Everyone just stared at me when I asked the question. Blank looks, the kind that come when people think you’ve gone mad, or at least veered off track. I sighed and decided to spell it out, of course these neanderthals would have no idea what yours truly was talking about.
"Look, uh, I assume half of you know how the game works by now if you’re over level 20 and had talked to NPC outside of Beginning City."
I began, gesturing with the half-empty mug still in my hand.
"There are an abundance of NPCs that only react client-side, especially in the early towns. Y’all probably noticed it but just couldn’t quite put a finger or a term on it, hell, every NPC in Beginning City falls into that category. They don’t have a purpose, can’t be hurt, can’t hurt you, only there to give one line of dialogue to every player when they approached ’em. Unlike the well-coded and AI-incorporated NPC that you build a relationship with."
I let the words hang, waiting for someone to follow, but the silence pressed harder, so I kept going... They probably haven’t read Chapter 9.
God, this felt like that time I took a pedagogy class for funsies and didn’t realize my uni wanted us to stand in a mock class for our finals. That’s one of the stepping stones of how I knew I was going to be a shut-in loser.
I digress, exposition-dumping even further.
"This dungeon that the party went to, the mineshaft, it’s supposed to be around level thirty-ish in difficulty, right?"
I looked at the 9 of them for confirmation, they nodded,
"That’s right, but where are you getting at?"
"Which means, and to dumb it down, the NPC you all met could be one of two things: either a basic client-side quest-giver, the kind that reacts to whoever triggers them individually, or a normal NPC, the kind that speaks out loud to everyone nearby, an NPC that feels, well... alive and real. "
I cleared my throat, continuing:
"It matters which one it is, because if it was a client-side NPC, then it’s possible both stories are technically true. Maybe Olga saw him act differently than the rest of you did. Maybe she thought he attacked her."
"But let me remind you what we’ve, or I’ve, already established: client-side NPCs can’t actually interact with players in any meaningful way. They’re just dialogue boxes with legs, so that whole theory is absurd.. No moron would code for a client-side NPC to attack only one person. And yet here we are." I took another drink, swishing the liquid over my tongue before swallowing.
God, the gas build up from all these drinks is incentivising me to release ’em, but farting right now would be detrimental to my lawyering career.
Olga shook her head firmly, her greatsword leaning beside her chair.
"It was a normal NPC, I think I am sure of that. Because I remembered another member of the party walking up to him first, and we all heard him speak at the same time, something about "adventures, please help me". Nobody had to interact individually to get a reaction."
Pearl looked at the the 8 others, "Is that true?"
"In other words," I said, leaning forward with, "A normal NPC, which means you all saw the exact same thing, no excuses. One of you is lying, and it sure ain’t my precious Hailie, so I’m looking at you, EricDoss or whatever."
"No favoritism please, CJS69Real." Pearl said, pausing his stare at me for a second, "If we think that you’re showing incompotence to follow procedure, we have the rights to revoke your vote on the matter. You are but one of the jury members, just with more contexts of the situation."
"So anyways, like I asked..." I put the mug down on the table and repeated my question with sharper clarity. "How are you sure it was an NPC at all? Did you get a quest marker popping up? Something in your tab window? A new quest added notification?"
Pearl turned to me, his voice calm but curious, and from what I’ve seen, a bit doubtful anxiety broke through to him.
"... What exactly are you implying?"
"That maybe," I said slowly, enjoying the ripple of unease spreading through the group, oh dang, the spotlight, the attention, marvelous, "It wasn’t an NPC, I’m implying that maybe, it was a player."
"But by who, and why?"
"This is the first time I’ve seen this much women in one place by the way."
"Did someone leak the party’s dungeon assault?"
"But didn’t they plan that attack on the fly? I thought they just sat down and pick a random dungeon, no way someone could’ve known and prepared that fast."
With a lot of skepticism going around, I shrugged.
"Well, settle down, ladies. We’re not sure if my theory’s true yet," I coughed, "Olga, Hailie, and 7 others that I didn’t care to learn the name or username of, despite being in the same guild and I can check easily by just opening up the minimap... Ahem, tell me... When that NPC asked you guys to escort him, did any UI notification from the system indicated a quest was offered or initiated?"
"You’re antagonizing yourself, CJS69Real." Olga turned to me with a lowered voice, half-concerned.
"You’re standing on trial for a serial murder, so yeah, I think I know who’s being stoned first if we’re getting pitchforked." I replied.
"She’s right." Pearl said, "You guys start first, did you or did you not see any indication that a quest was offered to you?"
"Answer it guys, otherwise I’ll get bored and drink everything your guild have behind this bar." I chuckled.
The seven survivors from the other side started shouting over one another, tossing out fragments of arguments and half-formed protests.
"Yes, I saw the quest."
"No, I didn’t see it, wait, ah? Maybe I did."
"I swear it popped up but then disappeared, ahem..." For more chapters visit nοvelfire.net
"Mine lagged, could’ve been-"
"Shut up, it was there, I know it."
Voices tangled together until the whole chamber sounded like a tavern brawl, and I just sat back, sipping my drink and watching the chaos unravel.