Astral Flow

Chapter 45

The hustle and bustle of the city was surprising, so much so that it practically froze Lily in place as she took it all in.

This was supposed to be an MMO type game, but this? This was way more than she ever could've imagined.

So many people trailed past her, yet now she was curious, were there any actual players here? Could someone else have made it here yet?

Quickly she pulls out her journal, navigating to the socials page and flipping to nearby players... though her hopes were quickly crushed as she saw not a single player nearby.

Then it hit her, that means that everyone in this city, every lively person... they were all NPCs.

How was this possible? Even for the biggest budget games something like this would be impossible without cutting some corners.

Like some NPCs to just stand around or have no dialogue, reusing models with slight changes, or even having some that use the same dialogue.

Yet from here alone she could tell they were all "Alive" just like Eleanor and Yuria, it was impossible.

So many different interactions all happening in real time.

A knight talking with an adventurer about some monster in the woods.

An Alchemist happily advertising their potions.

Children running and playing around the plaza before darting off down one of the streets.

There was even a bard happily playing music for a decently large crowd.

"Never seen a crowd this big before?" The stranger asks as he looks around, a bittersweet smile painting his face as he watches everything.

It was an agonizingly painful smile, one Lily didn't like to see.

"I guess you could say that." She responds curtly, still processing everything she was seeing. "I only ever had to deal with small groups at a time."

"Well guess we have that in common then." He lets out a tiny little laugh under his breath. "I rarely deal with crowds this large, so it's still strange to see them... yet it's beautiful to see life flourish in such a way, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah... I guess so." She quietly responds, now looking closer at the stranger who keeps a strangely calm and wise air about him.

She wished to know more, but something told her she wouldn't get anything right now... he likely had many more barriers than she could ever imagine.

Suddenly the cart comes to a dead halt as Vonder lets out a sigh of relief. "Alright, we made it in time!" He happily says while disembarking, Aida quickly following behind him.

Not wanting to be left behind in this strange place Lily quickly follows behind them, the stranger close behind her.

Calmly they enter what seems to be a tavern, or perhaps a guild? Maybe both even... Lily couldn't rightfully tell.

There were plenty of tables, booths, even a bar.

Yet at the same time there were several boards on the wall with job postings, as well as plenty of banners hanging up all adorned with some strange symbol that looked like a Shattered Moon.

Despite being midday the place was pretty packed, people of all sorts packed around tables and in booths, merrily chatting away and drinking.

It was hard to believe this was all really happening still, there was no way this was a game any more, it felt more like a dream.