A Confession from an Orphan Player

[Congratulations! You have learned the second phrase of the Power Language: Lo (Balance)!]

[Effect: Unleashes a more powerful sonic shockwave, knocking back enemies over a wide area and briefly stunning them.]

"Lo?!" Su Li's two Soulfires flared.

"I'm already at the second phrase? This happiness came way too suddenly!"

In Elder Scrolls 5, you had to go through that tedious Greybeards quest to learn all three phrases.

But in this world, I could just get them for free?

"Sure enough, good-looking people are always lucky. Even as a skeleton, I'm still the most handsome one around."

Su Li eagerly opened his character panel.

[Race: Revered Corrupted Skeleton Soldier]

[Level: Lv8]

[Strength: 45, Agility: 18, Constitution: 39, Spirit: 41, Faith: 6]

[Classes: Swordsman (Lv2), Dragonborn (Special), Valkyrie (Special), Blacksmith (Special)]

Looking at his stats, which barely had any weaknesses, Su Li nodded with satisfaction.

"I've got durability and damage output. I'm basically the legendary all-rounder build!"

After admiring himself, Su Li turned to look at the Light Cocoon.

[Time until evolution is complete: 06:00]

"Six more minutes? That's way too slow." Su Li sat down on the ground, bored.

"I've got nothing better to do. I might as well check on the human players still running around in diapers and see how they're developing."

As soon as he opened the interface, the private-message icon in the top-right corner started flashing like crazy. Su Li tapped it—and, sure enough, every message was from the same person!

[ Pansi Dawang (Lv6): Big Boss! Big Boss! I've finished evolving!]

[ Pansi Dawang (Lv6): I've turned into a Phantom Dream Weaver! It's so cool! I have eight legs, and each one can spin a different kind of web!]

[ Pansi Dawang (Lv6): Big Boss, why aren't you answering me QAQ? Do you hate me because I'm a spider?]

[ Pansi Dawang (Lv6): Big Boss, Big Boss, I'm level six! Pretty impressive, right? Am I one step closer to catching up with you?]

[ Pansi Dawang (Lv6): Big Boss, say something...]

Looking at the long string of messages, Su Li's eye twitched.

"Why is this kid so talkative?"

Before he could think of how to reply, another private message popped up.

[ Pansi Dawang (Lv6): Big Boss, Big Boss, I made a group chat. Remember to accept the invite! Us monster players have to stick together!]

Right after that, a system invitation appeared.

[Player "Pansi Dawang" has invited you to join the group chat "Otherworldly Non-Human Group." Accept?]

"..."

Su Li's mouth twitched as he looked at the group's painfully chuuni name.

"Otherworldly Non-Human Group? That's a pretty weird name, but it does fit the situation."

Su Li hesitated for a moment, then clicked [Accept].

[Anonymous (Su Li) has joined the group chat.] The interface flashed, and a crude chat window appeared in his field of view.

As soon as he entered, two messages appeared, perfectly in sync.

[ Pansi Dawang (Lv6): Welcome to the group, Big Boss! A warm and enthusiastic welcome!]

[Not Evil Slime (Lv6): Welcome to the group, Big Boss! A warm and enthusiastic welcome!]

Seeing the very conspicuous "+1" below, Su Li tapped it without thinking.

A third message popped up on the screen:

[Anonymous (Lv8): Welcome to the group, Big Boss! A warm and enthusiastic welcome!]

"..."

The group chat fell deathly silent. Nothing was more awkward than the sudden silence.

Su Li: "..."

It felt like the boss had walked in and everyone started clapping and welcoming him—only for the boss himself to lead the applause and shout, "Welcome, boss!"

To salvage his image as a cool, aloof Big Boss, Su Li hurriedly tried to smooth things over:

[Anonymous (Lv8): Ahem. Why is this darn +1 so irresistible?]

As long as I wasn't embarrassed, everyone else was.

Sure enough, the trick worked.

[Not Evil Slime (Lv6): Ahem! No wonder you're a Lv8 Big Boss! That easygoing attitude is the mark of someone destined for greatness!]

[ Pansi Dawang (Lv6): Exactly, exactly! Big Boss is right! That +1 really is irresistible! I'm tempted to tap it again!]

Watching the two of them desperately trying to save face, Su Li chuckled to himself. These two know how to play along.

Su Li then shamelessly started feeding them nonsense.

He went from "the fundamental rules of this world" to "how to make the most of your racial talents," then moved on to "the grand strategy for future faction wars."

Most of it was made up based on games he'd played, but the two of them listened, utterly spellbound.

[ Pansi Dawang: Holy crap! One conversation with you is worth ten years of study! I never knew I could use my webs like that!]

[Not Evil Slime: Big Boss, you're incredible! I've learned so much! I guess I should work on developing my mimicry ability instead of just thinking about eating.]

Looking at the two of them, who were so thoroughly bamboozled they'd lost all sense of direction, Su Li even started to wonder if they were a bit dim.

So he tentatively sent:

[Anonymous (Lv8): You two don't seem very perceptive. I can't carry you. Maybe I should leave the group...]

The message had barely gone out when—

[ Pansi Dawang: Don't go, Big Boss!!! QAQ! You promised we'd be allies for life!]

Su Li: "...Why does that sound like we're a band promising to stay together forever?"

Well, they might not be too bright, but at least they listened. They'd make a good cheering squad.

After chatting idly in the group for a while, Su Li started browsing the World Forum.

A post that had been pinned as "Hot" caught his eye.

[A Confession from an Orphan Player: Is This World Really Just a Game?]

"An orphan player?" Su Li clicked in, curious. "Did they cheat, then have a crisis of conscience? They're that honest?"

[Lonely Watcher: "Sorry to trouble everyone by asking you to open this post.]

[Here's the story. I grew up in an orphanage in real life. I never met my parents and never knew what it was like to have a home.

I was lucky enough to get an early-access spot this time. When I entered the game, I chose to start as an ordinary human.

I spawned in a very remote town. The family wasn't rich, but I had parents, grandparents, and even a sister who was two years older than me.

At first, I really did play with the mindset that this was just a game, a scripted program.

But after a while, something started to feel wrong.

Seriously, has anyone else noticed how ridiculously realistic this game is?

Those NPCs don't react any differently from real people!

The first time I cried because I was hungry, the NPC called Mother looked so worried. She fumbled around trying to feed me...

When I first learned to crawl, my whole family gathered around me, cheering with such genuine joy...

When I got sick, the NPC called Father went out into a snowstorm to fetch a doctor. He came back with lips so purple from the cold, yet the only thing he cared about was whether my fever had gone down...

All of it felt so real. So real that I, someone who'd never experienced what it meant to have a family, cried like an idiot.]

Su Li fell silent as he read that far.

He scrolled down, and the replies were already blowing up:

[I Want to Be a Good Person: True, I've noticed it too. These people really don't seem fake. Eternal Technology is amazing—this AI is incredible!]

[Long Aotian (Lv3): Really? Then why does my dragon mom torment me every day? I want to feel a mother's love too! But all my mom does is throw me into lava!]

[Reply: Bro, you have to understand—that's a dragon mom's love.]

The original poster continued:

[So I was torn by doubts.

My rational side told me this world was fake, just a pile of code, but my feelings told me I wanted a family and that I loved this place! I wanted to stay here forever!

Even if it was only in a game, I wanted to be their child.]

[Random Passerby A replied: Easy, bro. Here's an idea: keep your headset on and don't eat or drink. Starve your real body to death, and maybe your soul will transmigrate to another world! (joking.jpg)]

[Original Poster replied: "That's exactly what I did."]

[Random Passerby A: Holy crap! You were serious?! I was just messing around!!]

[Random Passerby C: Bro, don't do anything rash! No game is worth that!]

[Original Poster: "Unfortunately... it didn't work. Eternal Technology's headset monitors your vital signs.

When my real body's vital signs dropped to a dangerous level, the system forcibly kicked me out of the game."]

Su Li paused, slightly surprised. "Looks like this game's safety measures are even more thorough than I thought. Or maybe it actually doesn't want players to die in real life?"

[The original poster concluded: "The reason I'm saying all this is that I've seen some posts on the forum where players take advantage of this being a game to do all kinds of messed-up things to their NPC family members. Some even try to kill their NPC parents right after birth to reroll for better starting stats...

I want to say, please treat your NPC families kindly.

They're so real, and they treat us completely like their own children.

What if—and I mean what if—what if they really are real?"]

The comments below the post were split down the middle.

[Sentimental Player: I support the original poster! I've felt warmth from them too, and I'll treat them with care!]

[Opposition: Screw you! I'm playing a game—why the hell would I want to find myself a dad?!]

[Onlooker: The original poster's still too young. They're too invested in the game. I suggest seeing a therapist.]

Su Li closed the post. The red flames in his eye sockets flickered on and off.

"What if... they really are real?" The original poster's words echoed in his mind.

"Rosalia..." Su Li silently repeated her name.

If she was real... and that so-called contract connected their magic, did that mean their fates were bound together?

"Now that I've accepted her ring, I can't keep fooling around like I used to."

"Yeah. Maybe... I should take things a little more seriously with her from now on?"

At the very least, he couldn't let her get hurt because of him in this cruel world.

Just as Su Li was lost in thought—

"Crack!" A sharp sound shattered the cave's silence.

Ten minutes were up!

"Boom!" The Light Cocoon burst apart.

As the dust settled, a huge figure slowly emerged.

Su Li stared. "Holy crap?!"