I rested my chin on the palm of my hand, overlooking the serene, green scenery of the rice fields outside of my classroom. The mountains stood tall and unmoving from afar, dividing the clouds that pass through its summit. I sigh in relaxation, appreciating the peaceful surroundings that one cannot find in the cities.
I snapped out of my quiet trance as a small truck carrying hay passed by the road, and I once again noticed the faint yet consistent mashes of buttons coming from my only friend in the province. Since our teacher announced that she had to leave class early, leaving us in class for the rest of our last period today, my friend over to my right has been playing the newly released game nonstop. The new MMORPG game, Alterra.
My blonde-haired friend Hirato was playing on a portable gaming console. His back has been arched towards the console for the past 15 minutes, his eyes are practically glued to the console’s screen. I inched my seat toward him to take a closer look. He was trying to defeat a monster resembling a three-headed snake—a Hydra. His character’s health was one hit away from hitting zero, but the Hydra was practically undamaged.
“Hey, Hirato,” I called him. “How long are you going to play that game?”
“Awww, I died!” He says exasperatedly, leaning back on his chair in annoyance. “I’ve been trying to beat this boss since yesterday and there’s no luck at all! I even have my gear maxed out for this level, and still...”
Hirato continued speaking as he packed his console into his backpack, “I wouldn’t have any problem at all had you continued playing video games with me. You could help me beat the boss, you know."
Then, Hirato started to make some "drama" in a weird, playful manner. "Come on, Naruki! We were best buddies since we were kids! Whatever must have happened between us, my best friend?” The bell rings across the school building, indicating the end of classes for the day. At the same time, I made a disgusted look at him after saying something corny that must have come from some TV show.
“Stop it with that little skit of yours. We are still best buddies, but I’ve grown up from playing games. Remember, we’re going to college next year and I’ve been preparing for it ever since.” I grabbed my bag from beneath my seat, and just as I stood up, the wooden plank I stood on creaked.
"That's not true, and there's no way you'll pass up on an MMORPG like Alterra! There's no way you stopped playing just for college." Hirato claimed, but he quickly switched into a pondering tone. “Though you made me think about college. You want to go to Tokyo University from what I recall, but I thought you were tired of the city because it’s too crowded there?” He asked.
“It’ll give me a greater chance to get hired for a job with a high salary. My dad also said that it takes some time to get used to the city when I’ve been living all my life in the rice fields.” I ignored Hirato's first statement--but it's true. There's no way I can quit gaming, so I lied to him about it, but I also don't want to take precious time off when I'm studying for a test that will literally decide my future.
“You’re already thinking of your future far ahead.”
“Well, do you want to stay in this school?”
As I took another step towards the door, the wood plank creaked again, filling the short silence in Hirato’s pause.
“...You make a point.” He uttered in agreement.
My school was a single-story building with multiple rooms, occupied by a few students in different grades. To add, we were also the only third-year high school students in the school. Everything here is made of thin wood and paper, and the wooden flooring creaked ever so often that if we step on it the wrong way, it might literally collapse the floor. This building was so old that I’d be having a family reunion with the souls of my family from five generations ago every school day.
The cool breeze of the late afternoon blew toward us as we made our way to the paved dirt road.
"By the way, Hirato."
"Hm?"
"I lied. I'm actually playing Alterra. Since it released."
"Wha-- Then why won't you play co-op with me?!" Hirato was almost screaming in my face, taken aback by my lie.
"Because you're stupid. Why would you cast "Damage Reflect" on Hydra's one-turn kill when you're barely alive? Plus, it won't even damage the Hydra because the game recognizes the reflected damage as an effect, and the boss is immune to any effect."
"Urgh... Watch me beat that Hydra tomorrow, you'll regret not playing with me!"
"Do your best, Hirato. See you tomorrow," I sarcastically said to him as I watched my best friend run to his home, probably excited to try out what I just said. After all, I'm way past his level, so I can't even play with him without ruining his casual experience. It's time to go home for me as well, but the next bus stop is an hour from now. Maybe I'll play for a bit while waiting.
It was the scent of fresh air and the quiet atmosphere that separates urban life from rural life. Most people prefer convenience, while the minority prefer peacefulness. I'm part of the latter, but I still want to get a job in the city. Even if I'm still unsure what I wanted to be in the future.
“Hey, you brat!” A faint, old man’s voice screamed from the rice fields beside the paved road. “Watch out, the ground is dangerous there! Didn’t you see the sign?!”
My thoughts were cut off as I heard him shout at me with great urgency. After my eyes dart to the old man, I abruptly turn to see that there was a sign on the side of the road on both sides that said [ENTRY CLOSED]. Why wasn’t there any blockage? But it was my fault for not paying close attention to my surroundings.
“I’m sorry, mister. I didn’t see it earlier.” I apologized in a nonchalant manner, mostly because I still didn't realize the gravity of the situation at this time.
“Let go of your bag. Climb over the fence towards me. Now,” says the man.
While I didn’t know what could be so dangerous about this road that warrants an urgent reaction, I trusted him. But before I could even drop my bag, the ground starts to sink with me in the center.
It was only then that fear started to settle within me. My heart sank from my inability to do anything as my mind tried to process what was happening and what was about to befall. My legs shook from the sinking ground as well, to control my balance. I cannot feel the center of gravity in my feet anymore.
In a desperate attempt to escape from the sinking ground, I jumped, trying to outrun the sinking before I go along with it.
Yet it was too late.
The ground crumbled beneath me, revealing a sinkhole. All the adrenaline in my body surges instantly, slowing down time and making the fall to my imminent death seem like an eternity. The rocks from the ground begin to break apart and fall as if it wants to bury me as well if I wasn't dead yet from the fall.
Strangely enough, I thought that when my time comes, I’ll accept Death and warmly embrace it, but it’s too soon and unfair. My arms are both outstretched to the sunlight above, as my mind screams, “I don’t want to die yet!”
The falling rocks fully cover the sunlight as I fully plunge into the darkness, and along it with me as well. Thankfully with the darkness blinding what seems to be my body being crushed and mutilated by the heavy rocks, it only felt like I fell asleep, never to wake up again.
Good night, world.
My eyes slowly fluttered open to a familiar ceiling; particularly, my bedroom. The dark blue-painted star walls and the transparent curtain were both familiar, yet in front of me was some child using my computer. The window outside is also blindingly bright which made it seem impossible to peek outside.
“Um...” I didn’t know what else to say, so I tried to get the young girl’s attention
“Mhmhm!” A proud, laughing sneer came from the child. Still sitting on my gaming chair, she turned around to face me, her shoulders crossed and an arrogant expression that ticks me off for some reason.
“Welcome to the afterlife, Naruhaya Tabito. I have chosen you to–wait, who the FUCK are you?!” Her arrogant expression transforms into a mix of confusion, panic, and surprise after she opened her eyes.
“I should be the one saying that!” I exclaimed back, but I did not get a response because she quickly turned to the monitor. Upon standing up from my bed, I notice that the sounds of mouse clicking and keyboard pressing were all attributed to her--playing Alterra?
If this was the afterlife... It didn't look too bad. The events that transpired earlier haven’t registered in my mind yet.
“Hey, am I really dead?” I asked her.
The young girl was typing before she exclaimed in panic, “No no no...! You’re really dead! I killed the wrong person!”
“I see.” I didn’t know how to react to my death, but I also didn't feel sad or sentimental. I didn’t have much going on in the real world before I died, after all.
The young girl paused her game as she turned around to face me. “It’s because you aren’t supposed to die! I may have pressed your name accidentally while I was looking for a suitable candidate in the Living Database...” She sighs as she sinks into her chair. “Well, I suppose it’s not that big of a deal.”
The girl stood on the gaming chair, clad in a red-colored robe with a two-pointed hat that almost resembled horns. Her red-toned eyes glinted with the light of the bright window.
“Naruki Haruhito, sit,” With one downward motion of her finger, I immediately felt a strong, compelling force that made me sit on the bed.
“My name is Filya, and I am the Goddess of Creation! Your Creator, and the One Above All!” She introduces herself with her arms crossed. It appears to me that she was trying to act superior and intimidating, but her haughty attitude, matched with her small stature, made it seem like she really was someone’s kid lost in my bedroom who was cosplaying as an anime character.
“You’re a child,” Even at this point in the afterlife, I do not believe her being the world’s creator for a bit.
“Wha–” Filya is taken aback by what I said. “I'm not a child, I'm a goddess! Respect and worship me, you dimwitted mortal, should you desire not to die a second time and leave your soul wandering in the empty void of space.”
While she was speaking, I couldn't move a single inch from the bed. Even if she was a goddess, it's impossible not to take her seriously because she looks like a child scolding her older brother.
Filya raised two fingers before saying, “As a token of apology for wrongfully smiting you, I’ll give you two choices. First choice: You can return back to the real world as a baby of a rich family, and you will be a prodigy who will basically have an easy life from that period until his death of old age. Of course, you won’t remember everything that happened here and in your past life. But that’s basically the same as having a guaranteed GAME CLEAR, in your terms.”
Having an assured future was my long-term goal when I was alive back then. It seemed like a compelling idea until I heard about the second choice.
“Second choice: You will be reincarnated in another world with all your memories intact, and I will grant you a power unique only to you, and it will help you fulfill the condition that comes with this choice.”
Curious, I ask her what the condition is.
“The condition?” A crooked smirk appeared on her face, turning her haughty tone into something vicious. “Conquer the world.”
My eyes widened in surprise, the weight of her words starting to add to my fear-turned-excitement.
“There is a prophecy in this world that if the reincarnation of Typhon–the cataclysmic world-ending being of the past–attains something of unimaginable power and influence, he will destroy the world.”
Filya speaks with complete urgency, “You must conquer the world to stop Typhon’s reincarnation from attaining such power because, at this point, no one in this world is showing promise to become the world’s strongest."
After a small pause, I asked her, "What do you mean?"
"The throne is empty and he can take it anytime.”
After she finished explaining, I was given some time to think about my decision.
A safe, fulfilled, and assured life? Or a dangerous life with a chance for absolute glory?
I could never pass up on this opportunity, I said to myself, and I thought I'd never hesitate. I can return back to the real world and be born to rich parents. I’d have tasty food to eat every day, get the games I want, and in the future, I’d die of old age with my life fully satisfied and fulfilled until the very end. While my life in provincial Japan was a bit bland and boring at times, it was a life I'd want to return back to.
But the concept of determinism disgusts me.
“Can you tell me more about which power you'll give me?” As soon as I asked her that, her lips curled into a smirk as if she already knew what my choice was.
“I can’t tell you which power because the World Administrator grants it to you. I'm simply the overseer of this world, I cannot decide things for you.”
“Then–”
“Ughh shut up!” Filya gritted her teeth at my continued barrage of questions. With one flick of a finger, I stood up on my two feet as she pushed me outside the door. “I’m giving you some traits to make your life in this world easier, on top of what you’ll receive.”
“Hey–” I tried to stop my legs from moving while she was pushing me, but I couldn’t. I should probably learn to stop resisting in the presence of this goddess. “I haven’t chosen yet!”
“But you’ve already made up your mind, right?” I could feel Filya using all of her body weight to push me towards the door, with her light grunts indicating her struggle. “Good luck-urgh, Otherworlder! May the Aether guide you among the river of stars.”
“H-hey, what does that mean?! Are you wishing for me to die again?”
“It’s a saying, dumbass!”
The door opened to a blindingly bright light, causing me to close my eyes. I could feel my body hover in the air, the strong gust of wind making it seem like I was flying. Wherever it will take me, I hope it wouldn't be somewhere dangerous.
The light seeping from my eyes significantly dimmed, and the cool breeze of the tropical, rural area that’s so familiar to me blew across me. Opening my eyes, I am greeted with a sight of a forest clearing and the chirping of the birds. I found myself still wearing the same black hoodie and gray pants from "heaven," or wherever I was reincarnated with the goddess, along with a pair of rubber slippers.
At the center of the clearing was a freshwater lake reflecting the afternoon sun. White ducks with yellow beaks are swimming gently above the lake–the kind that exists on Earth.
As I observed my surroundings, the thought that this was another world flew out of my mind. So far, there was nothing notable that separates this world from Earth.
I noticed a cold, slightly heavy weight of metal in my hoodie pocket. I pull it out to see a strange metallic plate with letters I haven’t seen before, but I could somehow read it. “Status Plate” is what it said.
The Status Plate glows blue for a quick moment before three holographic interfaces popped up from within it.
NAME: Luck LVL 10
Life Points LP : 110 Aether ATH: 110
Class: Dicemaster Equipped Weapon: Six-faced White Die
,,,
[Gift from the Goddess]
“By receiving the gift of the Goddess, you must not forget your true purpose in this world.”
10+ LVL UP↑
Class Set to Unique Class: Dicemaster
,,,
[Otherworlder’s Gift]
“Speak with goodness and greatness, for the vilest of words must be paid with your tongue.”
Granted the innate ability to communicate in Traevilyan.
,,,
[Dicemaster’s Covenant]
“Journey in isolation and hardship, Dicemaster. This is a covenant you made.”
Class Change is restricted.
Weapon Change is restricted.
Interclass Skill Sharing is restricted.
Portable storage class items are restricted.
LUCK is permanently set to -50.
When joining a party, your all party members' defense and attack is set to 0 until the party disbands.
All types of Evolution success rates are permanently set to 100%.
,,,
Message from Filya:
Item Attached: [Otherworlder’s Backpack]
"I made sure of granting you the trait to understand Traevilyan, Melsion's primary language! Aside from that, you'll find a guidebook on the fundamental aspects of Melsion. I wrote it myself, so be sure to follow everything there (* ^ ω ^). There is also a weapon selector at the end of the guidebook once you read everything. Make sure not to lose it!"
,,,
WORLD ADMINISTRATOR
Because of [Dicemaster’s Covenant], the backpack from [Gift from the Goddess] has not been granted.
Lots of terms I don't know here. And my name in this world is Luck? Ironic, considering my luck stat was basically negative.
From what I can understand, my unique class, Dicemaster, doesn’t have too many special skills to begin with. “The power I get should give me an advantage when starting in this world,” said the goddess. And the backpack that should give me a guidebook and a weapon wasn't granted. What kind of fuckery is this world playing at? Not that it might be useful after all, since my passive skill [Gift of the Goddess] didn’t allow me to use any weapon. That said, how am I supposed to fight monsters with a die?
I put the Status Plate back into my pocket before attempting to test my only skill.
And... I don't know how to cast a skill yet. Do I press it while my interface is active? Do I cast it verbally? Hoping it's the latter, I verbally spoke the name of my skill, “Dice Roll.”
A formation of blue crystals suddenly accumulated at a single point above my palm. I hovered my hand below the blue crystals that looked like it was materializing something, all while doing so instinctively.
“This must be aether, then?” I presumed as I carefully observe the translucent crystals.
The aether above my hand slowly faded into the air as the die materializes fully. It starts to spin quickly before coming to a complete stop as soon as it landed on my palm. The number on the top of the die is... one.
[DICE ROLL: 1]
Unlucky... I muttered a curse under my breath before pocketing the Status Plate and retracting its holographic menu back into itself.
Suddenly, I heard a high-pitched clicking noise coming from the other side of the forest clearing. Emerging from the forest is a beetle that was nearly as big as a dog. It stared at me for a few seconds before it clicked once again--this time, it was more high pitched that it hurt my ears.
The clicking noise soon multiplied exponentially from the background of the forest, and as if that isn’t enough to knock me to my senses, the beetle charged toward me, along with probably its entire family emerging from the forest. Without a weapon or even a viable skill for protection, there was only one thing I could do in this situation.
I started to run as fast as I can into the forest, relying on the belief that I was faster than the beetles and that I'd find help along the way. While running, it didn’t take long for me to assume what my dice roll skill does.
“What the hell, Filya, this class is fucking shit!”
Hello, I'm TSR and this is my first post here! I mainly post on RoyalRoad, but I plan to upload all my chapters here in HFY in hopes of getting feedback about the story and criticism as well. I hope you enjoy it!

Hey there, hope you're all having a good day so far. I'm a 27 year old Korean. I like to cook, bake, take walks and hang out with friends when I’m not gaming. Over the years I’ve slowly been losing friends in person because of lack of communication and the stress of being an adult/different life choices. As of now, I'm trying to find people to talk with on discord, to watch shows together or play some games haha.
In league I’m looking for a duo to climb with in League of Legends. I'm pretty relaxed and like humor, I can match other people's energy or be goofy sometimes too. (Would like to meet other Koreans too). I'm looking for people who are 18+ in age
I play Jung/ADC and I'm Plat 3.
I'm looking for people who are chill, people who I can vibe with and climb with as we see our mistakes, pref gold
Don’t worry, Oppa or Hyung will carry you haha(You’ll most likely be carrying me)
I just got Tiny Tina Borderlands and I'm trying to find people to play with.
I'm trying to find people to play with in order to play Diablo 4, get back into something like WoW (For the Horde), Destiny 2, FFXIV Online or even Lost Ark. I play Terraria but everytime my friends and I get to the damn Moonlord they quit, happened TWICE ALREADY.
Other than gaming, I like to watch shows together with people. We can watch shows together. I watch all type of shows and movies. Animes, Kdrama, Animations, Marvel, DC, Cartoons\*\*Some examples are:\*\*Code Geass (English Dub, only English Dub I'll watch), FMA Brotherhood, Stranger Things, Arcane, Loki, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Adventure Time, 1899, Mostly all of the Marvel movies besides the latest ones, Some DC stuff, Amphebia, Owl House.
**What I can provide:**
* Someone you can build a friendship with at a comfortable pace
* Someone who will be there to listen when you got something to say
* Someone with humor and is open minded
* Someone that can give you space when you need it and accept you with open arms when you come back
* Someone who will question your terrible plays
* Someone who will communicate and not just leave out of no where
* Someone you can vibe with
**What I seek:**
* Someone that wants to build a foundation up and build a friendship up at a comfortable pace
* Someone with humor and is open minded
* Someone who won't just leave, someone who will communicate
* Someone who I can vibe with
I'm available after 7pm EST most of the time unless I have a day off
If you message me, tell me about yourself. Like something interesting about yourself, what type of games you play, what shows do you like to watch.
I apologize in advance if I don't message you back, I'm bad at it especially on reddit and I'm working on it.

So this trip was pretty intense, it started well I don’t remember to be honest but all of a sudden, the wall I had been looking at, it for some reason was like the floor in my room like the gravity shifted and like I felt like I was falling, but at the same time, it felt as if my bed was some sort of a space ship just floating off the ground keeping me safe and making sure I stayed on board. Then all of a sudden I see like a army of these big muscular looking entity’s made of rock, and they did not seem friendly, they seemed like warriors of some kind. Pretty intense trip, not sure what to make of it tbh.

I rested my chin on the palm of my hand, overlooking the serene, green scenery of the rice fields outside of my classroom. The mountains stood tall and unmoving from afar, dividing the clouds that pass through its summit. I sigh in relaxation, appreciating the peaceful surroundings that one cannot find in the cities.
I snapped out of my quiet trance as a small truck carrying hay passed by the road, and I once again noticed the faint yet consistent mashes of buttons coming from my only friend in the province. Since our teacher announced that she had to leave class early, leaving us in class for the rest of our last period today, my friend over to my right has been playing the newly released game nonstop. The new MMORPG game, Alterra.
My blonde-haired friend Hirato was playing on a portable gaming console. His back has been arched towards the console for the past 15 minutes, his eyes are practically glued to the console’s screen. I inched my seat toward him to take a closer look. He was trying to defeat a monster resembling a three-headed snake—a Hydra. His character’s health was one hit away from hitting zero, but the Hydra was practically undamaged.
“Hey, Hirato,” I called him. “How long are you going to play that game?”
“Awww, I died!” He says exasperatedly, leaning back on his chair in annoyance. “I’ve been trying to beat this boss since yesterday and there’s no luck at all! I even have my gear maxed out for this level, and still...”
Hirato continued speaking as he packed his console into his backpack, “I wouldn’t have any problem at all had you continued playing video games with me. You could help me beat the boss, you know."
Then, Hirato started to make some "drama" in a weird, playful manner. "Come on, Naruki! We were best buddies since we were kids! Whatever must have happened between us, my best friend?” The bell rings across the school building, indicating the end of classes for the day. At the same time, I made a disgusted look at him after saying something corny that must have come from some TV show.
“Stop it with that little skit of yours. We are still best buddies, but I’ve grown up from playing games. Remember, we’re going to college next year and I’ve been preparing for it ever since.” I grabbed my bag from beneath my seat, and just as I stood up, the wooden plank I stood on creaked.
"That's not true, and there's no way you'll pass up on an MMORPG like Alterra! There's no way you stopped playing just for college." Hirato claimed, but he quickly switched into a pondering tone. “Though you made me think about college. You want to go to Tokyo University from what I recall, but I thought you were tired of the city because it’s too crowded there?” He asked.
“It’ll give me a greater chance to get hired for a job with a high salary. My dad also said that it takes some time to get used to the city when I’ve been living all my life in the rice fields.” I ignored Hirato's first statement--but it's true. There's no way I can quit gaming, so I lied to him about it, but I also don't want to take precious time off when I'm studying for a test that will literally decide my future.
“You’re already thinking of your future far ahead.”
“Well, do you want to stay in this school?”
As I took another step towards the door, the wood plank creaked again, filling the short silence in Hirato’s pause.
“...You make a point.” He uttered in agreement.
My school was a single-story building with multiple rooms, occupied by a few students in different grades. To add, we were also the only third-year high school students in the school. Everything here is made of thin wood and paper, and the wooden flooring creaked ever so often that if we step on it the wrong way, it might literally collapse the floor. This building was so old that I’d be having a family reunion with the souls of my family from five generations ago every school day.
The cool breeze of the late afternoon blew toward us as we made our way to the paved dirt road.
"By the way, Hirato."
"Hm?"
"I lied. I'm actually playing Alterra. Since it released."
"Wha-- Then why won't you play co-op with me?!" Hirato was almost screaming in my face, taken aback by my lie.
"Because you're stupid. Why would you cast "Damage Reflect" on Hydra's one-turn kill when you're barely alive? Plus, it won't even damage the Hydra because the game recognizes the reflected damage as an effect, and the boss is immune to any effect."
"Urgh... Watch me beat that Hydra tomorrow, you'll regret not playing with me!"
"Do your best, Hirato. See you tomorrow," I sarcastically said to him as I watched my best friend run to his home, probably excited to try out what I just said. After all, I'm way past his level, so I can't even play with him without ruining his casual experience. It's time to go home for me as well, but the next bus stop is an hour from now. Maybe I'll play for a bit while waiting.
It was the scent of fresh air and the quiet atmosphere that separates urban life from rural life. Most people prefer convenience, while the minority prefer peacefulness. I'm part of the latter, but I still want to get a job in the city. Even if I'm still unsure what I wanted to be in the future.
“Hey, you brat!” A faint, old man’s voice screamed from the rice fields beside the paved road. “Watch out, the ground is dangerous there! Didn’t you see the sign?!”
My thoughts were cut off as I heard him shout at me with great urgency. After my eyes dart to the old man, I abruptly turn to see that there was a sign on the side of the road on both sides that said [ENTRY CLOSED]. Why wasn’t there any blockage? But it was my fault for not paying close attention to my surroundings.
“I’m sorry, mister. I didn’t see it earlier.” I apologized in a nonchalant manner, mostly because I still didn't realize the gravity of the situation at this time.
“Let go of your bag. Climb over the fence towards me. Now,” says the man.
While I didn’t know what could be so dangerous about this road that warrants an urgent reaction, I trusted him. But before I could even drop my bag, the ground starts to sink with me in the center.
It was only then that fear started to settle within me. My heart sank from my inability to do anything as my mind tried to process what was happening and what was about to befall. My legs shook from the sinking ground as well, to control my balance. I cannot feel the center of gravity in my feet anymore.
In a desperate attempt to escape from the sinking ground, I jumped, trying to outrun the sinking before I go along with it.
Yet it was too late.
The ground crumbled beneath me, revealing a sinkhole. All the adrenaline in my body surges instantly, slowing down time and making the fall to my imminent death seem like an eternity. The rocks from the ground begin to break apart and fall as if it wants to bury me as well if I wasn't dead yet from the fall.
Strangely enough, I thought that when my time comes, I’ll accept Death and warmly embrace it, but it’s too soon and unfair. My arms are both outstretched to the sunlight above, as my mind screams, “I don’t want to die yet!”
The falling rocks fully cover the sunlight as I fully plunge into the darkness, and along it with me as well. Thankfully with the darkness blinding what seems to be my body being crushed and mutilated by the heavy rocks, it only felt like I fell asleep, never to wake up again.
Good night, world.
My eyes slowly fluttered open to a familiar ceiling; particularly, my bedroom. The dark blue-painted star walls and the transparent curtain were both familiar, yet in front of me was some child using my computer. The window outside is also blindingly bright which made it seem impossible to peek outside.
“Um...” I didn’t know what else to say, so I tried to get the young girl’s attention
“Mhmhm!” A proud, laughing sneer came from the child. Still sitting on my gaming chair, she turned around to face me, her shoulders crossed and an arrogant expression that ticks me off for some reason.
“Welcome to the afterlife, Naruhaya Tabito. I have chosen you to–wait, who the FUCK are you?!” Her arrogant expression transforms into a mix of confusion, panic, and surprise after she opened her eyes.
“I should be the one saying that!” I exclaimed back, but I did not get a response because she quickly turned to the monitor. Upon standing up from my bed, I notice that the sounds of mouse clicking and keyboard pressing were all attributed to her--playing Alterra?
If this was the afterlife... It didn't look too bad. The events that transpired earlier haven’t registered in my mind yet.
“Hey, am I really dead?” I asked her.
The young girl was typing before she exclaimed in panic, “No no no...! You’re really dead! I killed the wrong person!”
“I see.” I didn’t know how to react to my death, but I also didn't feel sad or sentimental. I didn’t have much going on in the real world before I died, after all.
The young girl paused her game as she turned around to face me. “It’s because you aren’t supposed to die! I may have pressed your name accidentally while I was looking for a suitable candidate in the Living Database...” She sighs as she sinks into her chair. “Well, I suppose it’s not that big of a deal.”
The girl stood on the gaming chair, clad in a red-colored robe with a two-pointed hat that almost resembled horns. Her red-toned eyes glinted with the light of the bright window.
“Naruki Haruhito, sit,” With one downward motion of her finger, I immediately felt a strong, compelling force that made me sit on the bed.
“My name is Filya, and I am the Goddess of Creation! Your Creator, and the One Above All!” She introduces herself with her arms crossed. It appears to me that she was trying to act superior and intimidating, but her haughty attitude, matched with her small stature, made it seem like she really was someone’s kid lost in my bedroom who was cosplaying as an anime character.
“You’re a child,” Even at this point in the afterlife, I do not believe her being the world’s creator for a bit.
“Wha–” Filya is taken aback by what I said. “I'm not a child, I'm a goddess! Respect and worship me, you dimwitted mortal, should you desire not to die a second time and leave your soul wandering in the empty void of space.”
While she was speaking, I couldn't move a single inch from the bed. Even if she was a goddess, it's impossible not to take her seriously because she looks like a child scolding her older brother.
Filya raised two fingers before saying, “As a token of apology for wrongfully smiting you, I’ll give you two choices. First choice: You can return back to the real world as a baby of a rich family, and you will be a prodigy who will basically have an easy life from that period until his death of old age. Of course, you won’t remember everything that happened here and in your past life. But that’s basically the same as having a guaranteed GAME CLEAR, in your terms.”
Having an assured future was my long-term goal when I was alive back then. It seemed like a compelling idea until I heard about the second choice.
“Second choice: You will be reincarnated in another world with all your memories intact, and I will grant you a power unique only to you, and it will help you fulfill the condition that comes with this choice.”
Curious, I ask her what the condition is.
“The condition?” A crooked smirk appeared on her face, turning her haughty tone into something vicious. “Conquer the world.”
My eyes widened in surprise, the weight of her words starting to add to my fear-turned-excitement.
“There is a prophecy in this world that if the reincarnation of Typhon–the cataclysmic world-ending being of the past–attains something of unimaginable power and influence, he will destroy the world.”
Filya speaks with complete urgency, “You must conquer the world to stop Typhon’s reincarnation from attaining such power because, at this point, no one in this world is showing promise to become the world’s strongest."
After a small pause, I asked her, "What do you mean?"
"The throne is empty and he can take it anytime.”
After she finished explaining, I was given some time to think about my decision.
A safe, fulfilled, and assured life? Or a dangerous life with a chance for absolute glory?
I could never pass up on this opportunity, I said to myself, and I thought I'd never hesitate. I can return back to the real world and be born to rich parents. I’d have tasty food to eat every day, get the games I want, and in the future, I’d die of old age with my life fully satisfied and fulfilled until the very end. While my life in provincial Japan was a bit bland and boring at times, it was a life I'd want to return back to.
But the concept of determinism disgusts me.
“Can you tell me more about which power you'll give me?” As soon as I asked her that, her lips curled into a smirk as if she already knew what my choice was.
“I can’t tell you which power because the World Administrator grants it to you. I'm simply the overseer of this world, I cannot decide things for you.”
“Then–”
“Ughh shut up!” Filya gritted her teeth at my continued barrage of questions. With one flick of a finger, I stood up on my two feet as she pushed me outside the door. “I’m giving you some traits to make your life in this world easier, on top of what you’ll receive.”
“Hey–” I tried to stop my legs from moving while she was pushing me, but I couldn’t. I should probably learn to stop resisting in the presence of this goddess. “I haven’t chosen yet!”
“But you’ve already made up your mind, right?” I could feel Filya using all of her body weight to push me towards the door, with her light grunts indicating her struggle. “Good luck-urgh, Otherworlder! May the Aether guide you among the river of stars.”
“H-hey, what does that mean?! Are you wishing for me to die again?”
“It’s a saying, dumbass!”
The door opened to a blindingly bright light, causing me to close my eyes. I could feel my body hover in the air, the strong gust of wind making it seem like I was flying. Wherever it will take me, I hope it wouldn't be somewhere dangerous.
The light seeping from my eyes significantly dimmed, and the cool breeze of the tropical, rural area that’s so familiar to me blew across me. Opening my eyes, I am greeted with a sight of a forest clearing and the chirping of the birds. I found myself still wearing the same black hoodie and gray pants from "heaven," or wherever I was reincarnated with the goddess, along with a pair of rubber slippers.
At the center of the clearing was a freshwater lake reflecting the afternoon sun. White ducks with yellow beaks are swimming gently above the lake–the kind that exists on Earth.
As I observed my surroundings, the thought that this was another world flew out of my mind. So far, there was nothing notable that separates this world from Earth.
I noticed a cold, slightly heavy weight of metal in my hoodie pocket. I pull it out to see a strange metallic plate with letters I haven’t seen before, but I could somehow read it. “Status Plate” is what it said.
The Status Plate glows blue for a quick moment before three holographic interfaces popped up from within it.
NAME: Luck LVL 10
Life Points LP : 110 Aether ATH: 110
Class: Dicemaster Equipped Weapon: Six-faced White Die
,,,
[Gift from the Goddess]
“By receiving the gift of the Goddess, you must not forget your true purpose in this world.”
10+ LVL UP↑
Class Set to Unique Class: Dicemaster
,,,
[Otherworlder’s Gift]
“Speak with goodness and greatness, for the vilest of words must be paid with your tongue.”
Granted the innate ability to communicate in Traevilyan.
,,,
[Dicemaster’s Covenant]
“Journey in isolation and hardship, Dicemaster. This is a covenant you made.”
Class Change is restricted.
Weapon Change is restricted.
Interclass Skill Sharing is restricted.
Portable storage class items are restricted.
LUCK is permanently set to -50.
When joining a party, your all party members' defense and attack is set to 0 until the party disbands.
All types of Evolution success rates are permanently set to 100%.
,,,
Message from Filya:
Item Attached: [Otherworlder’s Backpack]
"I made sure of granting you the trait to understand Traevilyan, Melsion's primary language! Aside from that, you'll find a guidebook on the fundamental aspects of Melsion. I wrote it myself, so be sure to follow everything there (* ^ ω ^). There is also a weapon selector at the end of the guidebook once you read everything. Make sure not to lose it!"
,,,
WORLD ADMINISTRATOR
Because of [Dicemaster’s Covenant], the backpack from [Gift from the Goddess] has not been granted.
Lots of terms I don't know here. And my name in this world is Luck? Ironic, considering my luck stat was basically negative.
From what I can understand, my unique class, Dicemaster, doesn’t have too many special skills to begin with. “The power I get should give me an advantage when starting in this world,” said the goddess. And the backpack that should give me a guidebook and a weapon wasn't granted. What kind of fuckery is this world playing at? Not that it might be useful after all, since my passive skill [Gift of the Goddess] didn’t allow me to use any weapon. That said, how am I supposed to fight monsters with a die?
I put the Status Plate back into my pocket before attempting to test my only skill.
And... I don't know how to cast a skill yet. Do I press it while my interface is active? Do I cast it verbally? Hoping it's the latter, I verbally spoke the name of my skill, “Dice Roll.”
A formation of blue crystals suddenly accumulated at a single point above my palm. I hovered my hand below the blue crystals that looked like it was materializing something, all while doing so instinctively.
“This must be aether, then?” I presumed as I carefully observe the translucent crystals.
The aether above my hand slowly faded into the air as the die materializes fully. It starts to spin quickly before coming to a complete stop as soon as it landed on my palm. The number on the top of the die is... one.
[DICE ROLL: 1]
Unlucky... I muttered a curse under my breath before pocketing the Status Plate and retracting its holographic menu back into itself.
Suddenly, I heard a high-pitched clicking noise coming from the other side of the forest clearing. Emerging from the forest is a beetle that was nearly as big as a dog. It stared at me for a few seconds before it clicked once again--this time, it was more high pitched that it hurt my ears.
The clicking noise soon multiplied exponentially from the background of the forest, and as if that isn’t enough to knock me to my senses, the beetle charged toward me, along with probably its entire family emerging from the forest. Without a weapon or even a viable skill for protection, there was only one thing I could do in this situation.
I started to run as fast as I can into the forest, relying on the belief that I was faster than the beetles and that I'd find help along the way. While running, it didn’t take long for me to assume what my dice roll skill does.
“What the hell, Filya, this class is fucking shit!”
Hello, I'm TSR and this is my first post here! I mainly post on RoyalRoad, but I plan to upload all my chapters here in HFY in hopes of getting feedback about the story and criticism as well. I hope you enjoy!

I have devised a test that will challenge nearly all writers now and hold them to their values as a writer. The purpose of the test is to both allow you, as the writer, to determine what kind of aesthetic you're going for, as well as for us to understand if we can relate to your aesthetic. This part of your writing mentality will determine everything you do as a writer, down to what you write and why. The test is simple, a series of 22 multiple choice questions where you write down your answers on your own, and then once you're done, you scroll down to the next section where each answer is explained.
If you score over 16 answers into a particular category, you are highly likely to be part of that category. Anything further mixed will cause you to instantly be a postmodernist, but in a way where your aesthetic is incoherent rather than beneficial. If there is a question that you don't really believe the answer to, just go with whatever is closest to your thought. Also if you find multiple answers that you believe are correct in a single question, just go with whatever you think is the MOST important.
How accurate is this test exactly? Well, we're going to find out!
​

1. When I am inspired by an older work, I try to:

A. Copy it
B. Subvert it
C. Expand upon it
D. Make it inclusive
​

1. I write to:

A. Entertain
B. Guide others
C. Represent
D. Learn about myself
​

1. Compared to everything else in a story, I think people should be more interested in:

A. Originality
B. The theme
C. Equity
D. Having fun
​

1. My style of writing can closely be compared to:

A. Activism
B. Pulp
C. Exploitation
D. Fables
​

1. When analyzing a story, the correct basepoint is:

A. Author's intent
B. Reader's interpretation
C. Objective symbolism
D. Sensitivity reading
​

1. It's important for my characters to:

A. Present a part of me
B. Represent minorities
C. Have fun
D. Fit an archetype
​

1. The classics of the past are:

A. Superior
B. A good jumping point
C. Something that needs to be subverted
D. Patriarchal, racist, sexist, and homophobic
​

1. I firmly believe that characters:

A. Have a mind of their own
B. Are there to represent real groups of people
C. Are archetypes in a collective unconscious
D. Can be whatever the reader thinks they are
​

1. It is important that my writing:

A. Tells the truth
B. Is creative
C. Gives a voice to minorities, especially BIPOC and LGBT
D. Is open for interpretation
​

1. To understand my work, my readers are intended to be:

A. Anyone, but mostly myself
B. Highly spiritual and simple
C. Fellow advocates of equity and marginalized representation
D. Well versed in art and language
​

1. Traditional forms of writing are to be:

A. Deconstructed
B. Used as a loose guide combined with experimentation
C. Labeled as oppressive and elitist, because they are
D. Closely followed because they work
​

1. My aesthetic:

A. Fits a particular, essential, form
B. Is known to me, but changes with the times
C. Can’t be labeled, and don’t you dare try to
D. Is part of my identity; sexually, racially, and as my gender
​

1. Everything is:

A. Subjective
B. Political
C. Objective
D. Relative
​

1. The theme of my story will:

A. Be determined before I write it
B. Be learned as I go
C. Help the marginalized be seen in a better light
D. Never matter in the scheme of things
​

1. The most important step in my writing is:

A. Sensitivity reading
B. Editing
C. Outlining
D. Act of writing
​

1. Storytelling is most important for representing:

A. Truthful aspects of life
B. Marginalized groups
C. Whatever the reader wants
D. The individual
​

1. Knowledge is gained from:

A. Divinity
B. Lived experience
C. Nothing
D. Pragmatic action
​

1. We can make the world better by focusing on:

A. Whatever you want
B. Scientific advancements
C. Equity
D. The truth
​

1. Genre is there to:

A. Tell the reader exactly what they’re getting into
B. Expand as you create your own
C. Juxtapose to play with
D. Add women, LGBT, and BIPOC to it for inclusivity
​

1. The moral of the story will resonate best with the audience when it’s:

A. Based on evolutionary principles
B. In line with the divine
C. Advocating for equity
D. Open for interpretation
​

1. The future of storytelling needs to:

A. Stop caring about quality
B. Go back to how things were
C. Have more marginalized representation
D. Experiment more for originality
​

1. The first thing to mention from a character, before anything else, is/are:

A. Their race, gender, and sexual orientation
B. A theme that ties to their purpose in the story
C. Descriptions that let us know who the character is
D. Whatever the writer wants

Answer Key and Explanation

There you go, test is over. How did you do? Are you still sweating? Just like in those nightmares where you are tested on something and you didn't study, huh? Well, the hard part is done and now we get to see the results. In the words of Filmbrain, I'm so excited.

Question 1

A. Pre-modernist
B. Postmodernist
C. Modernist
D. Woke
This question goes over how you view works that helped you get to where you are now as a writer. Where most people will make an homage to their inspirations, the postmodernist and the woke will try to use that inspiration to create their own content that is a rejection of the past. Pre-modernists don’t dare to change something that works because if it isn’t broken then there’s no reason to fix it. The modernist will find something broken and try to enhance it, usually with a dialectic(synthesize two ends to make a different idea from the base component), but they will still respect the past and things that work.

Question 2

A. postmodernist
B. pre-modernist
C. woke
D. modernist
This question goes over why they would write in the first place, meaning the purpose of their writing. This question of telos reveals one of the most vulnerable areas of a writer, because learning why you want to even begin writing might spoil the fun of it for the postmodernist and also the modernist. The pre-modernist and woke will appear more preachy and confident with this answer, but they will have entirely different intentions since the pre-modernist wants to stick to a truth and the woke wants to stick to a narrative. The difference is that the woke advocate while the pre-modernist accepts and teaches. The modernist can be seen as selfish for trying to understand themselves through an author’s journey, but the postmodernist is the most selfish with this one due to their personal conceptualization of the word “entertainment”.

Question 3

A. Modernist
B. Pre-modernist
C. Woke
D. Postmodernist
This question goes over what the entire story is based around, meaning the intended reason a reader would even bother partaking in interacting with the work. A key word for the woke is the word “equity”, meaning they want equal outcome, no matter what. This goes into media where the goal of woke media is to simply have a big name title include a person that happens to be with a group they feel is marginalized, meaning socially excluded or of minor importance. The postmodernist and modernist don't care about any of this, which is why they will appear similar, but the difference is that the modernist cares about originality like no other, especially at the cost of relatability. The pre-modernist will care about the theme because a good message causes a good argument to be had from your work, which is how a pre-modernist interacts with their readers.

Question 4

A. Woke
B. Modernist
C. Postmodernist
D. Pre-modernist
This question goes over style, which causes the writer to relate themselves to others and their inspirations. The woke is a political activist, so activism is always on their mind, and in their work, even when they claim it’s not. The modernist and pre-modernist appear similar in this department, but the key difference is that the pre-modernist will write easily repeatable stories that dwindle down into idioms over time(ex. The tortoise and the hare), while the modernist will draw out a story to have many adventures involving one single character. This question will also cause the postmodernist to become defensive because for some reason they are always insulted by the idea of their style being called “exploitation”, even though the goal of it is to exploit and contain sensationalism.

Question 5

A. Modernist
B. Postmodernist
C. Pre-modernist
D. Woke
This Question goes over what a writer uses to determine the most valid interpretation, which is now a hot topic due to people unable to agree. This is due to different mentalities determining who has the correct basepoint, and this is another area where the postmodernist and woke merge. The author is most important to the modernist because it is an individualistic position to hold and the individual author is meant to know the most about their writing, since it came from their mind. However, the pre-modernist believes that there’s something beyond the personal interpretation that is correct, so their goal is to get closer to that objective position to increase their cogency and relatability.

Question 6

A. Modernist
B. Woke
C. Postmodernist
D. Pre-modernist
This question goes over what the characters are standing for in a story. It may have caused the woke to think they are modernist, because self representation and marginalized representation are similar when the author believes they are marginalized. However this is different because the modernist form allows non-marginalized people to still represent themselves, which is why classic works have a lot of elitism from the 1800s and 1900s. Postmodernists will focus on playfulness. The pre-modernist will want their story to represent larger aspects of the human experience, as well as the things that go beyond human, such as the divine.

Question 7

A. Pre-modernist
B. Modernist
C. Postmodernist
D. Woke
This question goes over how the writer views the things people say they like and have liked for generations. When something goes beyond a trend, it presents itself as tried and true, with the postmodernists and woke determining that these things must be destroyed. Subversion is an attempt to change something entirely to then have people focus on the change, very much like a sex change. This is why the postmodernist and woke answer will appear similar, but so would the modernist answer. The difference is that the modernist answer will still show respect to the classics, just that the modernist will expand upon it, usually in a pulp form that has a single protagonist engage with a collection of multiple adventures from prior, like how sitcoms share a catalog of episode types.

Question 8

A. Modernist
B. Woke
C. Pre-modernist
D. Postmodernist
This question goes over what a character is as a form of symbolism and representation. This is where the woke and pre-modernist seem similar in their answer, but the big difference is that the pre-modernist is far more open on how something is symbolically relevant. The postmodernist will throw all of the responsibility onto the reader, whether it's due to a sort of nihilism or the absence of integrity. Modernist writers like to claim their characters are "alive", which is a first step into demanding realism that isn't really realistic.

Question 9

A. Pre-modernist
B. Modernist
C. Woke
D. Postmodernist
This question goes over what the writer puts in a hierarchy of dependency and focus, which then translates into their reasoning for why they write in the first place. The pre-modernist is the only one who will try to tell the truth in this aspect, because there is a focus on truth and objectivity. The modernist can easily set that aside in order to be creative, but will see creativity as truth, which might make their answers seem similar. This question also is where the postmodernists split away from woke, because the postmodernist will leave it to the reader, while the woke demands the reader to listen to the author’s intent.

Question 10

A. Postmodernist
B. Pre-modernist
C. Woke
D. Modernist
This question goes over the requirements a reader must meet in order to enjoy a woke, which is a barrier, not a bridge. The postmodernist doesn’t believe in a barrier, so they will believe anyone will love their work, but the work is written to themselves, for themselves, by themselves. The woke only intends to appeal to fellow allies, meaning a political barrier is created, and intentionally created. The modernist will create a sort of “elitist” barrier, which relates to the hipster movement. Pre-modernists intend on making their works accessible to anyone, since most of these works were intended to have word of mouth(memes) transfer the ideas between groups and cultures, making it the most approachable.

Question 11

A. Postmodernist
B. Modernist
C. Woke
D. Pre-modernist
This question goes over how the writer views the past, which is another question about how they treat homage and works around them. The postmodernist firmly demands deconstruction of the past because the past is there to mess with rather than respect. Modernists seem similar in their way of changing things, but they will still respect the past and instead use experimentation, which is to retain the bulk of an idea and add a few things to see what happens, like a spice being added to a dish. The woke will determine the past is offensive and this is why they want already established IPs to be changed, as well as the previous installments to be hidden from the masses.

Question 12

A. Pre-modernist
B. Modernist
C. Postmodernist
D. Woke
This question goes over how a writer views themselves. The postmodernist is highly allergic to labels, because the label presents an objective idea, where they demand everything to be subjective. This is where the woke completely contradicts the postmodernist, because the label is to be the most important thing possible to the woke, but only as self-identity, making it the most selfish of the choices. Modernists are confident in who they are, but they are easily changed, especially if they believe in a dialectic. The pre-modernist and modernist can both believe in an essential form, but modernists change with time which is why trends are constantly changing, due to the “originality” factor.

Question 13

A. Postmodernist
B. Woke
C. Pre-modernist
D. Modernist
This question goes over ontology, the nature of being. The second someone believes everything is a particular thing, they will apply that particular thing to their work. This is why woke people now say “everything is political” and then apply their politics to the work. The postmodernist is allergic to this idea, because they don’t like the label of political, so this is where the postmodernist will try to blend in with the other two. Pre-modernists will apply an objective idea to their works, which brings up their idea of truth, which brings in form, which reduces originality. This is where the relativity of the modernist will try to fill in the gap, by focusing on “originality” to counter the pre-modernist.

Question 14

A. Pre-modernist
B. Modernist
C. Woke
D. Postmodernist
This question goes over the message of a story, which relates to the telos(purpose) of a work. The woke will focus on political messaging and advocacy, with their advocacy focusing on making the groups they like feel better about themselves. The postmodernist doesn’t really care about the theme, because the message will be determined by the reader, so they don’t put a focus on that, which eventually hinders their works and prevents them from being deep. The modernist is focused on self discovery, which includes what they are saying with a work, and this is part of stream of consciousness. The pre-modernist and woke will appear similar with this answer, but the main difference is that the pre-modernist doesn’t make political or group advocacy and is higher resolution than that, which is where a lot of religious and spiritual aspects come in.

Question 15

A. Woke
B. Modernist
C. Pre-modernist
D. Postmodernist
This question goes over how a writer views the process, which relates to telos(purpose). The answer for pre-modernists results in outlining since the outline of a story matters more when you’re making sure your story both makes sense and gives a proper theme. The modernist usually gets confused between the act of writing and editing, which will make it hard for them to answer this one, but the postmodernist doesn’t care about editing since a lot of it is meant to look haggard anyway. Editing is usually related to dialectic thinking, because you take a base component and try to enhance it. The woke are the only ones who peddle sensitivity reading, because they aren’t looking for a truth, but rather something that prevents offending the groups they cater to. Although, this is a question the woke will tend to lie about because sensitivity reading isn’t as popular as they hoped it would be.

Question 16

A. Pre-modernist
B. Woke
C. Postmodernist
D. Modernist
This question goes over how a writer views their own writing in how things are symbolically represented. Part of it is symbolism and the other part is how they view the audience. Postmodernists don’t care, making them the outcasts of this question. A woke writer will confuse truth with their advocacy, depending on how sure of themselves they are, but they tend to catch themselves once they see the more specific choice, even though they will say the opposite in public. Modernists like to focus on the individual, because they view everyone as an island, which relates to this special snowflake idea that sparked with hipsters. Postmodernists can be confused for modernists with this aspect, due to that slight merge under the hipster mentality.

Question 17

A. Pre-modernist
B. Woke
C. Postmodernist
D. Modernist
This question goes over epistemology, the theory of how we gain our knowledge, with knowledge relating to what the author knows and what the reader knows. The postmodernist will try to throw all of the weight onto culture(social constructs), which is why they focus so much on mixing and appropriating media. The woke will convince people that a “lived experience” is the most important thing, which is how they convince others that only a black writer can write a black character, or only a gay writer can be trusted with gay characters. Although the woke now will contradict themselves to blend in with the postmodernist, which is where they can get confused. The modernist demands for things to be practiced, which can confuse them for a pre-modernist, since pre-modernism is about things that are tried and true. The difference is that modernists will expand their concept of knowledge to things that are practiced as an individual, which can cause forms of exclusivity and remove the essentialism that pre-modernists hold.

Question 18

A. Postmodernist
B. Modernist
C. Woke
D. Pre-modernist
This question goes over advocacy and demands for the market. The pre-modernist will sometimes be confused for a modernist here because the modernist will determine science as truth, even though science is limited and always changing(this ties back to relativism). The postmodernist is excluded from the rest as the only one placing all the burden on the individual(again), but here it is where they claim everyone is an island, which is maybe the only thing modernists and postmodernists agree with, when convenient. The difference is that modernists have faith in science while the postmodernist doesn’t, due to their hyper-subjectivity. This is how, for example, a postmodernist can believe in flat earth and a modernist doesn’t, even if both are praising individualism.

Question 19

A. Pre-modernist
B. modernist
C. postmodernist
D. woke
This question goes into aesthetics, specifically how the writer feels about the way we tell readers what’s in the book. The woke will add things to a genre that speaks to the groups they want to uplift, such as afro futurism and LGBT fantasy. This is where a pre-modernist and woke writer will get mixed, but the key difference is that pre-modernists still retain the definition of the genre and the woke will follow the postmodernist concept of stretching and subverting to be an interloper of a genre. Meanwhile, the modernist will take genres and combine them to expand upon them, like how modernist filmmakers combined German expressionism, crime dramas, and poetic realism to make noir.

Question 20

A. Modernist
B. Pre-modernist
C. Woke
D. postmodernist
This question goes over the ethics of a work, in how writers view the ethics of their readers(aka sympathy). This is the most important for the pre-modernist and the woke, but for different reasons. The woke demands for their readers to follow the same political narrative while the pre-modernist demands for the reader to be open for spirituality and religious meaning. In a way, the secular choices are postmodernist and modernist, but the modernist goes for a scientific approach while the postmodernist throws all of the burden on the reader(again).

Question 21

A. Postmodernist
B. Pre-modernist
C. Woke
D. Modernist
This question goes over the writer’s path and goal for following generations. Whichever one the majority follows will cause the trend to go along with it, which is what is later called a movement. Pre-modernists beg for a renaissance, a return to the classics, while the modernist doesn’t mind going further into new territory as long as they find it creative. The postmodernist doesn’t care about much, because they demand the highest quality to be on par with the lowest, which leaves the door open for any advocacy, which right now is the woke. The woke don’t care what the future holds in the same way the postmodernist does, but the one thing the woke add to it is the need for representation of groups they want in the media.

Question 22

A. Woke
B. Pre-modernist
C. Modernist
D. Postmodernist
This question goes over how the writer views their characters in the way they want the reader to view them as well. This is a priority of aesthetics, with the postmodernist throwing all of the aesthetic burden on the reader(again). Modernists demand the character to be very visual and “realistic” to where they can be seen as a real person, because the modernist views their character as “living” and “with a mind of their own”. The woke only cares about what group gets represented by a character, with anything else up for interpretation, which is where they merge with the postmodernist. The pre-modernist will focus mainly on themes and symbolism to have their characters make sense, which falls back to the idea of form and essentialism.

Conclusion

This test is to be used by anyone trying to figure out who they are and what kind of readers they will appeal to. Feel free to share it around, ask questions from it, expand upon it. Hell, make up your own test that is way better than this one. Again, I’m positive that if someone refuses to take the test, they are woke or postmodernist. Woke if they are too offended to take it and postmodernist if they are afraid of being labeled. I find that weird since the modernist proudly wears the badge with honor, the pre-modernist is happy to finally realize there is a label for them, but the postmodernist and woke are afraid of being found out about their intentions, as if their intentions are a bad thing when revealed.
To me, that is rather sinister, which is why the woke and the postmodernists are causing trouble in basically every forum, server, group, stream, wherever you interact with them. This wasn’t always the case. Before the postmodernists just wanted to have fun, but now they are dedicated to making sure others follow their agenda, and only their agenda, which is why postmodernists easily get mixed with the woke. There must be another name for that type of person, which isn’t woke but more like one who is egotistical to where they think it’s their way or the highway, even though they think everything is subjective. Woke is a branch of postmodernism, for sure, but the postmodernist is not supposed to take their subjectivity as objectivity, which seems to have started happening thanks to the critical theories that sparked wokeness to spread in the late 2010s.
Feel free to ask questions, let me know what you got as a score, suggest any further questions or fixes to the current ones. Remember, if you score over 16 on any category, you’re certainly of that mentality. I am also considering having it where if you score 1 on any woke question, then that means you’re instantly woke. So if you score 1 on woke but end up in another category, let me know as well to see how likely that is.
Next test I’m working on will go over your knowledge of writing, which will be 56 questions long with both multiple choice and written answers that will challenge writers on how worthy they are of being called good. I would like to have this one as a test to tell who knows what they’re doing and who doesn’t, with the questions going over:

1. Marketing
2. Theme
3. Narrative
4. Tone

I believe these 4 categories are what determine how willing a writer is to both sell a book and relate to the reader. If they get something like 80% or above, they know their stuff enough, but anything below that and they are unaware of how to sell something a person will buy.

[First] [Previous] [Next (coming soon)]
Mick's pistol because I want a cover image
Mick reference
Random drawing of Finn
Memory transcription subject: “Mick”, Venlil, Former mechanical engineer, Gunsmith apprentice
Date [Standardized Human Time]: November 17, 2136
​
We lined up outside of the facility where our first competition would be held. The official rules would have to be explained to us before we started, as is standard for these events. Finn had already given me most of the knowledge I needed, but I still had to listen to the instructor’s words, unless I wanted to do something wrong and be disqualified.
​
“Alright, is everyone here?” The instructor shouted. “Nobody unaccounted for? Perfect! I see some new faces here today, so I’m going to have to go over the rules again.”
​
“First up, the basic safety rules must be followed at all times, no exceptions, ever! Understood?”
​
The line of about 20 competitors all barked out an affirmative in unison, I followed shortly after.
​
“Good! Good. Second rule, prioritize safety above all else. If you see someone doing something wrong, or dangerous, or outright stupid, point it out to me or one of the other safety guys around. Understood?”
​
“Yes sir!” The whole line responded.
​
The instructor’s presence was quite hard to ignore, it seems this man has a history of yelling at people to get points across to their head.
​
“Good! Alright, third rule. Have fun, don't die.”
​
“Yes sir!” we all said again.
​
“If nobody has any questions, we shall begin! Whoever’s first, go to the line, hands on the door, then wait for instructions. I shall follow suit shortly. When you’re done with the course, make your way up to the catwalk, the view’s great from up there, trust me. For now, sit and wait for your turn.”
​
Finn turned to me and added onto the instructor’s advice. “Hey Mick, don’t expect to be able to sprint through the whole thing like last time, pace yourself, depending on how they set this up, this course could take anywhere from a minute to 10, we won’t know until we’re both done. They don’t want people to cheat, taking it blind is part of the fun with this style of comp.”
​
Finn looked a little tense, as if the anticipation was getting to him. I knew it was getting to me too, so no wonder it was getting to him. A while ago, I figured out that I didn’t feel things quite the same as most everyone else did. Things that made others incredibly disgusted only made me a little uncomfortable. I didn’t feel loneliness even after days worth of isolation. All of the time I spent was either working or sleeping, I didn’t feel the need for free time, and I liked having a lot of surplus money, so I worked. That was, at least until I found the exchange program. It paid a decent amount of money, so I was compelled to join up. These humans couldn’t be so bad, plus I needed something new to do. Fortunately, I had previously passed empathy tests, albeit barely. It registered enough of an empathetic response for me to pass undetected. I was legally free of predator disease.
​
Apparently, a few of the earliest exchange partners had a bug where they could share images, and we had that bug, so I got to see the humans' appearance way earlier than most. Bipedal, tall, forward facing eyes, mostly hairless, wearing textiles to replace their lack of hair. That didn’t bother me too much, unsurprising considering my overall lack of intense emotional response that had prompted the earlier PD screenings.
​
It had been about [30 minutes], about half the competitors had already gone through the course before us. My turn was up next, and Finn was right after me, we were just waiting for the competitor currently in the course to finish.
​
A bell chimed, signifying that the last guy had made it through, finishing his run. Finn gave me a pat on the back, a sign that I should get ready to get in there.
​
“Remember to pace yourself, you know, you can’t run through this behemoth in 20 seconds. Slow and steady will win you the race.” Finn advised.
​
“Alrighty, next competitor!” The instructor bellowed, almost interrupting Finn’s advice. “Minek the Venlil? You ready?”
​
“As ready as I'll ever be, I guess.” I said, anticipation and nerves high.
​
I don’t necessarily like talking to people, particularly the ones I don’t know. Another aspect of why I felt like my home was better set on earth, rather than that sunside town where everyone just had to stop and get to know you. I’m not going back, even under the threat of annihilation, like what nearly happened to all of earth’s inhabitants.
​
“Make ready, put your hands on the door, your run starts once the timer beeps. If the lights turn red, stop your run immediately, make clear, holster your weapon. Understood?”
​
“Understood.” I replied.
​
I seated a new magazine into my pistol, racked the slide, holstered it, and placed my hands on the door. Here was my time to shine, I guess.
​
“Shooter ready? Standby…”
​
The moment of silence between the announcer’s callout and the timer’s beep felt like a small eternity.
​
BEEP!
​
I popped the door open as quickly as I could, took a high-ready stance, and began steadily advancing through the entrance hallway. There was a door on the left, as I entered it, I see a target standing both behind a target and a hostage. I'm forced to take my time lining up the headshot, KRAK, the target fragments into digital fragments. Another target to the right of it, slam a round through its torso. Move on, 2 targets behind a barricade, one no shoot. Take out both targets swiftly, then take a peek around the next corner. At the last moment, I spot a somewhat hidden cranny in the course right after the hallway, on my left. I backpedal, swing the pistol around the corner, and plant a round square through the chest of a target that was hiding within.
​
Now actually going down the hallway, there’s another hallway on the right, and a T-junction at the very end. The hallway on the right has 2 targets right next to each other, shoot and no-shoot. I take this quickly, they aren’t overlapped or anything special, just next to each other. I nearly missed because I was still moving when I shot, I needed to take more time lining up, no way I could keep getting this lucky. Left side of the junction has a shoot target, the right side has another hallway to the left of it. The rest of the floor was mostly the same, sending rounds through targets and reloading once, much like the rest of the course, right up until the end of the floor.
​
I rounded a corner partially blocked by a non-target, to see a small shooting gallery within the killhouse, and a door on the opposite side of the entrance. I have to clear the targets before the door will open, as instructed by the label on it. Two small, circular holograms appear before my eyes, roughly in the middle of the room. Two pops later, my magazine has run out. I haven’t even gotten through my (slightly) practiced reload, when another set of targets appear on the left side of the room. The surprise of more targets caused me to fumble slightly, tapping the magazine against the bottom of the grip. I slap the magazine back into its rightful place within my pistol, tap for good measure, drop the slide, pop the targets. The door remains still, so there are more targets to hit, I reckon. They happened to appear right I thought of them, one close and to the left, the other far and to the right. This forces me to swing my aim across the room, and I nearly missed a target again, barely clipping the right edge of the far target.
​
Too close, me. Too close. I somehow haven’t missed a target yet, and I intend to keep it that way.
​
The door finally opened, so I made my way through, and made my way up the stairs that followed the door. At the top of the stairs stood a target peeking over. Almost reflexively, I was steadily advancing past the target, without stopping I put the barrel to the target’s face, then fired. 2 rounds remaining in the magazine. The left side had a familiar set of targets similar to the little practice house. A set of closet like rooms, filled with a couple of shoot and no shoot targets. Bang, round the next corner, bang and a clack. Empty, reload, don’t fumble it this time, another target around the corner, bang.
​
The next few hallways were similar to the rest, a no shoot around a corner, a shoot target sitting opposite that, then I saw something I hadn't seen earlier. A direction marking on the floor, telling me to walk past the door, to a piece of half-height cover leading into an incredibly long (for this type of scenario) hallway. At the end was a hostage type target, held in such a way that you had to either hit the slightly poking out head, or the very exposed leg sitting out to the right of the target.
​
I take a bracing pose against the left side of the wall, on the corner. It took me a moment to line it up properly, but I sent a round flying through my target’s lower thigh, causing it to stumble out of line with the hostage, the hostage remaining exactly in its position. That’s interesting, I didn’t know the targets were dynamic like that. I had been “killing” them with direct chest or headshots for every shot that I had hit, so I had never gotten a chance to see these targets actually do their dynamic animations before. I’ll have to ask how that works later. I finished the target off with a nice shot to the chest, after it had fallen to the floor, crippled due to its leg injury. The target fragmented as the holographic display was pierced by my round, double confirming that these targets were still projections.
​
The door to my left had opened with a clunk a moment after I had shot the target for the second time. I preformed more of the same clearing maneuvers and shooting of targets. A pair of these targets happened to line up, almost perfectly for a collateral shot. I took aim against the target further to the rear, my round propelling itself toward the target with its aim true. It took a path where I thought it would destroy both the near and far target with the same shot, however, the bullet only grazed the first hologram, causing it to stumble backward with its dynamic system. Despite not killing the first target, it still smacked against the rear target with a standard killing shot, fragmenting into its hundreds of red shards that I had become accustomed to.
​
Advancing further into the labyrinth, I swiftly finished off the wounded target that had stumbled backward into a corner. Just to the right of the target, a sign on the wall pointed me downward, telling me to crawl through a claustrophobic, vent-like passage, about [2 feet] tall. I read the sign, dropped to the floor, and slid down through the little hole in the wall. Out the left of the hole, a target stood waiting for whatever round I planned on giving him, out in the open.
​
I wonder…
​
I approached the target, pistol held like a little baton. With as much force as I could for good measure, I slapped the target with the pistol.
​
Whiff
​
Seems I was wrong. I place my aim onto the target that I had unsuccessfully slapped, fired, then went to move on. Another target was in a little closet behind it, so I spun around to shoot that one too. This killhouse seemed to span for an eternity, and I thought I must be nearing the end of it soon.
​
Round the corner, no-shoot target, keep going around the U shaped hallway, another no-shoot target in the middle of the hallway. Pass it by, another bend in the wall, with a shoot target just beyond it. I go to fire my weapon, and…
​
Click.
​
The slide is open.
​
That isn’t supposed to happen, I had 3 rounds left in the magazine!
​
I take a quick inspection of my gun, a casing got stuck in the chamber, and now was blocking up the entire gun’s mechanism. I had been taught what to do in this situation, the malfunction being called a “double feed,” which could occur more frequently if your gun ran older ammunition, which mine did.
​
I followed the standard jam-clearing procedure for a double feed, which was to first lock the slide to the rear, remove the magazine, drop the slide and rack again to remove the stuck casing, reinsert the magazine, then rack the slide again to seat a new round. With my jam now cleared, I shot the target in front of me in the face, destroying it instantly. Around the corner sat another set of targets, 2 of them I had to shoot.
​
I get my aim steady on the first, fire, target destroyed. The slide locked back, alerting me to my state of being out of ammo. I reach for another fresh magazine, and come back empty handed.
​
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK
​
I was completely out of ammo, and making good time up until now.
​
Melee won’t work, I had just figured that out, I'm out of magazines so I can’t reload even if I needed to, which I certainly did.
​
AHA!
​
I had accidentally let the stuck round fall out with the magazine while I was removing it from the gun, so now it was sitting on the floor. I dive over to it, grab the lonesome round off the floor, and carefully insert the round into the chamber of my pistol. This was a technique that you weren’t exactly supposed to do often, as it wears out the extractor much faster, leading to more frequent issues if it’s done too often. I drop the slide, letting the final round I had to my name seat itself within the chamber, ready to fire.
​
BANG.
​
The target shattered, the door on my left clunking open to reveal the light of day, and a catwalk to a platform above the range. I walk out, and hear another voice call out.
​
“Show clear, then holster your weapon. Your time is…187.87 seconds, nice work in there. If you want, go watch from above from that catwalk, the next run’s boutta to start.”
​
I walked up the stairs, legs quite a bit more fatigued than I expected them to be, although I had just been speed-walking for 3 minutes straight, and my heart was beating faster than I expected, probably due to that moment of panic after having my gun just jam up on me, compounded by the fact that I totally ran out of ammo. I reached the top, took a seat in a nice spot near the edge of the small congregation of other competitors, waiting for Finn to come waltzing through the course. There was a display on the top of the roof, showing us an overlay of the first floor, which would also show us the second floor once the competitor got to the staircase.
​
A few minutes passed, and I wasn't paying attention to Finn's run, since a few people had asked for me to take pictures with them, which I reluctantly agreed to. I could barely hear it, but the end timer from earlier had spoke up again; “show clear, holster your weapon. Your time is… 178.92, fastest time yet, good stuff.”
​
I broke away from the group who were trying to ask me questions to meet my friend at the top of the stairs, who acknowledged my completion with a firm ‘high five’, a human gesture I had been taught over my time with him.
​
“Phew, nice little course, huh Mick?” Finn offered.
​
“Yea… It was fun, albeit tiring.” I responded, with a tail wag
​
“I’d bet, worse stamina especially. Anyway, how’d ya do?”
​
“Slightly worse than you, 187 seconds.”
​
Wow! Nice, uhm, that’s actually really impressive for someone who’s never done this kinda thing before, how’d ya manage that?”
​
“Might be because I only ever had to hit the targets once, except for that really long range one, with the hostage?”
​
“Yea I know the one, tricky bastard to hit without clipping the hostage.”
​
“Did you know those targets are reactive? Actually yea, you probably do because you volunteer here, right?”
​
“Yep, I'm guessing that’s how you figured out they are? Shot em’ in the leg so he’d stumble? That’s the easiest way to do it, i reckon, but just moving to the right edge to line up an easier headshot is the more advantageous way to do it.”
​
“Yea that’s what I figured out. Oh, after that there was one kinda standing out in a hallway that I tried to hit with my pistol, didn’t do anything but since that one actually fell over earlier I was wondering if I could save the ammo, why didn’t hitting it work?”
​
“If you were actually in a situation where you were running around a big ol’ building trying to murder combatants inside to rescue hostages, do you think you would have the ability to whack someone in the face hard enough to outright kill them instantly? No, no you probably wouldn’t. The target impact system only tracks bullets anyway, punches or strikes don’t move fast enough to register on the system.”
​
“Oh, interesting. Say, how do the holograms work?”
​
“No clue, all I know is it has something to do with laser projectors and some weird illusions, then it has motion detectors tuned to a specific zone in space for tracking hits, quite interesting stuff if I do say so myself, even if I don't know how it works.”
​
“Yea, it is,” I said, not exactly registering what was said, “anyway, I think we should go figure out what the next event is, I don’t want to go into it blind like I would have if you hadn’t made me try the little version first.”
“Alright, follow me then.” Finn said, then began walking down the catwalk, leading me to our next event of the day, which I had been informed was a “long range vintage” event.
​
We made our way back over to the range we were at before, now situated with targets much further out than the aim trainer I had been using earlier. There were large signs, telling me distance next to little plates with concentric rings around a point in the middle. Finn walked back over to his car, pulled out a rifle box, and came back over to me.
"Ah, the wonders of long range shooting! You ready to learn about physics?" Finn exclaimed, clearly excited.
"No, not really, why do you ask?"
"Long range shooting, and especially extreme range shooting need a lot of little physics calculations for you to actually be able to hit the target from so far away. Bullets are little more than projectiles thrown at high velocity, but there's still things like gravity, wind, and sometimes even the fuckin' Coriolis effect to worry about while your round is flying!"
​
"Wait, you have to worry about the rotation of the planet while shooting long range? That's insane!"
​
"I know, right? that's why I love this stuff!"
​
The next [20 or 30 minutes] were taken up by a lengthy explanation of how a bullet flies, how a spotter and shooter system functions, how a spotter scope works, how to interpret what the spotter says, the list goes on. This had continued until the whistle blasted again, alerting us of another announcement.
​
"Everyone come over to the podium, we're having an awards ceremony! Be here in 5 minutes or we start without you, if you aren't already over here!" the voice of the instructor from earlier rang out. Finn and I went over to the podium, where a few boxes labeled 1, 2, and 3 resided.
​
The ceremony went well, apparently I had gotten third place, Finn got second, and someone who had ran after both of us got first.
​
After the ceremony, we were each handed a box of differing sizes, the winner got a certificate for a free rifle, Finn got a new 'plate carrier', a thing that was made to hold armor and magazines, and I got a pair of cargo pants.
​
I walked over to the little station they had set up nearby, got a few measurements taken, then was handed an (admittedly very fancy) pair of pants, clearly set up for humans instead of venlil.
​
Thankfully, I didn't have to modify them so I could wear them, there was already a little bit of a notch in the top of the beltline that let it comfortably sit just below my tail.
​
Another announcement came on soon after I got my new pants; "Next event starts in one hour, get some practice in before that, you might need it."
[First] [Previous] [Next (coming soon)]
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Author's note: This one took a lot longer than the other ones, although it's released in a shorter time frame, how ironic, i guess? I'm considering making a prologue to the story, probably during the exchange program, if I do, it will also help give some more context to Mick that I tried to expand on with this one.
I hope you enjoyed it, expect the next one... eventually.
Oh, and sorry about any walls of text, that was me trying to fill in to hit my self imposed 3000 word count, and also me not knowing how to effectively write "move, shoot, move again" about 20 times in a row.

I was watching Gravity Falls the other day, and I couldn’t help but think about the episode where Soos was using a dating simulator to approach women.
I know there’s a bunch of dating simulators out there, but do they actually work? Or is it just for entertainment purposes?

Justification:

• It provides a chaotic mix of traditional and modern units even late into the game. You can have battles between traditional armies, or modern slugfests (of both sides having bolt-action rifles such as the Fusil Modèle 1874s and Gewehr 71s, Maxim machine guns, and breech-loaded artillery guns such as Lahitolle 95 mm cannon), or throwing hordes of musket/spear armed infantry at the modern units.
  
• Every faction has a distinct set of play style and challenges
  

Timeline start: Either right before the First Opium War kicks off (giving players the option to find ways to avoid the war, or do things differently from how history played out) or the immediate aftermath of the war.
Timeline end: Somewhere around 1900's
Factions:
Qing Dynasty

• Major advantage: Immense population and economy, which could allow the player to grind down small modern forces with sheer manpower, assuming they aren't distracted by multiple ongoing rebellions throughout the map while also dealing with a foreign invasion.

This is also where the Qing and the rebels can have many reinforcement army stacks within the same battle for a long running grind, which will be problematic for the smaller modern forces if they can't break the hordes' morale fast enough. After all, what good are rifles and cannons when they run out of ammunition and the 6th reinforcement full-stack army showed up to replace all of the earlier shattered units?
As an idea of how much manpower the Qing (and the rebels, which will be discussed later) can field: https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Taiping-Rebellion/277247

Some 20 million people died and 17 provinces were ravaged in this political and religious upheaval, which took place from 1850 to 1864
As the Taiping rebels crossed the countryside, their ranks had swelled from several thousand ragged peasants to more than 1 million disciplined and eager soldiers.

A meme video that summarized that rebellion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWmhRSAcWkI

• Challenges: Survive (Think of the Western Roman Empire in TW: Attila, except this time in the industrial era). Corruption is incredibly rampant, but trying to crack down on that too hard and governors/generals may rebel.

Modernization will be necessary to prevent the foreign factions from continuing to carve up the Qing (which will cause even more rebellions in the remaining Qing provinces), but modernize too fast and it will cause its own rebellions (TW: S2 Fall of the Samurai style) or even have governors/generals rebel.
While the Qing and other factions may choose to seek foreign backing for easier modernization, aligning with one foreign faction means that foreign faction has free rein over the other faction, and thus could cause internal unrest, unbalanced trade agreements and other problems. It also means other foreign factions will be more hostile to that other faction if they were already hostile to that particular foreign faction (e.g. aligning with the Russians means the Japanese will not be too happy about that and thus risk getting the player dragged into a Russian vs. Japanese conflict).
Joseon (Korean dynasty)

• Major advantage: Initially foreign factions will focus on the Qing Dynasty, which gives the player some time to try to deal with the corruption and internal rebellions and prepare for the inevitable showdown.
  
• Challenges: Still have to pay tributes to the Qing Dynasty, which the player can opt to break that treaty and accept the consequences for it. Eventually foreign factions will come knocking on the door. Modernization is even harder, unless the player risks significant internal instability to get the Joseon to break its isolationism.
  

Tibet

• Major advantage: Like the Joseon, has some time to prepare for the inevitable conflict.
  
• Challenges: A hostile British faction may opt to use its Indian forces to the south of Tibet to invade, especially as the Qing continues to weaken. Modernization is also difficult.
  

Northern nomadic tribes

• Major advantage: Mass traditional cavalry go brrr
  
• Challenges: Player can choose to stay aligned with the Qing, or rebel (which could risk a war on all sides, against the Qing and the other nomadic tribes). The Russia and Japanese factions will come knocking.
  

Should a nomadic tribe modernize or get major foreign backing, carbine/revolver cavalry and towed machine guns and light artillery guns go brrr.
Foreign colonial factions (Great Britain, France, Japan, Russia, United States, Germany and etc)

• All of them have their own flavors and sub-challenges, such as the Russian faction whose main victory condition is a warm water port and a railroad link to it (which predictably pits it against the Japanese faction's victory goal to control Manchuria and German faction's victory goal to dominate the Qingdao region).
  
• Some factions won't show up until mid/late game, such as Japan.
  
• Major advantage: Generally have a significant technology advantage
  
• Challenges: Generally limited quantity of forces and the colonial factions' victory goals conflict with each other, so a player may end up with a situation where on one front their modern forces are going up against other modern forces, and another front is dealing with horde of Qing full-stack armies. Recruiting more modern forces has a very long waiting time, which means losing a modern fullstack when the enemy has plenty of more forces to press forward could be game over (or at least cause a major death spiral).
  

Diplomacy is required with the Qing and other factions. It's generally cheaper to convince the Qing to give up a "small concession" and sign one-sided trade deals than to fight a grinding attrition war.
For some of the factions, the profitability of their operations dictate how much forces they can field, and if finances go into the red for too long or merchants/missionaries are constantly being harassed/killed, the home country may lose its patience and thus "boot" the player to trigger a game over. There will also be crisis or war events in Europe/America that puts major pressure on the diplomacy between the colonial factions.
Qing rebel factions (such as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom)

• Major advantage: The Qing faction is generally going to be busy dealing with other rebels and foreign forces, and the player can quickly recruit hordes of fullstacks of bullet sponge cannon fodder angry peasants after a few provinces are conquered. They may be able to get governors/generals to defect to them and thus bring their provinces or armies over to the player's side without a fight. They will be able to access more advanced units as they continue conquering more provinces
  
• Challenges: Access to modern weapons will be difficult unless major favors are gained with a foreign faction. Sufficiently piss off both the Qing and the foreign factions (or a Qing that pulls itself together), and it'll likely be a curbstomp.
  

A few challenge modes (ultimate victory):

• As the Qing, declare open war on all of the foreign factions to expel them. This predictably leads to those factions all allying together because they would rather have some of their colonial possessions rather than none.
  
• As a Qing rebel faction, overthrow the Qing and then declare open war on all of the foreign factions to expel them.
  
• As one of the foreign factions, declare that all of China belongs to you, triggering war with the Qing, Qing rebel factions and all of the other foreign factions.
  

Emotions are running high at the moment, and Gaijin deserved the slap it got. However, we need to stay grounded in reality: They will not abolish all repair costs and make it completely effortless for non-paying players to achieve everything. If you believe this and base your entire demands on it, you are either a member of the WTPU, delusional, or likely both.
Instead of fueling a Reddit-communism hate train with nonsensical memes and unreasonable demands flanked by perpetual calls for review bombing, we should empower voices in our community that can keep the pressure up and demand positive and reasonable changes while maintaining at least somewhat respectful communication with Gaijin.
Let's face the simple fact that the more profitable War Thunder is, the more incentive Gaijin has to keep investing additional resources and ensure the game's longevity. Ideally, the more money the snail makes from each of us, the more developers they can hire to improve the game.
If we reject any changes that fall short of abolishing all repair costs and removing all pay incentives, as I have seen many people effectively demand, Gaijin's best course of action would be to simply revert all already proposed changes or those in progress, silence or ignore dissenters, and maintain the game as it currently stands. This may - eventually - lead to the game's demise, but in the meantime, they would continue to profit handsomely. Given that even during the "biggest revolt ever," there are still 150k people playing concurrently, it is likely that the game's decline would be slower than if they followed unrealistic demands just to then realize they are better off financially by working on something else.
I fully agree with those who argue that the economy needs improvement and that the current state is not sustainable. The game will burn players eventually and likely not reach the potential it could. Gaijin has gone too far in one direction and must reconsider their approach. They should noticably reduce the pressure on free players, while also addressing concerns of paying players. The focus should be on increasing player enjoyment to drive sales, rather than to try to force sales through frustration.
However, let's acknowledge that Gaijin has already issued multiple apologies for the current situation, agreeing with our desire for changes. They have announced their economy roadmap, provided insights into upcoming changes through their recent Q&A blog, and hinted at more content to come.
When the time comes, let's really see what they have to offer - and not base our responses on completley impossible expectations.

That's legit as much as I remember
It's like
"the key to this information is
zzzzz" and it's just the animal falling asleep no worry in the world

The sky is black as Kassandra walks down the streets of a busy city. The meme era of the Eyes of Kosmos are commuting various acts of espionage. Theft, spying, bribery, murder. A shadow walks past Kassandra from behind and she turns.
Kassandra: Cowards! All of you!
Nyx as an old woman appears.
Nyx: And yet we are the most powerful.
Nyx disappears as Kassandra runs after.
Kassandra: All you do is hide and have others do your dirty work!
Nyx disguised as an Athenian Solider appears
Nyx: because we carry a sacred duty of knowledge, the purist power in the world.
Kassandra throws the spear, but Nyx is already gone.
Kassandra: and In exchange you give up your lives. All you are is other people’s lives. You are nothing.
Nyx appears as herself.
Nyx: And I have transcended the lives of the meaningless masses because of it. I hold the power to direct entire lands with a single word! I am truth, and all is known to me!
Nyx then jolts as Kassandra appears behind her and drives the spear into her.
Kassandra: Then why didn’t you know this would happen?
Nyx stumbles forward and falls over. Kassandra tosses a coin on the body.
Kassandra: For the ferryman.
Kassandra walks down the street with the other Eyes dead before her.

Here is the longest I have ever written. My really heavy trips that are like a sequels to one another and they are totally connected. Sorry for the bad English - not my main language. I also will write only about the first trip this time - it took me so long, so only if you are interested in me sharing the 2nd and the 3rd trip with you, only then I will write them.
Fast backstory - mid 35, married, a 2 year old kid, running my own business. Started with MJ 12 years ago, then couple years later met Lucy and since then that is my base to every trip - sometimes pure, sometimes mixing. For many years I have been tripping alone in doses range 200-500. Mostly for fun. Never less, but also never higher. Never less, because thought that it was boring, but never higher because I was scared loosing control and do something that would hurt me, especially since I was going always solo. And for past 2 years I didn't trip much- didn't felt the need and didn't have much time. Also important note for the story - my wife is a doctor and she is against any use of any substances and we had an agreement with her, that even if I decide to use it, than I have to promise her that I will do it in a way she wouldn't know about it. I never lie to her ever, but I lie only about when I trip, saying that I just stay at work late. I feel really bad for it. But I was tripping way before I met her and she said that she would never ever be with a man, who uses any drugs. I know she would not divorce me because of it, but I still leave her out of it. So I trip usually outside, in rented places. Or overnight in the living room of our house - she is a heavy sleeper, so I don't need to lie then, I just trip and join her in the bed near the morning. Story will be about 3 very heavy trips I had this year. SO, here goes!
Prequel trip, Short prequel - it was last summer, was tripping in the wooden rented cabin. I dropped around 700 (first time over my 500 limit). It was by accident, I took the wrong batch. I dropped thinking 6 tabs of 75, but I accidentally took to my drive the 120 tabs (understood the mistake only when got back home), and I added mushrooms to the mix as well. Long story short - my first comatose state, lying on the floor for hours , experiencing "death", flying into the cosmos and experiencing the meaning of life. I will quote myself from the last reddit post I made a year ago:
"I felt like there's just laws of gravity Because felt like gravity is the only force that travels anywhere Without knowledge of time it just exists And it felt like we are just energy floating around the space. And that everything we know and see around, sounds and feelings - all that is just to set boundaries for this energy to be contained in one place. Without my shell, my history, memories and emotions I will just scatter, like energy of supernova, all light particles fly from the epicentre away into the darkness... Death. And life - is what contains this energy, let's it develop and sparkle up to the last day. Life is fucking beautiful"
So yeah, my first real dive into the deep. Time stretched to infinity, never ending trip and me not existing and not being able to see my own hands. I thought a lot about that experience and if I ever should try the heavy dose again. Tried to find a trip sitter for myself that I could trust, but never did and decided to leave it at that for some time.
1st trip - Winter 2023. I am at a very low point in my life - tired, some business struggles with profit, same at home and the toddler kid tested our marriage. I didn’t trip for around 4 months, never had a chance to take a break, but I decided that it is enough. I rented a AirBnB house (the owner lived in other house just 40 metres away) with an inside pool, took LSD with me more than I needed or planned to take. I didn't intend to take a hero dose that night, but was to lazy to unpack it and cut it, because mine comes not perforated, so I took everything, around 20 tabs of 100ug. So I relax during the day, visit sauna and the pool and closer to midnight I had a time to reflect on the life crisis I was in. I tried to think about positive solutions and how to cheer myself up. I usually drop tabs at midnight, so by getting closer to the start I become sadder and even more angry by the life I was living, how unfair to me it was, that I have to go that long, pay so much, lie about just to take a small break. The break I thought I deserved the most.
So i take the strip, look at it and just go YOLO - I cut it in half and consume around 1000ug by 22:00. The real effects started already on 10min and around 20min they become intense. And at that point I became mad as hell - firstly I started to yell and curse. I decided to record myself on the phone (just the sound), so I can reflect on the trip next day. I just walked around the house shouting and whining about my life crisis, about how nobody gives a fuck, how I am tired of working my ass off and still have to go that far -to rent a house, drive somewhere and hide from my family members just to have a chill night and take a small break. Around 1 hour pass (it was the last time I looked at the phone clock) and that was when whole hell breaks loose - I start to demolish the house in anger. I break furniture, I destroy the rags and curtains, I broke the window while still continue to yell "I don't fucking care anymore". I swear I saw how the lights turned up in the owners house and I knew - that is it... He will call the police and the most intense part of the trip I will spend in jail. I grab the phone and run to the pool and sauna area, close the door behind me, turn on all the lights and prepared for the worse. There were tinted windows in the poll area all around and since I turned all the lights and it was dark outside - everyone should be able to see what is happening inside, especially the owner. I lifted the heavy marble coffee table over my head and at top of my lungs I yelled "I give you 5 minutes to stop me, or I will through this table it the glass sauna door". (The important note here is that the pool area had an installed radio station and speakers, so some random "relax" station was on all the time playing random songs while all of this unfolded)
So I just stand there, half naked, with coffee table over my head, waiting for someone to enter. I waited for the police lights to show up. I think I saw somebody to press his face against the tinted window to look inside, so I yelled again "If you don't stop me now, than all of this is and everything that will fallow is your fault" At that point I was blaming not just the owner, but absolutely everyone - my wife, my kid, my employees, myself. "I earned this time, I earned to have my rest, I earned all of this and I will prove it to you! If you are not stopping me now, than I am right! And no matter how crazy you will think I am, I will prove you that LSD is the key to all the questions" At that time the conception of the time started to blur, like there was no start or end point to anything. I started to talk like if I was from the future refering to this present moment (I am quoting myself here, because those words are recorded on my phone) "This trip ended, now is morning and you are not stopping me yet - that means I am right, I was always right and I deserve this insignificant resting hours in this whole eternity"... And still nobody was coming in. I gave up and dropped the coffee table on the floor. At that point my body started to shut down. I felt down on the floor, I could not see my hands or body. I tried to get up, but I was falling every time as though my body was disintegrating. I felt my heart stopping, like if I was having a cardiac arrest. I was not being able to take a breath and was choking. A huge pain in my chest as the life was leaving my body. I felt the blood stopping in my neck . Lights started randomly to turn off, turn on, music fading in and away. I though someone entered the room as I was dying on the floor. The roof of the house collapsing and falling on top of me. The huge amount of pressure against my head as my skull cracked open. Darkness and just like white noise for eternity. Just random rays of light and immense force of gravitation ripping me to shreds.
And at this point some magical shit started to happen, that even till this day I am convinced was real and still not sure how to explain it. 2nd and 3rd trip only convinced me even more, but that story will be later. The first thing I heard after eternal darkness was the radio - the titanic song by Celine DIon. But the word were not the same, she was talking to me. Like some entity started to talk to me through different songs on the radio. I can't remember the words exactly, but the titanic song was that they (entities) understand my pain, that they know I am tired, but that in the end of life we will be all together and my pain and suffering will be over. Then the song changed and now it is some jazz song where the male voice is arguing with female voice about why he (male voice was representing me) has to suffer through this life, to be that alone in his struggles and the female voice was trying to convince him that it is all worth it at the end. The next song (It's Raining men) was saying that I am good man, that I have to continue finding moments also for my own pleasure and I have the right for the rest I deserved. The mirror appeared in front of me and I saw reflection of my tired face. Then I saw my phone that was switching through all the good pictures of the life I was living - mostly photos of how happy are my kid and wife, how much love I gave them and that I should not give up on life. I saw the photos that were transferred to my home HDD for storage and should not be on my phone. And songs were changing from one to another, sometimes fast. Sometimes playing full length and sometimes not even playing for 5 seconds and I know that no radio station would prank me like this. Some other familiar song switched and the words said that I had to man up, to be strong, that life is full of shit and that I need to be strong to get through it. That all the entities on the "Other side" will be patiently waiting for me, when I will fulfil my purpose here on Earth. That the universe will still hit me hard, that my life will be challenging, but since I dove so deep and for the first time looked behind the curtains of how the thing work in this universe, saw the "Other Side" - I will be rewarded from time to time, that they will help me be strong and be n the right path. And that I was right - I deserved the rest, I deserved to get a break and that I will get this brake this time, but I should not push my luck any further.
At this point I started to have a feeling of love. Same feeling I had when I met my future wife and fell in love with her. I started asking if this female entity was some kind of form of my wife or her soul, or her astral projection? Why do you care so much? And she said nothing, but also did not denied it. I felt the urge to fight for my life, fight no matter the difficulties. To fight and do everything possible to make my family happy, to protect them and be there when they need me. My vision started to get back, I saw the roof of the pool area. I was lying on the floor, the bright light was still on. I looked on the sides and found my phone nearby. I rested myself against the wall and noticed that it was around 4 in the morning (6 hours into the trip). The last "custom" song started to play on the radio - the woman sang about if she chose the right guy in her life to say YES to. She also told me that I should ask for help and share this experience with my wife. I involuntarily grabbed my phone and opened up the chat with my wife. As I wrote "Sorry, I messed up, I need something to tell you, call me" the song changed to her being certain I am the right man for her to marry. And here I finally started to taking back control on my actions and I erased almost everything except for "sorry", and the song changed to depressed tone, that maybe she was wrong in choosing me. I started to type same message again and the song became positive again. And in the end I just sent to my wife on word - "sorry". That was the moment the song ended, the radio switched to forecast, told me that the day will be sunny and warm (we don't have warm days in winter, there was snow outside) and wished me a great day.
And here the magic ended, like if someone flipped the switch. Radio started to play usual retro songs with no changed lyrics. I tried to stand up, but I could not do it right away. I felt a sharp pain on the forehead. It felt like I hit the head, so apparently I really did fall on the floor head first. The trip was ending really fast, the memory started to get back to me as I started to have more control over my hands and feet. I grabbed the phone again and checked if it was still recording - it was. I started to look around and saw the coffee table flipped on the side. I remembered how I demolished the whole house. I got up and made my way to the closed to door, that was leading to the living room. I was so afraid and I was certain that there will be someone - police or at least the owner waiting for me. I opened the door, turned the lights... the house was fucking intact! I thought that I was tripping and that is just an illusion, but the more I went through the rooms, I didn't see even a tiny bit of destruction. I destroyed so many things, that felt so real, how furniture broke, how kitchen appliances and ceramic broke into small pieces smashing against the wall and floors.... Nothing! I tripped hundreds of times before and always knew what was real and what was not. But this time I still don't know how to explain it. Even the "broken" window was intact. I ran back to the pool area and looked for the cracks on the floor, since the coffee table I threw was heavy to break the tiles. And I did find a small crack right underneath where the table landed, so it meant that at least the coffee table I really did throw that night. But that was much later than I destroyed everything else, how can I remember the coffee table and hallucinate everything else. I remembered that I had recording on the phone. I hid in the bedroom and started listening - I really did yell on top of my lungs almost for an hour and then I heard some noises, but nothing that can be defined as 100% of something breaking. Yeah, some furniture sounds, maybe something fell couple of times on the floor but no glass breaking or anything else. But I could swear by how real it was, that I did all of this.
But still there was other problem - I really did yell a lot and there is just no way the owner or his family members would not hear me. My windows were open through out the night. I looked through the curtains to see if owners windows were open and they were. So there is just no way he could not hear me yelling almost for 1 hour, promising to destroy his house. Imagine you rent out a house and hear someone yelling rants and wants to destroys your house, and you hear something happening inside. I would certainly called the cops if I was in his shoes. " But Ok, ok.... Even if he didn't call the cops, he most certainly will have questions in the morning" - I thought. I went through the house 5 times more and except for the crack in the tiles in the pool area, there was no sign of anything being destroyed or damaged. And even the crack was not that noticeable. I went to the bed, where I laid till the morning and started to think through all possible explanations I would say to the owner and all possible question he could have.
The morning came and my wife called - told me she just opened the chat and saw my "Sorry" asking what I meant. I said that I thought I would be home earlier from my work tonight, but had to return back so wrote her "Sorry". Matter closed. But then I remembered the request of the entity - to ask my wife for help and to share this experience with her. Ok, if I will tell her and try to prove my point, she would think I am crazy, or I have a psychosis or something - and that would certainly not make thing better in our relationship. But not asking her for help - I felt that I failed her astral projection from the future, that it would somehow change my future and the life I will have after I die. I really didn't know what to think and what to do (after 2nd and 3rd trip it became a bit clear)
And for the AirBnB - I got out, closed the house, left the key under the mat, and with the pupils still wide as possible, sat in my car and drove to owners gate waiting for him to get out and talk to me about what happened this night. But he looked through the window and just smiled, waved at me and opened the gate remotely... I drove away. In 2 hours his wife wrote a review on the AirBnB that I was a great guest, tidy, quiet, etc. That they would be happy to see me again and would recommend me to other AirBnB hosts. I was shocked!
Like WTF? Did they really not hear me? Or they just decided to close the matter, not talk to me and hope that I would never get back?... And then I started to think about what happened that night. Quote: "And that I was right - I deserved the rest, I deserved to get a break and that I will get this brake this time, but I should not push my luck any further" - that what I was told that night. Did they (entities) protect me this time? Was that something they showed me, that I could've done, but I didn't? Or they fixed the destruction I made and shielded me from the owner by isolating the sound? I was ready to even believe in this kind of miracles.... And I still think that something not normal happened that night.
So, this is the trip report. I hope you like it and it wasn't boring. Any questions welcomed. And if you want me to write 2nd and 3rd part - let me know.

Welcome to the Daily General Discussion thread. Please read the disclaimer and rules before participating.
 

Disclaimer:

Consider all information posted here with several liberal heaps of salt, and always cross check any information you may read on this thread with known sources. Any trade information posted in this open thread may be highly misleading, and could be an attempt to manipulate new readers by known "pump and dump (PnD) groups" for their own profit. BEWARE of such practices and exercise utmost caution before acting on any trade tip mentioned here.
Please be careful about what information you share and the actions you take. Do not share the amounts of your portfolios (why not just share percentage?). Do not share your private keys or wallet seed. Use strong, non-SMS 2FA if possible. Beware of scammers and be smart. Do not invest more than you can afford to lose, and do not fall for pyramid schemes, promises of unrealistic returns (get-rich-quick schemes), and other common scams.
 

Rules:

• All sub rules apply in this thread. The prior exemption for karma and age requirements is no longer in effect.
• Discussion topics must be related to cryptocurrency.
• Behave with civility and politeness. Do not use offensive, racist or homophobic language.
• Comments will be sorted by newest first.

 

Useful Links:

• Beginner Resources
  
• Intro to Cryptocurrency MOONs 🌔
  
• MOONs Wiki Page
  
• CryptoCurrency Discord
  
• CryptoCurrencyMemes
  
• Prior Daily Discussions - (Link fixed.)
  
• CryptoCurrencyMeta - Join in on all meta discussions regarding CryptoCurrency whether it be moon distributions or governance.
  

 

Finding Other Discussion Threads

Follow a mod account below to be notified in your home feed when the latest CC discussion thread of your interest is posted.

• u/CryptoDaily- — Posts the Daily General Discussion threads.
  
• u/CryptoSkeptics — Posts the Monthly Skeptics Discussion threads.
  
• u/CryptoOptimists- — Posts the Monthly Optimists Discussion threads.
  
• u/CryptoNewsUpdates — Posts the Monthly News Summary threads.
  

So this is my first time using reddit and am pretty sure nobody will find my post but i want to rant, 2020 i posted some quotes, (i am a female) one guy dmed me asking where i found those quotes and said it was an really amazing post i was skeptical of him but we eventually became friends but during that time i had some hard times with my now ex-bestfriend and i fell into isolation and really didnt talked to anyone except her (my ex-bsf and my storytime next time if people are interested as to what happened) so i lost many friends but that guy would constantly send me memes interact with him even when i was dry with him, probably the only one who didnt give up on me
after few months i was fine and i wanted to get to know him, well actually i texted him bc i had to one to talk to and the way he made me understand things, was...magical so i started talking to him often he was shocked and kept asking what happened
well i fell for him...yes we are online close friends but i did fall for him one thing is specific is when i was talking to him at midnight and his neibhour needed health emergency help he went to helo him and stayed with his neibhour whole night, made food for him and took care of his (the neibhours) family even tho R (the guy i like) was still pretty young, he is the bestest friend i ever had he has truly helped me alot and we share lots of share interests but here is the problem
We have gotten very close...and he never wants to date his close friends or bestfriend because what if they breakup he will loose a girlfriend as well as bestfriend and in his opinion bestfriends are rare to find and he dosent want to loose it, it often mentions how he will never regret being friends with me, i asked him some questions (am curious so i ask him the most random questions) that what if he falls in love with his bestfriend he said he will keep it to himself cause he cant afford to loose his bestfriend (just a secnario i asked him to imagine) and he said i like things the way they are and i dont want things to change and i laughed off saying i was just asking, he got a gf few months back and ofcourse i pushed him to get a gf cause he has always been single
i thought it wont hurt me alot since me and him never had a chance...but as time passes by i feel so inlove with him its been 2 years already and ofc we cant online date its not cup of my or his tea but what if we meet in person? i feel like i would want to date him...i will get my hopes up but as u all know he never wants to date his close bestfriend even if he has feelings for the person he wont risk dating that person
what should i do?? i fall for him hopelessly but i dont think we ever have a chance together...even if we both meet its too complicated p.s. am 2 and 11 moths younger than him

Please use this thread to discuss anything related to today's game. You may post anything as long as it falls within stated posting guidelines. You may also post gifs and memes, as long as it is related to the game. Please keep the discussion civil.
Discord: Seattle Sports

Line Score - Game Over

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	LOB
PIT	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	6
SEA	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	0		5	11	1	7

Box Score

SEA		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
SS	Crawford, J	4	2	2	0	0	1	.254
1B	France, T	3	1	2	1	1	1	.267
CF	Rodríguez, Ju	4	1	2	1	0	0	.238
LF	Kelenic	4	0	1	0	0	2	.277
DH	Suárez, E	3	1	1	2	0	1	.219
C	Raleigh	4	0	1	0	0	0	.237
RF	Hernández, T	4	0	1	1	0	1	.233
3B	Caballero	4	0	1	0	0	1	.277
2B	Wong, Ko	4	0	0	0	0	2	.160

SEA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Castillo, L	6.0	1	0	0	2	10	99-64	2.69
Speier	0.2	1	0	0	0	1	9-7	2.95
Brash	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	4-3	4.64
Gott	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	12-8	1.90
Topa	1.0	0	0	0	1	3	20-12	2.66

PIT		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
SS	Marcano	4	0	1	0	0	1	.265
LF	Reynolds, B	3	0	0	0	1	2	.287
1B	Joe	3	0	0	0	1	1	.250
DH	Santana	4	0	0	0	0	3	.229
CF	Suwinski	4	0	1	0	0	3	.234
3B	Hayes	4	0	0	0	0	3	.226
2B	Bae	1	0	0	0	0	0	.269
2B	Castro, R	1	0	0	0	0	1	.261
RF	Palacios, J	2	0	0	0	0	0	.250
RF	McCutchen	1	0	0	0	0	1	.268
C	Delay	2	0	0	0	1	2	.318

PIT	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Velasquez	2.0	7	4	4	1	3	53-34	3.86
Hernandez, J	3.0	2	0	0	0	2	34-25	2.38
Zastryzny	0.2	1	0	0	0	1	12-9	6.48
Moreta	1.1	1	1	0	0	2	17-12	1.90
Bednar	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	18-13	1.42

Scoring Plays

Inning	Event	Score
B1	Ty France doubles (14) on a line drive to left fielder Bryan Reynolds. J.P. Crawford scores.	1-0
B1	Eugenio Suarez singles on a fly ball to right fielder Josh Palacios. Ty France scores.	2-0
B1	Teoscar Hernandez doubles (6) on a sharp line drive to left fielder Bryan Reynolds. Eugenio Suarez scores. Cal Raleigh to 3rd.	3-0
B2	Julio Rodriguez doubles (12) on a sharp line drive to center fielder Jack Suwinski. J.P. Crawford scores. Ty France to 3rd.	4-0
B7	Mariners challenged (home-plate collision), call on the field was upheld: Mariners challenged (tag play), call on the field was overturned: Eugenio Suarez out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Jack Suwinski. Julio Rodriguez scores.	5-0

Highlights

Description	Length	Video
Bullpen availability for Seattle, May 27 vs Pirates	0:07	Video
Bullpen availability for Pittsburgh, May 27 vs Mariners	0:07	Video
Fielding alignment for Seattle, May 27 vs Pirates	0:11	Video
Breaking down Vince Velasquez's pitches	0:08	Video
Breaking down Luis Castillo's pitches	0:08	Video
Luis Castillo's outing against the Pirates	0:23	Video
Ty France rips RBI double down the line in the 1st	0:20	Video
Suárez flares a single to right to score France	0:19	Video
Teoscar Hernández smacks an RBI double to left	0:18	Video
Julio Rodríguez laces an RBI double to left-center	0:23	Video
Vince Velasquez fans three in start vs. Mariners	0:24	Video
Hayes grabs a scorching line drive down the line	0:14	Video
Luis Castillo strikes out 10 over six scoreless	1:08	Video
Suárez lifts sac fly to left, Rodríguez scores	1:03	Video

Decisions

Winning Pitcher	Losing Pitcher	Save
Castillo, L (4-2, 2.69 ERA)	Velasquez (4-4, 3.86 ERA)

Attendance	Weather	Wind
	60°F, Partly Cloudy	2 mph, Out To LF

HP	1B	2B	3B
Ryan Blakney	Marvin Hudson	Hunter Wendelstedt	John Tumpane

Game ended at 3:44 PM.

😂👌Ahem, ahem! 😳🤔 Ever wondered 🤷‍♂️ why that dashing 😎 emoji (we know him as 'Cool Sunglasses Dude') has turned into the pinnacle🗻 of ULTIMATE CRINGE in our hyper-meta internet society of irony-infused jests? 🌐😂 Strap in, buckle up, 🚀 we're going on a journey 🌍, one that's more bizzare 🎠🐙 than a frog 🐸 wearing a monocle 🧐 on a unicycle!🚲
Once upon a yonder time, 😎 was the ultra-cool dude, the 'it' emoji, the big cheese 🧀. It was like that one teen who sneakily strummed 🎸'Smoke on the Water' in middle school, thinking nobody noticed. But alas! Every star ⭐ falls, and 😎 was no exception! But WHY, you scream into the void of cringe memes? Let's dive into this pit of despair!🕳️🏊‍♂️
To kick things off, there's the "OK Boomer 🧓" effect. 😎 screams "I'm hip, I'm cool" 🥶 louder than a balding 40-year old at a One Direction concert.🎤 The emoji got SO overused by boomers trying to fit in, it became a cringey artifact of the bygone times (Like, OMG, remember 2010? LOL 😂).
Imagine your math teacher 📏, or worse, your GRANDMA 👵 spamming 😎 like she's won the emoji lottery! "Well done on the math test, Jeremy 😎" or "Remember your jacket, sweetie. It's chilly 😎". Is there anything more facepalm 🤦‍♂️ inducing?
And then, there's the fickle world of meme stocks 📈📉. Memes are like the flashy hypebeasts of Wall Street – here today, gone tomorrow (and sometimes, back again 🔄). 😎 was THE big-shot emoji. But as they say, "Time makes fools of us all" (even emojis!). 😂👌
In the great jungle of emojis, 😎 had its heyday, but that day is GONE, vanished like my will to finish this essay! So here we are, stuck with this ghost of a bygone era. Next time you think about using 😎, think twice, thrice, or even FOURICE (Yes, that's a word now!). You don't wanna be that guy, do you? 😳😳😳👀👀👀
Long story short (TOO LATE 😂), the cringe behind 😎 is deep, layered like a fancy French pastry 🥐, or a meme onion 🧅. Remember, emojis can go from cool 😎 to cringe 🙄 in a blink of an eye (or the flick of a thumb?), so choose wisely, fellow netizen.
That's the story of 😎, the fallen star. Use it, don't use it, it's your call. But always remember its tale of cringe and glory. 🏆🔥 Because deep down, aren't we all a little 😎? 💔💔💔