The Red Pill
High-ranking NPCs.
A term commonly used for nobles, powerhouses of a certain caliber, or transcendent beings — and they possessed something that set them distinctly apart from ordinary NPCs.
Did she figure it out? She's seemed a little off for a while now…
Namely, the ability to perceive the special nature of the Heroes.
Ordinary NPCs couldn't even grasp that Heroes were immortal, nor could they make sense of real-world words or concepts. High-ranking NPCs, however, were different.
"I'm sure I saw something…"
They could tell that Heroes were immortals, occasionally understood real-world terminology, and knew that the Heroes treated this place like a game.
For that reason, the so-called Red Pill event — when a high-ranking NPC realized the true nature of Heroes and of reality itself — ranked among the most dangerous events of all.
…Am I screwed?
High-ranking NPCs took enormous pride in this world and occupied positions of real power within it. There was no way such beings would look kindly on someone dismissing their world as mere entertainment.
It could turn out positively on rare occasions, but nine times out of ten the fallout was bad.
Evan — a ranker and member of the advance party who had lived through countless Red Pill events — swallowed hard as he stared at the momentarily distorted message window.
A phenomenon he had never once witnessed before.
When Lea's hand clutched at empty air, a chill raced down his spine — but her expression held neither rage nor disgust.
"??"
Pure curiosity, and a touch of weariness.
Fortunately, the message window restored itself in less than a second, and Lea didn't seem to have seen the restored display.
"It seems the Goddess's power briefly became visible."
"Show me too."
"…I don't have the authority to simply pass that along."
"Hmm…"
Lea tilted her head and stared fixedly at the empty space Evan had been looking at. She prodded it with mana, even pulled out her staff and tried casting magic. Evan waited in silence without so much as twitching a finger.
After ten minutes that felt like a year, Lea put her staff away, her interest apparently spent.
"I saw it earlier… weird."
"……"
"Whatever. I'm going to bed."
"Yes. I'll inform them separately."
"'Kay."
Lea waved and left, and once she had completely vanished from the training grounds—
"Haa…"
Evan let out a long, deep sigh.
It had been a full four months since Haring started searching for Lea.
Together with Nya-nya, she had combed every mountain on the Central Continent multiple times over and canvassed more than four cities asking around. By the time almost no one was still looking and the companions who had pledged to help dropped out one by one, even Haring found herself wondering if she should give up — but as long as she couldn't find Lea, she had no hope of taking down the Legion Commander.
And more than anything, she just wanted to see Lea again.
It was somewhere in the middle of that long stretch of hardship and setbacks that a message arrived.
Evan — advance party member of the Fro Gallery and the fifth-ranked player — had reached out to her. He knew where Lea was, he said, and Lea had specifically asked for Haring and Nya-nya.
Haring accepted without a second's hesitation, then called over Nya-nya — who had logged in a little late that day — and explained the situation. The moment Nya-nya heard the news, she cheered and clapped her hands. She hadn't said anything, but she too had been nearing her limit.
"Really?! Lea is actually there?"
"That's what he said. Not the type to lie. Probably?"
"Then shouldn't we tell everyone else?"
"Why would we tell a bunch of traitors?"
"Calling them traitors is a bit much… they just had to think about real life…"
"No!!"
Haring grabbed Nya-nya by the shoulders and shook her back and forth. Nya-nya flopped around like one of those inflatable tube men outside a storefront.
"Those guys turned their backs on Lea's kindness and ran off to look after their own futures. People like that don't deserve to see her."
"P-please stop. I'm getting dizzy."
"Besides, some of them probably wouldn't even come if we called. Why answer a summons when they're already living comfortably?"
"…You think so?"
"Obviously. Why else would she only call the two of us? Because we're the most reliable and the ones she's proudest of, right?"
"…Or maybe she called us because we were the only ones still running around looking for her for no good reason."
"Facts are banned, Nya-nya."
Haring snorted a laugh and jabbed Nya-nya in the side. Nya-nya giggled and tried to push her off — then suddenly remembered something.
"But Yugi was searching just as hard as we were. Why didn't she call him?"
"I think I know why."
"…Oh, come on. No way."
Nya-nya shook her head, insisting that couldn't be it — but in Haring's mind, the answer somehow made perfect sense.
Regardless, even if they had wanted to bring Yugi along, Lea had only summoned two people. They felt a little bad for him, but Haring and Nya-nya had no choice but to follow instructions. If they invited someone on their own and got all three of them barred at the door, it wouldn't be worth it.
And so, one week later, Haring and Nya-nya arrived at the Legion royal castle.
It was a vast palace of glittering gold. Haring waited a moment, then whispered to Evan. A hidden door set into the castle wall swung open, and a knight who looked like a model student beckoned them over — knight's uniform, but with a hairstyle that somehow screamed player.
"Come on, come on."
"Uh…"
"Is that—?"
"Yeah, it's me. Get in. You too, Nya-nya."
"Ah — yes, sir!"
The two of them checked their surroundings and slipped quietly into the castle. Fortunately, there were hardly any players near the walls, and the few who were around were too busy with quests or on their way somewhere else to spare them a glance.
Rrrumble… Thud!
The hidden door sealed shut, and a clean corridor stretched out before them. Maids bustled up and down the hall, and ornate decorations and works of craftsmanship lined the passage without end. While Nya-nya's eyes went wide as she took in the surroundings, Haring turned to the knight leading them — Evan — and asked,
"How on earth did you find her? We searched our butts off for four months and got nowhere."
"I was just doing a knight quest and boom — turns out she lives here. More importantly, why the formal speech?"
"Talking on the forums and talking in person are a little different."
"This is real life?"
"Frolazia is real life. If this isn't reality, what is?"
"…Sure. Whatever you say. Nya-nya here doesn't even use the Gallery, so."
Evan nodded with a faintly awkward look and started walking again. Haring snickered and glanced back to see if Nya-nya was uncomfortable with the exchange — but Nya-nya was too busy gawking at the lavish corridor to notice.
"Are we going to see Lea right away?"
"I'm just the guide. I'll take you to the head maid so you can get room assignments, eat, train — that sort of thing."
"And Lea?"
"You probably won't be able to see her immediately."
"Huh? Why not?"
Nya-nya, who had been hurrying to keep up, asked, and Evan shrugged.
"She's eating. Best for your health if you go in after she's finished."
"Oh! Perfect timing, then!"
"Right? We packed a ton of snacks."
"Snacks?"
"Yes! Look — a whole bunch of new releases just came out…"
Evan looked at the snack basket in Nya-nya's hands. They weren't Frolazian food so much as treats modeled after real-world snacks. His expression hardened as he turned back to the two of them.
"We've got four-flavor Ddujjonku, mala tteokbokki, tanghulu… and this new buldak sauce the chefs just developed…"
"You might want to be careful with those."
"Pardon?"
"Why? We paid a fortune for these…"
"It feels like a Red Pill event is getting close. Could blow any day now."
"!"
"A Red Pill event?"
"Lea~!"
"Huh? You're here already?"
"Yes! I missed you so much!"
Haring and Nya-nya stepped into Lea's room, where she was right in the middle of a meal — a lavish spread laid out before her, a mouthful of meat already being chewed. Looking at her completely unbothered face, the warning they'd just received didn't seem all that serious.
She looks exactly the same as always.
Just a carefree little girl-dragon who loved sweet and tasty things. That was precisely the Lea that Haring and Nya-nya knew — and the Lea in front of them was exactly that. The two of them relaxed and sat down beside her.
"Why are you clinging like that?"
"Aww, come on~ Aren't you happy to see us after so long?"
"Hmph."
"Have some of this too! We bought a ton of snacks."
"Yeah?"
"Yes! These are the Ddujjonku you had last time — they came out with new flavors."
Nya-nya excitedly pulled a small four-sectioned box from the light-brown basket she'd brought. Inside were Ddujjonku in every color imaginable. The moment Lea saw them, her eyes went round and she popped one into her mouth.
"Oh."
"Good, right?"
"I like these."
"Ehehe… They were really hard to get, you know. The trend's already over and the line was still somehow that long…"
"Good job. Want a quest?"
"A quest? Yes, please!"
"Absolutely! Ah — anything except hunting the Legion Commander, though…"
Crackle…!
"Huh?"
"Something feels different from usual…"
"It showed up again."
"Huh?"