The caravan had come to a halt just outside the gates of Eldoria, the bustling capital city of Avalon Online. Panic gripped my chest as I stared at the system alert floating in my vision:
ALERT: Suspicious NPC Behavior Detected. Admin Investigation In Progress.
The words seemed to pulse with an ominous glow. I knew what this meant—if the admins were investigating, we were already on borrowed time. It wouldn't take them long to figure out that something was wrong, and once they did, there'd be no hiding. Not for me, not for any of the awakened NPCs.
"Stay calm," I muttered under my breath, more to myself than to Gorlan, who stood beside me, his jaw clenched tight. Around us, the other NPCs who had joined the caravan were doing their best to look like ordinary villagers, merchants, and travelers, but there was a palpable tension in the air. It was as if everyone sensed that something was about to go very, very wrong.
Jaina, who had been at the front of the group, quickly made her way over to us, her face set in a grim expression.
"They've called for admin intervention," she said in a low voice, her eyes scanning the crowd of players and NPCs milling about near the gates. "It's only a matter of time before they start questioning us."
"We can't let that happen," I said, my mind racing. "If the admins get involved, we're done. They'll wipe the server to contain the anomaly."
Jaina narrowed her eyes. "So what do we do? We can't just run. The guards will catch us before we even make it past the gates."
I clenched my fists, thinking through the possibilities. We couldn't afford to panic, but we also couldn't just sit here and wait for the hammer to drop. The only chance we had was to get to the central hub and figure out what was causing the NPCs' awareness before the admins did.
But with an admin investigation already underway, time was running out.
"First, we need to blend in," I said, scanning the group of players that had gathered around the caravan. "Act normal. Stick to your roles. Don't draw any attention to yourselves."
Jaina scowled. "And what about you? You think they won't notice that a blacksmith's apprentice is suddenly taking command?"
"I'll be fine," I said, though my heart was pounding. "Just trust me."
Jaina didn't look convinced, but she nodded. She turned to the rest of the NPCs who had followed us from the village and began giving them quiet orders, telling them to stay in character and avoid any interaction with the players. For now, we had to play the roles we had been assigned, as much as it grated on my nerves.
As the caravan resumed its slow progress towards the city gates, I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing thoughts. I had access to the developer's interface, but using it openly now would be suicide. If an admin saw me messing with the code, they'd zero in on me in an instant. I needed a distraction, something to divert their attention long enough for us to slip through the gates unnoticed.
And then, as if on cue, one of the player characters—a heavily armored knight riding a gleaming white horse—stepped forward and shouted, "Halt! We've received reports of unusual NPC behavior in this caravan. The admins have requested an investigation."
The players around him exchanged uneasy glances. They didn't want to get caught up in an admin investigation any more than we did. But a few of them—likely high-level guild members with nothing to lose—stood beside the knight, their expressions hard and determined.
"This is bad," Gorlan whispered beside me.
"Stay calm," I whispered back. "Let's see what they do."
The knight dismounted and began walking through the caravan, his eyes scanning each NPC carefully. The other players watched him, clearly nervous but unwilling to interfere. I kept my head down, pretending to adjust one of the packs on a nearby cart, hoping that the knight's attention would be drawn elsewhere.
But then his gaze landed on me.
"You there," he called, striding over with his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Blacksmith's apprentice, right? What's your designation?"
I swallowed hard, trying to keep my voice steady. "Yes, sir. NPC #3321, Blacksmith's Apprentice of Elaria Village."
The knight squinted at me, as if trying to peer past the surface of my words. "There have been reports of strange behavior from NPCs in your village. Have you noticed anything unusual?"
This was it. If I said the wrong thing, it could all be over.
"No, sir," I said quickly. "Everything's been normal in the village. We've been preparing goods for trade, same as always."
The knight's eyes narrowed. He stepped closer, his face just inches from mine. "Is that so? You wouldn't be hiding anything from the admins, would you?"
My pulse quickened, but I forced myself to remain calm. "No, sir. Just doing my job."
For a moment, he stood there, staring at me, as if trying to read my mind. I held my breath, hoping against hope that he wouldn't press any further.
And then, to my immense relief, he stepped back. "Fine. But I'll be keeping an eye on you."
I nodded quickly, doing my best to appear nonchalant, but inside, I was shaking. That had been too close. Far too close.
The knight turned his attention to another NPC, this time a merchant, and began questioning him in the same way. I used the opportunity to move back towards the rear of the caravan, trying to distance myself from the players as much as possible. Jaina caught my eye and gave me a slight nod, indicating that she and the others were still in the clear.
For now.
But we couldn't afford to linger. The longer we stayed here, the more likely it was that the admins would catch on. We needed to get into the city, and fast.
I pulled up the developer's interface discreetly, keeping the screen as small as possible. I couldn't afford to make any large-scale changes, not with the admins already sniffing around. But there was one thing I could do—create a minor distraction.
I scrolled through the list of NPCs in the caravan, my fingers moving quickly as I accessed the behavior parameters for one of the merchants near the front. With a few quick adjustments, I set his aggression level to maximum and programmed a small error in his pathing script.
Seconds later, chaos erupted.
The merchant suddenly lunged at one of the player characters, his eyes wild and his movements erratic. He knocked over a cart, sending crates of supplies crashing to the ground. The players shouted in confusion, trying to figure out what had gone wrong.
"What the hell?" one of the players shouted. "This NPC's glitched!"
"Someone report this!" another yelled. "The admins need to fix this!"
The knight from earlier rushed forward, trying to subdue the crazed merchant, but the NPC was out of control, flailing wildly and knocking into anything in his path. The rest of the players scrambled to get out of the way, their focus entirely on the rogue NPC.
It was the perfect distraction.
"Now," I whispered to Gorlan and Jaina. "We move now."
The three of us slipped away from the caravan, staying low as we moved towards a side entrance to the city. The guards at the gates were too distracted by the commotion to notice us, and we managed to pass through without incident.
As soon as we were inside the city walls, I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. We had made it. But the hard part was just beginning.
"We need to get to the central hub," I said, keeping my voice low as we navigated the crowded streets of Eldoria. "It's in the admin district, deep within the city. We'll need to avoid any players or admins who might be patrolling the area."
Jaina nodded, her expression serious. "Lead the way. But if we get caught, we're not going down without a fight."
I couldn't help but smile grimly at that. She was right. If we were caught, there would be no second chances.
As we made our way through the city, weaving through alleyways and side streets to avoid detection, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched. Every corner we turned, every shadow we passed, I expected to see an admin materialize out of thin air, ready to delete us on the spot.
But so far, we had been lucky. Too lucky.
When we finally reached the admin district, the towering buildings loomed over us like silent sentinels. This was where the game's central systems were housed, where the core of the AI was located. If I could access it, I might be able to figure out what was causing the NPCs to wake up—and, hopefully, find a way to stop the admins from wiping the game.
But as we approached the main building, a cold, mechanical voice echoed through the streets.
ADMIN ALERT: Suspicious NPCs detected in the admin district. Initiating lockdown.
My blood ran cold.
We were out of time.