Reality Bytes

Zarc's First Day

Yuri was very excited now that the boys were about to actually play the game instead of just making their Zarc-Folk and building his house. Now it was time for some actual gameplay.

"Let's see if Zarc likes his new house!" he said, hitting the play button. Zarc stood in the street for a moment, before turning and walking into the house. The boys immediately leaned in towards the computer screen, making sounds of anticipation. Then, the little Folk sighed and babbled as a happy moodlet buff appeared in the Active Folk corner.

"He likes the house!" Yugo cheered. Yuto beamed in delight, "I feel so proud!" Zarc babbled again as he looked around.

"Did you know that the Reality Bytes team actually made a proper language for the Folks?" Yuya said. His counterparts all looked at him in surprise, and Yuri asked, "What, that's not English?"

"Nope!" Yuya replied. "It's a completely made up language, called Folksy. They even published a little dictionary so players could look up what their Folks were saying."

"No way," Yuto replied. "Yuya, you're totally trolling!"

"Nope! I even have it! It's only accurate for Reality Bytes VII and later, since VII was when they started refining the language and using specific words and phrases for specific scenarios, but yeah, the stuff that the Folk say actually means things!" Yuya said.

"You actually have a dictionary to translate what Zarc says?" Yuri asked, raising an eyebrow. To which Yuya responded by opening a drawer, pulling out a book, and showing it off to his counterparts and the camera.

"Oh my god, you actually have one!" Yugo exclaimed. "Quick, what did Zarc say?!"

"He said 'This looks nice!'" Yuya replied, not even bothering to consult the book. Yuto blinked. "You didn't even check." To which Yuya blushed brightly and looked a little embarrassed as he responded. "I... may have been a bit of an obsessive nerd when I first got my Folksy Dictionary, and read it so much that I kinda memorized everything in it..."

Yuri grinned, "Good to know we have our own personal translator for what Zarc says!"

Zarc said something else, and Yuya's counterparts looked at Yuya expectantly. The tomato said, "He said he's happy."

"Good, cuz we worked hard on that house!" Yugo said, nodding sagely. Yuto chuckled. "Well, why don't we get him a job so he can earn some money. We only have 6 ByteCoin right now. What kind of job can he have?"

"We need to make him an actor," Yuri replied. "That's what he wants, right? To be an A-List Actor?"

"Yeah, but I think Acting is more something he has to be scouted for before he can make it big," Yuya said. "In the previous games it's more of a side hustle rather than a proper career that Folks can work full-time, at least until they actually land enough decent roles. You have to audition for roles in things, and unless you have a really high acting skill level, you're gonna be rejected for most of the good roles until you improve your skill. Once you improve your skill and start landing roles more consistently, a scouting agent may notice you and then you have a chance at making it big. But until you do, it's best to have a day job or some other career that schedules you consistently and gives you a regular paycheck."

"Ah," Yuri nodded. "Makes sense. So how do we get Zarc a job?"

"I think we can find jobs on the phone," Yuya said. "One of the things that's new in this game is job openings and interviews and having to actually apply to jobs. In all of the previous games, all of the jobs were available at all times and you would get the job guaranteed without having to apply or do an interview. I think the developers of XII said it's actually possible to not get a job in the game if you don't have the qualifications when you do the interview."