Chapter 11

Chapter 11

And just as the Black Spades were gearing up to cause trouble for Lann.

Trouble had already found its way to him.

Lann silently watched as the NPC-searching post on the forum rapidly gained replies, a sense of foreboding growing within him.

The subsequent noise outside turned that foreboding into reality.

His psychology clinic was now completely surrounded by players.

Ogler’s intimidating appearance might deter passersby, but it certainly didn’t scare the players. On the contrary, some of them gathered around him, trying to find a task to do, but Ogler ignored them. Once the players arrived, he packed up his drawing tools and sat motionless at the door like a silent statue.

Lann felt relieved that Ogler was with him; otherwise, the players might have just barged in.

Yet seeing Ogler alone and surrounded by players was a pitiable sight. Lann had no choice but to step outside, and as he did, the players, who had been eagerly waiting with their cameras on, let out excited cheers.

"He's here! He's here!"

"Wait, wait, wait, don't push."

"Wahhh, I finally get to meet the wife of my destiny."

"You all said you wouldn't come, yet here you are, packed like sardines. Bunch of schemers!"

Lann was surrounded so tightly that he began to regret his decision, especially as he noticed passersby on the street casting strange glances their way.

Not only that, but for some reason, the oddities from the streets also started moving towards them.

Was it because of the crowd gathering, attracting them?

"I think it's better if you all leave now."

But his voice was too faint, drowned out by the players' loud shouts and screams.

Lann watched as the oddities on the street drew closer, his smile growing more and more strained.

A player at the outer edge, recording him, shuddered and muttered in confusion, "Why do I suddenly feel cold?"

"What? You feel cold in the game?"

"I set my realism high," the player shrugged, about to continue filming the NPC, when he inexplicably felt a chill.

Meanwhile, the system notification sound began to frantically refresh in his mind.

[Inspiration Check: Successful]

[Intelligence Check: Failed]

[You sense a change in the air at the scene, but you're not sure what exactly is happening. One thought crosses your mind: perhaps it's wise to leave this place soon.]

The noisy crowd of players gradually quieted down.

Clearly, it wasn't just one player who received this notification. Since this game primarily focuses on role-playing, most players had set their inspiration attribute high, so more than one person received this prompt.

Consequently, the players on the scene fell silent. Regardless of whether their inspiration and intelligence checks passed or failed, they all felt a strange shiver, as if something had just drifted past them.

They finally noticed that Lann, who had until now maintained a pleasant facade, suddenly wore a cold expression. He glanced at them icily, then turned, pulling Ogler with him into the therapy clinic and shut the door behind them.

Throughout this entire sequence, not a single player dared to move. That chilling glance, combined with the continuous [Inspiration Check] notifications from the system, wisely silenced them.

They then remembered.

Although the forum often joked about NPC's favorability settings, dubbing it a "romance spiral," Lann was not a typical dateable character from a regular game.

An aura of mystery surrounded him.

He made ghosts and goblins fight.

An elder god? An ancient one?

No one knew his true nature, but one thing was certain – he wasn’t any ordinary NPC.

But then again, how to describe him…

"Did you see that? That look just now."

"Lann seemed angry just then."

"Yeah, maybe we annoyed him with our large crowd."

"No, I just want to say," one player's face flushed with excitement, "I'm even more thrilled now!"

"Damn, there's a real psycho here!"

……

"Mad is so terrifying, I almost couldn't hold it together."

Noticing the oddities passing through the bodies of the players and heading their way, Lann became extremely uneasy and hurriedly pulled Ogler back inside to close the door.

He watched the door for a while, ensuring the oddities wouldn't break through, before gradually relaxing.

As for the players outside... they could stay as long as they liked.

"Ogler, are you okay? Did you get hurt just now? Sorry, I had put some ads out in a few places, but I didn't expect them to go crazy like this."

"No," Ogler shook his head, speaking softly, "I'll just stay here. It’s safer with two of us. Are you still open for business today?"

"If these people could understand the meaning of courtesy, I suppose so," Lann sighed. Being short on funds was demoralizing. He needed money to move out soon, and for now, his hopes were pinned on these players.

He hoped they would quickly realize he was just a standard functional NPC. They were welcome to take pictures, but please enter as regular patients!

At the moment, the crowd outside had gradually dispersed. The players were merely curious, and most weren't fanatics. After a strong bout of NPC-watching, they too began to leave, leaving only a few undeterred players lingering near the clinic.

They were unwilling to leave just yet but wary of the death penalty, so they hesitated to enter, creating a stalemate.

By the time Druid arrived breathlessly, he saw a group of players gathered outside Lain's psychotherapy room.

One eagle-eyed player recognized Druid's ID and greeted him: "Hey, Druid, why are you so late?"

"I went to the hospital earlier, but it was a wasted trip," Druid said with an awkward expression. "Then I saw on the forum that Lain was here."

"Then you're really late," said the player [Black Cat]. "Lain just went in, and he doesn’t seem to like noisy environments."

After saying this, he excitedly recounted what had just happened. When Druid heard that the players had to pass a sanity check as Lain’s smile disappeared, he felt nervous for them: "You guys are bold, guessing Lain’s not an ordinary character, yet still crowding around him."

"It's because of the game's affection system," shrugged Black Cat. "You know, ever since your video went viral, some have been trying to start a 'love circle' in this game. They need to understand that tabletop RPGs aren’t gal games!"

"Pfft," laughed Druid, patting his friend’s shoulder with a meaningful smile, "Don’t worry, once they experience 'dead couples' and 'throwing knives', they’ll realize that forming love circles in RPGs isn't a good idea."

You see, 'throwing knives' is the essence of tabletop RPGs. Who hasn't lost a couple, a close friend, or a teammate in an RPG instance? That's what makes a true investigator.

"You have a point," nodded the player, looking with a tinge of pity at the newbies still lingering around hopelessly.

Veteran RPG players know not to get too attached to NPCs; it only leads to heartbreak, but every year newbies naively fall into this trap.

"I get why others are still here, but why are you?" Druid asked curiously. "You're not waiting for me, are you?"

"Wait for you? Why would I?" Black Cat rolled his eyes. "I want to see if I can get a mission from Lain. You know how hard it is to find tasks in this game. Wandering aimlessly around the city is inefficient. So far, only that troublemaker on the forum has received a mission, and it was from Lain, so I want to give it a try."

After saying this, he fell into thought: "And don’t you think the game's biggest flaw is obvious? Players have to find their own entry points to events. While the freedom and realism are great, it makes players wander aimlessly."

"So I suspect, in the next phase of the beta test, they'll fix this bug. Maybe players will join a stable organization that gets us involved in weird events, or there'll be guide NPCs to lead players into RPG instances."

"You think Lain is that kind of NPC?" Druid understood his point.

"Hmm," the player nodded. "He's the most likely candidate. Although the forum's current speculation leans towards him being an Old God or a malevolent deity, who says such beings must always be against us?"

"Then why don't you go in and try?"

"Well... I've been waiting here for an hour with my character card, it feels a bit risky. I'm waiting for the right moment."

Seeing his friend's gaze on him, Druid silently rolled his eyes and then stepped forward to knock on the door.

The players gathered outside instantly looked at him as if he were a brave warrior.

"You're not worried about your character card?"

Druid proudly said, "Just watch."

Soon, the door of the therapy clinic opened from inside. Lann stood at the doorway, revealing only a crack, so those outside couldn't clearly see his expression, but felt he must be quite indifferent.

But in fact, Lann was sneakily checking whether the oddities had left.

Druid swallowed hard, stepped forward, and hurriedly said, "Hello, I'm Druid's twin brother. I went to the hospital earlier but couldn't find my brother."

He was gambling, really, his story full of holes, relying mainly on his face, which was almost identical to his previous character card.

Lann snapped back to reality, glanced indifferently at Druid, and said, "Come in."

Excitedly about to step inside, Druid was suddenly grabbed by the arm. His gaming friend looked at him with a pitiful expression.

Druid coughed and asked, "Can I bring someone with me?"

"Yes."

Druid immediately pulled his friend along to follow Lann inside.

The remaining players outside immediately erupted in commotion.

……

"Your name?"

"Andrew Druid," Druid was well-prepared and began explaining without waiting for Lann to ask, "I'm looking for my twin brother. Have you seen him? He looks exactly like me."

"Druid's new character card looks almost identical to his previous one, and he even set it up as a relative. This is a neat trick in campaign gaming; after the death of a previous character, a relative or friend can inherit their assets and continue the investigation."

"If a module spans a significant time, it’s even possible to play through several generations in a single campaign."

"Moreover, the official settings allow for a chance to inherit NPC favorability, which is why Druid dares to approach Lann so eagerly."

"Of course, the 'white moonlight' in forum posts is just a joke. He knows he's not quite there yet. He's just hoping his previous character left a lasting impression on this mysterious NPC to continue building favorability."

"Unfortunately, he doesn't know that Lann can also access the player forums and has seen his posts."

Lann looked at Druid with a half-smile, not minding playing along for a bit: "I have indeed seen him, but sadly, he's already dead."

"Dead? No, I don't believe it!" Druid pretended to be in agony, clutching his head and wailing, managing to squeeze out a few non-existent tears, "Please tell me what happened! I must uncover the truth!"

Black Cat, following him, shuddered, immediately understanding the correct approach and quickly started recording.

"Well done, Druid! That's the true spirit of role-playing. We're about to enter the background introduction for the instance!"

"This is not for you to investigate," Lann shook his head, "at least not now."

Lann somewhat remembered that hospital instance – a high-level module that wiped out many investigative teams. It required investigators initially involved in the mystical side to clear, making it a challenging early-stage instance.

"Then when can I investigate?"

"…" Seeing the excitement in the player beside him, Lann had a sudden inspiration, "When I think you're ready. Until then, I'll have you do some things. Of course, you can choose not to accept..."

Before Lann could finish, Druid eagerly interrupted, "I accept!"

Having just spoken, he met Lann's half-smiling gaze and his voice deepened, his face filled with sorrow, "I accept."

"Good, then wait for my notification. And if you encounter anything unsettling in mysterious events or have any psychological issues, you can come to me," Lann shrugged, "After all, this is a therapy clinic."

Druid's eyes lit up, exchanging a look with Black Cat, he asked:

"Can others come too?"

Satisfied with Druid's response, Lann's lips curled slightly: "Of course. For now, my clinic isn't members-only. Everyone is welcome to make an appointment... as long as they understand how to queue."

Lann glanced at the time and once again ushered them out: "You can leave now."

Druid reluctantly walked to the door, looking back every three steps, finally pausing at the threshold.

He asked, "Can I ask one last question?"

Seeing Lann nod, Druid swallowed and asked, "Druid, my twin brother, what was your relationship with him?"

His gaming friend's eyes widened in shock. That's pretty bold, buddy.

He couldn't really be brainwashed by that forum post, could he? Wake up, the other party is...

"I only met him once," Lann replied.

Well, that makes sense...

"However," Lann’s lips curled slightly, "if it wasn't for him, I might not have been able to leave the hospital."

He was well aware of the various theories and suspicions about his identity being discussed on the player forums. Indeed, if the so-called elder god identity was confirmed, it might work in his favor.

But for Lann, that bizarre night was a misunderstanding that marked the beginning of his courage to face this world anew.

To him, it was exceptionally significant.

Therefore, he didn't want to lie.