When we arrive at city hall, there are a bunch of people around already, Guardians by the look of their gear. Now that I think about it, it's a bit disconcerting that there's no surefire way to tell between a player and NPC on sight. If one of them became an adventurer, they'd have the same kind of gear that players normally wear. Especially since a solid percentage of people unequip their gear in town, blurring the line further.

Of course, everyone turns as soon as I come in range for them to sense my dangerous aura. Only this time, they don't immediately turn hostile and seem more interested than anything. Just past the big front doors, Ollin is already inside, surrounded by a whole mob of people.

Wow, city hall is seriously busy. Well, they did just survive that huge attack, so I'm sure there's a ton of stuff involved for whoever runs the town.

Commander Ollin raises a hand. “Good morning, Mei. All these Guardians came to help you with your quest.” I freeze on the spot, stunned. I... what?! I need like, two or three people to help me out, not an army!

“I... I don't know what to say...” I stammer. It's not like I can be rude to them, they all showed up without a single promise of a reward. What in the world is happening here? Why are so many people willing to help a random noob out of nowhere? Some MMO communities are nice, but none are that nice!

Luckily, Lara is much more willing to speak up than I am. “Ollin, what is all this? What did you say to pull in this many people?”

“All I did was spread the word to the guilds.” Then he clears his throat and recites, “'Mei needs the protection of capable Guardians on her search to find a seer and uncover the truth of the Curse that has been placed on her. Rewards: none.'”

“None?” Lara balks.

“I... don't really have anything, you know?” I point out.

She sighs and rubs my head. “No reward, and this many people came? There's got to be some reason.” Then she turns the question to everyone else. “What brought you all out here for a quest with no reward?”

There's a pause, an air of awkward silence filling the hall for some reason. Lara looks around, eventually raising her hands in confusion, before Ollin beckons her forward. He leans in, speaking quietly, but not enough to keep others from hearing.

“That's not something we should talk about in front of her, Lara.”

“Huh? Why not?” she's still totally confused, and I'm no better. Maybe it relates to the city council since she's a member? This time when Ollin waves her forward, he whispers in her ear properly, so I can't hear whatever it is he says.

“What?!” Lara shouts immediately after, everyone flinching back slightly. “Mei isn't an NPC, she's a player!”

There's another moment of silence, before Ollin's mouth falls open. Everyone else follows after, staring at me, before Ollin pulls himself together. “No, that can't be right, she isn't a Guardian!” he points out, blinking rapidly. Something about his tone slips faintly when he does, and it finally registers, the thing that's been nagging me about his voice. Ollin is being played by a woman.

I don't have time to think about that though. All of these people - they thought I wasn't a real person? That I was really a computer program? Some part of my mind goes back to my thoughts from a minute ago, and then to that newscast earlier. The AI here must truly be human level intelligence if other players can't tell us apart from them.

“I'm sorry about the confusion!” I shout, bowing deeply to everyone around us. “I only started playing recently and there were some reasons I didn't see my Personal Affinities when I was creating my character. I was told by some of my stream viewers that I should look for a seer and after everything that happened during the invasion, I decided to follow their advice. Commander Ollin offered to help. I just... I don't know, took the help he offered.”

After a brief delay when I don't say anything more, a whole bunch of people make annoyed sounds and begin to leave. A large part of them are brought up short when one man steps forward to shout over the rising commotion, “Wait, what was that about her not being a Guardian?”

With a bunch of raised voices and waving of hands, they manage to bring the room to order enough for Ollin to answer. He's the time to compose himself again. “During the invasion, I received a request for tower access. It was from Mei.” There are a whole lot of mumbles and sounds of understanding after that, but it doesn't make any sense to me. When I voice my question over the noise of the crowd, he explains better. “Guardians are all part of our tower defense automatically. I have a whole command menu for how to deal with them. Nirvallans are different though. They need to request access to the towers in order to join the Guardian defense forces.

“But... I'm not a Nirvallan.” I don't know what else to say.

“You aren't.” He makes it a statement, then speaks to the crowd again. “Mei's request did not mark her as a Nirvallan. It listed her as 'Unknown,' with a unique Title, as you can see. Of course, I assumed that meant she was some sort of important story quest NPC.” That... Actually, that finally explains why he went so far to help me. Both in the battle, and afterward...

Oh god, from their perspective, a unique quest NPC offering a quest with no reward? That screams important story event, doesn't it?

“So, what does that mean? What is she then?” The question comes from a woman somewhere in the crowd.

“If she's a player, but not a Guardian... I don't know,” Ollin answers seriously. “Given everything that happened yesterday, I think something is definitely up. She may not be a story quest NPC, but there has to be some story content here.”

“I think I can help,” a new voice suddenly breaks into our conversation. There's a shuffle of feet, then a man pushes his way out of the crowd. He looks somewhat familiar. Dark skin, wavy brown hair, with something like a cowboy hat on his head.

Wasn't he from the battle? One of the guys who saved me? Ok, not exactly descriptive given the number of people who did that, but he was the one who cleansed the corruption from the first group Xanaad hit with the effect. He lost his life doing it too.

The newcomer goes on, all eyes on him. “I may not be what you need, but I do happen to be a seer.” My eyes go wide, and I stare at him intently.

Hask – Outsider

He's not from Lenarlil? And a seer? “I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've met,” Ollin starts, stepping forward to meet the man. “You're from outside of Lenarlil, right?”

“Yes,” the man confirms, sweeping his cowboy hat off his head and pressing it to his chest in one smooth motion. “Let me introduce myself. I'm Hask, a traveling seer from Eastra.”

“Eastra?” Ollin gasps and the noise level in the room rises immediately. “What brings you all the way out here?” I'm not familiar with the regions in this world, I'm assuming that's really far away?

“I'm an explorer. I've been traveling all over Nirvalla with my lovely wife.” He grins. “Right, Mary?” Hask practically shouts back into the crowd, but I don't hear any response. After a few moments, he shrugs and moves on. “So, I'd like to offer my services as a seer. I can't see Personal Affinities, but I might just to able to clear up some of your questions. What do you say?”

With his expression tightening, Ollin asks, “What do you want?”

“Oh, that?” Hask's grin widens, only making Ollin more nervous, before he responds, “Five thousand gold.” I'm ready for outrage, just for a moment, before it occurs to me how little that is.

Ollin doesn't question the price until he's already paid the man. “Why so low?” he asks after pulling the gold straight from his own inventory and tossing it over.

“Cuz I'm interested too,” Hask laughs it off. “Now, missy, if you wouldn't mind...” He takes a few steps closer, stuffing the money into his inventory to free his hands and crack his knuckles. “Let's take a look, shall we?” He extends one hand at me and I straighten up nervously. “Reading.” There's a faint buzz in the air as his ability activates, and I feel my fur prickling up for a few moments. Then it's over.

Hask spins away, hat flipping back up onto his head as he looks over something only visible to him and addresses the crowd again. “Here are your results: Mei, The Dissonant Plane Walker. Level four, D-Dark-Touched?” he spins straight back around to look at me again as he speaks, everyone gasping together. Even I'm shocked.

“Wait, Dark-Touched? I thought I was a cat-kin!”

“What do you mean 'you thought?' Didn't you select your own race?” Ollin asks, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Like I said, that's... complicated...” I look away with my weak response.

“Are you really a player? You aren't just an NPC pretending to be one?” Ollin follows up.

“Huh? Of course not!” I argue.

“Lara?” he raises a brow at her to vouch for me. “How do you know Mei anyway?”

“She's my sister in real life,” Lara tells him plainly. “Definitely one hundred percent living human being. I was the one who bought Planes of Oblivion for her when she said she wanted to play.”

“Mm, not like we can argue with that one.” He nods, his suspicions sufficiently satisfied. “What it doesn't explain is why she knows so little about her own character. Care to explain?” He directs the conversation back at me.

“That's...” I bite my lip. “Personal real life reasons. I'm not comfortable talking about it. Let's just say that I started character creation after my race and Affinities were already set, alright?”

“That makes no sense, but alright.” He raises his hands a little and backs off when I make it clear that's not a topic I'll discuss here. “Of course I won't pry into your personal life. So, it looks like you're actually Dark-Touched, despite your appearance. Let's move on. Hask?” Actually, when he says it like that, even if I'm missing crazy horns and spikes and stuff the wiki mentioned, it does explain my weird skin and hair color...

“You got it.” He sounds a lot more confident, probably having taken the time to read over the rest of the info to avoid any more surprises. “Primary stat: Aura.” There are a few questioning sounds, but no one stops him. “Primary skill: Exploit+.” He notes with extra emphasis on the 'plus,' to indicate it's from an affinity, and I see lots of people nodding their understanding. “Primary ability: Sneak Attack+. Now here's the interesting part. Home Region: Unknown.”

...Unknown? What does that even mean?

“And her description: Mei is a cute catgirl with a mysterious past, who hides a dark secret.”

A... what? What secret could I possibly hide?

“Uhh.....” I have nothing but a confused stare for the increasingly suspicious crowd.

“So... a dark secret?” Ollin asks, one brow up with his question.

“I don't know,” I shrug awkwardly. “I don't think I have any big secrets?” I exchange an uncertain look with Lara who can't offer anything but her own shrug. Then I guess, “Maybe it's related to whatever's up with my character?”

“Whether you have a secret or not, I highly doubt you would tell all of us.” Ollin finishes the comment with a long sigh.

“I still don't trust her,” someone calls through the crowd. “This is all too suspicious, how are we gonna go on one chick's word that she's who she says she is?”

“Lara is a member of the city defense council,” Ollin points out. “She wouldn't randomly lie about this.”

“Maybe it's mind control,” a guy nearby suggests, his eyes trained on me. “We saw the boss mind control a bunch of people, maybe this is another new kind of enemy. An infiltrator or something.”

“Come on, that sounds ridiculous,” Lara argues.

“If she's supposed to be an infiltrator, she's about as bad at that as possible,” Ollin counter. “Just look at her.”

“Yeah, but-”

I raise a hand and clear my throat to stop them. “Here, I'll just relog, then you can be sure.” It's the easy solution to this whole argument.

“Oh.” Ollin blinks. Pretty much everyone else does too. “Yeah, that would be great, actually.” He nods and gives a motion for me to do it before things get out of hand. “That'll dispel any worries.” Everyone looks satisfied.

When I swipe open my menu, there's a sudden influx of chatter in my stream. I pull the camera up in front of me and start glancing over the chat as I speak. “Sorry guys, I'll just be gone for a... minute...” I trail off when I spot the messages in the stream chat.

' Oh...'

' There it is.'

' Good luck.'

Seeing the devs weigh in all of a sudden makes me nervous. What is it this time? Pushing the thought away, I tap the button to log out and there's a little swish. All of my senses fade out and I'm left weightless for a few seconds.

Then I'm back, in this body again.

Immediately pushing down on the awful thoughts that come with suddenly being Ray, I take my phone and start up the game again.

It takes a little time, but then I'm being pulled under.

Oh thank god, out of that body again. I breathe a little, even as I don't really exist, endless emptiness wonderful after spending just seconds back there.

Welcome to Planes of Oblivion

After the welcome message, there's a small delay, before I'm embodied once more. All my senses flare back to life, and I'm Mei again.

I blink around at the crowd, just a moment, before shrugging. “There you go.” But then I notice the way everyone is staring, jaws slack. “...What?”

“M-Mei, is that you?” Comes Lara. She looks like she's seen a ghost. “Like, actually you?”

“Yes?” I'm already getting a terrible feeling in my gut. “What happened?”

“She- Mei- Y-your character.” She points at me with a faintly trembling hand. “She didn't disappear. She started talking. Like a different person, but also like you...” The disbelief hits me, exactly the same as is written on all the faces in the crowd.

“But that-... how? This is my character, how could she...” I pause briefly, before pulling in my camera, the stream somehow still running right through when I was logged off. Then I remember the messages left by the devs. I look straight into the little light and pointedly ask, “Care to explain?”

I pull up the chat, which has been scrolling away with comments for a while now, and watch for it until the one I'm looking for appears, and immediately pin it so it stays and doesn't get swept up in the others.

' Only Guardians appear and disappear from this world. Your character is not a Guardian.'

“Then what is she...?” I breathe. Looking up to everyone else, I scan the crowd briefly before addressing Ollin again. “There are some devs watching my stream. They say my character doesn't disappear from this world because she isn't a Guardian. Whether you still want to help me or not, I have to find a seer.”

More than that, if my character sticks around when I log out, and she's someone capable of thoughts and actions of her own... Who the hell is she?!

“Agreed,” Ollin responds earnestly while I'm trying not to panic over the thought of sharing this body with some unknown person. Then he returns to the crowd again. “Alright everyone, now that you know what's what, how many of you still want to take on this quest?” He waves his hands to get everyone moving, and the town hall rapidly empties. A bunch of people come up and ask me for my stream link so they can watch, but they aren't interested in joining me in my weird adventure. It's more viewers for my channel, so I happily oblige.

Once the area has emptied out, there are about a dozen people left in all. I've managed to calm down too, I can deal with the sharing-body stuff later.

Looking around the hall, it's still more people than I expected. “Oh,” I mouth when I recognize a couple of them. I have to check their names though. Flare and Mary. As it turns out by the way Hask hangs off of her, Mary, his wife, is the armored woman who helped him cleanse the corruption from the first group of players during the battle, before the boss killed him. I don't recall seeing her after that though.

Flare is just as fiery red as I remember from the battle, while Mary has skin a few shades lighter than Hask, a color that could be anything from hispanic, to pacific islander, to asian. Of course with her character being generated randomly, and her tight expression in light of her husband's antics, I couldn't begin to guess what she matches most closely, or if it in any way reflects her real race.

Not to mention, she has sleek blond hair, lighter than her skin tone and cut into a simple neck length bob. In her maroon colored, lightly plated armor, she gives a stoic impression, especially right next to the flamboyant Flare and goofy Hask.

There are five others besides them, four men and one woman. Two men are in light clothes, greens and browns that make me think of rangers, with one fighter in medium armor that's a kind of interesting yellow color, and some form of mage in fancy, dark blue robes. The woman wears lighter armor, so I'm thinking mobile fighter.

Of them all, only one of the rangers is an elf, the others all look... mostly human. The yellow-armored fighter is extremely short, making me think he might be from the Rakk race. The website said they're shorter than humans, but otherwise look about the same. They're supposed to be an anti-magic specialized race, with their Affinities generally including special abilities to help disable or defend against magic. And they're supposed to be pretty potent, not crippled like some other race affinities I read about.

Assuming these are the people who still want to help, I'm seeing one possible issue... Unless the one mage is actually a healer, we don't have one with us. My eyes sneak over toward Lara, before I remind myself she's a member of the city council.

I probably can't rely on her for this quest. The town was almost destroyed in the last invasion and they definitely won't want any of their top players running off on some crazy adventure right now.