"well there are plenty of other reasons to play the game, though fighting... monsters is required for most of them, but there are plenty of people out there who just hang out here in the World for the sake of interaction with different people. you're not required to fight and grow stronger, but if that's the case for you I suggest hanging out in the root towns lest you come across anything too strong for you. By the way, I'm Kimono."

Kusardo stood there with his broadsword across his shoulders, his off hand hanging on the it. "Don't bother being a Player Killer. It's overrated and there are too many of them as it is," he said with his trademark dull, but mildly stern inflection. "I doubt you'll get any satisfaction out of it, especially if you don't like fighting."

He passed a few seconds looking over her profile and reaction, perceiving a good level of innocence and naivety in those big, scarlet puppy-dog eyes of hers. After allowing a moment to establish eye contact, he continued, "If you don't intend on fighting at all in The World, then you're wasting your time. Sometimes you will have to fight if you want to explore it, and unless you enjoy being a floor mat, fighting is the only way you can be strong enough to defend yourself from other Player Killers, because you just might be a prime target for anyone. But in any case, do as you like."

The Edge Punisher seemed a little disinterested in what this new arrival would do with her time here, or if she really intended on killing them, but he was willing to give some free advice at the very least, albeit a bit forward and harsh. It seemed he also disliked using the acronym "PKers" and would refrain from using it as much as possible.

Sara laughs, and gives the group a sly wink, "Well, thankfully, I don't have to really worry about being PK'd."

"As for fighting, I really only meant fighting another player; standard monsters I can fight without regrets." Sara continues, smiling.

"Here, call me sometime. Maybe we can hang out!" Sara says, handing Kiku and Kimono her Member Address.

Kiku returns the gesture with her own Address. (There is also time for Kimono to do so as well if she wishes)

"Well, see you later!" Sara says, winking again, before running back toward the first platform to return to town.

"Hmm. All right, let's keep going. Kiku, could you hear where the sound was coming from?"

Kiku nods, "Yep, it came from over there." She says, pointing.

However, where she is pointing is directly toward the room's east wall (the one that has the Chim Chim track on it, although she's not pointing at the track, but a bit north of it).

Kusardo walked to the wall where Kiku pointed, just beside the Chim-Chim track and leaning towards the northern path. Looking to his right, he noticed that the track was coming around again, and absentmindedly decided to snatch one of the Chim-Chim's orb for future use.

Once finished with that task, the Edge Punisher drew his sword to the area of the wall where Kiku claimed the sound came from. Drawing back the massive blade, he made a swift smash into the wall to see if it was false, hiding something valuable behind it.

With a mighty smash, Kusardo's blade impacts the wall incredibly hard. However, what happens then is beyond anything the party expects.

From the point of impact, the wall ripples outward. Ripples is the correct term, for there is no other way to describe it as it wavers in and out in little waves that decrease in amplitude and vanish a ways from the source. Apart from this, there doesn't seem to be anything else that happens, although this alone is strange enough.

Kiku's eyes are slightly wide as she says, "Alright... maybe we should just walk away..."

Parting ways with Sarah and granting her the gift of her own member adress in exchange, they went back to exploring where the strange tone had come from. Kursado had moved next to where the Chim Chim track went, and with a mighty swing of his blade put his sword right into the wall, causing it to ripple outwards in a strange pulsing motion.

Kiku advised walking away from the glitch, but Kimono's curiousity was more than piqued now. "We can't pass this up guys, we're low enough level that if it's a screw up we can restart should data be corrupted, but if this is a hidden quest or the chance to get something grand, we can't pass this up guys!"

Kimono moved towards the ripple, letting her scythe pass through it.

"Either we wait for something to come out, we we head in, what's it gonna be?"

"That's not exactly what I'm worried about..." Kiku adds hesitantly, "We are low level, so what are the chances that where it goes is low level too? Not that great I'd imagine."

As Kimono touches the ripple with her scythe to pass through it, a notable second ripple appears just above the first, this one waving in a coloured spectrum of the rainbow, which seems to pulse. White noise plays across the screen as this occurs.

Beyond this ripple, Kimono can vaguely make out... well, nothing really. It's dark, wherever it is, with a bluish ground... if that is a ground. Kiku steps forward, looking through the ripple as well.

"Can either of you two hear that?" Kiku asks.

By drawing attention to it, Kimono and Kusardo can hear something, but it is just beyond their threshold of hearing, and so cannot hear it coherently.

Blackness... lined by a dark shade of blue for the ground below. It seemed like the panorama of a dream's prelude, or a nightmare's; a surreal emptiness that seemed to beckon the body forward while the mind held it back. Kusardo was mesmerized by the sight, but nevertheless focused on discerning that faint, muffled sound.

"What... is that?" he asks in wary wonder, almost in a whispering tone. While his mind tries to figure out more and more what the sound is, he moves forward into the void, past the false wall that so cleverly hid it. After that...

Dong......
As soon as Kusardo reaches through the portal, the note is heard again, and the portal expands sharply, enveloping the whole party. Kiku gives a bit of a sigh; she did warn them.

When vision returns, the party comes to at a very bizarre area. It doesn't even look like it is inside The World, for there are virtually no graphics. Blocks of translucent blue light make up the floor, arranged in a chaotic myriad of patternless square floors connected by a maze of corridors. To the side, a bit beyond the edge of the floors, there are similar blue walls that fade away into nothingness rather than the distance. Blue cubes rotate and spiral in the 'air' off of the paths, and it almost appears as though streams of data flow along the walls.

The portal behind the group closes, but not before a black with yellow outline gauntlet pops through, causing it to slow. Kiku grabs the hand and pulls Twin Lightning through the portal, just before it closes.

"Whew, just in time." Twin Lightning says, apparently still being played by the sister.

"Where... are we?" Kiku asks.

"Well, these are called Outer Dungeons, and normally are inaccessible from within The World." Twin Lightning replies.

"Really? So that means that portal was a glitch." Kiku murmurs.

OOC: take a look at the wallpaper here for a better, more visual image of what this place is http://dothack.wikia.com/wiki/Outer_Dungeon

"'Normally inaccessible'?"

Kusardo looked around him, discerning the simple vector-boxes that made up the walls and floor that gave this 'Outer Dungeon' some distinction from perpetual void. His eyes fell on Twin Lightning, whom he had previously not met. He did know, however, that Twin Lightning was the character who posted questions on The Board to ask about strange areas, particularly ones that the Adept Rogue Maera is said to roam.

He seemed to stare at him for a few uncomfortable seconds before finally piping back up, "So, how is it that all of us are here? Or better yet... why?"

Regardless of facial cues, the sound of the question made Twin Lightning feel as if the mildly taciturn newbie Edge Punisher was suspicious of him (yeah, I know it's the sister this time, but Kusardo doesn't know that). While there was no hostility in his expression or cadence, his question seemed to ask much more than it did literally: What is this place for? How could we possibly be here? And how do you know about it?

"Well, for how, you went through the portal, did you not?" Twin Lightning replies, "As for why, you're the only ones who can answer that for yourself... are you curious, or... do you feel a connection drawing you forward?"

Kiku looks at Twin Lightning sharply. "A connection? What do you mean by that?"

Twin Lightning smiles, "I think you know what I mean by that, Kiku."

"The sound?" Kiku asks, trying to find exactly what Twin Lightning is getting at.

Pointed out yet again, the sound once more can be heard, but this time it is slightly clearer. It is almost like some people whispering.

Twin Lightning tilts her head, "Not the sound, but the source of it. It's at the end of this tunnel."

"Oh, just a moment." Twin Lightning says, freezing for the briefest of moments before the brother comes online, "Alright, while she's gone from the keyboard, I'll lead you three onwards."

Twin Lightning turns to look at the three examining each in turn, "That is, of course, assuming you still want to go onwards. Remember, this isn't supposed to be something that happens to regular players. If you continue, you'll find that more than your character data will be affected by what's at the end."

Twin Lightning gives a sly smile, almost disconcerting in a way, as though this is the end of a long search.

"Hm. Evasive, huh? I didn't know there was more than one player to you."

Kusardo turned to look down the hallway. When Twin Lightning said that they were drawn, she wasn't kidding. That only begged more questions from the newbie player: What was the source of that sound? And what did the she... or rather, what did he mean by "affecting more than just character data?" Supposedly, it could mean anything from an educational experience or a scary prank for newbies; either a quickly forgotten event...or...

...something that remains in memory for a long time... for better or worse.
To be sure, he was more than interested to go, but he would not show such enthusiasm, staring dimly down the dark and empty corridor of digital space. As Twin Lightning said, he was drawn to keep going down this proverbial rabbit hole, both by the sound and by the prospect of seeing something that normally doesn't come around... or so he's told.

Games are played for fun, to imitate reality without it's limitations or consequences. Games are played to escape from the stresses and difficulties of life, but also to have fun and go to the places in the mind where one is free, and happy, if even for a short time. Some play games to escape from the lives that seem to crush all around them, while others play as a healthy habit. No matter which of these situations, a game is a game, and that's about it. As far as Kusardo was concerned, that is all he knew and cared about when playing games; and so as far as he was concerned, there
was nothing stopping him from heading towards the black corridor...

But it felt so real... and ... weird. Almost as if his body was reacting in fear of the future he tread towards. Almost as if he was afraid of what would happen...
"No... ridiculous," he said out loud, but mostly to himself, and shook his head. He continued to move forward, intrigued and silently enraptured by what awaited him.

Kimono's headset vision control went blank for a moment as the ripple enveloped her character, leaving her in a white darkness. When it returned, and she made out the rudementary vector blocks making up the basis of this 'world', she was stunned, even moreso when a moment later Twin Lightning appeared, and began catching them up to speed.

"Beckoned? Called? Heeded?" Kimono murmured to noone in particular, though her footsteps had already begun taking her down the hallway while her player mulled over the thoughts in her head.

"I knew there was a reason we were seeing those white noise flashes and hearing this tone; maybe upon character genration you're given a random numerical factor which allows you to access more 'priveleged' areas, sorta like beta testing new ideas while in a previously stable environment, like bonus levels" The end of her blurb was filled with excitment as her pace quickened slightly,taking her farther and farther down the corridor.