I looked at the two players, who likewise, were openly gazing back at me. A shiver ran down my spine, quickly followed by another. Curious as to if it would work, I tried to inspect them back, and when nothing happened, I couldn't help but feel stupid. So far I had lost access to functions and features of the system, why had I expected to retain the ability to see peoples information.

The two players, still looking at whatever was brought up when they inspected me, were polar opposites of each other. A towering half-giant, wielding a greatsword that was roughly the size of a small tree, and a dark elf that was slightly shorter than me, carrying a bow. As they flicked a glance at each other, I realized that I still had my sword drawn, and quickly sheathing it, I saw them both relax slightly. I doubted I was any type of threat to the duo, but they had maybe thought that since I was still in combat, that there were still enemies nearby. I frowned at the thought that I would have to be careful of my body language in front of players as well.

"Sorah, you take the npc to the camp and see if they're injured. I'll quickly check the area." The dark elf had spoken first. I could see her name was Elif, but I didn't want to call her by it before hearing it. Sorah, the towering half-giant, merely nodded in response before clamping a hand on my shoulder, and steering me into their camp. As he takes a seat in front of the fire, I can feel a shiver run down my spine again, as he shoots me a glance out the corner of his eye, before his eyes start to scan the resulting system prompt.

"You hurt?" His voice was appropriately gruff, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was as large in real life as he was in the game. Taking a seat off to the side from him, I smiled as I nodded.

"I'm not hurt, managed to catch those goblins by surprise, so they didn't have a chance to hurt me before you and your friend took them out."

"Saw you killed two of them yourself. Good work."

I hadn't expected him to be as friendly as he was, most people barely spoke to npcs except for quests and to find out rumors. Then again, it was awkward to just sit in silence with strangers. As I opened my mouth to respond to his previous comment, I was hit by a thought like a lightning bolt. The game didn't censor them when they spoke to me. They called me npc and back at the training yard, I had heard players speaking about quests and storylines, as well as balance and pvp. I could probably just ask one of them for help. I wanted to hit myself for being so dense.

"Hey, Sorah. This is going to sound crazy, but I need your help." I gathered my thoughts as I spoke. I couldn't just lead into being trapped in the game and slowly losing access to the system. I needed to approach this as if it wasn't absolutely impossible. Seeing his attention switch from whatever system screen he was looking at to me, I continued.

"Can you contact an admin or moderator? I'm having trouble logging out, I think the game has a bug with my menus." That wasn't too crazy right? He would understand right away that I was just having a very rare issue with the software and log a ticket for me.

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"Hey, Sorah. I'm sorry to impose on you and your companion, but I need your help." Sorah had been surprised to hear the npc initiate conversation. Not because it was rare, but because he had been looking at the npcs info screen, and nothing seemed to indicate that he was a quest-giver. Turning his head to look at the npc, he was caught even more off guard when the npc seemed to take that action as a reason to continue with its dialogue.

"I want to travel to the next town over, but the surroundings seem to be too dangerous for me to travel there alone. Would you and your companion be able to help me?"

Quest log: Escort Cross Eagleforde

Main Condition:

1. Escort Cross Eagleforde from Tozha Outskirts to Airedale

Optional Conditions:

1. Reach Airedale without being seen by other Summoned Heroes

2. Ensure Cross Eagleforde enters Airedale

Rewards:

1. 20 Gold

2. Rare Skill if both optional conditions are completed

"What the fuck." Sorha muttered under his breath as he read the quest log popup. Realizing Cross was staring at him, he quickly answered.

"Yes, we'll take the quest. I'll call Elif back so we can leave at once." Sorha spoke quickly, sending a message to Elif, as well as a quest invitation.

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"Yes, we'll take the quest. I'll call Elif back so we can leave at once." Sorha practically vomitted the words out, his hands opening a menu at the same time. Wait, quest? I had asked him to call for a moderator. Unless, I was being censored by the system so that I couldn't tell them I was an npc? As I opened my mouth to try clarify the situation, I instead let out a bark of surprise as Elif ran up to Sorah.

"What the fuck, is that for real?" She said, her words running over themselves as she struggled to steady her breathing. Sorah nodded, and pointed at me.

"He legit asked me if I could help him, and before I could respond, gave us that quest. A rare skill if we complete both optional objectives. I've already checked the forums, no one has ever posted anything about an npc with this name before." Sorah was speaking calmly, but I could tell from the way he kept glancing around that he was excited.

"Of course not. If he can hand out a rare skill just for an escort mission, what else can he do? Maybe its even a repeatable quest. There might be players on their way here to find him now." Elif was openly excited, her words coming out at high speed. Wait, I had given them a quest that would reward them with a rare skill on completion? While their attention wasn't on me, I opened my quest log.

Quest Log Quest Giver

Greeted by an option to open either my quest log or a new tab I'd never seen before, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Silently selecting the Quest Giver option, I grimaced as the tab expanded.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Quest Giver Log

Escort to Airedale

Stages: 3

1. Travel to Airedale

Optional 2. Avoid Summoned Heroes

Optional 3. Gain Access to Airedale

Rewards: 20 Gold

Optional Reward: Rare Skill

Rare Skill Options: Beserker, Unyielding Defense, Evasion, Endurance

Quest Giver Reward:

1. Arrival in Airedale

2. Letter of Introduction to Airedale Adventurer Guild

Not only had I accidently given a quest while I was trying to ask for help, I also had to pick which of the rare skills they would be given if they managed to complete both optional objectives. While I was kind of alright with the quest overall, it wasn't any thing I actually desired. All I knew is that from now on, I'd have to be more careful when speaking to players, so as to prevent random quests from being given out.

I could experiment with giving out quests that I actually wanted later, for now, I was mostly just upset that I couldn't even ask other people for help without the system interfering. I was also curious about the fact that I would be given rewards for my quests being completed, especially since one of the rewards would be a letter that I definitely did not currently have on my person.

Seeing that Sorah and Elif had mostly finished packing up their camp, I rose to my feet as well, prompting a look of surprise to be shared between the two. Right. I wasn't acting like a typical npc. Well, since I couldn't even tell them I was just a trapped player, I wouldn't constrain myself to acting like a standard reactive npc. If I was going to be cast as an npc, I would be the worlds most futuristic and humanlike npc until I could figure out a way to leave the game again.

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Diana logged back in, her frustration from yet another dinner with her parents apparent on her face. Realizing that she was in the training yard, she quickly scanned the faces here, noticing that her npc was missing. Not too surprising, as they did have life cycles and would often do random things in between their main roles. Deciding to go ask Yarrick where Cross had gone, she entered left the training yard and jogged over to the tavern that the training instructors liked the most.

Yarrick was at the table near the fireplace like usual, telling a story to the various npcs and players who had gathered around his table.

"Yes, exactly. It was a bright day, full of life and hope that marked the birth of the Empire. Back then of course, we no one knew that an Empire was about to be born, and it would take a couple of decades before it started to be called an Empire too. But it was on the fields of Airedale, just a short distance to the west that the great Aurelion dynasty laid their foundations."

Diana smiled. She hadn't heard this story before, but there was no harm in listening to one of Yarricks tales. At the very least, they provided some of the worlds history and lore to players who had no intentions of going to the library and reading it.

"Back then, the Aurelions were just a noble family, with strong ties in this region. Of course nowadays they are the royal imperial family, and found exclusively in the capital regions. But back then, one thousand years ago, they began their rise to power here, with the backing of their most tightly knit ally. The Aurelions started a rebellion against a corrupt kingdom, the Ulhest, and after dozens of fierce battles, managed to corner them on the plains outside of Airedale. The Aurelions knew that the Ulhests had allies in Airedale, which back then was a powerful fortress city. So they had asked their closest ally to attack Airedale first, closing that avenue of escape and pinning the Ulhests in-between a closed off fortress and the approaching coalition army."

Diana frowned at that. If the coalition army took too long to arrive, the Ulhests would have broken the siege of Airedale and removed a close ally of the Aurelions. Curious to hear the rest of the story, she pushed through the small crowd of listeners and beckoned for Yarrick to continue, as she paid for a round of drinks for the table.

"Thank you, my throat was getting dry. Where was I. Ah yes. So the Ulhests ran to Airedale, finding their fortress already undersiege. Aware that the coalition army was mere hours away, the Ulhests gave the order to attack the besiegers, hoping to crush through them and regain the fortress. However, this was what the Aurelions had expected, and as the Ulhests charged at the besiegers, they ran straight into a trap. As the Ulhests lead the charge towards what should have been a simple siege camp, banners unfurled and men that had been lying in wait rose up into a spear wall. Horns sounded and the piercing cry of a commander rang out from the siege camp."

Pausing to take a sip of his drink, Yarrick allowed the silence to build some tension as the listeners waited for him to continue. Deciding that everyone had been patient long enough, he spoke again.

"The Aurelions were strategic geniuses, and eventually would solidify themselves as an Empire unlike any other. So they sent their most trusted ally, to fight a battle that would be fought on two fronts while waiting for reinforcements to arrive. As the Ulhests attempted to break the siege camp from one side, the guardians of Airedale sortied out the gates and attempted to attack them from the fortress. Any other force would have buckled under the pressure, but not the ones handpicked by the future Emperor. Lucas Eagleforde and his brothers commanded the battle, their skill with the blade and their tactics being enough to hold back both of the attacking forces long enough for the Aurelions to arrive with the rest of the coalition, and the Ulhests, suddenly pinned between the unbreakable wall that was the Eagleforde defense and the arrival of the Aurelions cavalry charge, were defeated completely."

Diana frowned. The name Eagleforde kept running through her mind, like she had heard it somewhere before. She knew the Aurelions name well enough, as they were highly important in Herald Online, but she could swear that she had never heard of this battle, nor of the Eaglefordes before. Turning her attention back to Yarrick she found his eyes already locked on her, a smile playing on his lips.

"Thanks again for the drink. Now, I should really be heading off to bed, its going to be a long day tomorrow I fear." Yarricks gruff voice was steady, and as he pushed himself to his feet and left the tavern, Diana realized where she knew the word Eagleforde from all of a sudden. The npc. The npcs name was Cross Eagleforde. She had spoken to a figure from a family of legend.