Arknights: I became an NPC in the online game

Tomorrow's Development. To open tomorrow, for tomorrow.

This was Felix's vision for the future. In the story he once knew, the path was already set. But now, with his presence woven into it—would the future turn out differently?

In truth, it already had.

Magic ZX, Qiu Muyu, and Xiao Xuegao all received the same prompt at once:

[Pioneer]Felix Shawn Lanshem invites you to join [Tomorrow's Development]. Accept / Refuse

The answer required no hesitation. All three players chose "Accept" immediately.

Before their eyes, the faction interface unfolded.

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Tomorrow's Development [Arknight]

Reputation Level: Gray

Total Members: 133

Active Territory: None

Record: None

Founder: [Pioneer]Felix Shawn Lanshem

Date Established: Terran Calendar, March 2, Year 1091

Evaluation: A fledgling company. No clear advantages, no defining traits.

---

This was what the players saw.

In Version 1.0, aside from the Sarkaz players in Kazdel—who were forced to join one of two major camps just to secure food and supplies—most adventurers had neither the qualifications nor the strength to enter any established faction. At best, a rare few lucky ones did. Felix remembered seeing a forum post once: an Iberian player had been invited into the inquisition, only to serve as the lowest-rank grunt, a disposable "Worker."

Magic ZX himself had never joined a faction. On his travels he had always followed the Pioneer, and never had a chance to join elsewhere. His wish had always been to stick with Felix's path to the end. So the moment he officially joined, he threw himself into exploring every detail with great enthusiasm.

A notification also appeared on Felix's end. Through the faction log, he could see the three new names registered under Tomorrow's Development. This interface was invisible to ordinary Terrans—they could only access the company's logs and messages through physical terminals.

For adventurers, however, the system made it all seamless.

In his previous life, Felix had once joined Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals. He had also dealt with high-level guilds and professional teams, giving him a passing familiarity with the faction system. But back then he was just a regular member—not a founder.

Now, with the founder's panel open, he realized just how much authority there was.

He could issue faction quests to earn points and loyalty, or directly set the faction's relationships with others. Faction quests functioned much like personal NPC commissions, except their rewards didn't come out of his own pocket—they refreshed on their own. And just like personal quests, they were tiered: different ranks brought different experience and rewards.

For now, only the three players truly needed experience points. NPC employees didn't.

Felix's daily quota for a single task was 100,000 base experience. His own level of 92 gave him a bonus of 92,000. The gray-tier reputation added another 10,000. The staff size of 133 granted 20,000 more. And finally, his fully unlocked [Pioneer] title boosted everything by +10%.

All told, each single task could carry about 240,000 experience. With the daily limit set at ten times that amount, the total pool he could allocate each day was around 2.4 million.

For three players, this was astronomical. They had likely never earned so much in all their time playing. But Felix knew that once Version 2.0 launched and every player gained access to the mobile cities, Tomorrow's Development could draw in thousands. At that scale, even millions of experience would feel like nothing more than a drop in the bucket.

The daily quota limited Felix's speed of expansion, but that was only because the faction was still new. As membership grew and reputation rose, the cap would naturally increase. His own level, too—the stronger he became, the more experience he could draw upon.

Beyond experience, there was also the [Allies and Enemies] tab. The meaning was obvious: it tracked the faction's diplomatic relationships with others.

And then there was the [Officers] tab.

Officers were granted greater authority—like instructors or vice guild leaders—responsible for wider duties. Currently, three names filled the list: the Emperor, Degenbrecher, and Loughshinny. Their roles were slightly different as well.

The Emperor carried the title of Chief of Logistics and Transportation. Degenbrecher was marked as Mercenary Instructor. Loughshinny, as Secretary.

Players could also be appointed as officers. This was common in most player-founded factions, especially mid- and small-sized ones. But some leaders also recruited trusted NPCs to officer positions—after all, players had to log off, while NPCs could always be present.

A new prompt appeared before Magic ZX and the others:

You have joined [Tomorrow's Development]. Current Relationship: Cold (0/300).

This was standard, the first message any player saw upon joining a faction.

On Felix's side, the member management list opened. Here he could see both NPCs and players, though NPC status bars were grayed out—he couldn't manipulate them directly through the panel.

For example, Felix could use the faction menu to transfer 50,000 LMDs directly to Magic ZX. But he couldn't do the same for an NPC recruit—payment had to be made face-to-face or via bank transfer.

In strange ways, the game insisted on being realistic.

Another notification popped up:

You are among the first adventurers of [Tomorrow's Development]. Contribution +300. Contribution Points +300. Current Relationship: Neutral (0/2500).

Magic ZX whistled under his breath.

"So we're already Neutral… Guess this is the perk of joining Pioneer's faction early, huh?"

"I just reached Neutral too," Qiu Muyu and Xiao Xuegao murmured almost in unison.

While exploring the faction menu earlier, Magic ZX had noticed a Faction Rewards panel—essentially, the faction's shop.

Contribution was used to raise standing with the faction. As relationship levels climbed, more shop categories would unlock. Contribution Points, on the other hand, were the currency spent inside. Both were awarded through quests. The shop also allowed purchases with national currencies, priced according to the exchange rates between each country and the faction itself—ensuring fairness.

The moment Magic ZX entered Felix's shop, his eyes lit up. The display was dazzling. To be honest, he hadn't spent at the Pioneer's stall in a long while. The biggest reason was simple: Felix was often nowhere to be found. The second was that Magic ZX's current gear was already top-tier for Version 1.0.

After defeating the Prototype Rainy Night Knight with his team from Dynasty, and then farming it with other groups more than a dozen times, plus clearing the Assassin faction event, he had earned a full set of level 25 gear. Even though his character had reached level 30, no better equipment could be found.

Until now.

What he saw made his eyes nearly glow blue.

Vatos Revolver – 2500 Contribution Points

Compact Folding Mechanical Shield – 1700 Contribution Points

Mechanical Grappling Hook – 2200 Contribution Points

Alloy Mechanical Chestplate – 7000 Contribution Points

"My god!"

Magic ZX's heart was on fire. Even a quick glance showed these items far outclassed his so-called "graduation gear." Clearly, these were 2.0-level equipment. For players, the temptation was irresistible.

But there was a catch. Even after saving up for so long, he didn't have enough for something like the grappling hook. The prices were brutal.

What drew Qiu Muyu and Xiao Xuegao's attention in the shop wasn't equipment, but the profession and skill books. Normally, some sub-professions required tedious quest chains to unlock, but here they could simply be purchased with Contribution Points or currency. It was far more convenient.

Qiu Muyu quickly spent her saved-up experience to buy a custom modification skill book from Felix's store. This ability was originally exclusive to Gunsmiths, but it could also be applied to other crafting sub-professions—for instance, in the production of mechanical components. For her, it was much faster to buy the book than to grind her Gunsmith class all the way to Tier 3.

Meanwhile, Magic ZX, after browsing the shop, turned to the faction task list and noticed that several missions had already been posted.

[Transport classified goods. Rendezvous point Alpha 17-C.]

[Deliver food supplies to a restaurant in the Lower District. Rendezvous point Charlie 9-U.]

These were all available for players to take on.

"Right now, Tomorrow's Development has just been established," Felix told the three players. "Our reputation in Lungmen is practically nonexistent, so the tasks we can access are limited. Only by completing more of them, making our name known, can we push Tomorrow's Development forward. I'm a member of this company just like you—and its future depends on everyone's effort."

Magic ZX's chest swelled with determination. He wasn't a professional player, but he was definitely a skilled one. Starting early meant he could begin stockpiling Contribution Points and gain quicker access to equipment later.

As for spending, he instinctively leaned toward using currency instead of Contribution Points. His reasoning was simple: save the points for items money couldn't buy.

Felix, of course, had anticipated this. In practice, requests were submitted by clients to Tomorrow's Development, and then issued as missions to players. In that process, there was always a so-called "middle fee." Players earned plenty, but Felix also took in a fair amount of currency himself.

And this was only the beginning. As the shop expanded with more equipment and books, players would inevitably find their Contribution Points running short—and when that happened, they'd naturally turn to currency for purchases.

After bidding Felix farewell, Magic ZX, Qiu Muyu, and Xiao Xuegao stepped out of the building. The moment felt unreal, as if they were dreaming.

"The Pioneer… has finally founded his own faction, huh?" Magic ZX said with awe. "I remember talking about this with Yangyan XF—we guessed it might happen, but I didn't expect it to come true."

"Mm. Should we try some missions too? Start small, with errands?" Qiu Muyu suggested.

Both she and Xiao Xuegao opened the task board. Four categories were listed: Industry, Logistics, Mercenary, and Technology.

Qiu Muyu clicked through them. Industry tasks were tailored for production-oriented players like herself and Xiao Xuegao. Logistics and Mercenary jobs were open to everyone. Given their future plans, though, acquiring a vehicle seemed essential. The Technology tab, however, was still locked, and didn't look like something ordinary players could access.

"Huh? So Technology tasks can only be taken by… professions like scientists?" Xiao Xuegao wondered aloud as she browsed the faction shop. There, she found a book titled Fundamentals of Mechanics.

"Looks like it. Guess Scientist is a sub-profession… sounds really advanced."

Magic ZX cast a glance at the two girls chatting, then accepted a logistics transport mission. Lungmen was vast. Even though he'd been around for a while, he hadn't fully familiarized himself with the city's streets. Taking delivery quests was a good way to explore—and who knew, maybe it would lead to other opportunities.

Logistics missions had no player cap, but rewards were always split evenly. Unless the task was particularly difficult or required multiple hands, most players preferred to go solo, maximizing their cut.

The three agreed on a time to meet again. Magic ZX and Xiao Xuegao both accepted logistics missions, while Qiu Muyu decided to swing by Dagu Plaza to gather materials. She had just unlocked Custom Modification and picked up an industrial production task—her hands were itching to level up the skill with her stored experience.

Magic ZX had another plan in mind as well. His video recording was nearly finished, and with the next issue of the Arknights Times around the corner, rushing to publish it now would let him ride the wave of trending topics.

---

Felix stood at the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing down at the dense crowd below. The three players had already vanished into the sea of people like fish slipping into the ocean.

"Are the dormitories for adventurers still under renovation?" he asked.

"Yes. They're expected to be completed within a month," Loughshinny replied softly, glancing at the file in her hand. By now, she had fully settled into her role as secretary.

Not every player would qualify for a place in Tomorrow's Development's dorms. Only those with sufficient Contribution could rent a room, whether with points or with currency.

Free handouts were things players discarded without a second thought. But what they earned with their own effort—that, they would treasure all the more.