4 Error

Gerard was summoned to one of the many stone tables located all over the world. He was summoned to the same city he was in the real world.

After opening his eyes. Gerard was exhilarated by the sceneries currently captured by his retinas that he unconsciously said he can now die in peace and meet his maker although he just died earlier.

Gerard switches his gaze to different directions. As his excitement and enjoyment overwhelm him, he starts walking around and feels everything he saw. Whether it is a rock or grass, the roughness, and smooth texture he felt touching those are exactly the same as on piles of earth. It is really a carbon copy!

The nearby actual NPCs doing their own businesses take on a sudden halt because of Gerard's weird actions. NPCs are dumbfounded and start gossiping with each other. Throughout their life, this is the first time they saw a person repeatedly touching the grass and rocks with too much enthusiasm!

What a discovery, is there really a person who can be intimate with grass and rock?

Some of the NPC parents start covering the eyes of their children and leading them away from the weird man.

However, Gerard, on the other hand, is so focused on touching the grass he didn't realize how long he was fondling them, and from another's point of view, the way his hand moves is somehow lewd like he was feeling a woman's waist. 

After a good minute, Gerard stops on his track and starts to ponder for a moment. The texture of the grass and rock is too realistic. It feels like he is back on Earth. If he is not wrong, the planned synchronization rate is 90% only but it feels like it meets the hundred 100% synchronization rate which is quite a feat in human history. Because if they were able to duplicate reality, a limitless possibility will open for them.

They might be able to draw these NPCs to reality or create a duplicate world for them and humans will play God. Even so, he is not around anymore so he will not be able to experience those possibilities.

He then gets a handful of dust that accumulate due to the breeze.

"This is too much. If I were an actual NPC in this game, I might believe my life inside this game is a reality and not the other way around."

Gerard had some shares of playing virtual reality games but this game is really outstanding.

He then smiles and stands up to welcome his new life when upon seeing the NPCs around him with scornful and playful smiles plastered on their faces, Gerard becomes perplexed.

He even heard the NPC start calling him weird names and laugh aloud.

This is weird.

Gerard was thrown into contemplation again.

Although the game achieved a 90% synchronization rate, these NPC should not be too intelligent and aware of their surroundings too much and proceed on doing their own business after a few glances.

But they don't. Weird.

NPCs are built by accumulated data. They act on how the data were built and follow the rules of the data inside them.

They can give quests and interact with players. They will only become aware of their surroundings if their town or city was under siege by monsters. Usually, the town will issue a warning which enables the NPC to become aware that they are under siege and that's it. Their fate and destiny are dictated by the data. Whether they survive or die, depends on how they are built.

Could it be these NPCs have much intelligence and exceeded his expectation? If yes, then the synchronization rate reached at least 95%?!

Gerard was stunned. Although he was away for how many months, he didn't see any information that the technology advanced again to this degree! And the system only told him that the synchronization rate is 90%

Curiosity started building up in him.

Without wasting any seconds, he thought of the word 'menu'.

But the interface he is expecting didn't appear.

He tried again but the result is still the same.

Gerard become anxious as he tried and tried again.

After trying several times, he weakly mumbles. "Menu."

Unfortunately, the interface is nowhere to be seen.

Gerard's worries skyrocketed. He was about to shout Menu but he remembers his situation. These NPCs have intelligence and he will become a laughingstock if he shows them his ungraceful side.

Although he is already dead and is currently inside the game, he didn't want to become a laughingstock. He still has dignity and pride in himself.

Gerard looks around and tries to find a secluded area. Once he did, he survey the surroundings one last time before saying the menu again.

When the interface didn't appear again, he start increasing the sound of his voice.

His anxiety is now reaching its peak and at last, when it did he shouted the word menu.

But then again, nothing appears.

Gerard loses the strength in his legs and falls to the ground kneeling.

"How…How could this happen…?"

He helplessly said to himself.

If the interface did not appear, what he is going to do? How can he survive in this game?

Although his character is a Special NPC and cannot level up, one can still enjoy the game to the fullest. Since the interface is not showing up, for sure to earn money he needs to work. And since this character of his is an extra job and a special one, should he have money right now? But he cannot check because the interface menu is somehow disabled!

How can he knows the location and travel around the world if the menu interface is gone?

The menu interface has everything.

Character information, abilities, attributes, inventory, skills, maps, and many other useful things.

And one of the most important is the tab for maps. He remembers when the Board of Directors decided for the map to be blank at first and only show the white dot which represents the location of one's character. As the player moves around, the map interface will slowly start to show the surroundings and the name of the location the player has gone through.

Shops and important places will be saved and visible on the map once the player conducts transactions on it.

But since the menu interface did not appear, what is he going to do now?

Gerard is currently at loss.

He thought he will be able to live inside the game, albeit for the time being until the Superior System shutdown.

Now that the only hope is suddenly gone, can he live decently in this world? This world is three times the size of the Earth.

And monsters roam everywhere! And not only monsters but even demons or beasts are also always present in this world and even if they are killed, they will spawn!

Not only that but if his team didn't change the raw plan for the main storyline, the demon king and another monstrous and powerful enemy of humankind are currently present in this world.

If the players reach the end of the storyline and failed to defeat the demon king and its generals and hordes, this world will be in chaos and human will become slaves. Then they will become livestock and become food for those demons!

Although players are actually the heroes in this game, the power of the villains is too much for them to handle. This game is originally made not for leisure type. Players will face all hardships that they didn't even dream about. This hardship will be their nightmare. So as a reminder, humans must not be cruel to NPC.

Imagining those even though he is a few decades early before the main storyline ended, he cannot help but shiver.

The goal of creating this game is to let everyone know that when humanity achieves duplicating reality and creates NPC with synthetic souls, they must not play God or what. Although it is a game, once the NPC receives a synthetic soul, then they are not different from humans anymore. They will face hardships that humans faced.

So what is the best reminder and warning to people who want to play God someday?

Gerard lost in thought slowly stood up. He starts walking on the plaza and tries to memorize every district written sideways.

Even though the menu interface did not appear, Gerard decided to start anew. He was able to survive on Earth, so why not here?

With that in mind, he took a deep breath and walk around.

Earlier, when he opened his eyes, he didn't get to observe the surrounding because he was lost in feeling the texture of the grass and rocks he saw.

Although this game adapted 50% of the current Earth's situation in the Modern Era, the houses are not the same as what he remembers in the Modern Era, the 20th Century. The houses in the 20th Century are more presentable than this. He didn't expect the developer team to change the original plan when the game was first released a couple of years ago.

Currently, his eyes are fixed on wooden houses. Although it is somewhat presentable and there are some houses made of bricks and stone, it is not the same earth housing style as in the 20th century!

Traditional houses are made of wood and supported by wooden or steel pillars with tatami floors. While the Western style is as everyone can describe, very Western.

There are also mixed houses like traditional style on the outside but Western style on the inside.

The only duplicate copy of the 20th Century is the roads.

The road is quite wide and with pavement as well. NPCs are walking on the pavements in pairs or none. And there are also parks nearby where the children can play.

Gerard does not yet see the mode of transportation but he is not interested because he already knows what is the transportation mode in this world.

Horse and Carriages.

That is right. Horse and Carriages.

The mode of transportation is not a locomotive or vehicle. But Horses and Carriages, the reason being is to complement the fantasy genre of the game.

But soon when players start leveling up their subclass as a smith, the mechanical industry will appear. So subclasses will start becoming famous and many players will focus on their subclass to level it up and refrain from adventuring.

This way, modernization of mode of transport will begin. But, yes, but. There's always a but in a very good situation. But going through the revolutionary of mechanization will be ten times harder than leveling up.

The reason being is to give handicaps to government players! If they are able to establish their countries and start waging a normal war, the war will be deadly and the cost will be too much to bear. Besides, the protective barrier will not appear to block the incoming from countries waging war resulting in the nearby country becoming collateral damage. Because the protective barrier is only intended for Official War.

Could it be that when the game progress, another subclass will appear? He is not sure but maybe the system will allow Players soon to learn another job like Engineering, Architecture, Teachers, Instructors, and others.

Gerard starts walking around and heads to the plaza to look around. And while doing so, he didn't stop himself from thinking about the menu interface. He inwardly and repeatedly shouts and says the menu. He even tried many different words synonyms to the word only for naught.

Gerard sighed deeply. So deep that even the nearby NPC looks toward his location. He didn't give them any mind. What do they know?

After walking for good ten minutes, Gerard arrived at Central Plaza.

The place is bustling with people because different and many shops and stalls are put together here.

There's also a fountain in the middle of the Central Plaza.

Gerard starts to look around for shops. Suddenly he felt hungry when he smells delicious and familiar food!

He quickly traces the smell and found the shop!

His stomach suddenly made a sound. Fortunately, no one was able to hear it. He cannot bear to become the center of attention again.

His mouth started to salivate when he saw the Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki being sold in the stall!

He quickly looks for the price and finds it is quite cheap. Gerard unconsciously slid his both hands into his pants' pocket but found nothing.

He cannot help but curse inwardly.

Fuck! Money is stored inside the menu interface and used the interface for payment.

He lamented his current situation again, feeling hopeless he asked the NPC owner of the stall if he can get it for free.

Usually, the names of each NPC should be visible above their head right now but Gerard didn't see anything even a single letter. This is due to his current problem, the freaking interface is not appearing!

"Mister. Can I get one of your Okonomiyaki for free, please?"

Gerard gives everything to sound as miserable as he can, hoping to receive one Okonomiyaki for free.

In this game, NPCs are intelligent, there's a high possibility they have some emotions like sympathy and empathy even without a synthetic soul.

To his dismay, the NPC's answer almost made him cry.

"Hmph! What kind of beggar are you? I thought you are one of the nobles who have a quirk to dress as a commoner but actually have no money. Scram!"

Gerard tries to persuade the stall owner but in the end, he surrenders the idea because the stall owner threatens him that he will call the guards and have him arrested.

Gerard was about to leave when suddenly a person approach him and start talking with him.

"Good Sir. I saw your predicament and I might be able to help you. Please get anything to your liking."

Gerard turned around and saw the person who asked him to get any food he wants.

He saw a man dressed in a familiar garb and a weapon hanging on his waist!

Gerard gasp!

Could it be?!