Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 57: Planning Next

Miles Spears sighed. It had been several weeks since his team started this project and out of all players they had observed so far, the two young boys that one of the AI developers had invited had caught his attention with their unorthodox playstyle, as well with their different approached on interacting with several NPCs in the game. But today was different.

As he watched the footage of a young boy finishing off a bandit with a tornado of arrows, the man in the jacket rapped his fingers on his desk rapidly. He was impressed by the older brother's ingenuity such as asking the NPC guardian to aid him and combining his skills to gain an advantage against his latest opponent. But he was also a bit disappointed that the younger brother wasn't with him lately. It didn't affect the observation, but...

"Miss the magic kid already?"

Mr. Spears gasped as he turned around to see his colleague Mr. White, who was wearing a simple gray jacket with a white business shirt and red necktie, approach him with two mugs in his hands.

"That's not like you, Mr. Spears. I always thought of you as more of a cold-hearted developer."

Upon seeing White's small smirk after he said that, he frowned and sighed in annoyance.

"If that's your attempt on cracking up a stand-up joke, then I'm not impressed."

Mr. White laughed as he put one of the mugs down near his colleague.

"Oh, lighten up, Miles. I'm just teasing you. But I never expected you to care so much about Mr. Palmer's kids."

Miles sighed again as he picked up the mug. Catching the scent from it, he guessed that it was chamomile tea as he requested.

"Well, you're not wrong. To be honest, they've managed to overcome so many difficult obstacles that we programmed in the game," he explained. "What's more, they managed to find the hidden [Quest] inside the <Tested Wilds> that is the key to unlocking the lore to the public. So calling them prodigies would be an exaggeration if it wasn't for the out-of-the-box methods they've created and demonstrated in the game so far."

"I agree," Mr. White said as he sat down next to Miles and took a small sip of his hot drink. "Their accidental discovery of the [Experienced Crafting] system, their interactions with the major story NPCs... Those boys are two of a kind."

Miles cracked a small smile as he turned back to the paused footage showing Wind in the same expression when meeting the large white tiger.

"You might be right. Though can we agree on one problem?"

"What is it?"

"Did he have to add a small plot element regarding those two? I'm not sure how it will affect the game's storyline for future expansions and updates."

Mr. White's expression turned into exasperation as he let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Same here. I appreciate Mr. Palmer's genius in AI development, but I don't know if it was intentional for him to give them roles as inter-racial brothers in <Volo>. Heck, I'm a little worried since it's almost time for us to announce the next update."

"Regardless, let's talk to him the next time we have free time. For now, let's take a small break downstairs. I doubt those two will be logging in soon."

"Good call. I'm a bit burned out after all of that work earlier."

Both developers then left the room with the monitors still showing the paused footage of Wind.

----

"NO FAIR!!!"

I quickly cover my ears as Kazuki screams through the speaker of my phone. After my adventure with my friends back in [Isekai], I was hoping we could relax in the real world once more as we're enjoying ourselves in the 2010's restaurant we visited before. Of course, I want to tell my brother about what had happened since I don't want him to feel left out of the events inside the game. I'm starting to regret ignoring Arthur's warning about it though as he bawls on my phone. I've even had to excuse myself outside the cafe to avoid disturbing the other customers.