Round 3, Day 1 [all characters and round announcement]

[utopiamods]

The storm doesn't let up through the rest day, but by the next day the power is back, the staff are looking moderately less nervous, and the weather is light enough that the usual announcement rings over the speakers in the morning.

"The announcements will start at noon. Will all students please report to the lobby for that time."

Umbrellas are now scattered around the campus at useful points, including the dormitory common rooms and the entrance to the school buildings. Helpful, because the rain is as heavy as ever today. When you arrive in the lobby, the screens are all lit and the receptionists are back at their desk and smiling at old students and new arrivals both.

At twelve o'clock exactly, a woman appears on every screen, smiling so cheerfully that several of the audience probably have an allergic reaction.

"Good afternoon to our new students here at Utopia Academy! Thank you for choosing to enroll with us for this, our first semester of the new year. Our battle system is the best in the world, set up for you, our students! I hope that you all had a fun journey here, and that you've all made some new friends! You're going to need them soon, so keep them close, okay?

"Good afternoon to our current students, as well! You all worked hard last week, and we're really very proud of you.

"Now, normally I would explain the rules, but you've all had a day to read the manual, and I'm sure you've met some of our helpful students since you arrived. Let's skip that! Besides, this week is special. That's because... Well! It would be difficult to fight in this weather, right? We're going to give you a break from battles. Isn't that nice? You can still fight each other if you want, but this week it's ~totally optional~.

"This week is a scavenger hunt! We're gonna give you a clue in a moment. The clue will lead you to a treasure, which you should bring back to our sages," the receptionists wave from their desk, looking a little sheepish, "And they'll give you the next clue! If you collect six treasures, you'll win the round and get a great prize, so work hard!

"Ah, one more thing... Players! You can have as many Weapons as you want this week. Winning battles or collecting Weapons won't count as a victory again until the next round, so have fun!"

She disappears from the screens, but her voice doesn't. "The first clue is... I must be broken before I can be used. What am I?"

The Player list scrolls onto half of the screens; the other half show the clue in flowing red text.

Players for Round 3:
Enki
Fletcher Tringham
Kevin Smith
Koharu Izaki
Kotarou
Locke Cole
Marino You
Mei Chang
Mizuno You
Nunnally vi Britannia
Romeo
Sugata Shindo

Comments

[greennotgold]

Fletcher stared up at the screens. This was... a positive turn, he thought. Even if it was only because of the rain, people didn't have to fight! And he was a Player for this round again; for once, he didn't mind.

He actually smiled at the revelation.

[choseanidiot]

Was he supposed to be relieved at this revelation? Enki scowled up at the now-empty screens, for the moment clad in the school uniform (cuffs unbuttoned and hanging down over his knuckles, and no blazer), since his own clothes were still drying.

And if they disappeared at some point, that idiot was going to suffer.

Anyway. Scavenger hunt? What was that, anyway? The principle was clear, but the whole thing was kind of confusing.

[kendobishounen]

Sugata looked up at the screen and focused on his name for a brief while. It appeared that he was going to have a chance to see how this system worked. He was mildly looking forward to it.

That information gained, he turned to the crowd and scanned for either a familiar head of blond or red hair. While it'd be hard to imagine this place being able to pick up Wako, considering her inability to leave the island.

[queenscheckmate]

Kallen turned away at the point where the woman said they didn't have to fight. That was okay by her. She did stop when she heard the riddle. She looked around and... did no one else hear that? Kallen figured that some people would have been saying something out of confusion, but weren't.

A handful of items had to be broken before they could be used. Riddles aren't good when there's multiple answers.

For a moment, the teenager looked around for anyone familiar.

[imperceptible]

"Again?" Kevin groused, crossing his arms and staring up at the screen with irritation. Was this a hint or were the people in charge just picking on him? Either way, he didn't plan to take part again, even if there was no penalty this time.

As far as he was concerned, fuck this game and good riddance to it. Even if he had been part of the last round, it had only been to pay back a favor. Now that his debts were cleared, Exaclan was permanently off his books.

So, with those thoughts in mind, he dismissed the rest of the announcements and began glancing out the windows to see if the weather had improved any. Naturally, it hadn't.

[lolisandminorities]

A riddle with more than one possible answer.

Xingke supposed they were attempting to be difficult in presenting alternatives but of the various possibilities that came to mind, Xingke began to eliminate them one by one in his head. Some were too ridiculous, others would be impossible to find in this sort of setting. So, realistically, there was only one true answer left.

Of course, that sort of reasoning followed the assumption that the school staff weren't being ridiculous and hadn't brought in specific items just for this game.

Regardless, Xingke stayed long enough to note the names on the player list (The Empress of Britannia? Someone had a poor sense of humor.) before straightening from where he stood near the back. If there was nothing else of note, he was going to return to the room before Lloyd could and make another mess.

[kings_thief]

Being a player might have been a concern for Locke, if he had bothered listening to anything that didn't involve the treasure hunt.

"Perfect."

He might not have been one for fighting, but hunting for treasure was his forte.

[bitofafiction]

"I am very nearly impressed," Sherlock murmurs. "This round may in fact be tolerable."

He doesn't trouble himself about finding a Player just yet; he recognizes a few of those names and there will be time enough. First, he settles himself leaning against a pillar and starts writing down objects in his notebook that might fit the description on the screens. Anything with a seal on it, perhaps? Probably not letters. Likely not glowsticks either. He neatly crosses out every option that seems unlikely.

[myblueskies]

Romeo was stood near the edge of the room looking at the screen, he was a player but he didn't have to fight, that was probably good. Though Romeo wasn't scared, after all he had fought the strongest member of the Wolf Pack and won. Still he had watched a few battles and he didn't even know what some of the weapons were never mind how to use them.

Still this scavenger hunt seemed hard, Romeo had no idea what would work if he broke it, and he didn't really like breaking things. Especially things that belonged to other people. He sighed thinking hard and ate his apple.

Then he had an idea! Even though battles were optional maybe he could find people to help him, then they wouldn't have to be discards and he would share his prize with them if he won!

That was a good idea! Chearing up a little bit Romeo started looking around for people to approach, looking for people he knew who were not on the list of players.

[westernwinds]

Rudy was still flipping through his manual because of all of these new terms. From what he could tell, Players were fighters, and everyone else acted as Weapons that were used by those Players. That part was straightforward enough, but he still frowned. Using people as weapons...it just didn't seem right to him. But despite his misgivings, that seemed to be reality for this place. He would just have to grin and bear it for the time being, unfortunately.

Rudy looked back up at the screen. He wasn't one of the Players this round. Okay, so he was a Weapon without a Player then. What were those called again? He flipped through the pages once again, and--oh. Oh dear. Being a Discard didn't sound terribly pleasant on any level.

...

He promptly stuffed the manual into his pocket and decided to focus on the riddle instead.