A few minutes of walking later, I actually managed to get to the outskirts of this massive city... Or was it hours? Whatever. It's not like I can feel hunger or the need to piss anyway. I guess there's no survival chanics in place? Either way, with Guidance still out of commission, I guess it was a good ti to get a lay of the city myself as opposed to asking the one person that actually designed the whole thing.
For a fantasy city, [Kotosa] looked far too suspiciously like my own city back in the real world. With the clearly ancient Chinese aesthetic, everything from the architecture to the atmosphere just scread Eastern. From dragon statues to jade decorations, the buildings were immaculately made; as if Guidance really pulled out all the stops in terms of creating painstaking detail down to each individual tile.
"Damn..." I whistled out with a nod. "Not gonna lie, this is beautiful..."
With various NPCs walking around, the whole place really looked like a breathing, living city. As I walked through the gate, everything around just felt... different. It was almost as if I was walking into a different world altogether.
[Kotosa: Kattleynan Capital City]
Huh... so this was the capital of this [Kattleyna] whatever. Still didn't know if it was a province or an empire, but at least I was at the center of it all now. Surely I'd get sothing of worth in this place in terms of stuff to do. Waiting for Guidance to respond was kind of getting old, but at least I had an entire city to explore as opposed to just the admittedly luscious forest.
Hey, I can diss her coding skills for all I care, but I can't really find faults in her aesthetic taste and graphical design.
"Welco!"
"Care to trade?!"
"Hello!"
I raised an eyebrow as so of the NPCs greeted . They sounded normal, at least, and not robotic like so trashy indie gas. The character designs were also ridiculously varied; with so looking right at ho with the Eastern setting while others looked to be a mix of European or Middle Eastern descent. The prevalent clothes were also fitting for the perpetual darkness setting that Guidance got going; with light colors of yellow and white being the prevalent colors among the populace of this massive city.
As I walked through [Kotosa], the lack of an actual HUD made hesitant to just approach so of these people and trigger so dialogue. I didn't really want to look too stupid when I encountered so random NPC that had no dialogue to speak of. And with being present in person, so of the more real-life societal norms were really bleeding through to .
Cause what kind of maniac would just approach a random nobody off the street and ask for a quest or if they sold sothing?
Of course, that didn't an I was completely inept in social skills. It's just that.... Okay. Maybe I'm more anti-social than most people, but I still knew how to talk to strangers.
"New face in the city, kid?"
"Interested in so wares?"
Letting my feet guide , I walked in awe as I drank in the various sights in the city. From what looked to clearly be a [Trade District], to the absolutely marvelous-looking [Kotosa Gardens], everything I just looked at filled with a novel sense of wonder and excitent. To think that I could be walking through an honest-to-god fantastical city? It was downright ridiculous to even think of! Not even in my dreams did I experience such a sight!
"Hail, Stranger!"
A lodious voice shook from my sight-seeing. That sounded suspiciously like Guidance just now.
"Yoohoo! I know you can hear !"
Okay, that sounded far too cheerful to be Guidance. So I guess this was soone else? Was this an NPC then?
Turning towards the random voice that was screaming at , I raised an eyebrow as the newly-identified woman gracefully skipped towards . There was no way that soone else would be playing this ga, or else Guidance would actually know what she was doing. So this was probably an important NPC if she actually recognized ?
"Thank you!" the woman bead at as she finally skidded to a stop in front of . "I thought you didn't hear ."
Looking like soone that ca straight from a mid-century epic, the woman in front of sported what I could only describe as a battle kimono; a traditional Japanese dress except with the skirt and sleeves being shorter than what was probably allowed in the mid-nineteen hundreds. She was unnaturally pretty as well, with her obviously East Asian features and radiant smile. She wasn't packing in the frontal departnt, but who really cared about those details? From the looks of things, she was probably fit enough to lift off the ground despite her smaller stature.
"I-uhh... heard you, yeah...."
What the hell was that, ? I sounded like a loser that never learned how to talk to won! Don't even pretend that you didn't go to four years of college constantly surrounded by won of all shapes and sizes, . Hell, you're practically accepted into their circles before!
"Yep!" the unnad woman smiled in spite of my horrible answer.
This was embarrassing. Here I am botching a conversation with a literal NPC, and I couldn't even find it in myself to stay focused. What the hell was Guidance smoking when she designed what I could only describe as the perfect Genki-girl archetype?
"Ookay? Can I help you?"
The woman placed a finger on her chin as she visibly posed in way that portrayed the act of thinking. Damn, she's cute. "I just can't help but notice what you're wearing!"
Huh? "Pardon?" What's wrong with my clothes? Did I tear sothing while I was in the forest? Oh damn, maybe I have tears and holes. I probably look like a beggar right now!
"I an, You don't look like you live here!" she cheerfully explained. "You look like soone from [Centrax]!"
Say what now? [Centrax]? That was probably another country or sothing... But let's get back on the topic here, "I guess? You could say that I just got here, really."
The excitent the woman was feeling was extrely palpable, "Really?! So you haven't seen what our humble city has to offer?!"
The hell?! Humble, my ass! I've been walking in a straight line since I got here, and I still haven't even reached the center of this entire thing! Not to ntion the giant moon floating right above us! "I-I suppose not."
"Splendid!"
Before I could even react, the woman sohow managed to snake her arms up on my left arm. Beaming up at with the radiant energy of a ridiculously pure maiden, the still unnad NPC started pulling to her pace. Was she planning on dragging along sowhere?
"I have to show you everything we have to offer!" she proudly declared. "I'd be a poor host if I couldn't do that much, right?"
"Okay," I guess? I feel like I'm forgetting sothing here...
"Don't look so sad, Stranger! I'll make sure you'll have a wonderful ti touring the city! I'll stake my pride on it!"
I could only watch on helplessly as the woman pumped her fist in determination, her beautiful features scrunched up in so sort of cute seriousness. Am I seriously going to let this happen?
Of course, I will! What kind of lonely dude would pass up being pulled around by such a beauty?!
"Can I have the na of my tour guide, at least?"
"Oh! Where are my manners?!"
Letting go of my arm, the woman stood in front of as she assud what I already knew to be the universal posture of respect in the Far East. Taking a small bow, she gave a smile before she spoke. In an instant, I was perfectly made aware of the floating prompt above her head full of green hair.
"You can call Shizu!"
I hid my faint surprise as I felt my eyes trail on the prompt above her. I've only seen the usual prompts from the other NPCs, but I never saw sothing like this before.
["Shizu" Level: ???]
What's up with the question marks, Guidance?
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