Im heart broken playing diablo 4. My long list of confusing questions I have and seeing the game in this state... I needed to vent this someplace. So bare with me and maybe some of you can relate.
First the new item system they over hauled is mostly just the same system with a different setup. Same spells now organized with a search function. Same limitations on how you can use em. You removed a few options and allowed us to add THE SAME options just in a different way also having the same limitations.. This of course is more fun?
Second the Tempering system is not only confusing both in name and purpose. Just an example: I find an AWESOME ITEM! i go to temper it... i get the same attribute i didnt want 3 times in a row.. it is now bricked.. This is not tempering.. its gambling. How does this make it ANYMORE fun?
Would the player not enjoy it more if they could just PICK and be proud of their decision? First why is it setup as a gambling mechanic? I've bricked many items in the opens of getting 1 out of 5 options presented to me. So why not call it Iron Roulette?
I know since the options are nothing new.. why couldn't you just add in an ability to add attributes like Intelligence? Is having such few options of use on even fewer pieces fun? Am I the only one that sees this system as... If we give you abilities you need to make items when we want you to farm them... Is this more fun?
Why does the rifting system use its own upgrade money? Why do i have to race and kill things to earn money to be able to fight duriel alone? Why cant i find these objects in the world? Why do I have to do this one thing every time to earn money to do the thing I want to do? its an open world? Cant i find it else where? Is this more fun?
This may sound rude but there's no way to phrase it other wise. I watched the camp fires and I understood then why Diablo is how it is.. I saw 4 men Id say 40 and up closer to the end of their careers then starting them. What I didnt see is creativity. Passion for new ideas or youth enough to understand why games are fun. Clearly they are very well educated with a rich history of experience so why is it I play diablo 4 and left so puzzled to decisions this game has made in its creation? I am 40 years old myself and Ill admit as much as games are my life they are not now my only life. Hence why directors, artists of all sorts can pass their prime in life at what they once did best. I of course speak from experience so I see myself in those same men during that camp fire. I did learn in my years that a pay check can be blinding when you arnt focused on the road.. The titanic had a full crew of the most talented people and yet hit an ice burg and sunk. So when is too old too old?
How does one make this season about the Iron wolves and yet you cant have a partner follow you around like you did the construct.. It was in diablo 2? Is diablo 2 less fun because of this? Is not giving us options we once had more fun?
That brings me to Diablo 2... Why did a game made so long ago.. Have more items, more combinations of items, a system you could craft what you wanted and simply find during regular game play. Is having multiple systems making it far more complex more fun? Is a map filled with talking cows more memorable then anything in this game? Is this more fun and I didn't realize?
Why do i have to Summon every boss in this game? IS COLLECTING many many parts fun over and over again? Is.... is this fun?!
It brings me to Identity. Diablo 2 and 3 had an identity. They knew what they where when they came out. This game tried to... well I dont know what this game tries to be now let alone then. These seasons seem to be like adding random things into a cooking soup in hopes it will taste like chicken noodle.
I finished almost everything in this season... Well as much as i could anyhow. I got bored to the core of my soul trying to go down the check list of things i needed to do in order to get iron wolves to give me a gift from the season pass check list. For me the killing blow was when 6 of us in a pvp section had to blood mark ourselfs and fight one boss who appeared every 20 minutes. We had to kill him 5 times. NOT ONCE.. 5 times each each. So for an objective I dont even want to but must... Is this fun? Waiting around trying to be the first one? I got to 3 out of 5.. and said... nope. its yours guys enjoy fighting over scraps. My time is better suited else where.
It is very common for modern games to be made today using what I call this making a game in Excel spread sheet. Its when one day a producer asked me if x task was done and I said no because of this and that was blocking it. They looked at me confused and said. Its written down here its to be done now? what do i do? This game is that.. Ideas on an excel sheet not connecting to a single purpose but there. Of course what no one put on that excel sheet was to ensure the game was fun.
I've loved diablo since i was a kid. It was one of my driving factors that got me into the industry. Diablo 1's town music when i hear it played live still brings a tear to my eye because of the joy this game / title has given me over the years. Maybe its me? I written many questions here Im very curious to the answers to. maybe Im not alone?
Diablo was never only about only the loot so the title " Loot reborn " was never the issue. It should have been called Vision reborn or Vision achieved and the loot would be part of this.
I never posted on reddit so sorry if i messed anything up.

So I just left a Pathfinder campaign due to various factors (too many players all in different parts of the country, sessions tended to last six hours, character sheet was kind of a hassle, DM didn't let us do puzzles anymore because the party members were too dang stupid) wearing down on my mental health. But now that I'm out of it, I still kind of feel left out seeing all of these other groups online having fun on their own adventures, and I crave a journey of my own.
Are there any good low-stakes RPGs that I can play to ease myself back into the tabletop scene? Before you ask, I have heard of Wanderhome and am intrigued by the premise, but I haven't played it yet.

In a fascinating study, evidenced for a possible landing sight for Lehi in America has been discovered within easy travel distance to Palmyra, NY. If substantiated, it could add weight to an Atlantic migration, the controversial Solutrean Hypothesis, in addition to the traditional Siberian route. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024/05/19/first-americans-chesapeake-parsons-island/
The link is behind a pay wall. Here’s the article
PARSONS ISLAND, Md. — With the Chesapeake Bay sloshing at his knee-high boots, Darrin Lowery stood back and squinted at a 10-foot-tall bluff rising above a narrow strip of beach. To the untrained eye, this wall of sandy sediment is the unremarkable edge of a modest island southeast of the Bay Bridge. To Lowery, a coastal geologist, its crumbling layers put the island at the center of one of the most contentious battles in archaeology: when and how humans first made their way into the Americas. The story of the first Americans has long been a matter of public and scientific fascination, undergirded at times by vicious disagreements. The timeline of when people arrived has shifted earlier in grudging steps over the past century, and scientists today mostly agree people were in the Americas at least 15,000 years ago. Story continues below advertisement
Lowery’s site and others like it could revise the story again, pushing back the timeline earlier than most experts thought possible. In total, Lowery and a motley crew of collaborators have discovered 286 artifacts from the site on the island’s southwestern edge. The oldest, they reported, was embedded with charcoal dated to more than 22,000 years ago, a time when much of the continent would have been covered in ice sheets. If Lowery is right, Parsons Island could rewrite American prehistory, opening up a host of new puzzles: How did those people get here? How many waves of early migration were there? And are these mysterious people the ancestors of Native Americans?
Casts of tools found at Parsons Island are seen on display. Lowery and his team have unearthed 286 artifacts from the site so far. (Michael Robinson Chávez/The Washington Post) New claims of sites dated this far back face a wall of skepticism, rooted in legitimate scientific scrutiny and in the threat they pose to long-entrenched views. To complicate matters, Lowery — who has been affiliated with the Smithsonian but does much of his work independently — presented the results of his study of Parsons Island in a 260-page manuscript posted online rather than in a traditional peer-reviewed journal. The peer-review process is designed to help validate scientific claims, but Lowery argues that in archaeology it often leads to a circle-the-wagon mentality, allowing scientists to wave away evidence that doesn’t support the dominant paradigm. He says he isn’t seeking formal publishing routes because “life’s too short,” comparing this aspect of academic science to “the dumbest game I’ve ever played.”
The island is also a challenging site to study for a variety of reasons — most poignantly because it is rapidly eroding as the land subsides and sea level rises. The spot where the artifacts were found is now covered by the choppy waters of the bay. “The visit reinforced my will to invest my time into this time period, because it’s a very fragile record,” said Sebastien Lacombe, an archaeologist at Binghamton University, who visited the island in 2017. “It’s at risk of disappearing, and we’re at risk of [allowing] these sites and artifacts to lose their meaning forever.” ‘A weirdo kid’
Darrin Lowery walks a beach on Parsons Island. Most of the artifacts were excavated by erosion, discovered on the beach after they had already fallen out of the bluff. (Michael Robinson Chávez/The Washington Post) Lowery began exploring the Chesapeake shoreline as a child, wandering his backyard on Tilghman Island, about 15 miles southwest from Parsons Island. In 1977, 9-year-old Lowery picked up a distinctive fluted stone projectile point. A few years later, he saw something similar on a documentary on public television, in which a Smithsonian archaeologist explained it was a Clovis point, a relic of what most people then believed were the first Americans. For the last half of the 20th century, the peopling of the Americas followed a tidy narrative. Humans traveled from Siberia across a land bridge that connected Asia and North America during the last Ice Age, when sea levels dropped. They then migrated southward around 13,000 years ago, when the ice sheets covering the continent retreated and exposed a previously impassable inland route. These people — named after a site in Clovis, N.M. — left behind distinctive, fluted stone points that have since been found scattered across North America. Story continues below advertisement
Lowery turned to his dad and said, “I found one of those.” He found more by walking the shoreline every day. Lowery made discoveries as he meandered, and he began to understand how seasonal patterns, sediment movement, wind and waves could unearth ancient treasures. “I was a weirdo kid,” he recalled. He trained as a geologist, and it was geology that initially attracted Lowery to study Parsons Island. In 2010, he published an article in Quaternary Science Reviews describing layers of windblown silt deposited between 13,000 and 41,000 years ago at Miles Point in eastern Maryland. But the geological record is like reading the CliffsNotes version of a book, and he was frustrated by an “unconformity” in the sediment layers where thousands of years were missing, like someone had ripped out those chapters.
Parsons Island is rapidly eroding. The archaeological site is now covered by the Chesapeake Bay. (Michael Robinson Chávez/The Washington Post) Lowery and a colleague were prowling around in a whaler, looking for a spot that might fill in the blanks, when they spotted a black streak of sediment rising up out of the bay. They pulled up to Parsons Island and thought they had found “the Rosetta stone” to decode the geology. Parsons is a 78-acre island less than a mile offshore that is privately owned by the Corckran family, which uses it as a family retreat. With the Corckrans’ permission, Lowery and colleagues began to visit regularly. The bluff layers preserved a remarkably intact geologic timeline going back more than 40,000 years. Then, one morning in August 2013, the team discovered a leaf-shaped prehistoric stone tool jutting out of this crumbling wall. They knew from the work they’d already done that it was probably quite old. Story continues below advertisement
On a recent visit to the island, geoarchaeologist Daniel Wagner demonstrated why. He stepped back to scan the cliff, then tapped a narrow spade into a light tan sediment layer just above his head. That, he said, is the geologic “chapter” where they’d expect to find Clovis artifacts. Lower layers were set down before Clovis. The palm-size tool Lowery and his colleague found came out of the dark sediment layer near their knees. The scientists used two methods to date the sediment around the artifact, both showing it was more than 20,000 years old. They scoured the beach on 93 visits and conducted a formal, top-down excavation, collecting the 286 artifacts. They sent out sediment to labs that specialize in studying ancient pollen and microfossils called phytoliths to help reconstruct the ecosystem at the time. Back then, this region wouldn’t have been a coastline. The sediment the tools are embedded in dates to the “last glacial maximum” — the scientific term for the most recent coldest period of the Ice Age. In the final analysis, Lowery thinks the artifacts may have been transported downslope before they were buried, making them between 15,000 and 20,500 years old. “This was a swale, where water was collecting,” Lowery said, envisioning the ancient landscape. “You’ve got a dune. It’s got sedges and small trees on it that are windblown and all contorted, and then behind it you’ve got a little pond.” That pond may have attracted prehistoric bison, musk ox and llamas, whose fossilized molars he’s found scattered on the island shore. And it may have been what attracted the mysterious people who left behind a cache of stone tools. A story in flux
Parsons Island is seen from nearby Kent Island in the Chesapeake Bay. (Michael Robinson Chávez/The Washington Post) Parsons Island is the latest addition to a growing list of what are called pre-Clovis sites. But while the long-held “Clovis First” theory has crumbled over the past three decades, that has only deepened the debate about how much earlier the first Americans arrived. Claims of early sites present a challenge on two fronts. The first is technical: Dating a site convincingly can be difficult, depending on the context. Sediments can shift or be disturbed. What at first look like artifacts can turn out to be “geofacts,” created not by humans but by natural processes or animals. As a result, many pre-Clovis sites “enjoy a Warhol-esque 15 minutes of fame, and then they disappear” because of real problems with the geology or the methods, said archaeologist James Adovasio. In 1973, he began excavating Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Pennsylvania, which dated back 16,000 years. It was instantly mired in controversy, and the site still has its critics today. The second challenge reflects the culture of science. For a long time, people who claimed to find pre-Clovis sites were swimming upstream against deeply entrenched thinking. Tom Dillehay, an archaeologist at Vanderbilt University, began working on a site in southern Chile called Monte Verde in 1977, which was dated to 14,500 years ago. He recalled a group of researchers he calls the “Clovis police,” scientific gatekeepers who summarily rejected any pre-Clovis sites, sometimes for valid reasons and sometimes as a knee-jerk reaction. Monte Verde began to change that. In 1997, a group of respected archaeologists visited the site and declared it authentic. “It took about 25 to 30 years for Monte Verde to be accepted,” Dillehay said. “We went through hell.”
Holly, a German shorthaired pointer, runs across a bluff top on Parsons Island. (Michael Robinson Chávez/The Washington Post) Lowery says he isn’t interested in running that gantlet. He noted that he drew on multiple labs and methods for dating the Parsons Island artifacts in an effort to ensure that any one extremely old date isn’t a fluke. He’s also invited other researchers in to visit and study the site. That approach irritates some scientists. David Meltzer, an archaeologist at Southern Methodist University, said in an email that he would not discuss Lowery’s claims “until they go through the wringer of peer review and get published.” Others like Stuart Fiedel, an independent archaeologist based in western Massachusetts who has been skeptical of other sites, say the site should not fly under the radar just because of Lowery’s unconventional process. Story continues below advertisement
“There are people I know in the field who will not pay any attention to it, because it has not been peer-reviewed, which I think is kind of sticking your head in the sand,” Fiedel said. “It’s there. We can’t act as [if] nothing’s been found there.” Share this article Share
A bigger issue may be the site’s rapid erosion. Most of the artifacts were found after they’d fallen out of the bluff, which means their place in the geologic timeline is obscured. Nine artifacts were found in place, and only three were able to be dated using charcoal flecks found next to them. Steven Forman, a geoscientist at Baylor University, helped date the sediment layers at Parsons Island, corroborating findings from another lab. He said that it’s hard to find the artifacts in the kind of bulletproof geological context needed to support extraordinary claims. “The case is not as tight as we like to see it with other sites,” Forman said. Michael Waters, an archaeologist at Texas A&M University who has worked on pre-Clovis sites and excavated at Parsons Island, thinks he probably got there too late, when most of the artifacts had already been eroded out. Still, he pays someone to monitor the bank profile on a regular basis, because he’s ready to jump on a plane if they see something in place. “Too bad we didn’t get there four to five years sooner,” Waters said. Enter ancient DNA
An ancient bovine tooth is among the fossils found so far on Parsons Island. (Michael Robinson Chávez/The Washington Post) Parsons Island isn’t the only site that could dramatically push back human arrival in the Americas. Last fall, a study published in the journal Science described fossilized human footprints discovered at White Sands National Park in New Mexico that have been dated to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago. That stunning finding suggests people were here during the Ice Age — much earlier than most experts thought possible if the first humans arrived via the Bering land bridge and inland corridor. The dates at White Sands are still being disputed because of questions about the methods. But the timeline collides head-on with another exciting line of evidence: studies of ancient DNA. By examining genetic material preserved in bones and teeth and comparing those samples to modern populations, scientists have been able to track when populations mingled and became isolated from one another, offering a new window into patterns of human migration. Story continues below advertisement
In broad strokes, they’ve found that the ancestors of Native Americans split from ancient Siberian populations no earlier than 23,000 years ago. The studies can’t say where such splits took place, but many scientists interpret genetic evidence to mean that the ancestors of modern people weren’t in the Americas until much later. Genetic studies suggest that Native American ancestors traveled into what is now the United States between 17,500 and 14,600 years ago. Joe Watkins, a senior consultant for Archaeological and Cultural Education Consultants in Tucson and a Choctaw tribal member, said that he sees a few problems with using the still-evolving DNA evidence to decide how ancient sites are related to modern-day people. “The reality is genetics does not equal culture,” Watkins said. He also argued that there are still too few samples of ancient DNA in the Americas to be sure they capture the whole story. “Trying to create population histories based on 10 people, if you will, is a little bit of a scientific conundrum,” Watkins said. It could be that additional ancient genomes will one day help fill in the blanks. Another possibility is that earlier sites could represent small, isolated groups of people who didn’t contribute to the ancestry of living Native Americans.
A tree-lined path leads to a beach on Parsons Island. (Michael Robinson Chávez/The Washington Post) “Let’s suppose you have a successful population colonizing an area, and then one day, 15 males go out and get eaten by a short-faced bear,” Lowery said. “You reduce the genetic diversity, and bada boom, bada bing, game over.” All this explodes the neat picture of one population migrating into the Americas as ice sheets retreated, hunting big animals like mammoths and giant sloths, driving them into extinction as they went. If there were small groups making their way into the New World, with different stone tool technologies, and far earlier than previously believed, how did they get here? People could have migrated along the coast by boat, following a “kelp highway.” It’s also possible the ice sheet was not as impenetrable as experts have long thought. Lowery’s longtime collaborator, Dennis Stanford, proposed that people crossed the Atlantic Ocean in what is known as the Solutrean Hypothesis, though that idea has been rejected by many archaeologists. To resolve the question, scientists need to keep looking for more evidence. Archaeology is a historical science, and unlike chemistry or biomedicine, where researchers can perform the same experiment over and over again to see if they get the same results, consensus is built by argument, counterargument and new evidence. To a certain extent, older ideas and prejudices also fall away as new people enter the field, said James Feathers, who performed dating on samples from Parsons Island before he retired from the University of Washington. “Sometimes you have to wait for people to die off,” Feathers said.
Alex Corckran, whose family owns Parsons Island, stands on a beach on the southern side of the island. (Michael Robinson Chávez/The Washington Post) Lowery is determined to keep motoring around the Chesapeake, researching the ephemeral landscape that he loves and that may contain clues about human prehistory. He acknowledges that the sites, perhaps a little bit like him, are “persnickety” but that shouldn’t deter interest in them. Instead, it should spur more. He noted that if a pod of silverfish was found gnawing on documents in the National Archives, people would be galvanized to act. “I view it as my swan song,” Lowery said, “to say you can learn a lot from [an] eroding site if you do a little bit of effort and look at it systematically.”
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Welcome to the Reverse: 1999 Daily Questions Megathread!

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Suzanne thought it was absolutely brilliant of me to put books on a flash drive for Sun. She explained that Sun wasn’t as sophont (her word, not mine) as she might seem, more of a repository of information, but she was fairly intelligent. It was how she was able to connect Andrew being in pain to the fact that I was friends with Andrew, and that I would want to know that he was in trouble. Apparently some of Sun’s species had given some ‘wisdom’ to others in the past and it had made its way into mythology.
The key fact was that she was not smart enough to protect herself and her kind from the clever, organized poachers. With that information in mind, it was fascinating for me to think of how Sun took in and organized what she learned. It was almost as if she was a walking, talking library.
On the topic of tours, my first one went wonderfully, and I’m almost hoping Suzanne lets me do more of them. I know not all the tourists are going to be as awesome as these people were, but Suzanne gave me a lot of slack when it comes to dealing with them. She actually said that being a smartass is not grounds for dismissal, and that if I’m sarcastic or facetious to guests who are being ‘daft’ and they complain, she really doesn’t care. Is this the perfect job for me or what?
There were four guests in this party, two adults who were sisters and two children of one of the women, brothers aged thirteen and seventeen. The tour was a birthday gift for the older of the boys from his aunt, since apparently he was passionate about animal protection and conservation.
When they arrived at the front gate, I was sitting at Andrew’s desk, going over the booklet of information one last time. When the visitors pressed the button that sounded the alert buzzer, I tucked away in a drawer and let them in. I did have a cheat sheet with information about the animals on my phone just in case, a brief notation of each of them and which enclosure they were in, but I really didn’t need to use it.
Exiting through the front door, I saw them walk up the path toward me. “Hi, I’m Ripley,” I said, holding out a hand toward the woman closest to me.
She shook it firmly. “I’m Denise. This is my sister Carla and my nephews, Wesley and Jason,” she said, motioning to each of them in turn.
“I heard it’s your birthday,” I said to Wesley, giving him a smile. “You’re interested in animal conservation?”
“Back where we live, yeah,” he said, nodding. “The animals that you’ve got here are incredible. I can’t wait to see them.”
“Well, I can’t wait to show them to you,” I said. “Right this way.”
I led them on the path around the building, toward enclosure one. Despite the horrific memories of the animal killing Stanley’s friends, I knew it was just an animal, and I had to push past my feelings on what had happened. Keeping a small smile on my face, I motioned to the enclosure. “Fiercely territorial and amazing hunters, despite their large size, they’re arboreal and known to dart from tree to tree with barely a sound. This is one of only about two thousand left in existence.”
“Two thousand, three hundred and fifty six at last count,” spoke Wesley, his eyes on the trees.
I blinked, surprised and impressed. “Well that was fantastic. Do you plan on stealing my job when you graduate?”
Wesley looked at me with a grin. “Nah, everyone knows Suzanne only offers humans this gig. And I want to help animals like this one get off the endangered species list. The zoos are great for awareness and fundraising, but then the money has to go somewhere. I want to be doing the real work.”
“That’s really great,” I told him. “I wish you all the best in that career path.” At that, we saw the animal climb down from the tree, wandering a few yards from the tree line. This was because 90% of the time, when humans were at their enclosure and making noise, whether it was speaking to each other or calling out to the animal, it was someone bringing them prey to eat. Or, in my case, enrichment toys to play with.
“Whoa,” Wesley whispered.
“How close can we get?” spoke up Jason.
“The warding starts at the fence,” I told him with a small gesture. “So, just there.”
Both boys wandered closer and I glanced at their parents. It seemed that Suzanne’s zoo had a serious reputation for high quality invisible walls, because they didn’t look worried in the slightest about the boys being hurt or killed.
“They prefer dense forest as their home and have been known to make their nests in trees up to twenty meter in the air,” I continued. “And when hunting, they’ve been seen dropping eight meters straight down. They have incredibly dense yet flexible musculature, which allows them to tackle their prey without injuring themselves.”
There was more information about the animal that I continued to rattle off, though Wesley chimed in at certain points with the info I was about to convey. That was highly entertaining and very cool. When I’d been in school, I’d never met anyone who had my level of passion about endangered animals. I wondered if things were better where these folks came from, but realized that considering there were so few of these animals left, I guessed not.
The animal paced a little bit, seemingly waiting to see if we were the kind of humans that came bearing food, before deciding we weren’t and climbing back up into the trees as easily as I would climb some stairs.
As we moved onto enclosure two, Jason spoke up. “Are there any animals here we can touch or feed or something?”
I sighed inwardly before slowing to a stop. “Well, can you show me your hands?” Jason looked bemused, holding out his hands. “I mean…they both look like they’re in great shape. You can stand to lose one.”
The two women chuckled and Wesley smirked as Jason shoved his hands into his pockets. “Very funny.”
Grinning, I started walking again. “The animals here are all carnivores and all predators. You get to see them, but that’s it.”
“Alright.”
When we reached enclosure two, I started on my next spiel. “We’ve got three reanimated dead in this enclosure,” I spoke. They were just coming out from the trees as we arrived, presumably having heard our approach. “Marissa, Connor, and Bradley. They were donated by families who knew where they would be exhibited. Their next of kin, whoever they are, can’t stand the idea of putting them down. But we need to make sure they don’t have access to corpses, because one of them plus one corpse equals two of them.”
“They eat flesh though, don’t they?” Wesley asked.
I nodded. “Oh, yeah, but it’s from bodies that have already been dismembered. There’s no chance of them being affected by the transformation because it’s all parts.”
“Oh, got it.”
The creatures with blueish-white skin had superhuman strength, which is why they qualified for the security of Suzanne’s zoo. They also were likely the source of any Earth tales of people being brought back to life as zombies, specifically draugr, according to my research. They smelled like rotting flesh, so even as I kept talking about them and giving a background to the people they used to be, we were quick to move on once Wesley had gotten a good, long look at them.
“Enclosure four’s animal is a vampiric spirit. He’s a small, hairy humanoid creature with pointed ears. He wears a hat, and if he somehow loses it, he freaks out,” I said.
“They eat horses,” Wesley noted. “Also anything that gives them the chance to sit on it, usually catching them by surprise while they’re sleeping.”
The creature came out from the brush, giving us a suspicious look. He wasn’t in his humanoid form though; for some reason, he’d chosen to shapeshift to a dog.
I nodded. “Yep, indeed. Once the prey is dead, then he’ll eat it, and he has a voracious appetite. We have two wolves and two bears in the forest, which is one of the reasons I’ve got some self-defense items,” I said, patting my belt where my pepper spray (rated for bear) and my taser. “But the wards keep them out of this area of the zoo, so it’s really not much of a worry. It’s also a known shapeshifter, preferring the form of a dog, as you can see, as well as a cat, a snake, or even white butterflies, though the last one is rare.”
“The white butterflies are supposed to be a sign of good luck,” Wesley said, glancing to me. “Too bad we got the dog.”
“Yeah, otherwise you might be able to talk your mom into getting scratch-offs on your way home, huh?”
Wesley smirked at me.
The next enclosure was Spike, and he was waiting for us, dripping wet from having just emerged from the lake. I gave the introductory information about him, which included his propensity for eating animal eyes, nails, and teeth. “Recently, I’ve given him some enrichment activities, and I learned he likes artichokes, pecans, and hazelnuts,” I said, taking a bag out from my cargo shorts. “Wesley, do you want to toss this bag into the enclosure?”
The boy’s eyes widened and he nodded excitedly. He took a look into the paper bag before wrapping down the top to make sure nothing would fly out. Then he chucked it underhand past the fence. It landed a few yards from Spike, who waddled over to it quickly and tearing the bag open, spilling out the prizes inside. As the animal ate the pecans and hazelnuts, Wesley asked, “How’d you figure out he likes those?”
“It’s not all about taste,” I told him. “It’s mainly the difficulty of getting them out of the shells. He’s used to having to work for the parts of his prey he likes the most, so this mimics that activity, and he enjoys the process. I tried a bunch of different foods to find a few he liked.”
“Cool,” Wesley murmured, staring at him.
We watched Spike eat until he’d finished and then he went back into the woods, leaving us to move onto enclosure five. Japanese camellia were plentiful here, a type of pink flower, and that was because they grew anywhere near one of his species made their den. “This girl spends most of her time in the lake also,” I said, as the creature made its way toward the fence separating us from it. “But as you can see, she’s just as curious as the rest about what we’re doing here and whether we have food for her. She eats fish mostly, but she also regularly gets live prey.”
This creature was a spider-like monster, having six legs with long claws on each, and the head of an ox with two sharp horns. She was capable of shapeshifting to look like a human, but I guessed that she wasn’t fond of it, since I hadn’t yet seen her in that form.
“She prefers the easy way of catching prey, so to speak, by hiding in the lake and pouncing when something comes for a drink of water,” I explained. “Apparently humans are some of her favorite prey. She has an advantage of being able to spit poison, which often hits her prey in the eyes. But it’s usually used in defense rather than offense, since she secretes a limited amount.”
“What kind of animal would even go after something like this?” Jason asked, staring at her.
“Never discount one of its own species when you’re thinking about what might attack an animal,” I replied. “There are places that are breeding all of the animals here, but competition for mates is common. That means an advantage in a fight, like poison or venom, can make or break who the winner is.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
“It can’t spit past the warding, right?” Carla suddenly asked.
“Oh, no,” I assured her. “We’re fine. The wards wouldn’t let anything cross over.” She nodded, appeased.
The animal in enclosure six was the ginormous seal-hippo, Fiona, and she was looking at us as if she was imagining sprinkling us with herbs and spices and stuffing us in an oven. “This girl is one animal I’m going to work on enrichment activities for next,” I told them. “She prefers to feed on crayfish, though she’s happy to eat any humans that wander into her territory. She’ll even make a sound like a baby crying to reel us in. I’ve heard it a bunch of times.”
“Can you get her to make the sound?” Jason asked, perking up.
I grinned. “Not on command, sorry.”
“What enrichment are you thinking of trying?” Wesley asked.
“Possibly food placed in puzzle feeders,” I told him, “since she has claws that are pretty dexterous. Maybe a piñata made out of newspaper with flour inside, or a scarecrow that mimics a human.”
“Awesome,” he muttered.
After a little more educational tidbits, we moved onto Yui’s enclosure. “What is that?” Wesley asked, smiling.
“I got Yui the closest thing I could to a ping-pong ball,” I replied. “She quite likes it.”
“That’s so funny,” he said as she came out of the trees in her spider form. “I mean, the idea of her being a bloodthirsty hunter who seduces men to their deaths and eats them alive, but then on the other hand, she likes playing with something like this.”
“It is a little funny,” I agreed. “But when it comes down to it, all the animals here enjoy activities besides hunting.”
“She can shapeshift to look human, right?” asked Jason, trying to be casual about knowing something factual like his nerdy brother.
I nodded. “She looks like a woman from a region of Earth called Japan. And she’ll use strategies like holding out a hand to shake to get you closer. She tried that on me when I first got here but, as you can see,” I said, holding up my hands and waving them, “I didn’t fall for it.”
The boys both laughed as they got closer to the fence, watching her slowly pace near the trees.
Next was Sun, but she didn’t make an appearance as I spoke about her species. “Well…unfortunately we can’t guarantee that every animal comes out to say hi,” I sighed. “But…oh wait, here she is.”
The green lion with several horns and many eyes along her flank came out from the forest. “Hello,” she spoke.
“Hi, Sun,” I replied. “We have visitors.”
“What’s that?” Wesley asked suddenly, pointing at the small plastic bag that was still where I’d left it.
“Oh! That is Sun’s enrichment,” I said with a smile. “I put dozens of books on a flash drive and found that she can read them just like she’d read a shelf of books.”
Wesley’s eyes widened. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve read about anyone trying that before. That’s really cool.”
“The books are new and interesting,” Sun spoke, drawing our attention. “I’m grateful for them.”
I nodded to her. “You’re quite welcome.”
The next animal, unfortunately, wasn’t there, and we waited around for ten minutes as we discussed him. He was large and reptile-like with red eyes, with its hind legs and tail making him look vaguely like a kangaroo. Then, enclosure ten was a terrifyingly disturbing creature, the not-a-centaur with no skin, that I’d only seen a few times while walking my route. It gave a good demonstration of its ferocity, showing its sharp teeth and snapping at us a few times.
“I’m thinking of trying salt licks and other horse enrichment like a big bouncy ball,” I told Wesley, whose eyebrows went up at that. “Maybe give him more things to forage like scattered grains or a box filled with pinecones and seeds. Foraging is a huge part of a horse’s life in the wild, and humans have to do a lot of activities like that to keep pet horses busy. Of course, he also loves the little salt-water lake that was built for him.”
We spent some time looking at the animal before moving past our last stop, the empty enclosure of the animal was stolen. Carla glanced at me with a sad smile, knowing what had happened, it seemed. I gave her a nod as we continued on our way, walking into the office. “So, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves!” I said with a smile.
“That was the coolest birthday present I’ve ever gotten,” Wesley said, looking to Denise. “Thanks so much, seriously.”
“It was my pleasure,” she said with a nod. “I’d never been here before, and knew I’d find it fascinating. Thank you for the educational aspect,” Denise said, glancing at me. “I learned quite a lot.”
“Happy to hear it,” I said, returning the nod.
As I escorted the guests out of the zoo and locked the door behind them, I reflected on how much I’d changed. The first time I’d seen Yui’s tarantula form, I’d nearly passed out from fear. Now here I was, walking tourists around like it was no big deal. Humans really can adapt to anything, it seems.
That afternoon, Suzanne had texted me that she was coming by after my shift, and I met her in Andrew’s office, shutting the door to the security room behind me. “How’s Andrew?” I asked first thing.
“He’s doing well,” she said with a wide smile. “Back on non-hospital food. He’s allowed to order food on his phone, and to hear it from him, that’s the best news he’d received in a long time.”
I chuckled. “I guess some clichés are true for a reason.”
“Indeed.” She took a breath. “All right. Ripley…I would like to discuss something with you.”
My face went slack at the serious tone in her voice. “I’m not… Am I being fired?”
“What? No!” she exclaimed. Then she chuckled softly. “No, it’s nothing like that. Just, here, let’s have a seat.” Suzanne walked over to the couch and sat at one end, and I took the other. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve kept from you, that I wanted to keep from you until you found your sea legs here.”
“Well…I have,” I said with a nod. “So, what is it?”
Suzanne took a breath. “I knew your mother.”
The words hung in the air for a moment before making their way to my ears. It was a perfectly logical sentence, and yet it didn’t make any sense. “What?” I finally managed.
“When you graduated college, I decided to move the zoo from Italy to within driving distance of your home,” she said softly. “Near enough to your town that you’d see the advert. We ignored any other applicants and I hoped you’d apply. Actually, I expected you’d apply. Not just for the money, but considering the field you wanted to go into. As soon as I’d found out your major, I knew.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said, holding up a hand. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “How do you know Patricia?”
“She owned the zoo before I did,” Susan explained. “Fourteen years ago…she was working to track an injured animal that we could bring into the zoo and she was killed by poachers.”
My heart calcified in my chest and a lump lodged in my throat. As my breaths became shaky, I stared at her in shock. “She…she’s really dead?”
“You suspected?” she asked softly.
“It…” I swallowed hard. “We had her declared legally dead after…I don’t know, seven years I think. My dad wanted to go after her for child support, but the police said…they said they couldn’t find…” Tears came to my eyes and I blinked them back before I met Suzanne’s gaze. “She owned the zoo?”
Suzanne nodded. “It was her baby, you’d say. When Patricia passed, I inherited it, which we’d discussed beforehand, a legal just-in-case that I never expected her to need. I’m under the impression that you were told she went to Africa for her photography career, but she was in fact going to remote areas back in my home world almost every time.”
“But I-I saw the photos,” I said, my eyes narrowing. “You’re telling me she put on a show of getting pictures that someone else took for us to see every time she visited? Did my dad even know?”
“I suppose that’s an accurate way to put it, putting on a show. And no, your father was never told. It’s not the way of things to tell humans unless it’s necessary. I won’t bore you with the details, but us and humans, we’re distant relatives, so we can still have children. But it wasn’t planned. Your mother fell in love with your father despite herself; she hadn’t meant to find love. Then she became pregnant with you and…well, the rest is history.”
“I think she had a different definition of love than the one I have,” I said tightly. “You’d think she’d have put her survival as more of a priority. Put being with the man she ‘loved’ as a priority. Her kids needed her. I needed her. She signed up when she became a mom. She could’ve screwed up all the time but she couldn’t even manage that one job: be there. When I was in the hospital, I kept thinking, ‘Where is she?’ and now you’re telling me that she put these animals above being there for her kids, and this whole time she’s been dead.”
“The hospital?” she asked, furrowing her brows.
“Never mind,” I said tersely, averting my gaze.
Suzanne hesitated before she nodded slowly. “I’m sorry for your loss, and not just for her death, Ripley,” she told me. “Patricia was…well, a ‘free spirit’ would be putting it gently. She always assumed the world would be there for her whenever she needed it.”
Staring at her for a long moment, I shook my head. “Why? Why come here and hire me?”
“I thought that would be obvious,” she said, smiling. “Your mother was so passionate about this place and once I found out your college major, I figured you would be as well.”
“Did you know that I hate her?” At that, Suzanne’s expression froze on the edge of shock. “She…she left us,” I whispered. “Didn’t tell us who she was or what she really did for a living and gave us no closure. And even when she was here, it was just visiting. Her real home was her work. She could give me all the presents she wanted, but even when she was here, half the time she was still on her computer doing work. It’s not like that stereotype of never making it to my tennis practice or something; it’s that it always felt like she was only partially here, even when I was sitting next to her. I don’t even know if I appreciate her turning me into a wildlife fanatic because it…it…makes me feel like I’m close to her in a way that’s just infuriating. She loved the animals more than she loved us.”
“Oh, Ripley-”
“Don’t,” I said, shoving myself to my feet. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she said quietly. I pursed my lips. “I was going to say that I’m sorry that was the case. Your mother was…flawed, just like any other person. She had two loves in this world: her family and her work. And often, her work overcame her, her zeal for environmentalism getting in the way of being a good mum. She left your father trying to fill the role of two parents, holding your family together. You and your brother and your father, you all deserved better than that.”
My lower lip quivered but I bit down on it hard. It would’ve been a lot easier for me if she’d been speaking from a place of clueless reassurance about all this. But everything she said was making sense and that meant I didn’t have someone in front of me to be angry with.
“Why didn’t you tell me when Andrew hired me?” I sighed, sitting back down on the couch.
“Well, like I said, I wanted you to find your sea legs,” she said with a small smile. “I didn’t want the truth affecting whether or not you wanted to work here, whether you wanted to stay here after finding out about what the animals are. It would’ve complicated things, the emotions you’ll have to work through now that you know the truth. Whether or not you decide to give another tour, you also know what they’re like. That’s the benchmark I wanted you to reach before you found out about who you are.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Who I-” My face went slack. “Wait.”
Suzanne nodded slowly. “You’re only half human. Your brother too.”
The room seemed to tilt on an axis for a moment. “That means I’m also half…what?”
“We call ourselves Eldritch, these days,” she replied.
My eyes bugged out. “What?” I exclaimed. “So you’re all, like, gods or something?”
Suzanne burst out laughing. “Oh no, goodness, no,” she chuckled. “It’s just a word. We live in a very different world from this one, and a few generations ago we discovered the word and it made its way into our lexicon. But it does mean you can see all the animals. Indeed you did, on the tour you gave.”
“Wait, no, I had the glasses that…” I stopped. “Did those glasses do anything?”
She gave a sly smile and shook her head. “Not a thing. You made incredibly quick progress, and then when it came time for the tour, all you needed was to expect to see the animals, and you did.”
Genetics. That’s what Andrew had said during our interview, that part of how many animals you could see was determined by genetics. I guess having a mother who was originally from the other dimension gave me all the genes I needed to see everything here. “Could I…visit your world?” I asked tentatively. “You said that my mom took photos of the animals there. Could I…” My voice trailed off, not even sure if or how I wanted to finish that sentence.
“Those who are half human, especially those who are raised on Earth, don’t come visit,” she said gently. “I could show you some photos of other animals, and I could loan you as many books as you’d like, but it’s simply not a place where you’d be safe.”
“Oh,” I said, leaning into the couch cushion as I pictured the animals in the zoo. “Yeah, actually that…makes sense.” I paused. “So, what now?”
“It’s up to you,” she said. “I wanted to wait until I was sure you were comfortable with your position here, and then put the ball in your court. And so it is. What do you want to do now?”
What did I want to do? It wasn’t that difficult a question, just a deep, serious one.
I wanted to thrive, as the animals did. This is my enrichment now, working at an incredible, wonderful, terrifying zoo. The experience so far hasn’t been perfect, and I know there are risks, but life isn’t about staying safe. It’s about learning new things and making a difference in the world. And, if you’re lucky, having a job that’s something really special.
THE END
First / Previous
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I'll start out by saying I'm pretty sure since finding this Reddit and spending the last three days reading stories from here, I've unintentionally cursed our table. I thought to myself "wow, I'm pleased everyone at the table I play at seems nice and we don't have these problems".
Oops :)
We had two new players at the table - one being the Druid who had passed our table the previous week and was excited to see we were playing DnD and how he wanted to learn, and we told him it was a beginners game so he could come down and try it out, especially as we were starting a new campaign the following week so everyone would be at the same point and making their characters.
The Druid was about 13 (the rest of us ranging between late teens to mid 30s) and excitedly talking about how he's wanted to learn to play DnD so he can start a club at school, and so a few people were helping him write his character. The rest of us were a Wizard, Cleric (me), Paladin, Fighter, and Ranger. Instantly he kept getting distracted, asking everyone about their characters, what their names were, what their races were. Which is fine, he's excited. But he quickly turned it into a competition (for example, "What's your armour class? 7? OMG I'm SOOOO much stronger, mines 12, I'm the strongest, yeah!"). Once his stats were done, he was told to think about his traits/backstory while the rest of us finished up our sheets, but he kept yelling "Are you ready yet??? When are we going to start??? Can we start already???"
Which... Okay again that's fine. He's excited. But it's gonna take a lot longer if you keep interrupting us.
Eventually we start out. The DM starts setting the scene - we wake up in a room on a ship, there's a man sitting in there with us who explains our quest on the island we're moored at. Before anyone can say or do anything the Druid says "I set fire to the ship!" Everyone asks him why he would do that and he said "Because I'm crazy!". The DM has us roll and we discover the ship is enchanted ie it cannot be attacked or affected by statuses. The Druid turns his attention to the man and asks why they should do what he's telling them. The man explains they've already been paid. Druid asks for more money. The man says no. Druid declares he doesn't trust this man and says "I kill this man and chop his head off!". The Wizard tells him that if he does this, he will attack the Druid himself. He still insists that he wants to kill the man. DM has him make a roll, which he fails. He keeps insisting he's going to kill everyone we approach, at what point we explain the concept of a murderhobo and how, yknow, he shouldn't be one.
After we finally got him out of the room, things didn't get better.

He kept wanting to break the ship, even though we reminded him of the enchantments. Was asked why he wanted to keep destroying everything. He said the old "that's what my character would do!"
He insisted he wanted to speak to the walls to find bugs to tell him to show us the way out because "I have animal handling proficiency so I can talk to animals". And no, he did not have any spells to talk to animals.
He asked if he could cast a spell to "find the nearest weapon". No, he doesn't have a spell that could do that.
Told the DM "you're not in charge here!" to which we pointed that yes. Yes he is.
He ran down a corridor and through an open door, only to land in a swimming pool he hadn't seen. When the rest of us approached the room slowly and said we'd walk around it, he said that wasn't fair and told the DM to "make us fall in" so he wasn't the only one that did. DM explained that he wouldn't since we weren't the ones that chose to run in without looking and that there are consequences to actions.
During a puzzle he kept loudly telling everyone how he knew what was going on and had figured it out. He had not.
Rather than pay attention to his stats and the game, he kept the page turned over writing his backstory while the game was going on. He was told multiple times the page with his stats on was more important to have on hand so he could keep referring back to it. He said he didn't care.
He complained it was "all my fault" that we were in a room with a puzzle in the first place. Bud, there was literally no other rooms to go in than the one we were in. Other players explained there were no right or wrong answers, that it wasn't anyone's 'fault'.
My favourite: We had to roll initiative, he was in fifth position. The Ranger was taking their turn, and he kept saying how he wanted to go next. We explained it wasn't his turn. "But I just want to do--" Not your turn. "But I only want to--" Cool. Still not your turn. "But it's not fair! I just want to--" Not. Your. Turn.
Even after DM announced the session was over, he kept saying he wanted to do "one more thing" even though we were all putting our dice away, the DM screens were closed down, people were leaving, lol

Obviously I know that he's young, and I'm being harsh, and I know it was his first game, and he definitely has the enthusiasm, but his lack of interest in understanding the game and rules despite being told them over and over really worries me what the next session will be like. He wants instant gratification, things handed to him on a silver platter and to be the most important, the strongest, the smartest. I felt like a babysitter. There were other examples of things he was told over and over that he refused to take on board. I swear my 7 year old niece understands taking turns better than he did.
Any advice in handling him, or suggestions I can make to him would be welcome. I'm curious where he learnt about DnD to see if there's any examples of etiquette I can give him the next time he comes along to a session. Best case scenario that he maybe goes away, thinks over what he's been told, and comes back next session with a little more understanding. Hopefully.

Disclaimer: I do not speak Korean. This is purely translated by machine with a lot of cleanup afterward. With that in mind, I am open to criticism to improve these translations. Enjoy!

Chapter 413

Whoosh, boom!

The ground shattered as a gigantic greatsword plunged down. Wu Hei-Xing, quick as lightning, narrowly escaped, missing the blade by mere inches.

Thwack!

The sword pierced under the ogre's jaw, emerging triumphantly through the top of its head — a clean, decisive strike.

Wu Hei-Xing, extracting his sword from the creature, used the falling body as a springboard to launch himself into the fray among other monsters.

His blade danced through the air, leaving behind a tapestry of shimmering lines.

'Sword of Twelve Crimson Threads.' [Note: direct translation - Twelve Blood Net Sword.]

While the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 was decried by many as a catastrophic injustice, for others, like Wu Hei-Xing’s family, it presented a golden opportunity. [Note: The Cultural Revolution in China, initiated by Mao Zedong, aimed to preserve Chinese Communism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society. This extensive purge targeted a broad range of cultural, social, and economic features including old customs, culture, habits, and ideas. It led to the destruction of historical artifacts, temples, and texts, as well as the persecution of intellectuals, and the suppression of traditional practices and ceremonies.]

His grandfather, once a close ally of Mao Zedong, used this turbulent period to amass a fortune, leveraging his son's position in the Red Guard to acquire priceless cultural relics and texts.

Among these treasures was the Sword of Twelve Crimson Threads, an ancient text detailing a formidable sword technique.

Shhhsh!

Wu Hei-Xing unleashed the technique — a net of twelve crimson strands that spanned ten meters in every direction.

The net, pulsating with a red glow, cleaved through skin, muscle, and bone, rendering dozens of high-ranking monsters into pieces.

Such prowess was befitting of an S-rank Hunter. Thrilled by his dominance, Wu Hei-Xing bellowed:

「What is the Red Guard Gang doing! Wipe them all out, you bastards!」

「Yes!」

The battle cry, imbued with potent mana, reverberated across the battlefield.

Three hundred elite hunters, groomed and trained by Wu Hei-Xing’s family as personal soldiers, surged forward. They attacked relentlessly, driven by fierce loyalty and training.

Shhhsh! Crack!

Squish! Screech!

- Crunch, gurgle!

「Arrrgh!」

The battlefield was a cacophony of human screams and monstrous howls, punctuated by the gruesome sounds of carnage.

Though the remaining Red Guard Gang's hunters were formidable, the elite monsters at the rear were equally daunting.

And the monsters emerged from the dense fog in overwhelming numbers.

However…

「How dare these filthy, foul-smelling bastards!」

Puff, puff, puff!

The presence of Wu Hei-Xing, an S-rank Hunter, was a force mighty enough to sway the tide of this brutal clash.

Despite often being criticized for his reckless behavior and mercurial personality, Wu Hei-Xing was undeniably a product of both privilege and innate talent.

His experiences on the frontlines, immersed in relentless combat and near-constant peril, had honed his abilities far beyond their initial limits.

'I can do it! I am Wu Hei-Xing!'

With a newfound zeal, Wu Hei-Xing brandished his sword with unyielding fervor.

He faced an overwhelming legion of tens of thousands of monsters. Despite initial fears, he had grown immensely, adapting to the ruthless demands of war.

Whenever wounds or fatigue threatened him, he would down costly potions like mere water and strategically use the hunters of the Red Guard Gang as his shields.

Now, no creature could withstand the devastating sweeps of his crimson Aura Blade. [Note: a quick reminder - Aura Blade is the real-world equivalent of Sword Aura.]

'I'll make sure no one can ignore me ever again. Lei Fei... The bangzi bastard... No one!'

Wu Hei-Xing's jaw clenched as bitter memories surged, fueling his rage.

Swoosh! Thud!

A lance, hurled with stunning velocity, impaled several hunters and embedded itself deep into the earth.

It was a 3-meter-long assault lance he had rarely seen before.

Wu Hei-Xing snapped his head towards the source, his eyes widening in alarm.

「Death Knight!」

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

It was a Death Knight, striding across the battlefield atop a skeletal horse. And not just one, but two.

The second Death Knight poised its lance aloft while mounted.

「Everyone, be careful......!」

Swoosh! Bang!

His warning was cut short as the second lance tore through the air, brutally penetrating a group of hunters.

The finest armor was no match for the deadly force, scattering limbs and collapsing bodies.

As the Death Knights continued their relentless advance, the hunters of the Red Guard Gang stood petrified, witnessing the gruesome spectacle unfold.

- Dark. Vine.

A sinister, rasping voice filled the air, heralding a new horror.

Crack, crunch, crunch!

The earth fractured like a spiderweb, and from the fissures, black vines surged.

These vines, imbued with dark magic, writhed like serpents, snatching at human limbs and threading through armor gaps.

Shiririrk! Thud!

「Arghhh!」

「Dark magic! It's dark magic!」

「Don't panic! Cut the vines! Get out of range now!」

The battlefield echoed with screams and commands, resonating through the chaotic fray.

With a forceful yank, Wu Hei-Xing tore the encroaching black vines from the ground.

His teeth clenched not in sorrow for fallen comrades, but in grim realization of the unfolding catastrophe.

「Lich......!」

His suspicion was confirmed. High above the melee, a death mage astride a massive wyvern brandished a staff crafted from skulls and bones, directing it menacingly towards the earth.

- Dark. Fog. [Note: the direct translation here is 'confuse' so I changed it to something that sounds more like a technique.]

Swoosh!

A bone-chilling cry unleashed a shadowy miasma that enveloped the hunters.

Those entangled in the black vines suffered hallucinations both visual and auditory, turning them into helpless targets for the circling monsters.

- Squeal!

- Roar!

Crack! Crunch!

「Argh, ugh!」

「Save me!」

「Mother! You mustn’t die. Mother!」

Desperate cries pierced the air as some hunters succumbed to the illusions, their voices fading into silence.

Yet, amidst the chaos, some with strong mental fortitutde managed to shake off the bewitchment.

「You must go!」

「Young Master!」

Despite the cries of A-rank hunters surrounding him, Wu Hei-Xing's face was ashen like a blank sheet of paper.

A single, daunting question plagued him.

'How on earth do I handle this?'

Above was the menacing Lich and on the ground, two Death Knights advanced swiftly.

Could he retreat? If so, where and how should he retreat?

Alone, perhaps he could face the Death Knights, but with the Lich’s sorcery and the encircling horde of monsters, the situation was dire.

No strategy presented itself, no matter how desperately he pondered.

'What a damn mess...'

Clench.

His jaw clenched so tightly he felt his teeth might crack from the pressure.

Swoosh, bang!

The air burst with a compressed whoosh as a streak of light rocketed from the distant ground, slicing through the sky.

In the next instant, the headless wyvern began to falter and plummet earthward.

「This...」

Wu Hei-Xing murmured, his voice a mixture of awe and disbelief. Around him, everyone ceased their actions, eyes drawn skyward.

Before them, the wyvern's massive body and a cascade of black bones, once the formidable Lich, tumbled through the air.

「...This makes no sense.」

The Lich was dead, vanquished by a single, astonishing strike.

A blow that had pierced through layers of potent defensive spells to strike a target mid-air? Such precision and power were unheard of, even for an S-rank hunter.

Wu Hei-Xing had never witnessed an attack so swift and lethal.

Yet, for the one who delivered it, this seemed as effortless as drawing breath.

Not far from the fray, he stood, observing the chaos his action had wrought. After a moment, he remarked casually,

"It’s been a while since I threw a spear. It definitely doesn’t feel like it used to."

Behind him, a figure as solid as an iron tower responded with a rigid tone,

"You did well."

"Hmm. Not really. It seems I've become dull. A sign of aging, I guess."

"How could that be?"

Lee Jeong-Ryong chuckled lightly at the security team leader’s unemotional response.

"I saw a Death Knight."

Seok Go-Jun silently nodded.

"Yes. There were two of them."

"Do you think Wu Hei-Xing can handle it?"

"If you mean the Death Knights, he should be able to take them down without much trouble."

Seok Go-Jun's voice dropped to a whisper,

"As long as there are no monsters around."

"That sounds challenging right now."

"The influence of dark magic has disappeared, but the troop damage is significant, and there are too many monsters."

"Then we must struggle with all our might."

"It will be a very fierce and difficult fight."

"Well, then we must lend a hand."

"How about we continue to observe a bit longer?"

Lee Jeong-Ryong's eyes widened dramatically.

"Why?"

Having been mentored by Lee Jeong-Ryong since his youth, Seok Go-Jun understood that every interaction was potentially a lesson. He knew the response expected of him.

"Wouldn't people be more grateful in precarious situations?"

Lee Jeong-Ryong’s stern expression softened into a satisfied smile upon hearing his disciple’s insightful reply.

"Yes, exactly that."

"The Red Guard Gang has always been a thorn in our side."

"It’s funny, really. Those shouting about the people and communism, while forming a private army of hunters behind the scenes."

"But aren't the Princelings, which support the Red Guard Gang, not friendly towards us?" [Note: the Princelings are descendants of the revolutionary veterans and Chinese Communist Party elites who leverage their lineage for influence and promote business-friendly policies. Wu Hei-Xing's family is part of this group.]

"That's why the Red Guard Gang needs to be eliminated. We've always sat in the shade to avoid the sunlight, but if the tree is uprooted, what are we to do?"

"We'll have to find another tree or buy a parasol."

"We will become the new tree. That should open up more opportunities."

Seok Go-Jun nodded in agreement before voicing another query that had been troubling him.

"May I ask one more thing?"

"Speak."

"Is Wu Hei-Xing’s involvement in this operation... related to Jin Tae-Kyung?"

This question had lingered in Seok Go-Jun’s mind, puzzling him.

Despite Wu Hei-Xing’s status as an S-rank hunter, his inclusion seemed uncharacteristic.

'He is a formidable opponent. Even if Master is using Wu Hei-Xing, what use could he have?'

It was often like this.

Just when Seok Go-Jun felt he had a grasp on his master's strategies, new layers would unfold, eluding full comprehension.

And at such moments, Lee Jeong-Ryong would sport that enigmatic smile.

As he did now.

"Team Leader Seok."

The atmosphere shifted; Seok Go-Jun instantly resumed his formal role as the security team leader of the Ares Guild, bowed respectfully.

"Yes, Vice Guild Leader."

"It seems like it’s time for you to step in. What do you think?"

Raising his gaze, Seok Go-Jun peered over Lee Jeong-Ryong's shoulder, assessing the chaotic battlefield below.

The Red Guard Gang’s elite, though carefully chosen, were faltering against the monster onslaught. Wu Hei-Xing had just managed to defeat one of the two Death Knights.

"I will go now."

"Take care not to get hurt."

Seok Go-Jun nodded briefly in acknowledgment, then led the assembled Ares Guild members toward the battlefield.

As they advanced towards the monsters, they remained silent, yet a palpable momentum radiated from them, overwhelming and dominating the field.

Crunch! Screech!

Lee Jeong-Ryong watched with a hint of satisfaction as one flank of the monster legion crumbled instantly under their charge. Just then, a scent of blood wafted to him on the wind.

The breeze from the west was not just carrying the tang of battle; it was a harbinger for the arrival of someone Lee Jeong-Ryong had been eagerly awaiting.

"Right on time."

Lee Jeong-Ryong murmured, his eyes scanning the distant horizon.

Heightening his senses with Qi, distant shouts reached his ears.

- Damn it, kill them all! And that guy who keeps shouting 'eh', do it one more time and I'll consider you a monster! Got it?

A soft chuckle escaped Lee Jeong-Ryong as he extended his hand toward the tumult.

Then he clenched his fist, directing it towards Jin Tae-Kyung, who was somewhere amidst the chaos.

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Well, UGEE results have been declared today (where's the guy who said it will be declared on monday tho). Just woke up, checked the result, have cleared reap cutoff but missed supr by 1 mark. Damn it hurts. Prolly gonna join some comedk college.
Anyways, coming back to title, few days ago I compiled a few UGEE interview questions, so thought of sharing them here for those who cleared UGEE (congo for clearing it, hope you clear the interview too).
#1
My friend had the opportunity to appear for the Dual Degree Programs interview. She shared her entire experience with me. Once the document verification was done, the candidates were divided into seven groups. 20 minutes before the interview, she was given a sheet with 3 questions one each from Physics, Linguistics, and Mathematics.

(a) Since Newton’s First Law of Motion can be derived from the second law of Motion, what do you think is the relevance of the first law? Did Newton give us three laws when two would have been adequate?

(b) A similar Mechanics question which I don’t remember.

A Linguistics Question of Medium Difficulty
You are given an equilateral triangle of side length ‘a. Disprove or Prove: Among any five points inside the triangle, there always exists a pair at a distance not greater than a/2.

The candidates were not asked to write the answers but just ponder on the questions for 20 minutes. Soon she was ushered into the interview room where she was welcomed by several warm panelists that asked questions like

Why IIIT and Why Research?
Tell us about your family and school education.
Do you like linguistics?, to which she said that she loved Tamil. He asked further, Do you find the present web applications in Tamil efficient?
Which field in Computer Science do you like the most?
Do you have any experience working with Cryptography?
Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Out of the 3 questions handed in earlier, she was able to solve the Lingo question and even managed to write some satisfactory reasons for the Physics questions but failed to solve the Mathematics question. They further asked questions related to Friction, Work, and Energy. They did not ask the linguistic one and moved on to the mathematical question. They asked her to solve it with their help.
She told them about her extracurricular achievements and they seemed to be impressed. One of the professors ended the interview by saying that if she got selected, she should come with her extracurricular file then. The entire interview lasted for 50 minutes and she considers it to be one of the most memorable interviews.
#2
Eg: suppose you're stranded on an island and you know that the nearest landmass is n distance away. What is the shortest method to reach that. And other pcm questions with most of them relying on logical reasoning. The interview should be 2 way, i.e. only you shouldn't be the one talking and nor should the interviewer be the only one talking. If you get stuck on any question ask them for time to think or ask them for suggestions. Some questions won't have any answer and they're only looking for how you think and whether you're teachable or not, not whether you get the right answer
#3
The interview questions can be based on some concepts in math and physics, or they can be completely logic based (strategizing, puzzle solving, etc). They want to know how well you understand the questions, how you break it down into simpler problems and how you think through it...they are not as interested in the actual answer. We are not supposed to share the exact interview questions so please don't ask/DM me about that lol. All I can tell is that I was asked two questions, first one was based on 3D geometry and the second one was purely logic based, basically I was given an emergency situation and was asked to create a strategy to get people out of the situation; not going into the details.
In general, you don't need to "prepare" anything specially for the UGEE interview. They just want to evaluate you based on critical thinking and research aptitude. The REAP paper is designed for the same purpose.
You can recollect your past accomplishments and formulate them with you hobbies so that you can present them well in front of the interviewers. Don't get mushy, don't exaggerate anything but at the same time, don't hesitate to share any hobby or achivement however unrelated it might be. They are not judging you only by your PCM grades, rather they want to evaluate you broadly as a person, someone having the research aptitude and interest. The institute is most ambitious about their dual degree course
#4
Question 1
It was based on a truncated polyhedron, the first part asked the shape we would get if we cut a cuboid along the opposite vertical edges. There were three more parts, obviously tougher than this, but he skipped them and went to the second question, maybe because of lack of time. I don't remember them.
Question 2
“An astronaut in space wakes up after years, not feeling weightlessness. Give possible arguments.” Well, the language was not the same, but similar.
#5
https://www.quora.com/How-are-the-interview-questions-for-IIIT-Hyderabad-for-the-UGEE-How-should-I-prepare-for-them-And-what-are-the-chances-of-clearing-the-interview/answeNaren-Akash-R-J
#6
Q: There are 10 stones lined up & you are standing at the first stone. You can move only forwards by 2 ways: (a) moving 1 place ahead ; (b) moving 2 places ahead by skipping a stone. How many possible ways can you reach the 10th stone?
A: I made around 5 cases wherein there would be 0/1/2/3/4 double-jumps (with the rest being single-jumps). And partially calculated it using PnC, until one prof asked me to explain my thinking and approach towards the qs. I think I explained it well (with a diagram for the cases) and we had a brief discussion abt it for a min or so. (He said I don’t need to fully calculate it)
Now, we moved to a physics question**, a very basic qs to test your thinking:**
Q: A balloon is filled with air(with a light rope) and placed in the centre of a closed room, what will happen to it?
A: It will fall down because of the weight of the rubber and of the rope.
Q: Right, let’s say that the rubber & the rope have negligible mass, what would happen now?
A: It would remain stationary in the room.
Q: Okay now if i fill helium to this, what will happen?
A: It will either move upwards or downwards depending on the resultant of the weight of the rubber+rope & the buoyant force.
Q: Now let’s say that the helium balloon is tied to a very long and heavy rope, what will happen to it?
A: It will not move upwards, but stay stationary due to the tension in the rope.
Q: Okay, so now I give you a scissor, with the same apparatus as prev qs, how will you make sure that the balloon doesn’t fly up to the ceiling.
A: Sir I’ll keep shortening the rope from bottom to top in order to reach equilibrium (I should’ve worded it better that day lol)
Q: But if you cut it too short, won’t it fly up permanently?
A: Yes sir, absolutely, it will. So what I’ll do is I’ll cut it long initially, and keep cutting it until the weight of the rope is equal to the buoyant force on the balloon. And more the net force, faster the balloon would go in the upward direction, so I can judge the equilibrium point becoming closer as the balloon starts moving up slower & slower.
Q: Okay but how will you make sure that the balloon is stationary and not moving here-and-there?
A: Sir I will bring the balloon-rope system in equilibrium, to the centre of the closed room, and hold it stationary for a while so that there’s no constant velocity on it. This will make sure it’s stationary because there’s no other external force on it.
Q: Very good Sarthak. So, let’s move to one last qs, say I filled a balloon with air like the very first qs, in the morning, and left it like that till the evening. What do you think will happen? — just briefly think and answer, we just want to know your approach & thinking.
A: Umm sir, we’re assuming the balloon to be air-tight right?— Like no air can escape from the bottom hole (at where the string is attached)?
Another Prof: Ahh I like your thinking here, good. Nice.
#7
They asked me about my hobbies and interest and why i am interested in research ? Why I want to join IIIT Hyderabad? All at once
I answered them that my hobby is watching youtube videos, I am interested in volunteering and working with Ngo's and I am also interested in opening up electronic items and trying to repair it.Then why research? - I answered them that I want to become a scientist and research allows me to think out of the box and -------xyzabc---------.
Then comes the technical part.
Que1.The asked me what is arithmetic mean of (x1,x2,x3,x4……..xn)
Que2.Then they asked me their geometric mean
Que3.Then they asked me the relation between 2 que and arithmetic mean of (logx1,logx2,….logxn)
Que4.They asked me about the class 9 que that when a load carries in railway station carry a load is their work is zero and if yes why do they get tired?
Then they kept asking question around this only is air resistance is zero no friction etc …
#8
3 questions - one from matrices and binary numbers, one from thermochemistry and thermal physics, and one from linguistics .
I was given roughly about 15 min to solve the questions. I solved the 1st two questions quite easily as they were simple ( also note that the first question of matrices and binary numbers was also error prone and very loosely defined I considered it to be wrong and so also discussed this with the pannel “All of them gave me a smile”.)
After trivia on the matrices problem and the linguistics problem the professors started asking me independent question which were very elementary questions from the fields of linguistics. They also asked me to represent certain decimals and and certain numbers in binary format as an exercise.
Then they asked for my board's percentage and my mains percentile and why I opted for 5 year programme. For the all the questions I was honest and especially for the last I told them it didn't matter to me if it was 5yr or 4yr .
My suggestion to you guys:
The interviewer are not there to know the right answer, rather they are there to analyze how you are able to think about the solution to see whether or not you fit for being a part of research institution. If you don't know answer to something, ask them for hints but don't get stuck anywhere and don't fear much, just be clear with your basics, no need to go on to deep learn the subject. Know a little about the branch that you wanna opt for. If you have an extra curricular, do tell them. Don't oversell anything, just be true to yourself and it will be a cakewalk. Also they will definitely ask for your hobby, do keep a few of them in mind and know a bit about them too. Like if you mention to them that you like reading novels, they will prolly ask which type of novels, or which is your faviourite one, tell lessons that you learnt from that novel, same goes for any other hobby. They are there to judge your personality and thinking ability. Sit down whener you are free, form a good intro for yourself including hobbies and all and try on to frame questions yourself, this way you will be prepeared for D-Day. Dont take stress during interview and try not to fumble, it will all be good

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Chapter 22
Ana
The first time she opened her eyes, it was to a soft, pillowy comfort, the kind that made her want to tuck the duvet right up to her chin and go back to sleep no matter what responsibilities awaited. Dull grey light and a plain ceiling. There were sounds too, but they floated in and out of earshot as if on clouds, dulled like a conversation from an adjoining room one moment, then uncomfortably loud, like someone was speaking directly into her ear the next. She closed her eyes and the warmth carried her off again.
The second time she woke, things were sharper. There were edges to the tiles of the ceiling above her head and the comfortable fuzziness had lessened, giving way to the dull aching onset of a vicious headache. Her limbs were heavy, weighted anchors dragging down her swimming skull and pinning her to the seafloor of the bed.
This is… wait, what happened?
She remembered the smell of the barbecue, and arriving at the door to the journalist’s suite, and then… a sharper throb of pain rippled up the front of her skull from her temples and she winced.
Movement. She turned her head slowly so as not to provoke another stab of pain.
A kespan in a white outfit sat some ten feet away to her right. She was perched on a strange metal seat, and when she noticed Ana’s stare she directed it over, gliding across the floor towards the bed with a low humming sound. There was a symbol on her breast pocket, one that Ana recognized from her medical exams. A doctor, then.
The pieces of the puzzle started to click, and Ana propped herself up, the sheets below her crinkling softly. How is it that even with all their advanced technology, hospital beds still feel the same as on Earth?
“Specialist Cardoso?” The kespan peered down at her and Ana squinted back. “I’m Doctor Scytha. You gave us all quite the scare you know.”
“I really don’t…”
“I’ll go over everything that happened with you in just a moment, but first I need to know, are you in any pain? I understand you hit your head on the way down.”
“Just a headache,” Ana flinched as another jab of pain radiated across her skull.
“I can get you something for that if you’d like,” the doctor offered. “We’ve ruled out a concussion, but I daresay you’ll be feeling somewhat delicate anyway.”
She was about to agree but paused before the words could leave her lips. Through the lingering haze of whatever they’d had her on while she was unconscious, a tiny niggling feeling in the back of her mind was making itself known.
“No, I… I’m okay for now,” she rasped instead, her throat like dusty sandpaper. “What happened? How long have I been out? Where am I?” She held up a hand, feeling at the side of her head, where the worst of the ache was coming from. A strange smoothness greeted her probing touches.
“You have a minor contusion,” Doctor Scytha explained. “The dressing should stay on for at least a day, but we’ve treated the injury with…” she trailed off, a conflicted expression flickering across her face. “Well, we’ve treated it with something that should help it close much faster. It will be fully healed before you know it.”
“Come on doc,” Ana raised an eyebrow on the side of her face that wasn’t obscured by the strange bandage. “I’m curious. What did you treat me with?”
The doctor’s lips pursed beneath her muzzle, and her eyes flicked away. “Artificial cells. We can program them to—”
“Nanobots,” Ana deadpanned, and the doctor grimaced. “You treated me with nanobots.”
“While they do share some characteristics, the applications…”
“Whatever,” Ana cut her off. “I’m not in the mood to discuss semantics, and I‘ve got enough of a headache already to unpack that. Just tell me where I am please.”
“You’re still aboard the She-Serves-With-Honor,” the doctor supplied, relaxing visibly at the change of topic. “It’s been roughly eight hours since you were found. I’m told that you were carried here by that cute reporter boy who’s been stealing the hearts of every serving woman aboard. Lucky you.” She pulled a tab in the side of her chair and a small screen sprang out on a moveable arm. “I’m sure you’re also interested in learning what happened, yes?”
“That was going to be my next question,” Ana grunted, pulling herself upright and noticing for the first time as she did the opaque tube that ran from her forearm down under the bed. Sitting up turned out to be a mistake though, as when she did manage to raise her head the room spun and her stomach turned. She begrudgingly lowered herself again.
“Well, we’re not quite sure ourselves,” the doctor said, her eyes glancing between the screen on her chair and a space on the other side of the room. Ana shifted, ignoring the discomfort until she could peer over towards the door to where the doctor’s eyes had gone, taking stock of her surroundings as she did.
Two uniformed guards were standing there, one on either side of the door. They stood stock still, gazing back at her— no, at the doctor, with measured stares. Three blazes of red shone from each of their outfits at the cuffs and collars, sparkling brightly even in the dim overhead lights.
The room itself was on the smaller side, with her cot the middle of three in the room. The other two beds were empty. They were here for her then.
“Pretty tight security for a ship hospital,” she remarked. “I know I’m new to this whole ‘alien army’ thing, but somehow I don’t think the Garrison stands watch over all of your patients.”
“They are here because I am here, Specialist,” a smooth voice sounded out, and Ana turned her head further, towards the back corner of the room. A severe-looking woman sat there, medals softly shining in the dim light, a crisply ironed, angular hat resting on her knees. She stood as Ana gaped at her.
“Vice Admiral Kel’rek, ma’am.” She tried to raise a hand into the chest-high salute of the kespan military, but her head throbbed again, and the niggling feeling in the back of her brain only grew in magnitude, so the result was a sloppy flapping motion. Ana frowned, staring down at her uncooperative limbs.
“At ease, Specialist,” the Admiral waved a hand dismissively. “You’ve had a rough night. What do you remember?”
It might have been the drugs, but something about the way she asked the question made the hairs on the back of Ana’s neck stand on end. By the doorway, the soldier’s attention had shifted. Now they were staring at her.
“Not much ma’am,” she answered, ignoring the insistent tug of her hindbrain. “Just walking down the corridor, arriving at the door to the suite, and then nothing. Did something happen?”
“We were hoping you could tell us,” the doctor chimed in, with a respectful nod to the Admiral, who had sat back to rub at her chin. “Your scans came back clear, your bloodwork was unremarkable and your toxicology report shows you’re clean, no known contaminants. Although,” she hesitated, and the Admiral shot her a sharp look. “It’s possible that we missed something. We don’t know everything there is to know about Ervamir yet. It could be that something specific to humans eluded our scans.”
Well, it wouldn’t be the first time, Ana thought bitterly, something red and hot churning in her gut and threatening to spill over. She quashed it, but barely. Strange, I haven’t been this quick to anger since before… she cut that thought short too. It must be the drugs.
“Failing that though, what is your prognosis doctor?” the Admiral asked— no, seriously, why is she in the room? Has she been here the whole time? “Nothing too dire, I hope? It wouldn’t do to lose our first human soldier to an unknown illness.”
First human soldier. Her. How long had it been since that idea made her blood boil like it did now? She felt it return, the same dark crawling feeling that had curled up to nest inside her when she accepted the alien’s offer some six months prior. Back then it had been hunger that forced her hand. A choice between flinging herself on the mercy of the cartels or working with the invaders. I thought I’d left this feeling behind.
The doctor hummed, head still buried in the tablet. “New species often exhibit psychological distress in response to their first exposure to space,” she said hesitantly. “The media presence and press conference, followed by an interview on the same day may simply have been too much. If there are no further physiological symptoms, then the episode may have been stress-induced.”
Ana’s eyebrow twitched. “Respectfully doc,” she managed a forced smile. “Like most humans, I think I’ve been through things a lot more psychologically challenging than staring out a window and answering some questions. I’ve never seen any of the women back home experience anything like what just happened to me.”
The doctor avoided her eyes. “Compounding trauma could make this kind of event more likely, but again, we don’t know enough about human psychology to make a proper assessment. All I know is the scans are clean.” She looked up, but it was the Admiral whose gaze she met rather than Ana’s. “I’m prescribing plenty of rest. She should be off active duty for at least a week, preferably planetside.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged,” Admiral Kel’rek stood, and her guards moved to flank her. “You heard the doc, Specialist, I’ll make the necessary arrangements. In the meantime, I believe your squadmates are anxious to hear from you.” She raised an eyebrow at the doctor, who nodded. “I’ll have word sent that you’re awake.” She took a step towards the door.
“And the journalist, ma’am?” Ana asked.
The Admiral turned back to her and tilted her head slightly. “What about him, Specialist? I hope you’re not considering giving an interview from your hospital bed. I’m afraid that might give off the wrong impression.” She spoke with a light tone, but the look she directed Ana’s way was firm.
“I just wanted to apologize for not making our appointment,” Ana insisted. “And maybe arrange a new time, once I’m given the all-clear.”
The Admiral hesitated, just for a microsecond, but it was enough to be noticeable. “I’ll have word sent. You should be aware that he’ll be on the next shuttle with the rest of the media. It’s unlikely that you’ll get a chance to see him in person.”
“You could send me with them,” Ana suggested, and the Admiral shot her an incredulous look, her hand poised to open the door. “Ma’am,” she amended, lowering her eyes to the floor in what she hoped passed for submission. “If I’m going to be recovering planetside anyway, it would be an opportunity for us. To show the galaxy how humans and the Imperium can co-exist, I mean. I’m sure that any good reporter would accept.”
She peered up to watch the wheels turn in the Admiral’s head. Finally, the cat woman stepped away from the door to regard her properly.
“You wouldn’t prefer to recuperate in your home country?” she asked, probing. “The media is bound for the largest island in the South, the one we are currently in orbit over. It’s a green zone, but I would have thought you’d be more comfortable in a familiar setting.”
“Australia?” Ana’s eyes widened slightly, and some genuine excitement leaked into her voice. “I’ve always wanted to visit. I hear it’s a great place to relax. And actually,” she let her tone grow rueful, “I have a slightly… checkered history with my home country now. A lot of baggage. It might be better if I didn’t return for a while, especially if I need to stay low-stress.”
The Admiral raised an eyebrow at the doctor, who nodded. When she turned back to Ana though, she still didn’t appear convinced. “That would put me in a difficult position Specialist,” she said. “If I crammed you into a shuttle with two dozen members of the press less than a day after a serious medical emergency I’d be strung up, even more than I already am just for being here.” She shook her head. “I can’t put you on that ship.”
Ana lowered her eyes again. “I understand ma’am. That’s unfortunate. I was hoping that the interview might make a difference. Show people that cooperation is possible.”
The woman hesitated, and her eyes bore holes into Ana’s own. Then she cocked her head. “However…”
“Yes ma’am?”
“I can arrange transport for tomorrow. We’ll be slightly out of shuttle range by then, but a larger ship could make the journey. Specialist,” she maintained the same intense eye contact, and Ana held it. “I don’t think I need to impress on you the importance of your role here. We all want what’s best for humanity, and the sooner we can get your people on board, the sooner Ervamir… the sooner Earth can be made whole again. I’m expecting a good interview, even if it means a prolonged leave period. Are we clear?”
“Clear ma’am,” Ana managed the salute this time. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Very good. As you were then, get some rest.”
Ana breathed a sigh of relief as the woman exited, the garrison members following her out. To her slight surprise, she noticed the doctor breathe a similar sigh, and filed the information away for later. Maybe she was the sort of commander who rode her troops hard. It was strange; she’d never been given that impression.
An hour went by, and Ana drifted in and out of sleep several times, each time waking up slightly sharper than before, though her headache kept growing. She was offered the painkillers again but declined. Years of soldiering in the South American jungle had taught her to trust her instincts, and hers had been screaming through the fog ever since she’d first awoken that morning. Something didn’t feel right, and she needed to be clear-headed to figure out what. She was feeling less collected now than she had been for months, and somehow, at the same time, more herself.
Maybe the doc is right and I’m just a bit fucked in the head, she thought.
Just as the headache had reached the point where she was beginning to question that decision, a polite rap came from the door. The doctor’s chair hummed across the floor to answer, and a moment later, a fuzzy face peered in overtop two smaller figures.
“You’re awake!” Banta’s voice boomed across the room, and the doctor made a frantic shushing noise. “Oops, sorry.”
The small group piled into the room, and Ana smiled through the throbbing pain as Vrina and Sergeant Rea’ar’s faces also came into view.
“Specialist,” her NCO greeted her. “I trust you’re on the improve?”
“Ma’am,” Ana inclined her head slightly.
“A little bird told me that you’re to be stationed planetside for a time,” she frowned.
“Yes ma’am,” Ana replied. “Sorry for the inconvenience ma’am.”
“It’s no matter,” the sergeant’s expression was unreadable. “The rest of the fire team sends their well wishes.”
“What she means by that is that the duradians don’t think you’ll die,” Banta grinned. “They’ve got some… quirks… regarding illness. Very pragmatic.”
“You can tell them that I appreciate their confidence then,” Ana replied, and what might have been the ghost of a smile graced the sergeant's face before disappearing abruptly.
“You’ve put me in a slightly difficult position here, specialist,” Rea’ar said. “I’ve been asked to leave one of my troops to watch over you in case your condition deteriorates. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem, but assigning one of the duradians to your care would be a bad fit. I thought to send Singer alone, but…”
Banta stiffened. “Ma’am—” she started before Rea’ar held up a hand.
“Yes, yes, I know Corporal, save it. You’re both going. I’ve arranged for you to be assigned to a posting on the surface, at one of our new consulates. Might as well make use of you while you’re down there.”
Banta relaxed visibly, and Ana looked between the three women in confusion.
“You two aren’t like, married or anything, are you?” she couldn’t help but ask, pointing between Banta and Vrina, and the pair balked. Vrina’s crest puffed out, and she spluttered, a strangled choking sound coming from her beak. Banta sniggered, and the sergeant’s eyebrows rose.
“I— wh— no!” clucked the Ulu, her chest feathers fluffing out like pins from a cushion. “What makes you think that?”
“Well apparently you’re attached at the hip,” Ana defended. “I’m not judging, just curious.
Sergeant Rea’ar held up both hands, absolving herself of the conversation. “I’m glad to hear you’re improving Specialist,” she said, heading for the door, and Ana watched in amazement as the woman who’d kept her cold demeanor throughout months of training and onboarding fled the scene. “I expect regular updates on your condition,” she opened the door and turned to the other two. “Don’t keep her up too long, she needs rest.” Then the door was closing behind her, and she was gone.
“What the fuck was that?” Ana breathed, looking back at Vrina, who was still prickling, and Banta, who was held under the stern glare of the doctor and trying to keep her giggling from devolving into full laughter. “Okay, come on, what is this?”
Banta pulled herself together and glanced over at Vrina, who was still doing her best impression of a taxidermized rooster. “Maybe we should—”
“Shut up,” Vrina tucked her head beneath her feathers, rubbing at her forehead with the ridge of a wing.
“I’m just saying, it’s not like she’ll think any differently of—"
“No.” The ulu held firm. “It’s embarrassing.”
“Hi, invalid here, not exactly in a position to judge,” Ana raised an arm. “I don’t mind if the two of you are—”
“It’s not that,” Vrina hissed, and Banta guffawed again, catching another warning tut from the doctor. “We’re old friends, nothing more.”
Banta stopped laughing, and looked at her askance, her mirth disappearing. “No lies, Vrin,” she said, disapprovingly. “It’s one thing to keep something to yourself, but it’s dishonorable to lie to a comrade. I’m telling her.”
Ana cocked her head. “Wait, so you are—”
“No,” both of them replied together, the ulu still hissing. “Banta, I swear to—"
“She’s more like… my employer?” the ursinian ventured, and Vrina’s eyes bugged out, a sound like a death rattle building in her throat.
“Corporal Banta, you will not say another word,” she spluttered and then recoiled in horror as the bear woman bowed her head low to the ground, saluting her.
“Of course, your majesty,” she replied with a grin, and Ana’s brain short-circuited.

If you're enjoying the story so far, please consider checking out the Patreon to gain access to up to ten additional chapters. I have a few different tiers and one of them may be right for you.
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Welcome back, fellow mobile gamers :) As per tradition, here are my weekly mobile game recommendations based on the most interesting games I played and that were covered on MiniReview this week! :) I hope you'll enjoy some of them.
Support these posts (and YouTube content + development of MiniReview) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NimbleThor <3
This episode includes a great racing game, a fun arcade platformer, a great deck-builder roguelike RPG, an arcade casual game, and a neat deck-building dungeon crawler.
New to these posts? Check out the first one from 216 weeks ago here.

Let's get to the games:

Art of Rally [Game Size: 2.3 GB] ($4.99)

Genre: Racing / Simulation - Offline
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by NimbleThor:
Art of Rally is a rally racing game with an amazing atmosphere, several fun game modes that range from casual to hardcore, and deep gameplay customization settings.
The main career mode has us play through several years of rally history on tracks all around the world, unlocking new cars and skins as we progress.
In addition to the campaign, however, there is a custom rally mode, a time-attack mode where we can try all of the game’s vehicles, a free-roam mode where we drive around a large open world to collect items, and daily and weekly online events with leaderboards.
What I like the best about Art of Rally is that it can be as casual or hardcore as you want. Free roaming is a fun laid-back experience while the time-attack modes are incredibly challenging. And even in the career mode, we can pick the difficulty of our AI opponents.
The touch controls are okay but lack different options. Thankfully, the game plays perfectly with a Bluetooth controller, and there are lots of customization options for everything from the HUD to the interface and gameplay, including changing the steering sensitivity, enabling anti-lock braking, and much more.
The game has a great atmosphere, and the low-poly art style and minimalistic UI fit nicely. Unfortunately, loading between menus and levels is slow, and I ran into a few minor bugs - so the game isn’t perfectly ported from PC.
Art of Rally is a $4.99 premium game with a single $1.99 optional DLC that adds additional map areas.
It’s a game more about precision than driving super-fast, so if that’s what you’re looking for, I think you’ll enjoy Art of Rally – especially if you have a controller to play it with.
App Store: Here
Check it out on MiniReview (review score + user ratings):: Art of Rally

Level Devil - NOT A Troll Game [Total Game Size: 87 MB] (Free)

Genre: Platform / Arcade - Offline
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by Ark:
Level Devil is an easy arcade platformer with no surprises or frustrations at all… or is it?
The game has us move left, right, and jump to navigate seemingly simple one-screen stages. But as we progress, the game starts trolling us in lots of unexpected ways.
Floors suddenly disappear beneath our feet, spikes spawn at what looks like safe spots, and the game sometimes even changes the rules of physics by lowering the gravity or reversing it altogether.
So you better be prepared for some rage-inducing deaths. But to me, the game’s main appeal is exactly these unexpected twists. The game quickly becomes all about anticipating the next troll attempt, and nothing beats the satisfaction I got from outsmarting a level in my first attempt.
There are 80 stages in total, with the game autosaving every 5 stages. And while some stages are challenging, they’re all short and concise. The controls are also simple and responsive. Unfortunately, there is no music at all, and the graphics are very minimal, with just a single yellow-reddish color scheme that gets old in no time.
Level Devil monetizes via occasional forced ads between levels and deaths, and a $0.99 iAP to remove these for good. Thankfully, I didn’t personally find the ads to be too intrusive, even with me dying a lot.
Despite being a troll game, it balances overall fun vs. overall difficulty very well. So I was able to complete it relatively easily without getting too frustrated. You could say I had a "devilish good time" beating the game.
App Store: Here
Check it out on MiniReview (review score + user ratings):: Level Devil

Loop Hero [Game Size: 250 MB] (Free Trial)

Genre: RPG / Deck-Builder / Roguelike - Offline
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Some
tl;dr review by JBMessin:
Loop Hero is a mobile port of an incredibly unique tactical roguelike that mixes lots of gameplay elements, including deck-building, auto-battling, resource management, and city-building.
We begin the game in a place outside space and time on a dangerous path that forms a loop. Our character traverses the loop on his own, automatically fighting the enemies that spawn every day. These encounters provide us with loot that we equip to grow stronger and cards that are used to alter the loop.
Playing a card somewhere on the path changes what happens every time our hero walks through that part of the loop. For example, we may place a grove that spawns a rat every 2 days, which we then fight to grow stronger. This ability to customize the loop is one of the most unique aspects of the game, and I really enjoyed it.
After our first campfire is built, we begin to meet heroes who are just as lost as we are. Through short dialogues with them, we start to learn about the game’s light city-building mechanics. There are plenty of buildings to construct that offer all kinds of new and interesting gameplay mechanics - and even new classes to go on expeditions with.
What I immediately appreciated about Loop Hero was its top-notch soundtrack reminiscent of early 8-bit games like Castlevania, and the sprites that are stylized to match the gloomy setting but still vibrant in their design.
The biggest downside is that my large fingers sometimes made it hard to see where I was placing things. The game is definitely best enjoyed on larger phones.
Loop Hero is free to try, with a single $6.99 iAP unlocking the full game.
If you enjoy excellent roguelikes with unique gameplay mechanics, I think you’ll enjoy Loop Hero.
App Store: Here
Check it out on MiniReview (review score + user ratings):: Loop Hero

Tumble Rush [Game Size: 159 MB] (Free)

Genre: Arcade / Casual - Offline
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by NimbleThor:
Tumble Rush is a fun, fast-paced marble maze arcade game where we guide a ball through small top-down levels while avoiding obstacles, traps, and holes.
Apart from rolling around with our sphere character, the only other thing we can do is tap an interaction button that activates/deactivates doors, turn on fans that let us get over obstacles, and much more.
Despite the additional puzzle elements introduced along the way, the game is very easy in the beginning – maybe even to a fault. I quickly grew bored with the early levels. But thankfully, if you stick with the game, it eventually becomes much harder.
The coins we collect in each level are used to unlock new cosmetics for our character. But what’s really cool is that they also completely change the design and theme of every level. So unlocking cosmetics quickly became my primary objective.
While the standard mode is relatively easy and lacks a bit of variety, the game also features a much more challenging time attack mode, where we attempt to finish levels fast enough to earn three stars. And if we get bored with that, there’s an endless mode where we earn more and more gold the further we get.
The standard gyroscopic controls work alright, but I personally preferred one of the touch control options.
Tumble Rush monetizes by showing ads between levels. They appear relatively frequently but can thankfully be removed via a single $1.99 iAP.
It’s an arcade game that gets better the further you get. So if you’re looking for a fun game that can be played as casually or competitively as you want, I think you might like Tumble Rush.
App Store: Here
Check it out on MiniReview (review score + user ratings):: Tumble Rush

SOULVARS (Game Size: 346 MB] ($4.99)

Genre: Deck-Building / Dungeon Crawler - Offline
Orientation: Portrait
Required Attention: Some
tl;dr review by AlexSem:
SOULVARS is a futuristic mix of a jRPG and a deck builder, where we fight demonic creatures using a deck of cards produced by the gear we equip.
Working for a secret government organization, our job is to maintain peace by engaging in bloody confrontations with hungry spirits that invade the human world via spontaneous portal-like breaches.
The combat system is quite elaborate. First of all, our deck is defined by the gear we equip, and each card lets us execute an action, such as using a shield, performing various elemental attacks, or dealing different types of physical damage.
Picking two different types of cards allows us to perform devastating combo actions. But we must also pay attention to our enemies’ resistances, constantly charge our “burst” meter to eventually turn into a powerful monster, and link together attacks of multiple characters. And this is just a small portion of the game’s many combat mechanics.
Mindlessly executing random moves works for a while, but we eventually face enemies so strong that this tactic isn’t enough. This is where the game's complex combat systems comes into play, and we need to learn all its intricacies and meticulously manage our equipment to win. This will be too challenging for some players, but a joy for others.
The exploration part of the game consists of navigating maze-like rooms, interacting with the environment, collecting loot, talking to people, and engaging in random battles - an old jRPG structure that is apparently still popular among certain audiences.
SOULVARS is a premium game that costs $4.99.
While the game’s repetitiveness and unengaging plot eventually make the gameplay a bit boring, there’s more than enough entertainment for fans of complex combat systems.
App Store: Here
Check it out on MiniReview (review score + user ratings):: SOULVARS
NEW: Sort + filter reviews and games I've played (and more) on my mobile games discovery platform, MiniReview: https://minireview.io/
Special thanks to the Patreon Producers Wrecking Golf, "marquisdan", "Lost Vault", "Farm RPG", and "Mohaimen" who help make these posts possible through their Patreon support <3
Google Sheet of all games I've played so far (searchable and filter-able): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bf0OxtVxrboZqyEh01AxJYUUqHm8tEfh-Lx-SugcrzY/edit?usp=sharing
*The newest mobile games (with gameplay) on my YouTube channel: * https://youtu.be/8wX-9SW4Z8o?si=j0PNTWf08xd8mwEQ
Episode 193 Episode 194 Episode 195 Episode 196 Episode 197 Episode 198 Episode 199 Episode 200 Episode 201 Episode 202 Episode 203 Episode 204 Episode 205 Episode 206 Episode 207 Episode 208 Episode 209 Episode 210 Episode 211 Episode 211 Episode 212 Episode 214 Episode 215 Episode 216 Episode 217

Hello all,
TLDR; Short sellers sold put-leaps to buy themselves ~39 months of invisibility. That cloak of invisibility is expiring, along with those put contracts, and soon they will be net short again. This is why Citron has come back, because Mr.Left never Left, he just hid behind net-neutral FINRA reports.
I recently posted a theory about shorts buying call-leaps to offset their shorts. I theorised that sort sellers had purchased leap contracts in order to net their position to zero, and that those leaps (which last for 39 months) are now expiring. I think the idea that they're 'buying call-leaps is wrong', however, I am SURE that leaps are an important piece of this puzzle, and that their expiration is driving the current volatility. Parts of my theory may have been wrong, but I am adamant that leap expiry is very relevant here.
Mr.Left of Shitron research recently came out as ~~a gay bear~~ short on the stock. Why would he take out a new short position though? Seriously? The company is on a very obvious turnaround, why now? Is he really that stupid? We'd like to say yes, but he probably isn't. I don't think this was his choice at all...
Here's why I think he, and many other short sellers are about to come back short on the stock... THEY NEVER LEFT. They never unwound their shorts, it would've been too expensive, and their egos got in the way. So how did they hide their short interest? They hedged it, or more to the point they used their short exposure as a hedge for something else... something like selling puts, long dated puts, leap puts.
For those new here (welcome to the Thunderdome motherfuckers), a put contract is a contract that you can purchase that gives you the right, but not the obligation, to sell shares at a predetermined price in the future. For example, if you thought the price of a stock would go down in future, and you held shares in that stock, you might purchase a put contract at your current price, so that if the price did drop in future, you could still sell without making too much of a loss (minus the price of the contract).
The market maker you purchased that put contract from, would probably short some shares, since they're taking on the obligation of purchasing shares from you, and they need to make room on their balance sheet so that they remain net-neutral.
Now, if you wanted to net-zero your short position, thus justifying a claim to FINRA that you have 'No short exposure', then, for every short position you held, you'd need to have an equal long position. However, since buying shares would cost you money, money you can't afford (and you'd just use that long to cover the short and be done), how about instead you SOLD long dated puts (put-leaps). This would now mean you have some long-exposure, since you've sold someone else a contract that gives them the right to sell you shares at a pre-determined price. The hedge for this long-exposure contract would be to short shares, which thankfully, you've already done, so you're net zero now, and can report to FINRA that you no longer have a short position. It's a bit of a lie, since you do still have a short position, but it's hedged and you're 'nEt ZeRo' on the trade, if someone comes asking just tell them you're hedging the puts you sold...
Can hedge funds lie on their short-interest reporting? - Quora <- see the response in this question thread by Ross.Lederhman for an example of attitudes towards financial reporting...
So, I think this is what has happened with a lot of funds, particularly Citron Research. Mr.Left never left. He sold Puts to hedge his shorts and reported as net neutral. His put contracts have now expired, and with them, so has his cloak of invisibility. He's back short GameStop, except he's not back, he'd been here all along. Hoping that us fucking apes leave him and his crime alone. 39 months have passed and we're still here, bigger than ever, sucks to be you Mr.Left.
So what?
So, I think we'll start seeing more people 'announcing short positions' in GameStop. I think they're all lying, and that they were all here the whole time. The shorts never closed, they hedged neutral and hoped we'd leave. I think this is where some of the buying has come from. As puts expire, participants go into the market to buy out their short position in an attempt to regain neutrality. The unwinding of short positions is starting as puts expire worthless.
Will this end up in a total short-unwinding buy-fest? Not sure... It's very unlikely that the whole exposure of 2021 was hedged at the same time, with 39 month puts, but I think a lot of it was. It's probably safe to say we can go through the price chart of GME and correlate each spike to a series of sold-puts expiring, and the associated forced buy-ins as that contract is exercised. I think as these long dated contracts expire we'll see pumps. As time passes though, these short positions will become harder and harder to hedge, since selling puts would become far less lucrative as we near the minimum measurable value of the company.
Lets not forget that selling a put for 100 shares, will not earn you enough money to buy back 100 shares, so these morons aren't neutral as far as their dollar cost exposure goes. They're still in the hole, and they're still bleeding cash; and they can't just sell more put contracts, because it over-exposes them and increases the number of shares they'd have to buy back, if those puts came ITM, further worsening their problem.
They sold puts to buy themselves 39 months of invisibility. It was an easy sell in 2021 when the company faced bankruptcy. Now though, who's going to spend all that money buying contracts that give you the right to sell GME at it's lowest valuation? Even Wall Street isn't that dumb. They're going to have to buy back in soon.

I always like to introduce more puzzles and fun things to avoid just being a just rolling dices game. I found this on a Facebook Group (they still exist!) and with some Photoshop work I etched the symbols into the rock. The idea is that every vertical combination is unique and does not repeat any symbol.
I've printed it into a hard sheet to hand it to them to solve it before entering the Temple.
I thought I'd share it here! I didn't bother too much with the edges since I'd just clean those with the scissors anyways!
https://preview.redd.it/klchh72k6y0d1.png?width=1981&format=png&auto=webp&s=52bb150f447e9184fa7b35dba25a4941b2a21eb6

A lot of people are confused on how this entire thing works: so allow me to show everyone how to complete the Throne Tower!
i have to go to bed unfortunately but here’s how you do the puzzles in the new throne tower. avoid using this unless you’re stuck

to get into the throne tower itself: you must curtsy bow at the leaderboard wall in castle heart. if it doesn’t work: it means you’re in an old server. it should open a secret passageway that leads to throne tower. i’ll also like to note that if you try to do this on someone’s private server that hasn’t opened the dungeon yet: it will not let you in until the owner of the private server has entered it for the first time.
once you enter, continue to the stairs and stop when you see the big dress painting with to the right: click on it and it’ll open up to reveal a chest and a pink key. grab it.
continue further up and you’ll find the throne room: enter there and start collecting the books there.
there’s also a chest in the throne room if you fly up.
exit the throne room and continue further down the hall past the knights(we’ll get back to them). you’ll see a bunch of locked doors: you’re gonna have to unlock the pink door using the pink key.
once you upon that door: collect any books that are in that room and click on the lever. before you leave that room, theres a set of colored pictured above the door. screenshot or memorize it: this is your answer to the knight puzzle.
head back to where the knights are and select them in order according to what you found in the pink room.
once you done so correctly: it will open up a new passageway in front of the rainbow door. head to there.
this passageway will lead to a library. collect any books you find on the floor.
above the fireplace is a set of items: you can click on them to arrange them to different spots. go back downstairs and head to the end of the hall to your left to find a red door with a visible window.
on that door: the window is clearly visible to what’s inside of the room. zoom in with your camera and peek through the door: it will show you the answers to the items back upstairs. screenshot or memorize it then head back to the library.
once you solve that puzzle, it will open up another passageway to a witch’s room. there are four(?) books in it: one near the cauldron, one near the shelves, one under the table, and one under the bed.
there is a table on the center full of potions. click on it and follow the instructions.
if you skipped the instructions then here’s what u have to do little stinky: you have to mix colors to fill up the empty bottles so you’ll be able to do the recpe right. blue and red make pink, yellow and white make orange, blue and yellow make green.
once you mixed all the colors, start over your pot and follow the recipe as normal. it will then ask you to use magic on the cauldron(doesnt matter which) and then ask you to dip the key inside the cauldron.
now you have a rainbow key. use this rainbow key to unlock the rainbow room downstairs. i dont remember there being books inside it but if there is just get them but i do know there is a lever and i reccomend getting that as well.
by that point, you should have two levers switched and all books collected. if you have not collected all books, check back in previous rooms.
using your books, head to the library and find a book shelf with an empty row. click on it and it will place all your collected books on it. it will reveal a passageway to a cave.
the cave will lead you to a piano: and on that piano you have to play the throne tower theme. they give you the sheet. it wont work if you make a mistake on it: so make sure to play it correctly. you can do it at any speed: you just can’t accidently press other notes or else it wont work.
if you played it correctly it will show you a cutscene and it will give you the green key. get that green key and head back to the library.
there is a ladder that leads to a attic door. you can unlock it by using your green key you got from the piano. enter it.
there is a bunch of books around the area. click on all of them to find the blue key. its random for each player. theres also some lore: its optional to read if you find the blue key early.
once you get the blue key: head back to the hall downstairs and use it for the blue room. in that room you’ll find your third lever.
the last lever is located in the throne room: and to unlock it you have to light all the candles in the throne room. once you to do that it will play a cutscene revealing the last lever and voila: you’re done.
as soon as you enter the dungeon, you won’t have to do the puzzle again. the last part of this entire content is the big door. you need 5 other people to unlock this door. good luck.

AND PLEASE MARK YOUR SPOILERS IF YOU MANAGE TO UNLOCK THE DOOR.

Welcome to the Reverse: 1999 Daily Questions Megathread!

Please use this thread to ask any general inquiries about Reverse: 1999. Also, kindly search keywords under this thread as your questions may have already been answered by other Timekeepers.
Community Guides

General Community Guide (tierlists, teambuilding, puzzle solutions, etc.)
Income/Saving Guide
Prydwen (tierlists, guides, character info, etc.)

Cheat Sheets

Tools

Planner & Summon Tracker

Wiki Pages

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
Q1. Should I re-roll?

This depends on how much time you have to dedicate to re-rolling. In general, all three of the beginner banner characters are great, and you have options of doing shortelonger re-rolls, as per this guide.

Q2. Why is my answer incorrect in for the trail puzzle?

Try to answer with proper letter casing - the answers are case-sensitive.

Q3. When is the daily reset?

The game resets at 10:00 UTC, please refer to this timer.

Q4. Does pity transfer over to the next banner?

Yes, pity should transfer over to the next banner of the same type.

Q5. How should I build my team?

In general, teams consist of a single damage dealer that get supported by support-type characters, but there are many variations. We encourage you to take a look at some of the guides above!

Q6. Can I re-watch the cut-scenes/story?

From the main screen/lobby, refer to the left icon below the Bank, go to Atlas, then go to the Story Review. This does not currently apply for event stories, unfortunately.

Q7. Are multiple copies of a certain character necessary?

This will depend on a character-by-character basis. In general, however, there should not be a large importance on getting duplicate copies of a character.

Q8. When should I stop leveling characters?

Please refer to the investment guide listed above.

Q9. What should I purchase in the Psychube Shop (Thought Elements/Thoughts in Eternity)?

Do not buy the 5-star psychubes, as we will eventually get enough 6-stars.
Prioritization order:

LF Polarization
Englighten I
Enlighten II

Q10. What should I prioritize in the Oneric Shop (Oneric Fluid)?

Prioritization order:

Monthy Brief Cacophony
Crystal Casket
Permanent Brief Cacophony (or Moment of Dissonance to craft Brief Cacophony if needed)
Sonorous Knell

Misc Questions
M1. Are macros and auto-clickers allowed?

No. They are against the game's terms of service; any usage will risk the potential of being banned.

Megathread Directory
Weekly Lounge Megathreads (for minor discussions, gacha pulls, etc.)
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Dingbat puzzles sheets

PosterHunt: Follow the clues. Win movie posters.

Welcome to the Reverse: 1999 Daily Questions Megathread!

LINK

GAMES IN THE LINK

Welcome to the Reverse: 1999 Daily Questions Megathread!

Let's get to the games:

Art of Rally [Game Size: 2.3 GB] ($4.99)

Level Devil - NOT A Troll Game [Total Game Size: 87 MB] (Free)

Loop Hero [Game Size: 250 MB] (Free Trial)

Tumble Rush [Game Size: 159 MB] (Free)

SOULVARS (Game Size: 346 MB] ($4.99)

Welcome to the Reverse: 1999 Daily Questions Megathread!