The Badlands

For the first part of their journey Aiden and Levi sat quietly opposite each other. Although Aiden's face had gotten thinner due to the food shortage, Levi could see that he still had his unusual red hair with his bright red eyes that Levi had always admired.

He was so perfect that it almost made Levi angry. He had the people's love, his father's influence, his good looks, and even Elsa's attention but that wasn't the worst part the fact that he was also so nice made Levi even more pissed off. 

'how does anyone compete with that?' Levi wondered

"Excuse my manners, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Aiden "

Levi considered not answering but he wasn't that petty

"You can call me Levi" 

'Why exactly did it have to be Aiden who had this quest' Levi wondered. He recalled Blue had said he was the only NPC that could trigger the S-grade quest. Was he simply just chosen by the game?

'if this game had a main character it would be this guy' 

"I was wondering How you found out the land was cursed?" Levi asked

"It's actually a long story, as a child I was bullied because of my weird look so I got used…."

The rest of the words were simply just mumbling, as Levi was too busy wondering if good-looking people also got bullied. He couldn't believe there was anyone in Lowdan, other than him, who didn't like Aiden. Imagine this good-looking bastard calling his looks weird.

"....That's when the wind told me" Aiden ended his speech

'huh!? What does he mean the wind told him? Is he crazy? … I didn't hear a single thing he said'

"I hope I didn't bore you with my story," Aiden asked with a hint of concern

"No, no you didn't" Levi responded, while he was still stuck trying to figure out what Aiden had said.

"Thank goodness… I hate to admit it but I wouldn't be of much help fighting monsters but I swear to help any way I can" Aiden said

Levi was confused by his words "If you can't fight, then why did you come with me?"

"To help in any way possible, one doesn't always win fights by fighting" Aiden replied with his ever so calm voice, staring into the horizon

Levi tried to make sense of what he had just heard "Are you just trying to sound smart? It's literally called a fight for a reason" 

Aiden didn't respond and just continued staring profoundly into the horizon.

At this time Levi had started suspecting Aiden was crazy

[Master I don't think this S-grade quest required you to protect anyone, all that is required of you is the Sapphire stone]

"If I'm not meant to protect him then why'd they let him come on the quest?" 

[It's weird but I don't think he is even supposed to join us on this quest]

"I agree… but that's just how the game works, it's not like he has a choice" 

[That's the thing, it's possible that it's not part of his program. I can tell that he's meant to give the quest but the program didn't say he'll be part of the quest]

"Are you trying to say he's acting on his own free will?" 

[I can't confirm that but it is an actual possibility]

An NPC acting against its code just like him. It might only be a possibility but it made Levi optimistic. He had always hated the idea that the NPCs have no control over their choices.

If what Blue had said was the truth then Aiden chose to travel to the Badlands by himself. He was brave enough to do what he truly wanted, something Levi couldn't do when he was an NPC.

Although Levi had no idea why Aiden joined him on this journey, he silently vowed to protect him with everything he had.

"We are here" the old Man announced as the wagon came to a halt.

They had arrived at Ladiel, Levi paid the old man and then headed for the Pathway with Aiden closely trailing behind him. 

Although this Pathway was different, it was guarded by the special guards with the silver armor and a golden insignia.

He handed them the token and called out "the badlands" before crossing through.

As he stepped out of the portal, the air got colder and his breath formed misty clouds. He watched as a drop of snow landed on his shoulder.

<Welcome to The First Village>

The ground was covered with snow and so was the roof of all the wooden houses around.

The few villagers he saw all wore thick animal fur to combat the cold 

The Pathway in this village was at the foot of a giant monkey-like statue that stood at the entrance of the village, covered with snow. This time there was no one guarding the Pathway, making Levi consider that the Pathways in the badlands were free to use.

"It's really cold" Aiden voiced after he could no longer bear the cold. 

He was shivering and intensely rubbing his palms to generate heat. For the players, the cold was regulated for their safety but the NPC had no such privileges. 

If left in this cold weather with the light clothes Aiden had on he could possibly freeze to death. So Levi decided to get him some thick clothes made from animal fur.

As they entered the village they walked past a group of warriors, who just awkwardly watched them walk by.

It wasn't hard to find a shop that sold coats since this village had more shops tailored to the needs of NPCs. This was unusual because, being one of the few villages in the Badlands it was probably frequented by warriors but yet It had no item shops or stash houses, just a small potion store.

"Blue, why are there no shops in this village?"

[Because the first village is poor in resources, the villagers here give very few quests and they reward warriors with class advancement, Titles, and high XP instead of gold. So most players don't stay here for long]

"Is this how all the villages in the Badlands are?"

[I believe it's only the first village that has this privilege because it's the final village before the mountains. Coincidentally, it was also the first village the Eternalblue programmed during the creation of the game]

All this while Aiden who is now wearing a grey fur coat, was trailing behind him like a puppy. Without the cold to worry about he couldn't help but excitedly bask in the allure of the new scenery.

He was very much interested in the First Village and he couldn't hide it, he randomly waved and smiled at villagers, and at times they'd wave back. If only Levi wasn't hurriedly leaving the village.

By the time they got close to the entrance, the group of warriors they had earlier seen approached them.

"And what sort of match-up is this? A noob and an NPC, I wonder how that happened" The warrior that looked like the leader asked 

They must have figured out he was a new player because of his sprite.

Levi was startled at first but regained his composure. He had only a little over two hours left online so he couldn't waste any second of his time.

'They could be Anti-players so I'll have to be careful' Levi reasoned.

"It's my quest, to protect this Villager. Now if you'll excuse me," Levi replied before attempting to walk past the warriors.

the warrior stretched out his arm bringing Levi to a halt "Look, it just so happens that we need another member to our party and I wouldn't mind taking a newbie under my wings" 

Levi calmly replied "Thank you for the invitation but as you can see I'm already on a quest" 

"That's not going to be an issue, you'll just have to kill the NPC and the quest will end. Afterall you are both going to die out there without any help" 

Levi turned to see Aiden cowering behind him, He heaved a heavy sigh. He could either kill Aiden or risk fighting all these warriors. 

For him, there was actually only one option there. He wasn't going to turn into one of these warriors with no regard for any life. He'd rather take his chance at fighting the warriors than take the life of one innocent Villager.

"That would mean I'll fail my quest and I don't want to do that" Levi sneered as he firmly gripped his axe preparing for the worst.