NPC Function Test

The Last Dragonborn turned his head and saw a little girl who only came up to his waist.

She wore patched pale-yellow burlap commoner's clothes and looked up at him with curiosity mixed with pity.

Me? A refugee?

The elf looked at the clothes he wore, which were no different from those of the other commoners, utterly bewildered.

Just as he was about to ask, a sturdy woman in a checkered burlap dress, carrying a basket on her arm, grabbed the girl's hand. After shooting the Last Dragonborn a wary look, she quickly pulled the girl away.

Thanks to the elf's enhanced hearing, the Last Dragonborn vaguely caught the woman lecturing the girl as they walked away.

"Stay away from outsiders like that. They'll use magic to kidnap you, then sell your soul to demons!"

"Mom, do outsiders have demons too?"

"Maybe country demons..."

Was this some kind of special scenario? After being interrupted by the two of them, the Last Dragonborn finally noticed the strange looks from the surrounding "NPCs."

Because of his string of foolish actions just now, the passersby were looking at him like he was some bumpkin fresh out of the countryside.

Under the scrutiny of people staring at him as though he were some rare animal, and recalling the special note about NPC intelligence in the "Game Guide," the Last Dragonborn's fair elven face flushed bright red. He nearly fled the scene.

This entire scene fell into the eyes of a young master and servant standing some distance away.

"That was... a player?"

Anvis stared fixedly at the hooded figure's retreating back, his ocean-blue eyes slightly dazed.

To better maintain his persona, he had come to Carlras City in casual clothes this time, originally intending to buy Fiona a birthday gift.

Although the family crisis would descend several decades from now, there was no use in rushing.

He had yet to grow strong enough to leave the castle, and none of the major events from his memories were anywhere close to happening.

The only thing he needed to do now was maintain the outward appearance of an ordinary noble descendant and avoid letting the visible and invisible eyes around him discover anything unusual about him.

As a member of the Olyvendi Family, he was always bound to attract a great deal of extra attention.

But he had never expected to witness something so shocking.

Just now, floating before that figure, was the game interface he had known so well in his previous life!

His personal maid, Erica, stood behind and to his side. At the moment, she had also taken off her specially tailored maid uniform and changed into a light fitted dress with ruffles.

The light-brown bodice set off her white underskirt and blouse. Her pink curls, no longer restrained by a headband, fell naturally to her shoulders, making her look full of vitality.

After he turned one, the Duchess had arranged for her to serve as his personal maid, responsible for taking care of Anvis.

As a noble, even when going out in casual clothes, he had to have a servant accompanying him.

"Anvis, Your Excellency?"

The pink-haired little maid looked around somewhat helplessly and softly reminded him.

They stood not far from the city gate district, where there were clearly more refugees of all kinds. Because their clothing was obviously finer than that of ordinary citizens, ill-intentioned gazes had already begun to fall upon them.

Unlike the veteran thieves who had long made their living locally and knew exactly whom they could rob and whom they absolutely could not touch, these people, who had fled their hometowns for various reasons and were usually penniless, were capable of anything.

Though they were traveling in casual clothes, the Olyvendi Family's so-called "casual wear" was still quite luxurious.

After all, casual wear was only casual in comparison to formal attire.

"Erica, did you see that glowing panel floating in front of that elf just now?"

Anvis noticed the hostile gazes around them as well, but he did not care in the slightest.

Though Erica was the only one accompanying him openly, high-level family guards were undoubtedly following and protecting him in secret. If any refugee was foolish enough to make a move against him, the consequences would be very severe.

"A glowing panel?"

Erica froze at the question, then shook her head in confusion while instinctively tugging at the collar ruffles that made her uncomfortable.

"I didn't see anything glowing, Anvis, Your Excellency."

Anvis's gaze flickered. He nodded in understanding; he had only wanted to confirm it one last time.

"Nothing. You saw that person, right? Follow him."

Anvis's reasoning was clear.

Since he had now become an "NPC," he needed to figure out the specific abilities that came with being an NPC.

For example—issuing quests.

The Last Dragonborn ran all the way to another district before finally stopping to catch his breath.

Having left the main road, there were far fewer pedestrians around. Several commoners lounged against the walls of roadside buildings, while only a passing guard gave him a suspicious glance.

"Damn it, is this game really that realistic?"

Patting off dust that did not exist, the elf felt rather helpless.

Everything had happened so suddenly that he had not even had time to read the beginner's guide.

Moreover, compared to this enormous world, there were far too few closed-beta slots. As he ran here, all he had seen were NPCs, making it feel like he was playing a single-player game.

After logging off, he should contact those guys from the Club and see if there was a chance to form a team for exploration.

"Hello, traveler from afar."

Just as Elf was about to continue checking the system's functions, a beautiful young voice rang out beside him. Its tone carried a strange, elegant charm, interrupting him once again.

Last Dragonborn turned around and saw a handsome youth with gentle features and pale skin, as though he had stepped out of the garden of the Gods.

His brilliant light-gold hair fell to his ears, while his deep azure eyes brimmed with mystery. He wore an elegant white outfit with a capelet, and an exquisite silver tome hung at his waist from a chain of star-like links.

Faced with Elf's probing gaze, the youth responded with a polite, gentle smile.

A pink-haired girl stood slightly behind and to the side of the youth. Dressed in a light brown skirt outfit, her pink eyes held a faint wariness, and she subtly treated the youth as the leader.

"May I ask what you need?"

This time, he reacted in time. Answering cautiously, he immediately cast Detect on the youth.

Detect was a built-in Player Panel function. It consumed nothing and had no cooldown, allowing Players to view an NPC's name and information. However, if the level Gap exceeded five levels, the detected information would be randomly incomplete.

Furthermore, if the difference in strength between a Player and an NPC was too great, Detect would fail—and there was a chance of being noticed.

Name: Anvis (Green Name)

Level: ?

Attributes: ?

Identity: A noble youth traveling incognito

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Challenge Rating: ?

A Green Name indicated that an NPC's alignment was friendly. There were also Yellow Names for neutral NPCs and Red Names for hostile ones.

Challenge Rating represented an NPC's actual combat power. Due to differing templates, some NPCs possessed actual combat strength far beyond NPCs and Players of the same level. This portion of their strength would be reflected in their Challenge Rating.

A noble traveling incognito? I smell the sweet scent of a hidden quest! Elf secretly rejoiced.

So what if NPCs are intelligent? I have a Panel—do you?

So this is what my information looks like. What a pity it isn't complete. This batch of Players is really pathetic.

Anvis watched the Panel together with Last Dragonborn with great interest, finding it incredibly novel.

Although the text appeared reversed in his eyes, Anvis could still read it normally thanks to the powerful Spiritual Power of this body in his current life.

"I noticed your 'interesting' behavior just now. You're an Outlander, aren't you? How about becoming my servant?"

System Notification: Anvis has invited you to become his follower. Accept?

Yes No

An NPC is recruiting me as his servant?

Elf's smile stiffened slightly. However, from the corner of his eye, he noticed that the girl behind the youth looked momentarily startled upon hearing those words, as if she wanted to stop him but did not dare speak.

That single instant of changing expression was enough to crush every other game! Really! These NPCs did not resemble NPCs at all—they were practically like real people acting the part! While Elf was stunned, Anvis secretly frowned.

Because of his invitation to Elf, some of the gazes watching him from nearby had become noticeably more obvious.