{-Myr-}
At first, they followed Tinath. But the closer they got to the docks, the easier it was to tell where they were supposed to be going. Myr had seen plenty of events while they were in Nafrius, and the four of them participated in a few in the months that they knew each other; this was probably one of the largest crowds she’d seen, though.
“Mom might be around here, but you won’t need to worry about her,” Tinath said. “I’m going to go find the other streamers, you four enjoy the event.” She waved and disappeared among the crowd.
“Where do you think the event guy is?” Zetai tried looking around, but it was impossible for any of them to tell anything. “Closer to the docks, maybe?”
“Looks like it,” Reynneak mumbled. “I think there’s a single guy over there that’s trying to talk with all the players.” He paused. “Did they ever think of making more than one person to help out here..? This is a lot of people for one person to be trying to help at once…”
“I think they usually get some of the other normal NPCs to help them,” Myr remarked. “But he’s probably not had enough time to ask someone for help.”
“I’d like to remind you that this is the exact reason I said we should wait a while first,” Llewel pointed out. “But none of you agreed with me.”
Zetai seemed to pick a random direction and walk towards it. She said, casually, “I think we both have other stuff we need to do later today, though. I wanted to get this thing started before then.”
They walked through the crowds until, finally, they found the person they were all gathered around: a young inventor, from the looks of it, boasting about his achievements and explaining to players how it worked. Myr wasn’t surprised that she didn’t recognize him, and he didn’t recognize her.
Most of the event NPCs were completely made from scratch with only a few being “promoted” ones from Nafrius. They usually only stayed for the event and disappeared again. As far as she could tell, they were aware like all the other NPCs, but they didn’t have the same kind of knowledge. They’d always been the few that never recognized the twins, assuming them to be players. The longer she thought about it, the more confusing it became, so she decided not to consider it all too deeply.
When the inventor realized the four of them standing there, he gestured them closer. “Come on, don’t be shy! I’ve got the invention of a lifetime here, and I’d love for you to hear about it!” He was still talking to more people than just them, as he handed each of the players around him—hesitating at the twins, but eventually handing them one too—a small box thing. “What you, dear players, are holding in your hands right now is what is going to make me famous: a camera!”
“Portable cameras weren’t invented until the 1990’s,” Reynneak said on what sounded like instinct. “That… is nowhere near the Industrial Revolution timeframe the rest of this is going for.”
Several players, Zetai included, rolled their eyes.
“Well, Nankohm is a company of game developers,” the inventor responded. He must’ve had to tell a few others this. “They are, by no means, historians. And either way, that’s not the point! The point is, I made a super interesting thing that allows you players to take pictures, wherever you want—following the co-op rules, of course—and have them on your device, right here in the game!”
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“Only took two years,” a player—several of them, actually—grumbled.
“Get to the actual stuff we want to know!” another called.
“Don’t rush me,” the inventor said. “I was getting there! To go along with this amazing invention, I’m hosting an event! Take pictures of your travels around Masylm and bring them back to me. For the average portion of the event, you’ll gain plenty of worthwhile rewards—check that message board over there—for each unique picture you send me. We’re also hosting an extra-special campaign, where you can submit photos to me that will make it to Nankohm headquarters! There, they will judge all the photos submitted, and twelve lucky players—if they’re applicable, also check the message board—will receive real-life rewards, like a cash prize and exclusive merch!”
That got everyone around bustling, though Myr understood none of the appeal. Then again, she also knew that this was just one of those things she would probably never understand.
A more timid-looking player stepped up and asked, “What if we don’t want photos submitted to Nankohm? Will we still be able to get the normal rewards?”
The inventor nodded. “They’re two seperate things. You’ll need an extra confirmation if you intend on sending them into Nankohm, so there’s no reason to be concerned over it. In fact, I’ll keep note of you, so I’ll automatically assume you don’t want to submit the photos to them.” He paused. “Are there any more questions? It looks like another group’s gathered by now—I’m probably the most popular guy in Kehnore!”
Then, slowly, all the players left to be replaced by others. Zetai guided the three of them to a spot with surprisingly less people than the rest.
“I figured we’d do the normal part but not submit any to Nankohm,” she explained. “I don’t know if they realize who you’re traveling with or not, but we probably don’t want to let them know.”
Their collective nods showed a mutual understanding.
“Can I get Tinath?” Myr asked excitedly. “She’s a part of the party now, so I think she should be with us when we do this.”
“She’s probably busy with… whatever it is she needs to do,” Llewel pointed out. After a moment, though, he sighed. “But that’s not going to stop you. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to walk over there and try…”
“We’ll stay right here,” Reynneak said. “The two of you can go check on her.”
Myr needed no more confirmation. Whether Llewel was following her or not, she weaved through the crowd until she was able to find where Tinath was.
There had to be about a dozen important-looking people—but Tinath by far had the most players around her. She was talking with them and occasionally answering questions, though she was still quick to notice the twins.
“Tinath!” Myr called with a smile, weaving through the players with a surprising ease. They’d all practically stopped when the twins came by. “We got what we needed, I wanted you to come with us when we do the event!”
“I don’t think I can leave here…” Still, Tinath scanned the crowd. Myr was able to follow her gaze to where Rachel was hidden in the corner. She smiled and nodded, so Tinath turned back to the twins with a smirk. “You know what, as long as these awesome people are willing to share me, I think things’ll be fine without me for a little while.”
Myr didn’t think anything special of it. The players certainly did.
“Erin, do you have a party here, too?” one of them asked excitedly.
“Yeah, come on, who are these two?” another questioned.
A third nodded. “You haven’t mentioned anything yet about having friends here!”
For a moment, Tinath said nothing. But when she did, it was casual, the kind of voice that proved what she said. “Yeah, they’re some new friends of mine. I made a few stupid mistakes, but they were still willing to let me team up with them.” She stepped away from all the players, waving. “I’ll probably be back in a couple of hours or so. Go hang out with Grumps over there! I bet he’s dying for attention.”
Then they walked back to Zetai and Reynneak, and started testing out that young inventor’s crowning work.
[https://i.imgur.com/S2ETRkt.png]