Arknights: I became an NPC in the online game

As for the woman named Carnelian, Felix vaguely recalled that she was an operator affiliated with Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals, currently handling affairs in Leithanien. He had read her file before—something about her being related to a noble, an earl perhaps—but the name escaped him. Whether Carnelian would ever cross paths with that noble again was anyone's guess.

There was no doubt—she was a Caster.

While they were sharing dinner, Felix couldn't help but weigh the possibility of bringing her into his circle. Unfortunately, the odds didn't look promising. Her current objective was clear: to travel the world. Her situation was very different from that of Degenbrecher, Senomi or Mandragora. Carnelian had direction, purpose, and freedom. It wouldn't be easy to recruit someone like her, who already had a path laid out and wasn't tied down by necessity.

Sigh… What had his life become, thinking about how to poach Rhodes Island operators into his own group? At this rate, would Rhodes Island end up hollowed out?

He exhaled quietly. His heart wasn't exactly soft anymore—not since Kal'tsit's favorability rating toward him had failed to break even 20. He had no intention of targeting those who had already pledged themselves to Rhodes Island or the old Babel. That would be crossing a line. But as for those who hadn't joined yet—like Adele or Susie—well, maybe there was still a chance. They were young, their ideals not yet fully solidified. If he played his cards right and guided them well, he might just win them over.

Carnelian, meanwhile, didn't give any of this too much thought. She now looked at Felix a bit like an overly serious younger brother. In her eyes, his dinner invitation and the claim about owning a tech company in Columbia were simply youthful attempts at posturing. She even found herself looking forward to the moment his bluff would be exposed—just a little mischief in her heart.

After their meal, Felix paid the bill, and the two found a hotel nearby. They exchanged a simple good night before retiring to their rooms.

As far as Felix was concerned, today's ambush had been an "emergency mission." The attackers had no personal grudge against him—they were clearly trying to eliminate witnesses. It was pure coincidence that he happened upon the scene. As for whether the Witch King's remnants would come after him for revenge... unlikely. He had worn a hood throughout the fight. And the one unfortunate soul who had been knocked unconscious was now in the hands of the Gesatzswächter—surely, he would be safe.

Still, one thing didn't sit right.

Why had they targeted multiple people from the courier company? What were they trying to find?

Felix frowned. Could the pickup location from the courier company be hiding something they wanted? It had to be related to the Witch King, given the group's identity.

He sat up in bed, then crossed to the balcony and quietly slid open the door. The cool night air greeted him. Under the cover of darkness, he decided, he would pay the courier depot a visit.

Maybe—just maybe—he'd find something.

At this moment, the curiosity of being a player took over.

Wearing mechanically powered leggings, Felix moved like a swallow in flight, the agility boost making him swift and nimble. He easily ran and leapt across the narrow rooftops of the square-shaped buildings. Guided by memory, he used the cover of night to return to the scene of the morning's incident.

The area had been cordoned off. Several gendarmes patrolled the perimeter, speaking in hushed tones as they complained about the weather and grumbled over their unfortunate shift.

The smell of blood inside the building had already been cleared, but from a distance, Felix could still see several personnel checking through packages one by one. A frown formed on his face—this trip might have been for nothing.

[You have triggered the B-level chain quest: Lingering Echoes. Accept / Decline?]

Felix's eyes narrowed slightly. He had never heard of this quest before—at least, not one by this name. But that was to be expected. In his previous life, no player had reached the main city at this stage of the game, let alone encountered such an event. Naturally, no one had discovered this quest.

Still, a B-level mission was not something to dismiss lightly. He had waited years just to unlock Mostima's sidearm questline—maybe this would be on par. Converting time investment into difficulty, this one might be extremely dangerous.

But then again, there was no harm in accepting. After all, he could abandon the mission later if needed.

[Accept.]

[Mission Details: You have discovered that the remnants of the Witch King are pursuing something. They are willing to kill civilians to silence witnesses. Uncover their trail—perhaps then their ultimate goal will be revealed.]

[Objective: Track the Witch King's remnants and search for clues.]

[Reward: 9,000 EXP]

[Special Reward: Treasure Map]

The format immediately reminded Felix of singularity exploration quests.

Some singularities could be entered freely—players just needed the right exploration gear and protective clothing to survive the environments contaminated with Originium dust. But others required unlocking through specific quests. Sometimes that meant assisting NPCs; other times, players had to shadow them and follow them to a hidden objective.

In short, there were countless ways to trigger such explorations. But for Felix, this one was crystal clear: he had to find their trail.

By the latter half of the night, exhaustion had taken hold. Felix dozed lightly on a nearby rooftop, watching as the gendarmes below yawned and began wrapping up their investigation. They set up a cordon at the street entrance, left a few guards stationed at the site, and gradually dispersed.

Once the last patrol had departed, Felix landed silently on the ground and moved toward the courier company with quiet, measured steps.

The blood had dried, and the chalk outline of the deceased still marked the floor. Felix made his way to the cargo area—now a complete mess thanks to the gendarmerie's hasty search.

He couldn't help but curse under his breath. His own package was labeled as fragile. If those guys had damaged it… well, he knew better than to expect compensation.

He didn't need to turn on a flashlight—his halo and wings emitted more than enough light to clearly illuminate the room.

This, in fact, was one of the reasons he didn't particularly like the Sankta race. Stealth and infiltration were virtually impossible for them. Their role was pure dominance on the battlefield—invincible, yes, but incapable of subtlety.

It was like playing Payday 10 with a team fully kitted out in stealth suits and silenced pistols—only for you to walk in with a threat level of 95, clad in a full-body bulletproof vest, carrying a machine gun as your primary weapon, a grenade launcher as your secondary, and a mountain axe for close combat.

What is infiltration anyway? If you eliminate everyone, isn't that a form of stealth?

After hours of searching, Felix yawned. Still, he pushed on, determined to uncover any possible clues. This game wasn't like other VRMMORPGs. Its emphasis was on realism—you had to find all the clues yourself. That was why treasure maps could sell for astronomical prices on the market.

Every trip into a singularity was a gamble. If what you found inside turned out to be more valuable than the blueprint costs, you'd make a profit. Otherwise… you'd take a massive loss.

Eventually, his eyes landed on an inconspicuous package. There was nothing written on it—no sender, no destination. It felt unnaturally light. He gave it a shake, but sensed nothing inside.

A package like this couldn't possibly be sent. No sender meant no payment. No destination meant there was no place to deliver it. Clearly, this was a dead package.

Knowing that parcels were only stored at this kind of post station for up to a week, Felix began unsealing the box.

Inside was only a single note.

"27 Bugas Street, Sunset District."

Felix caught the faint, greasy scent of Kal'tsit. Was this a rendezvous point?

The Sunset District… that was the slum area of Graufield. A perfect place for shady dealings.

The mission hadn't marked as completed—he had only found part of the clues—but Felix's mood lifted. He carefully folded the note, returned it to the package, and resealed the box exactly as he had found it. Then, he left the station silently.

Why leave the note behind? To avoid alerting the enemy. What if the remnants of the Witch King came to check? On the other hand, he also wanted to leave a trail for the gendarmerie. If they discovered the note and acted on it, perhaps they could apprehend all of the remnants in one go.

Right now, Felix had no intention of provoking that group of fanatics.

He just wanted to make some easy money, quietly.

Stepping lightly onto the balcony, he opened the door, ready to enter the house.

A voice cut through the still night.

"Where did you just go?"

From the neighboring balcony, Carnelian had cracked open her door, her voice tinged with irritation.

Felix glanced at the time—it was 2 a.m. Terra time. Shouldn't she be in bed by now? Staying up late was bad for the skin, and it led to muscle laxity.

"I went for a walk. To help with digestion."

"You lie exactly like my sister," Carnelian replied, the corner of her mouth twitching upward. "You look cute trying, though. Going for a walk to digest your food—at 2 a.m.? And out the balcony door instead of the front?"

Felix was silent for a moment, then spoke calmly. "Carnelian, what kind of person do you think I am?"

"You're saying—"

Carnelian caught a glimpse of Felix's indifferent golden eyes. His expression remained composed, but she paid no mind to his detached demeanor.

She thought for a moment. "I have no quarrel with you. At first glance, I thought you were a handsome guy—and I liked you."

"At the very least, you're not a bad person. I've traveled across Terra for many years, and I've never heard of any evil Sankta."

Her blood-red eyes blinked. "I've seen a lot of people during my travels. When it comes to judging character, my intuition rarely fails me… So now, I can honestly say—I'd trust you to guard my back in battle."

Felix gave a low hum. "Same here. You're straightforward, and you can be trusted."

"I went to investigate the scene," Felix continued. "I found the gathering point of the Witch King's remnants. I suspect they came to Graufield with a purpose. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone so far as to kill people at the post station. They're likely searching for something."

"You want to dig deeper." Carnelian paused in realization. So this angelic-looking guy wasn't blaming her for the death of the postman?

Felix nodded. "I suppose this could be considered vengeance for the three civilians who died. They were innocent, and died needlessly."

"…Fine. Take me with you. Don't think of it as helping you—I just want to kill one or two of those Witch King bastards to vent my anger."

"We'll talk about it tomorrow."

"Want me to wake you up?"

Felix gave her a strange look. Carnelian simply grinned and slipped back into her room.

Felix remained silent. With such a reliable Caster as a teammate, this singularity exploration should be a sure thing.

Nothing happened that night. They both woke up refreshed the next morning. After breakfast at the hotel, they headed to Graufield's Sunset District—a densely populated slum, home to many infected residents.

Leithanien had always been more tolerant of the infected. Thanks to the widespread acceptance of Originium Arts in the country, the infected were not treated as harshly as they were in other nations. In fact, Leithanien was one of the few places in Terra where the infected and non-infected could live together. They were even offered community services and job opportunities. However, their movement was still restricted, and in most regions, infected residents were concentrated in designated neighborhoods.

Both Felix and Carnelian donned hoods, doing their best to conceal their identities. Still, Felix's halo and wings made it impossible for them to blend in completely—civilians instinctively kept a few steps away.

Number 27 Bugas Street turned out to be a nondescript grocery store, indistinguishable from the others—except that it was closed today. Felix peered through the window. The interior was empty. No signs of anyone inside.

"No one here. Did they leave early?"

Carnelian said nothing at first. "Why don't we go in and take a look?"

Seeing that the street was quiet and she didn't sense any surveillance, she gripped the door handle, twisted it off, and kicked the door open before stepping inside.

Felix felt a wave of frustration. Hadn't they agreed earlier that they were going to sneak in? Why was this woman acting like she was about to draw her gun and call herself police?

"Now, give them hell."

——///Police Raid///——

Felix half-expected a yellow warning message to appear in the top-left corner of his vision at any moment.

There was nothing particularly noteworthy inside the grocery store. Carnelian searched every corner for clues, while Felix silently closed the kicked-in door behind them. He took a moment to examine the store's modest decor, then walked over to the cashier counter and opened the register—finding some leftover cash inside.

"Lucky. What a lucky guy," Carnelian muttered in Colombian, shooting a glance at Felix. "Do you mind if I take the money?"

Felix waved his hand nonchalantly and made his way toward the storage room behind the shop. Hearing nothing on the other side, he gently pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The room looked far more like a miniature armory than a simple warehouse. Lining the walls were musical instruments, staffs, bizarre-looking devices, and piles of sheet music that pulsed with a strange aura. Some of the scores looked so arcane and disturbing that Felix felt his mind reel just from glancing at them too long.

If this were Yan, a discovery like this would have thrown all ten tribes of those fanatics into chaos.

Not everyone was supposed to have access to a personal arsenal like this.

Felix continued rummaging through the cluttered tables, not even certain what exactly he was looking for. After all, he had no idea what the so-called treasure map was supposed to look like.

Carnelian gave a low whistle as she inspected a staff weapon. "Looks like it was recently maintained. Do you think this might've been the base of those remnants we killed?"

"It's possible," Felix replied, carefully shifting through the table's contents. "But we need to stay vigilant—there may be another group of Witch King remnants still lurking in the city."

As he spoke, his fingers brushed against a piece of parchment beneath a bloodstained music sheet. Its texture felt old, ancient.