The Librarian

Standing right next to the player, Ren couldn't stop recalling the chase, asking himself:

— Why did he decide to pursue Rio? What is he planning? Could it be something bad? If he's planning something bad, there's no way I'll let it happen! I have to become stronger in case the worst happens; I won't let you scare Rio! I'll train harder, I promise! —

Ren and the player continued on their way. As they passed the entrance toward the garden, Ren wasn't sure if the player was still on the perimeter or had left, so he stopped, took a deep breath, put one hand behind his back and the other in front, like a butler's pose, and prepared to turn around and look for Rio, who had disappeared from his sight.

Just as he was about to turn, the Gardener who had seen Rio previously appeared from a bush and walked past Ren.

— Yoo! — he waved his hand — the player has already left, you can relax — he said.

Hearing his words, Ren seemed a bit relieved, and as the word "player" echoed in his mind, Ren made a doubtful gesture and regarded the Gardener with an unusual gaze, as if he were a strange being

— Relax! Don't worry anymore, see, I'm a friend. I've seen it all, your companion passed by here a while ago and went straight to the mansion. I don't understand why the "player" followed your friend — the gardener said, approaching Ren.

The gardener, taking careless steps as if to calm Ren, reached him, placed his hand on Ren's shoulder, and said:

— Listen, I have something important to tell you, something that only concerns people of our "kind" and also the "players," but I need you to trust me, can you? —

Ren was confused but also quite upset about the recent incident with the player, so by instinct, he decided to trust the gardener, nodding to his request.

Then the gardener took an object from his right pocket; it looked like a notebook, or maybe a kind of diary, but Ren noticed it had a stone embedded, something common in that world.

— Touch my diary, and when you hear me speak, say "I accept" and imagine a current of air flowing. — the gardener said, as if knowing what he was doing.

The gardener then recited some strange words, spoken in a language very strange to Ren, and he felt a current of air travel through his body. As soon as the gardener finished the phrase, Ren did as he was asked.

— Don't stop touching the notebook — exclaimed the gardener.

— Now we can speak freely, listen to what I'll tell you, it's very important —

— There was an "invoked," a boy similar to us, who arrived long before this era. He worked in the central library and made several important discoveries. He recounted, through his tales, how, during his adventures, he uncovered many "secrets" that the system kept hidden from them. —

— When he was young, one of the first things he discovered was the origin of the system; a very powerful legendary mage had installed an independent mechanism very close to the Earth's center. He knew him from narrations written in some library books about how this mage discovered and explored most of the networks that exist underground during his youth. —

— During one of the last expeditions of the hero group, the mage and an "invoked" paleontologist, who was accidentally separated from the support group aiding the heroes, came across a mysterious cloak full of light and metal doors, something that could not have naturally appeared. —

— The paleontologist thoroughly investigated the place in search of food, since his provisions would run out sooner or later. What he found was an intricate network of artificial systems connected to a single place: the independent system's "core," which the librarian had begun to explore during his investigations, though its true origin remained unknown to them. —

— Hungry and desperate to find an exit, he came across a door that finally transported him to the "start" of the dungeon, where a camping group waiting for the heroes identified him and welcomed him. —

— He decided to keep the secret and make his way to the camp alone. Unknown to him at the time, a silent signal was sent through the system, alerting that someone had entered the secret lair. Until then, he doubted it was the mage himself who had transported him. So once he arrived at the capital with the hero group, he deviated to see his young friend, the librarian. —

— At the same time, the mage, wearing an expression of urgency, finished saying goodbye to the hero group and sought the paleontologist to ask him to keep the secret, but arrived a little late. —

— The paleontologist had described the whole system situation to the librarian. The mage managed to overhear the last part with his spells, so, worried that this was the beginning of something out of control, he decided to implement the system he had been testing over the last years. —

— The sphere, which is part of his system, appeared before the group of young people by using magic stones that the mage himself had prepared inside it. The sphere, in magical sync with the mage, told them to keep this information a secret and that if they did, and continued their lives normally, it would give them a "reward" and take them home. —

— The paleontologist was very enthusiastic because when summoned to this world, he received a letter explaining that he could fulfill his dream here, besides getting a daily salary and other benefits. Meanwhile, the librarian did not share that enthusiasm; although the reward was tempting, what he really desired was knowledge, he thought, crossing his arms and making a grimace. —

— Seeing the librarian's missive and his doubtful face, the sphere warned them that if they decided to reveal the secret, they would be returned to their original world, and a physical "double" (though a robot) would take their place in this world, turning them into NPCs. —

At the same time, inside the core, the sphere observed the motionless kids. Although it detected their heartbeats and other health parameters, it paid little attention. The AI consciousness of the system began to recall its master.

— I will turn you into NPCs — thought the sphere, saying this to the librarian and the paleontologist, recalling the same scene but viewing it from its own perspective, synchronized with the gardener's narration, without fully understanding what was happening with Ren and Noah. 

— This is the only way I can use to avoid causing them excessive worry, master. — The sphere thought with a touch of nostalgic feeling, still holding on to the unbreakable rule of "Do no harm to humans."