Episode 17. Break Time (1)
One day later.
In the reality where players lived, the date had changed, and a similar span of time had passed inside the game world inhabited by NPCs. Normally, there wouldn't be many changes in the game after just one day—but today, they had no choice but to worry about what state the game might be in upon logging back in.
Beeeep...
The player Sephirah began preparing to log into the game today as well. She gripped her wrist and neck tightly, cracking her knuckles, then quietly devoured a sweet-tasting bar in place of breakfast. Next, since no one was watching, she changed into cool, comfortable clothes. They weren't much different from what she'd been wearing moments ago, but it still felt off otherwise.
She pulled a bottle of water from the mini-fridge within arm's reach, placed it by the armrest, and with that, her preparations to start the game were complete.
'Should I turn it on...?'
But just before donning the device on her head, Sephirah hesitated. She couldn't ignore the words she'd heard from Hasselhoff yesterday, even if she tried to brush them off.
—It might be overthinking it, but maybe you shouldn't play the game. There could be some strange program installed if you look into it...
Players in the same session had their languages automatically translated. Hasselhoff, who had first discovered this phenomenon, had immediately informed Sephirah and added a warning. He wasn't sure of the exact cause, but it was definitely not normal—so it might be best not to play the game suspected as the culprit. Some weird program could have been installed on the device through some route, or maybe it already was.
'What the hell. Even my mom wouldn't worry like that.'
But Sephirah's concerns didn't run too deep. A program that turned a single-player game into multiplayer and automatically translated speech between people playing the same game? If that was really the result of hacking, she'd tell the whole world to install it right now.
'She looked into it and told me, so I'm grateful, but...'
She was curious about why this phenomenon was happening. It was an unidentified anomaly, so it naturally sparked some worry. However, the issue Sephirah was pondering was slightly different from Hasselhoff's.
"Run recently played game."
What was this game—and the identities of the NPCs inside it? Those things that had been mere moving mannequins—what had they become now? To uncover new amusements and thrills once more, the girl became Sephirah again today.
"...Ugh."
Aiden, who had been sleeping soundly, stirred awake with a rumple. Having fallen asleep right there without going to the bedroom in the early hours, his neck ached, and his clothes were wrinkled as if someone had tampered with them. Good thing he'd been on a soft sofa.
'Hope I didn't sleep too late.'
Aiden tried to check the approximate time with his still-groggy eyes, but there were no windows to peer out of. Sephirah's ajiit was perched far from ordinary ground level. Unless you went outside, there was no way to tell how high the sun had risen.
"Hoo."
Aiden refastened his loose buttons and finally hauled himself up. He grabbed the 'Cube' he'd left on the sofa beside him, stowed it in his inventory, and scanned the surroundings to see if anyone else was up yet.
"Claire? Sephirah?"
No one answered. Well, days when Claire woke up first were rare to begin with. And Sephirah would be in her own world, so no need to think about her.
'Focus.'
No red or suspicious traces appeared in his vision. Nothing caught his eye except Claire's footprints glowing blue. Only then could Aiden relax and deactivate Focus.
"No wonder it felt like I slept late."
He muttered awkwardly to himself. No intruders, no incidents, and Sephirah hadn't shown up in the dead of night. All his worries because this was a player's place had been pointless.
So, what now?
"...Hm."
Aiden decided to look around Sephirah's ajiit, which he still hadn't fully gotten used to. For whatever reason, she'd generously lent him her personal space. If he'd be living here going forward, he should at least memorize where everything was.
'She said it's underground with no passages... A place only players using fast travel can reach.'
He surveyed the residence, which felt a bit stifling with no visible entrances or windows. The first things that caught his eye were armor and a sword on a display rack—items he'd never seen her use, as if she'd wanted to play knight. Sephirah probably couldn't even lift them without her hands shaking.
The living room had furniture like bookshelves stuffed with books or wooden crates, but they were untouched; dust blanketed the shelves. Why display things she wouldn't use? It was poor maintenance that clashed with the luxurious furnishings.
'And... this is.'
As Aiden checked another room, he paused. A storage room with weapons and odds and ends hanging up. A locked room whose purpose he couldn't confirm. And three bedrooms suitable for living in. He'd almost opened one absentmindedly before remembering Claire was inside. The others had probably been used by someone else too.
'It's about time for her to get up.'
Knock knock knock.
Quite some time had passed since he'd started touring the ajiit, so Aiden knocked on the door to wake Claire.
"Hello, mister..."
From inside, Claire greeted him in the hoarse voice of someone just waking up. She seemed to be putting extra effort into her words, but she couldn't hide the sleep in her throat.
"Did I wake you?"
"No! I was awake! I was just lying down..."
Her condition seemed off somehow.
"Then I'll come back later."
"No, no... You can come in. I've changed clothes and I'm fully awake..."
Shouldn't she say 'I'll be right out' instead of 'you can come in'? Still, her sleepy speech suggested she'd gotten up on time.
...But no matter how patiently he waited outside, Claire didn't emerge.
"Claire?"
No response.
"Claire—?"
She must have fallen completely asleep again.
"...She said it was fine to enter."
With no choice, he decided to wake her himself. It was close to sleep-talking, but she'd clearly said it was okay. Aiden sighed in exasperation and stepped into Claire's room.
"......"
It was just as Claire had said—she was only lying down. She lay on the luxurious bed, bundled tightly in the covers, fast asleep. Her staff and book were out on the table, and the arm peeking from the blanket showed she was in her outdoor clothes. Claire hadn't lied in her sleep-talking. She'd just accidentally dozed off again. It was common enough to prep for going out, goof off with extra time, and end up asleep.
"Claire."
"...Yeees?"
He tapped the headboard beside the soundly sleeping Claire, and she finally responded. True to someone woken from drowsiness, she trembled slightly and looked around in confusion. Her eyes were still half-closed.
"Ah... Hello, mister..."
"We already exchanged greetings."
"...When did I...?"
Claire tilted her head quizzically at him, eyes nearly shut but fixed this way. She truly seemed to have no memory of greeting him just minutes ago in response to the knock.
"What were you doing up all night?"
"I-I... Nothing. Nothing at all."
Claire reacted like she had a guilty conscience somewhere.
"Then... should you sleep more?"
"Ah, no. I'll get up right now, sorry..."
It wouldn't be impossible for her to sleep in on a day like this, but Claire reluctantly dragged her body up. Propping herself on one arm, she knelt, rubbing her eyes with her left hand to chase away sleep.
"Ugggh..."
Only after groaning like she was dying and stretching did Claire somewhat shake off the drowsiness. Now she looked straight at Aiden and spoke.
"Mister, when did you come into my room...?"
"Just now."
"Into someone else's room without permission."
"You said it was okay to come in."
"...When did I?"
Claire stared at Aiden with a blank expression, as if she really had no recollection. If Sephirah were here, she'd say 'A question mark would pop up next to her face.'
"Ugh."
Before long, Claire's eyes began drooping again.
"I'm sleepy."
"As expected, you didn't sleep last night."
"...Yeah."
Before she could nod off again, Aiden reached out and pulled her to her feet. She was limp, but compliant enough to slip out from the covers, stand on her own two feet, and rub her eyes. If he kept talking to her after forcibly separating her from the bed, she probably wouldn't fall back asleep. Releasing her hand, Aiden asked,
"Were you worrying about something?"
"Well, uh... Ah, the bed's different. I had trouble sleeping."
It was the first he'd heard of that. If changing beds kept Claire up at night, he would've known.
"Well, it's still a place where it's hard to sleep soundly."
"...Sorry."
"You can rest today anyway."
As he brushed fur from the blanket off her, Claire roughly straightened her messy hair by eye.
"Then I didn't have to get ready?"
"Yeah, you could've taken it slow."
"Uwee."
By now, Claire had mostly woken up, her voice gaining some energy. Her half-lidded eyes fully opened, revealing their sky-blue hue. He'd successfully roused her.
"Mm, then..."
Claire asked,
"What are we doing today?"
"Let's eat first."
"After eating?"
"No urgent tasks, so let's scout around somewhere crowded, call it that."
"A walk! And after that?"
"We'll... figure it out then."
"Waa! Awesome."
Claire beamed. Maybe because everything he'd listed as "today's tasks" was basically just relaxing. The schedule could change instantly if something urgent popped up, but for now.
No need to linger here—Aiden headed back to the living room.
"Oh?"
Right then, he ran into Sephirah, who had returned to the ajiit.
"Sephirah."
"Wh-what? Sephirah was here?!"
Claire's startled voice came from behind Aiden.
Seeing the two in the ajiit, Sephirah grinned with amusement and said,
"Here you are? Honestly thought you'd ignore what I said."
To Sephirah, Aiden being in the ajiit wasn't surprising, but it was unexpected. She'd said he could use it, so it wasn't weird. But she'd never thought he'd actually take her up on it.
"No reason to ignore it. I know why you called me here."
"Huh? I didn't tell you."
"You can't stay in a normal place without drawing players' eyes, right?"
"...Right."
Sephirah nodded. As she'd warned, players were probably sharing opinions on yesterday's events in their own communities. In this situation, if Aiden hung around somewhere players knew of, who knew what might happen.
'It's not perfectly safe anymore.'
In such circumstances, the safest spot remaining was a player's ajiit. That was why Sephirah had suggested borrowing it.
"You figured it out without me saying."
"Thanks for the help."
Knowing it came from concern, Aiden thanked her, however awkwardly.
"What'd you just say?"
"Uh, thanks."
But Sephirah's reaction was odd.
"...Did I hear wrong?"
"Huh?"
"Thought I'd never hear 'thanks' from you again."
"What do you take me for?"
What did she take him for to say that? It was a perfectly ordinary question in a playful mood—one where he could tease her for being antisocial—but Sephirah couldn't answer easily.
NPCs were no different from moving mannequins. That's what she'd thought countless times. But now?
How should she perceive these 'things' that acted human despite being NPCs? Figuring that out was one reason Sephirah had logged in today.
"Aiden."
Sephirah asked,
"...Are you a person?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Just literally."
"Then obviously I am."
Sephirah started to smirk mockingly but bit her lip. An NPC claiming to be human was clichéd no matter how you looked at it. She vaguely recalled thinking something similar before, though she couldn't pinpoint when.
'...A person, huh.'
But Sephirah decided to heed the words of the NPC standing there blankly before her. Who knew—maybe that claim was true.
