The Game World pt. 1

Two major differences

One, the expression.

I once left an NPC waiting for my answer for an entire day because I fell asleep. He still had the same emotionless expression.

Yet this brown haired man had grown impatient when I left his question for a few seconds.

Two, dialogue.

I understand the language spoken in this world, I guess it because the language will always be changed to the player's satisfaction. But I'd have to be the luckiest man because the default language was English.

Not only that, but words had to be chosen carefully to make sure the AI will be able to comply with the question or request.

If you just say anything, like if they ask "Who are you?" and you decide to say "I like pizza." The AI will not be able to register anything as an answer like that is out of its database.

This is the reason for the creation of dialogue options.

Yet I answered something truly random. Not only was he able to reply, but he even added a little sarcasm at the back.

Is this even AI?

I continued the conversation to further confirm my suspicions.

"I'm sorry, my bad, I'm a bit lost."

"Ha-ha, you could've just told me." The brown haired man smiled. "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"I'm…" I paused. I'll have to answer this important question carefully, starting from this point, what I answer will be what they will refer to me for the entirety of my time here. I opened my mouth to answer. "I'm Yohan. Yohan Rivensua. I woke up somewhere over there. I don't know where I am."

"Yohan Rivensua. That's a name I've never heard around here." He then looked at the tree. "You don't know where you are. Where are you from?"

"I don't remember."

"Were you cursed with memory loss or something?"

"I don't remember… sorry."

"Ha-ha-ha, don't worry, it's not your fault." The man transferred the ax to his left hand and stretched out his right. "My name is Terrence Pendragon."

I extended my own hand and shook Terrence's hand. His rough palms firmly gripped my hands, almost betraying his gentle expression.

After letting go, he transferred the ax to his right again. He unfastened the rope around his waist. He grabbed the object which was tied with the rope, a round object with a cap. "Excuse me, I want to have a drink, I'm tired."

"I don't mind." So it was a water bottle. This setting definitely isn't modern society, no one uses bottles like that anymore.

Terrence drank from the bottle and his eyes looked around. His eyes then looked at me up and down.

"Do you want any?" He offered.

"No thanks."

"Well then, you have good timing. I'm done here, let's go to my house first. I'm hungry, and you have to eat something too."

Terrence lifted the ax with his right hand and placed it on his shoulder. He coiled the rope around his left hand. He turned around and walked.

He glanced back and called out to me. "Come on, let's go."

"Yes! Yes."

I trotted over to catch up to his back.

____________

The path I followed Terrence on was surprisingly clean. Little to no small annoyances present. It's like someone tended to these paths every day.

If I had to nitpick, it had to be that I could still feel the tiny rocks stabbing my bare feet.

We had to take a left and a right and a 500 meter straight walk. At the end of the path there were two roads splitting left and right. We took the right path.

After that turn, there was a wood cabin. The cabin looked like any fantasy video game house design.

A wood house, with small stairs leading to a porch and into the house. The porch had fences a foot tall and a window next to the door.

The height of the house suggests it has only one floor.

To its right, there are a few stacks of logs. Did Terrence drag all the trees he chopped off here?

"Pearl! I'm home!" Terrence screamed, taking me out of my thoughts.

A moment later, the door burst open. A girl raced out from the house and jumped off the porch. The blue eyed brunette girl with long swaying hair raced along the paved path towards Terrence.

"Terrence!"

The girl buried her face in her brother's chest, she didn't even need to crouch.

Her clothing of a white one piece dress with a black apron and small dust on them tells me she was doing cleaning.

"Hey! Don't hug me, I'm all sweaty."

Terrence pulled back his right arm and lifted his left.

The girl looked at her brother and sniffed his shirt.

"You don't smell bad, so it's okay." She buried her face again.

This affectionate display for a greeting made me inwardly scowl. I didn't have someone greet me like this when I came home.

Terrence turned his head and had a wry grin on his face. His eyebrows arched upwards. "Sorry for this Mr. Yohan. This is my younger sister, Pearl."

"Oh-!" Pearl finally noticed that I'm here.

She removed herself from her brother and dusted off her clothes. She moved to the side, facing me. She stood in a respectful manner, straightened her arms downward, placed her left hand on top of her right and bowed. "I apologize for my behavior. My name is Pearl May Pendragon. Nice to meet you Mister..."

"Yohan. Yohan Rivensua."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Rivensua."

"Nice to meet you too Pearl. You can just call me Yohan." I wanted to see if she would let me be on casual terms with her.

She straightened her body and relaxed her arms at the side of her hips. She gave me a polite smile. "Yes! I'll do that Mr. Yohan."

I slightly bowed in gratitude. "Thank you for having me."

She relaxed her posture and like her brother, looked at my body from top to bottom.

When she reached my feet she lost her happy expression and became surprised. "Oh! Mr. Yohan, where are your shoes?"

Unlike her brother, she noticed - or cared to notice - my absence of footwear.

"I never had any." I looked at my feet again, now dusty and full of scratches.

Pearl looked at Terrence and punched him in his right shoulder.

"Ah!"

She very much didn't hold back.

"Terrence, did you seriously make him walk all the way here barefoot?" Pearl raised her voice at Terrence. Her eyebrows arched downwards as she glared at him.

Terrence looked at my feet and gasped.

"Pearl, I'm sorry, I didn't notice." He said, he slightly bowed at her then at me. "I'm sorry Mr. Yohan."

"It's okay, I'm used to it already."

I could've also said that the path coming here wasn't that uncomfortable. But since I was a bit irritated at their acts of affection earlier, you could call this my petty revenge.

Terrence then looked at Pearl again with a guilty expression.

"But Pearl, even if I did notice, I couldn't give him a spare."

Pearl sent another glare at Terrence.

"You didn't bring your extra?"

Terrence gulped, his face screaming that he regretted ever telling her that. His lip bobbed a bit before speaking, "...I forgot, please forgive me."

Another punch from Pearl, on the same shoulder. Terrence only moved a little but his pained face tells a different story.

"You shouldn't forget things! He had to walk barefoot on the path to get here because of you." Pearl scolded her brother.

"But I didn't know he'd come here…" Terrence rubbed his shoulder with his left hand.

I decided to mess with him, another petty revenge. "Weren't you the one who asked me to follow you?"

Terrence's face became pale with surprise. His eyes darted between me who tried my best to keep a stoic expression and Pearl who was still in scolding mode.

"Wait! I did- but wait!"

Pearl didn't give a chance to finish, she continued to berate him, this time with her right index finger raised. "What if the boots you're wearing tore? You'll be the one walking home barefoot next."

Terrence couldn't answer anything. He relaxed his shoulders and sighed in defeat.

"I… ugh… sorry. I accept whatever punishment. How about I cook lunch?"

"Too late for that, I already did. Your punishment is to wash the dishes. We have an extra plate and spoon this time around too."

"Yes ma'am." Terrence made a dry laugh. He then regained himself and looked at me. "You should go in for lunch, I'll keep this ax, wash myself and then join you."

"Come on in, Mr. Yohan, while we wait for this man here, we'll be having lunch."

"Thank you for having me." I said this the second time. As someone who rarely leaves the house, I really appreciate this, because whenever I do, I don't get treated this kindly.

Terrence walked to the left side of the house. Pearl went up the steps.

This moment of calmness reminds me that this world I'm in isn't Earth. This is an alternate world, inside a video game.

Yet the interactions and dialogue of these two, aren't like classically programmed Non-Playable Characters.

They're real… the way they act isn't like anything I've seen in a game before.

"Mr. Yohan? What's wrong?"

Pearl who stood on the porch turned her head at me. Her eyebrows and mouth had relaxed but her tone of voice easily made it sounded like she's worried.

"N-nothing." I looked down for a moment and back at her again. "I was just thinking… maybe you can drop the Mister and refer to me as just Yohan."

A lie, yet a truth as well. My request was something I always wanted.

She nodded her head and smiled.

"Sure, it won't be a problem Mr.- uh I mean, Yohan. Let's go inside, the food will get cold if we stand here too long." She beckoned me inside before turning around again.

I walked up the stairs onto the wooden porch. Some of the planks on the floor creaked, hinting the age of this house. I entered the house following Pearl's lead. She went into the dining area, which was a left turn after the entrance.

"Take a seat Yohan."

The dining area shared the same room as the kitchen. The ventilation of this place must be great because of the three windows on three faces of this cubic kitchen space.

The table was big enough for four people, yet there were only two chairs.

"Sorry, we don't usually need three chairs. I'll get one for you."

"No, no… I'll get it, where is it?"

"Just take one of the two chairs in the living room, you can't miss them."

I nodded and walked out the door.

The interior of this house reminds me of my own house. I guess what do two young siblings in the middle of nowhere need?

There are four doors, five including the kitchen doorway. One is the main entrance. The others I assume are the toilet, Terrence's room and Pearl's room.

There was one long chair, a table of the same length and a carpet in the center of the room. In the corner of the left side I'm standing, there were two

completely filled bookshelves, one facing the entrance and one facing me.

On the wall in the middle of the two doors ahead of me is a portrait… of 4 people. I can clearly see a younger Terrence and a Pearl who had shorter hair.

The other two people, a brown haired man and a black haired woman, both looking to be in their thirties.

Those must be their parents.

I don't see them anywhere… and they only prepared two chairs for the dining table… does that mean-?

"Yohan? Did you find it?"

"Ah… yes, yes! I'm coming."

Pearl's call snapped me out of my thoughts. I shook my head. I'm a stranger, I shouldn't be poking my nose in these things.

I turned my head ninety degrees to my left and saw two chairs like in the dining room laid at the corner. I moved there and picked one up, they're clean, not a single speck of dust. These must be their parents' chairs.

I turned around, and walked towards the dining room door. That's when my eye caught a gold and red scabbard hung horizontally above a window on a wall nailed sword stand.

My eyes went to the opening end of the scabbard. The red handle and the golden guard was laid on the left end of the stand. That is a damn real sword.

There's a little shape at the opening of the scabbard. I can't really make out what it was.

At that moment, someone opened the front door. It was Terrence.

He had kept the ax and only brought in the round water bottle, the leash still coiled around his left hand.

"Oh, Mr. Yohan, I thought you started eating lunch already?" Terrence said.

"Ah, I'm just getting an extra chair."

"Ha-ha, I could've just been the one to do that."

"It's okay, I wanted to do it."

He looked at my eyes and then turned his head to where I was looking.

He made a wry smile and a weak laugh.

"We don't get visitors often, but when we do, they all look at that in awe." Terrence said. I could sense longing in his voice. "That's from when I served. A very long time ago."

Terrence stayed silent for a while. The look of longing on his face never left as our eyes locked on the sword and its scabbard. "But that's all in the past now, I'm just a humble lumberjack."

"I see… thank you for your service" I replied, respecting him.

He nodded while his eyes still locked on the sword.

Served. He used to be a part of a military organization. That means there must be a bigger city on this land or something.

"Well then, you go ahead and eat with Pearl. After I wash myself I'll join you." He returned to his usual demeanor and walked towards the room on the wall that had two doors.

I spent another 5 seconds looking at the red golden sword. Being satisfied, I brought the wooden chair into the dining room, where I placed the chair next to the empty one.

"I'm sorry, I was talking with your brother." I said to Pearl. When I looked at her, she wasn't eating nor paying attention to me. She was staring at the floor.

She must be thinking of something. The expression she had outside had gone. It probably had to do about Terrence serving.

"Pearl?"

"Huh! Oh yes, I heard." Her voice sounded distant.

"He said after he washes himself he'll join. He said it's okay to start without him."

She didn't immediately reply, her eyes stared at Terrence's food. I hear her mutter, "I don't want to…"

"Come again?"

"Err… nothing. You can start if you want." She lifted her head and looked at me with a wry smile.

Pearl must've overheard our conversation just now. I don't know the exact words to say to her.

And I don't think I should say anything about something I don't know.

All I could do was respect her wishes. With that, I laid back and placed my hands on my lap, "If you won't, then I won't."

She didn't reply to me. Neither did I start anything. Despite being a customer consultant, I'm not very good at socializing.

I really wish dialogue options were with me now.

The next few minutes were spent sitting with the food in front of us getting cold. Her sullen expression slowly brightened up.

Her bright eyes had returned. I looked at her and our eyes met, she smiled.

"Thank you." Pearl said.

I nodded.

A moment later, Terrence came in.

"Hey, I thought you guys started." He said.

He wore a black short sleeved shirt and white trousers. He moved towards the chair in front of Pearl and sat down.

"We were waiting for you." Pearl said.

"Ha-ha, thanks, but won't the food get cold?" Terrence said as he fixed his posture and picked up his fork.

"I don't mind it."

"Me neither." I inserted.

"Well then, let's eat." Pearl grabbed her fork.

""Thank you for the food"" Me and Terrence said in unison.

We had a lovely meal of beef and cabbages. There isn't any rice, like I would've preferred, but beggars can't be choosers.

The entire time, there was little to no talking. The only time someone spoke was when Terrence reprimanded Pearl for her 'unladylike' table manners.

____________

After lunch, Terrence brought the dishes outside with a bucket saying he'll wash them as his punishment.

Pearl told me to just make myself at home while she cleaned the dining room and the rest of the house.

I didn't want to be obsolete. I asked what I could do to help, Pearl said she'd appreciate it if I could help get some firewood for dinner later.

That's what I'm doing right now.

I went out the front entrance and went to the left side of the house. Pearl said there's a lot of wood there.

Even at the edge of the clearing for their house, I can see firsthand that she wasn't lying.

"With this much wood lying around, I could make my own hut."

I said, grabbing another piece of arm width elbow length dry wood.

I didn't immediately add the piece to the pile. Not because I wanted to appraise it, I didn't have the skill anyway. It's because of the detail.

The sheer detail on this piece of wood made it indistinguishable to the wood in the real world.

I've said this a few times already, but it never fails to astonish me.

"Mr. Yohan?" I hear a male voice call out.

I turned my head to see Terrence walking towards me.

"Oh, hey Terrence." I greeted him. I threw the wood I'm holding on the pile. "You can just drop the Mister you know, I'm not that much older than you."

I already had Pearl just call me Yohan, there's no harm in having Terrence call me that too.

"Sure." He said. When he arrived at the place to collect, he continued, scratching his hair. "I'm kind of used to calling others respectfully since my days serving. I hope you can excuse me."

"That's okay." I said. I tried to start a conversation. "What're you doing here?"

"Collecting wood is my next chore after lunch, I guess Pearl told you to do it." He said as he picked up a piece of wood and cradled it.

"Not really, I offered. I can't stand being useless."

That's not entirely true, I can spend some days doing absolutely nothing. I guess I'm just like this because I'm a guest at someone's house.

"I can relate, everytime I relax I always feel like something's wrong." He said, his cradle almost full.

My own pile now filled just enough for me to carry them all. I lifted them and at the same time I looked at Terrence, he had filled his own arm cradle.

"Let's go back." I said.

Terrence nodded. He's carried wood all the way up to his chin.

"Are you okay?" I asked. The position he's carrying that wood is very worrying.

"I'm fine, don't worry."

It was then I realized I didn't know where to store these.

Terrence saw right through me and chuckled. "We usually keep this inside the house. That way, they won't get wet."

Terrence turned around and walked towards the entrance steps, I followed right behind him.

"Lead the way."

I had a foreboding that something is going to go wrong with him carrying those woods like that. Nothing bad happened though, he's been doing this everyday, of course he'll be fine.

Like a scripted event, my foreboding came to be. Terrence tripped on a step and two pieces of wood fell on the porch.

"You okay?" I asked. I placed my pile on the porch and picked up the ones Terrence dropped.

"I'm fine, thanks. My mind wandered somewhere."

He stood up and continued inside when he saw me holding the two pieces that fell.

He went into the dining room and placed the wood at the very left of the room adjacent to the door. I followed.

Terrence crouched down and started taking planks and neatly piling them.

"You go take your pile, I'll arrange them so they won't take too much space." He said.

I walked out the door and towards the spot I placed my pile.

However, something caught my eye.

In between the entrance and the steps, there was a yellow circular object. I crouched down and picked it up.

It was some kind of insignia.

The outer edges of the insignia were red and the inner space of them were yellow - golden, to be exact.

In the center, there was a bulging layer of a creature drawn from the bottom to the top of the circle. The blue creature looked very much like a lizard, but with bat-like wings that blended blue and white. It had four feet. Faded blue color moving downwards. At the bottom, the colors become pure white. Its body had scales from top to bottom, all with the perfect blend of a snow blue and white.

"A dragon." I said aloud, astonished.

If I rotate the object, making the dragon horizontal, I can see writing following the edges.

[Country of Lorpheus.]

"Lorpheus." I said to myself. That must be the name of the land I'm in. I never thought I'd need a map more than now, I need to see which part of this world I am in.

It was then I noticed another writing at the opposite end of this one. I turned the coin one hundred and eighty degrees to read the other scribbling.

[Majestic Knighthood.]

Reading that, I can confidently say what this object is.

A badge.

I rubbed my finger on the letters and the dragon just to feel its layers. The amount of work put into this badge is phenomenal. And to think this is all in a programmed world.

"What's this?" I said aloud, behind the object there was another bulging layer as well.

I turned the badge around and saw a name etched horizontally from one end to another.

[Terrence Pendragon.]

There's no mistaking it, this was Terrence's badge when he served.

I wanted to observe it more but I heard footsteps on the wood floor from behind me.

"What's that?" Terrence's voice called out.

I should return this, it isn't mine.

"I found this on the porch." I explained. I turned around, having the object full display on my palm. "It's… really detailed."

Terrence saw it and opened his mouth. "Ah… that's mine. I must've dropped it earlier."

"I'm sorry, here." I extended my hand.

"No, it's okay." Terrence shook his head. He reached for the object and grabbed it.

He didn't immediately store it. Instead, he stared at it with the same longing eyes from earlier. "You must be thinking 'why is someone not in the army still holding onto something like this?'"

That is the truth, I wanted to know. But I was never comfortable with topics like this, nor was my socializing skills enough to know what to say without offending him.

Terrence must've taken my silence as a yes, because he continued, "Honestly, I don't know what to tell you."

My lips bobbed a bit, I've always wanted to be better with people, but how could I, If I never tried?

I have to face the fact that there are no dialogue options to help me. I thought of the best words I could, and opened my mouth, "Does it mean a lot to you?"

"More or less."

"Do you want to serve again?"

"I… no…" He stuttered. I inwardly jumped, did I say something I wasn't supposed to? He looked at me, and continued with a smile, "If I go, no one's going to take care of Pearl."

I couldn't say anything to that.

A desire held back by circumstances. It's a topic that I can resonate deeply with.

"I'm sorry for asking." I apologized. I wouldn't want people putting their noses in my affairs. So a way of mine is to assume people think the way I think on topics.

"Don't be, it's nice to have someone to talk to." Terrence laughed and placed the badge inside his pocket. He turned his body and continued, "Let's go in, I'll be making dinner tonight."

I let out a breath of relief, my anxiety shot through the roof.

I commend him. If our positions were switched, I… I don't think I'll be able to respond the way he did.

This reminded me once again.

They aren't just simple AI. They don't answer in accordance with the set of dialogue options, nor do they act like simple AI either. They talk, act, look and feel like real people.

I'm not taking control of a character. Inside this world, I'm me, the appearance is still Yohan Rivensua. All the words that come out of my mouth are of my own mind.

I looked up, towards the cloudy sky, indistinguishable from Earth's.

"What is this place, nahut?" I mumbled to the unseen creator.

No answer, expectedly.

I shrugged, lifted the pile of wood I set down earlier and followed Terrence back into the house.