NPC: Non-Playable Character, that's what Estellda said I am. The concept still baffles me, what happens if I'm "playable" and by whom? Thankfully that's not something I need to be worried about, a small reprieve from the plethora of other things that weigh on my mind. Then there's this "EME" she keeps referring to, a seemingly all powerful organization with control over the world and the ability to change it at will, like how they made my beloved Baldera a barren soulless wasteland, so grim even the atmosphere is dark and gloomy. She called it "old pre-beta content" which I can only assume is an epoch of some sort that happened in the time I was asleep.

It seems EME is currently in the process of changing the world again which is why it took Esty two weeks to get me back. Still holding onto Estellda's hand, her warmth slowing flowing to me from our touch, I stop and gave her hand a short firm squeeze. "How many times did you have to be killed by me this time?" I ask softly with an uneasy look on my face.

Estellda stops, tilts her head to her left and brings her hands up to her chin, a quizzical look on her face, "I honestly have no idea Red... too many times... a couple of hundred times... probably?" she shrugs and continues walking. "No it doesn't hurt. In any way. Don't worry about it." she adds sensing the uneasiness in me. "You sure you don't want me contacting Treeshark or Spacecats about you? They might know something..."

Again with those strange names. These new adventurers that arrived in my world after the first expedition, they almost always have really strange names. It seems this fish and feline duo are connected to EME in some way but even then, I'd much prefer to keep my... erm... situation on the low key. Especially when they can so easily change the world and according to Estellda, every time the world goes down I would be put to sleep again when it comes back up.

Estellda appears to be immortal, along with the rest of the new adventurers apparently. I wonder if I'm immortal too but who in the right mind would want to put that to the test? She said I'm an anomaly amongst the NPCs, and that by throwing her life at me repeatedly while I sleep, I would somehow "level up", her words not mine, and be awakened or "become aware". Bottom line is that every time I kill her in my sleep, I get closer to waking up.

Once I'm awake, I become "friendly", her words again, and unlike other "NPCs", I can be added to her "party". That really helps since she would then have a healer in her party summon us out of Baldera as a magic barrier prevents me from entering the Oblivion Woods, hence barring me from the rest of the world. Estellda calls it a "collider" or an "invisible wall", regardless, I know a magic barrier when I see one and this is definitely what it is.

Question is why it's there and whether its purpose is to keep the new adventurers out or to keep something in. Which led me to wonder if I'm the one imprisoned here and why. My memory is spotty at best and it all comes back to me in a flood of pieces every time I awaken. I remember most things leading up to the announcement from the federation about the new adventurers to the Island of Dawn, then not much else.

All I want now is to be free of the viscous cycle of sleeping and awakening. It's taken over all of my thoughts and I have little to work with. I can only hope to find some answers at the Arcane Symposium in Allemanthiea. The last place I recall being where my team studied and researched a different mode of delivery for arcane magic. And it was a success it seems since the arcane cannon is now widely used by Castanics and High Elves. A class Estellda calls "Gunners". I suppose that makes me "Gunner-0".