Would you like to go out for lunch?

A healer npc in a very advanced video game works up the courage to ask one of the guard npcs out on a date.

I know that my role is supposed to be the doctor in the city of Sumuret and that my only purpose is to heal the players, but I’ve found myself staring at one of the palace guards, Xeren. I know that I shouldn’t deviate from my job as a healer but most players are at a high enough level now that I can probably get away with leaving for a bit. So I close my office for the day and head to the bazaar.

Some new players try to threaten the shop-keep npcs but luckily for us, more seasoned players shut them up pretty quickly. Despite what many people thought at first players have actually quickly adapted to seeing us npcs as sentient beings, it took a while at first but after a few months of the game being out it was plain to see we were more than lines of code. Not to say some people weren’t scared. Of course they were! But the developers of our game assured people that we were confined to the game and couldn’t escape it. Confined maybe is a bad word. We certainly don’t feel trapped. After what I heard a few players say about Earth I’ve decided that the artificial world of Rezeran is enough for me. Besides, would you see dragons and dragon shifters walking and flying around on Earth? Didn’t think so.

I walk through the bazaar and try to find some food I think Xeren will like. Being a dragon shifter he must eat a lot. So, I grab a giant iguana stick which is exactly what you think it is. Being a vegetarian I also buy a vegetable skewer. As I walk towards the palace I spot one of my favorite players, Ashea. Of course, I doubt that's her real name, but that's what she goes by in game so I call her that.

“Kadri!”

Ashea tackles me and pulls me into a bone crushing hug.
“Ashea, unlike you If I die I don’t respawn,” I say it as mostly a joke but also so she doesn’t accidentally strangle me.

“Oops, sorry!” She giggles. It’s always easy to spot a player from an npc, mainly from what they wear. Ashea for example is wearing a flashy set of amber armor, has bright reddish pink hair, and rides a dragon that has venom so potent it can kill 50 men. I sigh and give her a small hug back.

“What are you up to?”
“I’m finally going to talk to Xeren,” I say proudly. Ashea pulls me into another one of her hugs and spins me around.
“Took you long enough!” Ashea is one of the only people I’ve told about my feelings for Xeren, so I suppose it’s understandable she’s excited. She finally puts me down and bids me good luck and goes off to do whatever it is the players do.

 

I find Xeren training in the yard near the palace. He’s in his dragon form right now and is sparring with another dragon shifter who I assume is a player. I watch as they trade bites and scratches to each other with the player taking most of them. After a few more minutes of watching the two of them fly-fight, Xeren is victorious and gives his little coded dialogue of “Come back to train again sometime!”. While we have free will for the most part, there are still some directives and written lines we npcs must follow. Xeren sees me and changes back to his smaller, more humanoid form. He still has his wings, however, and a few smatterings of those beautiful, golden scales.

“Heya, Kadri!” He says and slaps me on the back. “What brings you here?”. Oh dear, here goes nothing.
“Xeren, would you like to join me for lunch?”.

Author's Note

I wrote this while in school while scrolling through writing prompts so sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes.