“Please, forgive me for my unseemly action, my Lord!”

The maid genuflects before Rein, deeply bowing.

“...It is fine. You may stand.”

Rein struggles to speak with a bossy, arrogant tone, as he has never bossed anyone around in his life. In fact, he despises his superiors at the company for their attitudes toward the workers whom they deem dispensable.

However, standing on the receiving end of such respect from the maid, he feels obligated to respond accordingly, in a manner which does not betray that respect. This former NPC now possesses an ego of her own and thus no longer requires the AI program to think for her. If Rein acts strangely, leading to her questioning him, then he has no confidence that he can talk himself out of it.

“Thank you, my Lord, though I am deeply ashamed...”

A shadow casts over the maid’s face as she stands up, even after she has been reassured by Rein.

“We will talk over some tea, in the Dining Hall.”

In a hurry, Rein comes up with a way to relieve the tense mood. The only thing that has come to his mind is a good cup of iced tea. Furthermore, there are certain escape routes he could take if they go toward the Dining Hall. Judging by the maid’s courtesy so far, however, Rein is half convinced that she will do him no harm.

“I shall let the servants know.”

The maid’s expression changes in an instant, as she receives her order. There is no longer any trace of the embarrassment from earlier.

“Then we will meet there.”

Rein nods and begins walking toward the doors, thinking about the next thing he should test out. If Phantasm, in its entirety, has been brought into reality, then there is a mountain of dangerous items and skills that he must review.

“My Lord! With due respect, I must stay by your side, as your servant.”

Rein turns around to see the maid once again bowing. He is perplexed, for a second, failing to understand why she sounds so anxious. ‘Is it that hard to talk to me?’ he cannot help but wonder.

“Since you are an important member of the Palace, you may do as you please, if it’s something so simple. Why hesitate?”

Despite speaking from a dominant position, Rein employs techniques he once used to converse with his bosses: maintain a favourable tone, butter up the other party, then lead them toward the difficult topic he wishes to discuss.

“It is the height of insolence to go against your wish.”

Rein makes a mental note, telling himself to consider the NPC’s position a little more, before making any thoughtless decision. There will be no problem as long as his authority holds, but putting these sentient NPC’s on the spot continuously may lead to scenarios of which he dares not imagine.

Despite having in his possession one of the most powerful accounts in the game, the collective strength of all NPC’s in his Housing territory will surely overwhelm his own. After all, this place was built from the joint effort of other, equally as powerful players.

“As long as there are acceptable reasons, you may speak your mind anytime.”

“Thank you for your generosity, my Lord!”

Rein secretly breathes a sigh of relief through his nose. His nerves have been killing him as he continues to speak in that haughty tone. As a good and docile corporate employee, Rein simply lacks the mental fortitude to be talking like that with others. Though, he is accustomed to tolerating the same tone being used toward himself.

“Let’s go, then. There is much to discuss.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

The maid finally stops bowing and follows Rein through the doors with hurried steps. Despite the sound of high-heels tapping against the floor from under her long skirt, her steps are perfectly stable; there is no hint of her ever tripping over, a remarkable display of balance and agility.

‘I avoided saying [Follow Me] just to see what she’ll do,’ Rein thinks to himself as they walk through the spacious hallway, ‘now it’s clear that she can follow orders outside of the basic AI commands.’

The Support NPC function was released a few years after Phantasm’s full release. It contributed to helping the game once again explode in popularity. Though, the collective AI functions of those NPC’s lacked much complexity and were only used for housekeeping and, at times, the farming of low-level dungeons.

Just now, Rein completely ignored the proper voice command, yet the maid understood his intention and followed him. Before then, part of him suspected that she refused to separate and then meet up at the Dining Hall because ‘Then let’s meet there’ simply was not one of the basic AI commands.

The pair continues quietly down the hall, the sounds of their footsteps largely dulled by the dark purple carpet. Rein cannot think of anything appropriate to talk about at the moment, so he endures the awkwardness by staring at random objects, like the pillars and decorations. Much to his surprise, it turns out to be a rather effective way to distract himself from the presence of his faithful maid. No matter where his gaze lands, there are only fond memories of his friends, back when the group was regarded as the strongest raid party on the server’s leaderboard.

This very hallway, leading toward the Dining Hall, takes a large part in those memories. The enormous pillars, designed to look as though they are each absorbing an agonizing angel, were the group’s first large scale project.

——clank!

Rein’s nostalgia is abruptly interrupted by the appearance of two large silhouettes emerging from the corridor on the left. They have the same height, build, and wear identical armour. Even their weapons of choice are the same type of halberd.

In Phantasm, they were known as Infested Knights, clad in dark suits of armour and wearing a tremendous, frenzy inducing aura.

These two Infested Knights have come down from upstairs and run into Rein on their patrol path. They wordlessly drop down on their knees at the first sight of him and bow, promptly retracting their dark aura. Rein cannot help but be baffled by their flawless unison, something he believes possible only with computer programs.

Naturally, he does not allow such a thought to show on his face.

‘Speaking of which, I guess it’s either 2 in the morning, or 9 PM right now, huh...’

If the NPC’s continue to behave the same way as they were programmed by Rein’s group, these Infested Knigts only cross this part of the Housing territory twice a day. However, since he is now in the central section, there are no windows for him to confirm whether it is day or night.

Rein nods toward the knights and continues on, while his maid simply pays them no heed. Yet, the knights remain bowing until she has passed by them, before standing up and resuming their patrol.

Soon, Rein approaches another large set of double doors. The decorative carvings on this set depict faithful followers of God offering their finest dishes to the seraphims, leaving their own servants famished and dying.

‘We had lots of fun coming up with this one...’

He ends up staring for longer than he realizes. However, before he tries to reach for the handle, the doors shift inward, slowly turning on their hinges and giving Rein a small peek at the long table inside.

Once the doors reach their halfway point, two maids emerge from the other side and continue pushing the doors until they are fully open. The maids then stood on either sides of the archway and bow, welcoming their master.

The smell of boiled tea leaves immediately enters Rein’s nose. It is a mix of several fragrances, lotus being the most prominent. This leads Rein to more firmly believe that the game has become reality. There was no simulation of the sense of smell in Phantasm.

‘Thank god I didn’t reach for the door right away...’

Had he not been overtaken by the fond memories of his friends, his image as the master might have been chipped. At least, that is what Rein thinks will happen; he has no way of knowing if the maids will be disappointed by something as simple as not letting the servants open the door for him.

“Good work.”

Rein lightly encourages them as he walks through the archway. And though he has no clue this happens, his personal maid sends the other two maids a cold glare as she passes by them.

The two flinch in fear, but do not let it disturb their master.

The Dining Hall of Rein’s Housing territory was modeled after a generic King’s Banquet Hall from another game. However, the chandeliers above use Light magic in place of candles, providing an overall better, more atmospheric illumination to the space below.

The long, oval shaped table at the center has two flat ends, each reserved for a master seat. The remaining chairs add up to eighteen, making it a twenty-person dining table.

Rein notices a butler standing near the master seat at the far end, so he goes there. The butler then pulls out the chair and repositions it just right for him to sit down comfortably. Without any delay, another maid appears with a cart, carrying a platinum teakettle and two cups.

Rein’s personal maid quietly stands by the next seat to his right; the butler shows no intention to assist her. Rein silently waits for his cup to be brought, and his tea to be poured. On the inside, he is racking his brain trying to think of a way to tell his maid to sit down and have a conversation, without making himself look like a lowly office worker attempting to chat up his female boss.

Rein briefly glances at the maid who is carefully pouring the steaming, red tea into his cup and notices that she has a slight smile on her lips, as though something exciting awaits her here. He cannot help but wonder, and that is all he can do.

Once his drink is fully prepared, Rein secretly takes a deep breath and goes for it.

“Uriel, sit.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

His maid finally pulls out a chair and sits down.

“I see that your name is still Uriel.”

Rein stares into her eyes.

“I- Forgive me, my Lord. I’m not quite following...”

Uriel’s calm and collected demeanor breaks for a brief second, as she stumbles over her words.

“No, you’ve nothing to apologize for. Something happened, and I wanted to ensure it did not affect the mental condition of all members of the Palace. It appears that you are aware of yourself still, but how do you feel, Uriel?”

Rein certainly has no clue what is happening to him either, but that is precisely why he desperately wants to know more about everything, naturally including the state of being of all the NPC’s.

“I am well, my Lord. There is no report of an illness amongst our members, either.”

“That’ll do, for now. Tell me everything about yourself. Others, if you notice an inconsistency, voice it immediately.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

The other maids and butler answer unanimously.

“I am Uriel Temperantia, loyal servant of the Palace of th Forgotten, named and created by Lord Rein of the Seven Progenitors. I was born an archangel and ascended to be a cherubim, by the will of the Progenitors. I excel in both Holy and Dark magic, something made possible by Lord Rein’s bestowal of the title ‘Ruler of Chaos’ upon me...”

Rein quietly listens, as Uriel continues to speak. At the same time, he manages to conduct a small experiment in his head: when Rein wishes to see Uriel’s character information, it is directly written into his memory, bypassing all menus and submenus, which he previously had to click through, when everything was a game.

In this manner, Rein is able to compare what Uriel says to the original data.

“...my measurements are 82-58-86, and though tending to every need of my creator is the sole reason for my existence, I have yet to have the opportunity to dedicate my body to Lord Rein...”

Rein almost spits out the sip of tea in his mouth, but somehow narrowly manages to avoid embarrassing himself. Uriel suddenly reminds him of the all the sliders that he spent hours on, determined to create the ultimate, ideal maid. Even if he was not looking at the character information in his mind, Rein of all people would know that those numbers were, in fact, correct.

Rein takes advantage of the moment when Uriel briefly pauses to think about what else to say and stops her from revealing any more personal information, that might ruin her image as a superior, to the other servants.

“Did anyone hear anything that did not add up?”

“None, my Lord.”

“There was no inconsistency, Lord Rein.”

“Everything matches up with what I know of Lady Uriel, my Lord.”

Rein nods in agreement.

“It appears that your memory is intact. Everything you said is exactly as I created you to be.”

“My Lord, should we examine all members of the Palace to ensure everyone’s memories are unaltered?”

“We will, but after I have personally determined that the remaining six of the Seven Keepers are unaffected. In regard to that, Uriel, contact Michael(*) and have him come to my office twenty minutes from now. Others, head toward the watchtowers and convey my order to the Four Authorities: defend the Palace fully expecting a large scale invasion. Request assistance from any member of the Palace, if your require it. Report anything unusual, without fail. I shall be in my office.”

“Yes, my Lord!”

The butler and other maids bow before leaving the room to carry out their orders.

“Then, shall I first accompany you to your room, my Lord?”

“No, Uriel, your task is important. The Infested Knights shall walk with me. If anything happens, their unique abilities will be of use.”

“Understood. Knights, guard Lord Rein with your lives.”

As Uriel turns her eyes toward the exit, two Infested Knights emerge from the hallway. They take a single step inside the Dining Hall before genuflecting under the archway. The two display an intense, dark aura, wordlessly expressing their loyalty and determination.

“Mm. It seems like there is no issue with your ‘Manager’s authority.’”

“Yes, I have not had any problem summoning the servants.”

Each NPC of the Seven Keepers was granted the Manager level of administration to the Housing territory, giving them authority over other NPC’s and monsters of lower ranks. Each of the seven is able to summon the likes of Infested Knights to their position, or teleport them anywhere else within the Palace of the Forgotten, barring the special, restricted areas.

“I see. Now then, once you have contacted Michael, bring with you two Lordships and protect the storeroom at all cost.”

“As you wish.”

Rein walks past the kneeling Infested Knights and leaves the room. The two knights stand up, promptly bow to Uriel before catching up with their Lord.

‘That was quite a number of complex orders that I gave them; let’s see if they can actually carry out everything...’

In Phantasm, the NPC’s functioned based on a set of automated scripts which the players set up. Voice commands were added later on, but remained mostly limited and, at times, quite finicky. Furthermore, a file size limit was put on each NPC’s script to prevent enthusiasts from completely automating their gameplay. Phantasm boasted freedom of customization, but even it could not turn a blind eye to the damage that gameplay automating could cause.

Just now, much like what he did with Uriel earlier, Rein gave out a number of complex verbal orders, and the NPC’s accepted them naturally. Since the disappearance of all game menus, there has yet to be a way for Rein to access the control console; therefore, telling the orders directly to the NPC’s is realistically his only option.

Rein now worries about their performance as he approaches the command quarters, located just ahead of the throne room. When Phantasm was nothing but a game, this place was simply an overly fancy library with eight rooms to organize data books into.

Rein walks down the narrow, quiet hallway, glancing at every door he passes by.

Finally, he stops at the third door on the left.

“Stand guard.”

The Infested Knights salute, their armour softly rattling, before taking positions on either side of the door.

Rein holds the door knob and turns it halfway clockwise before reversing to its original position. He repeats this action three times before turning the knob all the way and opening the door.

The scene that spreads out before him is a vintage study. All furniture and decorations bear a common colour theme: dark wooden brown and maroon. Though sunlight cannot reach here, the lighting inside creates a warm, homely atmosphere, perfect for reading and studying.

‘Phew, looks like I didn’t mess up the mechanism...’

Rein secretly breathes a sigh of relief. There exists a trap function in the door knob. If an outsider managed to infiltrate all the way to the command quarters, there would be anti-theft countermeasures against them. If someone thoughtlessly opened any of the eight doors here, they would be teleported to the lowest underground level, where all teleportation is heavily restricted.

Naturally, he would like to know whether the mechanism still functions, but even as the owner of this Housing territory, Rein is afraid of too many things to try that out. Thus, he has to shelf the issue for another day.

‘Now, I need to prepare myself for the worst...’

With the determination to survive strongly burning inside his heart, Rein gathers a number of data books from the shelves and sits down at his desk. Despite being stuck inside this game-like world, it is yet another day of endless document work for Rein.

The difference, though, is that there is now passion in his job.