From Player To Npc

Harbin didn't know what to say.

The story that Shingi that just told him was unbelievable, but Shingi told him details about the world that an average person wouldn't know.

There were some details that Shingi didn't explain as he would have to explain that this world was part of a game, something that was forbidden to do.

Although he was part NPC himself, he didn't know if the System would punish him, but he didn't want to find out.

"So you aren't really my nephew. Or more specifically, my nephew isn't a new entity but a clone of someone else?"[Harbin]

"Partially, you are correct. Part of my previous self was used to create my current self but mostly as a mold but not a perfect one. I am not precisely the same person as my Blessed One, but there is a connection between the two. I guess you could say our souls are connected, meaning this body has its soul making it a different entity than my Blessed One body."[Shingi]

Harbin stayed quiet for a few minutes before he seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"I am not sure if you were born under a lucky star or an unlucky one, but you are a good guy on my list. I still don't get it fully how it works, but you are family, either way, no matter if the Old Gods or the New Gods created your soul."[Harbin]

Shingi felt a warm feeling inside him that he had felt in the past sometimes when he was spending time with Annoue.

'A family, huh? I guess Shingi is luckier than Ameanum in this part.'[Shingi]

He didn't care much about Garry, but after hearing his story about how he met his mother, and everything they had gone through, he could somewhat understand how much she really meant for him and how much it destroyed him when she was gone.

Ameanum was never interested in romance or had fallen in love, so he didn't know the possible pain it could cause from the loss of a loved one. 

But he had felt something like that when Annoue got kidnapped, but he was sure that it was nothing like what Garry felt when Angel disappeared.

"Let's change the subject. How about I show you Angel's gift. I am sure she would want you to have this even if she knew that crazy story of yours."[Harbin]

Shingi didn't mention that she was part of the whole process and was aware of how everything worked, or at least most of them.

Harbin brought out a small jewelry box and let it in front of Shingi.

There wasn't a lock, but there was a purple gem in the place that one would exist.

"What is there in it?"[Shingi]

Harbin shrugged.

"I have no idea. She gave it to me and told me to give it to you if you ever came to town. She also left one for Annoue, but she told me to give each of you only the one meant for you. I have been curious about what is inside them but haven't found a way to open them."[Harbin]

Shingi used his MANA SENSE and PERCEPTION at full power on the box and the gem, but he got nothing.

The gem looked like a mana gem, but its color wasn't of one of the Basic Elements, and no mana was emitting or residing in it.

He tried to put some of his mana in it, but the gem was putting a great resistance that even he couldn't pass with his Skills.

He tried to see if there was a secret mechanic or a rune but came empty at this search.

He kept starring at the box until he noticed something.

Each of its corners had some metal panel covering them. He noticed that one of them at the corner of the panel was a little sharper than the rest, but not enough to cut him by touching it by mistake.

'Maybe it is a clue?'[Shingi]

He doubted that this was a design flaw that happened by mistake as the crafting was professional, and one wouldn't make a mistake like that.

He used this sharp corner to lightly cut one of his fingers.

Nothing happened, so he moved onto the second idea he had for this.

He dripped a drop from his finger onto the gem.

The blood got sucked into the gem. Shingi could see that the blood was actually inside the gem, like if the gem was a glass case.

The box was still locked, but Shingi felt like the lock became a little relaxed.

He made a cut at his palm to let more blood come out faster and touched the gem, and felt the blood being sucked by it.

It didn't take too much as the sucking stopped, and taking his hand away, Shingi could see the gem to be completely black.

A click sound was heard as the gem fell on the table and the box opened by itself.

In the box, there was a scroll and a necklace.

Shingi's eyes got wide from surprise.

The necklace was in the shape of a feather. It was identical to the one he had made as a gift for Annoue.

He summoned it from his Spatial Ring and compared the two.

They were the same except for one thing; this one was completely black while the one he made had its natural silver color.

He could feel, though, that it was painted black and the material to craft it was also silver but was mana-embedded silver, but no Enchantments were on it.

"It's been years since the last time I have seen this. This was one of the tokens of your mother. Angel was gifting them to people that she helped to remember her. I asked her many times why she was painting them black, but she gave me a different answer each time. Where did you find the non-painted one?"[Harbin]

Shingi looked at him with evident confusion at his eyes which was something rare for him. He was getting confused in the past, but he rarely showed it.

"I made it. But I wasn't aware of this story of her using something like that."[Shingi]

Harbin brought his hand forward to ask for the one Shingi made so that he can examine it.

"Oh, good craft. I see you got something from my little brother. Or did you know how to do that before? Well, either way, they look pretty similar to me, and I have seen the ones of Angel a thousand times. You certain you didn't encounter them before?"[Harbin]

Shingi thought about it, but he was confident if she knew someone who had a habit like that.

Making those at such quantity would worth a fortune since it was a custom item that only she would want to use.

Shingi took the scroll that there was in the box and unrolled it.

It was blank.

He used his MANA SENSE and PERCEPTION, but nothing showed up.

"You should enable your red eyes. This is a special message that only people like us can see."[Harbin]

Shingi noticed that Harbin had his eyes at their gold color and had turned them back to black again after checking the scroll.

He focused on turning on the power of his eyes once again and noticed clear writing on the paper.

It looked like ink, but since it was visible in those particular circumstances, Shingi knew it wasn't regular ink.

It seemed to be a map that Shingi recognized to be of the Neutral Zone, where the Tower was, and it was pointing at an area not far from where the Tower was.

At the bottom, some writing was saying, 'For the weak light of my life.'

This seemed to be a treasure map, but what the treasure was, he had no idea at all, but he was excited to find out.

"Don't tell me you are really going to go there? I know that place and Neutral Zone isn't a walk in the park. Even with your speed, you may have a problem dealing with things there. You aren't a Blessed One that can return after you die anymore, so you should be careful."[Harbin]

"I may not be the man I was, but I am a man still, so will act like one. But you don't have to worry about me. I know the dangers pretty well and have plans to deal with them."[Shingi]

Harbin sighed as he understood that he couldn't change his decision. He was too familiar with the look of determination that Shingi had. He himself had this look many times, especially in his younger days.

"Fine. Then how about you stay with my family and me for some time. I am sure it will be better than staying at an inn, and you can meet your aunt and cousins."[Harbin]

Shingi would typically prefer to stay by himself to train, but it was true that he also wanted to meet the rest of his family. He liked it more than his real-life one, which he didn't keep up with how they were doing, and they also didn't seem to care.

He didn't have the best relationship with Garry, but it wasn't like either of them tried to bond with each other.

They waited for their dinner, and after having it, they left to go towards the house of Harbin.

In the way, a  few guards came to Harbin with reports or messages, to which he responded and took care of them pretty fast.

Shingi was surprised that Harbin had spent that much time with him as it truly seemed that he was taking care of many things for the town, even some that have nothing to do with what a Guard Captain should do.

They reached their destination finally, and it was a big house but not among the biggest or the more expensive looking ones.

It looked pretty typical and way simple for someone of Harbin's status to live at.

As they ent in, Harbin, who was the first to enter, was surprised hugged by a pretty young girl.

"Dada, you late. Mam is angry for not letting her know. Me too because you promised we are going to go shopping today."[Young girl]

"Oh, right. I knew I forgot something important to do today. Sorry sweetie, but I met someone today who I haven't seen for a long time."[Harbin]

He pointed towards Shingi, and the young girl was starring at him.

"Who is that boy? He doesn't look like one of your young recruits. And I hope you weren't out drinking."[???]

The voice came from the first room after the entry's space.

A middle-aged woman appeared and seemed to be the one who spoke.

There were some similarities between the young girl and the woman, so Shingi was sure that she was the wife of Harbin.

Harbin put his right hand over the left of Shingi.

"Well, my love, here is someone I have mentioned in the past. Shingi, the young son of Little Garry."[Harbin]

She raised one of her eyebrows as she moved closer to Harbin.

She went right at his face and smelled him a few times.

"You had some drinks but not too much. I thought that he was cursed."[Harbin's wife]

"It is a long story."[Shingi]

The young girl stopped hugging her father as she started clapping.

"Oh, did you say story? I love stories. Can I hear it? Can I, can I?"[Harbin's daughter]

Shingi sighed as he looked at Harbin, who gave him a look of telling him that he didn't have a choice.

'It is going to be a long night.'[Shingi]