Rose glared at the window as if it would disappear if she glared at it enough, yet how unfortunate that it remained. A certain NPC's duel invitation remained, reminding Rose that even non-playable characters could challenge one another.

'What consequences could likely befall on me if I refused?' Thinking too much, Rose didn't readily accept the challenge because if she could afford to refuse, she would.

Little Toto's cold voice then replied, [Rose, refusal would not penalize you. However, accepting and losing would be permanently marked on your Status.]

It was indeed convenient to have an Artificial Intelligence read one's mind, but this was not a comfort to Rose. She preferred her solidarity, which included her privacy and her thought processes. Briefly thinking, she reminded herself of what Little Toto just said.

'Status?'

Just as soon as she thought this, a〘 Status 〙 screen popped up over the duel invitation window. Rose's details were then reflected in her eyes with its glaring bright screen. Her mouth shaped like an 'o' at the sight, slowly hovering her fingers on the hologram-like screen.

⁂ AP - Attack Power; in proportion with Strength and Accuracy. Increases in accordance with physical figure, buffs and » Life Status «.

⁂ DP - Defence Power; in proportion with Vitality, Endurance and Evasion. Increases in accordance with physical figure, buffs and » Life Status «.

⁂ %_% - Error/NA; System does not recognize.

So many questions popped up in Rose's head, but the first thing she did was decline Jerico's duel. She knew this NPC from her fragmented memories and research. He was Jerico Walsh, the second young master of Denzen Company, famous for their production of special materials used for making high-end technology. Their prestige and wealth were not inferior to most prestigious students enrolled in this Academy. What made him stand out recently was his persistence around 'Rosetta' Kliron who eventually rejected him quite harshly in public. This made 'Rosetta's' ostracization worse.

Ignoring everything else, she calmly interrogated Little Toto mentally:

'So many errors... Do you know anything about this, Little Toto?'

[Rose, 〘 System 〙data is restricted to the ADMINISTRATOR. This one cannot access further details due to inadequate authority. Definition of Error entails that you are classified as a Syntax Error for affecting more than one fundamental database.]

Rose was in deep thought, pinching her chin with her fingers as a frown graced her forehead.

'What happens to a datum that's inconsistent with the database?'

[Debug or Elimination, Rose. You cannot gain anymore achievements if you wish to remain undetected by the AUTHORITIES.]

'Sooner or later I will still be found...' She quipped, frustration bubbling in her chest.

[Correct, how clever of my wif--]

'Then what was the point of you saying all that?!' Her headache was getting worse, even when talking to Little Toto who supposedly knew most things. She massaged her forehead a little while slowly standing up. Yet, just as soon as she picked herself up off the ground, she was pushed back once again. This time, however, she fell on someone's arms.

Then a bright white text flashed above her head:

〖 The hidden NPC? 〗

『 That's right, the No-Name NPC! Is she being bullied this time? Ah~ Life is hard for NPCs too huh. Or is this part of a »Chain Hidden Quest«?! 』

〖 You think? 〗

『 Maybe? But if we kill this many NPC, our Karma will go down so much... 』

Although Rose was not being held by the high level Online Player, who coincidentally saved her last time, she was surprised to learn that she could touch his character. He felt like any other NPC, but with a neutral face and silky white hair. He was wearing white rimmed eyeglasses and sophisticated clothes unlike what most NPCs were wearing in this compound. The low level Online Player looked less like a novice now, having discarded his newbie clothes and now wearing an elite uniform of *Lindlum Republic that was adorned with a few accessories. He was also wearing a tattered cape, bandages on his arms and an eye-patch, making him look like a little *chuuni.

⁂ Chuuni/Chuunibyou: Middle School 2nd Year Syndrome; A know-it-all adult and look down on real ones, or believe they have special powers unlike others.

⁂ Lindlum is the city where the academy is situated, while Lindlum Republic is the name of the government in this jurisdiction.

〖 How about this, we'll just drag her for now. Maybe we can have her in our party like other NPC quests.... Though those usually happen automatically... 〗

『 Just drag her, don't think too much again. How do you not lose so much brain cells from overthinking so much? 』

〖 ...Because unlike you, I enjoy the thrill of learning every mystery in »Modern Fantasy«. 〗

『 Lol. I actually do! 』

〖 Sure. 〗

『 Urrrg. Whatever! 』

〖 Oh, party accepted... Strange... 〗

When Rose saw the »Party Invitation«, she curiously tapped »Accept«. After all, she learnt from their talk that it was normal for certain NPCs to be part of a party. Although unbeknownst to her, it wasn't normal for NPCs to accept any sort of invitations from Online Players. In fact, Online Players could only interact with NPCs one way, and that was only to bring up the interface for whatever the NPC offers. Such as vendor type NPCs were predetermined to give Online Players options to buy/sell/trade their items, or research type NPCs that could combine materials for Online Players, even repair/enhance gadgets.

〖 Is this a peculiarity with special NPCs? 〗

『 Don't you think she looks familiar though? Lolis are the cuuutest!! ❤️』

〖 Sometimes I ask myself why I'm friends with a criminal like you. Though you are right, she does look familiar. We couldn't see properly the last time because it was dim and even in the laboratory, she was acting strange... 〗

『 I'll check the forum to make sure. 』

〖 You do that, I'll save her for now. 〗

After a moment, Rose saw a glaring red text above the high level Online Player's head:

【 Teleport 】

Rose's eyes caught the flash from a sphere on the Online Player's right hand. His right hand was adorned with an intricately designed glove that was equipped with several spheres or jewels. She understood that each of those jewels had a spell installed in them, and when a spell was used from a specific jewel, the said jewel would light up. And each spell shined with a different hue. »Teleport« was blue, but 'Why?'

While Rose's vision turned blurry for a few seconds, she heard Little Toto dutifully answer her passing thought:

[Rose, Master designed the gadget as simple as possible, and to make this work, the jewels must correspond to elementary elements. There are four elementary elements, which makes for four colors to exist: Red for Fire, Blue for Water, Green for Wind and Yellow for Earth. The jewel changes its color once a spell is successfully installed. Normal gadgets can only accept jewels. While jewels can only accept chips, which contains the spell.]

'Then... you are an exception..'

[Correct, Rose. The pendant of your choker is the jewel that is I. As Master's latest invention, This one is capable of accepting several chips at once.]

Rose was in awe, but her bewilderment only lasted for a short while as dizziness hit her squarely on the head. When her feet landed on the ground, she lost her balance due to the aftereffect of her first teleportation experience. Furthermore, due to lack of sleep, her headache was now even worse. She badly wanted to puke.

And so she did, coincidentally towards the Online Player.

〔??? attacked White Mist, 0 Damage. 〕

〔White Mist's passive »Reflect« activates. ??? receives »Nauseous« »Dirty« »Poison« 〕

〔??? receives 5 Damage from »Poison« 〕

Rose was speechless, and so was White Mist, the Online Player.

⁂ Reflect is a spell that has a 25% chance of throwing back [offence] to the instigator. [Offence] is usually another spell, rarely/never a physical attack.

⁂ Poison is a DoT (Damage Over Time) debuff that slowly decreases the target's health (HP).

⁂ Dirty is a DoT debuff that decreases evasion by 3%.

⁂ Nauseous is a DoT debuff that slows down movement due to dizziness. Movement speed decreases by 10%, unable to interact with functional items for the duration of debuff.

[Installation of spell is unsuccessful. Rose, please try again.]

'Don't tell me that!!' Rose exasperatedly thought, inwardly beating herself up.

〔??? receives 5 Damage from »Poison« 〕

。。。

Footnotes:

⁂ Buff is usually used in gaming context wherein enhancement to a character's status is applied. An example of this is [Increase] in strength/agility/defense, which makes the character even more stronger/faster/durable, respectively. Buffs can either be temporary or permanent.

⁂ Debuff or nerf is the complete opposite of Buff. Once a character is debuffed, certain penalties are applied. An example of this is when a character is affected with [Curse], the character would then slow down its movements, reduce his area of sight and cannot recover health for the duration of the curse. Debuffs can either be temporary or permanent.