeez, do I have to do absolutely everything?? Marika warped them to a random field.
?Whoa. That was different,? Kaya said.
Marika ignored her. She was trying to figure out which direction to head in. Soon after she had figured it out, she lost sight of Kaya. She wondered why for a second. [I] Oh, I forgot [/I], Marika thought to herself. [I] Sky Runners are one of the most agile character classes. No wonder I can?t see her anymore. [/I] ?Kaya!? she shrieked. ?Where in the name of Anubis are you??
After a few minutes, Marika finally caught up to Kaya. ?Could you walk a bit slower?? she asked.
Kaya said, ?I?ll give it a shot. Sorry. I forgot you weren?t as agile as I am.?
This conversation came to an abrupt halt when they heard something stomping behind them. It was a huge high-level monster! Marika must not have been paying attention to the recommended level they should have been at before warping to this field.
Kaya asked, ?What on Earth is that??
?I?m sorry! I didn?t pay much attention to the recommended level we should be at!? Marika tried to use some spells on the monster, but every one of them missed. Kaya took a different approach. She threw random objects at it. However, this didn?t do much either. It just made this huge monster even angrier. There was only one thing to do?
?Run.?
And so, the two tried to run away from the monster so they could Gate Out to Azure City. However, the monster could easily catch up.
?That thing is pretty fast for being so huge!? Marika said. Kaya simply nodded her head in agreement. The monster caught up to them and killed Marika, leaving Kaya to try to fight the behemoth by herself.
Kaya saw some weapons that Marika had left behind. She threw the light axe at it, but it only did a bit of damage. [I] Better than nothing, she thought. Her eyes wandered over to the staff. She took it in her hands and swung it at the monster. Suddenly, a message popped up onscreen: ?System Error?. The monster lay in pieces on the ground and faded away?
[/COLOR]
[COLOR=purple]
Later, Melissa received an E-mail from the administrator and one from Evira. The one from the admin apologized for the situation that occurred earlier. It also said that a monster like that had never appeared in that certain field before. Strange[/I], Melissa thought?
?Yes. Very.?
Melissa looked back...
[/COLOR]

[COLOR=purple] Real World [/COLOR]
[COLOR=crimson] The World [/COLOR]

[Sky Moonflow]

VM pulled out her flute. She stopped she might as well leave. There was nothing else better to do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anna pulled the visor off. She felt a little dizzy at first. But after a few minutes she was ok. She walked over and sat on her bed. She pulled her flute case out from under her bed. She began to play a haunting melondy...........

[Geist]

[COLOR=blue]
"So if you guys didn't try to find a good monster area, then what did you do?" [I]Bahman asked.
Perviz pulled the sign out of his inventory and held it up for his
friend to read.[/I]
"Aromatic Grass, huh? Did you get any?"
[I]Parizade and Perviz both shook their heads.[/I]
"Nope. No one wanted us to join their party."
[I]Bahman sighed and shook his head.[/I]
"That's too bad. I don't know why, but some people on the board seem to really like it. That reminds me, have either of you heard the rumor going around about that girl who died while playing this game?"
[I]Parizade and Perviz stopped and looked at their friend.[/I]
"No, we haven't. What happened? She didn't die because of the game...did she?" [I]Parizade asked.[/I]
[I]Bahman laughed.[/I]
"Of course not, Parizade. As real as this place seems, it's just a game. It can't kill people."
"If it wasn't the game, then how did she die?"
[I]The group continued walking.[/I]
"Nobody is really sure. Most of them say it was some sort of heart failure or something. I think there was no girl to begin with. Someone is probably just trying to stir up some trouble or something. So...where do you guys want to go now? I don't want to be a newbie forever."
"Why don't we go search for some aromatic grass? We could fight monsters on the way." [I]Perviz suggested.[/I]
[I]Before Bahman and Parizade could agree with the plan, a voice behind them vetoed it.[/I]
"I hate to burst your bubble, but aromatic grass can't be found in newbie dungeons."
[I]All three wavemasters turned around to see the person who was speaking to them. It was Eggy.[/I]
"If my plan won't work, then what do you suggest we do?"
[I]The small red-haired girl smiled.[/I]
"Well, I could go find you some, for a price."
[I]Bahman shook his head vigorously.[/I]
"We are not paying some little kid to find us a stupid weed. Let's go guys"
[I]Bahman turned to leave but Perviz stopped him.[/I]
"Hold on a second, Bahman. We could at least listen to what she wants."
[I]Bahman stopped at crossed his arms.[/I]
"Okay, Eggy. Tell us what you want in return for looking for the
grass." [I]Parizade said.
Eggy scratched her head.[/I]
"I haven't really thought of anything yet, but it won't be anything too big. Okay?"
[I]Perviz and Parizade nodded. Bahman was the only one who
didn't agree[/I]
[/COLOR]

[Makai Kite]

[COLOR=purple]
Evira stared at the black screen for a few minutes. She wondered what had happened to Kaya in The World. ?Is she okay?? she said aloud. With that, she decided to reset her computer and log back in?
[/COLOR]
[COLOR=crimson]
As Marika walked around Azure City, she heard a familiar voice. It was Kaya.
?Could you please look into the situation?? The Sys-Admin nodded.
?What was that about?? Marika asked.
Kaya was silent for a second. She then said, ?I was just speaking with the Sys-Admin about the problem we had earlier. Apparently, strange things have been going on in other fields and servers, too.?
?Really??
Kaya nodded. ?They said they were investigating it and were thinking about forcing a system shutdown.?
Marika looked concerned. ?Can you imagine what an uproar that would cause? Think of the massive fanbase The World has!?
?I know, but there?s really nothing we can do.?
With that, the two thought about where they would go while they were waiting for answers.
?Let?s go back to that field,? Marika suggested. ?Maybe we can find some answers for ourselves.?
Kaya looked worried. ?But what if we run into that monster again??
?Hmm? well, we?ll worry about that when and if it happens.?
Kaya smiled, not letting Marika know she was worried.
And so with that, they were on their way. It was a fairly quiet evening in Azure City considering the circumstances. Many of the players were quietly whispering about the strange incidents that had been occurring that day. When they finally reached the Chaos Gate, they saw a strange character in front of them.
She had pale white skin and silver hair. Her black eyes seemed to look right through them. She wore an exquisite pure white kimono and held a beautiful ivory staff. Her teardrop earrings glinted in the sunlight. She smiled gently at the two of them and floated above the city.
Kaya and Marika stepped back and tried to run away.
Kaya and Marika stared at the figure in awe. Just then, the girl began to sing a haunting melody. Tears filled her gray eyes and then everything froze for a moment. When everything went back to normal, she was gone, and her voice echoed through the city.
Hushed whispers could be heard throughout the entire city.
?That was no ordinary player character? Come on. Let?s go.?
With that, Kaya followed Marika back to the Chaos Gate and into the field.
Marika stared at the field. ?Hold up! I don?t remember that being there!? Kaya looked at what Marika was pointing at and gasped. Right in the middle of the field was a statue of the girl they had seen before. ?Come on. We?re getting to the bottom of this.?
They made it to the dungeon without any problems. When they tried to go in, the Sys-Admin stopped them. ?This area is off-limits. Gate Out now and return to Azure City.?
Marika didn?t move an inch. ?We?re trying to figure out what happened a few hours ago. I won?t let anyone get in my way,? she said, and her eyes glinted dangerously.
Kaya, who was standing from a distance and watching the scene, gasped as she saw the ivory staff Marika was holding in her hands. She began to float into the air as she held the staff in her hands. ?What does this staff do??
The maiden in white appeared before her. ?This is the Key of Isis. It holds her memories. Only one with a pure soul can unlock them.?
Marika stared at the Key. ?I don?t understand. Are you telling me that this thing holds all of a player?s memories??
The maiden shook her head and disappeared.
?Wait! I need answers! What should I do??
The Sys-Admin thought for a second. ?On second thought? you seem to be a very special player. I shall grant you special permission to explore this dungeon. Be careful, though.?
?Thank you.? Marika and Kaya bowed and went on their way.
The first monster they came across was an Ogre.
Kaya looked at it. ?It doesn?t look too tough!?
Marika shrieked as she got caught in a torrent of flames. ?Looks can be deceiving!?
Kaya thought for a moment. ?Hmm? water-element spells would produce Elemental Hits? Rue Rom!? Her attack produced a huge amount of damage. Marika got up and watched Kaya battle, thinking to herself, [I] She?s fighting for me? to protect? me. Nobody?s ever done that before. [/I] As she felt hot tears run down her cheeks, she realized that this was no time for tears. As Kaya defeated the monster, Marika struck a treasure box where the monster had been. ?Oh. Whoops.?
?Well, that was brilliant. Let?s go.?
Marika looked at her staff. [I] It?s beautiful [/I], she thought, [I] ?but what did she mean by ?her memories?? [/I] She stopped and looked up at the ceiling.
Kaya shrieked from far away, ?Hey! Hurry up! Wavemasters aren?t [I] that [/I] slow!?
Marika snapped out of it and returned to reality. ?Oh! Sorry.?
The two stopped in front of a huge monster. ?We?re in big trouble.?
?Why didn?t we level up before we came here??
?It totally slipped my mind.?
Just then, they heard the haunting melody of the maiden again. Everything froze for a moment and then they heard her speak for the first time.
?Please? My time?s running out? unlock her memories??
Marika stood silently for a moment. ?How do I unlock the memories??
?Go to the Chamber of Death.?
Kaya gasped and tripped over a rock. ?Chamber of Death?? she managed to yelp.
?The route there is very tough, so you should be careful. The keywords are on the BBS under the topic ?Hidden Item?!?. There you will find a door.? The maiden stopped and collapsed. ?I?m sorry? my time has run out? Goodbye.?
Marika and Kaya stared in disbelief as a single tear flowed down the maiden?s face and she turned to dust. They stood and watched as the dust disappeared. Marika was the first to speak.
?Who did this??
[/COLOR]

[COLOR=purple]
In a hospital, a young girl is in a coma. Her foster father looks at the doctor, as if pleading with him to bring her back to consciousness. ?How is she, doctor??
?No heartbeat??
?No??
A single tear fell and landed on the father?s hand.

Elsewhere, Melissa got another E-mail from someone named Reina. This person claimed to know something about the maiden?s disappearance?

Evira was in shock. She lay on the floor of her bedroom in a heap, her tearstained face and emotionless eyes facing in the direction of the computer screen. Just then, the phone rang. Evira got up slowly and staggered over to go answer it. It was Melissa. ?Go to??
[/COLOR]

[COLOR=crimson] The World [/COLOR]
[COLOR=purple] Real World [/COLOR]