The next day, Ji-ho was sitting alone amongst the crowd in the school canteen. The usual clatter of plastic trays and the low hum of student gossip surrounded him, yet he existed in a pocket of absolute, pressurized silence. No one dared to sit in front or beside him. A wide, empty radius of tables had formed around his seat, as if the students feared that getting too close would trigger a physical debuff. They only admired him from afar, their eyes darting toward him with a mix of awe and hesitation.
That same day, the news had officially broken across every social media platform and gaming news outlet in the country. The headline was everywhere: "The Butler of Silestal: South Korea's First Global Top 10."
However, unlike the top-ranked pros who had already held press conferences, Shade remained a complete mystery. No face, no name, and no history. The only thing the public had to go on was the physical build and the cold, unmistakable aura captured in the brief viral clips from Silestal Town. Because of this, the the canteen wasn't just silent, it was thick with suspicion.
Ji-ho could hear the frantic murmurs drifting from the surrounding tables, low enough to be polite but loud enough to fill the air with static.
"Is that him? Look at the height, it matches perfectly."
"The hair, he looks exactly like that butler from the clip."
"There's no way that Ji-ho would be a gamer, right? Besides, if it were him, why would he pick a rabbit and a butler suit?"
"I'm telling you, it's him. Look at his eyes. It's exactly the same!"
The source of their suspicion was a single, viral short clip. A player who had just started streaming his character creation caught a blurry, five-second shot of a boy in a black-and-white butler's vest. Even in the low-quality footage, his golden name pulsed with an undeniable, royal glow.
The internet had spent the last twelve hours analyzing every pixel. They compared the stride, the height, and that specific, cold tilt of the head to every known athlete and celebrity.
'This deep-fried pork cutlet is tasty. Not bad.'
Ji-ho chewed the meat methodically, his focus entirely on the texture and flavor of his meal. He gnawed on a piece of the pork cutlet collectedly, as if the chaos of the global rankings and the Baron's quest didn't exist. The food satisfied his taste, providing a brief sanctuary from the suffocating atmosphere of the canteen.
As long as he didn't confirm anything, no one would know for sure. He could remain Ji-ho, the quiet genius student, rather than Shade, the golden-named player. But as the whispers around him grew louder and more frantic, he knew his logic was fighting a losing battle against the world's curiosity.
It was only a matter of time before the digital ghost in the viral clip and him were officially linked.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over his table. The tray clattered down, and the murmurs in the room reached a fever pitch. Ji-ho swallowed the last of the pork cutlet and finally looked up, his eyes as cold as a winter morning.
"What?" he said as he looked up.
Ji-ho's voice was as flat as the plastic tray in front of him. It wasn't an invitation to talk; it was a verbal wall, designed to discourage any further interaction. But Hyun-soo wasn't a man easily discouraged by walls. He sat down with a heavy thud, his own tray sliding into the Ji-ho's table.
Hyun-soo didn't lean in or whisper. Instead, he just shoveled a massive spoonful of rice into his mouth, his eyes bright with the kind of reckless energy that only he could maintain around Ji-ho.
"Man, the pork cutlet today is actually a ten," Hyun-soo mumbled through his food. "But you ... you look like you're already planning a funeral. Still thinking about the Baron's offer?"
The murmurs in the canteen surged like a tide.
Ji-ho's grip on his chopsticks tightened. Hyun-soo's lack of a filter was a variable he had never been able to fully optimize. To anyone else, it was just a casual conversation. To Ji-ho, it was a neon sign confirming every suspicion in the room.
"Finish your food," Ji-ho said, his tone dropping into a dangerous, low command. "And stop talking. Read the room around you."
Ji-ho didn't need to point. The atmospheric pressure in the canteen was nearing a breaking point. Every student within a twenty-foot radius had slowed their chewing, their ears practically leaning toward their table.
Hyun-soo paused, a piece of pork cutlet halfway to his mouth. He finally took a slow, deliberate look around. He saw the wide-eyed stares, the frantic typing on screens, and the way the entire room seemed to be vibrating with the word Shade.
"Oh," Hyun-soo whispered, finally lowering his voice to a level that didn't carry across the entire hall. "Right. The 'exhibit' thing. My bad, man."
He leaned in closer, his expression shifting from playful to serious.
"But seriously," Hyun-soo breathed. "We have less than thirty hours. If we don't log back in soon and make a move, the Baron's knights are going to be waiting at the tavern door."
Ji-ho didn't even flinch at the mention of the high-stakes choice. He set his chopsticks down with a sharp, metallic click that signaled the end of his meal.
"I'm declining that quest obviously," Ji-ho said, his voice a flat, freezing monotone.
Hyun-soo blinked, his fork frozen mid-air. "Wait, what? You can't just flatly decline. If we don't accept it, the Baron will throw us in prison, you know that, right? Maybe if we accept it, there won't be a time limit attached to it?"
Ji-ho leaned back slightly, "Accepting a contract you have no intention of fulfilling is a waste of resources," he replied rationally. "And assuming there's no time limit is a logical fallacy. The system already gave us a 48-hour decision window. Once accepted, a quest of that caliber usually tightens the leash, not loosens it."
He looked at Hyun-soo, "Think, Hyun-soo. A former hunter who became a Baron through war achievements is now asking adventurers to kill a local Guild Master. He's not looking for a hero; he's looking for a fall guy. If we accept, we are bound to his faction. If we fail, he has a legal reason to execute or imprison us to save face."
Hyun-soo lowered his fork, his appetite finally fading as he processed Ji-ho's cold breakdown. "So ... we just say no? And go to the underground prison?"
"Not yet," Ji-ho replied. "We use the window we were given. We'll leave the town immediately and put as much distance between us and the Baron's knights. Once we are far enough away and in a safe zone, then we decline the quest."
He leaned forward, tapping his finger on the table to emphasize his logic.
"The failure penalty is a fifty-percent chance of imprisonment. If we are standing right in front of the Baron when we decline, that fifty percent is a death sentence. But if we are miles away, even if the 'imprisonment' roll triggers, they have to catch us first. We aren't staying there to be his exhibit or his executioner."
Hyun-soo let out a long breath, a grin slowly returning to his face. "So we're making a run for it before the timer hits zero? Now that sounds like a plan."
Ji-ho stood up, "It's the only rational move. We log in, we slip out, and we find a new variable. We have forty-eight hours to become too expensive to catch."
"You are insane. You're talking about gambling with a fifty-percent chance of being thrown in prison like it's a coin flip for a soda! You're literally planning to trigger a manhunt by the Baron's knights while we're still basically Level 5," Hyun-soo hissed, leaning across the table.
Hyun-soo ran a hand through his hair, looking around at the whispering students before turning back to his friend, "You're crazy, man. Actually crazy. Most people would be sweating bullets trying to pick a side, and you're just over here calculating how to become 'too expensive to catch'."
"Logic is often mistaken for insanity by those who prefer the safety of a binary choice," Ji-ho replied flatly.
He looked at Hyun-soo and just sighed in response, "Why do I even bother."
Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away, leaving a stunned Hyun-soo sitting alone at the table. Hyun-soo just watched his friend's retreating back, still clutching his fork.
"Crazy," he muttered again, though this time there was a hint of reluctant admiration in his voice.
"He's actually going to do it."
He let out a dry, breathy laugh and shook his head, looking down at his half-eaten pork cutlet.
"And here I thought he wasn't interested in the game," Hyun-soo whispered to himself, the irony of the situation finally hitting him.
That night, before logging into the game, Ji-ho browsed the community sites to see if anyone else had received the same quest.
He found several posts about Baron Rael, but they only deepened the mystery. Dozens of players reported seeing the Baron and his knights march toward the tavern. However, when they tried to follow him inside, they were stopped by a shimmering barrier. A system message had flickered in front of them.
[ Access Denied: A Unique Triggered Quest is currently in progress ]
Despite all the sighting posts, not a single person mentioned a quest to assassinate the Guild Master. There were no screenshots of the crimson-bordered window, no complaints about the 48-hour timer, or the absurdity of the quest. This confirmed a chilling reality. There wasn't a single other player inside that tavern.
Ji-ho's eyes narrowed as he stared at the glowing screen of his phone.
Initially, he thought there might have been at least a few other players mixed into the crowd. But as he scanned his memory of the tavern, the realization hit him like a cold wave. He hadn't seen a single name hovering above anyone's head.
Player names were currently impossible to hide. If there had been even one other person from the real world in that room, their names would have been visible. But there was nothing.
Tired of thinking, Ji-ho closed his eyes and massaged his temples. His mind was already saturated with variables, and the heavy silence of his room felt like a preview of the tavern they were about to re-enter. He just waited for Hyun-soo to arrive. Once they were both ready, they would step back into the game and continue where they left at.
After they logged in, the real world dissolved into a flurry of white data, and the smell of roasted meat and expensive ale rushed back into their senses.
Ji-ho's vision cleared. He was sitting in the same corner booth, the leather creaking under him. Across from him, Hyun-soo materialized, his bear ears twitching in immediate panic as he prepared to face the baron and his knights.
But the metallic clash of armor and the suffocating pressure they expected were gone.
The tavern had returned to its normal, boisterous state. The knights and the baron were nowhere to be seen. The heavy atmosphere had vanished, replaced by the mundane sounds of laughter, clinking glasses, and the smell of roasted meat.
To their surprise, the room was now filled with actual players. Floating names like 'DragonSlayer7' and 'ManaBurner' hovered above the player's heads.
Even Lyra was back to her usual self, moving with a gentle grace as she balanced a tray of ale, weaving through the crowded tables to serve other guests.
Moments after, the same aggressive, crimson-bordered window from the previous day flared into existence, hovering inches from their faces.
—————
[ Slay the Silestal Guild Master (A) ]
[ 32 Hours, 42 Minutes Remaining ]
[ Would you like to accept the quest? ]
—————
Before Ji-ho could think, the scent of wildflowers broke through the tavern's musk. Lyra had noticed them from across the room. She wove through the crowded tables with a cheerful, effortless grace, waving her hand as she approached.
"Oh! You're back!" Lyra greeted them with a warm, approachable smile, her long ears twitching happily. "I was starting to think the floor had swallowed you both up after all that drama yesterday. It's been a day since the Baron and his knights marched out of here, hasn't it?"
Ji-ho didn't smile. He looked up at her, his gaze locking onto her moss-green eyes. "Lyra, has there been any sign of the Baron's men since we... stepped away?"
Lyra laughed softly, leaning against the edge of their booth. "Aside from the gossip? No. After Rael left last night, the tavern went back to its usual noisy self."
She tilted her head, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"And what do you mean by 'stepped away'?" she teased, poking a slender finger toward his shoulder. "You basically vanished, you know? One second you were sitting there looking like a frozen statue, and the next, poof! You and your bear friend were gone."
For the first time since entering the game, a genuine look of shock crossed his face. He didn't hide it. His eyes widened, and his clinical composure fractured for a split second.
"You... found that normal?" Ji-ho asked, his voice tighter than usual. "Two people vanishing into thin air right in front of you, and you're joking about it?"
Lyra blinked, looking genuinely puzzled by his reaction. She let out a light, airy giggle and waved her hand dismissively.
"Well, you adventurers are a strange bunch, aren't you?" she said, as if explaining something obvious to a child. "People appearing and disappearing is just what you do. One minute a warrior is shouting for a healer, the next he's gone to the other side or whatever you call that place you go to sleep. It's a bit flashy, but we're used to it by now."
"I see," Ji-ho said, his voice returning to a low, cold monotone as he regained his calm. "My apologies. I forgot how... adaptable you are."
"Adaptable? Is that another 'player' word for being a good waitress?" Lyra joked, leaning in closer. "So, what can I get you? Consider it a welcome-back gift. It's on the house," she added with a warm, approachable smile.
Hyun-soo's stomach let out a loud, traitorous growl after hearing the word 'free food'. He looked at Ji-ho with wide, pleading eyes, his bear ears twitching in desperation. "Ji-ho, free food. We can't say no to that, right?"
Ji-ho shifted his gaze back to Lyra.
"If it's truly on the house, then we'll take whatever is most popular," Ji-ho said. His voice was still flat, but the sharp, icy edge had softened into something resembling a quiet show of respect. "Thank you. We need something quick, though. We don't have the luxury of a long sit-down meal."
"The Adventurer's Special it is then! I'll be right back!" She winked and turned, weaving through the crowded tables with practiced ease. The moment she disappeared into the kitchen, the air around their booth felt heavier again.
Ji-ho leaned back, his icy eyes following Lyra's path before shifting to Hyun-soo.
"What do you think of her?" Ji-ho asked abruptly.
Hyun-soo blinked in confusion, "Who? Lyra? I mean, she's great! Friendly, funny, and she's giving us free food. Why? You're not planning anything bad to her, are you?"
Ji-ho's fingers began their rhythmic tapping on the wood. "She found it normal that we 'vanished' for almost two days. She calls our log-outs 'The Other Side.' Don't you find it strange?"
"Now that you mention it..." Hyun-soo muttered, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, it is kind of strange. They don't behave like AIs at all. They move and talk exactly like real humans. It's almost like there's no difference."
"Exactly," Ji-ho said.
"She isn't just a program with a set of responses. She is a self-correcting variable. The system has given her enough 'humanity' to rationalize the impossible so that we, the players, never feel like we're in a simulation."
Ji-ho leaned back, his eyes slowly browsing the tavern. He watched a grizzled veteran at the bar laugh as he spilled a drop of ale, and a group of scouts in the corner whispering over a map. Their movements were fluid, their expressions full of genuine emotion.
"Not only her," he added, his gaze sweeping across the room. "All the NPCs here in the tavern are like that. They breathe, they sweat, they even have micro-expressions of boredom or excitement. There's no looping animation, no recycled dialogue. They don't behave like AIs at all. They move exactly like real humans."
Hyun-soo looked around, his bear ears twitching as he tried to spot a single "robotic" flaw. He saw a waitress trip slightly and catch herself with a frustrated huff, and a merchant counting coins with a greedy glint in his eye.
On the other hand, Ji-ho looked toward the kitchen where Lyra had disappeared. "It's almost like we were being gaslighted into forgetting this is a game," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the clatter of the tavern.
The silence between the two friends was heavy, broken only by the distant clink of mugs and the low hum of the tavern's people. Ji-ho's gaze remained fixed on the kitchen door. Moments after, Ji-ho flicked his wrist, pulling the translucent, crimson-bordered quest window back into existence. He wanted to show Hyun-soo the specific wording of the penalty, his fingers hovering near the interface pointing out the potential loophole.
"Look at the failure condition again," Ji-ho whispered, leaning in. "If we—"
At that exact moment, a rowdy adventurer at the neighboring table burst into a boisterous laugh, throwing his arms wide. His heavy elbow caught Ji-ho's shoulder, jarring his arm forward.
Ji-ho's finger, which had been hovering over the glowing Yes button to indicate its position, was slammed directly into the virtual surface.
The crimson window simply dissolved into faint motes of light. In its place, a small, clean system window materialized in the center of Ji-ho's vision.
[ You have accepted the quest 'Slay the Silestal Guild Master (A)' ]
The detailed quest panel flared into existence.
—————
[ Slay the Silestal Guild Master (A) ]
Difficulty: A
Quest Type: Assassination
Baron Rael Graciano was once a high-ranked hunter before he became part of the Afruvite nobility. For whatever reason, he seems to be having an ill relationship with the Guild Master of Silestal Town. He has requested the Master's head to be brought to him.
— NOTICE: The Baron was notified that you accepted his quest. He now requires your presence in his estate after the timer ends
— Time Remaining: 32 Hours, 15 Minutes Remaining
Quest Clear Condition: Slain the Silestal Guild Master and bring his head to Baron Rael
Quest Failure Condition:
● Affinity with the Barony will greatly decrease
● There is a 50% chance for you to be imprisoned in the Baron's underground prison
Quest Clear Reward: Unknown