When Scott finally finds the sword, it's already nighttime.

Having borrowed a waterproof flashlight from Harrington to help him navigate through the darkness, he spots the so-called X-Blade lying about thirty meters down, perched on numerous small rocks. With three minutes left on his timer, Scott grabs the hilts of the two swords and proceeds to swim upwards with all his might despite the heaviness of the water pulling him down.

When he resurfaces from the lake, he throws the two swords on the grassy ground and pulls himself up.

Harrington is there before him, holding a dry towel.

"You may not feel pain, but you can feel disturbances, like feeling cold," he tells Scott, handing him the material. "You exhausted?"

Scott gladly accepts the towel, drying his hair first. "Thanks. I am, but only my physical body. My mind's still as clear as ever. It's like..." Scott pauses thoughtfully. "...playing a video game."

Harrington nods. "You're correct, Scott. The pain you can't feel is mostly from battles. However, you can still feel the impact from every blow you receive. You can feel the heaviness when you fall to the ground and the exhaustion when you climb up mountains. You can feel the cold, you can feel the blistering heat... everything. You'll feel uncomfortable, but you'll never feel physical pain here, just like you'd never get frostbite and hypothermia. However, the cold will discomfort the hell out of you if you don't cover up immediately."

Scott stares at him for a moment as if registering the important explanation in his mind. "I see," he drawls.

Harrington takes in every feature of this young boy's face, noting his clear skin and reddish-brown hair. His appearance is quite pleasing to the eye, but there is a weariness there, like there's no life behind those jaded eyes.

He's not like the other excited players I've encountered in this game.

"Let's go to my home," Harrington tells him. "You can stay the night there. And... congratulations on completing your quest."

After he says it, a hologram box appears before Scott's eyes.

CONGRATULATIONS! QUEST COMPLETED!

You have received 10,000 coins, Hellfire Fragment x 1, and 1,000 EXP.

...

Loading...

...

YOU HAVE LEVELED UP!

"This is your first quest, so it's not over yet," Harrington tells him, smiling at Scott's mild surprise. "For beginners, the first quest they ever complete is what paves the way towards creating their own story here on Dream World. Because you completed my quest, I have become your ultimate NPC guide for this game. You can ask me any question you want and I'll gladly answer you the best I can!"

Scott is silent for a moment. "Then... can I ask you a favor?"

"Oh? A favor?" Harrington grins. "Tell me what it is and I'll see if I can do it for you. Consider me as your father in this game, all right?" He playfully ruffles Scott's hair.

Scott blinks in confusion at this unexpected display of affection and tries to ignore the slight warmth seeping into his body.

My... father...?

"...Please train me," Scott requests hesitantly.

Harrington doesn't even react. It's as if he's been expecting this question all along. "Sure. I'll teach you the basics of battle starting tomorrow morning after your body rests."

Scott tilts his head, puzzled. "Do I have to rest in this game?"

"Of course! You said you were exhausted!"

"I wonder... is it like logging off from the game?"

Harrington frowns a bit. "Not exactly. Your virtual body here is different from your physical body in the real world. You can't operate properly if you stay awake for 24 hours. This game was designed to be as close to reality as possible, so you need rest, too."

"How inconvenient," says Scott listlessly as he watches Harrington pick up his X-Blade and attach it behind his back.

"Like I said, you may not feel pain here, but you can feel tired." Without further ado, Harrington gently grabs Scott's shoulders and steers him away from the lake. "Players don't log off often, though. If they do, their bodies here disappear from the game for days due to the time difference, and they'd only go back to their last save point."

Scott lets Harrington lead him towards the direction of a small village. "There are save points here?"

The man nods. "Of course. It's why you should save whenever you see one. You'll know when you see it."

"I see."

As they walk in silence, Scott glances at Harrington curiously.

"You know..." he begins. "You may be an NPC, but you act completely human."

Harrington smirks. "I'll take that as a compliment, lad."

Scott hums thoughtfully.

I never knew that there are actually AIs like this...