“Let’s go to my home,” Harrington tells him. “You can stay the night there. And… congratulations on completing your quest.”
After he says it, a hologram box appears before Scott’s eyes.
CONGRATULATIONS! QUEST COMPLETED!
You have received 10,000 coins, Hellfire Fragment x 1, and 1,000 EXP.
…
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…
YOU HAVE LEVELED UP!
“This is your first quest, so it’s not over yet,” Harrington tells him, smiling at Scott’s mild surprise. “For beginners, the first quest they ever complete is what paves the way towards creating their own story here on Dream World. Because you completed my quest, I have become your ultimate NPC guide for this game. You can ask me any question you want and I’ll gladly answer you the best I can!”
Scott is silent for a moment. “Then… can I ask you a favor?”
“Oh? A favor?” Harrington grins. “Tell me what it is and I’ll see if I can do it for you. Consider me as your father in this game, all right?” He playfully ruffles Scott’s hair.
Scott blinks in confusion at this unexpected display of affection and tries to ignore the slight warmth seeping into his body.
My… father…?
“…Please train me,” Scott requests hesitantly.
Harrington doesn’t even react. It’s as if he’s been expecting this question all along. “Sure. I’ll teach you the basics of battle starting tomorrow morning after your body rests.”
Scott tilts his head, puzzled. “Do I have to rest in this game?”
“Of course! You said you were exhausted!”
“I wonder… is it like logging off from the game?”
Harrington frowns a bit. “Not exactly. Your virtual body here is different from your physical body in the real world. You can’t operate properly if you stay awake for 24 hours. This game was designed to be as close to reality as possible, so you need rest, too.”
“How inconvenient,” says Scott listlessly as he watches Harrington pick up his X-Blade and attach it behind his back.
“Like I said, you may not feel pain here, but you can feel tired.” Without further ado, Harrington gently grabs Scott’s shoulders and steers him away from the lake. “Players don’t log off often, though. If they do, their bodies here disappear from the game for days due to the time difference, and they’d only go back to their last save point.”
Scott lets Harrington lead him towards the direction of a small village. “There are save points here?”
The man nods. “Of course. It’s why you should save whenever you see one. You’ll know when you see it.”
“I see.”
As they walk in silence, Scott glances at Harrington curiously.
“You know…” he begins. “You may be an NPC, but you act completely human.”
Harrington smirks. “I’ll take that as a compliment, lad.”
Scott hums thoughtfully.
I never knew that there are actually AIs like this…

***

The days pass by, and although he may not quite admit it, Scott has become a bit fond of Harrington.
The man is very friendly and kind. However, he can be a little weird sometimes.
Like now.
They’re currently trudging towards the path leading to one of Lucis’ infamous forests. Scott decided to go there in order to fight his first battle with the Level 1 spiders he heard about from Harrington.
However, since the beginning, the aforementioned man has been acting strangely. To be more specific, he has become oddly protective. He keeps asking if Scott really wants to do this.
When they reach the entrance, it becomes worse. Before Scott can even take one step towards the place, Harrington pulls him back by the shoulder.
“Are you sure you wanna do this?” the latter asks again in alarm.
Scott stares at him blandly. “For the fifth time, yes.” He folds his arms across his chest. “What are you so worried about?”
Harrington chuckles nervously. “Well… forest monsters are pretty ugly to look at. Most of the newbies run away after seeing them, you know!”
“…And you think I would be scared silly by some ugly-looking creatures?” Scott deadpans. “Really? That is childish.”
“Uh…” Harrington looks embarrassed as he averts his gaze.
Scott blinks, realization dawning on him. “Don’t tell me…”
“Look, it’s not that I’m scared of them!” Harrington immediately interrupts, his tone frantically defensive. “I—It’s just that — they were the very first monsters I encountered while I was training many years ago, and those damn spiders bit and poisoned me and I had to crawl helplessly to the nearest village to get help—”
“I see,” Scott interjects. “So you were traumatized. I understand.”
Harrington deflates, trying to cover his reddish cheeks with his hand. “Don’t say that with such a straight face… you’re kinda bruising my ego here, lad.”
“Then shall I laugh instead?”
An unbidden image of normally bland-faced Scott snickering evilly at his expense makes cold shivers run down Harrington’s spine. The man immediately shakes the terrifying thought away.
Just… no.
“Never mind. Just go,” Harrington relents.
Scott nods, then begins to pass through the entrance sign, leaving Harrington standing there behind him.
Harrington suddenly swallows. “Uh… lad, are you really sure you don’t wanna fight the monsters near the field instead, like I first suggested to you—”
“For the sixth time, yes.”
“Oh… okay… but, are you really sure—”
Scott stops in his tracks. Harrington stares at him in foreboding.
When Scott turns his head towards him, he looks exasperated. “Shut up already.”
“Okay, okay. Sorry.”
Scott resumes his walking, his back facing his mentor. “You’ll back me up just in case those monsters turn me into a KO-ed player, right? Then you should follow me closely.”
“Yeah…” Harrington says reluctantly. “You’re right.” With a sigh, he wipes the sweat off his brow and begins to follow Scott in a considerably slower pace.
The latter looks back at him, blinking. “If you’re scared,” he says casually, “I can hold your hand if you want.”
Harrington’s jaw almost drops to the ground. Scott shows a semblance of a smile on his face, then turns away, still walking ahead.
Harrington fumes, his shock melting into annoyance. He can almost feel the smoke coming out of his ears. “That cheeky little brat…” he mutters.
So he knows how to tease people now, huh?