A/N: Enjoy.

(Minor edits on Day 1:2 - Changed 'Shout' to 'Warcry'; Expanded the Barbarian's armour description. Do not require any re-read. [A/N to be removed on Thursday])

Day 1:3 Hospital

"There's a crowd there."

David and the 'Barbarian' PC are looking towards a copse of trees from a far distance away, checking out the cordoned off area by Vale's Police Force, just outside and behind the Cross Continental Transmit System (CCTS or CCT) Tower. Curious bystanders far outnumbers the two Officers on the scene, but David can spot Beacon Academy's professor, one Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck, seemingly teleporting around within the 'Keep Out' tape and reassuring the viewers, letting the Officers work in as much peace as he could offer.

"It's still there." The Brunet, standing taller beside him ,shuffles uncomfortably. "They covered him up. His body is still there."

A while earlier, after David calmed down from his brush of death via quitting the game, he had asked the the Barbarian-build player about the dead PC—

"Is the body still there?"

"I'm…not sure. It should be, mate. Why?"

"I just had a thought. How long ago was it?"

"Some…some time. I think I wandered around for a bit lost before I saw you."

"Where is it?"

—and came here. David had originally wanted to check it out to confirm something. He shudders from a sudden cold feeling. He had never seen a dead body before, at least not in a 'just died' state. He seen touched up bodies of his elderly relatives during funerals, which made them just seem like they had fallen asleep, pale and permanent. He had never seen a fresh corpse caused by a fatal injury.

Alright, I'm scared of death. But like, who doesn't? David pants lightly, then swallows a build up of saliva. "Hey, you sure you see the body bag?"

"It's—it's there." His fellow PC glups. David spares a glance and sees the growing green in his face. The man then beats his chest once and swallows his bile. "Shit man, it's so much different from seeing it in movies."

"Well, we know it's all fake in the end." David coughs, trying to hide his smart-ass outburst in embarrassment. That is a habit he seriously need to get rid of. "Did anyone saw you when it happened?"

"I don't know." Fat chance of that not happening, to be honest. Why were you guys behind the busiest place in Beacon? The 'Barbarian' rubs his throat, as if he heard David's accusing thought. "But I kind of vomited over there when it happened."

David taps his plates with an elbow. "Let's get out of here." David do not want to get spot by Beacon's staff, yet.

"Bro," the Brunet starts once they turn around and walk, following David without a destination in mind, "what did you wanted to check out?"

Now, where to start with it? Perhaps with his train of thoughts. "When you said that he died, it got me thinking about what happens when we die in game."

"Don't we just respawn at the hospital?" His companion takes a sharp breath. "Wait, that man is still there!"

"Yeah, mate." David taps his lip with a finger. "You get killed, you respawn at the hospital. They are probably waiting for an ambulance to arrive and pick up the body." But will he come back to 'life'? How does 'Death' work now? He starts pinching his chin instead. "During Missions and PvP (Player versus Player) too, though it seems somewhat odd to respawn at the hospital when you die in the wildland." Calling 'Mission Failed' as 'death' is a misnomer, though. It is rather funny for him, when he had just started this game, that in-game death simply made him reappear at Vale General Hospital's entrance after the loading screen.

…Vale General Hospital…?

"But how does death work now?" His companion asks the same question David has in his mind. "The cities are Sanctuaries. While we could use powers in towns, they are superficial and does nothing."

David scratches his head. "The rules has changed. I wonder if he'll respawn at the hospital."

"It's been hours." The sun is hanging high up in the sky, but it is not yet noon. "Ambulances shouldn't be taking so long to get here."

"BA (Beacon Academy) is on the top of the cliff, so they are probably waiting for an airlift." This is a logistical nightmare. "And not if they're completely jammed up, I think?" The words just came out before his mind catches up. "Shit, if you and I aren't the only one ones around—and if the hospital's jammed up…Let's go there and check it out."

For players to get to and fro the Academy, they had to go to the transport hub and get a ride down by Bullhead transport. When it was just a game, it was an instantaneous teleport upon speaking and paying the receptionist. Now, David and his companion find themselves actually boarding a crowded airbus and make their way down to the city. The novelty of an airbus transport wears off quickly for David due to the claustrophobic feeling, having to squeeze on his companion's armour. And because of the ride, both of them overhear a lot of things from the other passengers.

"Did you hear—"

"—explosion! There were several—"

"Lucky that they set aside ONE Bullhead—"

"—know anything about the CCT—"

"—not the only one to—"

"Mate." David lightly elbows his companion.

The taller man tilts slightly. "Yeah, bro. I think you're right."

Shit. "That means they even activated Bullheads to do ambulance runs." David swallows a rising bile. Please don't come out, ugh. The enclosed space due to the number of passengers does nothing for his stomach. Luckily, it complains in a hunger growl instead. "You remember the way to the hospital?"

"Google map, bro."

David tilts his head up in surprise at the Brunet. "You have access to one?"

"Handphone. Or Scroll, whatever this game calls it." He wiggles a bit, arms moving but unable to get further than nudging David, then gives up and says: "Don't you have one?"

David is in disbelieve. "…we have one?"

"Yeah bro. It has a Maps app."

David starts patting his pockets and feels a rectangle piece of something in his left pocket, where he would usually pocket his handphone in real life. He pulls it out to find a generic-looking smartphone. "We have a Scroll!?"

[Discovered 'Scroll']

[Function unlocked]

[Menu can now be accessed via Scroll]

"'the fu—" David almost yelled when his personal space is invaded by random text boxes again, flinching only his head backwards and hitting the Barbarian's plates with a soft thunk!

His companion snorts. "Yeah bro, the pop-ups are irritating, but did you have to exaggerate?"

"I hate surprises." David grumbles.

It still takes them an hour to walk to the general vicinity of Vale General Hospital, located in the heart of the city and near to the council buildings. They stop one street before, spot the big red Cross on one of the structures but unable to approach it any further, because there is almost no way to get there directly anymore.

"Holy fuck…"

"Jesus."

"Get the fuck out of the way!"

"Move move move!"

David and his companion are roughly pushed aside by the medic personnels carrying a stretcher between them. David has the unfortunate luck of looking at the wounded victim before they disappeared into the crowd—a person with the upper-portion of the face in bloody red. The personnels struggle to get through the maze of vehicles, until the leading man climbs a car and continues on over the road block.

"How many?" He barely hears his companion's question over the sirens and yelling and screaming and crying and—David palms his forehead, thrice. "God…How many of us are there? Just how many? How?"

Not a question David has an answer to. The entire road to the cross junction is packed with ambulances and cars; People are weaving in and out of the chaos with some, like the medics earlier, climbing and travelling over them; Even the sky is filled with Bullheads and other aerial vehicles David has never seen before, likely waiting to offload even more wounded.

And I was just thinking I'll have some fun. David rubs his eyes, trying and hoping not to cry, taking a rumbling breath and sighs. "This can't be the only hospital in Vale, even if it's the only one the game uses. Why the hell is everyone cramming this place?"

"Vacuo has only one respawning hospital too." His companion supplies.

Game assets. It comes down to game assets. It's a mobile game. There's no room for extra data to fill out the world.

There is nothing the duo can do other than staying out of the way, leaning against the wall of the residential high-rise building and absorbing the sights and sounds of the nightmare happening right in front of them. The number of vehicles continue to increase—more saloons than ambulances—causing even more blockages and problems for the carriers. Some Bullheads, with their cases offloaded, are trying to clear the area by airlifting jammed vehicles.

"Glynda would've cleared this pile faster than we can blink." David comments. Her 'Telekinesis' Semblance would have made short work of them.

"Why isn't she?" His companion is seated on the pavement, using the wall as a backrest.

From a lore-standpoint, David could guess. "Ozpin probably held her back thinking it's an attack by Salem."

His companion is silent for a moment, eyes frowning in contemplation, then…"Who's Salem?"

David looks at the Brunet for a moment, reckoning that he has just forgotten in the rush of event. When he is just staring back, David sighs. "How far into RWBY series did you watch?"

"Only the first season." He shrugs. "It just feels too slow for me. I don't remember if I even finished watching it."

"Why would you be interested in this game, then?"

"I played their game, Grimm Eclipse."

"Ah." That made some sense.

"A friend recommended it. I tried and kind of enjoyed it."

"Right." David nods, then goes back to answering his question. "Salem is the big bad boss behind the Grimm. She has a bone to pick with Ozpin."

His companion looks to the chaos again. "You reckon Glynda is watching out for an attack?"

"Probably."

Once again, silent contemplation occupies the duo. David fails to draw a similarity between the current situation to any of the animes he was trying to gleam knowledge from. He just watch as the chaotic procession occurs, wondering if this was how it looked like when a natural disasters happened in other countries. Living his whole life in the safety of Singapore, he had never been in a situation like this.

What am I doing? I really should try and help. What is wrong with me?

The problem is he has no idea how to help, other than staying out of the way. He has no medical knowledge beyond basic first aid learned while serving National Service. He does not drive, but the vehicles are log jammed entirely anyway. He is just a Grimm-Slaying Huntsman. And there is no Grimm to stay in sight.

No. Staying out of the way is the most help he could offer right now. Damn.

And so he continues to watch, scanning the scene from side to side, feeling miserable about it. His eyes stop at the person sitting listlessly on the edge of the pavement and road, a black-haired woman who has been crying her eyes out before they had even reach here. She has long since ended her tears, just hiccupping while resting her head on her knees. When David scrutinises her further, he realises something.

I can't tell if she is a PC or an NPC. Shit, we're all going to have issues finding people in this mess. And even more issues hiding things…

Wait, why did they have to hide things again? Why did they have to hide anyway?

Because there's no telling what the denizens will react to just being someone else's figment of imagination. I might be homicidally pissed if I find out I'm just some idiot's imagination, who knows?

David inhales a deep breath and walks, heading towards the woman in a light-grey jacket and black pants. There is no obvious notice of himself when he stands in front of her—pausing a moment to glance at the Brunet eyeing him with a questioning gaze—and lowers himself to a crouch. She is startled only when he places a hand on her shaking shoulder. "Miss."

"Ye—" The woman draws a deep breath and rubs her eyes. She sniffs and hiccups once more. Too bad David has nothing to offer her in hand for her dried tears. With some composure, she replies. "Yes?"

David, at this moment, had absolutely no idea what to do. Why did he want to do this again? Just go with the flow. "Let's take a seat over there." He points. Her head follows and sees the wall the Brunet—who he just realises that he has not yet introduced with—is using as a backrest. "Keep out of the way of the medics and doctors. I already got kicked once."

"Oh!" She seems to have just realised where she was sitting. "Right, sorry."

"Come on."

He stands back up, offering a hand that she accepts and pulls her to her feet clad in black ankle boots. It is then he sees her mostly-pink tee shirt, recognising some odd marks—which form three lines on her chest that look like claw marks—is white in colour and glows with a dim light. Over her tee shirt, she wears a harness that stretches over her chest, which the grip of a handgun is tucked under her left side, while on the right side is a knife as long as her forearm from handle to edge. He escorts her to the wall, where Brunet gives her a smile and a nod. She returns one. She quickly settles down, sitting beside Brunet while David looks at the both of them.

Just say it. David sighs. "Players?"

The woman sits straight with a surprise. "You too?" She turns to Brunet, who nods.

"Yup, miss." Brunet turns to David. "How did you know?"

"Dust-infused clothing." The truth is that he guessed, but he do not need to let them know about that. "The only known character to wear DI (Dust-infused) gears—who is not yet an NPC in this game yet—is Cinder Fall. And true to the series at this moment, no NPCs here currently uses DI clothing."

"That's clever." The woman is picking her tee. "So it's one way to identify someone."

David scratches the back of his neck. "He found me first though, while I was messing with the menu."

"And who is Cinder Fall again?"

Now it is the woman's turn to look incredulous at Brunet. David answers him. "Remember the first episode, after the thief tries to escape Ruby?" The man nods. "The scene where he escapes on the Bullhead, when Glynda tries to stop it, Cinder Fall is the woman that appears to counter her."

The Brunet snaps his finger. "The girl in a scarlet dress with fire power?"

The woman seems to catch on that the Brunet does not have the knowledge of the series. "That's right. Her name is mentioned for the first time in Volume 2."

"That explains why I don't know her name." Brunet crosses his arms while looking to the ground. "I didn't even get past Volume 1."

The woman smiles. "It is nice to meet the both of you. I'm Fiona. And what are yours?" She glances at from Brunet to David.

A short rattle of armour and Brunet is now facing them, forming a triangle. "I'm Sivitri." He raises a hand to Fiona, which she takes into a handshake. "Pleasure."

"Dusty, likewise." David exchanges handshake with Fiona as well. Then he blinks. Huh?

Hmm…Actually, it's probably better to use colour names from now on…Hmm, Fiona is supposed to mean a flower of some kind, isn't it? What is 'Sivitri' a reference to?

"Alright, so, now that pleasantries are done," Sivitri looks from Fiona to Dusty, "what now?"

A/N:Thank you for reading. To those who Followed and Favourited, you motivate me.

One more main-OC to make the Team. There will be more PC-based OCs in the future, to be side-chars or antagonists. And while I have some ideas for them, I have no immediate, set plans yet.

Lastly, the primary plot hasn't come up yet. This is all just world-building. I'd say 'Soon' for the plot.

Character Defeat or Death - 1st literation
[Game-sense] This status occurs when a PC's HP is reduced to Zero. When 'Defeat' or 'Death' occurs, PCs are sent back to their City of Deployment, reappearing at the front of the city's Hospital.

In Player versus Environment (PvE), such as Open-World combat or Mission Deployment, PCs who are 'Defeated' or have their 'Mission Failed' respectively will lose all 'Items' and 'Rewards', as well as losing a small amount of In-Game Currency 'Lien' for repaying the Hospital Bill. All Experience Points gained during either events are reduced by 50%.

In Player versus Player (PvP), such as Tournaments and Sparring Mode but excluding 'Wanted: Dead or Alive', PCs will not receive any penalty for 'Defeat'. If PCs are tagged for 'Wanted' and killed by Police, Syndicate or other PCs, they will receive an Experience and Lien penalty while losing their 'Wanted' status.

[Current Situation] No one knows if there are any changes. Unknown status regarding those who are under 'Killed by Quit Game' effect.

Coloured Names - 1st literation
[Game-sense] -No data-

[Current Situation] PCs seems to have non-coloured names. Why is this and how will this play out?