Free Web NovelChapter 52: Non-Player Characters
Maia wasn’t with Misho as she went to pick flowers in a secluded part of the forest around them. [AN: Otherwise known as peeing, but women don’t pee, right?]
"Where would we sleep?" Misho asked MadPolygon.
The man was resting on the grass as he observed the starry sky. It looked beautiful. There were thousands and thousands of uncountable stars up there.
"Get your sleeping bags from the merchant. He will provide it for free," he replied.
He didn’t even look towards Misho. He was entirely focused on stargazing.
Misho couldn’t help but take a look at the stars. It was mesmerizing.
"Could this really be a game?" Misho whispered to himself.
He always had doubts, but he doubted them more this time. From how these players acted between the NPCs, it seemed like they believed they were also real people.
"It is," MadPolygon answered.
"You heard me?"
"Everyone had the same question. Just stop thinking about it. Whether they are real or not, what matters is that you act appropriately. You will find that it doesn’t matter as long as you do that."
Misho was surprised to hear MadPolygon’s opinion. It seemed like he had thought hard about this question.
"Don’t you want them to live real lives like us?" Misho asked.
It was the question of the century. Was it right to keep conscious people inside a game and make them do a set course of actions? Misho didn’t feel like that was right.
"For them, their real lives are in this world. You don’t have to force your perception of freedom onto them."
"I understand. I won’t think about it anymore. Indeed, what matters is that I act appropriately. They might not be from our world, but they still feel like real people," Misho replied.
MadPolygon’s words made him think. The question of consciousness and self-awareness. As to what extent did the technology of Veras Corp reach? It was a scary question to ask and think about.
Many virtual reality games had tried implementing realistic NPCs before, but Veras Corp topped them all. The world of Aphrodos truly felt like the real world.
He believed he wouldn’t be able to tell this world from reality if there weren’t the name tags on top of the NPC’s and the Player’s heads.
"I major in Philosophy. It genuinely boggles my mind how this world works. So many questions, but no one can answer," MadPolygon said as he shook his head.
"Thanks."
Misho left him there. He was glad for the words he said. It gave him a direction as to what to think about this world.
He approached the merchant. He was chatting with some NPCs around the campfire.
"Merchant, where do I get the sleeping bags? I need three," Misho asked.
After asking, Misho’s eyes couldn’t help but land on the [NPC] floating above their heads.
"There are many inside the 4th carriage. Be careful, okay? There are a lot of goods there," the merchant replied.
"Thanks."
"Hey. Tell us more about that kid..." an NPC asked the merchant.
Misho turned around and left them there. He subtly glanced back and saw them acting like real people. If he didn’t know they were NPCs, he wouldn’t be able to tell.
"NPCs... NPCs... Non-Player Character. I see. They aren’t players, but they are still real people."
Misho came to his own conclusion. It made him realize he was shallow by putting these NPCs in the same category as the other NPCs from other games.
Misho grabbed three sleeping bags and returned to the campfire.
"Ohhh! Sleeping bags!" Maia exclaimed in surprise after she saw him come. She had already finished picking flowers.
"This is yours. It’s free from the merchant," Misho said and passed one over to Vivien.
"Thank you."
Vivien thanked him. He was overwhelmed by the kindness Misho was showing. He not only loaned him money, but he also grabbed his sleeping bag for him. He told himself to earn a lot of money and repay them early. It was the only thing he could do to show his appreciation.
"This is yours."
Misho also gave one to Maia.
"Interesting. It’s unexpectedly soft. It’s still rough, but I can sleep in this," Maia said as she squeezed the sleeping bag.
"We didn’t pay for nothing," Misho replied.
He was also very satisfied with this sleeping bag. It wasn’t comparable to a bed, but it was better than sleeping on the hard ground or the carriage floor.
"Yep. This is money well spent if we could keep this."
Maia laid down her sleeping bag on the ground. Misho followed suit and placed his beside hers.
The two of them entered their sleeping bags and got ready to log out.
"Hey. How was the ride so far?"
Misho suddenly heard a voice talk to them. He looked over and saw the merchant walking towards them. The other NPCs had started laying down their own sleeping bags in the background. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"It was rough, but it wasn’t that bad," Misho answered.
"If the four tries to make it hard for you three, just tell me. They are kind of hot-tempered from the previous event," the merchant said.
"What happened?" Maia asked. freewebnoveℓ.com
"An Incubus joined us and pretended to be weak. He befriended them and then attempted to steal my money. You know, it was a crazy fight. Thankfully, the duo was quite decisive. They were still sad about killing him," the merchant calmly explained.
"He died?" Maia asked in surprise.
"He deserved it. Bandits risk their lives the moment they decide to steal. They were ready for it."
Maia was surprised at the nonchalant face of the merchant. It seemed like he had already seen many deaths. It wasn’t like in their world, where everyone would be horrified by death.
"A social engineering attack, huh. I can’t say I’m surprised," Misho muttered with a wry smile on his face.
The bandit indeed knew his stuff. He even knew how to social engineer. It was a disgusting way to have your way with people by pretending to be their friends.
"It’s unusual. Usually, bandits would team up and attack my caravan. It was never a single person before," the merchant muttered with visible confusion on his face.
