Being relatively new to The Matrix Online, I thought it would be interesting to document my adventures and exploration of Mega City. These blog entries chronicle my adventures…
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For this week's adventure, I headed into the Achan Neighborhood which is just east of Mara. Achan is one of the smaller neighborhoods on my map and the first thing I noticed about it was the older style buildings. The second thing I noticed however, was the over abundance of strip clubs, adult bookstores, dive hole bars, and seedy hotels. I fully expected to be propositioned at any moment – either that or jumped from behind. This area was so shady, that there was even a weird fight club place where people showed up just to beat each other senseless! It was interesting, but I decided that my face was too pretty to hit and that any blood stains on my newest duds would be unacceptable…so I got out of their fast. Achan's only collector is a guy named Horace and from his jacket (I really hate that jacket now) I could tell he was part of the Blackwood gang. Mr. Horace was trying to patch things up between the Blackwoods and the all girl gang called The Bells…and he wants my help. It appears that they all used to be one big family until they had a falling out of some sorts and The Bells split off. I'm not surprised…after hearing how Horace wants me "to help fix things up between the two gangs." He wants me to thin their numbers so they are easier to manipulate. At first, I wasn't interested in his little family dispute, but then I realized that they were girls. I like girls…especially if they're pretty. They're called Belles, after all. I'm a nice eligible guy. How bad could they be? Besides, Horace said he'd throw in a nice pair of new shoes. SOLD!
Well, I didn't have to go very far to find out the answer to that question. How bad could they be? Pretty darn bad! The Belles were as common to Achan as the other businesses of questionable nature around the neighborhood. I thought they'd be easy to handle, but they totally shocked me! These girls cheat - they kick below the belt! Things definitely weren't going the way I'd hoped and it was obvious that I wasn't going to get a date out of this encounter…so I decided to get down to business. I started releasing my inner rage and collecting their gang tokens, which just happened to be bells. Someone in The Matrix definitely has a sense of humor! Horace only wanted 6 bells for the shoes, so the minute I got that many, I high-tailed it out of there.
I got back to Horace and gave him what he wanted in exchange for the shoes. He assured me that the Bells and Blackwoods would soon be together again. "Sure," I thought "When pigs sprout wings and fly." Then again, this is The Matrix and anything is possible. As I started walking away from him, all I could think about was my fancy new footwear. They were much better then my previous boots – they offered more protection and were comfortable too! I decided that it was my duty to stroll around and show them off!
While I was doing exactly that, I ran into a player who told me about a Martial Arts tournament going on in Camon near the central hardline. It would take me a few minutes to get there but I decided to go watch because it sounded like fun. It turns out that I was right and it was quite entertaining! I was really impressed with everyone's skills and equally impressed by the organization of the event. Fight Night Tour Season III is a Martial Arts League run by a player named TheHidden and it's really cool watching all of the contestants compete. It was a nice to see other people doing the fighting for once!
So as I wrapped up my fourth adventure, I started thinking about what I learned this time around. First and foremost, Achan isn't a wholesome vacation destination. Next…you should always avoid gangs with names that start with the letter "B." Finally, the best way to break in a pair of new shoes is to take a walk and find a Martial Arts tournament to watch. Thanks for the fun, TheHidden!
Until next time,
-Virrago
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