Jump 046: Sword Art Online

>Jump 46: Sword Art Online
>Queen of Pentacles, reversed (One who reflects the weaknesses of others, breeding suspicion and mistrust.)
Well, this is an MMO and I'm basically charging ahead at the bosses when everyone else is wringing their hands, so... I imagine that has the opposite effect that it should.
>Age: 20
>Location: Tutorial
>Identity: Beta Tester (-50)
>Drawbacks: Lag (+200)
I intend to fake this where I can, running in place or jogging against walls or in midair, just to make people go 'what the fuck?'. I'm going to have problems, may as well make the best of it.
>Tutorial (1050)
Charging through the tutorial for fun. Sounds right.
>My Quest Senses Are Tingling (Free, Beta Tester)
It's not a glowing golden exclamation point above their heads, but...
>Like Riding A Bike (900, Beta Tester)
Skills protected from deterioration AND expanded adaptation? All of my yes.
>APM Intensifies (600, Beta Tester)
Deliberate action at any speed. Must fight the urge to take every speed perk from here on out.
>This Is, In Fact, My Final Form (0)
Merging all of my forms together was inevitable. It's still pretty much just a skeletal lich, just with the height I had as an illithid (yay for being eight feet tall), eye sockets that glow from within by flickering flames, and vampire teeth. And, of course, the shapeshifting abilities of a shiny Ditto.

Really, there's not a lot of things to say, aside from Carcosa popping in as a floating city and things adapting to fit the locals' expectations. Floating cities make for interesting plot hooks, if nothing else, and it means people don't have to worry about monster attacks there. My plan was honestly to play the plot the way they wanted it - screw the silliness, I'm straight-up charging the castle, and to hell with anyone else.

The results were not as unfavorable as I expected, though it definitely blew Kayaba's expectations to see someone solo his entire fucking game. And then solo him.

Power-levelling has its benefits.