Ohhh... Library Battle SIMULATION: Let's Play Library of Ruina

[TeeQueue]

Appendix 10: Stray Dogs

Some fools laugh at these accessories I’m wearing. They think I’m a glossy punk trying to look cool, figged out with random ornaments without a second thought. What they don’t know is that these ain’t just for fashion. They’re good for making arrogant idiots let their guard down, but before that, they’re workshop products with real, practical uses.

You heard about how people use belts to choke others, didn’t ya? These accessories are similar to that. They’re useful for beating someone to death, though I gotta take the risk that comes from using ‘em. Expensive gadgets crafted by premium workshops have almost zero side effects. On the other hand, this ring for example lets me deliver a harder blow with my punches, but it chafes the skin of my hand at the same time. This one’s on me for using it for too long, and I hear quality products usually get regular repairs and maintenance to prevent that… The side effects on my gear’s pretty minor and negligible, but in worse cases, you get some poor sod whose neck got snapped by the necklace they were wearing.

Even if you make your way up to the big leagues and become a decently influential Syndicate, there’s still loads of stronger gangs above ya, and they peck at you all the same. No matter how far a Syndicate climbs and tries, you just can’t surpass the Five Fingers at the top. Syndicates ain’t too different from Fixers in that you have to repeat the same, stupid shit following orders from above. So in my opinion, holding onto your place seems wiser than trying to climb up out of ambition or greed. Unless you’re at rock bottom, of course. Someone’s gotta be below us to serve as a punching bag, ain’t that right?

Tattoos are the cleanest type of augment procedure you could get. I only got it ‘cause Gyeong-mi pushed me to give it a shot… I’m pretty satisfied with the result. It doesn’t cost an awful lot, and it looks pretty damn nice, too. Weakass wimps run away at the sight of my tattoo. But you see, coolness isn’t the only notable feature of these tattoos.

There’s tons of tattoo types depending on the quality of the ink and the material used, but generally speaking, you can have results like bursts of strength or skin as hard as steel. It used to be a Singularity, but ever since the Wing owning the tech got snapped and its patent expired, everyone and their mother’s been using it. Don’t get tattoos that are too cheap, though. You might wake up to find melted flesh. You get exactly what you pay for in this City. Bastards are only honest when money’s involved.

It’s true that our Syndicate’s sorta intimidating and got a tight hierarchy goin’ on, but the bond between members is strong. We’re actually leagues nicer than those Office fucks who exploit and abandon each other with every breath. Those crooked bastards’ll do anything for profit. I’m sometimes in awe of the shit they pull.

I actually used to be a Rat. Yeah, those filthy and wretched Rats everyone looks down upon. It’s amazing that I’m now standing shoulder to shoulder with the Dogs, ain’t it? I busted my ass crawling up the ladder. I did everything in my power. Got a small tattoo with the little cash I had, and rummaged through trash to find worn but still usable accessories.

It was a damn tough climb, but now that I’m up here, I’m starting to feel like it might’ve been better off to just live as a Rat. Here, a strict barking order’s set up between members. It’s nothing like the Rats who move in close packs.

Sometimes… I do miss my old family.

[TeeQueue]

Art—410.55—Child of the Galaxy

Music: Lobby


Oh, you're finally using a Key Page?

It turns out I didn't really like dying much. But I don't really care much for deck building, so…

I lent him the one I used last time! I made a little tweak, but I can guarantee its power!

Making sure to do what you can, right?

You got it!

I just want it to work. Mr.Black went a little…

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Power mad, I guess.

Seems like you could use a drink.

If not now, then definitely after the work's done.



Every part of me is positively HUGE!

For Mr.Black, I went with a basic Brawl build, taking advantage of its properties to fire off no-downsides Scratch That!s and Daring Decisions. If I was thinking properly, Commandeering would probably be Retaliate instead… but I wasn't, so this is what we get. We're only using 3-costs because Mr.Black is only going to be using a single page every turn, using any more than that could risk Brawl becoming a dead page. Gyeong-mi is our Key Page of choice, so that we have the option of skipping turns to regain extra Light.

The downside is that Brawl decks are insanely luck-based, and there's a very real chance that we just wind up with a hand of 3 Daring Decision and no Brawl.



We're all set, ma'am…

As our progress is currently stopped until the Library matures, I shall remind you that it's vital for you to succeed should you ever want to leave.

Could really do without the pressure.

Think of it this way: it's a the playground that's made for us! We can kill and die as much as we like, and in the end none of it's even remotely lethal! Why, it makes us medics positively pointless! HAHAHA! Who needs job security when you're having fun?!

…Let's just try and one-and-done this.

I trust that you'll handle it properly.

SNAP


Music: AbnormalityBattle01


Ah, it's you. You always made life a little easier, until you killed a whole mess of people at once.

Oh, I wouldn't say that. He sure saved us a lot of trouble during that last Joshuapocalypse!

Man… I'd blocked out how much of a mess that was to clean up, too…

We’re together forever. Besties always stick together.

Friends always stay next to each other. Don’t forget the promise, okay?

If no one remains by my side, I’ll be so stricken with sadness.

Never leave my side. You have to stay with me forever.

If my friend gets hurt… That would be sad.

While Child of the Galaxy is present, it's untargetable. In order to defeat it, we have to fight against its friends.



Their stats aren't particularly intimidating, and their weakness to Pierce attacks is great for Netzach's Retaliates. As for their passives…



Every turn, they recover 4 HP, and they cannot die on their own, being stuck at 1 HP instead. While either one of them is at 1 HP, every combatant loses 10% of their max HP, effectively negating their healing while whittling down our HP. Finally, if we do knock one down to 1 HP, we have two turns to knock the other one down. If we can't, then the first goes back up to the health of the remaining combatant.



Both of the Friends are using Glimmer, a page which attempts to dodge our attacks and inflict Fragile on our Librarians, to up the damage we take from their attacks. It can be troublesome to deal with, but anything that leads with a defensive die works well to deal with the Evade.





Netzach leads with a clash that'll probably wind up making him eat an attack, but we'll deal counter damage and get Endurance up for the next turn. As for Mr.Black, we got a Brawl with decent odds of getting a free Daring Decision. With his deck, if I see a Brawl I play it.



Netzach is also going to use his second die to get a bit of extra damage in. As mentioned before, Mr.Black will not be doing this.



Malkuth was right. This does work pretty nicely.

It takes hits far better as well! Your body seems far less squishy than before!



Probably for the best.

The Child's friends fire space lasers on hit.



Mr.Black's Brawl hits Commandeering instead of Daring Decision, but the rolls are good enough to eat through 20 Stagger Resist in a single turn so… I guess I'd call that pretty lucky overall?



Why, Netzy! I'm feeling positively RISQUE!

I see where you're going with this. Just… don't grow anything out of your face again, and we'll call it fine.

That certainly sounds like me, but I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest what you mean!

_{Oh right… you guys experienced it differently…} Nevermind, it's nothing. Enjoy your risk.

With gusto, good sir!



With us having the upper hand, ideally we'd knock down the first of Child of the Galaxy's two friends, and set up the second one to fall the very next turn.



Mr.Black drew a second copy of Brawl, so we throw it out immediately. The friend is using Star Shower, a series of weak 2-4 attacks designed to take advantage of Fragile to deal a lot of damage.



While I'm having a taste of this one, I don't suppose you'd be take care of the other one?

It's as good a plan as any.

HAHAHA! Splendid!



Commandeering and Deflect are enough to knock this friend down to 1 HP, though it won't die due to its passive.

I don't think we can kill it normally. How're things on your end?



I'm really feeling it this time! These muscles are wonderful!

Those dice… those are Daring Decision dice.



And Daring Decision hits like a truck.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!



Once one of its friends is reduced to 1 HP, Child of the Galaxy curls up on its side and begins to cry. This means it's taking 10% off of the HP of every combatant, and there's new dialogue to go with it.

You’re cruel people… You’re trying to take all my friends away from me.

Please don’t take my precious friends away…

Now I get it… You have friends, too. I can take them away, like you’re doing right now…[/i]

Oh, that's no good… We'll have to finish the other one quickly!

So it'll stop burning us?

No, so it can get back to smiling with its new friends: us!

I guess that's alright, too.

We have two people with a total of three pages to knock 9 HP off of a Staggered opponent. The rest of this fight is academic. The two friends do have a third page called Waiting, a 0-cost with a single 2-4 Block die that restores 1 Light. Unfortunately, we simply beat them before either one could play it.



Let's just hope this takes care of it… that crying hurts, and I could really use a drink.



At the start of the Scene, both of the Child of the Galaxy's friends are at 1 HP.



As a result, both are defeated at once. This check takes place before the ability that removes 10% of our health, which can be a lifesaver in a closer fight.



While Child of the Galaxy can be difficult to face with more defensively-oriented decks, playing offensively makes it relatively simple to defeat. The key is just to avoid letting the fight drag on too long.

VIDEO
Music: NetzachStory


Oh yeah, I heard that. They say art is all about flashes of inspiration, right?

You know it. Maybe we’re on the same page after all.

Oh, you brought a different booze this time. Absinthe?

This is the liquor with a legacy that’s so deeply tied to art, it’s almost legendary. Since I’m in charge of arts, I could use some stimulation to work like a real artist.

Khh… This one’s pretty strong, but it’s charming nonetheless.

What if Angela scolds us like the last time, though?

Eh, we can worry about that later.

Works for me. By the way, just thought I’d mention there’s no need to worry about courtesy n’ stuff with me.

I’d say it’s more comfortable for me to go with courtesy.

Alright then.



Imitations that are provocative but nothing else… Imitations of imitations, in fact.

Though I don’t see any point in being original, either. I’m likely someone or something else’s imitation, too.

As if stuff like originality or arts even matters in the City in the first place.

All those self-proclaimed artists are nutcases. They seem to be mistaking any stimulation that’s stronger than usual for art. Just like how I’m praising this drink as a work of art.

The Pianist must’ve been one hell of a stimulant, then. I heard that its music was a hair-raising masterpiece that awoke this gray city from its ennui.

Well, the intensity was unprecedented, that’s for sure. And some are still hungover from that performance, like they were slammed with a real strong booze.

How about you?



I guess you’ve taken a liking to arts, seeing as you’re talking about all this.

True. If I could choose to live a different life, I might have been a painter or something.

Painter, huh…

I’d be able to quietly express all my emotions on the painting. Maybe I could’ve lived a humble life just like that.

And how’d a modest man like yourself end up getting involved in something as grandiose as “curing humanity”?

It really is a mystery. I’m not even sure. I think I wanted to be of help to someone.

Ooh, a someone? Perhaps your first love~?

Was it love, really? Even if it were, it wouldn’t have worked out anyway. But I was still holding onto the hope that I could make something better. That if I let go of my life, I could bring a bigger hope to some other person. That’s why I participated in the research. That’s why I stood against Angela.

Music: StoryJinji


We’re at the dawn of the fourth day. If you are to drag on any further, I’ll be left with no choice but to terminate all of you instantly.

I’m with you on this one. We’re never going to beat you at this rate. I didn’t fight to spread only a meager half of the light.

Gebura! How could you agree with her… We might lose everything.

I’m with Angela, too. Enoch’s death deserves a better meaning than this half-baked light.

I am not willing to gamble with everything we’ve worked for.

Say, Angela. If what you’re saying is true, does that mean the employees who died in this place can come back as well?

Indeed. You and your employees will wake up with brand new bodies.

That doesn’t erase all the pain we and the employees went through.

And all our hard work too…!

Even if this deal were to be put through, it will only delay the inevitable. How can we trust you not to betray us yet again?



Have we ever once gathered around a table calmly discussing what we should do with this light? We haven’t. I’ll make sure to keep this promise, though. Both you and I require the light in its whole, albeit for different reasons. I could use up this residue of light left for me right now, but I’d much prefer to have all of it. So I’d like to live more. I don’t care if you want to die or not; I want to live my own life. And I’d like to learn more about the City and about this world I live in.

Angela…

Once we’ve reclaimed all of the light… You are free to lay judgement upon me when that time comes. Though I won’t sit back, of course. That is all I have to offer. If no one else objects, I’ll proceed with it right away.

I shall become a sentinel once more and watch your every action…

It appears that we all have come to an agreement.

Don’t worry, I have no plans to let this be the end.



Music: NetzachStory


They actually want to live more than anyone, so they express that urge in one way or another. On the other hand, when someone is genuinely willing to die, they end up disappearing silently. When Angela said she wanted to live, I felt something within me. That I want to live, too.

No one really wants to die, man. They all seem to regret it moments before death. Well, it’s usually too late for ‘em by the time they realize that.

You seem well versed in that kinda stuff.

You get to see all kinds of people when you work as a Fixer.

When I saw that desperation to live… I was reminded of the many employees who died right in front of my eyes back in Lobotomy Corp. It’s ironic how we were trying to save humanity yet couldn’t save the people right next to us. That’s when I thought: if I could live more, what would I want to do?

It’s a good idea to think about your next move, yeah.



Well, I’ll have to think more on that. I still have a long way to go.

Let’s give it our best shot. Alright! Here’s to us~

I can toast to that alright. Here’s to us~

Music: Lobby


Another win, another level, and another trio of Abnormality Pages.



Pebble is a decent recovery option for a single Librarian until we start getting the ability to draw more pages. Once our hands have more than 4-5 pages in them, Pebble only selecting 3 of them can limit plays. Even then, it's possible to play 2 pages without Pebble for every one with and still break even, so it's not really terrible… but Netzach frequently has better options.

Teardrop, meanwhile, is an all-or-nothing type of page. +1 Power is exactly as good as it sounds, and slapping it onto a page with high max HP turns our librarian into a bomb. It's quite possible to use it to make everyone in an entire fight explode instantly, and since ties are a win for us that's a perfectly good option to keep in mind. It's difficult to use, but I have a soft spot in my heart for it.

A Token of Friendship is the best of the lot, though. Healing 10% for the entire party every round for 3 turns is exactly as strong as it sounds, and since I like sustain I like this page. I just about always pick it when it shows up, which is "most of the time."



You know… it'd be nice if we could actually tell which books we needed before we got them.

You've been drinking again.

It passes the time.

It's fine, isn't it? A little drink every now and then can take the edge off of things.

This is your warning. The next time, I'll remove the alcohol from you both myself.

You can do that?

I can bring you back from death. Why wouldn't I be able to?

Fine, fine… we've got it. No more drinking on call.

So off call is still fine, right..?

You may do whatever you like while you're not needed.

…It's progress, I guess.



Would… anyone like to volunteer why I've just walked out of a creepy mist into two drunks and… that asshole?

HAHAHA! Mr.Blond! It's been far too long since you've been around! Didn't you get impaled? Oh, but you look simply amazing, considering!

Ah, and you. _{Why do you have giant muscles..?} Netzach, what the hell's going on here?

Long story, best discussed with a drink.

Least I know you haven't changed. Just catch me up ASAP. Someone has to do the real work around here.

Real work… oh, that's right. Hey, ma'am, do you have a moment? With all this, we've probably finally upgraded to an—



Next time, on Library of Ruina: A handful of surprises.


Videos

Netzach 3

[TeeQueue]

Book 17: Prologue

VIDEO


Another chapter, another Yun Dong-ju poem. This time it's from one named "Hospital."

Music: StoryJinji


I know, that was the deal. What do you want this time?

I want your crew to take care of the things on this list. I think I might be able to locate it soon enough.

…These are all ridiculous requests. Well, though we have the right team for this…

Let me guess, Section 2?

Yes.

See? I’m a very considerate person, Thelma.

‘The Library’ is on the list as well, now appointed as an Urban Plague by the Hana Association…

That’s the one I’m particularly interested in, actually.

Music: Lobby


Yeah? …Huh?!!

If your estimation is correct, we’ll have to thoroughly prepare ourselves for guests from major Syndicates and even Wings from now on, right?

That was the third most surprising thing to happen to me here.

What nonsense are you going on about this time?

You just called me “Roland”.

Because that’s your name.

I mean, yeah, but… You’ve never referred to me with my name before.



Come on~ That’s a boring answer.

It’s been a long while since anyone called me by my name, still. The last time I heard that was from my family, I guess…

Didn’t you say that your grandma disappeared long ago?

Oh, I had a wife, you see.

That’s intriguing.

Hunh… You’re not intrigued by the fact that someone like me managed to get married, right? You’re intrigued by the whole concept of this inefficient practice among humans known as marriage, right?

Please tell me more about your marriage.

…Just a heads up, it’s an overall banal story with some sad moments. Don’t think you’ll really like it.

I’m always open for new stories of others.

Says the one who won’t even tell me the story of her own life.



It’s a boring and trifling story that looped over and over for ten millennia. Imagine reading the same book for one million years. You’ll surely grow to resent it.

I’d have choked myself by the tie ‘round the fifth time I’d be forced to read a boring book…

Well, anyway, I used to work my ass off. Had nothing better to do. I wasn’t a bad fit for Fixer work, coming from a rough background and all. As I kept working like a busy bee, I got a house in a decent spot, and met a so-called “soul mate”. She was such a tough woman… When I looked at her back, I felt the comfort of finding a place to belong to, something I couldn’t feel even when I bought my house. I made so many attempts to try and catch her attention.

Oh, am I dragging on too long…?

It’s fine. Please continue.

Music: StoryChaboon


My wife was a pretty highly graded Fixer, by the way. She was dependable for a reason. Anyway, countless ups and downs later, we tied the knot. I put it simply here, but the heartache I felt in those twists and turns was real, y’know? Both of us had piled up a hefty amount of money from working like dogs, so we decided to quit being Fixers for a while and spend a peaceful time together.

This part is kinda corny, but “happy” is the only word to describe how I felt, really. I was alone my whole life, and finally had someone to rely on. All we had to worry about was what to have for lunch, where to take a stroll in the evening… what to name our child and stuff.



You can probably guess where this is going by now. The job wasn’t a huge deal, and the pay was alright, so I decided to take it. The lady who lived with me said okay, too.

I was dispatched to a district famous for pajeon, which was my wife’s favorite food. I could almost see her mouth water with the thought of eating it when she sent me off. To live up to my better half’s expectations, I purchased a stasis preservation box from U Corp. to present her with a warm pajeon that’s straight from the kitchen.

But a huge incident occurred in my home district while I was away. The house collapsed… And my wife died along with our child she was still pregnant with. I cried for a long while, cursing this world and the City. I writhed and struggled trying to earn this happiness, so why does it have to slip out of my hands so easily…

Music: Lobby


…

This kinda stuff can happen to anyone in the City. It’s only a matter of endurance.

And you could endure that trial?

I’m trying to settle it on my own terms.

What was the second most surprising thing for you, by the way?

Hmm? Oh, that working here suits me better than I thought, I guess? I’m saving the biggest surprise for the last. It’s no fun to spoil everything at once, is it?

Fine, then. I’ll leave you with sorting the rest of the books.


Speaking of, we should probably get to work on checking out our next guests.

Oh, is it that time already?

Were you waiting up here this entire time?

Not at all. I simply happened to be here with one of those people you don't care about.

I wanted to check through the books that hadn't been sorted yet. Not that you're going to say anything to acknowledge that, of course.

I see. Well, I am sure it will interest you to know that a new possibility seems to have revealed itself.

New possibility?

It is difficult to explain… but the Library has become able to manipulate the key pages we've acquired in a more delicate manner.



Once we hit Urban Plague, we unlock the ability to transfer passive abilities from one page to another. There are a lot of rules with this, but our overall power level increases dramatically from here forward. I'll get into the specifics in a more dedicated post, but for now know that the game has just exponentially increased our options for deckbuilding.

So we're supposed to just jam those things into each other, and they'll get more powerful?

That's correct, Roland.

Yeah… still not used to that.

…It's time to move on to our new invitations.

Right. Let's see who we might run into.

Do you think we'll have two branches again this time, ma'am?

I'm afraid not…



They appear to have increased exponentially.

Four possibilities? Didn't think we'd get that much attention so quickly.

I guess things don't always go quite how we estimate.

We'll have to see which one comes here first.

You seem excited, ma'am.

Of course. With this many paths, we're certain to get an even larger number of books than before.

Ah. Of course~

Next time, on Library of Ruina



Here there be drawtech.

The Gaze agenda.

Humans doing human things.

GUN.


Videos

Urban Plague

[vulpixall]

Look, listen, I'm just saying, that last option is absolute bullshit and I want to immediately run you into it.

[TeeQueue]

I think we're safe to call the poll here. Seems like the thread's chosen GUN, full stop.

The next update will be passive attribution + going through the general receptions for this level, and after that we'll be moving on to Urban Plague.

I've also given some thought to how to deal with general receptions for Plague onwards, since they were added after the game was over—I'm honestly tempted to grab them early on so I can play with the pages the game never gave us on my first run through, but there's some absolutely nasty stuff in there that will make the upcoming battles far easier.

As a result, I've decided on the following compromise: I will not do the general receptions as long as we stay on tier 1 of Urban Plague. Once the thread votes for a later challenge, I'll do the general receptions and they'll be considered fair game. That seems like the best way to do it.

PS, Urban Plague and later chapters have multiple tiers of stories. Just going to let you all know that now.

[Gespenst]

It's a little disappointing we won't get to see the Oboe immediately.

[TeeQueue]

Book 17.5: Passive Transfer & Urban Legend General Receptions

When Passive Transfer unlocks, we're given a short tutorial by the game.





It's functional, but I'll walk through the process fully as there's a couple of things that it doesn't fully explain.



To get to the Passive Transfer screen, we click on the passives section underneath our Librarians.



This brings us to the Passive Transfer screen. On the right is a list of all of our Key Pages that aren't equipped to Librarians at the moment. By clicking on one, we can attribute that Key Page to the one we're working with. I click on Rain's Page to equip it.



Equipping the page adds it to the 'Attributed Key Pages' section underneath the Key Page name, and also shows the passives of the key page in the center area. We can click on the X in the upper-right of Rain's Page to remove it, or we can click on a passive to equip it. Here, I select In Times Like These!



The highlight means that the passive has been equipped. Clicking on it again will unequip it. On the left, we can see the passive has been added to the Key Page's passives. Additionally, the Key Page's 'Cost' is now at 3/6 instead of 0/6. The number on the left side of each passive is its 'cost,' which determines how much space it takes up. Right now, each Key Page can equip abilities worth up to 6 points.



I go ahead and pop a few other passives onto it. Now, Olga's Key Page regains 3 HP every time it discards a page, recovers another HP every time it wins a clash, gains +1 Strength when below 3 pages in hand, and has a 25% chance of gaining an additional Light each turn. We've turned it into a real monster.

Each Key Page can only have four different Key Pages assigned to it, so I couldn't add another page to Olga's page right now. Additionally, no matter how many points we may have to assign passives each Key Page can only have a total of nine passive abilities—this includes both the passives that come on the Key Page, as well as the passives we place onto it.

Once we're done, we click confirm on the bottom of the screen. Do not forget to do this.



This asks us if we want to save our changes. If we don't do this and we back out of the screen via other means, our work is wasted. Anyways, we say Yes and the work is done.



The abilities then show up under the Passive Attribution slot on the main screen. From here forward, I'll only cover these if I'm attributing any particularly important abilities; for right now most of what we can add on is low-powered basic stuff.

Music: Blues Man
You're looking at me like you want something, kiddo.

I doo want a thiing… Check thiis out..!

That's an invitation.

It's a haandfull of invitationns..!

So we're lookin' for trouble, is that it?

Mmhmm..! I haven't had a chance to do aanything yet… and the new builds, with the way this place works seeems…

Innteresting.

How'd you know..?

Just a guess. Alright, kiddo. Let's do it.

Hooraay..! Here, use thiis…



Huh, this is…

It's the stroongest thing I could make with what we have noow…

Then why don't you use it, kiddo?

Oh… I'm not greeat at reading people..? Soo…

You want me to do the hard work.



Mmm. I'll uuse something more defensiive… until I get the ideaa…

Works for me. What'd you make for the boss?

Noothing..?

Why's that?

He'd say noo… since it's not requiired…

So it's just us against the world…

Alright, kiddo. Who's first?

Mmm..! Weell..!



We should start heere…


The Capable Grade 8 Fixer has the same stats, but slightly improved resistances.

They're just Grade 8 Fixers.

Soo… they're sub-Bishoop… mmm…





Ooh… I'm under attaack..!

Hold on, kiddo. I got you.



I'm fiine..!

Huh. The two of us kind of kick ass?

That… but moostly that their moves are all from thoose… Stray Dog guys…



Now… let's seee what they saay…

All people and firms generating income in this City must pay their taxes. In addition to the fund for work-related expenses such as maintenance of equipment and monthly rent for Office space, which is already a lot, Fixers must accommodate for rather heavy taxes as well. I became a Fixer trying not to starve, but the taxes have put me in an even tougher hardship… Ordinary people have a hard time bearing this pressure, but what can I do… In the City, orders are to be followed. We all know what happens if we don’t abide by them…

For one to start working as a Fixer, they must acquire a license issued by the ‘Hana Association’, the first Association in the order. The set of skills required to get a Fixer’s license is quite different from those needed to pass Wing entrance exams. One is about physical fitness while the other is more about mental prowess, so to speak. There are exceptions, of course, but this is generally the case.

After acquiring the license, the Fixer must join an ‘Office’. After all, it’s nigh impossible for a no-name Fixer to take jobs on their own. Choosing the right Office is also important, but you can worry about that later. Only the skilled ones can afford to make choices, like decline offers from Offices or ask to be transferred to another. Newcomers who’ve only just become Fixers or incompetent planks who can’t handle their work properly should be content with any Office that accepts them.

Anything important?

Just complaining about taaxes… Let's do another.



With their books… maybee…

You're really into this, huh?

I like gaames…

Even the ones where people die?

It's fiine if you don't loose…



Once again, the Capable fixer has better resistances.



They're not very… mootivated…

Definitely not what I pictured at all.



Ooh well… let's get to iit..!

Heh. Stay upbeat, kiddo.



Gotta' say, this body's working amazingly.

That reminds mee… are you still a cyboorg..?

…Huh. Didn't think about that one. I guess these bodies are all new.

So thenn, you're..?

Dad. Always dad.

Ahaa…



Aaand voila. We're done.

I'll reead them…

Really, does being a Fixer sound cool to you? I suppose it seems nicer than the likes of Rats swarming about in the Backstreets. It does have a professional charm to it, too. But this is a tough job, I tell you. It might be better for you to try and enter a small company to do desk work instead. If you really believe that Fixers are cool… then let me tell you something.

Fixers have to risk their lives at every moment. I know, it sounds silly. Everyone already struggles and fights for their life, so what’s so special about us. But, at least, you won’t have to hear of your friend’s death while you’re having lunch. You pack your favorite food, savor its taste, and when you’re about to swallow it… Know how it feels to choke on it? Your friend’s head suddenly rolls over to your feet. Things… just happen like that. Syndicate grunts rush into your Office all of a sudden, heads are blown off, and a gruesome fight breaks out. It’s the so-called ‘Office raid’.

Are you still not convinced? Syndicate or Fixer, once you set foot in this business, all the things will bind you like shackles, slowly dragging you to the bottom. The sheer weight is going to tire you, and you’d no longer be willing to go back up… Go back and think again carefully. It’s not too late for you to make the right choice.

Who said a Fixer is a free man? Must’ve been some no-good showoff who told you that… Kid, that’s just our dream and nothing more. Fixers are managed by Offices. Most of our jobs come from the requests the Offices get, so we’re virtually out of work without them. And Offices are managed by the twelve Associations. And on top of those twelve is the Hana Association. Our lives are subordinate to layer upon layer of hierarchy. I’d love to hear where that supposed freedom is according to them, because I don’t see it.

Ah, there’s one way to achieve that pipe dream. A Fixer’s freedom is only truly complete when they are given a color from the Hana Association. Don’t go around proclaiming that you’ll become one of the ‘Colors’, though. You think it’s that easy to break free from these massive fetters?

Mmm..!

Anything at all?

Naaah… Just the sorts of things you see eeverywhere in the Backstreets…

Huh. You were a Backstreets kid, too?

Most of us employees weere… It's weird, riight..?



Huh. Come to think of it…

New fiight..!

Oh, yeah, let's do it.



Aaww… We've beaten guys like this up alreadyy…

Maybe they'll have something new?





…Daang…

Eh, it was worth a shot. That's it though, right?

Well… maaybe?

What do you got?

Maaybe the Moolar office will do something if we use all threee of them..?



A two-act reception? How'd you know?

Mmm… Just a feeeling..?

Good instincts, kiddo.



Aaxe gaang..?

I dunno either. New Syndicates pop up all the time. Only things like the Fingers tend to stick around for a long time.



They aren't very talkative, though. Shame…

Why's thaat..?

I had a couple of questions to axe them.

…ooh… That's pretty goood..!



Next up there's an executive.

They still just use the same tactics as the Stray Doogs…

You've got it pretty much locked in, huh?

Mmm… our information is nearly compleete..!



For being a cut above the rest of the guys we fought, these ones aren't much more difficult.

Aaaww… They gave this 'optional booss'-y vibe, tooo…



Well, they gave us plenty more books. Anything good?

Our Syndicate’s well acquainted with the guys at Hook Office~ We used to chop n’ rip n’ tear together before they moved on to Fixer business… We were the best buddies, the two Syndicates had a wonderful time with each other. We still do help ‘em out sometimes nowadays. Hm? You thought Fixers and Syndicates were enemies for life? Well… You could say it’s a longstanding love-hate relationship. Usually, a Syndicate causes a scene and Fixers come over to take care of it. But think about it for a sec. If Syndicates didn’t exist, more than half of all Offices would be out of jobs, essentially unemployed, ya get it? It’s a symbiotic relationship right there~! So don’t be so cold to us.

And some Fixers often cooperate with Syndicates to handle cases. Y’know, it’s not like dogs and cats constantly fight each other when they’re together, yeah? That sorta logic. We Syndicates do the things Fixers can’t dare take care of. I heard some Offices straight up ban killing people, even. Something about life being precious and whatevs. It’s bullcrap. Anyway, that’s how Syndicates and Fixers complement each other. There’s some crooks you’d want dead for sure before they could complicate things, you see?

Man~ Talking about ‘em makes me miss my ol’ friends. Don’t get to meet those pals often these days… I might as well storm Hook Office this time around, see some familiar faces~

If you think Syndicates are nothing more than gangs of ugly and bad guys, then let me tell ya that’s an outdated bias. Course, we’re freer than Fixers who have to follow orders and requests from Associations. A lot of us kill people and do some wicked shit for the sake of cash, I’ll give you that… But others aren’t too different from your average Fixers, I’m tellin’ ya! We get requests and solve problems. Though, our group’s moral compass is tilted a bit to the dark side, so I can’t give you a good example myself…

Right! Some Syndicates actually do heroic stuff. Syndicates hunting Syndicates. I asked ‘em, “Hell man, why aren’t you guys just becoming Fixers instead?”, and they said… They don’t really feel like it, since they don’t really wanna get entangled in formal stuff and there’s just too much to prepare to get a license and everything. Welp, who’s to say Syndicates can’t be the good guys, right? We’re living as we like in the Backstreets.

Nothing…

What're you looking for, anyways?

Information on the Thuumb… Or I gueess… information that'd luure them here…

Oh yeah. You did seem interested in the Stray Dogs before. Any particular reason, kiddo?

I got boounced…

Bounced?

From the casinoos… It's expeensive, trying to keep up with the latest aalien sightings…

So you gambled… huh.

I reeally like gaames…



For the record, Molar and Stray Dogs are the only two sets of books to have a special combination like this. They never do this again, which makes getting 100% of all Key Pages and Receptions difficult to do without a guide.

So why not try the three Stray Dog books at once right away?

Aah… I wanted to hope we'd see them befoore… since thiis is the last resort…

Well, let's give it a shot.



Daang…

Seems like the Axe Gang and the Stray Dogs got together after we murdered the both of 'em.

Ahaa… Hoist by our oown pertaard..!

Let's see if they got any stronger.



They did noot…

Hold on, it's not over yet.



…It's oveer…

Dang. Guess you didn't find what you were looking for.

And what exactly would that be?



Uuuuuuuh..!

Hey boss. What's up?

You're both in huge trouble is what's up. Why are you using these invitations like they're toys?

Kaori wanted to see if she could find some new information.

Aalso… I thought we should test our new plaays..!

You could have gotten the both of you injured or killed, and all for some information. Was it worth it?

…noo…

And D.A.D. You should have known better than to go running off without contacting me.

Yeah… fair.

But it was impoortant..!

Is that so?

Then in the future, contact me. I'll see what's so important about it myself.

So you'll fiight..?

I only ever intended to protect my team so long as there were others willing to jump in the way before us. If you're going to do it either way, I should at least make sure you come back alive.

Aww… thanks, mummy.

Just finish this farce so we can return home.



Gotcha.



Noothing…

Well, it was worth a shot. And we got some new pages out of all of this, too.

I suppose it wasn't a total loss, then.

Yesod… I trust you've resolved the matter of the high number of unsorted books coming from your floor recently?

Yes. …I won't thank you for telling me.

Of course you won't. We are each simply doing our duties. However, I would leave sorting them to you.

That's fine. I needed a proper punishment for my librarians anyways.

I've told you, I don't care at all about those who are beneath you. So long as it gets done, use whatever means you like.

You heard her. Get to work, you two.

Aaww… maan..!

Sorry, kiddo. Guess you're going to have to shelve your search 'til later.


New Key Pages











New Combat Pages

[Whilimbird]

I love the banter between librarians here. _{Still holding out hope for eventual Mizu shenanigans}

Can Angela even see the librarians?

[TeeQueue]

I love the banter between librarians here. _{Still holding out hope for eventual Mizu shenanigans}

Can Angela even see the librarians?

That IS a very good question.



Anyways, it's time for a Christmas story.

So I found out as I started on this update that I didn't have the expressions of our new guests, due to how the files were stored on the computer. I tried hunting them down in the asset file, failed miserably, then a friend on discord (thanks NEET!) managed to come through with a save, having the full sheets on hand. So, icons in hand, I go to upload them!

Only to find out that LPix is having some major hiccups that are preventing me from uploading images this evening at all.




So uh, my plan of giving you guys the gift of GUN part 1 has fallen through. Here's an MSpaint, as is customary for thread issues:



Happy whatever you guys celebrate, everybody!

[Gespenst]

That's way more good than a delayed update is bad, though I feel like Netz's glass is not nearly big enough

[TeeQueue]

Book 18: Full-Stop Office—Chapter 1

Music: Lobby


Our target today is the center-left node.

I'm about to send our next invitation. Ensure your floors are prepared.

Hey, didn't we already have those books? I wonder why they've only become available just now…

Maybe something else changed because we became an Urban Plague.

So this might be an association that wouldn't notice us before then?

Something like that. Money means a lot to most fixers.

But you're not "most fixers," right?

That's…

No matter how brilliant you are, you don't hit Grade 7 at his age without money~

Dimi, how long were you standing there?!

Exactly as long as necessary! Sorry to let out your secret, but someone had to say it.

You don't seem sorry…

She apologized, so let's let her off easy, okay?

Tch. Fine.

VIDEO
Music: StoryChaboon


It appears that we have a new worshipper. What concerns have brought you here to our oratory?



What could have overwhelmed you so much?

Everything is so dreary. And so is my life. I wake up at 6 in the morning, go to work by 8, and do the same work with the same face every single day. By the time I leave work, it’s already 10 in the evening… I’m not sure what I’m doing anymore. I have so many expenses to cover every single month, I can’t seem to get any richer.

Everyone I see during my commute has the same face. I don’t see why we work, why we earn money, or why we live… I feel like I’ve lost my goal… my purpose. I’m just like a cogwheel… Yeah… I really am… I’m living like a cog in the machine. Even if I were gone, this City would soon find another cog to replace me… What am I… Where does my worth lie?

I understand that feeling. Everyone in the City is like a gear spinning along without a purpose… Staying in the middle of it wears you out, slowly…

You’re right…! I really feel like that…

However…



Huh?

All problems stem from the refusal to admit to the fact that we are indeed gears ourselves. I did too once. After my father passed away, I lost my way for a while. You see, my father lived his life akin to a gearwheel. He’d always wake up at the same hour, go to the same place, and come home at the same time with the same face…

My father did research on gears. His goal was to solve the same type of problems you’re going through. Perhaps he unknowingly grew to resemble the single object he studied for so long. The wrinkles on his forehead deepened as he worked. They resembled the teeth of a gear…



Oh…

Then one day, I came across a thought. Maybe we really are gears that constitute the City… Maybe our suffering comes from trying to deny our own identity…

But that kind of life is pointless! I’m tired of being a purposeless cog that keeps running day by day…

Exactly. The problem is that you see yourself as an aimless gear.

You mean gears can have a purpose?

Yes. Of course they can. All we need to do is find the purpose we were born to mesh with. You shall become a unique gear that cannot be replaced by any other. We are all gears. There are simply so many gears in this world wallowing in sadness, for they have yet to know where and how to be.

…That’s… It’s still hard to believe that…

Take a look at all the people gathered here. Do they have the same faces as the ones you’ve seen in your everyday life?

No… They all look happy…

Please, trust in me.

Yes… This is the only way I have…

Now, come up here. I will give you the purpose in life you’re looking for.



Yes, take a seat and relax. This chair will tell you what kind of gear you are.

Is this really safe…?

Of course it is.



A thought gear…?

It is exceedingly rare for one to be bestowed with the purpose of a Thought Gear, you see? They are helping me even now. For your information, my father was also a Thought Gear.

That means those gears on the back of your head are…?

This one is my father… He always provides me with his wisdom about life. Besides, Meat Gears need to keep company with at least one Thought Gear.

W-wait, am I really gonna turn into a gear…?

The pain is only temporary. It will soon be followed with pure fulfillment. Everyone, let us welcome the honorable and invaluable arrival of a new Thought Gear.



Mechanical drills and saws whirr in the background here.

I didn’t know this would happen!

As the gears turn.



Music: StorySimgak






They get smarter by plugging gears on the back of their heads, apparently?

That’s a load of horseshit. Alright, let’s see. Director Yujin from the Shi Association asked us to…

Kill ten worshippers of the Church, neutralize its leader and secure her.

I didn’t quite expect the director of Shi Association’s Section 2 to personally give our Office a request. Something strange might be up.

How long are we gonna sit and watch that? Can’t we start shooting now?

Wait for my sign…



I will give you the honor of accompanying me.



Yes. It may take some time to adjust. Let us start with turning bit by bit.

Good, along with the others, gently rotate… One cycle at a time… My father will gladly help you out. See? It does make you feel happy, doesn’t it?

I am very glad to know you are happy. My dear followers! Today, another lost gear has found its way to happiness! Praise be to father!



…Huh? What do you mean, “be careful”…?

Music: StoryNervous


Wha… What is going on…? The Gears… The poor Gears… Please don’t do this… Whoever you are, please leave us alone… We simply wanted to live a happy life following our destined purposes…

Gah, why is their slippery leader so hard to hit?

She doesn’t seem to be dodging the bullets with her own reflexes. It’s as if something else is predicting the trajectories for her.

Those “thought gears” on her head are spinning like crazy.

Dammit, this sucks. We paid an arm and a leg for these bullets…

Tamaki. Think we can read the movement pattern of those gears?

Can do.



Grazed her shoulder.

I’ll finish her off.



Why, those are some expensive bullets you have there, don’t you friends?

The Blue Reverberation!

You are… Ah, could you be the person my father always talked about…?

Mmm… I guess. Say, I need you right now… Would you like to come with me?

Yes… Of course! I’ve been waiting for you for my whole life, a perfect fit with the gear that is me…

Why thank you.

No you don’t.

But first, these friends need some attention… Pluto. Could you look after Eileen in the meantime?

Run!



No idea. Dammit, it looks like he’s trying to kill us.

If we screw this job up, we’re gonna be bankrupt from all the bullets we’ve wasted!

You literally just saw the Blue Reverberation deflect our bullets.

We’re no match for him in any way. Forget about anything else, we should run away and survive for now.

We’re almost to the exit.



Who could’ve made such an adorable little request, I wonder?

Aw hell, to the left!

Pant, pant…

Ah~ You’re not getting anywhere with your sluggish feet, don’t you see? Unless a lifeline were to come down from the heavens that is, no…?

Dammit! Maybe we should drop our guns…

Are you nuts? These were hella expensive!

We’re never throwing them away.

But we can’t hide forever, either.

Liwei, this is…



From ‘The Library’ or whatever? Heard that the Hana designated it as an Urban Plague now.

Aw, look at you, all clustered together in the corner… You’re like a flock of cute little chicks gathered round in the cold.

Blue Reverberation, we apologize if we interrupted your business. We promise to forget about anything we’ve seen and heard here, so could you let us go?

What…? Hahaha…

Okay, under one condition: Can you tell me who gave you this request?

……

I’ll give you ten seconds.

…

Nine…

Gah, whatevs! Liwei! Do something with that invitation thing!

Six…

Anyone got a pen? We need something to sign the paper wi—

Ah, you can use mine. Take your time now. Four…

Crazy bastard…

Quick, sign your names here!

Three…





Music: Lobby


That name sounds similar to ‘The Red Mist’.

You got that right. Both of them are top-grade Fixers that received a color from the Hana Association. They’re a cut above Grade 1.

It’s curious that such a capable Fixer showed up so early.

There are lots of nutcases among Fixers, but the Blue Reverberation is on whole ‘nother level; he’s a certified lunatic.

Is he famous?

Oh, he is. He’s certainly got skills, even if he’s bonkers.

He does appear to be skilled, seeing how he blocked those gunshots.



Now that you mention it, the majority of guests we’ve had so far didn’t carry firearms. Is there any other reason guns aren’t used?

It’s the cost. They’re awfully expensive. It’s just not worth it most of the time. Guns are pricey on their own, but bullets are plain ridiculous, like those poor folks said.

Manufacturing bullets must be quite costly.

That’s true of course. The biggest factor, though, is the tax the Head levied on firearms. It depends on the gun, but two full magazines worth of bullets cost almost the same as a decent gun.

Heck, giving your entire Office crew augmentation procedures is probably cheaper than keeping enough bullets in stock for them to use. The cost is so high, it outweighs the benefit by a metric ton. And it’s hard to find a workshop that treats guns or bullets. What’s more, workshops aren’t even allowed to craft those without a firearms manufacturing license, which is apparently very tricky to get.



This is just my hunch, but I think they don’t want killings to happen too easily.

Killing what?

People in general.

I didn’t quite expect the rulers of this City to be humanitarians.

Oh, not because the Head and the City value human life or anything, obviously. It seems like they have this weird… philosophy that the process of a human killing another shouldn’t be trivial or insignificant.

How funny. Death can be plenty insignificant, even without guns.

Well, you aren’t wrong there.

Music: Entrance


It’s as if some omniscient person is toying with us.

The Blue Reverberation seemed like he knew everything.

We should be thankful that we survived him somehow.

Sigh…

Don’t get too nervous, Stephan.

How can I not be nervous~ We ended up in the Library we know almost nothing about. You know we’re almost outta bullets, right? Sigh… What was the point of running away from the Blue Reverb if we’re gonna die here anyway.

Then we should at least try to die a bit later, obviously.

Humans all die eventually. There’s little use in delaying the inevitable.

See, he’s got a point.

Don’t worry. I’ll work it out.





Stephan steals the SNAP sound effect here. It's wonderful.

You don’t quite appear to be spirited, dear guest. It’s ultimately up to you whether you’ll become a book or return triumphantly with the ones you need.

Yeah~ Thanks for the kind words…

You’re ruining our mood.

…Don’t mind him. We’re in a bit of a hurry right now. We’ll just take care of the business here and go back.

I understand. Various guests visit here with their own reasons and purpose. There have been much more impolite guests, so please do not worry about your attitude.

I’m getting a bad feeling about this lady, she seems just as eerie as the Blue Reverb… Maybe just dying to the Blue Reverb was a better idea than this…

Tweet, tweet, tweet… What are you, a parrot? Get inside already.

Fine, hothead…

May you find your book in this place.

Next time, on Library of Ruina: New mechanics!


Videos

Full-Stop Office 1









Mr.Blond..? I haven't seen you since...

I need info and I don't have a lot of time.

And you came to us?

You guys're a rare bastion of sanity around here.

Sweet talker for a zombie, aren't you?

Just… confirm it for me. Death doesn't apply here?

I can confirm it does not. Though, you being here'd make that obvious.

Yeah, I guess so... If I ever get my hands on that damned would-be god I'll…

Turn into a freaky monster with a wand? Again?

That was not by choice.

Hey, you don't think that… thing came with us, do you? During the fighting, it was responsible for so much destruction…

Don't remind me. I wasn't able to fight it, but thinking about what was left of the ones who did…

Um… I'm. Sorry. I don't know why it happened, but…

Don't worry about it. I know this stuff just happens when Abnormalities are involved. I'm sure Zaida does too.

Getting angry's just a waste of energy, anyways.

Well, either way, I'll pull my weight this time.

I'm sure you will, Mr.Blond!

Didn't you have somewhere to be?

Yeah… Yeah. Thanks. Be sure to watch today. I'm gonna' do something badass to make up for everything.

Sure thing!

[Gespenst]

And we have the reason nobody use guns, they're prohibitively expensive and 100% not worth it.

[TeeQueue]

Book 18: Full-Stop Office—Chapter 2

Music: GuestBattle01


We're doing this just so you can get an idea how things work, Mr.Blond. Remember to focus on getting the hang of things.

My my! I wasn't expecting you to make your own setup for this, sir!

I liked the vibe. It spoke to me.

HAHAHAHA! Good, good! Spoken like a true artist!

Grade 7 Fixer, Page 3 is a decent defensive tool for right now, as it doesn't have any weaknesses.



…Mr.Black, they have guns.

I know! That's why I'm going to punch them!

I did not miss this…

I've also updated the Brawl deck slightly. We now have one Commandeering and one Loosen Up! in the deck now, so that I can more consistently prevent Brawl from hitting Commandeering.



Anyways, I've gone for defense. They said they were running out of ammunition, so if we just stand by they'll end up unable to do anything.

It's a good strategy… Guess that's as ready as we're going to get.

I'm directing them to your floor now, then.



The Full-Stop Office only has three members, the same ones we saw before.




Their passives give them a bonus to power on the first turn of each Act, and they're our first users of Ranged combat pages.



Ranged combat pages have a number of special rules that we'll cover when the game does. For now, the key takeaways are that they have very good dice—this 1-cost green page has rolls that are close to Gamble, a 1-cost purple with a downside to give it increased power. As a balance to this, each of the Ranged pages has a Single-use downside, which removes it from play for the rest of the Act.

Their powerful dice and the high bonus they get on the first round mean that we need to be careful in the opening stages of the fight, or else we can wind up taking a lot of damage very quickly. There's also one more thing to be aware of:



This is the first fight where we're limited to using a single floor. Should they take out this team, there's no backup plan. We just lose.



Music: NetzachBattle01




When we first load in, we're given a pair of tutorials about page types. To summarize, there are two important rules for Ranged pages:

-Ranged pages always move first. A Ranged page with a speed of 1 will always be resolved before any melee die, even one with a hypothetical speed of infinity. This gives us some interesting new plays we can use once we get our hands on guns, but for now we just need to remember that we can't rely on a high speed to get out of taking damage. Redirection still works as normal, so if our speed die is higher we can still change who these pages target.

-Melee offensive dice clashing against Ranged offensive dice have a special interaction: If the Melee die wins, then no damage is dealt to the Ranged attacker. However, the Melee die is moved to the back of the dice queue, and can be reused. This means a single big attack is perfect for blocking enemy gunfire. Unfortunately, our biggest die right now is on Shocking Blow, which is only a 4-12. This is not a reliable counter to our enemy's pages, especially not on turn 1 when they're getting a power bonus from +1-+3 depending on which one it is.



Seize the initiative. We'll blast through them and clear this ordeal.



I've got a perfect shot all lined up.

This is not what we wanted to see. On turn 1, this gun is a 9-23 die, and it makes sure that next turn we take an extra 2 damage from every hit we take. The only upside is that she's targeting Mr.Blond, who's neutral to it. On Mr.Black this would have dealt up to 34 HP/Stagger damage—an instant Stagger, on top of half of his health bar! Bring Pierce-weak pages at your own peril.



Jeez, some training exercise this turned out to be.

This is about the best we can do. Block dice will blunt the attack like normal, and the 2 Protect will negate the 2 Fragile.



Stephan's passive gives a +2 to all dice on turn 1, meaning we're not going to win any of these clashes. Really, this turn is more about damage mitigation than anything else.



Lastly there's Mr.Black, who's drawn Commandeering in his opening hand. This is actually perfect, as playing it here will get it out of the deck until we've drawn through the entire thing—and it's actually strong enough to match Liwei's first die even with his +1 this turn.



Hold..!

This is gonna' suck…

Just keep your smiles about you, and it'll all work out!

Not reassuring.

Fire!



Liwei rips a good chunk off of Mr.Black's Stagger Resist.



Been a while since I've been shot at! Shame that this body isn't as resilient as I'm used to.

Team, these guys might be trouble.



I told you, didn't I? I shot him twice, and he didn't die!

It did hurt a lot, you know. I'd appreciate you not doing that again.

And he can complain about it?! Oh man, this isn't good, this isn't good at all..!

Calm down. We're just warming up.



Bullseye.

Holy..!

I would like to take a moment to focus on Mr.Blond this turn. Here, he lost a clash to generate 1 negative Emotion Coin.



What kind of a hello is that?!

Not enough of one, clearly.

This attack doesn't generate any emotion.



E-endure, meanwhile, rolls maximum on its attack die for 1 positive Emotion Coin. This gives him 2 of the 3 Emotion Coins needed to level up to 1. This is also his last action of the turn.



Somehow, he still manages to hit Emotion Level 1, allowing us to get our first Abnormality Page. How? Let me explain:

At the end of his turn, Mr.Blond had three Block dice in his Defense Queue, one from Struggle, and two more from E-endure. As I said several updates ago, these dice are discarded at the end of the turn. What I didn't say was that when they're discarded the game secretly rolls each die in order to see if it gets either a minimum or maximum result, before adding those emotion coins to the character. E-endure has a 3-4 Block die, meaning Mr.Black was guaranteed at least 1 extra Emotion Coin this turn, letting him hit Emotion Level 1 alongside everyone else.

I didn't say this before because this mechanic is not documented anywhere, and I didn't know about it until I was reviewing the footage.

Anyways, we select Echoes from Beyond, because we took a beating last turn.



And just like that, our Stagger Resistances are equal again.



Oh no… what was that noise?!

I dunno, but I didn't like it.

That screeching… it almost sounded like music.

It was music. You just couldn't appreciate it.





Now that their first turn is over and our Stagger Resist isn't circling the drain, the fight's tempo's swung in our direction. Mr.Black and Netzach have a -1 to their offensive dice this turn, but since Mr.Black's hand is perfectly set up for the next couple of turns and Netzach isn't using heavy offensive dice we should be fine.



Hey team, guns are a lot easier to deal with if you rush in close and stop them from having a chance to use them.

Obviously. Unfortunately, we teleport back to where we start after each set of attacks.

I don't suppose there's any way to avoid that rule, is there?

I cannot change the rules of this Library. The ordeal is meant to be fair to all sides.

If it was fair, wouldn't we have lost one by now?

That's a testament to your respective skills, Roland.

Right… I'll just figure it out on my own.



Negative damage!

When Block dice beat Ranged Offensive dice, they don't inflict any Stagger damage either. The game doesn't say this expressly, but it's good to know.



Come on… come on, stay down..!

It's going to take a lot more than that to stop any of us!



Tamaki, Stephan. Stay on alert. The beefy one can punch bullets out of the air.

Of course! Don't you know the old adage?!



Never bring a gun to a fistfight! HAHAHAHA!

What the hell are those augments..?



I'm beat up, I'll take that kid's gift.

Alright. Just keep it together.

Also during this battle, I learned that Pebble assigns the Pebble status before new pages are drawn for the turn. This means that without a means to sustain the number of pages in our hand, it becomes more of a liability as the fight continues. Thankfully, it doesn't matter much today.

Music: NetzachBattle02


Alright. I have an idea.

I'm all ears, sir.

Tamaki, target muscles. I noticed he seemed vulnerable to gunfire.

Got it.

Stephan, keep the one in the Zwei coat off of her.

He won't take another step.

Alright. I'll show their leader we're more than just our ammunition.

This is bad! Tamaki's Light shows that she's using another Going for Bullseye, and with Mr.Black's weakness to Pierce, he'll be Staggered if she rolls a 11 or higher.



But we're running Brawl, so I make the only play worth making.




The others keep up the defensive wall, and I also use a pair of Combat Preparations from Mr.Blond and Netzach to set up for the next turn.



My hope is to Stagger Liwei in order to balance out Mr.Black missing a turn from Tamaki's shot.



Tamaki only rolls a 7, leaving Mr.Black with plenty of Stagger Resistance left.

He's moving strangely, I couldn't get a good bead on him!

It's because you're too focused on the mission!



You should be smiling! Work's a chore if you aren't able to put your all into it!

What the hell are you..?

A satisfied employee! HAHAHA!



You just stay over there and don't come any closer!

This guy's still not a bad shot… I can't get at him.

Just do what you can.



It seems you're much better in melee than against guns.

It was this body's specialty. Guns were probably above its pay grade.

So that form's from a past guest after all? Then this will be for that person whose body you took.



And this is for having her pop me in the head on the first shot! That hurt!

It was supposed to kill you before you felt anything.

HAHAHAHA! His head's tougher than that, I'm afraid!



This position is actually very even. Two members on each side are just one good hit from being Staggered, and Full-Stop Office's pages can quickly delete a Staggered opponent no matter their HP if we can't redirect them.

Netzach, I don't suppose there's a plan, is there?

Mmm… yeah. I got something. Should keep us all standing.



Mr.Blond, take care of Stephan. Try and dodge, if you can, it'll let you catch your breath.



Mr.Black, Liwei's trying to close into melee again. Make him regret it.

Blond to Blonde, and Black to Black! HAHAHAHA, I see what you've done there!



That wasn't intentional.

And yet I still love it!



The +4 Endurance from the Combat Preparations last turn comes in handy here, letting Netzach Stagger Tamaki while only taking scratch damage from her Headshot.



Ah, geez! Stand still, would you?

It also helps Mr.Blond recover a significant chunk of Stagger Resistance, by dodging Stephan's gunfire. He's back out of the danger zone.



How?!

What did I say?! Don't! Bring! A gun! To! A fistfight! HAHAHAHA!

Please don't let the key page's instincts influence you too much, Mr.Black.



Selecting this Abnormality Page is insurance, at this point. Full-Stop Office doesn't have any form of recovery, so if we knock them all down to 31 HP or lower, even if Mr.Blond does fall in battle the entire enemy field will wipe. Our side will also wipe, but since we win ties that's perfectly fine. Until then, +1 Power is always nice.



The first several rounds were messy, but we're in mopup mode at last.



A refreshed Mr.Blond intercepts Stephan's attack, his 2 Endurance from Combat Preparation will make this a very safe turn for him.



I knew we were all dead. If the Blue Reverb hadn't shown up…



It's not worth moaning about your fate now. You and your allies were dead no matter what choices you made.





Liwei… Tamaki…

Then what was the point of coming here?!

Probably seemed like an easier option than fighting a Color.

We're dead. We're all gonna' die and turn into books. Ahh man… Ah, geez!!



His movements are sharper!

Hey, Miss Angela. Why's he showing more than one intention all of the sudden?

It seems that his emotions have been driven to a higher point than any previous guest. Higher than any of you can currently reach, it seems.

Great… just what I wanted to hear.

Whenever a Guest or Librarian hits Emotion Level 4, they gain an additional Speed Die in addition to the usual +1 Maximum Light and Light refill. Right now Guests are the only ones capable of getting to this level of Emotion, but it'll be something to keep in mind for deck building in the far future.



Hey, Mr.Black. You stop his bullets with your face, and we'll knock him out in the meanwhile.

HAHAHA, resplendent!

I'll be honest: I just sort of stopped thinking here. If I'd clashed with anyone but Mr.Black the fight would have been over a lot sooner.



Stay back! Don't any of you come any closer!!

My face… lacks the verve! HAHaha..!

That monster stopped moving. Maybe now I can…



You're not doing anything, I'm afraid.

Ah… of course I couldn't stop three people at once like this. It's not fair. It's not fair..!



This turn proved awkward, as Mr.Black has all of the real damage output on this floor and Mr.Blond/Netzach have both played out their hands almost entirely, meaning I can't actually finish off Stephan.



I get close, though.



For such a good hit, what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't return it in kind?!

Mr.Black's hand here is actually perfect. We can assign Loosen Up to the other Speed Die, and have a 100% chance of hitting Scratch That! with our Brawl.



At least let me back you up if plan A falls through.

Of course! Not that it'll matter!



Because you don't!



Bring a gun!



Say it with a smile, now.

T-to a fistfight..?



Drat it all, you were supposed to smile, smile!



Now the book's all depressing! We can't have that.

I'm starting to think this work suits him way better than keeping people alive ever did.

You're telling me…



The Full-Stop Office is a very rude introduction to Urban Plague, with their alpha strike capabilities combining with their always-goes-first attack type to quickly put our Librarians on the back foot. Beating them, however, is very worth it: Now we have access to those turn 1 passives and ranged attack pages, and that means we can use them to make life hard for other people.

Music: Result


Hey… what happened to that 'something badass' you promised us?

I was getting my footing. It's been a while since I've been shot at.

So… next time?

Next time. It's a promise.



VIDEO
Music: Lobby


It’s kinda sorry to see him keep railing at the world till the end.

Do you think it’s wrong to blame the world?

Oh no, nothing wrong with that. It’s not like I think he was weak-willed for putting the blame on this world for his miseries. It’s just that I pity myself for living in that same world. I’m sorry that I keep trying not to fault this world.

I curse this world.

Same, to be honest.



Seems like that was one of the books I needed…

So it's going to take multiple receptions to get the floors ready to grow now, huh?

We couldn't expect that sort of explosive growth to continue forever, Roland.

No… I guess not.

We'll find it with enough time. That's the point of those 'invitations,' right?

Yes. And your work was not entirely in vain, even discounting that.

I did something else?



It appears we've gained the means to invite another set of guests.

Great… more guests. Someone else can handle the next group… My team and I've been working too hard lately.

That is acceptable. Be ready, however. Your services may be required again, sooner than you think.

Yeah, yeah…

Next time, on Library of Ruina



Humans doing human things.

The Gaze agenda.

Here there be drawtech.

What sound does a rabbit make, anyways?


Videos

Full-Stop Office 2

New Key Pages






New Combat Pages

[Gespenst]

Gun stuff is good. there's a specific role that ranged pages are amazing for, but I'm sure that will be explained more soon enough. it's an interesting choice to have the single-use drawback to balance ranged attacks, it certainly goes a ways to limit the value of speed dice, since no amount of drawtech can help when your main pages are gone completely.
I never really bothered much with the Full-Stop passives 'cause they're pretty worthless if you're not aiming to kill quickly, and killing quickly is how you limit the drops you're getting.

[TeeQueue]

Appendix 11: Full-Stop Office

A color is the dream and lifetime goal of all Fixers who wish for freedom. Those who have been assigned a color are called the ‘Colors’; a Color is the pride of the Fixer and the Associations. They put forward the Colors as great and successful people that other Fixers will look up to. They dream of earning wealth and fame, and to be free like them one day.

Colors are assigned by the ‘Hana Association’. They’re bundled into such a category because the Hana deemed them to be the most ideal Fixers. Because they’re the most adequate individuals to deal with the ‘Stars of the City’. The title of a Color is forcibly given to Fixers who qualify, essentially. Can a Fixer be truly happy with freedom that was forcefully handed to them?

Why ‘Colors’ of all terms when there are many other stylish words to choose from? I have no comment to make, since I don’t know the reason myself. My assumption is that colors are used because giving people hues representative of them makes it easier to refer to and remember them by. It may not be the answer you were expecting, but it can’t be helped; the Colors have their own ways of working, and they have basically nothing in common. It’s akin to how visible colors have their own vibrant characteristics. In that sense, the term ‘Colors’ isn’t entirely off-putting.

Few Fixers use guns for self-defense. Bullets cost an arm and a leg, and foes who are relatively powerful tend to dodge shots like it’s nothing, and I can barely graze ‘em… There’s not a lot of ways to react to enemies closing in, either. You’d have to be quick on the draw and shoot them in the weak spots; if you aren’t, the other options are running away or grabbing some prop to guard yourself… Like hell that’ll save you. It takes several augmentation procedures to be able to carry something as heavy as a firearm and run fast enough. If you’re a sniper, you’ll be busy packing up your weapon mount n’ everything; have to make unnecessarily big movements. And what if the precious gun gets damaged if you try blocking your foe’s attack with it? Oh, I was talking about the kinds of guns me and Tamaki use, not firearms in general. You see what Liwei’s carrying? I heard there are lighter rifles, and some that come with bayonets for close-quarters combat… But mind you, those guns have their fair share of downsides, so don’t be too quick to buy them. You might as well save the money and get a quality workshop weapon or an augmentation surgery instead. Hell, you could probably buy a fine weapon with the money it takes to buy bullets for target practice. You weren’t planning on using guns in actual fights without even practicing, were you? I mean, go ahead, if you really want dislocated shoulders and severed fingers.

Despite all this, there still are workshops that manufacture guns and people like us who use them. Guns are just that comfortable to use. Those heavy taxes won’t be a problem as long as use your gun for its intended purpose. How many defenseless thugs standing in the middle of the street can notice a bullet flying toward them? Of course, it’d be even better to get specially made workshop devices that use a special technology to muffle the sound of gunfire, but… Don’t expect too much. There’s currently no technology in our world that can completely cancel out noise, and it won’t exist in the foreseeable future. You don’t need that to make guns work, though. All it takes is an advantageous situation.

There aren’t many workshops that can craft guns. Setting aside the low demand, the difficulty of acquiring a firearms manufacturing license and the Head’s strict guidelines are the biggest limitations. The guidelines include clauses such as: “The maximum length of the gun barrel must be shorter the higher the gun’s caliber is”, “No gun should possess the firepower to penetrate steel or building walls”, “A gunfire sound must be audible”, and I haven’t even started with the “bad” ones yet. The first page of the guideline boldly states: “Do not research or imagine technology that infringes the firearm manufacturing guidelines, as provided by the Head along with the license.” I’m not a gunsmith myself, so I don’t know the details, and I frankly don’t want to know any more than that. There certainly are workshops permitted to make S-class firearms, but I’m guessing only three to five of them exist in the entire City. Who do they take requests from, where they are, and what kind of people run them… They’re all a mystery. The most I could hear was a rumor that an S-class workshop exists somewhere.

People say that the Head put heavy restrictions on firearms because they don’t want its denizens to be harmed too easily. It’s true that a gun can effortlessly kill a person with one well-placed shot. That’s not all; the assailant doesn’t have to show themselves to attack and a flying bullet is simply too fast for the average person to track with their eyes, making it a fine weapon for stealthily killing others. But making it harder to kill people doesn’t seem good enough a reason to impose such restrictions. What about the countless other trifling and useless methods that exist to kill people? I just cannot understand that they would see this as a solely philosophical issue. Are you asking if it’s because the Wings don’t have sufficient technical expertise? I’m not here for senseless chatter. The Wings could easily make superior weapons with their technology, there’s no real reason they couldn’t improve upon the current designs.

There are probably some people who feel the same as me. They don’t question it further or try to dig deeper into the truth, because… Well, they have their hands full with making their ends meet, and they don’t want to risk losing it all meddling in business secrets, I suppose.

[TeeQueue]

The thread hath spoken! Seems like we're going to the far right node next.

[Gespenst]

Oh boy! we get to meet the Woodwind Walloper next up~

[TeeQueue]

Book 19: Gaze Office—Chapter 1

Music: Lobby


This time around, our target is the far right node.

Hmm…

What's she doing?

Thinking, it looks like.

I thought she was a hyperadvanced AI. What could she possibly have to think about that'd take more than a second?

You-know-who isn't here. She could be caught up on that.

So why doesn't she go looking for him..?

I figure that's what she's doing. She's the owner of the place, makes sense that it'd have the place covered top to bottom with cameras.

I don't think a perfect AI would need something as simple as cameras.

How did you do that?

I'm pretty quiet when I want to be.

Ah. There you are, Roland. The next invitation is ready.

Oh, you were waiting for me?

Since you know about the outside, it makes sense to watch their circumstances when you are nearby to ask about them.

Huh… Can't argue with that. Alright, then, let's see it.

VIDEO
Music: WarpStation




Mhm.

Bono, how’s the observation going?



I hope we can find some leads at least…

I know it’s a bit late to ask this, but you sure this job is a trusty one?

How many times should I say that we can get two hundred million Ahn right away through an untraceable route?

It’s a deal offered by Cane Office, so we can probably trust this.

I don’t trust like that. Pay isn’t the problem here. If we get caught trying to uncover the secrets of a Singularity, we’re done for. No insurance is gonna protect us.

I understand that you’re scared because R Corp. has W Corp’s back. But we aren’t gonna quit here, are we?

We wouldn’t be here if we could…

The WARP train is departing in five minutes.



It’s the device Cane Office gave us. They said it’s invaluable with only a few copies of it in the City.

And we verified its performance ourselves.

I know this City has all kinds of bizarre technology, but I still doubt anything can be this convenient.

Hey! The train’s heading off.

Okay. We just need to wait 10 seconds now.

Nine… Eight… The causality-whatever-recording device is working for now.

Seven… Wait… Something’s not right…?

They’re missing… We can’t observe them anymore…



I knew there was something off with this device. I told you it can’t be possible for any technology to be this convenient!

Don’t put the blame on the device, it’s not broken. It’s still working, see? Something must’ve happened inside the train.

Maybe there was a problem with the Singularity… Or maybe they noticed the device and rigged it?

It’s not so easily manipulable. And they definitely weren’t capable of doing that.

You never know. It could be W Corp. sending a jamming signal to prevent its Singularity from being leaked. And the Cane Office hadn’t made any preliminary research before giving us this request? This is driving me crazy… We’re doing this sham job for two hundred million Ahn.

Stop whining, will you?

…It could have something to do with this. This thing has the books of the Molar Office listed on it like it knows what we were doing.



The Library…

Yeah, I heard of it. All the Fixers and Syndicates have been talking about it these days. So, what’s the plan. Are we gonna head to that bizarre place?

We don’t have any other way.

Even if two hundred million Ahn is on the line, I don’t wanna risk my life. Going there won’t guarantee success, either…

We might be able to see what happened on the train if we read their books.

Sigh… I just hope things don’t get screwed even further.

Music: Lobby


Duh, of course. It can bring tremendous amounts of money. I’m pretty sure L Corp. put a lot of effort into keeping its Singularity’s secrets, too. The eco-friendly energy company, founded after the Smoke War! We were freed from that suffocating smoke thanks to your corp.

Didn’t I tell you already? All I did was recite the script, trapped underground.

Can a Singularity be stolen if its secrets are exposed?

Nah, that’s not how it works. Those guys are probably just looking for some clues to how the Singularity functions so they can sell that info to another Wing or a big Syndicate. After that, the party with the secrets will use that to extort money and stuff from the Wing. Singularities are patented, so it’s too risky to just use ‘em even if you know how to make it work. Especially since those patents are all managed by the Head.

It’s all about money in the end.

Anyway, I’m kinda curious about what happened to that WARP train.

Let us receive our guests first.

Music: Entrance


The result can be seen, but not the process…

It’s just like the Distortion, the talk of the town lately. What a bother.



How did you get the book of the Molar Office? They were supposed to be in the WARP train. For only a few seconds!

Well, how did we do it, I wonder? Unraveling the secrets of the Library must come with a heavy price, like how digging into the principles of Singularities is a laborious affair, no?

That was a stupid question from us.

I have no idea what’s going on…

If the Library and its books are just as mysterious as the Singularities, then hopefully they’re worth just as much.

May you find your book in this place.

Next time, on Library of Ruina: Bad ideas.

Videos

Gaze Office 1








Malkuth… should I take that look to mean that Angela's tapped you for the next reception?

Not quite. We volunteered!

You did? I thought you weren't talking to Angela.

Oh… that. Well… I don't mind talking to her if it's for work.

Yes, I feel the same. Still, though… are you sure that key page will work?

I've reviewed everything twice, and I'm confident in its power! Not even Bishop could say a single word against it, and he's normally very good at picking out flaws in our strategy.

It sounds very useful to have someone on the team with Fixer experience.

It is. Should I ever die, I know the team's in good hands for the rest of the reception. That means I can go all out without reservation!

I'm still just a bit too frightened of pain to go all out myself…

Just imagine it as weakness leaving the body, and it'll feel as natural as giving orders in a warzone.

…You really are just built differently, Malkuth.

I just adjusted a little faster, that's all. Remind me to show you a breathing trick Roland taught me next time. It's a huge help when you get overwhelmed.

I'll do that. Good luck.

[Whilimbird]

Is that Malkuth being sweet on Bishop I see?

[TeeQueue]

Is that Malkuth being sweet on Bishop I see?

Possibly. If nothing else she's very happy to have him around.


On another note, the fanart post has (finally) been updated.

Dear god it took so long.

[Gespenst]

I enjoy the fact that Singularities being super shady is such a universal fact that it's a viable money maker to ransom their secrets even when they're 100% unstealable.

[TeeQueue]

My recording for this update was in slightly smaller resolution than normal. If anything seems a bit off compared to normal, that would be why. The party responsible for this has been handled in the customary fashion. Thank you.

Book 19: Gaze Office—Chapter 2

Music: GuestBattle01


Bishop's been given a very basic high-damage Gun build today. We've given him Speed and Liwei's Concentration to maximize his first turn impact.

A nice weight. Semi-automatic. A long barrel, designed for pinpoint accuracy at a distance. The caliber is small, but that doesn't matter when…

Woah, nerd alert!

I'm appreciating a work of art!

We had guns back at the facility, you know. I never heard you talk about those like this.

Those were more conceptual imprints of a gun that worked because the maker thought of it as a gun. The difference is like looking at a picture versus seeing the real thing.

Huuuh… Well, try not to feel too bad, buuut… I realized something brilliant while you were cleaning your rifle.

What's that?



I can channel gunfire into my fists.

…ah. Brilliant.

Dimi is using a strategy that I like to call PUNCHGUN, revolving around using Brawl to play Going for Bullseye's massive die multiple times. It's a strategy that only Liwei's page can use, as the other two can only use Ranged pages. Much like all Brawl strategies, it is a gigantic meme and I love it very much.

I can understand how jealous you must be because I thought of it first, but…

Oh, good. You're both suited up.



M-Malkuth..! You're actually… using it!



Buffkuth is an ancient tradition, and in honor of it I've given Malkuth Dino's Key Page and some assorted Stray Dogs pages. We don't need cohesion, we're punching people. :toughguy:

Of course! Anything that can leave you speechless has to be insanely strong.

I'm not sure that's why he was speechless, boss. Have you considered—

OH GOODNESS THE GUESTS ARE HERE TIME TO GO!

Wha-hey! Stop shoving!!



Our only opponents today are the trio we met in the cutscene, and this is another single floor act.



Alloc starts off by applying Paralysis 1 to our entire side—we can't have more than 3 Librarians in this fight.



They tend to use Observe to set up a +3 Strength and possible Paralysis so that they can go into Opportunity Spotted: the single best Emotion Coin-generating page in the game, and a 3-hit page that can rack up damage quickly if we've got enough Power to boost its 1-2 dice enough.



Dalloc's deck revolves around throwing more Paralysis onto people, and their passive adds on damage against any Paralyzed opponent.



Bono is more straightforward. His power is a straight 50% chance of +1 Strength, which works well with his dirty cheater deck.



Four pages (the starting hand size) means that any time he plays a page, it will come back immediately, so he has access to his entire deck at all times. We can't do this, for the record—I didn't mention it when talking about Gyeong-mi's cheater deck, but if we try to use fewer than 9 pages in a deck the remainder are automatically filled in with basic pages. These are all terrible, so we never want to do this.

On top of that one of his pages, Binding Arms, lowers its cost every time it's played to a minimum of 1. If he feels like it, he can and will spam Binding Arms every turn and cause us a significant number of problems.



Music: MalkuthBattle01


Gotta ask… is your head even in the game, Bishop?

…As long as I don't look backwards, everything'll be fine.

Just focus on the target in front of you, like always.

Now that we have guns, it's time for Guns usage 101. While the passives on Full-Stop's Key Pages make clashes on the first turn simple to win, relying on them to do all of the work will limit the utility that we get out of them in the long run.




Dimi has the perfect hand to clash against Bono's first turn Binding Arms, and she makes a questionable clash against Observe as well.



Malkuth takes Dalloc's attention. Even if we're unlucky and get hit twice, they shouldn't be able to do much damage to her.

This means that the entire enemy group's attention is off of Bishop.



You know… I can tell you're an analytical office, and not a combat-oriented one.

The librarians are well informed, I see. You're right. We're not cut out for these combat scenarios.

Then I'm very sorry for what's about to happen.



What the-?!

On turn 1, our gun pages can dominate almost any page—Bishop has a +4 to his first turn, enough to win clashes against most opponents. However, they're just as good at focusing fire on a single opponent.



We've barely moved, and they're already…

I told them this was a bad idea!

F-focus on the enemy. I-I'll be fine!

The main idea for turn 1 is to instantly stagger an opponent. This will take a lot of the pressure off of the rest of our team, letting them do their job.



Don't think you can get by me with a puny blade like that.

Oh, I don't.



That was just a distraction~ :mmmhmm:

This one has a gun too..?



At least this one doesn't!



I don't need them to beat you up!



Say… What kind of weapon even IS that?

I-it's a combat oboe.

An oboe?

J-just wait 'til I get to use it. Y-you'll see.



Hey Dimi… can you cover me?

Haha… nah.

What do you mean, 'nah?!'



One of the downsides of PUNCHGUN is that it doesn't generate a lot of emotion coins. This means that we don't always get the light refills we need to keep the pain train running. Building around that is very important.

I'm just not feeling an attack this turn. It's not because I mismade my deck or anything, I just really think you should pick up the slack.

Dimi I swear—

Go ahead and cover her this once, Bishop. It's important that we all work together as a team.

Thank you, boss! I knew you were as wise as you were powerful!

_{That's not how this is supposed to…} Whatever. Fine.




On turn 2 onwards, we don't really want our ranged users to be clashing with the enemy. They've lost their near-guaranteed wins from turn 1, and this can be bad.



You've got the one I set up at least, right?

Of course.

Good. Then I hope this is worth it.



Because I am about to be punched in the face several times…

Damn right you are.



The way Ranged pages work makes them very swingy. When they work, they work, but one good offensive die from the opponent can completely shut an entire page down.



I-I'm getting an error..!

That's another of them open. Malkuth!

For right now their rolls are still enough to win clashes, so we don't have to focus on one-sided attacks yet.



HI-YAH!



And two! We've got one down.

Go boss, go!

N-nice work!



I'm feeling pumped up! And our friends want to help us out now, too.

Dibs! I want the hug!

None of my options can really benefit from it. Should we?

I'll allow it. Make sure to hit something good.



Uhh… just as I planned!

Happy Memories hitting a single-use page is a bit unfortunate, but it really doesn't matter. Gaze Office isn't really very threatening.



Hey Dimi, think you can get this guy off my back now?

Hmph! The great Dimi doesn't need to answer to requests from—

Now, Dimi. It's important that we all respect each other. He took a hit for you.



A-as I was saying, while I don't need to answer to you, my overflowing and wondrous sense of generosity means I'm only too happy to take the pressure off of you!

Good.



That means we should be able to wrap things up with this.

Bishop's ability to go first will all but guarantee a Stagger on the Pierce-weak Bono and should also down Dalloc. If anything goes wrong, Malkuth is set to back everyone up with an attack on each of the remaining guests.



One down.



Second target's open. Dimi, Malkuth, all yours.

I-I told them… I told them!!!



And just like that, another reception's been cleared out thanks to the overwhelming power of Dimi!



Well… Their teamwork's all over the place, but you certainly can't argue with the results.

Indeed…

Ah, that's your thinking face. What's on your mind, ma'am?



Gaze Office is the easiest fight on this tier by a fairly comfortable margin, and is usually the recommended jump-in point for new players. Fighting them with firearms on our side was basically just bullying. If you have a Molar Office deck or even a decent Stray Dogs or Walter build you'll be fine. For us, the hardest part is actually getting the books we need—with the guests falling so quickly, they didn't have time to build any Emotion Levels at all.

Music: Result


I'd say that went really well!

As expected of any fight I'm in.

Yeah… uh. Yes. Go team. History.

Bishop? You didn't get something scrambled out there, did you?

That's, uh… I'm fine. We should get back to our usual wear and sort these books. If that's okay. Ma'am.

Sounds good to me!

It'd be faster if we just did our work like this, though…

Dimiii..!



VIDEO
Music: Lobby


What do you think R Corp’s Singularity is?

I bet it’s something that pumps out efficient killing machines.

Don’t you know more about it since you used R Corp’s services?

As I’ve said multiple times before, such details are beyond my knowledge. I had little interest in finding out back then. Still, from what I observed of them… Considering the amount of their ‘Rabbits’ and the combat power of each unit, you’re probably correct. They were not exceptionally strong, but they did a fine job at “grazing the grass” inside the facility. I wonder what the principle behind it is.

Hell if I know, I’m not an executive of R Corp. or anything. Every Wing keeps its Singularity under tight wraps.



So everyone simply consumes the end results without knowing the process.

It’s easier on the mind that way. There’s no point asking questions about technology unless they encounter problems using it. People just spend money and get its worth. There’s no real reason for questioning how things work. Wasn’t it the same with L Corp?

…You’re right, it was the same. All we needed was the result. It didn’t matter how many were sacrificed in the process.

See, the other Wings aren’t gonna be any different from that.



Oooh… there's a straange reaactioon..!

That just means we've got the books we need, kiddo. Hope you're ready to see an Abnormality again.

I deefinitely aam..!

Hm. Until now, Malkuth's floor had received priority. Perhaps something has changed?

You're the smart one here, boss. Damned if I can hope to figure it out.

Yes… well, I'll report this to Angela.



…So that's the situation. We're ready to move out, if we must.

We'll have to see. It seems another reception has revealed itself as well.

We're trying to resolve things, but our options have only grown this time. Lovely.

Neither of us controls the winding path we walk on, Yesod. We will be at the end when the end arrives. Until then—

I'll do my job, and continue to register my opinions as I see fit.

Yes, I'm sure you will.

Next time, on Library of Ruina



"But nothing could compare to the music it makes when it eats a human."

Did you really have to stab me with those facts!

You and I join hearts, to protect those left behind.

Notice the instruments all around you, and begin to play.

Me? A weaver I am, making fine silk.


Videos

Gaze Office 2

New Key Pages






New Combat Pages

[ApostleOfBlueStar]

I know where this is going.

[TeeQueue]

Appendix 12: Gaze Office

Cane Office is a notary public Office that officially administers various matters when a contract is made between two Offices. A notary public Office preserves evidence involved in contractual processes and certifies legal issues. Sometimes, the Office may play the role of a broker.

When you work with Cane Office, the process you have to follow will usually be simple outside of a few special cases. All you need to do is make a summary of all the details for the deal you’re making and visit the Office. And don’t forget to take all the relevant documents with you: Notarial deed of promissory note, Migration permit for the Nest (or the Backstreets) of District OO, Deed of forward contract, and everything else related to the deal. If you safely finished your business with Cane Office, those documents will become powerful pieces of evidence that’ll protect you in case a dispute breaks out for whatever reason.

The Nest is a home where birds brood their eggs. They use their wings to devotedly protect their eggs from outside threat. Such is the role of the Nests and Wings that constitute the City. Do the eggs represent people inhabiting the Nest, then? Not a chance. These “eggs” are the treasures that Wings possess. Singularities, technologies that make money, featured in countless patents. Its residents are nothing more than feathers of the Wings that serve to protect the eggs. A Wing will end up falling when it loses too many of its feathers, but it won’t bother to desperately protect all of its feathers since a feather or two will naturally grow back. They’re basically expendables.

The twenty-six Wings have their own subsets of culture. It might be the personal preference of the Wing’s founder or the influence of the Singularity, but the cultural styles and social atmosphere vary vastly between the Nests. The Wing’s policies also determine the culture of the Backstreets that belong to it. Each Wing has distinct sets of conducts; some Wings take a relatively cooperative approach to their Backstreets, while others thoroughly exploit them. But Wings will be Wings. “Cooperation” is just a fancy expression for “taking advantage of the Backstreets when the Wing needs them”. If you can’t afford to enter a Wing and have to live in the Backstreets, you’re best off settling in the District that suits you well. You’ll still need a home and source of income, of course.

People are hung up on money, but it’s not just because they want to be well off; the formidable tax burden is a big part of why. No matter how humble your job is, you’re still obliged to pay your duties if you earn money. It goes for every type of business transaction. Even Syndicates are no exception; anyone living in the City has to pay taxes. If you don’t meet the deadline, you’ll get a warning. For the first three offenses, you’ll get a notice of warning and no other penalty. But if you don’t pay your taxes for the fourth time? Then you’re dead meat. They’ll come for you. The Eye will seek out tax evaders by any means, and the person it sends will rip those poor cheats to shreds.

[TeeQueue]

Guess the thread has spoken. Time to move to Tier 2 on the right side! This means I'll be doing an update for the Urban Plague general receptions before we get into the meat of things.

[vulpixall]

You do not understand the joy I got from reading they/them robots I owe you my life TeeQueue

[Whilimbird]

Aw, our “Abnormalities always” streak was broken.

[TeeQueue]

Book 19.5: Urban Plague General Receptions

Music: Retro Time ALT
Alright, so this meeting of our book club will come to order. Elle, the notes?

Right. Last time, we couldn't agree on what we wanted to read. So, we decided to get in some practice with our new weapons and just read whatever books appeared during the training sessions.



That's right… so we tried out the new firearms the Library has access to. I think we all got quite used to them by the end.



I don't know what those Full-Stop guys' books were talking about, honestly. These bullets worked just fine on every enemy. "Enough concentrated fire solves any problem."



Oh, I recognize that quote. The Phalanx Formation and its Practical Applications to Abnormality Suppression. Miss Hod wrote it back before, right?

It was a different life, Elle. But I'm glad you both read my reports.

Of course. Since our enemies here can't use wide-area attacks, it means the formation is even more valuable than before. It's a shame that we can't attack with everyone at once… With that said, what did you guys think of the first books?

The Rusted Chains ain’t the biggest Syndicate, but each member’s got strength to boot n’ boast. The only weapon we use is these spiky chains. Tie ‘em, smack ‘em, anythin’ goes. We gotta be careful not to get swung or swayed around, or bind ourselves with our own metal. My body’s full of scars thanks to that, but hey… It’s not too bad, is it?

“Bah… Every part of my body’s aching.”

“Cloudy bastards… Why’re they picking at us so much? We’ve taken some serious damage on our side.”

“Heard the Blade Lineage’s also got messed up… Got any news?”

“Heard our boss is gonna go out and talk to ‘em.”

“If boss is going alone… Won’t that be dangerous?”

“The other side’s also only sending their top dog or whatevs… No need to worry about the boss.”

“Right… They’re weaklings individually, that’s why they like to move in packs.”

Reading about syndicates is like learning about a cryptid. They're horrible things that lurk just under the surface, but they're also utterly fascinating.

They were rough. I wasn't expecting people who fought with nothing but chains.



The way they would inflict Bleed on themselves to come at us harder was something, too.

They seemed to be focused on these 'Cloudy bastards' who were giving them trouble…



That must have been the Kurokumo. Kumo means either cloud or spider in a language you see in some sections of the City, and Kuro would be 'black' in the same language. Perhaps it's another Syndicate?



They really seemed not to like you too much, Medea.

Well after what she said…

What? Whipping yourself with chains to hit harder is a waste of energy. That's not really a debatable fact!



It wasn't like that group was a particular threat, either. It was quite refreshing to wear my emotions on my sleeve like that child did.

I don't think I've seen you angry in a while, Miss Hod…

I normally hide it, is all.

There were a lot of them, too… Who would have thought an elite fighter would have come with them?



His name was Jikan, wasn't it? He was a bit tougher than the rank and file.



He was… though his teamwork left something to be desired.

True, true.



Overall, I'd say that chains aren't particularly good at taking bullets.

They're definitely better at deflecting blunt attacks than the penetrative bullet strikes.

Very good! That's why our suppressive fire wasn't as useful as our other forms of attack.



They gave us a lot of books, though. Shame that they basically only came in two forms…

I wouldn't say that. One of them preferred tea. It's responsible for what we're drinking right now.

You managed to make this tea from one of those books?!

People are just full of surprises, aren't they?

Hey, hey, what about the snacks? Who made this cake?

Oh, that was from a member of our next book selection.

In the City, there are as many workshops as there are unique gadgets. And the Tres Association is the one responsible for managing those workshops in general. It reviews newly designed weapons, files applications to the Head, and charges taxes for them. You can’t use the weapons that haven’t passed their evaluation. Getting a rejection from them basically means they see the weapon as something that shouldn’t be used in this City. They aren’t too cold about it, though. They sometimes send the applicants feedback about how they can improve their designs to a passable level. Not that we need it, since our latest weapon passed on the first try!

Oh right, it was interesting to hear about the Tres Association from one of the fixers closest to a Workshop. Those guys do get special tools compared to regular fixers, don't they?



Given how random the books we offered were, they must have just been here to test their weapons.



That would make the most sense. They were using a strange new form of spear, and they seemed to have a sense of solidarity.

Solidarity nothing. They were cocky. The second one of them fell, the others changed their tune immediately.



Still, their weapons were pretty cool.

Yeah, I guess they were…



I hadn't seen a three-pronged spear with such an obvious number of hidden features in a while. I think they even maintained their weapon mid-battle to power it up. It's a trick that may be worth borrowing.

Maybe…



We'd want to use a more efficient strategy than doing it at random, though.

You're so blunt when you make a kill, Medea.

Well if they didn't want to be called weak, maybe they shouldn't die so easily!

Hahaha..!

Miss Hod..!



Your ability to provide blunt feedback is very useful to refining my work, Medea. Though I was worried that Angela was going to send you right back into a book when you woke up…

…She had it coming.

Good thing she couldn't see you.

Yes… well. Please keep in mind that we all have our circumstances. Even I've betrayed people I professed to care about before.

…I'll try.

Hey, so what about that third group? We were outnumbered, weren't we? Since the fight was hard, the books were supposed to be good…

In the Nest of gambling, hundreds of games take place every day, the humans leaving as winners or losers. Some admit their defeat, while others try to make a scene and escalate it into a violent mess. It’s the job of Offices like ours to monitor the gaming between individuals or organizations, verify the results, and prevent situations from turning violent.
There are naturally a lot of Offices that handle this kind of work, most of them being affiliated with the Öufi Association, ours included. Whenever a game happens with something at stake, a go-between needs to be there to prove that the results were legitimate. Given the sheer number of games, we’re short-handed sometimes.

Most residents in Nest J are relying on a special entity. I can’t talk much about it, but it’s like the fortune readings others sometimes see. It predicts the events that’ll happen to you during a year like an annual fortune, and gives opinions on immediate matters. It never gives a direct solution to your problems, though. It’s up to you to make your choices… but I can’t deny that it has a strong influence on your decision.

This is the Nest of gambling. You hear all sorts of noise daily—it almost drives you mad. Gunshots and screams aren’t exactly swell to wake up to… Those sounds used to wake me up everyday, but not anymore. The person living in Room 1829 vanished after losing a bet a week ago, and I saw ‘em carrying a large coffin out of Room 1831 yesterday…

Ultimately, though, Nest J and the entire district just sort of bugs me… I can't understand gamblers.



Indeed… It seemed like they weren't really interested in the books at all.

I feel like these random receptions don't care much about what books we use at all for a variety of reasons… then again, the entire invitation system is like some kind of Abnormality unto itself.

Speaking of… it's kind of nice to just work alongside the Abnormalities without death looming over our heads.




I agree. Though it does mean we don't need to train nearly as much…

We just have to change what we can train. Most of our people aren't really able to wrap their head around the way combat works here, and the instincts that come with our body changes only cover so much.

True, true. But anyways, that last fight was almost unfair. If they'd planned a little more, we would have been in danger.



It may just be me, but I don't think those guys are much for planning.

As we should expect from a gambling-focused Office, I suppose…

Addicts, the lot of them.



Do you think they chose who to target by drawing lots?

I bet it was more instinct than anything else.

Either way, things almost got dicey. Almost. Guns being so rare in the City has its upsides.



It's like nobody knows how to fight against ranged weapons like these.

There isn't a lot of opportunity for most people to train against them. It's something of an advantage for us.



And that advantage gives us more advantages… Does this feel like cheating to anyone else?

It's a bit like cheating.

I'd say it's as fair as most things in the City…

Well, that's all the books we had on hand to read for this meeting.

I have to admit… it's actually pretty interesting to pick through people's heads like this.

The snacks are a pretty nice touch, too.

Then for next time, let's read one of the books that Finn fellow left behind? He seemed like a good person. I'd have wanted to meet him.

Sounds good! I'll make a note of it.

I've got no arguments either, Miss Hod.

Then the book club meeting is over. I suppose we should just do as we like, now?

So… sit around talking and having more tea and cakes?

Definitely. Can you pass the sugars, Miss Hod?

Of course.

New Key Pages







New Combat Pages

[vulpixall]

Fun fact: I accidentally skipped most of these General Receptions because by the time I figured out they existed I was already past most of them. I did manage to (again, accidentally) stumble into Jeong Office, though. Fun times!

[TeeQueue]

I played the whole game before they were implemented, so I'm genuinely interested in using at least a few of these pages. That one of them will absolutely be carrying me in the Tomerry fight is a bonus, too.

[TeeQueue]

Book 20: Love Town—Chapter 1

Music: Lobby


Our target today is the second node on the far right branch, our first tier 2 Urban Plague battle.

The Gaze Office and the Molar Office… Hey, that can't possibly mean…

Yes. I believe that we may be able to learn how W Corp responds to this error.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious how they plan to fix it. Good pick, ma'am.

VIDEO
Music: WarpTrain


Where are we now…? How much time has passed…?

Tommy… Tommy… You’re awake… I’m sorry… I don’t really know… I don’t know how long we’ve been here…



…Ten days?

How are you feeling right now? You were out cold for three.

I thought WARP trains were supposed to arrive in just ten seconds? How could this happen? What’s going to happen to us? Where are we…

I’m not certain myself, Mister Tommy.

Ah, I already heard your name from your lover, in case you’re wondering.



And this is Jae-heon, a doctor from our hospital.



They took care of you while you fainted……

This is my first time experiencing a delay like this, too. I’ve used WARP trains quite often, you see. I’d always have a pleasant 10-second trip to the destination. Do you know anything about accidents like this, doctor?

Not at all. This kind of malfunction should surely be fatal to W Corp’s image. It’s strange that they haven’t made any response for this long.



Tommy… Actually…

Let me tell him. Tommy, you were asleep for the last three days. Are you feeling any thirst right now? You didn’t consume any water or moisture while you were out, just so you know.

… I’m not thirsty at all…?

For some reason, no one here appears to be feeling any kind of hunger or thirst. To elaborate, no one has shown malfunction or distress in vital physiological functions.

How is that even possible? Just what is going on here…

We have no idea… Let’s wait a little more. It seems that time is all we have, after all.

Time… huh…

Tommy… You can keep your eyes closed if you’re tired. I’ll always be at your side.

Me too, Merry… I’ll stay next to you all the time…





Merry… What’s wrong…? What’s with all this noise?

Tommy! Wake up! This is bad!!

Although we did expect something like this to happen sooner or later…

What’s going on…?

It seems trouble has occurred in the carriage next to ours.

Wh… What are—what are they doing…?



Kyahhhhhhh!!!!

A natural reaction to being trapped in a closed space like this for more than two weeks.

Did… Did that person… just slice off their own throat…?

Huh…? This is intriguing… Doctor?

Certainly is… Eileen didn’t send us here for nothing.



Pant, pant…

Tooommy… Tommy…

Stick with me, Merry…





Haha… I never thought I’d faint so many times in my life…

The sight must’ve been quite shocking for Miss Merry as well.

Yeah… She’s still asleep…

…Um, what happened to that person?

If you’re talking about the person that slit their own throat, they were put under quarantine in a different carriage.

There’s three hundred people on board. Can’t be the only one to have done such a thing.

Quarantined…? You mean, they’re not dead? They should’ve died after bleeding so much. You don’t usually “quarantine” a corpse…

……

They’re surprisingly alive, even though the arteries were cut. Blood was spilled all over the floor, but it wasn’t completely separated from the body. Not a single drop of blood was scattered or smeared on other surfaces; the pool of blood remained in contact with the body like a cohesive mass. And that person stayed conscious the whole time, enough to communicate… They’re probably still vividly feeling the pain of their neck being slit.

…What the hell. How could any of this be possible?

… I’m afraid I don’t know. Sorry, Mister Tommy. I can’t help but give you this same response all the time…

No, it’s alright… I shouldn’t expect you to know all the answers, after all…

There’s one thing we can know for sure.

And that’s…?

That this is only the beginning. You’ll have to brace yourself.

For the sake of your lover as well.

Yeah… I gotta…





Don’t worry, Merry… The people in our carriage are still going strong.





You’re right… If it weren’t for Elena and Jae-heon, we might have…

Merry… Don’t say dark things….





Carriages 5 to 15 are still in solidarity, including carriage 7 where we are located, but things are not looking good for the carriages beyond 15. Even just three days ago…



That’s sadly the case… Those people seem to have decided to accept pain as a way to endure this trial of time.

Have they gone mad…?! Killing each other just to pass the time…

They aren’t exactly dead, though…

Merry! They’re crawling around with their limbs barely attached. They’re pretty much as good as dead!

That’s right. We must persevere. We can’t stop them from damaging their own bodies, but forcing that pain on others is simply unacceptable



I’m sure you don’t want to be separated from your loved ones. You want to stay with them forever on this trip that might last an eternity, don’t you?



I don’t wanna be separated from Tommy, either! You feel the same, right, Tommy?

…Yeah, of course.

Then please have faith in us. We need your agreement. And you must be prepared to fight them.

Fight them?

The vile people from beyond carriage 15 who are trying to break us apart, of course.





Mister Tommy… Are you still hesitating?

Look at them, they don’t look all too bad… I was shocked at first, but…… If I can be with you forever, Tommy… Then I think I’ll be able to make it through…

Sorry, Merry… I just—I need a little more time to think…

Mister Tommy, while this train has an abundance of time, we don’t have much of it left for us.

I won’t compel you. The decision is in your hands.





I’ll do it, dammit!!!

Tommy…

So you’ve decided.

I’ve seen what happened to the people in carriage 14… They were already raided… They were just sitting there drooling, their eyes turned white in shock… I can’t let the same happen to you, Merry.

Tommy… I feel the same…

Good. Let’s start the procedure immediately. Doctor… Preparations, please.

(He nods.)







But I’m relieved… I can feel your heartbeat vividly…

Me too… We’ll never be apart again…







Thanks to your love, we could keep carriages up to number 10 safe.



Mister Tommy and Miss Merry, could you head to carriage 10 and lend them your strength?



The two actually speak in unison here.

Your affection for each other will surely invigorate your new body.

We’ll trust you, doctor.





Yeah, it’s just as the doctors said. Our affection for each other gave us strength.

They keep crawling out no matter how many times we smash them.

They should go quiet for a while now.

Welcome back to the town, Mister Tommy and Miss Merry.

Music: StoryNervous





Music: StorySimgak




How have you been?

It’s the same as always! I just wonder if I should fold those blood lumps into squares or triangles this time?

That’s nice. They enjoy pain anyway, so they should like it.

Um… Where’s daddy?

…He went to the front carriage for a moment.

So why’d you call me here, mommy?

I finally got an interesting toy. It means they’ve seen enough, according to Eileen.

Interesting toy?

The invitation to the Library. Remember the infamous Urban Legend?



……

Sorry, mommy. What’s a library? What do you mean by “Fixers”?

Ah, right. I’m sorry! Huhu.

Nooo… Don’t be sorry mommy… It’s our fault for being dumb…

No, no. He’d have cried laughing if he were here…

I’m sorry… I’m sorry… Please don’t punish me…

I’m not scolding you, see? No punishments either. Here, take this. And sign that invitation with the other townspeople. If you can find and bring the books listed on that paper there, I’ll give you a prize.

Prize! I like prizes!

…Not like you’ll make it back, anyway.

Music: Lobby


……

Uh, are you alright? You don’t look so well.

It’s disgusting… It’s a shame that I can’t vomit like humans do.

It’s a natural reaction to seeing stuff like that. What kind of malfunction could have stopped a train for thousands of years, anyway? Is everything okay out there? I don’t really feel that much time has passed, but… What if time flew without us realizing while we were busy watching that?

Less than an hour has passed for us, since we only watched fractions of the process.

What about the outside world, though?

It should be the same as us. That one is a unique guest. Its book will surely be an interesting read.

Music: Entrance


I’m visiting a new place together with all the townspeople…



H… Hello ma’am…! Who are you…?

I am Angela, director and librarian of this library you’re in.

I’m Tomerry! From Love Town. Angela… I, um… Mommy told me to get things called “books” from this place…

You can find them through the door over there.

Thank you!

…Do you happen to remember Tommy and Merry?

Tommy? Merry? Who’s that…?

Please don’t mind. May you find your book in this place.

Next time, on Library of Ruina: Too much planning can be a bad thing.


Videos

Love Town 1







:barf:

This is why we shouldn't pay attention to the preshow, Steve… _{Ugh, I need another bucket…}

[vulpixall]

Oh, I forgot how disturbing this one's story is, it's been a while since I read through it.

[TeeQueue]

Book 20: Love Town—Chapter 2

Music: GuestBattle01


Okay. I think I've got the hang of these things…

Why's your face all bandaged?

I've been swinging chains around to practice. It went about as well as you'd think.

It's important to keep your wounds bound!

Your help with this matter is appreciated, Netzach. Our enemy this time is highly unusual.

Eh… I'm just in it so you'll get off my back when I drink. Can't be much worse than an Abnormality, right?

It'll be your job to ascertain that. Based on what we see, we'll prepare additional countermeasures as appropriate.

Because we've been run right into a boss fight we're not supposed to face for a while longer, I'm taking the fight a bit more seriously than normal. All three of the Floor of Art members are decked out in Jikan Key Pages, with Concentration + Snipe from the Full-Stop Office in order to maximize their turn 1 power. They also are each specialized in a different damage type.



Right… let's do this, I guess.

Netzach has Pierce damage covered, and between Refine and Mend Weapon he'll be able to throw out some massive dice even after turn 1 is over.



Wait… we all got asked to use the same base form. Why do you look different?

After the first few minutes of using the chains, I realized that it'd be a much better idea to simply project my form's appearance as one of those axe users! All the power, but a weapon that's much more delightfully chunky to use! HAHA, I'm sure you understand!

…Somehow, yeah. I kind of got it.

Mr.Black is our Slash user, and that means using several self-Bleed pages. He'll be the first one to fall in battle, but he's going to enable everyone else's passives and deal unsightly levels of damage and Bleed to the enemy.



I tried to convince him to pick a body that didn't feel pain, since this is a suicide mission. He wouldn't listen.

Mr.Blond is completing the trio as our Blunt damage user. We have the fewest real options for a Blunt deck right now, but between Opportunity Spotted and Observe we should be able to make things work out.



Love Town itself is a 2-Act affair, with the first Act being four townspeople. This is also our first hint that we aren't supposed to be here yet:



This fight is intended to be 4 vs 4, and we don't have any floors that can match that. We're outnumbered.





The townspeople come in three different flavors: Slash, Pierce, and Blunt. Each one is weak against the types it doesn't resist, but their Ineffective resistance to their signature type lowers all damage from that type to a quarter of what it would be.



Music: NetzachStory01




Well that's… disturbing. Everyone's stomach okay?

Of course. They're just like some of the hunks of meat we'd see in the EU when the Clerks got too close to an Ordeal.

These are alive, though.

They're certainly smiling like good boys and girls… I wonder how their experiences would taste?

Dude. Gross!

The Love Townspeople are thankfully simple to explain. Each one has only two different pages, with offensive dice of the same type that the Townsperson is resistant to.



The first, [Pointed/Heavy/Sharp] Ram, is a 3-die attack that punishes us for Clashing with it, so we want to avoid doing that.



The other, [Pointed/Heavy/Sharp] Pommelin', has a single offensive die that gains +10 power in a one-sided attack. These we want to ensure we Clash against.







Since our first turn gives us +4 power on all offensive dice, we really want to seize the initiative and deal as much damage as possible. I also want as many Emotion Coins as I can generate.



Oh, man… this guy doesn't even have a face anymore.



At least it doesn't smell that bad. I was expecting it to reek.



It's a delightfully fleshy aroma! When you cut it, there's even a measure of blood that's added to the fragrance! Whoever that doctor was, he did a good job on the aesthetics! Visuals aside, of course! HAHAHAHAHA!



They were on a train where nothing ever changed for them. There's no way they would actually smell. Nothing could have gotten them dirty.



A remarkably good point! I wonder if W Corp will make those trains into food storage devices, after they figure out the glitch.



No one would want that! How could you make sure the frozen time thing wouldn't extend outside of the fridge?



There's probably a Singularity out there to fix that, too.

C'mon, boss! Don't encourage him..!



If I can keep my mind on perfectly kept beer, then I don't have to think about how freaky those things we're fighting are.

…oh my god, you're doing the Abnormality thing?

Have you looked at them? It seemed worth a try.

HAHAHAHAHA! Do you feel that?! We've done it, boys! They've come to help us!

I've got the piercing attacks, I'll take it.



After our Full-Stop enabled opening turn, we've got a firm upper hand. This first scene is basically a warmup to allow us to learn the basic mechanics of how the Townspeople work, while letting us build up the Emotion Level of one of our floors.




Hey, Zaida. What'd they mean by "Abnormality thing?"

Hell if I know, I never went through basic.

It was designed as a way for new L Corp Employees to handle dealing with Abnormalities deemed too taxing for their mental strength. When you're around one, you focus on anything but it. Think about whatever comes to mind, and voice the non-sequiturs to keep from thinking about the thing at hand. Be careful not to direct the talk at it, since that can lead to job errors. It raises work efficiency…

And prevents vomiting?

I ah… couldn't think of anything else just then, sir.

I seriously can't imagine what kind of place you were working at where that would be a required skill…



The plan here is to finish off the two Staggered Townspeople, Stagger the third, and then we'll be free to beat down the last one at our leisure.



This one's not going to be doing anything for a second… I'm almost jealous.



And THIS fine fellow's knocked for an even bigger loop! HAHAHA, oh, this is quite the rush!



They're not dying, though…

They're a bit tough, it seems!

Just do what you can, I guess…



While the plan didn't go quite how I'd have liked, we're still definitely going to win in the next couple turns. We just can't be careless.




Since these two are both Pommelin', we're going to counter with guaranteed knockouts.



This one is just to keep it from getting the +10 power.



I got the one in the back. You sure you want to attract that much attention, Mr.Black?

I want to see how they're different on the insides, and I can't do that from back here!

…if you say so.



Alright… got one. Now let's check out its—



…book? Hey, this one didn't turn into anything.

It must not have had anything of note left inside itself. Its pages are disappearing.

So this is all just a waste of time?

Maybe another one has something for us.



Nothing in this one, either.



HAHAHA! This one's dissolved as well! How vexing!

The Love Townspeople do not provide any literature for us. This means we can only get new books if we defeat Tomerry.



Well, setting that aside, I can hear that song again…

Then let's resonate!



Echoes deals 8 Stagger Damage to the last remaining Townsperson, just a little more than what we needed to Stagger it.

Music: NetzachBattle02


Don't hold back, now.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!





I think we've got the hang of it.

We just have to hope that thing from the vision isn't as tough as it looks…

Music: GuestBattle01


Act 2 is the main event today. In addition to one Townsperson of each type, we're faced with the first true boss fight of the game: Tomerry.



Tomerry's first ability, Shimmering, is one that we'll be seeing on occasion from here forward. It means that the boss follows a predictable AI with the pages it plays, and as such it's possible to know what the boss will do beforehand. While I don't know the patterns for any of the other bosses in the game, I do know Tomerry's. Let's dig into it.

On turns 1-3, Tomerry will play a pair of pages called Ruckus and Let's Play!



These two pages are moderately powerful, and Let's Play! in particular is all but assured to get at least one hit on our team. Additionally, on turns 1 and 2 there's a slight chance that another page is added instead of one of these if a Townsperson is still alive:



Love Town Welcomes All gives 3 Strength to everyone on the next turn if the second attack hits. Since the first die is Evade and the second is a mere 1-3, this actually isn't a bad page to run into, as long as we can reliably break the die it gives us a much needed reprieve from the more damaging pages.

Everything changes on turn 4. At the start of the turn, all the Townspeople take 50 Stagger Damage, instantly staggering them. Tomerry also uses a new page, Woulda Square Look Nice?



While this page is active, Tomerry's Stagger Resistance changes to Fatal across the board, and our goal is to deal it 85 Stagger damage in one turn. If we can't, then it gets to make its next move…



A pair of Triangle Sounds Better! while it has 5 Strength from Woulda Square Look Nice?. Without question, this will Stagger and likely outright defeat any Librarian we can field right now. After this is over (or, if it was Staggered successfully), the turn count resets and it starts from the beginning.

As for its other passives, The Power of Love means that any dead Townspeople will revive in the next round with half their HP, making focusing them down first a risky proposition. Dernier Armor is a hint passive, showing that this fight has multiple phases. We'll get into its effects later.





Stay calm, everyone.

Oh… um, it's very nice to meet you! We… have to beat you up if we want books, right? H… here goes!



What's happening..?

Its emotions seem to be resonating with the Library.

Music: From a Place of Love


Certain enemies have the ability to change the floor they're fighting on to their own territory. Any time we see something like this happen, it's an indication that this is a tough enemy. .

Oh..! I brought the town here with me!

HAHAHAHA! Fantastic!

What the hell?! This is like some kind of Abnormality!

Just stay focused… things just got troublesome.

Now, regular logic may dictate that we should focus Tomerry down first, before it can get a lot of damage onto our Librarians. The Townspeople are very much against that, however.





All three of them seem to spam their Pommelin' page whenever they're able to do so. If we don't clash them, that +10 power will wreck our team in a hurry.



I'll see how powerful it is… Keep an eye out.



Okay everybody… do your best to fold 'em up! Then, mommy gives us prizes!

Outside of the one clash each, I've focused everything else on Tomerry, in hopes of piling on damage on our Full-Stop turn.



Uggh, I barely managed to scratch this thing.



HAHAHA, it's because you aren't smiling! Smile, smile!

We are on a fucked up meat train, you idiot! How am I supposed to smile?!

With your face muscles!



I managed to hurt this one something fierce, too.

You're… bad bullys! I'll punish you!!



Boss!

…That… wasn't so bad, actually.



Let's see how you like it.



Don't like it at all! Gonna' fold you up!

Only if it's a smiley face!

Smiley… face? Um… I like squares and triangles!



Then it's no good!

Waaaah..!



That child wants to help us this time… Do you think he'll smile?

I'll take the power.

Why do you have to do it?

Because honestly, we probably can't kill this thing. Mr.Black's going to bleed out before it dies, and the two of us can't take on all four of these things.

An unexpectedly rational decision. I thought you would seek to avoid death.

Hell, who wouldn't try to avoid death? I'm just trusting my gut for once, when it tells me this is the right call.



…Hey, Netzach. Can you do me a favor?

What is it?

Weaken that potato-looking guy just a little bit more, but leave the townspeople alone beyond that.

That's suicide.

Can't you just trust my gut a little, guy?

Fine. You heard him, team.




Then that means it's time for a little payback.



My overall plan at this point is to put the HP of each Townsperson into the low 40s, and then focus down Tomerry as much as possible. This floor simply doesn't have the sustain or the power necessary to take on the boss by itself, so I'm going to use it to set up my next floor for a victory.



Didn't mommy ever tell you bullying was bad..?!

That doesn't count in a deathmatch!

It doesn't..?



The actual rules are that you're supposed to let us attack you one-sidedly. Then, you do the same.

Wait… I know what this is! You're bad people!



You shouldn't tell lies!

Ah, it was worth the shot.



I've got this one set up, boss.

Good. The others?



HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

They both went for Mr.Black. Not sure how much longer he'll be able to keep this up.



I've got one good attack left in me! Nothing to worry about!

Right. In that case…



Let's make it count, I guess.

Since our goal here is to pour as much damage on Tomerry as possible at this point, clashes don't really matter much anymore. Ideally we want to redirect them to as low a speed die as possible, to keep it from getting any defensive dice until our side's attacked.



HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

This one isn't like the blood lumps at home! It's shaped like mommy or daddy, but it's so ferocious!



That's because he doesn't want to die, obviously!

Die..? I don't know what that is…



It's nothingness. Not existing anymore. Something all people run from.



Oh! I… I know what this is! You're making things up again! When I fold things up, they always come back later for more! You… you can't fool me, you bully!



This thing clearly doesn't understand.

Can you really blame it, though..? Nearly 2000 years without the ability to die, it has to do things to your mind.

Speaking of not understanding..!



This seems to be the end of the road for me..!

That's got to be the most strained smile I've ever seen.

True… it's not easy..! But to the very end..!



Welp… he died.

…



You okay, boss?

Just expressing my frustrations. You?

I knew it was a suicide mission going in. This was the only way it could end.

He died taking a massive chunk out of that thing in front of us. We'll have to make use of it.

Our attack brings Tomerry below 50% HP, which triggers Dernier Armor.



Something… empty. Something's empty. Something's wrong? What's wrong?! What happened?!



Well… would you look at that. They killed one of ours, but it turns out we got one of them, too.

Killed..? Got..? This is… death?

You got it.

I… I… kill you all!!!

Uh… Angela, you got any information?

Yes. It seems angry.

…Great.

Below 50% HP, Tomerry's pattern changes. For starters, it gains 1 Strength and 2 Endurance every turn, boosting its die rolls accordingly. Its attacks also change.



Every turn it uses one Whip of Love, a page that hits us with a massive Slash die. It's exactly as dangerous as it looks.



While it's over 25% HP, it also gains one Wrath of Torment every turn as well—this page hits incredibly hard, at the cost of 7 HP. Right now, our goal is to hold out as long as possible to let her get off as many of these as we can afford. Luckily for us, Jikan's page is beefy and Mr.Blond and Netzach still have much of their remaining HP.



Unfortunately, we're pretty much completely out of pages to play at this point, and Light to play it with. Netzach's floor is all but tapped out.



Mr.Blond manages to score a lucky blow on Tomerry even through Wrath of Torment.



Whip of Love Staggers Netzach, though. It's a hit that looks every bit as big as it is.



Mr.Blond makes one more valiant attempt to hurt Tomerry as much as possible…



Before he, too, is Staggered. The Floor of Art is out of gas.



…We've done… about all we could… Sorry it wasn't much.

You performed your job to a satisfactory level, Netzach. You can rest peacefully.

Not… quite yet. There's still one more thing to do.

Oh?



That kid… really doesn't like it when his friends die.

Oh f—

Ahhgh!!

Netzach's defeat triggers Teardrop, which takes Mr.Blond out of the fight and deals a hefty chunk of damage to the enemy team.



We lost, but Tomerry is on its last legs.

…Roland, I believe you said you had a plan?

Ah, yes ma'am.

Then handle it.

Music: GuestBattle01


Since none of the Townspeople died, they don't revive with 50% of their HP. This means we should have an easy cleanup.



Roland is running an Olga deck with the Hanafuda passives to give him Light and extra draw when he discards his hand. Between that, Best Choice to keep his HP up, and Flaming Bat for random burns, he could probably take care of the fight by himself. That's good, because…




Zaida and Steve are both using decks designed around drawing through themselves so that they'll have an Observe and a Wait Up! In hand on turn 4. My original plan was to use them on the Squares turn, then go for the kill immediately to skip this entire phase. Unfortunately, I underestimated how much damage Netzach's crew would do and now I'm taking decks timed for turn 4 into a fight that goes hard from turn 1. , I guess.

What are you even using?

It's a combat oboe. Didn't you see it before?

A combat oboe…

It's a perfectly normal weapon!

…Whatever. So, we need to stop that horrible thing, right?

That's the size of it.

SSDD. Let's do the work and go home.





Here it comes…

Don't barf.

Music: From a Place of Love


Still so empty… euh..?? More… bad people!

Now that Tomerry is below 25% HP, it'll start using its final page instead of Wrath of Torment.




Faint Memories gives Tomerry a solid evade die alongside a pair of powerful attacks. Due to the 2 Endurance from Dernier Armor's effect, that first die is a 6-12 Evade, a high bar to get over even for our best pages.






This is going to get ugly, you guys. Just do what you can.

This isn't our first time fighting this kind of monster, you know.

…Yeah. Guess that's pretty obvious.

While my plan here was to finish off the Townspeople on turn 1…







The luck just doesn't pan out.



BLAGH!

Meanwhile, Steve takes a Whip of Love to the face.



…Dude.

Zaida, meanwhile, eats the Faint Memories.



We've weathered the worst of it. Now's our chance.



Proactive today, aren't you?

Just don't want to die.

Then just leave it to me.

Hey… guys?



Little… help?

Of course it's not that easy.



Steve's still alive for this turn, so I grab Pulsation to make up for the Strength loss Zaida's about to have from him dying. We need to deal damage to keep Zaida and Roland from dying, but if we don't keep the pressure up we're dead anyways so that doesn't matter..



Why… am I so alone?! I'm missing from myself..!

Hey, hey… stop talking like that, or I'll feel even worse about all this.



I decide I need Tomerry dead right now. Its 4 die is going right for Steve with another Whip of Love, and the 1 is a Faint Memories also at him. He's basically going to die, so I focus on having Zaida steal the Sharp Pommelin' off of Roland, and focus everything else on Tomerry directly. Roland can tank the other two hits from the Townspeople.



Still… up..!

Against all odds, Steve isn't immediately annihilated by Whip of Love.



You've caused a lot of trouble for us today. Running around, breaking this and that… but it ends here.

I'm so lonely… it's empty! It's empty! I'm empty inside!!

Yeah… I know. You're a pitiable creature now. But ultimately, that's that…



And this is this.



Good one, boss!

Don't… congratulate me just now.



Uh… ma'am?

You've removed the source of the disturbance in the Library. It seems that in doing so, you've normalized things.

Music: KeterBattle01


I guess we'll just have to clean up now, then.

With Tomerry gone, the Library returns to normal, and the music with it. We're officially in cleanup mode. Also, Steve's still alive! This is because Pulsation cannot reduce his HP below 1, meaning if he gets hit at all he's out of here.



Hey, Steve. I'll take care of your share, so just make sure to hit them while they're distracted.

Thanks, man!



I've gotta say though, Zaida…



The other fights were life-and-death too, weren't they? I'm serious, I've never seen you so motivated.



That's because a healthy work-life balance means knowing when to give it your all.





Steve, you took three hits I really didn't want anyone else eating and you didn't die. I can't ask for anything more from you.



Tomerry isn't actually all that difficult, so long as we have the resources the game expects of us—with 4-person floors and the pages from the other receptions at this point, it's actually much easier than it appears. Fighting it early, though…

It's clearly possible, but really just don't.

Music: Result


Some good that combat oboe did you, huh?

Just you wait. Next time, I'll show you what it can really do.



VIDEO
Music: Lobby


Well… Anything can happen. Does that console you somehow?

Not at all. I’m different. I won’t go through the same ordeal ever again. I retained myself unlike those people. I persevered, I didn’t let time consume my sanity. I didn’t break down… I…

Alright, let’s just calm down and take a deep breath. When the memories of hard times burst forth, you gotta embrace ‘em to the core…



And at last, our ordeal is over. While Tomerry's book might sound promising, in practice it's not really all that great for us. This is because it's a bit special.



Each book of Tomerry we burn will give us the same 6 pages: three copies each of Wrath of Torment and Faint Memories. That's it.

Regardless, we've finished out one of our branches for now. That means it's time to pick where to go again, and we've got one less option to worry about now!

Next time, on Library of Ruina



"But nothing could compare to the music it makes when it eats a human."

Wanna hear more about the Pianist?

Help me help you. There's drawtech here. Seriously.

Me? A weaver I am, making fine silk.


Videos

Love Town 2
vs Love Town (Unedited combat footage; may cause distortions. Watch at own risk.)


New Combat Pages

[vulpixall]

I'll be honest here, I ran into this one, didn't realize it would take so long, and ended up frantically speedrunning it with one of my few 4-person teams (Yesod. it's always Yesod) trying to get it done so I could go get some sleep. I missed literally every single one of the little details you pointed out here, as well as the fact that it spews out giblets when it hits 50% hp and has a GIANT HAND extending out of its back when it hits a certain amount of HP...
I won first try, though! And then I never played it again. The cards are really good for a page that we haven't seen yet but that is entirely broken for no good reason. Unfortunately I did not figure this out nearly quickly enough, but the page is still broken even without figuring that out so it's fine.

[ApostleOfBlueStar]

This fight was hell for me when i first played it, maybe it was because up until that point i ran in without any plans.

[TeeQueue]

Appendix 13: Love Town

Both Tomerry and Love Town's residents have a number of things that they can say, and because there aren't any Key Pages to link the text of, I'll be using this space to cover that instead.

Tomerry (Phase 1)

She said she’ll give me a prize if I bring her books. I can’t wait!

This looks larger than our town… And I’m seeing lots of tiny people like mommy…

A good kid does whatever they’re told to without complaining!

Mommy will be happy if I bring a bunch of books with me, right?

I think daddy’s gonna praise me as well this time!

…I feel empty. It’s like part of me disappeared. I’m sad… I feel like crying……

They look even stronger than the bad guys who bully our town…

My friends… They’re in so much pain… What do I do…?

Ah… M—Mommy might punish me…

We’re here to bring peace with our townspeople!

If mommy sees me working hard… She’ll praise me, right? Hooray…

Do you like playing together? Me too, it’s so fun and joyful!

Tomerry (Phase 2)

I’m so lonely, it’s unbearable to be alone… Where did I go?

…Where are you. I’m so scared… Come back to my side. Tommy… Tommy…

………

If you don’t understand the power of love… This will help you get it.

This is punishment for harrassing me.

…For my dear mom.

Love Townspeople

Wihl hit you and… hiih… yew agaih…

Ledts… fold dem up… into a staar…

Baad… guies need… hahsh punishent…

Fohr… eveyone… I’ll cher up…

I don’t like gedding huhrt…

L’ll bee a big helf… to evhryone…

Momi tol us… notto oerdo ourseves…

Love is… a guud thiing…

Is okay… Our lov… ’an beet evhryting…

Weer gona goge ‘rizes…

Wat kind o…f ‘rizes wil she givus thi time… Iwana bee biiig lik Tomerry…

Wee don… loose to anneon…

Thiisi hte pow…er o’ lov…

Don ‘derstimae hte powpow of stron luv…

I don… wamma die…

I wamaa be wih the townspeop…le I love…

The…y got… mii…

Im scared… S…ave me…

Am s…orr…y… I won’t do i…t again…

I mighh be leff alone…

No wana be bulli…

Itdee grape if yu coul’derstan luv wihh us…

Please do…n’t bulli our towwspeople… Pwease…

M… Maybe we shuud run…?

W…e’ll beet dem back…

Eet’s okay… Tha…e’s not t…oo mamy…

I tuk… down that babdie…

We ca…hn make iih…

I stee…il can figh morr…

The potatoes are adorable.

[TeeQueue]

The thread amazingly managed to hit a consensus. Looks like we're heading back to Yesod's floor to fight a musical wood chipper!

[Gespenst]

I'm going to argue that doing Love Town early is in fact extremely strong because Wrath of Torment has chunky enough values that it'll absolutely dominate clashes for most of the rest of the game. taking seven damage is a puny cost compared to the damage you'd take from losing clashes, which you wont because Wrath just kicks a frankly unreasonable amount of ass. Faint Memories is Good. even without the >25% health condition it's a solid 2-cost. throwing a couple into a deck is a solid investment with the bonus of being disgustingly good for simply deciding not to die. sure there's no key page, but a few decks loaded with the Love Town pages are set to dominate for a long time.

[TeeQueue]

I'll admit, Wrath of Torment has been far more useful to me so far than I thought it would be.

But then, if the thread gives me toys I'm gonna use the toys. That's how it works.

[Gespenst]

Honestly it's entirely fair to use whatever tools are available, you got thrown into what is in my opinion the second hardest fight in Urban Plague (you probably know what I think is the hardest fight if it's not Tommerry) with only three librarians available. I'm somewhat surprised you didn't go with a Full-Stop firing squad for your second floor, I feel like having a third floor set up in case of the scenario that happened would be prudent, but that's extremely with the benefit of hindsight~