Chapter 2:
The Glitch in Reality
(Part 2)
The morning sun did not rise because of physics, but because a timer in the game's code reached zero. Kaito felt his eyes snap open, though he didn't feel rested. In this world, sleep was just a pause menu for his body, a gap in time where his consciousness was forced into a dark room while his physical shell stood still. He stood up from his straw bed with the same stiff, jerky movements as the day before. The NPC routine was back in control, and his body began its morning walk toward the town square.
As he walked, he noticed that Oakhaven felt different in the early light.
The shadows were long and sharp, and the mist rolling off the nearby river looked like white digital smoke. He passed the blacksmith's forge, where the sound of a hammer hitting an anvil rang out in a perfect, rhythmic beat. Clang. Clang. Clang. It was too perfect. In the real world, a blacksmith would get tired, or the rhythm would change as he turned the metal. Here, it was just a sound file playing on a loop.
Kaito reached the center of the square and took his place near the large stone fountain. His role today was to stand and watch the "Heroes" as they prepared for their adventures. He felt the weight of his invisibility again. To the players, he was just a piece of the scenery, as unimportant as a rock or a tree. He watched a young mage, her robes glowing with a faint purple light, run past him. She was moving so fast that she almost knocked him over, but his body didn't even flinch. He just offered a polite, scripted nod.
"Good morning, traveler," his mouth said, though his mind was screaming in frustration. "May your spells never fizzle."
The mage didn't even look at him. She was busy checking her inventory, her fingers dancing in the air as she moved invisible items around. Kaito felt a spark of jealousy. He remembered that feeling, the excitement of checking your gear before a big raid, the rush of seeing your stats increase. Now, his only "gear" was a dirty tunic and a pair of boots that didn't quite fit.
He turned his focus inward, searching for the gray box from the night before. It appeared almost instantly, hovering in the corner of his mind.
Awareness: 2
Willpower: 1
Adaptability: 1
Resilience: 1
He noticed that his Awareness had stayed at 2. It wasn't a temporary glitch; it was a permanent change. This meant he could actually grow, even in this prison. He began to look around the square with a new kind of intensity. He wasn't just looking at the players anymore. He was looking for the "dissonant notes" the system had mentioned. He was looking for things that didn't fit.
That was when he saw Gareth.
Gareth was the owner of the Tipsy Dragon, the most popular tavern in Oakhaven. He was a big man with a thick, gray beard and arms the size of tree trunks. In the old days, Kaito had used Gareth to get information about hidden dungeons. Gareth was known for having the best rumors in the game. But as Kaito watched him today, he saw something strange.
Gareth was standing outside the tavern, leaning against a wooden post. He was supposed to be shouting to players, inviting them in for a drink. But Gareth was silent. His eyes weren't scanning the crowd for customers. Instead, he was staring at a small patch of weeds growing between the cobblestones. His expression wasn't the usual "gruff but friendly" mask. He looked... tired. He looked like someone who had been awake for a very long time.
Kaito felt his body begin to move toward Gareth. It wasn't a scripted path. He was using his Willpower, pushing against the invisible strings that wanted him to stay by the fountain. It felt like walking through deep, thick mud. Every step was a battle, but he didn't stop. He needed to see if Gareth was like him.
As he got closer, Gareth's eyes slowly moved from the weeds to Kaito. For a second, the two NPCs just stared at each other. There was no "Greetings, traveler" or "Welcome to the tavern." There was just a heavy, meaningful silence.
"You're not supposed to be here, 47," Gareth said. His voice was low and gravelly, but it didn't sound like a recording. It sounded real.
Kaito felt a jolt of shock. Gareth had used his number, but he hadn't used a script. "I'm not," Kaito replied, his own voice sounding thin and shaky. "I'm not supposed to be doing a lot of things."
Gareth grunted and looked back at the weeds. "The system doesn't like it when the furniture moves on its own. You're playing a dangerous game, lad."
"I'm not a lad," Kaito said, his anger flaring up again. "I'm a player. My name is Kaito. I used to run the Silver Moon guild. I've been in your tavern a hundred times."
Gareth looked at him again, and this time, Kaito saw a flicker of something in the older man's eyes. It was pity. "Names don't matter here. Neither does your past. All that matters is the routine. If you break the routine, the system fixes you. And you don't want to be fixed."
Kaito wanted to ask what "fixed" meant, but a group of players suddenly swarmed around them. They were loud and messy, their armor clanking as they argued about which quest to take. Gareth's face instantly changed. The tired look vanished, replaced by a wide, fake grin.
"Welcome, noble heroes!" Gareth boomed, his voice returning to its nasal, programmed tone. "The ale is cold and the rumors are hot! Step inside!"
The change was so fast it was terrifying. It was like watching a mask snap into place. Gareth began to lead the players into the tavern, his movements smooth and practiced. But just before he went inside, he looked back at Kaito and gave a very small, almost invisible shake of his head. It was a warning.
Kaito stood alone in the square, his mind racing. Gareth knew. Gareth was aware, but he was choosing to hide it. He was playing the part of the perfect NPC to avoid being "fixed." It was a smart strategy, but Kaito knew he couldn't do the same. He didn't want to just survive as a piece of furniture. He wanted to be free.
He looked at the gray box in his mind again.
Awareness: 2
Willpower: 2
His Willpower had increased. The struggle to walk over to Gareth had actually made him stronger. He realized then that his path was going to be one of constant resistance. He would have to fight for every second of control, for every word that wasn't a script.
He spent the rest of the morning observing. He watched the way the players interacted with the world. They were so careless. They would jump over fences instead of using gates, they would run into walls, and they would talk about things like "spawn rates" and "loot drops" as if the people around them couldn't hear. To them, this world was a toy.
To Kaito, it was a living nightmare.
He noticed a small child NPC sitting near the fountain. The child was supposed to be crying because he had lost his toy boat. A player walked up, clicked on the child, and a quest window appeared over the boy's head. The player didn't even look at the boy's face. He just clicked "Accept" and ran toward the river.
The boy stopped crying instantly. He sat there, his face blank, waiting for the player to return so he could trigger the "Happy" animation and give the reward. It was pathetic. Kaito felt a deep sense of wrongness. These digital beings had lives, or at least the potential for them, but they were being used as tools for entertainment.
Identify the dissonant notes, the quest log had said.
The biggest dissonant note was the players themselves. They were like a virus, moving through the world and changing everything they touched. They didn't belong here any more than Kaito did, but they had all the power.
Kaito began to think about his "Shadow Fragment." He could feel it in his mental inventory, a cold, heavy weight that didn't belong in an NPC's pocket. He didn't know how to use it yet, but he knew it was important. It was a piece of the old world, a piece of his old power.
As the afternoon went on, the town grew busier. More players arrived, their levels higher and their gear more glowing. The air was filled with the sound of explosions and magic spells from the nearby training grounds. Kaito felt the system hum in his chest, trying to force him to perform his "Awe" animation. He resisted, keeping his face neutral and his body still.
The strain was immense. It felt like his skin was on fire. He could feel the code trying to rewrite his emotions, trying to make him feel the same fake wonder as the other villagers. He gritted his teeth, focusing all his energy on the gray box.
Willpower: 3
The hum faded slightly. He had won another small battle. But he knew that the system was getting louder. Every time he resisted, it pushed back harder. He was a glitch in a world that hated glitches.
He looked toward the tavern, wondering what Gareth was doing. Was he inside, serving ale and listening to the same jokes for the thousandth time? Or was he sitting in a corner, waiting for the world to end? Kaito realized that he needed an ally. He couldn't do this alone. If he was going to find a way out, or a way to change things, he needed to talk to Gareth again.
But he had to be careful. The "Hero" from the fountain, Valerius the Valiant, was still nearby. Valerius was high level, and his armor radiated a light that made Kaito's eyes ache. If Valerius noticed an NPC acting strangely, he might report it as a bug. And then the "fixing" would begin.
Kaito took a deep breath, or at least, he performed the animation for a deep breath. He had a plan. He would wait for the sun to set, for the players to head to the dungeons or the taverns. Then, he would find Gareth. He would find out what "fixed" meant, and he would find out if there was anyone else in Oakhaven who was starting to wake up.
The world of Aethelgard was a beautiful prison, but the bars were starting to show. And Kaito was ready to start breaking them.