Arknights, but all characters are NPCs?

"After all, I am curious about what will happen."

"So you're sure it's you, Theresa, right?"

... ... ...

... ...

...

Jingle bell, jingle bell.

"call..."

I opened my eyes and looked at the familiar ceiling.

Kal'tsit, who was successfully awakened by the alarm clock, felt for the first time that 6 hours of sleep a day was still too long.

Because it was just as she thought, after the lace thong and white stockings, the third mistake Lu Shang made was to get her little skirt.

I can only say that the alarm clock rang at a good time.

"But next time I travel to the dream world, Master... Lu Shang? Well, I can finally call him normally."

"Forget it, let's talk about next time next time."

Kal'tsit sat up and yawned softly.

"Let's go check on Theresa and see if she has simply locked her interface or has been directly replaced by an NPC."

"I hope it's the former... After all, the latter kind of direct replacement... always feels like a dream invading reality."

Kal'tsit reached out and slapped away the ringing alarm clock.

"Indestructible"

「■■Disappeared■」

"No..."

Kelsey: “…”

Kelsey: “?”

Wait?

What was that thing that flashed by just now?

Garbled?

095. Kal'tsit: I can't tell the difference. I can't tell the difference.

Forget about feeling sleepy, Kal'tsit was now completely awake.

Garbled?

Kal'tsit narrowed her eyes, stretched out her cat paws, and patted the alarm clock again.

But no matter how she took pictures, even when she used her claws to sweep the alarm clock off the table, the garbled characters never appeared again.

It was as if everything before was an illusion.

But...illusion?

Sorry, Kal'tsit, whose age starts from five figures, never believes in any illusions.

"The first possibility is that as more and more things are brought out from the dream world, the dream begins to use these things as anchors and gradually erode reality."

"The second possibility is that I am now in a dream within a dream. I thought I woke up, but I am actually still in a dream."

"The third possibility is that I did wake up, but the hypnosis was still not resolved. With my cognition replaced, it's reasonable for me to see some messed up things."

However, the third possibility is the least likely.

The second possibility...

"Mon3tr."

Kelsey whispered softly.

As the words fell, a huge monster with a body length of nearly 9 meters appeared beside Kal'tsit with a roar.

Mon3tr: “*yells with excitement*”

Seeing Mon3tr's expression that said "Are you here to fight? Who are we going to fight? I can't wait to start killing people!", Kal'tsit had no choice but to reach out and comfort her.

Then, Kal'tsit said, "Okay, Mon3tr, you can go back."

Mon3tr: “?”

"I'm not teasing you, nor am I making fun of you..." Kal'tsit suddenly felt exhausted: "I'm just verifying one thing, go back and be obedient."

Mon3tr: “*mumbles in disbelief*”

Although this Mon3tr was like a little child and made a fuss for a long time, he finally obediently disappeared on the spot.

When Kal'tsit was the only one left, she frowned and asked in confusion: "Mon3tr can be summoned, he has power, and -"

Turning her head and glancing at her shoulder, Kal'tsit nodded again: "There is also the Originium crystal on my shoulder. I am still an infected person, this cannot be fake..."

But... could it be possible that she was in a hypnotic state? What she was doing just now, calling Mon3tr and talking to Mon3tr, actually seemed to others like she was just talking to herself?

"No, I still have to go find Theresa."

If this continues, Kal'tsit feels like her mind is going to become confused.

You never know when it will become “I can’t tell the difference, I really can’t tell the difference”.

So I didn't even bother to change my clothes. I just found a small waistcoat in the closet and put it on, then went straight to the meeting room.

Along the way, due to Kal'tsit's emotionless look, no operator dared to talk to her.

But there is still a lot of whispering.

"Dr. Kal'tsit...why did you change your style again today?"

"It's actually a dress. Does Dr. Kal'tsit also like beauty? I feel like Dr. Kal'tsit has become more humane recently."

"Uh... Is there a possibility that those are actually pajamas?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! That's Dr. Kal'tsit! Do you think everyone is like you, running around in the girls' dormitory in glow-in-the-dark shorts?"

"But those are glow-in-the-dark shorts... I managed to get them from Klushel with great difficulty! They're a limited edition!"

Kal'tsit: "...叀..."

No... She was actually wearing pajamas, but she could wear them as casual clothes.

And what the hell are glow-in-the-dark pants? Didn't I veto Klosher's proposal?

Forget it.

Kal'tsit was not annoyed by the operators' whispers along the way. After all, the more the operators talked, the more likely it was that this was the real world.

Now, there is only one last step left to verify——

"Theresia!"

Kal'tsit pushed the door and came to the meeting room.

Every time they came back from their dreams, the first thing they did was to come to this conference room to sort out information and exchange opinions.

Although as more and more people have passed the "three times of failure" stage, this meeting seems to be turning into a social death meeting...

But it is still very convenient for finding people.

So Kal'tsit saw Theresa wandering around in the conference room and called out to her.

But there was no response.

This made Kal'tsit's heart skip a beat, and she walked towards Theresa tentatively: "Theresa? You... shouldn't be an NPC, right? Say something."

Still no response.

Kelsey: “…”

I glanced above Theresa's head, but there was nothing.

He walked forward, stretched out his hand and grabbed Theresa's wrist, and Theresa stopped right where she was.

"... ..., is it really an NPC?"

Kal'tsit loosened her hand and frowned: "So I am really still in a dream? A dream within a dream? Then--"

"Clang clang! Kal'tsit? Are you scared?"

Theresa, who was originally thought to be an NPC, suddenly turned around when Kal'tsit began to doubt her life, and waved her hand playfully: "I think I am playing an NPC, and I am playing it quite well, right? Kal'tsit, you must have thought I was - huh? Kal'tsit? Kal'tsit, what's wrong with you, Kal'tsit?"

Although Theresa wanted to show off her prank skills, the next second, she saw Kal'tsit looked at her silently for a long time, then turned around silently, walked to the side, reached out to hold the wall, took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly.

"Kal'tsit...?" Theresa was a little embarrassed: "Are you okay?"

“… …, it’s okay.” Kal’tsit raised her head and smiled: “I just have a little high blood pressure.”

... ... ...

... ...

...

"call..."

Kal'tsit's blood pressure finally dropped. She took a sip of coffee, glanced at the very well-behaved Theresa in front of her, and concluded: "So, Theresa, when you woke up from your dream, you found that your panel was successfully locked. Now you are like an NPC, so you suddenly feel like playing?"

To be honest, Kal'tsit always looks emotionless, and I'm used to it. When she suddenly laughs, she looks even more terrifying.

So even W, who arrived later, just sat aside quietly and didn't interrupt.

But when Theresa heard this, she raised her hand and said, "I'm not being playful... I just heard from you and W, Kal'tsit, that you were both scared by Mr. Lu Shang when you first went to the dream world, but I wasn't, so..."

"So, Theresa, after you realized that you had become like an NPC, you wanted to make up for this regret?"

"Uh-huh."

What are you humming?

If you want to make up for your regrets, just go and be scared. Why do you become the one who scares others?

“Forget it…” Kal’tsit didn’t want to say anything about Theresa’s annoying temper, so she went straight to the point: “So, Theresa, is your interface simply locked, or has your entire body been replaced by an NPC’s?”

096. Is it the dream that erodes reality, or is it that they merge with each other?

"Hmm..." Theresa thought for a moment and said, "I don't know."

"do not know?"

Why don't you know?

Don’t you know your own body?

"Because I don't have mineralogy anymore."

Theresa reached out, lifted her clothes, and revealed her skin. Obviously, there was no trace of the Originium crystals.

"And my body feels very relaxed now, just like in the dream. I can even see the status bar above my head when I look up now."

"Status bar?"

When Kal'tsit heard this, she subconsciously looked over Theresa's head again.

But unfortunately, just like before, nothing happened.

"Theresa...are you sure you can see the status bar above your head?"

"Yes, but you can't see it, right, Kal'tsit?" Theresa said innocently, "That's why I think I might have been directly replaced by an NPC's body. After all, this can explain why I am the only one who can see this status bar."

In the dream world, everyone is an NPC, so it is reasonable to be able to see each other's status bar above their heads.

Now that they are back in the real world, Kal'tsit and the others have turned back into their original bodies, but Theresa is the only one who can still see the status bar above her head. The only explanation is that Theresa is still in the NPC status.