Arknights: I became an NPC in the online game

Magic ZX continued producing videos in his signature style. Players were both surprised and delighted by the appearance of the Black Knight. In the video, not only did she showcase her incredible combat prowess as a triple crown champion, but she also radiated a cool, strong, and beautiful aura—pure royal-sister energy. Who wouldn't be captivated by such an NPC?

Everyone grew increasingly curious about the relationship between the Black Knight and the Pioneer. According to Magic ZX's video, the Black Knight was clearly a powerful Kazimierz competitive knight, while the Pioneer appeared to be nothing more than a businessman. So how were they connected? Why did the Black Knight, who publicly stated she had left Kazimierz after the tournament, suddenly appear beside the Pioneer?

Players who were particularly sensitive to plot details immediately sensed something suspicious. Those deeply invested in the story were even more precise in their interpretations and predictions. The most popular theory was that the Black Knight had offended someone—or some powerful force—in Kazimierz. The authorities, unable to challenge that force, released a statement saying she had "left" the region.

As for why she suddenly appeared next to the Pioneer and even called him boss, players speculated that perhaps the Pioneer had helped her in some way, and in return, she now worked for him.

This speculation turned out to be accurate.

Felix was still somewhat surprised by how spot-on the players' guesses were. But considering how thoroughly Magic ZX had laid out the events, it was only natural that anyone paying attention would piece things together.

With this in mind, Felix decided it was time to issue a new task and distribute his limited-edition replica crystal: [Type-0 Rainy Night Knight].

Player reactions to the Black Knight were overwhelmingly positive. They were also quite interested in Senomi. Well—Felix could only shrug. After all, besides combat and conquest, the one thing that consistently captured the interest of male players was, of course, beautiful girls.

This was precisely one of the reasons he kept Degenbrecher close at hand. Male players would get bored of looking at his face every day—after all, he wasn't giving them fan service. But if he had a few striking female NPCs by his side, it created an entirely different atmosphere—one that made players feel right at home.

Ulšulah, too, played a helpful role in this regard.

Felix considered building up her character more. Ulšulah, the mercenary, didn't seem bound by any rigid ideology of war. She hadn't chosen a side between Theresa or Theresis, and her goal was simply to improve life for the Sarkaz people.

On that front, Felix was confident he could win her over. After all, if there was a phrase that described him best at the moment, it would be:

"My heart and my actions are as clear as a mirror; everything I do is righteous."

Still, it felt a bit premature to form a faction just yet. Felix thought it would be better to wait until his mechanic and gunsmith were promoted—around the end of Player Version 1.0 and the beginning of 2.0—before beginning preparations. He lacked the necessary resources, connections, and, most importantly, access to rare, high-level knowledge. Attempting to start a faction now would be far too hasty.

The town wasn't even built yet. There was no point in thinking too far ahead. With that thought, Felix lowered his head again and resumed his blueprint gambling.

The next morning, Degenbrecher arrived at Felix's tent, bringing along a yawning Senomi.

Looking at him, Degenbrecher asked, "Didn't you get much rest last night?"

Felix rubbed his wrist and replied, "How'd you know?"

"A warrior can read body rhythm and breathing rate," Degenbrecher said calmly. "We can infer a person's condition from their posture and direction. You look like you only slept a few hours."

Felix didn't directly answer Degenbrecher's question. Instead, he glanced at Senomi and said,

"You and Senomi should stay in the camp today. Her classes will continue, but don't let a child her age get too tired."

Degenbrecher smiled and gently rubbed Senomi's head. "I understand."

Seeing Felix reveal his gentle side to both her and Senomi, Degenbrecher's expression didn't change—but inwardly, she was happy.

After all, Degenbrecher had always felt that she owed Felix her life. Logically speaking, she believed she should accept any excessive demands he made. However, having fought alongside him, Degenbrecher knew that Felix—codenamed Pioneer—wasn't that kind of man. She hadn't misjudged him.

Though she followed Felix's orders and served under his command, Degenbrecher never felt discomfort or resentment. That was because she knew they were the same in certain ways.

Felix stretched and walked off. He had spent the entire night gambling for blueprints, and the only remotely satisfying result was a high-quality green-grade arm power device—still a far cry from the blue-grade results he dreamed of. He had considered buying blueprints before, but there was no market for them. The only three ways to obtain them were:

1. Traveling the world to explore,

2. Sneaking into Victoria's military factories to learn their techniques, or

3. Finding his master, Dürrenmatt, and crying poor—hoping he might be pitied enough to receive a blue blueprint.

But the chances of that were slim. Dürrenmatt's whereabouts were always uncertain, and there was a good chance he had already moved away.

So, Felix was forced to rely on gambling. But his luck stat was an abysmal E. Everything he got that night was junk, leaving him mentally drained.

He headed over to the task board and updated it with a new batch of missions. Alongside gathering tasks, he posted combat missions to eliminate hidden threats and production assignments for crafting materials and constructing buildings. Honestly, these tasks weren't much different from those found in other settlements across the land. But for the Sarkaz players, they were a fresh experience.

At the same time, Felix continued planning the residential areas. After all, players couldn't be expected to sleep in tents forever, right? High-tech housing materials were unrealistic for now. Homes made of stone and wood were far more practical under current conditions—and still a significant improvement over drafty tents.

He wanted players to experience the comfort of "having a home." Just like in the past—no matter how many generations of GTA were released—players always looked forward to owning bigger houses and customizing interiors. House competition, yard decoration, personal style—these things gave players a sense of pride. Seeing others admire their taste only added to the appeal.

Personal cabins gave players a deeper sense of immersion in this otherworldly game. The feeling of truly owning a home was special. Players wouldn't just decorate; they'd invite friends over, host get-togethers, and even roleplay—running taverns, dance halls, and other social hubs to build a greater sense of community and involvement.

To that end, Felix had marked out a large section of the map as a residential zone, which would require a huge amount of materials.

He was also planning to establish a central meeting hall, a place where players—or their elected representatives—could gather for discussions or voting. Felix had no intention of becoming a dictator. Besides, he couldn't stay in this town permanently. After all, how much hatred would it stir if a Sankta tried to build a town in Kazdel? He didn't want to wake up one morning to find Theresis' army knocking on his door.

In addition, Felix placed the Craftsman's Profession Book on the shelves of his own bookstore. With Craftsman as a secondary profession, players would now be able to construct buildings and draft blueprints themselves.

When players saw Felix habitually open his personal store and noticed the addition of the Craftsman's Profession Book, many of the production-focused players couldn't help but laugh in excitement. With the Craftsman profession, they could now repair the durability of weapons and equipment far more efficiently.

Soon after, they noticed a special item in the shop's reward section.

"Instance crystal? As a mission reward? What mission is that?"

"Looks like it only unlocks after completing twenty town-building tasks."

"Wait, are dungeon crystals what I think they are? Like the kind that spawn dungeons and loot, like in other games?"

Players began whispering among themselves as they checked the unlocking conditions. Seeing that completing twenty building tasks wasn't too difficult, they crowded in front of the task board and began picking up assignments.

Felix watched them spring into action and nodded to himself in satisfaction. This was exactly the kind of virtuous cycle he had hoped to see.

As a production player, Qiu Muyu immediately purchased the Craftsman's Profession Book. The Dynasty Team had held a quick meeting the night before to discuss their shelter's prize pool and agreed that each member should focus on their specialty—those skilled in hunting would hunt, those with exploration as a secondary profession would explore, gatherers would collect materials, and crafters would focus on production. Only by excelling in each area could they achieve maximum progress and rewards.

However, the atmosphere within the team remained tense. No one had anticipated the number of people who would join. Initially, the total number of players on the battlefield was just in the five-digit range, but after posts on the forums gained attention, more and more players arrived. As a result, the Pioneer's City map had to be continuously expanded.

More people didn't necessarily mean a better situation—it meant more competition. Just look at the European Warrior Team from yesterday. They were undoubtedly going to give their all to secure first place in the prize pool rankings.

So today, Qiu Muyu didn't follow Huangtian Houtu and Dandao Dantart on their hunting and exploration missions. Instead, she stayed behind with the other production players to focus on crafting materials and carrying out manufacturing tasks.

Felix set an example by starting to build. His Craftsman level was exceptionally high, with zero chance of failure during construction. In front of production players like Qiu Muyu, he built several stone-brick apartment buildings from scratch in just two days—enough to house hundreds of players.

Such incredible efficiency made the eyes of production players light up. In Pioneer, they saw a vision of their own future. Perhaps this was the way for production players to truly earn money.

---

One evening, Felix stopped Ulšulah, who seemed to be rushing somewhere.

"Ulšulah," he called, "do you think your Sarkaz people would be willing to live in a city like this?"

Ulšulah had been in high spirits lately, though, like Felix, she remained busy from dawn to dusk. Between martial arts training and completing tasks, she was often only seen at night.

Degenbrecher felt much more at ease. Unlike the others, she didn't have a heavy workload—her only task was to teach Senomi and help her build a solid foundation from a young age.

Ulšulah obediently approached Felix. As one of the few people in the city who wasn't "undead," she remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"I don't know if they'll accept the infected."

"They're not infected. Not even one of them," she added softly. Being a Sarkaz without infection—this alone would draw the envy of many other Sarkaz. "To us, they're strangers. And to them… aren't we strangers too?"

At present, players hadn't yet encountered the more heavily polluted areas of Kazdel. As gamers, they naturally valued their lives and avoided any missions with a risk of infection. They all lived cautiously, like characters in a battle royale who preferred to hide rather than fight.

"If this were a chicken-dinner game, every one of them would be Voldemort," Felix commented.

"Are you afraid? Afraid that your people won't be welcomed?" he asked.

"It's because we've grown used to discrimination," Ulšulah replied with a soft smile, tinged with a kind of girlish vulnerability. "We've gotten so used to it that we've become numb. But just when we'd accepted that numbness, a large number of Sarkaz appeared—ones who weren't infected, who had never experienced discrimination or contempt. Honestly... I envy them."

"Do you know how Terrans become infected with Originium?" Felix asked.

Ulšulah thought for a moment, then answered hesitantly, "Exposure to highly polluted source stone dust… and through the blood of the infected."

Felix nodded. "There's another way: contamination of an open wound by Originium."

"If an infected person comes into contact with a non-infected person… would the non-infected one be infected?"

"…I don't know."

"They wouldn't."

Ulšulah had never revealed whether she herself was infected, and Felix had no intention of asking. Instead, he simply reached out and gently grabbed her wrist.

"You won't get infected just like this."

He looked at her and continued calmly, "Why is a disease that isn't highly contagious still so heavily discriminated against in the Ursus Empire? It's not about the disease itself. It's the malice of those in power that causes the infected to be treated as inferior. Let go of that belief. In my eyes, the infected are Terran, and so are the non-infected. Even if the infected have a low status in other cities or countries, here, I hope they can live in peace with the non-infected."

Ulšulah blinked in a daze, then slowly lowered her head and gently slipped her wrist from his grasp. "I understand."

"In a couple of days, Degenbrecher and I will be heading out of town," Felix said. "So I'll be leaving this place to you for now."

"Me…?" Ulšulah looked stunned. What was her employer saying? Was he entrusting her with something so important?

"You have the talent of a commander, Ulšulah," Felix said firmly. "You shouldn't be just a mercenary who charges into battle. You've performed exceptionally during this time. You've earned my trust. I think you should cultivate this side of yourself. This land has no shortage of mercenaries—but it lacks commanders."

Ulšulah looked away. At that moment, she couldn't shake the feeling that Felix resembled a priest… even though the Sarkaz had no concept of priests.

"…Employer, I understand."

She gave him a formal mercenary salute, then turned around without leaving right away, letting out a quiet sigh.

"It would be perfect if the employer were Sarkaz."

Felix didn't respond. He truly didn't know what to say to this young girl who still held such innocent, idealistic thoughts.

He returned to his tent and began preparing for the next journey.

Heading straight for Theresis's army would be suicide, so he planned instead to visit Theresa's faction—and take a trip to the Tower of Babel. Naturally, he'd need to bring Degenbrecher along.

As he thought about it, Felix's lips curled into a grin.

Hehehe… Kal'tsit, we're finally going to meet!