110: Communication, the Key to a Healthy Player-Journalist Relationship

Communication, the Key to a Healthy Player-Journalist Relationship

Upon stepping through the portal to the Fourth Floor, for the first time so far, Neve was not teleported to an open space. Instead, it looked like the safe zone that they'd been teleported to was a lab of some sort. 

To the right, Neve saw a rusty metal table with test tubes, half-broken flasks, pipettes, and some sprawled-out notebooks. To the left, she found some bookshelves and a bed, though it was covered in so much dust that Neve had no intention of laying in it, along with some strangely oversized clothes. Clearly, whatever species this world belonged to were quite a bit larger than humans. The size of the room hinted at that fact as well. 

Behind her was a black couch with an old skeleton on it and up ahead was one singular brown door. 

All around her, decorating all of these parts she'd just seen, was blood that had long since dried. 

[Okay,] Neve thought. [I wonder what sort of place this is going to be. We've gone to a forest world, a desert world, a water world... A fire world is probably up next, no? But then, why are we indoors to start?] 

Immediately, Neve went to the Hidden Shop. 

Here it was. The moment of truth. 

[100000 WST... It's going to hurt, but this stuff is absolutely worth it.] 

Scrolling through it, she landed on the Angel Set. 

Angel Set

{Legendary}

{Armor - 5 pieces - Robes, Hood, Gloves, Skirt, Shoes}

{Req: Class: Priest/Priestess}

{Effect: All healing and shielding, both received and cast unto others, is strengthened by 100%}

{Note: Effect is only granted when the full set is being worn}

{Val: 100000 WST}

Salivating, she pressed on the item and clicked {Buy}.

{Do you wish to purchase this item?} 

{Yes} {No}

Tapping {Yes}, Neve watched as her WST total was reduced all the way down to just 8003. 

As though she'd just bought the latest gaming console as a kid, she hastily went into the Inventory and swapped out her basic Priestess outfit for the Angel Set. 

It was more than likely a placebo effect, but Neve instantly felt power surrounding her. 

The set itself was surprisingly stylish as well. White, sleeveless, low-cut robes with a golden runic symbol of some sort at its center, over Neve's stomach, leading into a white skirt with a gold hem. Similarly, the set came with white and gold gloves and shoes. The hood covering her sapphire hair was gold and held a pair of long stripes that went all the way down to her feet, trailing behind her like a split, golden cape. 

It was outrageously soft as well. Neve felt like... Well, she felt like she was being hugged by angels. 

[This is definitely not going to protect me from any attacks, though. Oh well. That's a small price to pay for the absolutely insane effect it grants. Plus, it's not like my previous outfit was protecting me all too well either.] 

All in all, she was satisfied with the purchase, even if her wallet hurt thanks to it. 

[Geez. 8000 WST. I'm pretty much right back where I started.] 

At that moment, she was quickly reminded of what she'd likely be using all of these remaining tokens on when a series of messages appeared before her. 

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 10 WS Token}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 15 WS Token}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 21 WS Token}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 18 WS Token}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 14 WS Token}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 1 WS Token}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 12 WS Token}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 9 WS Token}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 19 WS Token}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 20 WS Token}

{Daily Token Transfer Cap: 139/2500}

WST: 8142

Previously, Neve had asked the journalist "WHO R U". As she sat down and went through the same code she'd used before, she assumed this would be the person's answer to that question. 

"J...o...u..." Neve went through it, sitting down on the old couch next to her. "Journalist? So, it's a journalist that's been going through all this trouble to contact me. Sorry for taking so long," she apologized in her mind as she quickly went into the donation menu to send something back. 

[8142 WST. I wonder how quickly I'm going to burn through it] 

Before she could think of a response, however, another series began to reach her. 

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 19 WS Tokens}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 20 WS Tokens}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 1 WS Token}

{Donation Received!}1

{Charlotte <3: 20 WS Token}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 21 WS Token}

{Donation Received!}

{Charlotte <3: 19 WS Token}

Once again, Neve went through it. 

{Daily Token Transfer Cap: 239/2500}

WST: 8242

"S...t...a... Status? They want to know how we're doing." She sighed, leaning back in her chair. The skeleton chilling next to her had its head pointed in her direction, almost like it was curious about what she'd reply. "What do I tell them?" 

Already, with just two words, Charlotte had burned through 239 tokens. Neve had quite a lot to offer, of course, but it was clear that a full conversation would be at least a little draining. 

After giving it some thought, she decided to just let them know the status of the Final Challenge's clear. 

[I'm guessing this is the main reason this person's been contacting me. I can tell them about Thomas and everything he did too, but, this will probably be the first thing they want to hear about.] 

With that in mind, this was Neve's response. 

{Donation Sent!} 

{Neve Stephens: 94 WST}

[And it would be...]

{Donation Sent!} 

{Neve Stephens: 4 WST}

{Donation Sent!} 

{Neve Stephens: 5 WST}

{Donation Sent!} 

{Neve Stephens: 1 WST}

{Donation Sent!} 

{Neve Stephens: 4 WST}

{Daily Token Transfer Cap: 108/2500}

WST: 8134

"94-D-E-A-D," Neve muttered. "And... B-E-T-R-A-Y-A-L. There." 

WST: 8050. 

[Okay, done. That should let her know the gist of the situation. I'll get back to this in a bit but, for now, let's settle in and see what this floor is like.] 

With that in mind, Neve was asked by Tamira if she wanted to teleport everything, including Ahlakan, to this safe zone and she let her know that indeed, she would like that. 

Then, more messages came. 

Only, none of these were from Charlotte.

{Donation Received!} 

{PornstarGOAT: 250 WST}

{Donation Received!}

{Timmy: 1 WST}

{Donation Received!}

{LaMonJames: 15 WST}

{Donation Received!}

{FrancescaPegsALot: 69 WST}

And so on, and so on, and so on.

Neve just blinked at her screen. 

[... What the fuck is happening?]

---

{Charlotte} 

Those three, simple messages, written to Charlotte through the donation-based code she had managed to establish with Neve, "94, dead, betrayal", set the internet ablaze. 

"Yes, if you wish to ask me anything, you can do so later," Charlotte said as she sat behind a table in a governmental building with a row of cameras and microphones pointed at her. "Yes, I will open up my donation history to the public later. For now, however, I wish for the contents of my conversations with Neve Stephens to remain, to some degree, private. I will, of course, convey whatever important information she wishes to let the world know about, but, should she say anything... sensitive, I wish to respect her privacy as well." 

She said that last statement knowing it would absolutely light people's heads on fire just thinking about the possibilities. 

This bit of news, along with Charlotte's personal popularity, had taken off for a few reasons. 

Firstly, during the first few hours in which Charlotte let the world know about Neve's responses to her, she allowed governmental bodies to verify her donation history and they vouched for her. 

Others then, naturally, tried to contact Neve themselves only for the healer to unceremoniously block all donations from anyone who was not Charlotte, probably because she didn't want to deal with the wave of spam donations that resulted. 

Meaning that, overnight, a couple of things had happened. 

1. Finally, humanity had a way to speak to the players, or, well, just one of the players as none of the others replied to their donations, inside of the Final Challenge. 

2. Charlotte herself was the only method that existed by which Neve could be contacted. 

This meant that, for now, Charlotte had all of a sudden become one of the most important individuals in the world. 

Her phone hadn't stopped buzzing for hours.

"No, she has not said anything else just yet. I am currently thinking of what to ask, as well. If you wish to suggest anything, just send a message to: [email protected]." 

Smiling back at the cameras that recorded her, Charlotte's mind was wandering away from this moment, running rampant as she thought about what sorts of questions she could ask the player. 

[Well then,  mon amour,  it seems it's finally time to get to know you a little better... In between satisfying the thousands upon thousands of curious people who want to know about the Final Challenge and all, but still. I look forward to our bonding!] 

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