Grinding Halt: An Intermission

Right now I have that one intermission song playing in my head from a certain thing. Most people probably know the one. I remember it because my school did a play based on it.

It's hard to describe what I'm doing. I am in a fugue state, playing the game while basically tuning out everything else.

Yes, I did pay for extra days with the room. Thirteen more, to be exact. I don't think the race to world first will take longer to beat than a week. They usually don't. But ya never know with other worlds, so better safe than sorry.

What else is there to talk about? Or describe? The game? Its story? Its gameplay? Fucking, uhhhhh…

Well first off, how could I describe the story of something I'm deliberately skipping through? It's like writing a book report but you never actually ended up reading the book.

The gameplay, then. Umm… hit buttons, avoid telegraphed attacks, didn't I already describe this actually? If someone from Earth looked up "most popular MMO" right now and watched the gameplay of some of those, you could draw comparisons to them all. Easy as that.

What sub-role did I pick? The one with the coolest weapon choices in my eyes. That ended up being some shit called Amalgam, who uses… literally everything.

Like, the gimmick is it equips one of everything. Stats shared between weapons get averaged out, and the amount of buttons you click makes you look like a piano player in an orchestra.

Is it better than the other sub-roles? How would I know? I haven't played them. I mean, I do know, I looked up tier lists beforehand. Every universe where you can compare things has them, I assume, since this one does. It's considered middle of the road.

Like, the upsides are good. You can literally temporarily lend copies of your weapon to allies and boost what they do, so I think it'd be perfect for the Optimaximum with its tight checks.

Downsides though, yeesh. Since it uses literally everything, you gotta get the best of everything so the average doesn't end up lowering itself into oblivion. And of course the "jack of all trades, master of none" thing where other sub-roles can do specific things better. But I don't know if those "specific things" will even pop up, so whatever!

I dunno what the other three are playing, but Mo is the healer so Zoops and Len are the DPS. Apparently Len usually tanks in the group, although it doesn't matter since they all have every sub-role at max already. Hope they have a comfortable DPS alternative.

… Can I end the intermission now? I don't know. Kandance probably couldn't. It just ends when it does. Like my fugue state.

Actually, how is Kandance? I really should check on her. Oh hey, I think that idea is making me exit my fugue state. Nice. I was getting bored thinking to myself, and the intermission music is starting to get annoying. I gotta choose a new one for next time, one with less electronic keyboard. Probably gonna go with the one with a lot of horns. Yeah, that'll work.

It's night again. I've made progress. How much? Not going into that. Besides, I wanna see what Kandance has been doing with her time.

… At least, I would ask her, but she seems to be asleep. Damn it. She's got the snot bubble and everything.

She's also got… a dream cloud? Holy shit, she IS a cartoon! Not just in the figurative way with how she emotes, like I am actually watching her dream!

"Anita? Anita Ferreira?!"

Anita? Lemme look that up real quick… yup. Anita Ferreira, the tenth Hero. Just confirming it, not looking at anything else. Self-inflicted restrictions and all that…

"Miss Yu! Miss Yu! I'm over here!"

I hear wings flapping. Sounds like Anita chose to become a Deinaaz in her new life.

The dream cloud is showing Kandance's point of view. She turns around to see Anita, and… there's no face. Oof.

"A-Anita?"

"Yes, Miss Yu?"

"W-why… why can't I remember your face, Anita?"

"You're so silly, Miss Yu. Come on, let's have breakfast! Miss Cathy worked really hard on it…"

"Ah, Catherine…? O-okay…"

Catherine… that'd have to be who next month, Catheresia, is named after. So this is happening during the second visit? Wait, is this a dream or a memory? Or both?

I know it's possible for memories to be replayed in dreams. If it had happened to me before, I couldn't remember off the top of my head. I have nothing to check, and I usually forget the details of dreams after a while.

I also think dreams can mix memories together? So whether Anita was with Kandance during her second visit or not, I can't tell.

"Remember, Anita. In front of them, I'm not 'Miss Yu'. I'm Regaria Fassdarian Cahdenza, Descendent of the Archpontifex."

Ah, so that's what she called herself the second time around.

"Right, you're Miss Fa with them!"

"Correct, that's good."

Hey, she's way nicer with her than she is with me! What, just because I took her status as God of Fanta Regauss means I can't be treated nicely?! … Don't answer that.

This… looks to be early in Kandance's second visit. Only Catherine the Hewmitahl pontifex is with them.

"Miss Cathy, Miss Cathy! Let's find a Kymein next!"

"You sure want a big party, huh? Well, why don't we pick up Farrwyn, my childhood friend? He's studying at that new Wisseneisse University place, and I'm sure he won't mind. Maybe he can even write a thesis about you!"

"A University… that's a place of study, if I recall."

Ah, guess this must be Kandance's first time visiting one.

"Oh don't worry, Regaria. Dasshudence and all other religions are welcomed there."

Catherine's face isn't blurred out, just the Hero's. Which, I assume, means that Kandance can remember her just fine.

The three have breakfast, some sort of monster meat and veggies, and head out. And then… the dream cloud disappears. Kandance is still asleep, but the dream ended. She'll probably wake up in a few hours from now.

Maybe I'll check every so often if she has more of those dreams. It's something to watch when I want to take a small break from the grind.

Speaking of, I should get back to that. The credits just stopped rolling at the end of the base game's final patch before the first expansion. Everyone says it's the longest of them all, so hopefully there's not too much left, right?

… Right?