Chapter 8

~ Agriella’s First Flag ~

SW/SW/SW

What was an NPC?

Were they actually alive? Were they nothing but codes? If that was true, then were Agriella’s smiles a fake? Was her genuine worry of his wellbeing programmed?

Ace threw his fist to a wall nearby. It angered him so that it didn’t hurt. He wouldn’t feel satisfied otherwise.

[You take 3 damages!]

“M-Master! What are you doing? You are hurting yourself!”

See? How could that possibly be programmed? Her emotions were real!

He took deep breathings. Let’s not jump to conclusion. Those three adventurers earlier... what did they say about him...?

Look at that guy talking to an NPC.

Ace put a hand on his chin, frowning. Wouldn’t it mean that they couldn’t? This was certainly odd. He could understand her and even talking to her. If the NPCs were created to behave as humans would, surely the news would be all over the internet.

And surely everybody would be talking to NPCs by now.

This must be a bug.

Before he reported it to the developer, he needed to check few things first, namely confirming his suspicion.

“Hey, Agriella,” he called her name and she gave him that sweet smile again.

“How do level up system works?” If she was programmed to respond to the player’s question, she wouldn’t be able to answer since the level up system wasn’t even there in her database. Plus, Agriella wouldn’t know a thing about it since she was programmed just to attack.

She put a hand on the edge of her lip, eyes looking at random places, “Let’s see... to level up, you just need to defeat monsters and get EXP. If bloodshed is not to your liking, you can try earning EXP through more peaceful ways, such as gardening, cooking, and others.”

She continued, “To see how much EXP you need to level up, open your status screen just like you opened mine a while ago. Once you leveled up, you will be given four points, which you can spend to raise your attributes. I’m a Warrior, so I spent mine on Strength, Vitality, and Dexterity.”

Ace couldn’t believe what he just heard. She responded and she knew about that sort of thing! Wasn’t she supposed to be a normal NPC without much dialogue options?!

He decided to press on, “Then how about this potential column? I see weird descriptions such as good, superb, and worst. Honestly, I don’t understand a thing about it.”

“Ah, that’s called attributes potential. It measures how fast you get a raise on a certain attribute. Raising attributes don’t rely heavily on leveling up, you know. If your potential is high enough, it will increase by one point. As your attributes increase, your potential will go down to the point where an increase in attributes is almost impossible. But you can use certain potions to elevate the potential.”

To be honest, this was one good bug. It would be a waste to report to the developer and had Agriella formatted. Having a bugged NPC like her was very, very useful. Whoever heard of a Summon Beast that could give some good advice?

Ace decided that he wouldn’t report it and pretended that Agriella was just another normal player.

Following the quest arrow, Ace approached the NPC trader in the market. Of course Agriella tailed behind him like a puppy would to its mother.

The trader thanked him and gave him his reward. It shocked him that he was given another Minor Healing Potion, which meant three as a reward for collecting herbs.

For such a long time, the trader praised him for being such a good boy and started giving him a sermon about her family member. It took him long enough to finally be free from the torture.

Ace tried so hard not to think about it, but it seemed weird. Why was he able to witness NPCs behaving like humans while the other players couldn’t?

Did his installation disc contain viruses? Dang, he couldn’t ask for a refund since he’d gotten the game for free. Well, whatever. He didn’t care. It was more fun this way.

“Master, I’m tired...” slowly Agriella whispered.

For a second, Ace nearly forgot that she was there. He apologized, “Sorry, I kind of spacing out. Let’s go to the inn, then. Are you hungry?”

She nodded, “I’m so hungry I could eat a house—no, on a second though—a castle.”

Honestly Ace didn’t expect her to say something like that. Summon Beasts were NPCs, so hunger and thirst wouldn’t apply to them.

...but It looked like Agriella was a special case. Anyway, his avatar was kind of hungry, too. Maybe it had something to do with running from the forest deity.

Ace fiddled with his map, “Let’s see… the nearest inn is…”

Oh, but wait. He needed to buy something first...

0000

“Here, wear this,” Ace gave her female commoner’s clothes he had bought in the market. Struggling with money, he couldn’t buy her anything spectacular. These clothes were the cheapest that he could afford. It was discounted, even!

“What for?” and here she asked the obvious.

Ace tried so hard not to blush, “Listen, Agriella. You’re a girl and I’m a boy.”

“And...?” crap, she made things even harder for him to explain.

He slapped his face. “The way you look like makes me uncomfortable.”

Especially those half-shown breasts.

She looked at her own body while twirling around, “But this is what we, lamias, look like. Am I not to your liking?”

Now he blushed. Very hard. She made it look like they were married and he was dissatisfied with her appearance. This was his first time seeing girls’ boobs through his own eyes, not from the television screen.

The real things were pleasing and smooth...

“J-Just wear these, will you? You’re my shield and sword; of course, I bought these clothes for you! I figured you’d need a boost in your defense!” Ace was proud that he was good at bluffing.

“Oh, I see! Thank you, Master,” she took the clothes happily and tried them on. They covered her upper body perfectly, but weren’t constricting.

That was better. Now that the breasts were out of the way, it was time to go down and order some food.

Ace stopped himself half-way.

What would the other players say if they ate together? He should be careful. Even if Agriella changed her appearance, others would immediately recognize her as an NPC.

“Hey, Agriella, can you guard this room? I’ll go down and buy us some food.”

She nodded obediently, “I live to obey my Master.”

Attempting to hide his embarrassment, Ace spun on his heels and went outside. She was so damn cute, but she had no idea what kind of damage that beauty could do to his insanity. Also, she was so eager and pure...

...that he didn’t want to make her fight monsters just for his sake.

The first floor of the inn was full of players. Most of them were newbie just like him, judging by their plain-looking equipment. The pros were hanging out in the corner, talking seriously about raid bosses and drop rates. Their weapons were glowing with potent enchantments, and their levels were way above him.

“Welcome!” said the inn owner’s daughter. “How can I help you?”

Then three dialogue boxes appeared in front of him.

Dine In

Buy Ingredients

Take Out

‘Buy Ingredients’? Oh, right. There was a skill named Cooking, wasn’t there?

Ace spent several minutes thinking. Eating ration earned him HP and MP regeneration buff for ten minutes, but what if he ate Agriella’s cooking? If her Cooking level was high enough, wouldn’t it mean that the food she prepared had better buffs?

He only had 305 Coins left, so he spent it wisely. He bought two dishes of roasted Peko thighs with herbs. Since Coins were hard to get in earlier level, he had to be careful not to overbuy. Ace chose ‘Buy Ingredients’ and bought eggs, potatoes, and carrots.

Looking at his inventory, Ace sighed. He had bought the ingredients too many and now he was broke.

Two dishes of roasted Peko thighs were 140 Coins, while the rest was 160 Coins. It left him with five Coins.

Five!

God, he should’ve limited his spending...

Well, whatever. There was no use crying over spilled milk.

After eating the meals, Ace dismissed Agriella. Their parting ended with a smile. Agriella was so happy to be of some use to him, while he was happy that she was there with him.

Looking at the new notification, Ace closed his eyes. It was past 11 p.m., but he didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to be away from this world.

He tilted his head to look up at the blue sky. His dark-colored eyes gazed at nothing.

He didn’t want to log off. He was afraid of the reality. He was afraid of being bullied. Why should he go to school? That place was hell and those bullies were its gatekeepers. Trapped and couldn’t get out, all he could do was to obey the gatekeepers’ whims.

He wanted to be saved, but no one came. No one noticed and no one cared. Was it so wrong for him to be saved? Was it wrong for him to wait for a savior?

Ace sighed heavily.

If only he could live in this world forever...

Spoiler: Status

AceKivras

EXP Chart*

Atk: 5

HP (55/150)

Level 1

431/586

Def: 3

MP(181/225)

Human

155 to lv. 2

M.Atk: 15

Eiredrahl the Impure*

Summoner

5 Coins

M. Def: 13

Independent

Minimum piety

ATTRIBUTES

POTENTIAL

Equipment

No perks or abilities*

STR

5

Worst

Head

Circlet

VIT

6

Bad

Neck

Amulet

DEX

7

Bad

Body

Robe

PER

8

Bad

Back

-

INT

16

Superb

Arm (main)

Staff

WIS

11

Best

Arm

-

WILL

11

Best

Waist

-

CHA

15

Superb

Legs

Pants

* (tap to see)

Feet

Shoes

(Help)

Skill

Description

Level

Healing

VIT

Lets you recover your HP over time

2.643

Staff

VIT

How proficient you are swinging your staff

2.098

Running

VIT

Affects your running speed

2.641

Light Armor

DEX

How effectively you act while wearing Light Armor

6.401

Evasion

DEX

Helps you to evade attacks easily

7.955

Casting

INT

This skill helps you power up your spells

5.401

Meditation

INT

Gradually recovers your MP

5.667

Herbology

INT

Lets you identify any herb to its fullest potential

4.445

Control Magic

WIS

Prevents your ally to get hit by your spells

2.431

Memorization

WIS

This skill slows down the decay of your unused skills

3.503

Literacy

WIS

Allows you to read more difficult spellbooks

6.175

Control Beast

CHA

Lets you control higher-level Summon Beasts

6.573