Episode 13. Status! (5)
Aiden asked, “If it’s preparation, are you digging traps or something?”
“Um, that’s good too, but… it’s something else first!”
Sephirah brightly drew the NPCs’ attention before looking around at the three of them. Aiden, Claire, Loqi. What they had in common was that they were NPCs. The real inhabitants of this game world, operating on principles entirely different from players. But right now, perhaps the very category of “NPC” had undergone some change.
“From now on, we’re gonna level up.”
She’d used a thoroughly player-like term for exactly that reason. Something no NPC—not even Aiden—could comprehend. But if she could teach it and make it usable, it would surely be a massively helpful system.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Level is… um, hang on, how do I even explain this. Just a sec……”
“……?”
“Ah, uh… A level’s like a number showing how strong someone is, and, um, actually animals and monsters have ‘em too……”
“What’re you even saying.”
Suddenly, Sephirah’s words started tangling up in every way possible. She kept stumbling over them and trailing off, making it hard to grasp her point. Was it just tough to explain a concept only she knew in simple terms? She’d done fine last time with just the two of them.
“Okay, then gimme a minute. I’ll sort it out quick and explain. Wait here.”
“Sure.”
Sephirah thrust one hand forward without even waiting for a reply, organizing her thoughts. By the time she’d started pacing in circles and staring blankly at the ceiling, Claire shot a glance at Loqi and whispered, “By any chance, is that sister always like this?”
“She’s been that way the past three days. Every time she explains stuff. Was fine with me, but with the old man around, she kept fumbling.”
“Ahh.”
As if she’d just realized something, but the truth was Sephirah was not at all good at talking. Any coherent explanations she’d given so far had probably been thanks to unspoken conditions: two or fewer listeners, no “real people” players present, or just dumb luck.
This time, there were three self-aware NPCs.
“Phew… Ready.”
“If it looked that tough, shouldn’t you have prepped what to say first?”
Aiden was spot-on, but Sephirah couldn’t just admit it outright. Pride got in the way. Not that she was denying it.
“I thought I’d nail it up until I opened my mouth……”
“Yeah, figures.”
“Quiet. I’m talking now.”
It happened a lot. Fantasizing about speaking calmly in front of others, only to fumble when it mattered. To avoid that, Sephirah even had to practice her lines with the AI before delivering them.
“…Players use this special rank called a level, and every time it goes up, their power jumps all at once. Not exactly a caste system, but higher levels probably come with more hassle, right?”
“So players don’t get stronger through training?”
“Levels don’t rise that way. Usually from killing strong monsters—mobs.”
As Sephirah wagged her head side to side, Claire cut in. “So it’s a power that makes you stronger every time you kill something?”
“Yeah, pretty much. Killing low-level civilians or whatever doesn’t count.”
“People call that sort of thing black magic, Sephirah.”
Not black magic? Then taboo power, heresy, devil’s bargain, soul-selling price, sacrifice, witch’s curse—pretty much all negative, evil labels for anything letting you grow strong just by taking lives.
No such thing in the game lore… but plenty of occult believers in reality.
Hearing it laid out like this, level-ups really did sound like black magic from an NPC’s view. Who knew leveling up was this badass.
“But it’s not like that! It’s just getting stronger proportional to beating down strong bad guys!”
“Hmm, go on?”
“Wild guess, but I think you guys might have ‘levels’ too.”
More precisely, the ability to raise them. Aiden, who’d been staring at the UI floating before him, summed it up. “So if we can level up, that means we could catch up to the players.”
“Exactly! We could even outlevel ‘em to the point they’re no match.”
“And if we can’t?”
“Then oh well. Levels aren’t everything.”
Gear up, dig traps—plenty of options. Sephirah struck a smug pose as she said it. Aiden couldn’t quite read the nuance, but she seemed totally immersed in the moment. Proud that she was laying out the plan and everyone was listening, maybe.
“So now we gotta pick where to lure the players, right? Figure out spots while checking our levels on the way……”
Sephirah paused to gauge their reactions. At least, that’s how it looked to Aiden. When he glanced around, the responses weren’t bad. Hard to be, for such a straightforward idea.
Claire’s black magic bit was just teasing, and Loqi’s silence meant he had nothing to add.
“…Not a fan?!”
But Sephirah masked her hardening expression and amped up her voice dramatically. She’d read their reactions as negative.
“Just looks like no one’s got better ideas.”
“Aaaah, for real?”
Her smugness had clearly been wishful thinking. No way someone mistook silence for dislike.
“Sephirah, you seem to be forgetting: you’re the most helpful one here right now. Being a player and all.”
“Uh… yeah, true.”
“If you weren’t useful, we wouldn’t buy it. Right?”
Players were all suspect, but Sephirah was a slight exception. No trust, no approach—even if helpful. Help without trust, no lingering worries.
Yet here she was, playing a huge role for Aiden.
Hope she sees it that way.
Aiden’s intent was for her to think so, regardless of his true feelings—but he wasn’t silver-tongued. Maybe better left unsaid.
“Y-yeah! Right. You guys don’t know players well, so you need someone to explain. Yup.”
“Gotta have you take the lead on player stuff, at least.”
“Ahaha.”
Sephirah couldn’t meet his eyes. She hadn’t even thought how to react to the boost.
Aiden seized the momentum. He dropped to one knee, meeting her gaze. “Blind faith would be a lie. You’ve got your own strengths. Help just that much, and I’ll trust you.”
“…Uh.”
“Good. Let’s at least play nice for this one thing, Sephirah.”
He offered his right hand. Sephirah glanced once, then grabbed it tight—before swinging their linked arms wildly. Whoosh, whoosh. The motion was vigorous enough to make a sound; Aiden couldn’t time a release without killing the vibe.
He held on until she finally let go.
“Alright. Back to square one: we need a place to lure players.”
“Ah, yeah.”
“What’re the criteria?”
“Uuum… Since we don’t know how much we’ll level, needs to be pretty open. And spots for us to hide and watch?”
“Not too tricky……”
A spot where about a hundred could gather freely, but with ample hiding nooks. Seemed pretty common.
“……”
But no one piped up first. Sephirah aside—who’d proposed it—the other two barely knew any places. All three turned expectant stares on Aiden.
Might feel like passing the buck, but no choice. He was the only NPC with a rep for wandering far and wide.
“I’ll pick some candidates.”
Only he could give a plausible answer.
The hour was no longer fit to call daytime. The sun had taken on a full crimson hue and begun its descent, the world gradually darkening.
Aiden grabbed the other three and activated Fast Travel.
“Whoa, what’d we even do to hit evening already?”
“If it drags too long, we’ll push to tomorrow.”
“Aw, no wayyy… You gonna waste a whole day just scouting spots?”
“I don’t need sleep!”
“Only you don’t, boss.”
Four in total. Hasselhoff sat it out. They’d waited, but Sephirah abruptly announced his absence, so the quartet set off alone.
“This okay, just showing up like this? Made it sound super important.”
“It is important, but whatever! Bet on it—with you three alone, players’ll be too shocked to fight.”
“…Hope it’s that easy.”
Even after arriving, Aiden quietly listened to Loqi and Sephirah, lightly biting his lip. The tasks for the remaining four days were critical. Somehow reduce player numbers, craft the perfect culling scenario.
Won’t go that smoothly.
But Sephirah’s pitch boiled down to leveling up for strength. She figured that’d suffice.
Not reassured by such a single ploy, Aiden had selected one spot ticking every box.
“Plenty of abandoned buildings around—one’s gotta be usable.”
The place Aiden stepped into was the Abandoned Residence. Even players called it that.
True to its name, it had been left to rot long ago. No explicit reason in the game, but not hard to guess. Unknown birds kept circling overhead.
“Ooh! Nice. No people, tons of hiding spots, fits a hundred easy.”
Sephirah’s words prompted Loqi—who’d been blankly skywatching—to chime in.
“What, you picturing somewhere else?”
“Thought maybe an empty banquet hall in some city.”
“Huh?”
“Hiding spots galore, no crowds. Players might wander in on their own.”
“…You feeling okay?”
Sephirah, doting on Loqi—who had the least player ties in the group. Aiden stayed out of it. Even if her idea was absurd, no reaction. That’s what prompted the nonsense.
Caw. Caw.
Above their idle chatter, black birds cried endlessly.
Claire looked up and grimaced. “Ugh, this really okay? So noisy, no one’ll come.”
“Should be fine? They’re nocturnal—gone during the day. Actually a plus, right?”
“A plus how?”
“Bet Aiden picked it knowing that……”
As Sephirah flashed a wicked grin, Aiden pulled a small orb from his inventory. Compact as a yarn ball, light, with a goofy human face crudely drawn on it.
“Killing these levels us up too, yeah?”
He tossed it into the air, and he and Sephirah plugged their ears.
“…What’re you doing?”
“Cover your ears.”
“Huh?”
Just before the orb hit the ground, Loqi caught on and mimicked them, advising Claire too. But too late.
Screeeeeeeeeech!!
The bloodcurdling shriek exploded, flooding the area. Like nails savagely raking steel, leaving gouges. Even plugged, the massive roar shook them; the unprotected lost their hearing momentarily.
Thud. Plop.
Then came heavier-than-raindrop sounds, lighter than falling spells. Black birds plummeting from the sky.
“…Ahh.”
Claire stared in a daze.