Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 28: Grand Library

"What's your take with these players so far, Mr. Spears?"

A man in a light green dress shirt, black pants, and brown loafers turned towards a man in a white dress shirt and grey jacket as he shuffled through some papers on a large rectangular table. Ever since <Isekai Online> has launched, the two of them had been part of a team who observed special players interacting with the various items, environment, and non-playable characters in the game. This was to ensure not only that the world around them would behave as it was programmed to in the first place, but also to see that their "special additions" were working as planned.

"Very interesting. While most players would rather focus on the stats and [Masteries] that the game offers them in order to participate in guilds and PVP features like any other MMO player, most of these players' goals are mainly focused on surviving in the world rather than taking on the competitive aspect of <Isekai>," the man in the green shirt explained as he looked up towards one of the monitors in front of him. "It's not because they're both new to VRMMO, but because they seem to treat their playthrough as an exploration in the fantasy world, like what was written in the lore during its creation."

"Not only that, they seemed to have triggered a reaction from one of the NPCs a few weeks ago. It's not much, but at least it's enough to see a bit of change in one of them," the man in the jacket added. "But I'm still not keen on letting these players be part of our daily observations. Most of the players we've observed so far are veteran MMO players and E-Sport athletes who agreed to work with us for this project. The thought of inducting them under the pretense of giving them the game early is bit far-fetched and risk for the company."

"That is true. But the project head already agreed to this proposal, and it's too late for us to convince him otherwise. Besides, they've managed to surprise us with their choices so far. From choosing [Masteries] based on their roles in the virtual world instead of gameplay, to how they've taken advantage of the game's system with their large battles, they've become the "dark horses" of the team. Don't you agree, Miles?"

Mr. Spears's colleague just sighed at this. He didn't dislike the players that he labeled as "dark horses", but he was a bit worried about one of the players interacting with other players rather than the NPCs. "It's not that I disagree with you, White. However, some players might affect one of them negatively if they aren't careful. If a worst-case scenario happens, our team might get blamed for bringing him in <Isekai> in the first place."

"Hey, don't be like that, Miles." Mr. Spears said as she put his papers on the table and turned towards his colleague. "We're only halfway through the first month. The development team is already planning something to shake up the game before the first update that they have coming for Christmas, and I think these two might do something extraordinary by then. For now, let's trust the project lead and continue our observations as planned."

Seeing that he can't change what's happening in the monitors, for now, Miles sighed and sat down next to Mr. Spears. "Alright. But please, White, just call me by my last name. We're in a professional environment and calling me "Miles" is a bit embarrassing."

White chuckled as he continued to watch the footage. "I doubt professionalism exists when our lead's around."

----

Once we left the girls' shop, we quickly decided on what we're going to do next. Since we both already had some materials and tools needed for our weapon crafting [Masteries], we knew the next step was to work on them and find a way to improve our weapons along the way. But as we headed to our next destination, I felt my shirt being pulled before I turned to who did it: a certain little brother of mine. "What is it? I thought we already found someone to work on our equipment."