Who told you I am an NPC

Chapter : 5

Compared to the pitch-black warehouse, the corridor outside was much brighter.

A magic lamp was installed on the wall every few meters, significantly brighter than the ones in the hands of the patrolmen, but still no match for the electricity-powered incandescent lamps of Yan Yunqing's original world.

What was the energy source for these magic lamps, I wondered?

Recalling the world-building of 'Demon King',

Yan Yunqing guessed that the technology of this other world was probably similar to that of early 18th-century Europe on Blue Star?

There weren't many products of the Industrial Revolution; most things relied on manual labor.

But due to the existence of the magic side, some items that far surpassed the technology of the era had appeared.

Yan Yunqing remained vigilant.

The current environment was too bright, which was not conducive to him hiding.

Hearing footsteps and voices not far away, Yan Yunqing deftly found a blind spot in the line of sight and completely concealed himself within it.

If only there was a line-of-sight indicator at times like this, I could just use stealth, sneak up from behind to slit some throats, then do a front roll and jump to perfectly clear this stage.

So why was the single-player version clearly a city-building game, but the multiplayer version turned into a holographic, hell-difficulty version of '〇〇-man: Crazy Auction House'?

Yan Yunqing listened as the footsteps gradually approached, and the conversation of the two patrol members also reached his ears.

"Did the fourth squad just get attacked?

They looked pretty rough."

"I heard it was a cargo riot.

But with the suppression of the anti-magic formation, for the fourth squad to still get injured by a cargo riot, they're really pathetic."

"They even went to the guard team for help?

Deman is getting more and more useless. And he used to be the former Guard Captain!"

"Can't be helped. After all, he was seriously injured on the last mission.

What kind of swordsman is a swordsman who can't hold his sword steady?"

A burst of laughter accompanied the footsteps as they moved away from Yan Yunqing.

Yan Yunqing waited quietly for a minute, and after confirming they had left, he poked his head out to observe before continuing to walk out with his dagger in hand.

"It seems the captain of that patrol team was a formidable figure before," Lilian said. "Indeed, even I almost fainted from the little mermaid's sonic attack.

For that captain to still be able to stand and order his men to leave, he's not simple, not simple at all!"

Yan Yunqing didn't have a solid feel for that sonic attack.

After all, he had only felt dizzy for a moment, and at most, his ears felt a little uncomfortable.

Even that, Yan Yunqing felt, was due to the sudden change in species.

Isn't there a saying that a cat's hearing is three times that of a human's or something?

A cat-person or something is similar to a cat? Probably?

Yan Yunqing focused on avoiding the patrols.

Aided by the speed-boosting pocket watch and his overly keen sense of hearing, he managed to blunder his way out of the area full of patrol teams.

Upon seeing the first person not dressed as a patrolman but in lavish clothes in the distance, Yan Yunqing let out a huge sigh of relief, only to tense up again.

Look at how he looked now?

A tattered piece of cloth barely covered his important parts, and the excess was used by him to tie up the glass bottle containing Lilian.

A pair of cat ears sat on his head, and a cat tail was attached behind him, unconsciously tensing and flicking back and forth, showing his unease.

His current attire didn't look like he was here for an auction at all.

Anyone could read from him:

This is a cat beastman who has escaped from somewhere.

Yan Yunqing hid in the shadows.

Taking advantage of a moment when no one was around, he darted into a place that looked like a washroom.

After hiding in a stall and locking the door, Yan Yunqing slowly exhaled.

He was safe for now, but this wouldn't last long.

Perhaps the captain of that patrol team had already informed the higher-ups of the auction house about what happened in warehouse No. 6, and someone much stronger would soon come to investigate.

The mana fluctuation in the warehouse couldn't be hidden, and the iron cage he had escaped from was still left there.

If it weren't for the mermaid's sudden sonic attack, he would have been discovered just now.

With his squishy little body, even with a health-lock cheat, he wouldn't be able to withstand the siege of so many people.

Not to mention if the effect of the health-lock cheat was discovered... Yan Yunqing suspected he might be dissected?

This other world had alchemists, beings who were both scientific and unscientific!

And he had also stolen a piece of 'cargo' that looked very precious—Yan Yunqing lowered his head and looked at the innocent Lilian in the glass bottle—a juvenile elf.

Even though Yan Yunqing didn't know much about the other world in the current timeline, having read and watched so many fantasy-themed novels and anime, he knew how precious elves were.

The Elf race in 'Demon King' was also very rare, and the young cubs were watched over by the entire clan.

He was probably about to be hunted down by the entire auction house.

Sighing, Yan Yunqing pulled himself together, manipulated the game panel a bit, and rummaged through the cosmetic outfits he had bought with real money when he played 'Demon King' before.

He put together a set of clothes that wasn't too conspicuous but was very expensive upon closer inspection, and confirmed the change.

Lilian watched in amazement as the disheveled little kitten transformed before her eyes.

The tattered cloth turned into a soft silk outfit, embroidered with intricate patterns in dark-colored thread.

Upon closer inspection, those patterns were extremely similar to some ancient magic spells she had once seen in the Elven library, and a mysterious power flowed from them.

It was more like magic than magic itself.

No magician would be so bored as to research such a boring magic spell like one-key costume change.

"By the great Elf King," Lilian's mouth gaped open.

"You really weren't lying to me, were you? You don't look like an ordinary beastman at all."

As far as she knew, the beastman lineage was not long.

Even the royal family was still in a primitive state.

This set of clothes, which was obviously priceless and contained a rich history of magic, should not have appeared on an ordinary beastman.

Yan Yunqing adjusted his attire, removing some of the more conspicuous accessories to try to make himself look more inconspicuous.

"Mhm, I'm actually the Beast God," Yan Yunqing said perfunctorily.

Lilian pouted. "If you want to lie to me, find a better excuse.

The age of gods has been over for so long, how could a Beast God suddenly appear."

Hmm

Yan Yunqing's hand, which was adjusting his clothes, paused.

"The age of gods has been over for a long time?"

If he remembered correctly, in 'Demon King', after his protagonist established the empire, the era of joint rule by the Demon King and the gods began.

Although five of the six major gods had died, there was still the Goddess of Life left, and the number of minor gods who had survived the war of the gods was not small.

Could it be that not a single one was left now?

"You don't know?" Lilian asked in return. "That seems like common knowledge."

Yan Yunqing shut his mouth.

As a player who had transmigrated from another world, without even a chance to see the opening story, how could he possibly know this 'common knowledge'?

After he escaped, he would have to properly understand the background of the era he was currently in.

If any other college student were in this situation, they would probably just lie down and accept their fate.

Fortunately, Yan Yunqing was a 'savior' in training who had just graduated from high school and was full of energy.

Yan Yunqing finished getting himself ready and vaguely heard the outside starting to get noisy.

Perhaps the people from the auction house had already discovered that a cat-person and an elf from the precious cargo had escaped.

Yan Yunqing held up the glass bottle. "Now, we have to deal with this glass bottle you're trapped in. Do you have any ideas?"

Hearing this, Lilian immediately tossed aside her probing thoughts and flew up and down inside the glass bottle. "Let me think, let me think!"

"I didn't learn about alchemical formations or anything like that when I was in the forest, so tackling it from the formation side probably won't work." Lilian tapped her chin with her fingertip, putting on a thoughtful expression.

"But I have seen some, um... rather ancient spells in the library before, but when I tried to use them, I failed completely."

"Your magical talent is so strong, maybe you can succeed?"

Lilian looked at Yan Yunqing with anticipation. "Want to give it a try?"

She recited the magic spell written in Ancient Elvish in front of Yan Yunqing.

The more Yan Yunqing listened, the stranger the expression on his face became.

He couldn't help but touch his nose, feeling his cheeks burn.

He hesitated for a moment.

"Are you sure you remembered this spell correctly?"

"How could that be!" Lilian retorted.

"Don't look at me as just a newborn elf, but my magical talent was praised by the elder!"

Yan Yunqing didn't believe her. "How did he praise you?"

"Ahem!"

Lilian cleared her throat, crossed her arms, and mimicked the appearance of an elder in her clan, saying profoundly, "My disciple Lilian has the makings of an Elf King!"

If she wasn't currently only the size of a palm, looking like a small figurine, perhaps her words would have been more credible.

Yan Yunqing's lips twitched. "Maybe your elder was just humoring a child?"

Lilian was so angry her neck turned red.

Even in the small space of the glass bottle, she flew up and down in agitation.

"Of course not! I'm really amazing! I'm—"

Lilian stopped halfway through her sentence, getting stuck.

She couldn't get the next word out for a long time, looking very suspicious as she stammered.

"You're—?" Yan Yunqing repeated her words.

Seeing Lilian pulling at the hem of her clothes, not knowing what to say next, he changed the subject.

"Alright, then I'll try. Is this kind of strange... spell, really recorded in your Elven library?"

"Of course!" Lilian put her hands on her hips.

"That's a very precious and ancient book.

I only snuck in to read it when the library elder wasn't looking!

It's said to be a precious manuscript left behind by the very first Elf King!"

Yan Yunqing fell silent. Was that true?

Why was he silent, you ask?

Anyone would fall silent after hearing a pile of rainbow-fart praise about themselves, right?

Yes, the long string of ancient spells Lilian recited was, in fact, just a string of rainbow-fart praise for the Demon King.

The wording was very direct and explicit, the kind you would know a hardcore fan of the Demon King would say.

The only thing that could be called a spell was probably the last sentence, 『Great Your Highness the Demon King, please grant me the courage to move forward and break the chains that bind me!』

Wasn't this spell a bit too embarrassing?

If this Demon King wasn't referring to him, Yan Yunqing might have been able to recite it without batting an eye.

As for this kind of hardcore fan rhetoric, the Demon King himself, Yan Yunqing, had seen quite a lot of it while playing the game.

He even once thought that 'Demon King' wasn't some proper city-building game, but a galgame with a wider scope.

If Yan Yunqing himself wasn't so pure-hearted and naturally lacking that particular string, he would have definitely played this game into a harem game.

It was just that in his memory, the taciturn, cold, and elegant retainer, the Elf King... didn't seem like someone who could say such stalker-like words?

So you're that kind of Elf King, two-faced, acting like an untouchable beauty on the surface, but secretly being a stalker for the Demon King behind his back, huh?