A Bunch of Questions, but No Worries! The Mysterious Girl in The Other World Can Explain Everything

What I did next was something everyone in my position would’ve avoided.

I can already hear you saying, “Let’s recap: The program you created obviously glitched out and did something to your PC that nobody on Earth would believe. On top of that, somehow it fixed itself, left behind a mysterious icon, and now you actually want to open it?”

Well, yes.

Make no mistake, I wasn’t sure of anything at this point. I stared at the blue compass-crescent symbol for minutes, struggling to believe it was even there. The app’s name didn’t help clear things either.

Why did it sound so French?

I didn’t code that, and I surely wasn’t French.

But at the end, none of this changed my mind. I still wanted to know what had happened to my original program that crashed after the three thousand generations.

Besides, there was something else here that I struggled to put into words. I had a slight feeling that what had happened wasn’t an accident or a mistake, and that whatever did happen, I deserved to know it.

So I did what I did.

Click-click!

I opened Leclaire World Navigator.

A black window filled my screen, and then, like starting a level in a game, slowly, a flat plane loaded in, section by section. Forests, lakes, mountain ranges, medieval cities even, all enveloped in vivid colors.

A whole world began to materialize in front of me.

My eyes sparkled at the quality of this render. Everything I looked at was gorgeously realistic. It was like a real-life footage, yet it couldn’t possibly have been.

Once everything loaded in, my viewpoint zoomed in to a location. It was a massive coastal city with a bustling harbor and a huge castle situated on a peninsula.

From above, I could see ships pulling into the harbor and horse-drawn carriages driving along the roads. There were knights on horseback around the castle, some dueling on training grounds with swords and shields.

What am I seeing right now?!

Names began to pop up at important locations, one appearing above the entire city.

«Tessal, Capital of the Tessalian Empire»

«Southern Shores of the Continent»

I stared for a while, speechless.

It’s totally another world! Something that people like me and Sachi have only seen in light novels and anime! How could this be here? I surely didn’t code any of it.

I didn’t even understand how my computer was able to run this thing. Surely a simulation as dense as this would fry a normal computer to bits.

So how on earth am I...

...able to see this?

Then, a menu appeared out of the blue, consisting of five floating panels.

«Profile»

«Events»

«Favorites»

«Interaction»

«Messages»

Clicking on each of them, they didn’t seem to lead anywhere. Another mystery for later.

I closed the menu. What I wanted to check now was how I could move.

Apparently I could. I drifted down a bit to better look around Tessal. Beautiful mountain ranges and woodlands surrounded the capital, and behind me, there was the vast ocean with no islands, only the blue sky.

«Southern Seas»

So Cool!

It was much more than I had thought it would be.

I couldn’t believe that what I was seeing was truly possible.

How could a simple computer icon lead me here? And how did I even get that icon?

Arriving to the conclusion, I had to see more of this place!

I couldn’t just float miles above the ground looking over everything, I wanted to see the people. Also I was hoping I was invisible, not wanting anyone to get a heart attack by looking up and seeing a flying weirdo.

My gamer-senses kicked in and my fingers instinctively found their place on the WASD keys.

I floated forward. Not too quickly at first, but noticeably the longer I held down the key at a time, my viewpoint sped up.

Not going down yet, I manoeuvred a little in the air, getting used to the controls.

It was mind-blowingly versatile, and after I got used to it, it was smooth.

Within a few long minutes, I was above the buildings and could see their detailed design up close, the reddish tiled roofs and stone bricks they were made of. The rooms behind the windows all looked accessible.

Man, this is insane!

Descending lower to ground level, I was surrounded by the stone houses and bustling streets of Tessal, and I was blown away by the scene.

People, old, young, in all kinds of medieval clothes and robes, were walking in the noisy crowd, minding their business of talking, buying, or carrying their goods.

They were like ordinary people here in my world, but still…

Are these people supposed to be... the NPCs from my System?

That’s what I had to find out now, somehow. Nobody seemed to mind that I was there hovering around them, so I figured I really was invisible.

So could I speak to them directly? Could they hear me even?

Honestly, it would’ve been even more trouble if I could. Seriously how would they react if I went up to them and said, “Hi there! Sorry to bother you, but aren’t you by any chance an NPC I made?”

Yeah, a part of me was glad I didn’t have to ask that.

Anyways, with my attention on the crowd, I scanned through them, hoping I might see something interesting.

I didn’t even look for ten seconds and—

“Elf ears?!”

I was too stunned to notice I actually said it out loud, and didn’t get a response.

A girl with long, pointy ears strolled past the numerous vendor stalls. One of the vendors who sold tea turned to her and waved as she walked by.

“Morning, Adiel!”

“Morning to you too, Rumel!”

My eyes caught something off-guard about Rumel, the nice vendor.

“Cat-ears?!”

There were two fluffy tabby-ears tucked in her orange hair, barely visible actually. Not even mentioning her long cat-tail behind her back.

Good Lord, there are other species here...

Indeed, about half of the crowd were all sorts of demi-humans. Mostly elves, cat-people and lizard-people in all colors. They were all sellers like Rumel here, selling goods like pottery or jewelry, and had many customers.

It was tough to tell, but it looked like humans and demi-humans lived in relative peace here in the Tessalian Empire. I was hoping I was right—it wouldn’t have been fun to wander into a world where there wasn’t a sense of welcome.

Oh, if Sachi could see this...

“You lucky moron!” she would tell me as soon as she saw the crowd of funny-eared people.

Yep, I would deserve it.

When one otaku finds something, it’s better to share it with the others, or else…

Though truth to be told, I didn’t know if she’d actually believe me if I told her this. After all, this was pretty much incredible.

While I was lost in thought, the street around me began to stir.

I heard hoofbeats, distant but growing louder. Murmurs spread through the crowd, and people started moving, including Rumel, who came up before her stall. If she wasn’t a couple of heads shorter than everyone, she would’ve seen the spectacle.

“Sorry, what's happening there?” she asked.

An older woman responded, standing beside her. “The Imperial Guard is here, I figure. They’re probably on duty.”

“I see a chariot,” others began to say. “They must be escorting someone.”

I hovered only a few meters above ground, but I could still make out what was happening. Sure enough, not far away on the street there were about ten knights riding along, herding the people.

“Make way! Make way for the Consul! Make way!”

They all rode on a variety of majestic armored horses, and had long swords hanging from their scabbard belts. They were all men, except for one who rode in the front, leading the escort.

A female knight...

She rode a white steed, wearing modified armor, leaving room for her curves and skirt. Her purple cloak fluttered in the wind, as did her brown hair. She must’ve been around twenty.

As they approached, she called to the knight on her right, a bald man with a small beard.

“How are you holding up, Demas?”

The guy had a good laugh.

“As much as I can with my homesickness, Lupa-sama. We’ve been on the road for so long now, I’ll be glad just by seeing the Capitol.”

“Let’s hope we can get some rest.”

“Well, about that I'm not sure. I can already smell the good old guard chores. The usual stuff. I’m hopeful regardless.”

Lupa sighed, then glanced back at the chariot, then at Demas.

“Would you mind taking the lead for a minute? I’ll check on the back one last time before we arrive.”

Demas gave a quick nod. “Do as you please.”

Lupa slowed her horse down until it caught up with the chariot behind them. It was pulled by two horses, windows covered by a curtain.

When she came alongside them, Lupa spoke gently to the figure inside.

“Is everything still alright in there, Consul Magne?”

The curtain slid open and I got to see who was sitting inside. It was a young man, about twenty-six. Muscular, yet elegant and noble, with a tiara in his burgundy hair.

“It would be if I weren’t bored to death in this cage. We’ll reach the Capitol soon, right?”

“Yes. We’ll be at the gates in about ten minutes.”

The Consul nodded, his boredom switching to cautiousness.

“Good. By nightfall, you and your knights will stand watch. I’ll have plenty to say to the lazy old dogs in the Senate. The North may attack at any moment and if nobody’s willing to act…”

If I heard it right, the Tessalian Empire is ruled by a Senate?

That explained why this guy was a Consul, and I guessed he must’ve been some kind of soldier too, a general at least.

You could hear it in his voice, the unease, the anger.

Also, what was that about the North again?

The Consul then noticed himself in the middle of his ramble and smiled.

No, scratch that. That smile was almost like a smirk.

“But none of this is your concern, Lupa. You may return to your station.”

Lupa bowed, then rejoined her knights as they trotted along the street, the road slowly leading to the castle on the peninsula by the sea—the so-called Capitol.

In minutes, the people around me resumed their daily lives as if nothing important had passed by them.

For a good few minutes I followed the march in the distance, startled by the liveliness of this place, until—

CHIME!

A soft notification sound played. Seeing no message appearing anywhere, I opened the menu to see if anything changed there.

The «Messages» option seemed to be working now, and there was a +1 next to it.

I’ve been on the app less than ten minutes and someone already messaged me?

What the..? There wasn't a sender attached, and the message was only a few words.

«Get to the alley behind you»

Yeah, no turning back now. Not a single part of me said ‘don’t do it’.

Someone knew I was here, and they probably had more knowledge about this place than I had. I had no reason to resist if I wanted to know more.

Nervously, I glanced around the still-bustling street, turning away from the vendor stalls and toward the rows of houses on the other side.

Directly in front of me, between two stone buildings, was indeed a wide, paved alley.

It was a bit more deserted than the other streets. It was clean, with only a few boxes and barrels littered on either side, between back doors and stairs. At the far end, there lay another lively street.

The morning sun was just overcast, so the alley was completely covered with shadows.

A lovely place for a meeting, not sinister at all!

Despite all this, I moved forward and slowly started to make my way through the alley, keeping an eye on everything.

I was about halfway through, going past a stairwell, when I heard faint steps approaching me from behind.

Then, a female voice.

“Thank you for responding so soon. I appreciate it.”

I hadn’t moved yet, had to know something first.

“Uh, you can hear me?”

“I can hear and see you too. Feel free to turn around now.”

Her response eased my nerves. It wasn’t that I felt alone as I watched the townspeople a minute ago, but it was more comforting to know that someone could actually see me here.

This figure that stood behind me was revealed to be a girl, about seventeen or so, with grayish-white twin-braids and yellow eyes. She was wearing a fancy white costume reminding me of cosplay, with many cross-shaped ornaments.

“Pleased to meet you, Creator,” she said with a calm smile. “You must have a lot of questions. Let’s talk.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Right before my eyes, the girl altered the environment we were standing in.

She made a relaxed wave, at which point the alley around us started to erase itself, part by part, accompanied by a yellow glow, revealing a new place.

With the alley fully erased and the glow faded, we were now standing in a large study.

“Wow,” I muttered, looking around the spacious room.

There were bookshelves, old maps and candles along the walls, with a chandelier on the ceiling. It was detailed and cozy like the background-art in a visual novel.

“Make yourself at home,” the girl said, flopping into one of the plush armchairs in the middle of the room. “It’s been a long time since I had a visitor.”

It was then that I realized what I had just witnessed.

This girl not only knew more than me—she had powers. I was sure there wasn’t a single person in the streets of Tessal who could teleport at will like she did.

And don’t forget that she called me Creator a moment ago.

“How... exactly did you get us here?”

“By invitation. My study is a private place. I can get here from anywhere at any time, and invite anyone I wish. Otherwise, it exists separately from the place we’ve been a second ago.”

I floated to a chair across from her, since I couldn’t actually sit down.

“May I ask who you are? And… where am I?”

She nodded politely. “Certainly. My name is Mineruva Bathory. That’s enough to know about me at the moment. As for where you are, broadly speaking, you are in the world that includes the Tessalian Empire and many other regions. This world is called Leclaire.”

Oh, that explains the name of the app. Why couldn’t I connect the dots when a whole world loaded onto my screen?!

A navigation app to the world of Leclaire.

Regarding this world, though, I had to clear things out.

I lowered my eyes, hoping this wouldn’t sound stupid.

“Mineruva, I have to ask you something that you might find… odd.”

She gestured for me to continue.

“Are you… and the people here… NPCs?”

She paused for a bit, distant in thoughts. “I’m not sure I heard that word before. I assume it’s a term from outside this world?”

Yeah, that didn’t help at all.

I nodded silently, pondering how to move on.

She held up a finger then, continuing.

“However, if ‘being an NPC’ means that we are an integral part of a constructed reality, bound by godly logic, even if most here wouldn’t believe it, then the answer is yes.”

I hesitated to answer. She didn’t look surprised at all. She meant that.

Now I had to explain myself.

“NPC stands for Non-Player Character. It’s not easy to explain… but they are characters that have been programmed, so they’re artificial. Not exactly real, nor alive.”

“Hmm… One could explain it that way, but it’s not entirely true. Both the world and its inhabitants, to use your words, are indeed the result of careful programming. But they aren’t perfect, and that is what makes them alive, on the contrary of what you call an NPC.”

So this is what my System turned into.

Only by accident, but it evolved and created truly intelligent NPCs.

One of them was sitting right here in front of me!

“And you really think I have to be the one who created this?”

There was no possible way I did. I mean, the NPC System was mine, but I had no part on creating anything of what I was seeing here.

“Well, sort of.”

What do you mean, sort of?!

“You merely defined the parameters of human behavior and the world’s rules, but you didn’t create each human being, animal, or object.”

She snapped her fingers. For a moment I couldn't work out why, and then a thick book floated into her hand before my eyes. Just like that, as if it weighed nothing.

Wow, so she can do that too...

She opened the book somewhere in the middle and showed it to me.

The pages were yellowed, but smooth and intricately decorated. There was text on it too, but it was indented in a very strange way.

I couldn’t read it, as it had nice circular symbols instead of letters, but it reminded me eerily of something.

Wait, are these command lines written by me?!

It had to be!

An ancient-looking book filled with my programming, the words that I typed by keyboard.

And it wasn’t just any code, this was part of my original NPC System’s code.

“See? You simply set the rules, and everything created itself from those. At the end though, that doesn’t change the fact that you are the closest thing people could call a divine being, hence, a Creator.”

I felt enlightened at this point, except it felt like my brain was unraveling by the second.

Me as a Creator? A deity?

No, thanks, I don't need that kind of responsibility!

It’s enough for me to make a living and have time for my hobbies, I don't need to be a deity on top of that!

I was suspicious from the moment she called me Creator, but I just didn't take it seriously. Who would?

Honestly, up to this point I toyed with the idea of this being true, but I didn't expect it to be this true!

You know, like how an RPG works! It literally stands for Role-Playing Game! You play the role of a character you make. Except I didn’t specifically make this interface for myself, nor this entire world!

Now, let’s just say that what I started doing in response to all this was something that a typical gamer would do.

I uncontrollably threw an entire rant.

“Let me tell you, I’m the furthest from being a deity! I’m only a gamedev, I’m only twenty-six! I’m no god, I don’t even have a robe or beard like gods do! I’m an ordinary guy, living in an ordinary world.”

“Ordinary world?”

“Uh, yeah… One that’s, uh, not exactly like this one.”

She blinked in surprise, eyes getting bigger. “Wait… you live in another world? So there is a world out there besides this one? Do they have gods too? How can you be here while you’re there too? How-”

Another dozen questions followed, and now I regretted even mentioning this.

“Okay, stop!” I raised a hand. She fell silent, lips shut, still holding in another thousand questions as she bowed her head.

“Excuse me…”

I understood her quick burst of questions perfectly, what do you think I did in the last couple of hours since my PC freaked out? Now I had to concentrate on what I’d do next.

To get all the answers I need to navigate this world, I had to learn as much about this System as possible. Mineruva was the best guide I could get, and she also happened to be the only one who could see me.

“First off, don’t call me Creator. I haven’t even told you my proper name. I’m Michio Hiroki. You can call me Michio.”

She nodded curiously. “Understood, Michio…sama.”

“I’d be happy to tell you about my world—anything you want to know. But first, I need your help to understand this world better. If I was given the chance to be here, I won’t throw it away.”

She grinned, heartened.

“Very well, I’m in.”