Reincarnated NPC, But Arknights Chapter 17

She was indeed quite disappointed. Was the handsome NPC she met trying to trick her? There hadn't been any results yet. The crucial part was that he had promised a group of people would follow him, but now there wasn't even a single person in sight.

Just then, her vision suddenly went dark. She looked up abruptly and saw two suspicious-looking individuals standing before her.

Zhai Mao was startled and instinctively clutched her pocket—it contained a sum of Lungmen Dollars.

The handsome NPC had promised her that if he didn't catch any fish, this money would be her reward.

The two exchanged a glance, and then one of them spoke, "Little girl, are you Infected?"

Zhai Mao had initially intended to nod immediately, but in the end, she chose to shake her head and deny it.

NPC Bai Ye had told her that being Infected wasn't something honorable and that it was best to consciously conceal it to be convincing.

The other person seemed more relaxed. He smiled and pointed at Zhai Mao's lower leg, "Heh heh, stop pretending, you're Infected."

It turned out that Zhai Mao had "inadvertently" revealed the black crystals on her ankle.

"Don't be afraid, we're not bad people..."

"We have special medicine..."

"Everyone who's used it says it's good..."

"Blah, blah, blah..."

The two seemed to relax and began using their tried-and-true methods to ensnare Zhai Mao.

They had just arrived, and this little girl in front of them should be among the refugees who had just come to Lungmen today. The Infected ones were looking for medicine in the slums. As expected, the rumors they had spread earlier were effective.

"Why should I believe you?" Zhai Mao touched the "hairpin" on her head.

"You can try it first. Oripathy attacks are very painful, and this special medicine can inhibit it. It wasn't easy for us to get our hands on it. Look at the trademark, this is from Rhodes Island..." one of them said, patting his chest.

Zhai Mao wore a skeptical expression.

Seeing this, the two knew the young girl was tempted and prepared to take her to a secluded place to see the goods.

"How did they know about Rhodes Island?" Flanka asked, puzzled, listening to the conversation through the communicator.

Rhodes Island was still relatively unknown. The only reason she could come to Rhodes Island for treatment was because Blacksteel International had found it for her. She hadn't expected to hear the name Rhodes Island in the slums of Lungmen.

"Bai Ye, prepare to move."

Chen put away her terminal, and the nearby disguised Guards Bureau officers began to surround the two.

These two had conveniently found a hidden spot with surprising "awareness," which was a great help.

"Bai Ye, where are you?"

Flanka found that Bai Ye had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"I'm above," Bai Ye said softly through the communicator.

Flanka and Scythe looked up and saw a figure standing on the outdoor air conditioning unit, as still as a sculpture.

"He can really hide..." Scythe couldn't help but exclaim.

Bai Ye didn't reply. He just looked at the two thugs who were leading Zhai Mao into the secluded dead-end alley, frowned slightly, and then swept his gaze towards the shadowy corner at the alley entrance.

In the dim light, he saw a patch of air that seemed to be distorting.

Bai Ye's brows immediately relaxed. He spoke into the communicator, "Don't come out yet, just seal off the exits."

With that, he leaped down.

His black trench coat billowed in the airflow, like the spread wings of a night owl.

Effortlessly, he knocked out the two men below him and then suddenly turned, throwing the short knife in his hand.

At the same time, he lightly tapped the ground with his toes and charged in the direction the knife was flying.

"Ching—"

Blood splattered, and a figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere from the previously empty corner. He cried out in pain, the short knife Bai Ye had thrown lodged in his leg.

"Let's see you play the sneaky one."

Bai Ye had already closed in, knocking the dagger from the man's sleeve with one palm, then grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back before pinning him to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, he had subdued all three.

Casually pulling out the short knife stuck in the man's leg, Bai Ye shook off the blood and returned it to the sheath tied to his leg.

The quality and feel of this short knife seemed better than the one Penguin Logistics had gotten from the Zero Yuan Purchase before. Although the quality was the same, the feel was more comfortable.

"How did you... find me?"

The man asked with difficulty, enduring the pain.

Bai Ye sneered, "Safra's invisibility technique is indeed powerful, but unfortunately, you have too many flaws."

In fact, this kind of Optical Mimicry was indeed difficult to detect.

However, Bai Ye had seen it all in his previous life.

Players were much better at using invisibility. Powerful experts in PvP were like ghosts. Someone like this Safra was too green; a seasoned player would know something was wrong with just one glance.

Zhai Mao, standing to the side, was dumbfounded.

How many people were following her…

No, what happened? How did everyone fall down all at once?

Who am I, where am I?

Meanwhile, the live stream chat exploded. This was the first time the viewers had seen Bai Ye in action, and most of them had never witnessed a Terra native fight before.

All sorts of comments and "666"s filled the screen; the crowd was stunned by the display.

This was the exact visual effect Bai Ye wanted. Only with enough coolness could he attract players.

Whether he's strong or not is just a matter of the current patch, but being handsome is a lifetime thing.

Chapter 31: There's Nothing for You Here Anymore

Is Bai Ye strong?

In Bai Ye's own words, he was "future wife material," because as someone who had been through it all, he knew very well the path he had to take.

Of course, at the moment, Bai Ye naturally couldn't compare to those monsters. He couldn't ignite an entire city block with a single sword strike, nor could he summon a second sun onto the battlefield…

But the players didn't know that. They had only just entered the game and were only seeing minor gang members fighting each other. In this context, Bai Ye's series of actions fulfilled their fantasies of coolness.

When Zhai Mao got the drone footage from Officer Chen Hui Jie and played it in the live stream, the viewers finally saw the complete combat recording of Bai Ye's actions.

Divine justice from the heavens, a single strike to kill, plucking an invisible enemy out of thin air… there were no pauses in between, the movements were fluid, precise, and elegant. The key was that Bai Ye wasn't deliberately showing off, so it was incredibly natural, with no acting, all real.

Before he made his move, Bai Ye's impression on the audience was that he was cool and good-looking; now, he was both cool and strong. It was hard to imagine that such a terrifying burst of power was contained within that slender frame.

This stark contrast instantly solidified Bai Ye's "character."

On the player forums, some quick-fingered individuals had already edited the recent footage:

Zhai Mao Recording Group - One Minute to Show You How Strong NPC Bai Ye Really Is

Soon, the post's popularity reached second place, with the first place being the clip of Bai Ye's initial appearance. Not only that, but the number of comments below the video was quickly catching up to the first place.

In the players' view, whether an NPC was cool or not was related to the art design, but the most crucial aspect of a game was whether it was fun to play.

Therefore, below the video clip of Bai Ye's actions, the likes and replies came mostly not from "face-connoisseurs" praising his looks, but from hardcore players who were analyzing seriously.

[Mochi Youkai: NPCs are just stronger than us. He didn't even need a buffer after jumping from that high, it must be related to his Physique stat.]

[Malfoy: He just knocked them out, boring. I want to see rivers of blood.]

[Lemon Pigeon: No need for that, but that last invisible guy, if it wasn't for his throwing knife, I wouldn't have even noticed someone standing there.]

[I am Safurin: Terrifying, truly terrifying.]

Bai Ye believed that soon, there would be even more videos about him appearing on forums and video websites. This guy had clearly become a traffic magnet; many people browsing the internet knew his name to some extent.

This was a good thing. As long as Bai Ye had recognition, it would attract more "tool people."

However, Bai Ye didn't have the leisure to check the forums for now. He handed Safra, whom he had captured, over to Officer Chen Hui Jie.

"Those two probably aren't key figures. This one who can turn invisible needs to be interrogated thoroughly," Bai Ye said, watching as the Guards Bureau officers brought over the other two unlucky individuals he had knocked out.

Officer Chen Hui Jie checked the belongings of the group and indeed found contraband drugs on two of them.

"They just changed the packaging, but it's still addictive contraband inside. The so-called medicinal effect is just to numb the sensory nerves, creating hallucinations to deceive the user," Bai Ye said calmly after a glance.

The onset of Oripathy was a very painful experience. While these drugs could alleviate the pain to a certain extent, they didn't suppress Oripathy; instead, they manufactured hallucinations.

Flanka's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. As an Infected herself, she was clearly quite angered. Bai Ye had never seen such an expression on the fox-girl's face before. Scythe, standing beside her, tugged at her sleeve.

Chen Hui Jie's own face clearly showed anger. The Guards Bureau officers simply thought their superior was indignant at the moment. However, among everyone present, only Bai Ye knew the true reason for Chen Hui Jie's anger.

It was because she herself was Infected.

Bai Ye kicked Safra, who was lying on the ground, in the leg.

"This is a cleanup crew member."

The mastermind would definitely not sell the drugs themselves; they would only find insignificant small gangs to act as a cover. The method to ensure that the clues wouldn't lead back to them was to send in cleanup crew members.

These guys would eliminate the clues before any incident occurred, to prevent the big bosses behind the scenes from being implicated if the trail was followed.

Typically, cleanup crew members were elites within the organization.

However, perhaps even this cleanup crew member never imagined that his foolproof Originium Arts technique of Optical Mimicry would be seen through so easily, especially on a dark night.

Bai Ye didn't need to personally handle the interrogation. The officers of the Guards Bureau's Special Inspectorate Team were very skilled at such matters.

Flanka walked up to Bai Ye with a smile and gently patted his shoulder, "Not bad, where did you learn that stealth technique?"

In her opinion, what was terrifying about Bai Ye wasn't his combat skills or eyesight, but his formidable stealth techniques. After all, he hadn't used any Originium Arts at all.

"I learned it in Hawaii," Bai Ye replied casually.

"Huh?" Flanka blinked her eyes. "Hawaii? Where is that?"

"Don't worry about it," Bai Ye said, playing along with a meme.

He found his NPC identity incredibly useful now. No matter what he did, the game developers could take the blame.

For instance, the joke he'd casually made earlier wouldn't have been a big deal even if players heard it.

An NPC broke the fourth wall?

No problem! It's an Easter egg set by the developers!

An NPC was making a meme reference?

No problem, do you know what a tribute is?!

Just blame it all on the developers!

Humans only see what they believe.

Bai Ye opened his game panel and gave the reward for Zhai Mao's second quest ring to her. Since the objective of the errand runner and the promotional purpose had been achieved, it was time to send her away.

She wasn't needed for the final quest ring either. This person was too weak and lacked combat power; Bai Ye didn't want to be distracted during future battles.

Of course, while that was the underlying thought, Bai Ye still needed to employ the art of conversation.

After some thought, Bai Ye pulled Zhai Mao aside and gave her the short dagger from the Guards Bureau as a quest reward.

This item was only green quality, not as good as the blue-quality dagger Bai Ye had previously obtained from Penguin Logistics. That one came with a spellcasting unit, allowing the use of some Originium Arts.

"Thank you very much for your efforts. The upcoming missions are too dangerous, and you've already done a great job. There's no need to risk yourself further."

Instantly, a crisp notification sound rang out on Zhai Mao's game panel:

[Ding—Your quest has been completed.]

[Ding, Bai Ye's favorability towards you has increased by 1 point. Current relationship: Friendly]

Zhai Mao immediately felt a surge of happiness. What did it mean to be a top player? She was probably the first player in the game to raise NPC Bai Ye's favorability to Friendly.