Reincarnated NPC, But Arknights

"What, it's you again, Bai Ye? Where don't you show up!"

"Of course the big missions are always related to Bai Ye. He's just leeching off them!"

"I can't take it anymore, it's too much. Anyone who's played the game knows how hard it is to get experience and skills."

"This isn't fair. Everyone should be able to participate. We need compensation."

"Doesn't this mess with the game's balance? If a bunch of people learn skills ahead of time, they'll just dominate when the game launches."

Bai Ye also saw quite a few people stirring up trouble, with arguments raging over a hundred floors below, filled with all sorts of bizarre comments. It was exactly the kind of buzz expected from "the youth's first fully immersive game."

Besides the missions, the most discussed topic among players was naturally the spells Bai Ye had unleashed. Some players were starting to feel optimistic about Originium Arts, eagerly expressing their desire to learn them and become powerful casters.

Bai Ye just wanted to say that the actual content should be based on the game itself, and the visuals were purely for reference.

Players couldn't awaken magical talents, nor could they wield Originium Arts as freely as Bai Ye.

Bai Ye casually flipped through the top-ranked posts. He also saw a recorded video from Zhai Mao. This kid was naturally airheaded and didn't have a management team, so her livestream footage was uploaded uncut, lasting nearly 22 hours. The terrifying length was torture for both viewers and moderators, yet the popularity was soaring, with a massive stream of real-time comments from beginning to end.

Bai Ye was quite satisfied. The more popular the number one utility player was, the better the promotional effect.

Seeing that most of the top posts were related to him, Bai Ye felt relieved and closed the forum. Before leaving, he noticed that the official channel had inexplicably pinned a promotional video about him...

"Interesting. What kind of existence do I even appear to be in the eyes of the official channel now?"

Ever since he transmigrated and discovered that Arknights Online was more than just a game, Bai Ye had become curious about the mysterious game developer, OceanCat.

He suddenly remembered a rumor he seemed to have heard in his past life: that the game developer OceanCat had no programmers, game designers, or artists internally... In other words, no departments involved in game production.

This meant that the official channel was merely a front for distributing, promoting, and operating the game.

He wondered if this rumor was true.

"It doesn't concern me for now, anyway."

Bai Ye decided not to worry about all these messy things. He still had a mountain of his own matters to attend to.

The players had disappeared with a "biu." If anyone had specifically investigated, they would have found that the 4,000 refugees who entered Lungmen yesterday had all vanished today.

Lungmen was also filled with many urban legends, such as corpses turning into specks of light or gangsters disappearing into thin air... However, due to the lack of concrete evidence and the countless similar rumors from the past, they ultimately didn't cause much of a stir.

Bai Ye knew that the players would eventually be exposed. Once a large number of players entered the continent of Terra after the game's launch, it would cause even more chaos.

As he was lost in thought, Bai Ye suddenly felt a pat on his shoulder.

Turning around, he saw Flanka, with Scythe standing beside her.

"The mission is over. We can head back to Rhodes Island. What are your plans?"

This case had nothing to do with Rhodes Island at all. Rhodes Island being dragged into it was purely an unwarranted disaster. However, Rhodes Island's mission was to rescue Infected individuals, so they would be the ones to take over these victims in the end.

After the messenger made contact, a dedicated transport vehicle would come to Lungmen to pick them up.

"I was planning to join Rhodes Island anyway. Isn't this perfect?" Bai Ye snapped his fingers.

"I envy you. You haven't officially joined Rhodes Island yet, so you don't have to write reports after everything's done..." Flanka sighed.

Scythe, however, said sternly, "I will definitely fill out my report truthfully regarding the mistakes you made. To think you would... humiliate me like this."

As she spoke, Scythe's face turned red with anger.

It turned out that after releasing her Originium Arts, Scythe would enter a state of exhaustion. During this time, Flanka could do whatever she pleased. She took the opportunity to play many pranks on the young girl. Scythe wanted to resist but couldn't move, leaving her at Flanka's mercy.

"I have a bold idea..." Bai Ye's eyes lit up. Scythe's character setting was really quite... erotic. As an experienced driver with a wealth of theoretical knowledge but zero practical experience, Bai Ye had already imagined 1TB of material.

Scythe, naturally, had no idea what Bai Ye was thinking. She was just contemplating whether she could paste a large photo of Flanka onto her gun targets when she got back...

Chapter 42: A Strange Love Triangle?

Flanka and Scythe stayed in Lungmen for several days, waiting for the Rhodes Island convoy.

The convoy's arrival time was not fixed, as they might encounter Infected creatures or other unexpected events along the way, and even vehicle malfunctions were commonplace.

The two were temporarily staying at the Rhodes Island branch office. When Bai Ye went to see them, they were still bickering as usual.

"Bai Ye, take me to tour Lungmen! I've wanted to visit here for so long," Flanka said, pulling out a notebook. It was unclear what she had written inside.

Scythe walked over and placed a hand on Flanka's shoulder. "You're not allowed to go out. You haven't finished your mission report yet."

"I'll leave it to you~" Flanka waved her hand. "My Scythe is so cute, she'll definitely help me finish it."

"Write it yourself," Scythe rolled her eyes.

"Please, you're a good person," Flanka clasped her hands together.

"You can't get away with just praising me!" It seemed Scythe was genuinely annoyed. Previously, Flanka's reports were always written by her, but this time, she was truly refusing to help.

Unfortunately, she still couldn't outsmart the fox. As long as the fox slacked off and didn't write, when the deadline arrived, Scythe would inevitably help. This was just her personality, and she was completely under the control of the mischievous fox.

"I should go back and prepare as well..."

Bai Ye was about to leave when Flanka suddenly called out to him, "You should also think carefully about which specific department you want to join at Rhodes Island."

"I'll probably lean towards field operations, and maybe work as a messenger on the side..." Bai Ye replied casually.

Speaking of which, the specific job didn't matter much. Joining Rhodes Island was secondary to being able to take on missions. What Bai Ye valued was the organization's branch offices stationed all over the world.

This meant Bai Ye could recruit players worldwide by leveraging Rhodes Island's branch offices, which was far more useful than simply becoming an operational agent of Rhodes Island.

After yesterday's harvest, Bai Ye realized that neither completing missions nor grinding monsters earned money as quickly as fleecing players.

Of course, fast experience gains also meant fast spending. As everyone knew, the higher the level, the more experience was required to level up.

Not to mention, Bai Ye also needed to learn Originium Arts.

His melee skills benefited from his past life's advantages, so he didn't need to invest a lot of experience to upgrade them, saving him quite a bit.

Unfortunately, he would need a massive amount of experience to fill the Originium Arts pit.

He didn't have time to leisurely attend classes in Laterano to learn skills; he could only rely on experience to master and upgrade them.

His awakened magical talent was also a huge pit, requiring immense experience to strengthen.

Lungmen Dollars were also scarce. He needed to acquire a suitable staff or weapon to complement his awakened magical talent.

Bai Ye found himself in a state of blissful distress.

This was why players in his previous life always focused on one development path, and star players had different cultivation plans, whether for PVP or PVE.

The resources of an account were limited, and experience was always insufficient. Only an ungrateful person like Bai Ye could develop both Originium Arts and physical melee combat simultaneously.

Furthermore, he had awakened his magical talent, which was causing the boundaries between the two to blur.

"Why are you suddenly grinning like an idiot?"

Flanka looked at Bai Ye with some confusion. His expression had suddenly become rather goofy...

Scythe dismissively remarked, "At least he's more normal than you..."

"Ahem..." Bai Ye reined in his thoughts, no longer dwelling on distant matters. To be honest, while his stats were average now, in a one-on-one fight, as long as the difference wasn't too great, he wouldn't usually lose.

After sitting at the Rhodes Island office for a while, Bai Ye prepared to leave. He still needed to go to Penguin Logistics to pack his luggage (though he didn't have much).

"Oh, right, Bai Ye," Flanka called out to him before he left.

Bai Ye tilted his head, "Hm?"

"Officer Chen came looking for you earlier, but you weren't here."

Bai Ye found it a bit strange. Why would Chen Hui Jie look for him? Wasn't there nothing left between them...?

Flanka and Scythe shook their heads, "We're not quite sure either."

Bai Ye then went to find Sir Chen.

Speaking of which, Rhodes Island's comprehensive strategic cooperation with Lungmen was something for the future. Currently, Rhodes Island was just a nobody to Lungmen.

He wondered if these events would change due to his and the players' unexpected intervention.

He arrived at the Guards Bureau with a series of knocks. This time, Bai Ye could enter openly.

He happened to meet Swire at the entrance. Upon seeing Bai Ye, she unnaturally turned her head away, clearly still bothered by how tightly he had held onto her on the motorcycle earlier.

The main reason was Bai Ye's psychological trauma related to motorcycles. He had been in a car accident in his past life, so even though his base stats now surpassed those of ordinary people, he still felt uneasy.

Bai Ye could only offer his apologies for this.

"Missy, where is Officer Chen?" Bai Ye greeted Swire and then asked.

Swire was taken aback. Why was this person calling her like Hoshiguma? She wasn't used to it.

Then she pointed upstairs, "She's in her office. I'll take you there."

"That would be very kind of you," Bai Ye said, though he readily accepted. Not everyone could easily enter the Guards Bureau building. Having Miss Swire escort him would save a lot of trouble.

"Tch." Swire rolled her eyes. She really didn't know how to be polite.

As they walked upstairs, Swire suddenly asked, "What exactly is your relationship with the person surnamed Chen?"

"No special relationship. Just ordinary, at most a temporary collaboration..." Bai Ye felt that the girl's tone was a bit strange.

Swire thought, I don't believe you for a second. She and Chen Hui Jie had known each other since childhood and knew each other inside and out. She had never seen Chen Hui Jie so close to anyone else.

Her tiger tail flicked behind her as the girl asked again, "So... what do you think of Chen Hui Jie?"

Even with her low social skills, Bai Ye sensed something was off. He wasn't good at socializing, but his intuition was strong, naturally countering anything flashy. He felt Swire's question was too out of the blue.

"It's not good to gossip about others behind their backs... Respecting those who aren't present is a virtue," Bai Ye chose to play dumb. It was always a safe bet.

"Tch—" Swire couldn't help but click her tongue.

"Swire!" Suddenly, Bai Ye heard a furious shout. Standing down the corridor not far away was Chen Hui Jie.

"Eek!"

Swire was startled at first, feeling guilty, but then she puffed up and yelled at Chen Hui Jie, "Why are you yelling so loudly!"

"..."

Chen Hui Jie felt her temper flare. Why did she want to argue every time they met?

Bai Ye was speechless.

What is going on with you guys... Every duo he encountered seemed unreliable.

Chapter 43: Rich Girl, Take Me With You

(Found a new game to play, Shiny★Youth Chase, from Saga Company)

Speaking of which, Bai Ye actually envied the relationship between Chen and Swire. It was rare to find a relationship where they could curse each other without any reservations, yet unhesitatingly help each other when needed.

However, letting them continue their bickering wasn't a solution. Bai Ye had only zoned out for a moment before his ears were filled with all sorts of Lungmen profanity. If there were any players nearby who had enabled their child-friendly mode, their ears would surely be filled with "beep-beep-beep," like they were sending a telegram!

"Officer Chen, let's discuss the important matter first," Bai Ye called out to Chen.

"Bai Ye, if you're going to Rhodes Island, could you help me confirm their true intentions and identity?" Chen immediately returned to her serious work mode, and Miss Swire also stopped her clamoring.

Bai Ye was a bit confused upon hearing this. "Officer Chen, are you asking me to investigate them?"

"Erm, how should I put it? I'm quite interested in an organization like that, so I'd like to commission you to help me see what kind of company it is. This commission is... on a personal basis, and has nothing to do with the Guards Bureau or Lungmen."

Chen looked at Bai Ye. She was very interested in Rhodes Island because she harbored a secret. If all else were put aside, she had a deeply hidden secret – she was Infected.

This was a secret that could not be revealed. Chen had told no one, not even Hoshiguma or Swire.

Bai Ye smiled and nodded. "Alright, I'll write to you later and tell you about my experiences at Rhodes Island."

Upon hearing Bai Ye's words, Chen seemed to quietly heave a sigh of relief.

"I feel like you guys are discussing something very suspicious..." Swire frowned slightly and muttered softly from the side.

Bai Ye looked at the little tiger and suddenly had an idea.

"Missy, I'd like to talk business with you," Bai Ye said slowly.

However, upon hearing this, Swire suddenly became unhappy. "Business?"

Actually, she had many things she wanted to say but didn't.

Are they coming after me again?

Because of my surname?