Chapter 2: I shouldn't have done that (2)

“Irina!”

「It began with my little sister, who ran out thinking Father had returned. The white dress we'd bought her as a birthday present was dyed red. At its center was a black blade that reflected not even the slightest bit of light.」

“No!”

「Next was my older brother, the head knight.

The moment he saw the blade embedded in Irina's body, he rushed out. He fell to the same blade without even getting the chance to swing his sword once.

I can still vividly remember the moment his shouting abruptly stopped and his body staggered before collapsing.」

“Arthur!”

「Mother's voice calling for my brother echoed in my ears.」

“You bastard!”

「My older sister, who had claimed the top spot among the knights of the class after my brother's, grabbed the mace leaning against the wall and charged forward.

I think there were tears in her eyes as she passed by my frozen body.

But even those were swallowed by blood—fresh blood, the crimson liquid that proved life itself.」

“Run! Hurry!”

「Mother shouted something.

Was Father's sword in her hand?

Or was it a kitchen knife?」

“I’m a Knight too!”

“No! You have to run, at least!”

“What’s going on?!”

「Father... I think Father had come too.」

“Run, hurry—!”

“You must get away too!”

「My memories after that aren't clear.

I gripped a sword.

The world turned red, then white, then black again—before finally being illuminated by a faint ray of moonlight.」

[You are a fine vessel.]

「The black blade embedded in my right arm slowly wriggled beneath my skin.

Squirm.

Squirm.

Squirm...」

[You will become a fine... vessel.]

「Ah, I pray.

For a soul capable of overcoming evil.

For a strong being who will not fall before evil.

For someone who can triumph over demons.

Please...

...Can you hear my voice?」

“Gasp!”

The moment I heard that final voice, my vision brightened, and air filled my lungs.

“Get down!”

What followed was a lively commotion, as if I had stepped into a bustling marketplace, along with a booming shout ringing right in front of me.

「□Tatara: Trading Post□」

At that moment, a dull bell rang with a clang, jolting me back to my senses.

The curtain was finally rising on the beginning of Legend of Heroes.

“Ah...”

I unconsciously clenched and unclenched my hand.

The lingering impact of the opening was simply overwhelming.

Could games these days really do this...?

Could they go beyond simply making you watch something and make it feel as though you were actually remembering it?

It had felt so vivid that I almost felt as if the emotions from that moment had been injected directly into me.

I rubbed the back of my neck for no reason.

I usually tried not to use crude language, but seriously.

Seriously, that was fucking incredible.

“Hey, you.”

Perhaps I had become a little too immersed in the lingering nostalgia and the aftertaste of how much technology had improved.

Someone's voice reached me.

Only then did I come back to my senses.

The opening cinematic was over, the window displaying the area's name had appeared earlier, and the game must have already started.

“Are you not getting down?”

After playing every kind of game imaginable, a rude tone was practically the same as being cute.

Especially if it came from someone you were only going to see once.

So instead of getting offended, I quickly looked around and assessed the situation.

People were unloading goods from a cargo wagon.

I was still sitting on top of it.

And one person was glaring at me.

At that moment, nostalgia from those days came rushing back.

The scene was identical to the original Demon Knight tutorial—except that it had changed from 2D to 3D.

It was already tugging at my nostalgia from the tutorial?

Could I even immerse myself in my Character Concept at this rate?

I already felt like crying.

I forcibly changed my train of thought.

I might fail to avoid getting overly immersed, but I absolutely couldn't cry.

Of course, the game probably didn't even render tears!

Even if I knew they wouldn't be reflected, I still had to manage my expression.

Tap.

So I carelessly climbed down from the wagon.

It wasn't because I was consciously thinking about the Official Settings and Character Concept I had created for Ran—a sharp and sensitive Temperament.

Well, that was part of it.

But more than anything, no window had appeared to tell me what to say, and it didn't seem like a situation where I needed to show any particular reaction.

It was closer to an absentminded action.

“What an unpleasant bastard.”

But after seeing what I did, the owner of the wagon—probably?—clicked his tongue and insulted me.

For a moment, I wondered if he was actually a real person.

Every beta tester had gone on and on about how incredible the interactions with NPCs were, and apparently, they hadn't been exaggerating.

“We need to raise the price...”

“Then the profit...”

“The rebels...”

“The demons...”

But the moment I got down, I realized something even more important as I looked at the scene unfolding throughout the Trading Post.

“...Did the Deep Pearls finally capture and eat some aliens?”

Those bastards from the Development Team had really done it this time.

“Are these graphics insane or what?”

The dirt road marked with wagon tracks.

The textures on the exterior walls of the buildings.

The various lighting effects.

The shadow effects...

And beyond that, the ticklish sensation of the breeze brushing against my skin, the dust floating through the air, and all kinds of smells stinging my nose.

And that wasn't all.

If you carefully examined the NPCs filling this place, not a single one had the same face or clothes.

I already thought the game looked unbelievable in the Trailer, but I had no idea the real thing would be even better.

This was truly a real Virtual Reality!

“There are this many objects, and there's not even any lag or Frame drops...? Are they insane?”

When I was downloading it, I wondered why the file size was so huge.

But apparently, it was the opposite.

Just how had they optimized it well enough to achieve these graphics with that much storage space?

Had they really ground up aliens or something?

“Crazy. This is seriously crazy...”

The Deep Pearls were truly bastards.

Were they trying to drown people in a wave of emotion until they died?

Forget whether it was legal or not—this was obviously intentional murder.

“Phew.”

I clenched my fists tightly against the overwhelming emotions pouring over me like the rising tide.

That was the best I could do.

Seriously, I could die right now without a single regret.

“Stop blocking the road and move!”

Fortunately, someone saved me from drowning in my emotions.

An NPC passing by.

I used that as my signal to slowly get my emotions under control.

I couldn't take back the things I'd already said or done, but my pride as a Roleplayer wouldn't allow me to go any further.

It was time to pull myself together and enjoy the game.

And to do that, the first thing I did was give myself a little self-suggestion.

It was a habit I always had whenever I immersed myself in a character.

All right.

From this moment on, I am a Demon Knight whose family was killed by a Demon that has taken up residence in my arm.

I am always on edge because I never know when the Demon in my arm might devour me.

I force myself to keep people at a distance because I don't know what disaster it might bring upon those around me.

I hide my inner vulnerability beneath a rough exterior, built upon a sharp and sensitive temperament.

A thoroughly ill-mannered bastard with a ridiculously high opinion of himself!

The setting I had constructed based on the Trailer, the released information, and the Official Settings settled over me like a mask.

The roleplaying had begun.

Shing.

I erased the expression from my face—of course, my game character's expression probably wouldn't change. This was simply to make immersion easier—and slung the sword I was holding onto my back.

I wondered if the blade was too long, but my body moved on its own and smoothly slid it into the scabbard.

So, what should I do now?

Normally, I would look for someone with a quest marker above their head, but no matter how much I looked around, I couldn't find anything like that.

There was no minimap function at all.

And when I opened the quest window, it was completely empty.

Then would the NPC responsible for progressing the story come find me on their own?

“Ah! Adventurer!”

At that moment, someone hurried over to me.

It was a small child who only came up to the pit of my stomach.

“Um... Adventurer... are you perhaps... the ‘Demon Knight’?”

The name that came out of the child's mouth was both the name of my class and the nickname I had chosen.

To add some extra flavor to the backstory that I had abandoned my original name after that incident, I had deliberately set it up that way.

So yes, the child was definitely calling for me.

Separately from that, I waited for a window to appear.

Normally, whether the game gave you dialogue choices or allowed free conversation, it would at least present the necessary phrase or keyword required to progress.

“Ah... are you not?”

But nothing appeared.

I was slightly flustered by that, but I decided to confirm it for now.

It was obviously related to quest progression, and I couldn't afford to miss it.

“...No. That's me.”

Considering my Character Concept, I answered in a particularly cold tone.

The child's body flinched.

Almost as if they were actually reading the room and reacting to me.

They seemed so much like a real person that I almost comforted them and told them not to be scared.

“Th-Then follow me. I'll guide you to the Adventurer's Guild.”

Wow, they really made the characters well.

Thinking that, I followed behind the little NPC as they hurried forward with quick little steps.

Step. Step.

The sound of my boots echoed over the dry dirt road.

More importantly, where exactly was the Adventurer's Guild?

Thinking that, I casually looked myself over.

I wanted to see whether my Character Customization had been properly applied.

The Cosmetic Outfit I had selected during Character Customization and received with the Deluxe Edition.

The True Zweihänder of Destruction, which I had received as a preorder bonus.

Inventory leg bags strapped around my waist and thighs.

My vision seemed completely normal, so I briefly wondered whether I was really wearing an Eyepatch.

But when I touched my face, I could definitely feel it.

The hair visible at the edge of my vision was also split into two different colors, so it seemed my appearance settings had been properly applied as well.

Perfect.

“Here it is!”

「Tatara: Adventurer's Guild」

But how long could it possibly have taken me to inspect myself?

I had already arrived at the Adventurer's Guild.

Considering what I had seen while coming here, I didn't think the city itself was particularly small.

It seemed more likely that the Trading Post and the Adventurer's Guild were simply located close together.

“Wouldn't this much suit us?”

“Did you hear? Pani's older brother went to escort a merchant caravan, and he disappeared along with the entire caravan.”

“I think there have been more disappearances lately...”

The inside of the Adventurer's Guild was extremely noisy and crowded.

A particularly large number of people were gathered around the bulletin board.

Judging by the situation, it seemed to be the mission board.

“Officer! I brought the Adventurer!”

“Ah, you've arrived?”

Anyway, the child led me to one of the counters.

The person who had been dealing with someone else immediately brightened when they saw me.

“Thank you. You can go back to your work now. And... it's a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am Izren, an officer of Tatara's Adventurer's Guild.”

The officer gave me a light bow, then sent away both the child and the person she had been assisting.

The way she smoothly redirected the remaining customer to another counter made it clear that she had done this more than once or twice.

“You are the Demon Knight, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Your appearance is distinctive enough that I was able to recognize you easily. Still, just in case, could you verify your identity with your Adventurer's Card?

There have been quite a few cases of people impersonating Adventurers lately, so unfortunately, we've made the verification procedure mandatory.”

At the same time as she spoke, a window appeared and blocked part of my vision.

「Inventory | You can activate your Inventory by putting your hand into your bag.

Think of the item you want to take out and grasp it.」

It was a tutorial explaining the basic system.

Following the instructions, I put my hand into my bag.

A related UI immediately appeared and occupied one corner of my vision.

It was a Tetris-style Inventory where each item occupied a certain number of spaces.

Seeing the weight displayed at the top, it seemed the game had adopted not only a volume system but a weight system as well.

Swish.

A slot-based system would have been nicer, but considering how amazingly well-made the game was, I couldn't really complain.

I searched through my items and took out my Adventurer's Card.

“Confirmed.”

The officer accepted the Adventurer's Card, turning it over several times as she examined it before promptly returning it.

“Welcome to Tatara, Adventurer.”

It was the kind of welcome that truly made me feel as though I was really playing Legend of Heroes.

“I know you've come a long way, but would it be all right if I guided you directly to a request? The client is in a very urgent situation.”

Hmm.

I thought she would first explain the bulletin board or teach me how to use the place, but apparently, that would come later.

Well, the system itself didn't seem all that different from the original, so I had a decent idea of how things worked.

“Lead the way.”

And this was undoubtedly another form of tutorial.

So I agreed immediately.

The officer stood up and began guiding me.

Once again, the destination wasn't particularly far away.

Mabel Trading Company.

Following the officer, I entered the building bearing that sign.

As befitting a commercial guild, several merchants were moving around inside.

It was just as noisy as the Adventurer's Guild, but the graphics were so good that I barely cared.

I barely managed to keep my wandering eyes under control as I followed behind the officer.

“Chairman, the Adventurer you requested has arrived.”

“Send him in!”

The place we entered shortly afterward was an extravagant-looking room.

Considering she had called someone the Chairman, this was probably the room belonging to the owner of the trading company.

“A one-eyed freak?”

Why were they picking a fight with me the moment they saw me?

“Your tongue lacks manners.”

I snapped back while looking over the NPCs inside the room.

I wasn't particularly expecting a reaction.

It was simply a light line that suited my Character Concept.

After all, no matter how well-made a game was, there was no way it could be designed to react to every single thing a player said.

There were simply too many possible variations, and the required storage would increase exponentially.

So naturally, I hadn't expected the NPC to respond.

Which was exactly why I had no choice but to be shocked the next moment.

The face of the person who had called me a one-eyed freak twisted horribly.

As though he had actually reacted to what I had said.

“Hmph! You're even more ill-tempered than I heard!”

“Please compose yourself, Chairman.”

“M-Mr. Adventurer, please calm down as well.”

And he hadn't merely twisted his face.

He actually spoke.

The other NPCs who hadn't been the target of my remark reacted as well.

They behaved exactly like real people.

This was starting to feel a little insane.

Deep Pearls, had they really ground up aliens to make this game?

“Are you the Demon Knight?”

“If not, then who exactly do you think I am?”

Just in case, I deliberately answered without using simple affirmative keywords such as yes, that's right, or yeah.

The game hadn't indicated any required keywords, and there had been the reaction just moments ago.

I wanted to know whether it had really been designed to respond no matter what the player said.

“Yeah. There probably aren't two people with a face as ominous as yours. And there'd be no reason for the officer to bring me the wrong person.”

Incredibly, the conversation continued.

I had doubted it, but it had really understood my obnoxious line properly!

“Chairman...”

“Sir, please...”

What the hell?!

I forcibly suppressed the excitement trying to burst out of me and glared at the people in the room with a cold expression.

There was the foul-mouthed old man—probably the Chairman.

A middle-aged man trying to calm him down.

And the officer who had accompanied me.

There weren't many of them, but that didn't matter.

The fact that three NPCs could each respond appropriately and connect their reactions like this was enough to make this game a Masterpiece Game.

“Mr. Adventurer, please try to speak a little more gently...”

Why would I?

Absolutely not.

If they were going to react this much, then what was the point of playing the game if I didn't immerse myself in my Character Concept?

That wouldn't make me a Roleplayer.

“You're trying to persuade the wrong person. Why should I?”

“Adventurer...”

“Y-You insolent...!”

Wow.

This was seriously insane.

They had programmed all of this in?

No, rather than programming every line individually, they had probably used AI to generate the dialogue automatically.

But why would they give NPCs this level of AI?

By the standards of old games, it was like giving even Village Resident #1 full voice acting.

This was amazing.

“Hmph. Your skills better not be lacking... The bastard who recommended you, I'll—”

“Sir, he's listening.”

“Let him listen! That brat is saying everything right to my face anyway!”

Ha...

If I'd known this would happen, I should've bought Deep Pearls stock.

The stock had already risen as much as it could, but after seeing the quality of this game, it wouldn't have been surprising if it went even higher.

What a shame.

“Ahem! More importantly! Let's get on with the request! Isn't that why you called the Adventurer all the way to this city in the first place?!”

The officer hurriedly brought the atmosphere in the room under control.

I wanted to act like even more of an asshole in accordance with my Character Concept, but I had already been surprised enough by now, so I decided to cooperate.

I glared at the old NPC.

“First, you know the details of the request, correct?”

Officer Izren asked me.

It was a meaningless question.

I had only just learned that I had come to this city because of a request.

There was no way I could possibly know what the request was about.

“I've heard nothing.”

“What? This...!”

I denied it in a cold tone.

The old man swallowed back a curse.

If the middle-aged man hadn't covered his mouth, he probably would have continued all the way.

“What? The Guild didn't tell you? No, more importantly, did you volunteer without even knowing what it was?”

Izren asked in surprise, but I didn't really have anything to say.

What was I supposed to do?

It wasn't like I'd wanted this.

I logged into the game, and the Pearl bastards immediately threw a job at me.

Ah, of course I have no complaints, great Deep Pearls.

I'm simply grateful that you've allowed me to play such an incredible game.

My loyalty is yours.

“So? Do you honestly believe that pathetic insects like you can put me in danger?”

Anyway, a good Roleplayer knew how to turn even something like this into an opportunity.

I continued my staring contest with the old man while acting like an arrogant bastard whose pride was absurdly high.

“Y-You...”

The old NPC muttered something under his breath.

Probably half of it was cursing me, and the other half was cursing whoever had recommended me.

From what I'd heard earlier, it seemed they had hired me because someone had recommended me.

At this point, I really wanted to meet the programmer.

First, I'd kneel before them.

Then, I'd ask whether they were actually a god.

After all, no one but a god could make a mere NPC feel this much like a real person.

Deep Pearls really were gods!