Shin opened the door to the bustling streets of Dragonfall. The image of a city that he once admired as a peaceful haven of players working together to conquer the labyrinth had been corrupted by the secrets he uncovered in the past few days. The rolling carts dragged along by rugged individuals caught his attention, causing Shin to lower his gaze. He questioned his morals.
It's obvious that forced labor is inhumane. However, when he thought they were just NPCs, he didn't think much of it. Shin thought differently of NPCs and players - it was only natural to do so in his mind. They were all pre-programmed and manufactured to act a certain way. On the other hand, there were certain circumstances like Adam and Rodgier that made him reconsider his point of view. If they were all as life-like as Adam and Rodgier, would he still consider them to be just NPCs? Shin was stuck in a daze, blankly staring at the ground when he heard a smooth voice call out his name.
"Shin? Hey there."
A tall, mysterious figure in a suit waved to him from a bench along the adobe wall. They wore a large rounded black hat that cast a dark shadow on their suit. Shin raised one eyebrow in confusion. Realizing this, the figure gestured with a dancing finger for him to come over. Shin looked around, scanning for any other suspicious figures, before cautiously approaching them. Shin kept his distance, standing at the far end of the bench.
"Have a seat, darlin'."
Hearing their tone of voice, Shin realized who it was. He reluctantly sat down as far away as possible.
"Don't be such a stranger. Although, I guess that's what we are. Isn't that right?"
Ghast took their hat off, allowing their long hair to flow down.
"Did you need something from me?" Shin asked, as he stuck one hand in the pocket of his coat.
"No, I don't need anything in particular. It does seem that you're the one that needs or wants something from me, however."
Ghast reached into the bag slung around their shoulder. They pulled out two objects and held them out in front of Shin. A set of keys hung from their pinky and a small red orb was pinched between their ring and middle finger.
"I'm sure you recognize these two."
Shin clenched the fist inside his coat pocket.
"There's no need to hide it."
Shin relaxed his posture and briefly closed his eyes before answering.
"Yeah, I recognize those. Did you need something from me?"
Ghast raised their eyebrows.
"Getting a little hostile are we? There's no need for that. I'm not here to do something violent or anythin' like that."
They gripped the staff leaning against the bench.
"That is… unless you want to." Ghast said, sinisterly.
Shin knew he couldn't take Ghast on at the moment. He would easily be overpowered. Even while he was under the effects of [Death's Ambition], he couldn't break through Ghast's barrier. He didn't even have a clue of what Ghast was capable of when on the offense.
Shin stared blankly at the carts passing by on the street.
"I don't plan on that."
Ghast loosened their grip on the staff.
"Good plan. Now that's settled, let me get down to business."
Shin turned to face them. Ghast's eyes pierced into his soul. He saw a devilish face that he'd never seen before.
"Don't let me find you butting into our operations again…"
Shin leaned away from them.
Ghast lowered their shoulders and calmed their tone
"I'll let you stay with your party. Those four seemed to take a liking to you. You seem to have already figured out how it all works down there but I'm more than happy to keep the status quo so long as you don't have any other funny ideas. I don't want to find a rat digging into my business again. Now do I?"
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Shin said as he stood up, tilting his head to look back at Ghast.
"Oh, that's great. Now, move along."
Ghast shooed him away as if he was a dog.
"Don't let me have this conversation with you again."
He walked away, gritting his teeth.
The buttery smooth voice spoke out once more.
"Although, I will say, next time won't be just a conversation…"
Shin stopped mid-stride and turned around to find a crystal refracting light in every direction where Ghast used to be on the bench. The crystal twinkled and shone brightly before fading away, leaving only the light from the streetlamps.
Shin went back to his room and sprawled out on his bed. He didn't even start his day yet but the conversation had already consumed all of his energy. There wasn't much that he could say in response to Ghast. Their mysteriousness added to the thinly veiled threats. He couldn't imagine what would happen to him or his friends if they continued to poke around the dark side of Dragonfall. All he could do now was focus on himself and getting stronger.
Shin opened the navigation menu at the top left of his vision. He expanded the menu to open the announcements tab. He slowly read through the patch notes.
When he finished, he sent a message to Fuyumi and Nightingale in their group chat.
Hey guys, are you both available to meet up sometime today?
He dismissed the message terminal and closed his eyes to get some rest but before he could relax, he was awoken by a notification sound.
Sure, I'll be around. I'll meet you at the Urueml lobby in an hour and a half if that's okay.
I'll be there too.
"They responded a little way too quick…" Shin thought to himself.
Shin threw his arms back and sighed. He took a minute to gather himself before springing up from the bed.
[12:20 | May 07, 2035]
He arrived at the Urumel lobby a little early. Shin noticed that the crowds of people were thinner than the first time that he was there. He walked around, looking through the small groups of adventurers huddling together in search of his two friends. The dimly lit lobby didn't aid in his search. Suddenly, he heard a friendly voice call out to him from the far side of the lobby. He turned towards the voice to find Nightingale by himself, leaning against the wall. Shin waved as he walked toward him.
"Hey! What's been going on, Shin?!"
Nightingale seemed pretty energetic.
"I've just been relaxing honestly." Shin responded lightly, unable to match his energy.
Nightingale tilted his head.
"Something got you down?"
"Well, yeah… I'll tell you about it once Fuyumi is here."
Shin felt a cold tap on his shoulder that made him jump.
"Yeah, hey."
"God, can you not scare me like that next time?!"
"Hahaha! You should've seen the look on your face!" Nightingale pointed and laughed at Shin.
"Sorry, about that. I just saw the opportunity and had to take it." Fuyumi said, with a slight smile.
"What's the occasion?" She continued.
"I'll send you a message in the group chat. I don't think it's a good idea to say it out loud. Just in case we have some eavesdroppers."
Shin sent them a message detailing his encounter with Ghast just about an hour ago. He explained the letter, conversation, and threat.
The three of them stood in a circle in silence. Nightingale scratched his head as he read the message while Fuyumi was lost in thought. If an outsider were to look at them, they would think that they were communicating with telepathy.
"I see…" Nightingale spoke up, breaking the silence.
"I can't help but say I told you so… I mean about that situation that happened underground." Nightingale elaborated, raising his eyebrows.
"We saved some people at least." Fuyumi retorted, crossing her arms.
"Now is not the time to go over this again." Shin said, butting into the conversation.
"Right… so, the reason why I asked for us to meet here in Urumel is regarding the patch notes. I assume you both have read it by now right?"
Fuyumi and Shin responded, nodding their heads in unison.
"If you noticed, there was that one line regarding experience gain increases in underground dungeons. I originally thought that Urumel would count. After all, this is an underground dungeon."
"So I did a little digging."
Nightingale held his hands out, mimicking the motions of typing on the keyboard.
"Lo and behold, Urumel counts not only as an underground dungeon but also as a secret dungeon!" He said, sticking out two fingers.
"Urumel itself is not hidden, but Dragonfall is. If I read the code properly, the experience bonuses for both secret and underground dungeons should stack and both apply here."
"Oh?"
"Yep, most other dungeons are only clearable once every week per party since it takes some time for the monsters and bosses to respawn. However, that isn't the case in there." Nightingale said, pointing at the enormous doors at the entrance of the labyrinth.
"Can you guess what we're about to do for the next five days until we meet up with the rest of the party again?" He continued, his tone shifting up with excitement.
"I can see where this is going…" Fuyumi replied with a sigh, in sharp contrast to Nightingale's ardor.
"That's right! We're going to grind our asses off in Urumel!"
Nightingale punched the air to raise his friends' spirits.
"Wooo…" Fuyumi and Shin responded sarcastically.