Author's point of view.
An hour earlier... Alice was flustered as she stood in the crowd. Around her, there were only adventurers (players) talking to each other. Only she is a resident (NPC) there. She was caught in their midst. She wanted to go to the city to sell her and the farmer's crops but had to stop there, Jajalo Grassland.
"What is this? Why didn't they fight the monsters there? Why are they so busy talking? It's like having an open meeting, which bandits often do. They relax when in front of them there are so many monsters."
She stopped her carriage, parked it, and approached one of the adventurer hordes. She wanted to eavesdrop on their conversation. It was probably because they were adventurers from Armstan City who knew better what was going on there. Because for them, maybe she can get something about what happened to the Armstan Kingdom. That way, she can get information that she can't know.
"You know about Princess Veronica, don't you?"
It sounded in her ears. An adventurer suddenly asked another adventurer about Veronica as she got closer to them. Hearing that made her even more curious about what they were talking about. It was information she should know, however.
"What's wrong with her?"
"Well, my friend like her too."
The five players were shocked when they heard the male player's words.
"What!? Did you get a new rival? Who's your friend?"
They were saddened to know that he had had something bad happen. Of course, as his friend, they didn't accept that.
"He is my office mate. You know him," He responded with an annoyed face.
"Could it be him…?" Player one was surprised and covered his mouth with his hand.
"But… does he play this game too? Hasn't he stopped playing games, choosing to be a normal guy since he and his teammates decided to retire?" Player two asked.
"He didn't stop playing the game. Before he played the game, I knew what he was looking for," He responded.
"What's that?"
"He's looking for the game's flash drive."
All the players think about it. Then player three opened his mouth.
"Didn't he get that at the launch of the game?"
"Not. That's why he's looking for it. He only found it after two weeks of searching."
"What are they talking about? Flash disc and the game?" Alice asked in her mind and was confused.
It was natural for Alice. She is an NPC and a resident of this land. This kind of thing Alice couldn't understand.
"So...?"
"You told me about the new player, right?" He asked, confirming once again that it was his friend who provided the information about him.
"Yes, it is true."
"That's right. I've confirmed that with him. The new player who shouted there was him, Anton Pasaribu."
Anton is very conspicuous when he just arrived in the game world. He screamed on the new players respawned, and his screams made the other players feel uneasy. He said something that could make them angry. The word "f*ck you" from his mouth was a challenge from him to whoever was there. They think so. That's why they feel uneasy about his arrival. Moreover, many players saw Anton's bad behavior toward the NPCs. They have considered Anton a toxic player. They make others hear about his badness and tell them not to approach him.
That was before they realized the toxic player was Anton Pasaribu, a captain of great players and teams.
"Anton? Is that true? They are talking about Anton?" Alice asked in her mind, curious and confused by their conversation.
As Alice wondered in her mind, player one approached the player.
"Is he too…?"
"That's what I tell you. I'm telling you, he likes Veronica too. He even had the chance to open a forum about Veronica during business hours."
The player was Norman Spencer, a man Anton saw every Monday through Friday. He told his friends what he had found, even if it had happened a few hours ago.
"Anton likes Veronica?" Alice said in her mind.
Alice was shocked to hear the news. Her eyes seemed to be staring into the void. She kept her feelings from escaping—she restrained her other self.
"But doesn't he have... Are they dating?" Player one asked.
"Anton and Veronica are dating?" Alice was getting increasingly shocked and kept trying to contain her feelings.
Alice couldn't stay there too long, so she left before she could hear what player one had to say.
"Hmm? Where did that girl appear from?" Player four saw Alice running from behind a rock.
"She is the girl Anton bullied a lot, isn't she? She is the game's NPC," Player five said, looking at Alice.
They were confused by Alice's appearance. Alice suddenly appeared from there and seemed to be in a hurry. It had made them wonder about her appearance and what she was doing.
"She... overheard our conversation," Norman said.
***
At Ricky's inn.
"Hey, young lady, how long have you been sitting there? You don't want to go out because of your fans, do you?"
Ricky asked a bright blue-haired woman in front of him and cleared his desk. He was very curious about why the woman had not left his place.
"Can I ask something?" The woman asked while waving her fingers at the table.
"What?"
"Have you ever helped someone when you knew it was dangerous for you?"
"Hmmm..."
Ricky found a question that interests him. He held his chin and recalled the incident that had happened to him.
"I have ever."
"You ever? Who did you save, and what was your reason for saving it?"
"Hahaha," He responded with a smile. Then he put the washcloth on the table and replied, "Not me."
"What do you mean?"
"My father helped me. It happened when I was eight years old. When we decided to go home after hunting in the forest, a large monster approached and attacked me. When my father found out, he threw me behind him. He stood before it and fought it, even if I knew it was stronger than him."
"Then what happens?"
"Sure, he told me to go. I ran for help at that time. I knew my father was in danger and couldn't fight the monster. I ran, cried, and prayed that my father would be okay. But I realized that night was coming, the sun wouldn't shine on the forest, and my vision was getting worse. I'll get lost if I keep running. So, I decided to stop and go back there. It was the moment when I found my courage. But when I came back, my father..." Ricky paused and put on a sad face.
"What happened to him?"
"He managed to fight the monster. I was very surprised. His body was covered in wounds, and even the blood had fallen on it, but he still managed to smile and look at me. He approached me, put his arm around me, and said, 'I told you to leave. Why did you come back? That's so not cool. You have ruined my cool'. He said something weird when he wasn't feeling well."
Ricky smiled after saying that. He seemed happy to have told her about the incident. But the look on the woman's face looked dissatisfied. The woman looks still confused by Ricky's story. She seemed to understand the meaning of the story and her question.
Until finally, she asked:
"The reason? Why did he save you and tell you to leave? You two can run together, right?"
"Isn't that obvious? He saved me and told me to leave because of his caring attitude."
"His caring attitude?"
Feeling the woman didn't understand what he was saying, Ricky leaned his head towards her.
"A man can know what to do with the people he cares about. The caring nature of a man is much greater than a woman's. When a man cares, that's when he has decided to really care. He will no longer think of his life, safety, or future. You won't realize that he cares about you. That's why he sacrificed for you. The reason? Because my father cares about his son."
Ricky turned his head away from her. He was sure she understood.
As Ricky walked away, the door to his inn was suddenly slammed with a bang. Then, a brown-haired woman came in and walked over to Ricky.
"Alice... What's wrong?" Ricky asked.
That woman was Alice, who had just heard about Anton.
"Is that adventurer there?" Alice said after arriving in front of Ricky.
"He's there, but I don't know if he's awake or not."
"Okay."
Alice moved away after hearing that. He climbed the stairs to the hallway where Anton's room was, but Ricky was still confused by her arrival.
"Who is she?" The woman asked Ricky after looking at the stairs.
"She is Alice. She often comes to the city to sell the farmers' crops."
"Alice? Oh, I see. She is an NPC," The woman said in a low voice.
"So, do you understand what I mean, Lady Martin?" Ricky asked her, making sure his words had been conveyed. Of course, it was because of her question.
"I understand. So the man who saved me was the one who cared about me?" The woman, Lady Martin, said and thought about yesterday's incident.
"The man who saved you?"
"I haven't told you about it yet?"
Ricky responded by shaking his head. He had never heard of it.
"Yesterday, my party and I..."
Just before Lady Martin could tell him about it, Alice was seen descending the stairs with a man. She looks in a hurry to grab the man's hand.
"Alice, where do you want to go!? Don't take my hand!"
"Shut up!"
Ricky seemed to see a couple fighting over there, but Miss Martin thought differently about them. She just stared straight at the man before she finally turned her head away and panicked.
"Anton? Is he you? How about this?" Miss Martin asked in her mind in a panic.
TUK! TUK! TUK!
She kept shaking her right leg. She rested her chin with her hand on the table, but her right foot kept tapping on the floor. She didn't want him to see her face, so she turned away.
"If Anton were, I wouldn't want him to see me. I can't meet him in this condition. But wait, that woman…."
When she wanted to confirm that the woman, Alice, they were no longer there.
"Where? Where are they?" She asked Ricky quickly.
"They're gone. What's going on? Why do you look panicked like that?"
"That woman…, who is she?" Miss Martin asked, hitting the table and standing up.
"I already said she is Alice, right? Why are you suddenly angry like this?"
"Alice? Is he cheating on me?"
"Hah!? I don't understand what you're saying. You know that adventurer?"
"Of course. He's Anton Pasaribu. He is my boyfriend."
"Oh, I see. Then you blame me because the two of them have left?"
"Of course. You should have stopped them! You could have told them to sit here. But wait…, what if he recognizes me?"
Ricky could only look at Lady Martin, who was confused by her words. He stroked his chest before finally saying, "Father, you are right. Women are hard to understand. I didn't know anything about them, but she told me to take responsibility for what wasn't my fault. Good grief."