Chapter 5 : It's getting worse

I'm Really a Cheater! Not a Pro Player!

Arka has heard the name ArkZurei spoken several times already, yet no matter how many times it was repeated, it still felt so hard to believe everything what happened. Each time the name surfaced, the NPCs grew more serious. Their gazes carried a weight of something he couldn't possibly understand.

He let out a long breath.

He felt like crying.

"Why did my cheating days have to matter this much?!"

Before he could fully process the absurdity of it all, One of the figures stepped forward first.

"I owe you an apology for earlier," the man said, his voice calm but sincere. "Drawing our weapons was… excessive. We should have introduced ourselves properly."

The others gave slight nods.

"I am Darian," he continued. Tall and broad-shouldered. His dark green eyes studied Arka. "I lead this group."

The man with the scarred cheek shifted beside him, resting his massive axe against his shoulder.

"Garek," he said simply.

His voice was rough, matching the countless battles etched into his coat and skin. "Frontliner."

The silver-haired woman sheathed one of her daggers with smooth efficiency, though the other never left her hand.

"Elara," she said. Her sharp eyes never fully left Arka. "Scout. And blade, when needed."

From the shadows near the wall, the cloaked archer finally lowered his bow. The faint blue glow at the arrow's tip faded, dispersing like mist.

"…Veylin," he said quietly. His face remained hidden beneath the hood. "Observer."

That was all. Yet Arka could tell none of them were ordinary.

Once the introductions were finished, Darian spoke again.

"So, PhantomArk… or rather, the Heir of ArkZurei." His eyes narrowed slightly, studying Arka's expression. "What brings you to this place?"

The room fell silent.

They waited for his answer.

And in that moment, Arka realized something important.

He had accidentally triggered a chain of major events.

Now, he had to decide how to move forward.

The NPCs stood upright, watching him closely. Especially Darian, whose serious expression never wavered. Their gazes were sharp, as if trying to decipher hidden intent behind every subtle movement.

Meanwhile, Arka could only sigh inwardly.

"Why does this keep getting more complicated…?"

"Sir?" Darian called again.

"Ah…" Arka scratched the back of his head, carefully forming an answer that wouldn't worsen the situation. "Like I said earlier, this place was my destination."

Darian narrowed his eyes. "And why did you choose this location?"

"Because…" Arka paused. "…I wanted to make sure of its condition."

Darian seemed to ponder this. "So you came to confirm whether this place is still safe?"

Arka shrugged. "Something like that."

The NPCs exchanged glances, their expressions turning thoughtful.

"Does that mean he already knows about the problem?" one whispered.

"Don't be foolish," another replied quietly. "If he didn't know, he wouldn't be here."

Arka resisted the urge to sigh aloud. Once again, they were making assumptions on their own.

Elara, who had been analyzing him the entire time, finally spoke.

"Then… what is your assessment of this place?"

Arka froze briefly.

"What am I even supposed to say here?"

After a few seconds of careful thought, he answered cautiously.

"I think… as long as you remain here and carry out your duties as usual, things should be fine."

Once again, the NPCs looked at one another, as if translating some hidden meaning behind his words.

"So… you want us to remain on guard?" Garek asked.

Arka nodded. "Yes. Just do what you're supposed to do."

"Does that mean something will happen?" Lina asked warily.

Arka sighed. "The world keeps moving, doesn't it? Something is bound to happen. Sooner or later."

Those words only made the atmosphere heavier.

"So you do know something…" Darian muttered.

"I never said that," Arka replied quickly.

"But you didn't deny it either."

What?

"I sre…" Darian said at last, his voice deep. "You can't say it directly, can you?"

"Huh?"

"I understand," Darian repeated, sounding more convinced than ever.

"As a High-Human, there must be limits to the information you can reveal."

What are you understanding exactly?!

"Then this means you came here to warn us indirectly!" one of the NPCs exclaimed.

Arka really wanted to slap himself.

Darian clenched his fist. "Then we cannot take this lightly."

Elara nodded. "Agreed. If he came only to confirm the situation, then something significant may indeed occur."

"We must prepare," Garek added.

Arka wanted to shout stop making your own scenarios, but he knew that would only make things worse.

In the end, he simply stood up, looked at them with a stiff expression, and said:

"You should… focus on improving yourselves."

The NPCs immediately straightened, their faces serious like they had just received a secret command.

Meanwhile, in Arka's mind:

"Please solve your own problems and don't drag me into this."

Without looking back, he turned and walked away. Even so, he could feel their reverent gazes burning into his back.

Once he stepped outside and shut the door behind him, Arka ran.

He really doesn't want to get involved anymore into this. He just wanted to get away.

"Damn it! This was never part of my plan!"

When his breathing grew heavy, he finally slowed and stopped in a quiet alley. Leaning against the cold stone wall, he tried to calm his thoughts.

Inhale.

Exhale.

"This was just a game." Arka tried to convinced himself

No matter how realistic the world felt, it was still a system-made environment. NPCs were still NPCs. Even if they could think and react like real humans.

But before he could fully settle down—

— Ding! —

A new message materialized before his eyes.

Sender: Chrono Frontier Development Team

Arka froze.

His instincts screamed that nothing good ever followed a message like this.

Carefully, he opened it.

> "To Mr. PhantomArk,

We would like to request a brief meeting to discuss several matters related to recent in-game developments.

If possible, we hope to arrange a meeting tomorrow."

The words were polite. Professional. But somehow it made it worse.

"…I'm dead."

In all his years of gaming, he had never been contacted directly by developers like this. Not once. Even back in the original Chrono Frontier, the dev team only intervened in extreme cases.

A familiar fear crawled up his spine.

"Don't tell me this is about my past…?"

Cold sweat slid down his back as his fingers hovered over the interface.

After a moment's hesitation, he typed:

> "I apologize, but I won't be available tomorrow. Perhaps we can schedule this another time?"

He sent the message and waited, hoping that they would simply let it go.

They didn't.

— Ding! —

> "Understood. In that case, we can adjust our schedule.

If it is acceptable to you, we would like to meet you in person."

Arka stiffened.

"…In person?"