The Undying

Lorn did not like being called undying, but he guessed it had something to do with players reviving after dying, so he just let it be.

"You can call me Lorn," he answered.

"Please, follow me, Mr. Lorn," she replied. "I'm sure you are confused."

Lorn nodded and walked behind her.

The mayor turned to the two guards. "You don't have to keep an eye out for more undying. Get back to the previous shift, and react according to the manuals if you see anything unusual. Make sure you sleep according to your schedule!"

"Yes, mayor," the two replied in unison.

Lorn was a bit confused by the interaction, but didn't pay it much heed.

As the two of them walked through Silt's streets, Lorn got a better look at the town. Aside from the dirt roads, the town wasn't so dirty as he imagined. The houses did not use the fanciest of materials, but they were built by skillful, careful hands. But there was something odd about it all. It didn't have the randomness that was prevalent in most towns. Everything looked the same.

'Not to mention the people here looking exactly the same…' Lorn muttered, looking around.

The town's inhabitants peeked out of their windows, curiously eyeing Lorn. Even the children stood still to observe him, an eerie silence filling the place. He just noticed it now, but aside from the few people working, no one made the slightest of noise. Even their expressions didn't change much.

'Who knew how creepy it would be to be surrounded by NPCs?' Lorn thought. 'But I guess it's inevitable. No matter how advanced AI becomes, it's still impossible to fully emulate a human.'

Lorn looked at the mayor in front of him, and wondered whether she was any different from the rest.

"Please don't be unsettled," the mayor suddenly spoke. "Things will feel normal for you soon enough."

'?' Lorn wanted to ask more, but kept it in his mouth.

But soon enough, Lorn heard a child giggle somewhere. It was coming from behind a fence deeper in the town, which was titled: Inner town. From what Lorn could tell, the Inner town wasn't that big. It seemed to be a small area located smack in the middle of Silt, perhaps only one tenth of its whole size.

But the moment Lorn passed through that gate, the atmosphere instantly changed.

The bustle of townspeople, the laughter of children, the noises that people made naturally. When they saw Lorn, they all stopped whatever they were doing and looked with adoration and admiration.

"It's an Undying!" one of the kids said.

"Just like the stories dad told!"

The shouts of the children attracted the adults inside the fence. Everyone looked at Lorn and immediately their faces shifted to one of awe.

"An Undying…"

"A real one…"

The contrast between the two sides were so stark, Lorn couldn't help but wonder if the people in the town's center were actual people. But how would that work? Better AI? Or something else entirely?

He looked back and saw the people outside the fence wordlessly staring at him.

"It's not their fault," the mayor said. "That's just how the Soulless are."

Lorn felt bad for them, but their name felt awfully apt.

"And inside this fence, are the people with Souls?"

"I suppose… But our pitiful souls are nothing compared to the one you possess. The soul of an Undying," the mayor uttered, excitement in her voice.

There it was again, the title Lorn kept hearing. At this point, he felt that it wasn't something as simple as the player being able to revive.

"Follow me," she said.

Lorn walked wordlessly, trying his best not to nod and wave to the onlookers like he was some kind of hero returning home.

They entered the tallest building in the town, a church of some sorts with a clock tower on top of it. The inside of it was similar to the Christian churches of earth. An altar in its innermost spot, with a lectern and a row of seats in front of it. The only difference was the main symbol. Instead of the cross, an upside-down crescent moon decorated the altar.

The mayor stood before the altar and bowed once. Lorn did the same as a sign of respect. Then, the mayor opened the altar's lid, revealing its contents. Endra peered in and saw a few small items inside. A dozen or so stacks of coin, a crescent-shaped idol, a shard of a dull-colored crystal, a hand mirror, a long, sheathed dagger, and a notebook.

"The One Emperor's subjects have advised us on your arrival," the mayor spoke. "We were told to build a church under his symbol, put these items inside it, and wait for the Undying to arrive."

"You keep calling me Undying, but how do you know that?" Lorn asked.

"We can tell almost instinctively. It's the same as you realizing that there's something off about the Soulless. But there's also something obviously different about you," the mayor smiled. She picked up the mirror and offered it to Lorn.

Lorn glanced at the mirror and almost dropped it on the ground. He touched his forehead, and felt the thing that were shown on his reflection. There was an indent in the middle of his forehead, veins bulging around it like spider webs.

"What the fuck did they do to my head?" he whispered to himself. "How did I not notice it till now?"

Then he noticed something else reflected in the mirror. There was text and some numbers floating beside his face.

[Name: Lorn Ashin]

[Title: N/A]

[Health: 100%]

[Spirit: Locked]

[Strength: 1.6]

[Dexterity: 1.8]

[Stamina: 1.3]

[Agility: 1.6]

[Intelligence: 1.5]

[Boon: Locked]

[Innate skills (generalized): Nimble hands Lv.4; Flexible Body Lv.3; and 26 others.]

[Spirit skills: N/A]

[Immersion: 18%]

Lorn smiled. With this he was convinced.

'They really are making a game out of their technology…' he thought. 'And I'm one of the pioneers in the project. Plus... Since this is a game and I'm one of the first people to experience it… I can make big bucks off of this!'