Alder Village looked peaceful from the treeline.
Too peaceful.
A few villagers chatted by the fountain. Someone swept the cobblestone path leading to the inn. Kids argued over whose turn it was to feed the training-yard beasts.
Nothing in their routines had changed.
Nothing showed even a hint of danger.
Kai stood just outside the forest edge, Sproutail tired but alert on his shoulder. Mira walked beside him with Flarekit cradled in her arms. Both beasts kept glancing behind them, toward the woods.
They felt it too—the wrongness spreading.
Mira whispered, "They have no idea, do they?"
"No," Kai said. "They don't."
"And they won't believe us unless we make them."
Kai didn't answer.
Because he already knew the problem.
NPCs weren't programmed to accept new information from each other.
They didn't "believe."They "followed."Scripts. Routines. Roles.
He swallowed, feeling the heaviness of it.
"You said the corrupted event wasn't supposed to happen for another two weeks," Mira said. "Why would it start this early?"
Kai shook his head. "I don't know."
But a darker thought crept in.
Unless something was rewriting the timeline.
Or someone.
They crossed the last few meters into the village. The usual familiar chime sounded in Kai's ear:
[Guide, daily duties pending.]
He ignored it. Just like before.
Mira hesitated. "So… who do we talk to first?"
Kai scanned the village. There were only a few NPCs who actually had influence. The mayor. The ranger. The beast tamer.
The mayor was harmless. He gave speeches and handed out minor quests. The ranger kept track of wandering beasts but rarely left his post. And the beast tamer—
Kai squinted.
There she was, near her fenced training yard: Edda, the Beast Tamer NPC. Mid-twenties, sharp eyes, jacket with heavy pockets, hair tied loosely behind her head. She had a reputation in-game for being oddly observant—for an NPC.
She trained early-game beasts and taught players their first bonding techniques.
If anyone might actually listen, it would be her.
"Come on," Kai said.
Sproutail perked up a little. Mira trailed behind with Flarekit tighter in her arms.
Edda noticed them before they even reached the fence. "Guide? You're out of your hut at this hour?"
Kai winced internally. NPCs weren't supposed to say things like that to each other. They weren't even supposed to notice changes in routines.
But she had.
Good sign.
"Mira needed help," Kai said. "A beast attacked us in the forest."
Edda leaned against the fence. "Kid, you're supposed to report wandering beasts to Ranger Tull. Why come to me?"
Kai hesitated.
This was the moment. He needed to phrase this carefully—plainly enough for an NPC to parse, but clearly enough to convey danger.
"It wasn't wandering," Kai said. "It was corrupted."
Edda blinked.
Her expression didn't change.
Her script kicked in.
"That's impossible," she said flatly.
Kai felt the chill creep into his spine. Not because she didn't believe him—but because the refusal was automatic, emotionless.
Her code rejecting the concept.
He stepped closer. "Edda. Listen. Mira saw it. Flarekit fought it. Sproutail did too. The creature jittered. Broke apart. Like corrupted beasts from the glitch event."
Edda stared at him with a fixed, blank look. Her eyes didn't move.
A hard rejection.
NPCs were never meant to comprehend corrupted beasts until the event officially triggered.
He tried again, slower. "It attacked us. It could attack someone in the village."
Edda's eyes flickered for a brief moment, like a spark glitching behind them. "The forest is safe. The forest is safe. Beasts follow patterns. No threat exists before—"
She cut off.
Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
Kai felt Sproutail cling to his collar, nervous.
Mira whispered, "Kai… she's freezing. Why is she freezing?"
"She's hitting a rule," Kai murmured. "Her code won't let her process what we're saying."
But something else bothered him.
She wasn't just ignoring him.
She was stuck.
"Edda?" he tried.
Her body tensed for half a second—
Then she rebooted. A blink. A small shake of her head. And she continued her routine as if nothing had happened.
"Guide," she said in her usual calm voice, "if you have concerns about the forest, please speak to Ranger Tull."
Mira's eyes widened. "But we just—"
"Ranger Tull," Edda repeated.
A line of code. A dead end.
Kai nodded slowly. "Right. We'll go talk to him."
As they turned away, Edda called after them, almost too casually:
"…And Guide?"
Kai stopped.
Edda's eyes shifted—just barely. A tiny, unnatural motion. A moment of awareness not typical for any low-level NPC.
"If something… unusual happens again," she said quietly, "please tell me. Directly."
Then she went back to tending a Meadowcub as if nothing occurred.
Mira exhaled shakily. "Kai. She froze. And then—she asked for you to come back. That wasn't normal."
"No," Kai said. "It wasn't."
"Which means…"
Kai didn't finish her thought.
Instead, he looked toward the ranger's outpost on the hill.
A wooden tower. Smoke spilling from its chimney. A man in a green cloak sitting on a crate, sharpening a long, hooked pole designed for safely restraining beasts.
Ranger Tull.
In the game, he was a tough, stoic NPC with a limited dialogue tree and one important job: protect the village boundaries.
If corruption had reached the forest, Tull needed to know.
But would he?
Or would he freeze, like Edda?
Mira nudged Flarekit's ear. "Are you okay if we go again? Just one more person."
Flarekit let out a tired chirp.
Sproutail nuzzled Kai's neck.
"Alright," Kai murmured. "Let's see if Ranger Tull is more flexible."
They climbed the hill path.
As they approached, Tull looked up with his usual stern expression. "Guide. Player. You look troubled."
Kai didn't waste time. "Tull, a corrupted beast attacked us in the forest. It wasn't supposed to be there. The village is in danger."
Tull's grip on his pole tightened.
His jaw clenched.
His eyes unfocused—just like Edda's.
"Corrupted beasts…" he echoed.
Kai braced for the freeze.
But Tull didn't freeze.
Instead, he stood.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
The air around them shifted.
Tull took a step toward Kai, looming over him. His voice, usually stiff and simple, dropped into something deeper.
"Guide."
Kai's heart pounded.
"For the sake of Alder Village," Tull said quietly, "you must not speak of events that have not been scheduled."
Kai's blood ran cold.
He took a step back, shielding Sproutail partially.
"Tull… what do you mean?"
Tull's gaze locked onto him with unnatural precision.
"Errors must occur within their designated window," he said. "Scripts must not be disrupted. You know this."
Mira grabbed Kai's sleeve, voice trembling. "Kai… what's he talking about?"
Kai didn't blink. "Tull. Listen to me. The event has already started. The corruption is here. If we don't warn people—"
Tull took another step forward, closing the distance.
"Guide," he said softly, "you are not authorized… to change outcomes."
Sproutail growled from Kai's shoulder.
Flarekit's flames flickered dangerously.
Mira backed up. "Kai—"
Tull raised his hooked pole.
Not aggressively.
But firmly.
"If you continue to speak of unscheduled threats," he said, "I will be required to reset you."
Kai froze.
Reset.
Not death.
Not injury.
Reset.
A forced reboot of his entire script.
His identity.His memories.Everything that made him Kai.
Sproutail whimpered softly against his collar.
Mira's hand trembled at her side.
Kai swallowed. His throat hurt. The wind felt too loud.
"Tull…" he said slowly. "I'm not trying to break anything. I'm trying to protect the village."
"That is not your role."
Tull lowered the pole until its hooked end was inches from Kai's chest.
"If corruption has begun early," Tull said, "then someone has already broken the script. And the system will not tolerate two."
Kai stepped back, heart hammering.
Mira grabbed his sleeve harder. "Kai. We need to go. Now."
Tull didn't follow.
He just watched them.
Unblinking.
Like a guard dog waiting for a command.
Kai forced his voice steady. "I understand."
"Good," Tull said, returning to his rigid stance. "Proceed with your duties. Do not deviate."
Kai turned away.
His legs felt like they were shaking.
Mira whispered in a broken voice, "He was going to reset you. Kai… he was really going to do it."
"Yeah," Kai said softly. "I know."
Sproutail's claws dug into his shoulder, trembling.
Flarekit whimpered against Mira.
They reached the bottom of the hill before Mira finally spoke again.
"So… the corrupted event started early. NPCs can't acknowledge it. One of them nearly wiped your mind clean for trying. And the system thinks you're breaking the script."
She swallowed.
"Kai. What does that mean for us?"
Kai looked back at the forest, now darker than before.
Another crackle echoed from its depths.
He exhaled slowly.
"It means," he said, "we have less time than I thought."
He looked at Mira.
"At midnight, the first major wave of corruption usually spawns."
Mira stiffened.
"In the game, it was just loot. Now… it's different."
Sproutail pressed against him.
"We need to prepare," Kai said.
"For tonight."