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This guy has to go.
Following the system’s internal clock, Saparata enters the dungeon precisely as the players enter. As one of the earliest artificial intelligent models made for the game, Saparata has been tasked to supervise the early-game dungeons as its boss monster. While the work was repetitive–especially considering State Civilization Online (SCiv) 10-year career, he still takes pleasure in waiting for players to come and clear the stages.
Except…
Saparata opens the surveillance system, watching a violet blur completely decimating the mobs on its path. The timer shows that it hasn’t been three minutes and the player has already reached the final corridor.
Seriously, why is a high level player doing a skirmish in an early-game dungeon?
Even if it's to test out new equipment, most players would raid a dungeon 10 levels lower than their gear.
Saparata’s eyes narrow at the player profile. The solo-raider is at level 120, and he’s raiding a level 25 dungeon… Saparata’s stats as the boss caps at level 30. Combined with the trash mobs, the whole dungeon is equal to a dungeon for a solo raider at level 35.
The system screen is covered by a notification, and Saparata summons an axe provided by the dungeon and readies his stance.
The door to the dungeon opens.
“Huh, what a lucky day.”
The voice drawls. The player, Fluixon [Leader of Conspiracy Guild] strolls in, twirling his dagger like a showman. The player is cloaked in a regal outfit befitting a 1800s politician. It's a set specifically tailored for [Conspiracy], which had ranked third from last season’s guild wars in Pandora server. The set had a minimum level of 120…
“Storytime, first-time goons. The boss NPC before us is a special NPC…”
Saparata sucks in a silent breath, if he is human surely his blood pressure would’ve gone up just hearing this guy talk.
“...we call him Silas since it looks like him from the prequel, but its in-game label is Saparata.”
The dagger in his hands is none other than [Dripping Moonlight], level 145+. And by the unnatural violet sheen, it's been reforged a couple of times. It’s one of the rarest weapons that is obtained through the highest difficulty dungeon, one that is managed by Saparata’s coworker. Just a basic attack would deplete Saparata’s health bar by 50000% percent, not to mention the damage over time.
Just what is this guy doing here?
“Do you remember when SCiv had AI usage allegations? It's because they mislabeled these special NPCs. It’s more self-learning than generative AI, because these NPCs learn your movement to provide a–”
“Oh my god, just shut the **** up.” Saparata facepalms, the internal censoring algorithm messing with his dialogue. The player avatar raises its head a bit, looking directly at Saparata. “I can’t deal with your ******* every week, Flux.”
“See how its animation is more varied? It even remembers players and calls them nicknames in game.”
“Are you just going to ignore me while you talk to your chat?!”
Fluixon’s voice is sneering. “There’s no point in responding, boss NPCs can’t initiate combat on their own anyway.”
Saparata grips the handle of the axe. Should he fling it? He can actually initiate combat but his colleagues had all agreed to keep their special privileges under wraps. But even then, the attack wouldn’t even pass through Fluixon’s defense stat.
“The chances of meeting one of these special NPCs are very low, but if you know what to do and where to look, you can increase it. Can Saps give us an example on how to do it?”
“If you start ragebaiting NPCs by farming low-level dungeons every Friday at 22:05! And your name is Fluixon!”
“I’m just special like that chat. Am I swooning? Who’s swooning? Who wouldn’t swoon if an NPC remembers your every move? Saps even remembers the exact time I went around looking for him.”
“You’re annoying, that’s what! And who’s special?!?!” Saparata counters. Although his model doesn't show anything other than movement, internally, system notifications about suppression of excessive emotion is incessantly pinging.
The player has the gall to laugh.
“Alright, alright. If I mess with Saps more, he'll never show up again. Now goons–” Fluixon’s avatar teleports right in front of Saparata, the dagger already mid-swing, “–watch.”
Saparata dodges the combo that Fluixon is trying to trap him into. He rolls his body to the left, and redirects the dagger strikes with the handle of his axe. When Fluixon starts a shorter but heavier attack, Saparata dodges and uses the cooldown animation to lightly swing at Fluixon’s chest.
The avatar blinks, appearing right behind Saparata. The striking skill of the dagger is activated, but Saparata moves faster. He grabs at the wrist and redirects the strike, throwing Fluixon’s body with a force unbecoming of a level 30 boss.
“See how it can parry and react to my skill activations? If it was the normal boss, I would’ve cleared this dungeon two minutes ago.”
“You should’ve stopped monologuing and be done with this!”
“Are you not excited to see your favourite player?”
“Who says you’re my favourite player? You’re just one out of two million players in SCiv!”
“Then how do I become your favourite player?”
Saparata stops from advancing. What a strange question… Was this just another trick of Fluixon's?
“If you stop playing around and farm properly for the next PVP–”
“–Then I wouldn’t accompany you every week.”
“You–! I’m an NPC! Non! Playable! Character! Your guild members need you for the lvl 120 dungeons more than me!”
“But you never appear in any dungeons higher than lvl 40, why’s that?”
A notification appears in front of Saparata right as his mouth clacks shut.
[Notice of Discretion!]
[Severe penalties would be given to you and the player when internal content is divulged!]
Saparata sighs, lowering the intensity of his voice. “Bring that theory to the chat forums. You’re here to clear a dungeon, so stop wasting my time.”
“So you have prior engagements before this? How long can I keep you from it?”
“Don’t try to stretch this clear time to 4 hours–”
Fluixon hums, pretending to remember the memory as if it didn’t happen last month, “Oh yeah, I did do that.” He adds a chuckle at the end, that bastard.
Saparata rushes forward, doing the combo attack that is easily dodged by Fluixon’s avatar. But on the final strike, Fluixon makes a parry. The level 30 axe couldn’t withstand a direct parry from a high-rank weapon and disintegrates into pixels, the dagger’s arc would have hit him if Fluixon’s didn’t blink back in a fraction of a second.
Seriously… this guy. How did he even know the timing between equipment breaking and damage hit?
Fluixon has the strength to back up his title and rank in the server. Having a great game sense, positioning, as well as reaction time, there was no doubt that he’s one of the top 50 players in the server by itself. To make matters worse, he has the knowledge on all of the bugs and system codes to exploit.
In fact, Saparata had been watching when Fluixon’s guild went toe-to-toe with the elites of [Aperion]. It had been such an enchanting sight that his colleagues kept sending him records of the match as bribes. There really was no other player more suited to SCiv than Fluixon, or maybe SCiv itself was made for players like him.
How lucky Saparata was to be created and meet him.
“You know, if you spend more time practicing for next season’s guild wars instead of messing around with me, you can easily be the top player in the server.”
“...You sound like you’re obsessed with me reaching that status.”
“Isn’t it obvious? If you spend your time on a better goal, you’ll leave me alone.”
“...Hah, you really…”
Hm? Why does he sound so displeased?
“Then if the [Conspiracy] win the guild wars, would I be your favourite player?”
“What the **** does that even mean–That really doesn’t matter.”
“It does.”
“You don’t even get any titles or permanent buffs.”
“I hold your opinion of me in high regards.”
“...You should go touch grass sometimes.”
“That’s rich coming from an NPC.”
“Why are you even doing this?” Saparata finally asks, exasperated.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“It really isn’t.”
“Because I want to know.”
Saparata opens his inventory. No, not the level 30 boss inventory, but his own personal inventory. There’s a misconception that special NPCs like Saparata don't have an inventory. The truth was, the dungeon would come pre-equipped for their level. But Saparata has his own inventory, where he pulls out his favoured weapon.
“...I’ve never seen that weapon before.” Fluixon’s avatar takes another step back, observing as Saparata slashed the ground with the fiery longsword, activating its passive skill.
“I’m glad it's your first.”
The arena is immediately engulfed in fire, the facade of the low level dungeon melting away to reveal a volcanic wasteland.
“All my stats are reduced by half–that weapon is basically a cheat! That’s not a weapon of a level 30 boss!”
“Didn’t you want to know, Flux?” Saparata smiles, “I’ll tell you the consequences of pissing me off!”
The swing from the blade creates a large arc that is barely dodged by Fluixon’s avatar. Saparata advances, using the longsword’s short combo to overwhelm Fluixon’s dodge. When Saparata guesses his stamina to be low, Saparata unleashes the skill of the weapon.
“Ugh!”
Fluixon’s avatar is bound by a box of fire, and the longsword’s hit will certainly hit.
A stray feeling of disappointment catches itself in Saparata’s thought, but it's overshadowed by the strange movements of Fluixon’s avatar.
To those who don't know, it looks like a series of buttonmashes. But the avatar’s erratic movements pass through the bind box just as the swing is about to connect.
Give it to Fluixon to bypass it using pixel measurements.
The cooldown animation of the longsword becomes the perfect timing for Fluixon’s own dagger to strike close. Because Saparata’s still a level 30 boss, his health bar is instantly drained. But he stands his ground, glaring directly into Fluixon’s eye as he spits out.
“...Are you satisfied?”
“...No.” Fluixon doesn’t withdraw his blade or take a step back. It’s like he’s still observing him closely. “You’re clearly suited for the highest difficulty dungeons, so why?”
“Hah. Maybe if you win the guild wars… I might just appear.”
There is a silence before Fluixon tsk-ed. “Since I defeated you using that sword, I should get a higher rank compensation.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re not getting the sword though.”
“Then give me your equipment.”
“...What?”
“Give me an equipment that’s only yours.” Fluixon says, his tone serious despite his embarrassing words. “That way, you’ll know that my win next guild war is for you.”
“...You’re so full of ****.”
Saparata opens his inventory, taking out a small handkerchief artefact and putting it in the [Additional Dungeon Rewards] tab. Not a moment after, a notification screen pops up in front of Fluixon.
“I don’t want to see you again, Flux.”
Saparata says as the system disintegrates his body into pixels.
“That’s cold.” Fluixon sounds amused, his voice small but more warm than Saparata had ever heard. “It should be ‘See you next time’, Saps.”
chillwave_chirp : What???
l33t_ledger : is that not a game dev flirting through an NPC
web_aristocRAT : you want that NPC cookie so baddd
FLUXFAN420: Fluixon ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥🥰🥰🥰🥰
Gotoga ✅: what the hell???
ethereal_echo: guys i just logged in why is flux smiling like that
satemadura : that artefact is level 145???
SCivver1309 : never seen stats like that before
130666 : did you just flirt with an NPC??? and he responded???
SideFall ✅: ALL HAIL YAOI
Thomas5200 ✅🔧 : …I guess I have to log in now to grind, boss?
A month later, Saparata stands in a cozy office space as he stares at the large whiteboard. His colleagues, Snowbird, Jophiel, and Micro, stand beside him as they stare at the visualized matchups of all the recorded guilds in SCiv.
“The top 1000 guilds are selected and the previous top 16 are already seeded.” Snowbird informs them. “But… this is the first time the two servers will merge for the guild war. So, who do you think will win this season?”
“It’s going to be [Westhelm] from Yggdrasil, isn’t it?” Jophiel says, leaning back on the desk behind them as she sips on her cup of tea. “Yggdrasil players are much more cutthroat despite lacking in loots.”
“Hmm, aren’t you biased?” Micro says, crossing his arm with an easy smile. “I’ve heard you’ve been managing the dungeon for Westhelm lately.”
“That’s just a coincidence really.”
“Alright bosswoman, if you say so.”
“Saps?”
Saparata’s eyes still stare at the seeded candidate.
“Oh dear, he’s not even listening.”
Only then does he turn to his three smiling colleagues. “Ugh, I know! Just get it out of your system already!”
“Looking forward to [Conspiracy]’s win, Mister Saparata?”
“I hope they crash and burn in the first round so I don’t have to see his stupid face again.” Saparata grumbles.
“Oh? I wouldn’t expect that from someone who gave his favourite player a top level artefact!”
“No, no, Jophiel.” Micro giggles. “It’s Sap’s soon-to-be favourite player.”
The three of them break out into laughter as Saparata’s system explodes with suppression of excessive emotion notification. But soon they become quiet as their manager Solev enters the room. He offers them a tablet he held in his hand.
“Actually, I’ve added a little something to the prize pool due to the increased interaction lately.”
“What?!”
“Is that?!”
“Ahahahaha!”
Saparata closes his eyes, cursing Fluixon and praying for his downfall.
On the screen, the list of rewards were the same as last season’s. Specialized equipment, special ranking, interview, loot bonuses…
And at the very end, for the first place, is a special equippable status.
[Saparata’s Favourite Player] x 1
Haa… Fuck.
While grinding on a high difficulty dungeon, Fluixon stops mid way.
“Boss? What’s wrong?” Thomas asks.
“Hmm… I feel the strangest sensation… like I was being cursed to hell and back.”
“Probably our opposition’s doing.” Gotoga responds.
Fluixon smiles to himself.
“Well, let’s get going. I’ll have to beat them in the next guild war afterall.”
The three avatars move along the dungeon route. On the screen, Fluixon’s character’s long hair is tied in a ponytail using [Saparata’s Favour].