Episode 13. Status! (3)
“Does it feel real now?”
“Ah… yeah. I get what you’re saying.”
Loqi thumped the floor with his free left hand. Seeing that, Aiden released his arm.
Loqi, who had looked ready to jump up and rage, reacted with surprising quiet. He knew what he’d just witnessed wasn’t some technique or magic.
“What the hell was that? What did you do?”
“When no one’s looking at me, my presence vanishes. So I can hide my body in that split second when their gaze shifts away.”
“…Not something you could replicate with skills or magic, huh.”
“But using this ability costs nothing. No years of training needed, no mana drain. It’s as natural as moving your hands and feet.”
“……”
“Now do you see Sephirah a little differently?”
The players remained seated, watching the two with keen interest. Sephirah in particular had stopped resisting at some point, now just sitting there with her mouth covered, grinning.
With her left hand, she twirled a wand she’d instantly summoned from her inventory like a pen. With her right, she deliberately bent her fingers one by one, as if showing off.
Thumb: Flashbang, effective only against hostiles. Index: Short-range Blink. Middle: Aerial Levitation. Ring: Telekinesis. Pinky: Barrier.
As Sephirah reviewed her slotted skills and gave Loqi a thumbs-up,
Whoosh.
Sephirah vanished from the bed in an instant teleport and reappeared right in front of Loqi. Sure, the skills were just magic from the world’s lore, but activating them by flexing her fingers made it look plenty mystical.
It had taken Aiden quite a while to figure out how she cast her spells, after all.
“Now you get why I couldn’t say anything to you, right?”
“Yeah, I get it. Man, the world’s full of weird shit.”
“You’re blind in places you’ve never been. That’s why they say travel a lot, yeah?”
Hahaha. Sephirah laughed without a trace of pretense.
Just as Aiden had hesitated to tell Claire about players, Sephirah now felt no real need to tag along—but she’d hidden everything, reconstructed events, and sealed lips with material support under the guise of “you’ve got talent, so I’ll help.”
“But I never lied, okay?”
“Yeah, you don’t look like the lying type.”
“And you know that weird stuff you tack onto the end of sentences is just you trying to act tough.”
“…Yeah.”
From today on, even Sephirah couldn’t hide the players anymore. They were starting to cross the fourth wall.
“Aiden phrased it weird, but having tons of kids like me around would be exhausting. Might be fun, though! Ten’s plenty!”
“That’s all it takes… to stop more players from showing up with these guys?”
“Doesn’t that make it more trustworthy—such a simple reason?”
Loqi nodded again. He hadn’t understood until just now why players were dangerous and why even they agreed they shouldn’t increase. But a makeshift reason like this changed everything.
“…Got it.”
Loqi’s eyes sharpened like they had in past loops.
What the hell am I hearing?
Player Hasselhoff silently scanned the room, saying nothing.
Thanks to their help, he could speak now. He wasn’t completely clueless about the bizarre situation unfolding.
But he stayed quiet—not just because his elderly voice felt awkward compared to his real one, but because free conversation between AI and humans was still realistically impossible.
“Alright, let’s get to the main point.”
“Yeah! We didn’t gather just to chat!”
“Then, about the incoming players…”
“We gotta boost your abilities!”
“Later for that.”
Hasselhoff couldn’t believe the natural flow of conversation before him. Sci-fi novels granting AI personalities had been around for decades, but it was still impossible. The best you could do was make it seem that way.
Then the unfamiliar NPC Claire spoke up.
“Sephirah, we know when they’ll come now. Any way to pinpoint the location…?”
“Nope. Heck, I only learned players were increasing thanks to Aiden!”
“Brag much…”
The more he watched the four, the deeper Hasselhoff’s suspicions grew.
“Hm.”
What if they’re all NPCs? Then Claire and Sephirah are ‘added’ for a new storyline. Or since new players can enter, maybe they’re all role-playing players.
At minimum, he couldn’t accept their claim of NPCs and players coexisting.
Test it out… yeah.
Hasselhoff had a good idea. Listening to their talk sparked a proposal worth floating.
If he spoke up, he could probe the player spawn point and test if they were players. Solid plan.
But to propose it, he had to open his mouth.
“Better to prepare defenses than hunt for locations, no? Strong enough to take down whoever shows, right at our doorstep.”
“Obviously, Loqi.”
“Yeah. Strength covers threats, but not control. Aiden hates that, right?”
“Guess we need at least a rough spawn location. Five of us can’t handle much anyway.”
As the convo turned to familiar NPC Aiden and player Sephirah, Hasselhoff seized the moment.
“Ahem.”
His fake elderly voice rumbled out in a gravelly cough, drawing all eyes.
He’d mimic Aiden’s style for now.
“I’ve got a good idea.”
“We could hear you…?”
“Oh yeah, forgot the old man was here.”
Sephirah and Loqi—who’d seen him for days—reacted, while Aiden and Claire held back. Probably story reset treating him as a stranger to Aiden.
“If new players really come, pinpointing spawns is tough. Even if we could, Fast Travel makes current positions meaningless.”
“…Huh?”
“So instead, why not lure players to one spot?”
“Why the voice? We heard your real one earlier.”
He ignored Sephirah. Aiden looked intrigued—good enough.
“They can still Fast Travel out from one spot.”
“Slightly different. Lure and ambush—they’ll prioritize fighting fellow players over fleeing.”
“Some player solidarity, huh…”
Aiden rubbed his chin—his signature habit when pondering, familiar to any player.
“You’ve got a way to gather them, then?”
“Use the Community. Won’t get everyone, but some will bite.”
“Community?”
“Post something tempting to draw them in…”
Assuming Aiden would get it, he explained—but Aiden’s face hardened, not from dislike, but confusion.
How can someone playing this game not know Community?
Unlike expected, Aiden genuinely didn’t understand. No way he didn’t know the internet space—even without using it, everyone knew.
Two possibilities: A player deep in concept RP pretending ignorance, or NPC Aiden Oliver holding real convo.
(RP immersion had died out lately—no players faking ignorance that hard.)
“Ooh, great idea! But why tell the NPC? Tell me.”
“…Right.”
“So, spread posts where players see ’em! Smart. Why didn’t I think of that?”
Sephirah—who’d outed herself early—got it instantly. Definitely not AI.
Logically, Aiden should be player-controlled too… but if not, real NPC talk?
His head spun. Think later.
“Players have their own community? Even in different worlds?”
“Yeah. Barely used now—couldn’t meet anyway.”
“Spread rumors there, then. Easier than I thought.”
“But can’t rely on it alone, like Hasselhoff said. Might get zero bites.”
Sephirah figured her own words sounded dumb, predicting Aiden’s reply.
“Still, use every method available.”
“Hehe… yeah! Leave it to us.”
“Discussion wrapped, then…? Break time, Sephirah?”
“Sure! Jaw hurts from all the talking.”
Sephirah smiled—the brightest yet. Her past obsession with early clears was her secret.
“Ooh, suddenly excited. Danger aside, this’ll be fun. 128 players here? What games we playin’?”
Claire warned in Aiden’s stead, warmer than morning—getting used to it.
“…No take-backs, sis.”
“Nah, not plannin’. We’ll leave or recruit some, like me.”
“If that works.”
“A few’s enough.”
Sephirah gazed at Claire and Aiden behind her, reigniting hope.
She wanted to show this to others—Aiden’s change, the game’s evolution. If they believed this miraculous loop, it’d be even better.
“…Even a little.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Go play by your boyfriend.”
Claire flinched. “Not like that.”
“Aiden’s not a girl, right?”
“You word things so ambiguously…”
“Then by your friend. Player talk time.”
“Fiiine.”
Claire shuffled back to Aiden, wilted. Male? Friend? Both true—whatever.
Sephirah seized the gap, whispering to lone Hasselhoff.
“Casual speech now, okay?”
“Haa, sure.”
“Where you from? America?”
“Not English-speaking…”
“Ooh.”
Sephirah was genuinely impressed. Non-native, yet perfect English, no accent issues.
“Asia, then? Whatever, fine. I’ll handle English zones—you cover yours. Just what you can.”
“Ah, thanks.”
“Heh, anyway, surprised. No rule says match reality, but damn…”
Mmph.
Hasselhoff swiftly clamped Sephirah’s mouth. His sharp elderly gaze turned innocently mismatched.
Inevitable, really. Player avatars rarely matched real age/gender.
“…Quiet.”
He was just a college kid in reality.