MMORPG: Yandere NPC

XI

Chapter 11: The Tribrid

"Huh? Aren't all players supposed to have one? That could only mean…it can't be she's an NPC?!"

The girl is silently staring at me while the admin and I are also silent for a moment.

"Well, you're not completely wrong. She was an NPC."

"Was? Is the now a PC?"

"No."

"Then what is she?"

"This…She's no longer in the system. She's designated an 'error' and is now outside the confines of the system."

"You're saying…" I still don't get it. If she is no longer an NPC but not a PC, what is she? Just an 'error'? What do we call an 'error' like her?

"She's basically an NPC that has developed sentience of its own. Similar in some ways to an AI."

Fudge! The Utopia game ended up developing a self-learning AI within itself? A program that creates Ais, some programmer succeeded in laying the groundwork in the 35th century but it has never succeeded to such a degree till date. Talk less of one being formed in a game.

"Are there any others like her?"

"No. None other record. I only know that she managed to get access to my core program. I've been trying to find out how that was possible, but I can't."

"…" I don't know what to say. The admin is an extremely smart AI. It is smarter than the average human and only lacks in things that makes us human such as emotions, a soul, and a physical body. Well, the hardware can be counted as a physical body, but she would be no different than a server or hard drive. "So, what do we do with her?"

"…" The Admin is silent for a while. "She doesn't seem to realize she's in a game and she is not hurting anyone or the game so I will do as I have been. Not interfere but observe. I can't seem to be able to interfere directly anyway."

Makes sense, I guess. Besides, I'm curious to see how this new existence develops. She seems to have signs of emotions like humans unlike the Admin. Maybe she'll become the most human-like AI in the world. I bet the rich guys living on mars will be jealous wishing they had access to the games we play on earth. They'll never get to meet her unless they come back here.

Since the 34th century, humanity has developed various civilizations on inhabitable planets. The rich are the ones who get to have the luxury to live there though. But just as they gain things such as, more living space and food, they miss out on many privileges. Such as, they have to wait a long time before they gain access to games, movies and music released on earth. It might take almost a year for a game like Utopia to establish stable server connections to other planets. Heh. In the face of those rich interstellar gamers.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Elise. I already told you."

Definitely not a response you'd get from an NPC but a player or person.

"…I mean your full name."

"That's just it. Everyone always just called me Elise. Now that I think about it, I should give myself a last name…Hmm…what should my last name be."

She seems to be thinking. Another thing NPCs don't do unless programmed to looked like they are or in a cinematic cut or something.

"Cube. Elise Cube."

Ugh…I guess her intelligence isn't as high as the Admin's yet or she just lacks taste. Who chooses Cube as their surname when they have the choice to choose literally any other one?

"Elise Cube it is then." I comment. "Let me know when you are well rested. I'll escort you back to the city."

"Thanks. I'm fine now though. We can leave when we're done eating."

"Are you sure?'

"Yes." She takes another bite of her meal. "You're a truly kind devil Dexter. Or Elf? Both? Either way. All the other devils I've met are no good. Unkind! All of them."

She seems upset. Did devils do something bad to her?

Huh?! Wait. That's not the main point. What did she just say? I never showed her my Devil Elf form so how did she?

"How do you know I'm a Devil Elf?"

"Oh. Was it a secret? Sorry." She wipes her mouth before drinking some water. She just finished her meal.

"Uh…not entirely. But I never showed it to you so…" I'm also done with my meal.

"I don't know, I just do. If you don't want me to tell anyone else, I won't."

"Admin…?" I turn to the admin for input on the situation.

"This should be something I the admin can do. I can see all the information about both players and NPcs. Well, not see…I just know.

"If she has your capabilities, then can she oversee transactions or mechanisms and have access to information about the game you have?"

"No. She's disconnected from the system."

"What if she was to reconnect?"

"…I don't think that's possible.  At least at the moment. Just like I can't directly interfere with her by force, she can't interfere with me either."

"I see." I want to know more about this beautiful existence before me.

Blonde long hair that falls shy of her waist, pearly blue eyes, a bust size of about C+, flawless skin and dimples. As I stare at her blankly, I realize that she's extremely beautiful and attractive despite the state of her clothes.

"Sir Dexter. Sir Dexter?" Her voice snaps me back to reality. "Sir Dexter, are you ok? You seemed out of it for a moment."

"You…I'm fine." I get up and fix my outfit. "By the way, what is with the Sir again? I told you it makes me feel old."

"Hehe." She laughs it off.

"Since we're both ready, let's head back to the city before it starts getting dark."

"Mm." She agrees.

As much as I would like to keep hunting and camp out in the woods, I want her to rest since her HP seems to recover really slowly compared to players. Perhaps her IQ stat is low since she was an NPC? But if she keeps learning things like an AI, won't it be possible for it to grow?

Hmph! (I'm jealous of the thought but curious too). I'm not in a hurry to explore it immediately. We'll have time in future.

*** *** ***

Along the way back, I killed a couple monsters and she tried to help out, but I declined. Someone with such weak recovery ability…too risky.

"Why won't you listen to me? Just stop. Leave all the killing to me." I lament as I sit on the ground. I've hunted enough to get my M points to 759/1000. Not too far from bagging another U coin even though I can't find any high-level beasts. As for my level, it hasn't budged one bit. I guess the amount of EXP required to level up increases astronomically with each level and I can't even find an up to level 17 which is 3 whole levels below me.

"…" She doesn't answer.

"Won't answer? Fine. I'll leave you here to fight them alone. Good luck to you, young lady." I walk away.

I'm trying to feign abandoning her, but she doesn't budge.

"Quite stubborn, eh?" I mutter to myself as I keep walking without stopping, slowing down or looking back.

"Fine! Fine! Don't leave! I'll tell you!" She yells from behind.

I use my SOTD skill to come back instantly.

"Whoa." She falls back a little, but I catch her.

"Dexter quit being a baddie. You wanted to leave me in the woods. Didn't you say you were escorting me home?"

"…I was just joking ok. Come back. Ah. I wasn't actually going to leave." I hold her right hand while she's backing me.

"Fine." She finally calms down. The jump scare was probably a bit much for her.

She sits down on a tree stump. The tree was felled when I tried to slay a monster near it and missed.

"I seem to get stronger when I'm near you as you fight. I don't know why but I feel like I'll get better if I actually contribute."

"…"

"As I said. I'm not sure. I just think so. Just let me try. You saved me and I'm thankful that you're protecting a stranger like me, but I don't want to be a burden to you. If I an get stronger, I should."

I'm still speechless. Isn't that like a party sharing experience points? She's like a player. Also knows things she shouldn't like the admin. Was originally an NPC. Three in one. But I never formed a party with her. Even my status window says I'm not in a party. Can she just rob other's experience points if she's in close proximity to them whether they like it or not? Broken! Too broken! Doesn't this mean that she can just level up by following others around?