Arknights: I became an NPC in the online game

During the New Year in Lungmen, every household lit red lanterns, illuminating the streets with a festive glow. Felix could truly feel the warmth of the celebration. Following local traditions, he strolled through the bustling streets and alleys alongside the residents, watching the dragon and lion dances. A wave of emotion swept over him—if possible, he would have liked to live in Yan. But not only in Yan, any peaceful country is also good, like the quiet Higashi countryside, or live in a snowy Kjerag mountain cabin while sometimes drinking hot chocolate.

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After Nine's injuries had healed, Felix began visiting the Guard Bureau more frequently. As a result, the officers gradually became familiar with the young Sankta. It wasn't long before gossip began circulating—whispers about whether he and Nine were becoming something more. Still, by Yan's standards, where marriages were often carefully matched, it seemed Nine would be marrying "up."

Felix is Sankta and a messenger by title. Yet, his appearance and skill with a crossbow set him apart from the ordinary. His speech was witty, his demeanor approachable, and his education evident without being aloof. He was clearly a refined young man.

Nine, on the other hand, had built a solid career at the Guard Bureau. Under Yanwei's guidance, she was being trained intensively, groomed as a potential future leader of the inspection team. To reach such a position, one needed more than just strength and loyalty—it required political acumen and connections. To the higher-ups in Lungmen, Nine was still just a capable officer with potential, but not yet someone ready to rise to the top. She would have to earn her place through dedication.

Her main competitor was a top student from another department—someone who had just returned from the prestigious Victoria Military Academy.

Despite all that, Nine remained composed. She performed her duties with precision and seriousness. Whenever Felix came to teach her crossbow techniques, she approached each session as if it were an exam, giving it her full focus.

For the guards, this budding connection between the two was a rare source of entertainment. What they found slightly disappointing, though, was that Nine never seemed shy—always keeping her usual calm and serious expression.

"The results of the interrogation with those infected thugs are out."

Felix looked up. Nine had arrived a little late today, likely just finished with a meeting. She carried two documents under her arm.

"An ordinary person with some influence in Lungmen found them," she explained, "and offered them considerable benefits to act as bait. He and his accomplices went on to rob a bank. The reward was a large sum of money—enough for him and his family to move to the upper city."

"Why are you telling me this?" Felix asked.

"I thought you should know."

Nine began cleaning the crossbow. "What I don't understand is why the infected would agree to something like this."

"When you're desperate," Felix replied calmly, "any offer of help becomes a lifeline."

"I'm not saying Lungmen's system is inherently flawed. But this is a Land of Suffering, and in many countries, the infected are rejected outright. Kazimierz might turn a blind eye to them entering the cities, but its official stance is still one of exclusion and oppression… Let's not even bring up distant lands—how does Ursus treat its infected citizens?"

"Most infected were ordinary people before they contracted oripathy. They once lived normal lives… and lost it all the moment they became infected."

"Nothing is more cruel than remembering the good old days."

Felix sat beside Nine, watching the sunlight stream through the skylight in the training room. "This is their last form of resistance against an unfair fate. As uninfected, we'll never truly understand it… Maybe only when those who don't understand become infected themselves will they begin to see."

Nine pursed her lips, letting out a soft sigh. "Pioneer… Sometimes I really doubt you're a Sankta."

"I'm a special, rebellious kind of Sankta," Felix replied with a faint smile. "To me, there's no difference between the ordinary and the infected, no difference between races. We're all just people surviving on this land of suffering."

"The training's starting. Get up. Keep your hands steady, remember your stance. We're starting with one hundred precision crossbow shots." With a clap of his hands, Felix cut off the heavy conversation and moved into instructor mode.

"Understood."

Nine picked up her crossbow, aiming at a distant target in the training room. She narrowed one eye in focus. After so many days of practice, her aim and precision had clearly improved.

If the Pioneer could hit the mark so effortlessly with a crossbow, then so could she.

With that mindset, Nine began chasing after Felix's skill level.

She was naturally skilled in close combat, but for someone in the Guard Bureau, close quarters was always the most dangerous option. Fighting up close meant risking injury. When incidents involving Originium Bombs occurred, the heavily armored officers with explosion-proof shields could walk away unharmed, and snipers at a distance were unaffected. Only the frontline guards—those in the middle—would be caught in the blast.

After completing one set of training, Nine returned to her seat, took a sip of water, and resumed shooting practice without hesitation.

The morning training passed quickly. As Felix prepared to leave, Nine saw him off, stretching her tired limbs. The amount of physical exertion today was just right for someone still recovering.

"What a shame… It'd be better if you were part of the Guard Bureau." Nine sighed lightly. "If you were part of the Guard Bureau…"

She trailed off, not finishing the sentence. After all, Lungmen's future wouldn't be decided by people like them. Small figures had only to play their part in the bigger picture.

Felix, ever the expert in time management, had another engagement that evening. A few days ago, after parting ways with Snowsant at Lungmen University of Technology, she had quietly invited him to visit her home. Felix had naturally agreed.

Maybe it was because he had enjoyed his recent time with her, or perhaps because they shared similar interests—regardless, Snowsant seemed to like him quite a bit.

This would be the first time Felix had ever been invited to a girl's home, but he hadn't thought about it in any inappropriate way. Snowsant was still a high school student, and most of their conversations revolved around mechanical engineering. He saw her more as a little sister, or a junior. He had no intention of crossing that line.

During the lunch break, Felix opened the forum and immediately noticed a new post by Magic ZX. It had already been pinned to the top of the page and was highlighted in red.

Clicking into it, he discovered it was a new video created by Magic ZX.

The title read:

"Type-0 Rainy Night Knight — Pioneer/Black Knight Party Raid Progress"

Seeing this, Felix was immediately intrigued. He had never actually played the raid instance he'd designed himself, so this was a perfect opportunity to check on how far players had progressed in strategizing around it.

Clicking on the video, he saw over 900,000 people watching live. The first thing to come through the speakers was Magic ZX's deep and magnetic voice.

"This is a war song written for two people who fought side by side in the rainy night. It is a question of Kazimierz's chivalry. The Black Knight, alone, dressed in black and holding a longsword, cuts a golden path to the arena under the rain. The Pioneer shines golden in the dark, clearing the way for the Black Knight."

"Type-0 Rainy Night Knight is the latest ultra-challenging 24-player group dungeon introduced in version 1.0. The overall battle is long, the mechanics are complex and densely packed, and both DPS and healing requirements are high."

"This time, the strategy revolves around the Pioneers and the Black Knights. At the beginning, we spawn inside an apartment. Once the countdown ends, we exit the apartment early and head down the stairs on the opposite side. At this point, the 24-man team splits into two squads of 12—designated Team A and Team B. Team A must have at least two tanks who will follow the Black Knights into the sewer system, while Team B needs to take a detour and infiltrate the building across from the apartment. We call Team B the 'special agent team' because they're responsible for eliminating enemies covertly."

Hearing this, even Felix found himself becoming absorbed in the video. After all, this dungeon had never existed in his past life. Then again, that was obvious—if he himself hadn't existed in the previous world, how could the dungeon have?

He already knew that the dungeon world allowed for free exploration, so there were countless possible strategies. Each attempt was a new challenge, and that was the fun of it.

The strategy provided by the Dynasty team detailed how Team A would follow the Black Knight, with two tanks standing in front of him. Mages would cast Originium skills into the air, exposing the snipers hidden in the building—enemies that could only launch ambushes from a distance. Once revealed, these enemies became targets for the Guard-class players, who would then breach the first floor and advance to the second, eliminating the threats. Meanwhile, healers had to keep the tanks' HP stable at all times.

Team B operated in the shadows, stationed inside the building opposite the apartment. Magic ZX pointed out that an assassin resided there—one capable of firing explosive arrows. If he landed a hit, the Black Knight would suffer severe damage, possibly rendering him unable to complete the subsequent mechanics.

As Team B moved stealthily through the structure, warlocks were unable to use Originium-based skills due to the building's unstable condition—any vibration could trigger a full collapse.

Magic ZX cut to a clip showing exactly that: the building crumbling, followed by a full-party wipe. He quipped,

"If you feel sorry for us, deduct 1 from your sympathy meter and hit us with a one-click triple combo, alright?"

The explosive-arrow assassin functioned essentially as a mini-boss, with elite-tier capabilities. Magic ZX detailed several ways to handle the mechanic: one was to throw oil barrels within the building, causing a controlled detonation to interrupt the assassin's skill cast; another involved having a tank activate their defensive skills and absorb the explosion, hoping the blast radius would catch the elite assassin as well.

After eliminating the elite assassin, Teams A and B finally regrouped. The Black Knight's health remained in excellent condition—87%.

"Amazing! We already cleared the first phase like this?"

"Damn, the Dynasty team is insane. The dungeon hasn't even been out that long, and they've already figured out the first phase strategy?"

"Are you kidding me? This is the Dynasty team + Magic ZX + a bunch of top-tier players. Honestly, with that lineup, this pace isn't even surprising."

"Wow, how did they even come up with this solution? Splitting into two teams—there aren't even any hints in the dungeon!"

Messages like "kneel and kowtow" flooded the live comment feed.

Even Felix was impressed. To be fair, the strategy was incredible—but it also demanded an extremely high level of coordination. Still, considering it came from a group of professional players and top-tier strategy experts, it wasn't all that shocking.

The screen faded to black again, and Magic ZX's deep voice returned.

"The Black Knight dodged the explosive arrow. The ground trembled, and we were forced to fall into the underground waterway. More assassins awaited us in the darkness. Here, the requirement is that the Black Knight's HP must not drop below 60%. Enemies are attacking from both the front and rear... We're still working on this phase."

As his voice trailed off, the screen lit up once more.

At the end of the shadowy waterway, a golden light shimmered.

Two familiar drones hovered into view—weren't these the Pathfinders sold by Pioneer? But they looked a bit different. The standard Pathfinders weren't that large.

"——Black Knight, it's me."

A soft golden glow lit up the entire sewer. The Dynasty team players who had entered the underground area for the first time now saw a Sankta figure emerging from the shadows. A golden halo hovered above his head. He wore a black coat with white accents, and the moment he stepped forward, the team couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment.

They hadn't expected the Pioneer to appear so early. And just as described in the lore, the Pioneers and the Black Knights were allies.

This also explained why the Black Knight and the Pioneer moved together—the Pioneer had aided the Black Knight during his darkest hour.

"Damn, that Pioneer gear looks incredible. I want to wear it!"

"He's so cool, so cool, so cool, so cool. I'm soaked down there—what do I do? Anyone relate?"

"Daddy's home!"

Both the players in the instance and the audience watching the stream were absolutely electrified. They had finally encountered the familiar NPC they had longed to see. The Pioneer, drenched in rain and emerging within the dungeon, carried a trace of edge. His golden eyes seemed to blaze with fire. No one could deny how breathtakingly handsome he was in that moment.

The Black Knight's health was steadily maintained thanks to the players' support. They could already imagine how many explosive arrows she had endured before finally escaping into the sewers. It was precisely in this moment of desperation, wounded and cornered, that she encountered the Pioneer—her savior.

As Magic ZX continued explaining the next mechanism, it became clear that this phase wasn't as thoroughly mapped out as the first. The team was still in the process of figuring it out. However, one advantage of the dungeon crystal system was that each one granted players two full hours of dungeon time. Within that window, if a team cleared the first stage but was wiped out in the second, they wouldn't have to start over. Upon resurrection, they could skip directly to the second phase.

This feature undoubtedly saved players a great deal of time.

The video concluded with a wipe scene. Magic ZX and the rest of the Dynasty team had reached a wide underground plaza. But soon after, assassins emerged from every direction, landing critical hits and swiftly eliminating the entire team.

"Is the requirement for the second phase too high? Do we really need eight Defender to cover all positions?"

"No way. That can't be optimal. Eight Defender means no DPS. Don't forget, there's a DPS check."

"Very cool. @group members, you have to see this—great strategy. Love comes from porcelain. League of Legends."

The players gave unanimous praise to the strategy. Even Felix had to admit, the Dynasty team executed it beautifully. If he had an account, he would've clicked that triple combo without hesitation.

Beyond the Dynasty team, the Warrior team was also hard at work, developing their own strategies. They, too, were challenging the second stage daily, hoping to clear it quickly and claim the rewards so they could farm resources and gear.

What they didn't know, however, was that loot drops in this dungeon weren't guaranteed. Ark employed a weekly cooldown refresh mechanism.

Just like going to jail—once a week.