Well of course, you don't. The fly isn't real!
"I'm sure there's a fly in front of me," I coolly replied, my right hand repeatedly trying to remove the annoying prompt in front of me. "I just can't seem to catch it yet."
"Ohh...."
I could already tell that she's starting to piece together the dots or something. Was she thinking about how insane I was right now? God knows how flailing your hands in front of you would look to a normal passerby. What more if it was someone that clearly didn't look like a native?
Dammit! Was it a verbal command then?
"[CLOSE!]"
I felt something shift around me as I uttered out my ill-conceived command. For a brief second, a flash of light erupted in front of me before the prompt finally left my vision. And for a half-second, I actually felt like a part of me can finally relax. The stupid nonsensical prompt was gone, after all. Unfortunately, Shizu's worried face greeted me even more as she closed in on me to the point that our faces were only a scant few inches away from one another.
What the hell was this chick thinking? Did she want to give me a heart attack or something?!
"W-what is it?" I stuttered out, a blush forming on my face as I felt her breath mix with mine.
"That word you just said, I sensed power within them," she stated with the nonchalance of a bored security guard.
H-Huh?! What the hell did Guidance program in her game? And where the hell was she anyway?! "I-I don't follow?"
I felt myself stepping backward as Shizu began cornering me, which of course, I responded to by taking a step back, only for her to repeat the process until she had me pinned to a wall. I didn't even know what's so special about the command! I just said it to close the prompt. And it wasn't even on purpose!
"Do you know the [Language of the Gods]?" The language of the what now? "They're supposed to protect us from the influence of the [Eld]."
I found my eyes flicking from side to side as I tried to look for a way out. I have no idea what this chick was even saying anymore! I just wanted to close a prompt, dammit!
Before I could even try, A pale arm pinned off all my escape routes as Shizu stared deep into my eyes. It would've been so hot if it wasn't so damn confusing!
"U-uh..."
"Teach me!"
....
...."Eh?"
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Teach her? Teach her what exactly? How to close an annoying prompt that she probably wouldn't even see in her lifetime?
"Uhh... I don't think I can teach you anything, Shizu."
"What? But isn't it a universal language?" the woman questioned with hope still clinging onto her tone. "Even the researchers agree that it should be possible for even normal people to communicate with the world around them!"
I blinked at her words. What was she on about now? And what even was a universal language? Well, I'm pretty sure she was talking about me screaming for the prompt to close, but even I didn't know how to replicate such an act. And even then, I don't think I'll need it until Guidance comes back to me and actually tells me how to open even a single status window!
"Look, I really don't think you understand what I'm trying to say," I spoke with the utmost patience I could possibly muster. "I don't even know what's going on right now."
I mean, there was that quest prompt that popped in out of nowhere. And as much as I would like to confirm what I just read, I probably wouldn't even be able to open it even if I tried. And that was on top of whether or not I wanted to look like a maniac in front of this woman.
"Eh? But I was sure that you knew exactly what you were doing..." my green-haired tour guide placed a finger on his lips as she spoke. "I mean, I even felt the world shift slightly..."
Uh huh...
I found myself tilting my head in abject confusion. This NPC somehow felt the world shift at my words? From the single act of closing a floating quest prompt? I somehow doubt that. Still, I was digressing from the one thing that started this mess in the first place.
"I'm sure it was nothing," I waved each other's worries off as I managed to compose myself. "How about you show me around some of these strange places?"
"Oh right!" she seemingly shook herself out of her thoughts as she suddenly grabbed my hand. "You have a lot to look forward to, Stranger! Just make sure to follow close, okay?"
{CHIME!}
Oh what now...
[Side Quest: Princess Escort!]
[Quest Progress: Oddities Observed: 1/10]
Huh... Well that's new...
I let my tour guide drag me by my feet as I turned my eyes to the small prompt now floating right above my field of view. Looking around, the fact that it followed where I was looking at meant that it was probably a UI element of some kind. Well, at least this one wasn't as intrusive as the 'Quest Accepted' one earlier with its massive window size. However, ten oddities? And based on the one that I somehow already have, I guess the gravity-defying fountain counted as one of them?
Shaking my head at what was happening, I simply allowed myself to get pulled by the arm as the very eager Shizu kept on dragging me around. Seeing as I had nothing better to do, I let the streets of the city fly right past me as I found myself droning out all the background noise and just focusing on my own peculiar situation.
The fact that a hot girl was dragging me around was sorta, well, hot. And being the loner that I was, it was obvious that I'll immediately grow some semblance of a connection to the first girl that would actually talk to me and show interest. Granted, this was an NPC. An NPC that Guidance somehow wrote and designed...
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Great, now I'm imagining Guidance looking like Shizu, which I highly doubt given her chosen profession and interests.
Still, even as the dark-lit rock of [Yagokoro] hung over my head, the pleasant feeling of being held by a living breathing female was just as hard to shake off. And I should already be used to this too.
"Here we are, Stranger!"
Blinking at her words, I recalibrated my eyeballs as I focused my gaze on what Shizu was supposed to be showing me. Well, the keyword was 'supposed' here, seeing as I wasn't seeing anything.
"Uhm... Am I supposed to be looking at empty space, Shizu?" I hesitantly asked, my eyes still struggling to piece together the nothingness in front of me.
Shizu turned to me, adorably tilting her head as she flashed me a confused look, "Huh? You mean you can't see it?"
I blinked at her words. Way to state the obvious there... "The only thing I see is an empty alley with two bare walls on each side."
And I wasn't even lying. We were currently staring at a blank alleyway with nothing in it. Then again, when compared to the rest of the streets and alleyways I was passing through, it looked barebones in comparison.
"Exactly!" she beamed at me, her hand pointing towards the so-called mystery alleyway. "It's eerily empty! And no matter how much we try to put stuff in it, it disappears!"
I almost did a double-take, "Wait, seriously?"
"Yup!" she beamed, as if the anomaly in front of us wasn't even scary. "It kind of messes with reality too. The researchers say that one of the [Eld] probably used this place as its home once."
Ookay?
I found myself giving the alley another scrutinizing look. It really didn't look like anything, but if what Shizu said was true, then what was the case here then?
"Can we walk through it?"
"We can, but it might give you a headache afterward," Shizu shook her head in mirth. "I suggest you let me take the lead, Stranger."
"Got it."
Falling behind my tour guide, I trailed behind her as she approached the mysterious alleyway. Sure enough, something happened the first thing she set foot inside the boundary of the weird space. I honestly even thought I was still wearing glasses when I saw it.
"Uhh... Shizu?"
"Y-Ye-Es?"
Oh my lord... I can't believe what I was seeing...
"Are you okay?"
"w-W-hATt? i cCa-Nt hEa-0r Yyou8 sSt=angeR!"
My jaw almost dropped to my chest as I witnessed the horror taking place in front of me. Shizu was currently halfway through entering the alleyway when her body suddenly became fuzzy and unrecognizable. It was as if I was looking at multiple glitch filters stacked on top of each other made by an amateur using photoshop, and it wasn't even funny with how hard it was making my brain work in recognizing her shape.
"C90mE1 OnN!!"
To my surprise, the girl's hand suddenly latched onto mine, pulling me with her as we entered the glitched-out alleyway. I couldn't even see or focus as the world around me seemingly flipped itself over its head, the dark purple sky of [Kattleyna] being replaced with various shades of violet and white as the alleyway expanded in on itself.
"You okay, Stranger?"
I blinked at Shizu's clear tone. As opposed to earlier, she was back to being the hot woman that she was instead of being a glitch-hidden monstrosity. I guess the effect was only visible from the outside? "Yeah... I'm fine, I think."
"Good!" she beamed. "Now you can see for yourself!"
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I got my bearings straight. Sure enough, we were inside the alleyway. Now it was the outside world's turn to look unnaturally clean as the alley looked downright dirty. Or at least, I think it was dirt that I was looking at. The entire place looked kind of blurry in comparison to the world outside.
"We call this place [Eld's Alley]. We're pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be this way, but that's the way the [Eld] just works," Shizu cheerfully explained. "We probably shouldn't venture deeper though."
Huh? Deeper? "Why? Doesn't it just end on the other side of the street?"
"Well, that's the thing. It doesn't seem to end." Say what now?! "Everyone that tried to walk deeper into the alley never came back. The researchers don't know why, so in the end we just closed it off!"
That's so careless! Wait... Closed off? "But I didn't see any signs that tell anyone to not come near here earlier?"
If this place was so dangerous, then why wasn't it protected or even cordoned off? Common sense would dictate putting up at least a sign telling people to not walk into the dangerous alleyway, and I didn't see any even while we stood in front of the damn thing.
"Well, that's because everyone knows not to go here."
I froze at Shizu's radiant smile; a smile so innocent that one would probably even forget that she just pulled me into a forbidden area. Well, Guidance probably wouldn't code something so dangerous in the middle of what was obviously the hub city in the area, so I guess it should-
{CHIME!}
What the hell! That startled me!
"Stranger?"
"It's nothing," I waved my guide off as I waited for the inevitable update on this side quest's status.
[Side Quest Accepted: Princess Escort!]
[Quest Progress: Oddities Observed: 2/10]
I couldn't help but shrug at the whopping one point of progress I made in this nonsensical side quest. I didn't even know this princess person, and I doubt it'd be Shizu here seeing as she had her own NPC name displayed front and center above her head. Well, even if this was optional, at least I had it unlocked for my future convenience.
{CHIME!}
Another notification? Well, I might as well see what it was.
[Dungeon Unlocked!: [Eld Alley] is now available!]
What...
[Minimum Level Required: Level 60]
What the hell?!
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Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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