New chapter, guys. Sorry for the long wait. In this chapter, we finally arrive at day break, and an end to Rose's little Grimm grinding session as well as Myrtenaster's visit to Torchlight's office.

Enjoy if you can, if you can't I apologize.

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Rose and company were tired, had low HP, and still had over two hundred feet of terrain and Grimm between them and the town. There were no trees nearby with low enough branches to reliably climb and the way forward had too many enemies. Things weren't looking good.

Rose looked around, seeing a mass of Grimm approaching from behind while the seven Grimm in front stayed where they were. The highest level sword tech I have for this weapon will finish cool down in around sixty seconds, Rose thought. I'll need to chain my attacks just right so I'll be able to use it right as it becomes available. I should be able to cut a path for Maggy and Stormflower. She did a bit of math in her head, wasting precious time fumbling with her numbers. So the order should be [Nimble Feet], [Rolling Saw], [Sweeper], [Tornado], and then I can finally use it.

"I have a plan," Rose said, charging forward. She was already counting her cooldown timers. "Follow me!"

"Ah! Wait up!" Maggy cried as Rose ran off towards the town, moving much faster than either Maggy or Stormflower could ever achieve with their stats. Yet follow they did, keeping her in view despite the head start.

Rose arrived at the first Grimm in a little over a second and activated [Rolling Saw]. It was a multi hit technique that involved jumping into the air and violently pitching the scythe forward into a buzz-saw like spin. It was one of the hardest moves she knew how to execute and only managed to do it twice in the past. One Grimm fell, its chest cleaved vertically in three parts. After which, she landed shakily on her feet, immediately transitioning into a [Sweeper] that briefly stunned the next two Grimm that were running towards her. Two more jumped at her and she swung the other way, activating the next sword tech, [Tornado], a four hit horizontal spin attack. The other two Grimm got pushed back as well.

Here goes, Rose thought, planting both feet into the ground and taking a deep breath. She activated [Crescendo] causing her weapon to glow.

All of the six remaining Grimm pounced on her right as she began spinning her scythe wildly around her, effectively defending and counter attacking at the same time. Her [Ancient Harvester] was a crimson arc of death, dismembering and decapitating Grimm left and right. It was exhilarating. She couldn't feel her blood pumping but she could definitely feel the adrenaline.

Upon finishing her attack, she stood there stuck in her recovery animation. She held her scythe behind her, the blade resting on the ground while the other end was raised up by her hand. She suddenly felt light headed.

"Rose!"

"Maggy, get her to safety. I'll distract them," Stormflower yelled some distance behind her.

Rose had nearly lost consiousness when Maggy and Stormflower got to her. They seemed to have understood Rose's intention when she charged in. And since Rose killed all the Grimm, the two had a clear path to the town. Relieved, she blacked out and collapsed.

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"Yang, I'm sorry. I really am. Please. I didn't know it would-"

"It's fine, Ruby. It's fine. It's all good. Don't worry about it. Just... just... I'm fine, okay...? I'm fine..."

Rose opened her eyes to a familiar face. "This exactly what happened when we first met, wasn't it?" It was Myrtenaster, standing above Rose with her hands on her hips. "You always seem to be chasing trouble."

Rose sighed in relief. "Eh, it's a problem I have, I guess." She smiled sheepishly.

Myrtenaster rolled her eyes before offering her hand. "You're lucky we happened to be passing by the city gates when you three came running. Had we not been there to hold them off, you would have died." Rose looked away, even as she took Myrtenaster's hand. She felt her squeeze tightly. "You specifically, Rose," she repeated.

Rose sat up, feeling mildly disturbed at how close she was to dying back there. All because of her hubris. She had a teleport crystal in her quick-use bag but she didn't think to use it. Instead, she had decided that a risky idea wherein she tried to be the hero was the best course of action. This is a lot like how Jaune died, she thought bitterly. I need to be more careful. I need to stop being so reckless.

Rose was then snapped out of her inner self-scolding by Myrtenaster's short cough. "There's an interesting thing I'd like to ask you."

Rose tilted her head curiously. "Okay? Shoot."

"What is the [Idle] status?"

Rose blinked in confusion. The [Idle] status is when a player temporarily leaves the game while still having it turned on. A player could deliberately pause and remove the Nerve Gear helmet to go pee or have a snack - very unlikely since the stand-by screen for temporary leaves was accessed through the log-out button. Another possibility was a power outage or loss of internet connection which also forced the player into [Idle] status until they reconnected with the servers. That was the more likely scenario in Rose's opinion.

After Rose's brief explanation, Myrtenaster nodded. "You were out for nearly thirty minutes now, actually. I was about the just leave you here in the grass until you woke up."

Rose frowned. [Idle] players were supposed to be automatically logged out if they stay [idle] for longer than fifteen minutes. Not really a possibility, now that she thought about it, but still concerning.

She looked around. "Where's Maggy and Stormflower?"

Myrtenaster stepped to the side. Behind her, Magnhild was lying in the grass, probably asleep, while Stormflower sat next to her, testing the tension on his bow. Looks like he gained enough levels to equip it, Rose thought.

"Have you ever used bows in this game before?" Myrtenaster asked.

Rose thought for a bit. "Once or twice in the beta. They don't have that many techs on them and require a bit of skill to use well. They don't do enough damage for my taste so I don't use them. Not sure if they've changed since then."

Myrtenaster stared curiously at Stormflower. "Having some range would be nice, though," she muttered. "Having a bow as a supporting weapon seems like a smart move."

"Keep and mind that the quiver full of arrows also contributes to your equipment weight. Stormflower a pretty high strength stat for someone with an agility build so he should be able to afford the extra weight without getting a movement penalty."

"Anyway." Rose stood up. "Why were you passing by the northern entrance anyway?"

"Because I need to meet up with Torchlight. We want something from him."

Rose smirked. "I hope you brought a lot of money, then."

Myrtenaster merely smiled at her. "I'm one of the richest people in this game right now. I have the money." With that, she walked away, leaving Rose standing alone under the moonlight.

"What could she want, though?" Rose wondered aloud. She shrugged and walked towards Maggy and Stormflower. "Whatever it is, I hope she gets it."

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Gambol dropped down from the roof, landing next to Myrtenaster as she walked the now empty streets. "How was it?" Gambol asked.

Myrtenaster forwned, deep in thought. "We are some of the few players who are still awake right now. It doesn't look like anyone noticed how most of us went [idle] at around the same time. Rose was the first - we saw her go down. Then Stormflower, then you, then me. The only person who didn't pass out was Maggy."

"What did you learn?"

"Nothing you haven't already told me." Myrtenaster started walking, gesturing for Gambol to follow.

"Something messed with our bodies, Gambol. Our real bodies. I have no idea what happened but it must have involved unplugging the Nerve Gear."

Gambol looked at her confusedly. "How do you-"

"I know that thing's specs inside and out - or at least the prototypes father managed to have smuggled into RND. The Nerve Gear is supposed to be plugged in while it runs but it has an rechargeable internal battery that lasts for 30 minutes. You'll still be able to save your progress in the event of a power outage, though that feature is only really useful in offline games. In our case, it just means we black out for half an hour until we get reconnected to the servers."

Gambol frowned. "That's still doesn't explain how you're so sure of this."

"Think about it. We've been stuck here for a month. It could have been so easy for someone to just remove the helmet and log us out that way. Obviously that didn't happen so we've been stuck here since November. Over thirty days have gone by and none of us have been eating and drinking. At this point, all of us must be severely malnourished. You and I are probably in better condition considering the facilities we have at home but there is no doubt that we've been transferred to a hospital."

Gambol ran ahead and stopped in front of Myrtenaster. "Travel time is an issue, though. What if they take longer than 30 minutes?"

"Like I said, my knowledge was gained from the prototypes that RND took apart and studied. The Nerve Gears we're using right now are from the official release batch." Myrtenaster shrugged and walked past Gambol. "Who knows what's changed between versions."

Gambol watched her walk, still standing behind her, unsure what to say. Myrtenaster was obviously done with the topic. No use keeping it up. Then a thought came to her.

"What do you think Torchlight would pay for this information."

"I wouldn't count on him not knowing about this already." Myrtenaster stopped and turned back to Gambol, smiling. "But it can't hurt to find out. I won't say no to payment for information he already has."

Gambol smiled as well. "Assuming he already has it," she said, walking to catch up the Myrtenaster.

"All the more reason to try," Myrtenaster replied, walking again as well. "Let us see if we can con the con man."

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Myrtenaster and Gambol were escorted into a room where Torchlight stood behind a table, awaiting them. "And so the stray returns," he said with a grin. "And look, she brought her master with her."

Myrtenaster drew her rapier. "Shut your mouth or I will gladly shut it for you," she said, thrusting it forward, stopping just short of actually hitting Torchlight.

Torchlight raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, easy. No need to get all dramatic." He didn't seem at all scared of her actually going through with stabbing him though it did trouble him somewhat. "I take it you have business with me?"

Myrtenaster stared at him coldly, pressing the tip of her sword lightly into Torchlight. There was a pin-prick of damage, causing Myrtenaster's cursor to turn orange. "Yes, I have business with you," she said, pulling back and sheathing her rapier.

"Bold move, princess. You know, it's dangerous threatening me like that. You really wouldn't want me as an enemy." He then laughed. "Though you probably wouldn't want me as a friend either." He leaned forward pressed his hands on the table. "So, what do you have for me, ladies?"

"You know who we are," Myrtenaster said, quickly getting to the point and wasting no time. "And we want you to keep it secret."

"Okay, I'll do that," he said casually.

"As for payment, I am willing to-wait what did you say?" Myrtenaster stared at Torchlight in confusion. "You're saying yes? Just like that?"

Torchlight put a finger on his chin as he pretended to think for a bit. "Why, yes. Yes I am," he said condescendingly.

Myrtenaster continued staring, still finding it unbelievable. "That's... that seems out of character," she muttered.

"I am not a very charitable person, Miss Schnee." Myrtenaster flinched when she heard her real name. "But I am also not a monster. It's a real dangerous world in here. And selling players sensitive information like that is an easy way to get multiple people killed. You see, I am very much a pragmatist. Suppose I sold your name to someone in this game, maybe to someone who wanted you dead. And suppose that we actually get out of here and go back to the real world. You'll be dead and, with enough investigation, your death will be traced back to me. I know your father would absolutely do prosecute me and anyone else related to your death. I don't want that to happen, thus I will tell no one."

He grinned. "Of course, I also don't ever sell IRL information in the first place but that's beside the point"

Myrtenaster scowled, turning to Gambol who was silently glaring at Torchlight. "Did you know this?" Myrtenaster asked.

Torchlight laughed. "Oh she knew alright. I told her myself. I can even quote you right now."

"'I'm no threat to her, and you're no threat to me'," Gambol growled. "Those were your words. Your exact words."

"And I still stand by them." He turned back to Myrtenaster. "Miss Schnee, what do you think people trapped inside this game will do if they find out you're the heiress to Schnee Electronics, the business rival to the company that made this game? Some people will blame you for this game trapping its players. Some people will pity you for being trapped yourself. But a lot of them just. won't. care. You're not important to them. And while you're important to me, you're no more important than any of my other clients. You're just another player, no more in danger than anyone else in this death trap. It's good to be cautious, but you need to know when enough is enough."

Myrtenaster thought for a bit but ultimately decided he was right. "Okay then, I'm convinced. And about keeping this secret..."

"Completely free."

Myrtenaster nodded awkwardly. "Right. In any case, I believe Gambol here is in your debt."

Torchlight's smile turned sinister. "Oh, is she now? Well, I suppose you're also here to pay off that debt? I'm willing to listen to your offer."

"Approximately one hour ago, Gambol successfully infiltrated your base of operations. Granted, she got caught, but it did call to attention a rather important bug, one bug you yourself attempted to recreate."

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

Myrtenaster snapped her fingers. "Gambol, if you would."

Gambol jumped forward and performed a quick-draw technique at the space behind Torchlight. Right before her katana slashed through the air, it shimmered and materialized. The girl in pink now stood there, casually blocking the sword with her cane. She smirked at Gambol before giving her a small push with her free hand.

Torchlight sighed dramatically. "That was terrible stealth, Neo. Were you even trying?" When she giggled in response, Torchlight couldn't help but roll his eyes . "Typical."

He gestured to the girl in pink. "Ladies, this is Neopolitan."

Myrtenaster looked dryly between the two of them. "We've met."

Torchlight smiled in annoyance. "Well, I offered to call Gambol's little invasion of privacy a done deal but you two just can't let it go. Of course, by now we're even, considering that my little assistant here has done something similar." He leaned back, looking away. "Unless, of course, you have something else in mind," he added suggestively.

"Now, you owe us. You would've never have found out about this bug without Gambol. You're right. Everything that happened earlier tonight is even. What about the knowledge we gave you?"

Torchlight frowned and crossed his arms. "Well, what do you want, then?"

Myrtenaster smiled. "Oh my. The conman is letting the customer make the terms?"

He shrugged. "Nothing I offer you is anything you don't already have. Money? Ha! I'm only just now catching up to your insane lead on everyone. Information? Nope! You already know everything I can tell you." He laughed. "Congratulations, Myrtenaster. You just backed me into a corner. Well done."

A chime echoed throughout the room and everyone flinched. Everyone received a message at the same time. Myrtenaster scowled and brought up her menu. The new message icon flashed over her messages tab.

[System Update: As of 03:30 this morning, patch 1.2 has come into effect. See patch notes below for changes.

Balance changes:
*{Scythe} weapon types rebalanced. Base damage reduced. Strength stat requirements and scaling reduced. Agility stat scaling increased. Bonus damage based on combo stacks increased. Combos now stack up to six times. High level techniques are no longer available at low weapon skill levels.
*Grimm levels reduced to 50% higher than area level. Experience gained from Grimm reduced to 75% higher than regular area mobs
*Number of enemies in {Emerald Forest} field area now reduced. Farther areas may now be explored without being overwhelmed by mobs
*{Stealth} skill rebalanced (PVP). Players with maxed stealth level are no longer completely invisible to other players without detection. Observant players will now be able to notice a slight distortion in the air when a hidden player moves.
*{Stealth} skill rebalanced (PvE). Activating stealth after moving outside of a mob's vision cone will no longer cause the mob to instantly change targets. The mob will now attempt to reacquire their previous target until targeting resets after 3 seconds or until another player gains aggression (whichever is sooner)
*Rolling now reduces fall damage up to a certain damage threshold.

Aesthetic changes:
*Increased options for menu customization
*Higher level enemies now have glowing red eyes

Bug fixes:
*Percentage damage now rounded off. Players and mobs can no longer be lowered to less than 1 health and still survive
*Players can no longer enter restricted areas through windows and other such side entrances if the area is a player owned area. NPC owned areas can still be broken into.

This is an automated message created by Remnant Online's adaptive game world system. Do not reply to this message]

"Players can no longer break into restricted areas," Torchlight repeated, chuckling. "Looks like I don't owe you anything anymore. Too bad, princess."

Myrtenaster scowled. That bug was found literally hours ago. How could there already be a fix for it? And what's this about an adaptive game world system? If it means what I think it means then this game is a lot more advanced than I realized.

"Well then, I guess we have no reason for being here anymore. We'll see ourselves out." She turned up her nose and turned around.

Myrtenaster exited the room, Gambol following behind, still facing Torchlight and Neopolitan as she kept her grip on her katana ready. Myrtenaster payed no heed to what Gambol was doing. She was too busy thinking.

An adaptive virtual world what can find and fix its own bugs, rebalance gameplay based on player performance, and make cosmetic changes without the aid of human developers. I know this technology is well within this generation's hardware capabilities but it must be really expensive to produce. Where did Argus get that money, though? Schnee Electronics has been up Argus' profits up to 50% for the past 6 years. How could some second rate company miles behind us make something like this when we never had enough to do the same? As it stands, Schnee Electronics are only just now catching up to this company's progress. It doesn't make sense! It doesn't ma-

As she silently fumed, she could sense that Gambol and Wilt were having a conversation - or a sort of stern lecture if she wanted to better describe it. She tried to ignore them, though she was failing.

"Never show open hostility when in enemy territory," Wilt spat. Gambol said nothing. "Your client was right there. What, were you trying to look intimidating? The role of a bodyguard is to protect your client from danger. You were practically inviting them to try and attack." Gambol still said nothing but one still got the sense that she was holding back a response.

Myrtenaster frowned as she listened in. "We were more than capable of dealing with whatever they threw at us," she muttered.

Wilt turned around "I'm sorry, ma'am, but that is beside the point."

"Then what is the point?" Myrtenaster snapped. "No doubt Gambol already knows this. A simple reminder would have been enough. Stop with the sermon already, it's distracting."

Wilt paused before nodding once. "Yes, ma'am." He kept silent the rest of their walk back to the clock tower.

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Rose bit her lip as she read the notification. Most of these are probably because of me, she thought wryly. She brought up her menu. My nightly grinding's gonna take a hit from all these changes. The Scythe rebalance especially. I wonder what techs I lost...

On her weapon skill screen, her available sword techniques were displayed on a list. All the ones with names were ones she had encountered before. The techs that she was capable of using were highlighted in blue while the ones she did not meet the requirement for were greyed out. There rest were hidden from view, only becoming visible when she either unlocked them or saw them being used by another player. Her current list had mostly greyed out techniques.

Rose sighed and dismissed her menu. "Goodbye, Crescendo. I wish I was able to use you more often..."

Stormflower walked up to Rose. "I'm ready," he said "Are you sure you're good to carry her the entire way?" he asked.

"Oh? Don't worry about it." Rose waved her hand dismissively. "As long as I un-equip my weapons, I shouldn't go over my weight limit."

Magnhild was lying on the grass in front of them, sleeping soundly, battle ax still strapped to her back. "No, I get to ride the Ursa..." she muttered in her sleep. Rose and Stormflower smiled.

"Right," Rose said, kneeling down. "Upsey-daisy." With a little bit of effort, she picked up Maggy. She winced as she took a step. "Okay, I think I passed a weight threshold. I'll be able to keep up but don't expect me to move any faster than a fast walk."

"We're staying at the inn near the church."

"The one with the low ceiling and big circle windows?" Stormflower nodded. "Yeah, I know where that is. Let's go."

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Myrtenaster leaned forward and rested her head on the windowsill, watching the players and NPCs start to stir. The sky was slowly turning a light shade of grey as they approached dawn.

"Was I wrong? Was this whole thing just the result of a maintenance patch?" She asked to no one in particular

Above her, there was the sound of boots hitting tiles, followed by two feet dangling over the edge of the roof. "Hey," the voice of Gambol greeted quietly.

"Hello, Gambol," Myrtenaster replied. She raised her head and poked the dangling leg beside her. "Do you have an answer for me?"

Gambol raised the leg being poked before answering. "Your guess is as good as mine - arguably better."

"Well what other reason could there be? How can everyone start passing out within minutes of each other not be something important? Yes, the patch is important but must everyone but incapacitated for it to come into effect?" Myrtenaster shook her head. "There has to be something more to this. Something that has to do with the world outside of this game."

There was a pause. Myrtenaster stared as the remaining leg, feeling as sense of longing. She wasn't sure what kind but it was longing.

"But you can't prove it," Gambol responded after a few seconds of pondering.

Myrtenaster frowned. "No... No I cant..."

"Then sleep on it, then." Gambol pulled her leg up, leaving Myrtenaster to stare at the horizon. More footsteps hit the roof tiles as Gambol stood up. "Besides. You've been up all night. You need your rest."

Myrtenaster turned towards her bed in the corner. "Maybe I will..."

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Rose lied down with Maggy on her bed. "You guys sleep in the same room?" She got a nod in response. "Isn't it awkward?"

Stormflower sat at a chair next to the bed and stared at Rose, blinking once. "We've been friends for a long time," he answered.

Rose blinked as well. "I guess it isn't awkward for you guys, huh?" she said after a pause. She glanced at Maggy before staring at the ceiling. "So what was it she was saying earlier? How much she missed... this... whatever this is..." She turned back to Stormflower. "What was she talking about?"

"She missed being able to move around."

It took a moment to hit her. "Why would she... she can't move in real life..." Rose frowned. "What happened...?"

Stormflower glanced at Maggy. "You'll have to ask her yourself. Good morning, Nora."

Magnhild sat up and pouted. "That was mean, Ren. Telling her without my permission." She smiled sadly. "It's fine. It's not like I was keeping it secret or anything." She turned to Rose. "Do you really want to know what happened? What are you going to do when you find out?"

Rose hesitated. What would she do? Did she really need to know what happened? And really, what would she do? She was just a random player trapped in a game with other players. Yes, she was the strongest one out of all of them, but did that really mean anything when literally anyone should be able to reach the level of power she had. She was just a player. Just a person. What could she do with the info if she were to get it? What could she do?

"I guess I don't really need to know," Rose muttered.

Maggy frowned. "Hey, no need to be so down about it. It's not a big deal. Really."

Rose stared at Maggy. She nodded slowly. "Right..." She then stood up and moved to open the door.

"Wait, Rose. Where are you going? Do you want to know or not?" Those were the last things Maggy said before the door closed. Rose still heard more muffled words as she continued down the hall. "Ren, what's up? What did I say to upset her?"

She was out of the building and in the streets before long. She pulled up her hood and made her way to her own inn. Once she was there, she immediately collapsed into her bed

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So here is the newest chapter. Yes, I've been working on this since the last time I uploaded. Pitiful progress, I know. It took me three chapters to go through a little over 12 hours in this story. But really, that's to be expected in an ensemble cast story such as this one.

I've been slowly feeding Rose's backstory and development into the story but so far, she's been pretty static. Yes, she does act differently based on who she's with, but she hasn't ever really shown any significant differences, at least until now. If you think that last bit with her removing herself from the room was kind of out of character then you're correct. That is, in fact, intentional. It'll be explained eventually, though I won't be explicitly telling you. Until then, you'll just have to guess at the reasons for now.

The little bit of exposition in Myrtenaster's internal monologues and some of her scenes serve multiple purposes. For one, I can insert world building for the technology and business side of Remnant Online's creation. Schnee Electronics is basically the Google to Argus' Apple, or vice versa (I'm not up to date with who's ahead in this sort of thing.) For another, I get to write Weiss without her filtering what she says with an air of superiority.

Then of course there's that little update. Consider it an in-universe excuse for any game mechanic retcons that might occur. For a slightly more positive reason for it, I also wanted to make the game more balanced. The mere idea that a single player can become literally the most powerful player in the game because she grinded super-mobs alone every night for a month while everyone else was trying to complete the objective sickens me. Every mechanic I've written into this game incentivizes cooperation and yet I somehow made it so Ruby here becomes an overpowered goddess of death by playing solo against lots of powerful enemies. That is not balanced and it needs to be fixed.

But yeah. This was a chapter. A little bit of intrigue. A little bit of backstory and development. Some exposition here and there. Overall I'm satisfied with how this chapter came out. Now if only it came out faster. I'll try harder to get another one out soon.