Hearing her name being said by Amara triggered a million thoughts in Lauren's mind. What did that mean? How did he find out? He still held Darka's face, watching his reaction.

— How... how do you know?

— What are you doing here?! How did you get here?! — Amara's expression was a mix of surprise and curiosity, but with a strange hint of fear. — What did you do?

— I don't know, they were going to close the game server and I wanted to see you and the next thing I knew I was already here, in Darka's body!

— They closed the server?!

— I have no idea! I logged in a few minutes before they shut it down... but how do you know all this?!

Amara's hands let go of his face, and he looked down. Still waiting for a response, Darka continued.

— Were you also a player who came here? If you remember me as Lauren, were you from my contact list?

— No, I wasn't a player.

— Then how...

Amara sat in a chair, burying his head in his arms crossed on the work table. Darka, not knowing what to do, just sat in the chair closest to his friend and waited. He knew that a barrage of questions would only stress him out even more, and even if he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown it was better to take it easy.

— Let me guess, it's a long story?

— Not so much... — His voice was muffled. — Maybe.

— Do you know where are we, at least? This isn't exactly the game, right?

Finally lifting his head, Amara relaxed a little. Darka was also relieved to see that he was less tense.

— I'm not sure, but yes and no. — He straightened up in the chair. — This isn't the game Red Ocean itself, but I think it's a parallel reality or something, which exactly mirrors the world of that game. More specifically your game.

— How do you know it was my game? — Darka tried to go slowly, but he was still very curious. — How did you know I'm Lauren?

— Ah, about that... — Amara scratched his head. It was difficult to explain everything when not even he knew exactly what was happening. — In short, you are the protagonist of the story and everything that happens here is a reflection of the decisions you made in the game. You've probably already noticed this.

— Yes... But it still doesn't explain how...

— ... I know about you, yeah. I've been here a long time, I think since you first opened the game. — The mechanic turned to him. — To me, you always talked about things in your "real" life, about your stupid father and your problem making friends at college and at work. Of course, apart from the conversations about your adventures in Argrene. So it was kind of obvious to discover that you were the protagonist and a person who lived a life outside of here.

— Did you hear everything?! — Darka had a moment of realization, suddenly standing up. — I knew! I mean, at least I always had the impression that you were different from the other NPCs, it wasn't just in my head! Your responses were automatic, but I felt like...

He froze as he realized that this meant the mechanic also heard the wails and suicidal thoughts. Feeling embarrassed, he sat back down and sulked. Noticing his friend's change in mood, Amara tried to continue the topic.

— Automatic responses? Seriously? I always responded normally to what you said to me, so the game translated it for you as closely as possible, apparently. Oh, and how I knew it was Lauren in front of me... I think it was intuition. Or was it just you acting out of character towards Darka, that was a huge flag. Amara laughed. — Crying like a child when you saw me was also very strange.

— In my defense, I had just been through a lot of trouble and I was nervous. — Darka pouted, embarrassed.

The relaxed moment was soon interrupted by Amara slaping on his own forehead when realizing he was forgetting something.

— Oh! Damn, I almost forgot! — He stood up suddenly, scaring Darka. — I know this is going to sound absurd, but you need to continue what you were doing.

— Continue what?

— With the process of resurrecting Yrina.

— What?! No, no, that's exactly what I DON'T need to do! I wasn't even trying to do that since the beginning of the game, what are you talking about?!

— I know, I know! But you're going to need her help.

— But why...? — Darka stood up and looked deep into Amara's golden eyes, extremely confused. — Won't she want to take revenge by destroying everything?

— Look... I wasn't a player. In fact, I was part of the Red Ocean Online development team as a programmer... — Nervously, he seemed afraid to tell him about it. — And because of that, I know a little about the story planning. Soon after the protagonist recovers his memories, he goes after Yrina to revive her, but she is not the one who will destroy everything.

That information made Darka's head buzz with questions, which would most likely need a long afternoon of conversation to be answered, and given Amara's urgent tone, that wouldn't happen anytime soon. So he decided to just take a deep breath and listen to understand why he was asking that.

— So... — Darka was thoughtful. — Bringing her back will be important for the story.

— No, it will be important for the fate of this world. We're not in the game anymore, Darka, this is real.

The mechanic went to the window of the room, which overlooked a beautiful night view of the city, dotted with some lights on despite it being early in the morning. He rolled down the windows and let the damp night breeze blow into the room as he leaned out to feel the wind after the rain.

— When I arrived here, I spent some time with the idea that it was an unknown place and it had no relation with me. That, because I was brought here against my will, I shouldn't even care what did or didn't happen. But after you showed up and started visiting me every day, I started to accept where and who I am now.

— Amara... — Darka stared at his friend, thinking about how all this time what he saw as a comfort character was actually another real person.

— That's when I realized that I was just afraid of getting attached to something that I could lose. — He turned to Darka and smiled. — But now it's too late, I want to enjoy the opportunity to live here.

— And resurrecting Yrina will help with that, I understand. Wait... so you know how the game's lore would end?!

— More or less. Like I said, this is a real world and things can change. I was just a junior programmer and dealt with the boring parts that the seniors didn't want to deal with. But yes, you know that Yrina is not a bad person. Don't you miss her?

Darka's chest tightened with a feeling that, while it didn't seem like his, was practically the same thing he always felt as Lauren: missing the motherly figure.

— What I told you earlier about her... it's all true, isn't it?

— Yes. They're not artificial memories, if that's what you're thinking. Darka went through it all. — Amara returned to him. — But in any case, what matters is what lies ahead.

— And for that, Yrina needs to be alive. Was this the plot twist at the end of the game? — His tone was kinda sarcastic.

— You make it sound predictable and stupid. — Amara shrugged, laughing. — Anyway, Red Ocean wasn't exactly a good game, right? That must be why they closed the servers.

— It was actually because of the CEO running away with the company's money.

— What?! — Amara seemed surprised and irritated. He took a deep breath trying to maintain his composure and soon calmed down. — Okay, okay. Let's focus on now. What do you know about the twins?

— Nothing other than that they are irritating and make me consider losing my first-time offender for attempted murder. And that they are trying to make me responsible for the bad things that happen. — Darka thought a little. — And... I've never seen them in the game before.

— So, they... — Something behind Darka caught Amara's attention. — Watch out!

In a quick movement, the mechanic pulled Darka down in time to dodge a screwdriver that flew towards him, embedding itself in the wall. When he turned to see what was happening, he saw Katarina leaning against the door, with apparent difficulty staying upright. Darka immediately frowned.

— What the hell, woman!! Can't you calm down?!

— What did you do... to me... — She walked towards him with difficulty, before falling to her knees on the floor. — What did you do with Tharia?!

— Oh no, that's enough, Katarina. — Darka went towards her too, visibly impatient.

— Darka, you're not supposed to hit her. — Amara warned while trying to pull out the screwdriver stuck in the wall. — She's still hurt.

— Ah, when it was ME with a broken rib getting hit by her, no one said anything! — He watched the woman to see if she didn't have any other possible weapons to attack him, before bending down to try to carry her back to the room.

— Don't you dare touch me! — she walked away. — What do you think you're doing?!

— I'm trying to HELP YOU, you idiot! — Darka lost his patience. — I don't know what the hell is wrong that prevents you from listening to what others say! I did nothing bad to you, quite the opposite! Did you know that I was the one who carried you here from Caadis? Honestly, in this whole damn story it was you who came after me based on stupid stories saying that I am this and that! You just keep talking about the devil this, the execrable that, for the love of whatever is sacred to you, think with your own head for one measly time! You are not Tharia, you are Katarina Aurea, wake up! You don't need to be this crazy warrior defending world peace all the time!

The paladin froze, having no reaction to seeing Darka arguing with her like that. Unlike every other time, now she felt like she could somehow see him. It was not the demon of the legend, but just a boy who was angry and even disappointed with her. And that awakened emotions she didn't even know she had. Still surprised and processing what she felt, tears began to flow down her face, without taking her eyes off Darka.

— But... if I'm not what I need to be... — she lowered her head. — Who I am?

Darka began to calm down, now surprised by her reaction. He looked at Amara, who only responded with a sigh. Katarina had been a huge thorn in his side for a long time, but she was still a person. Everyone there was. After the conversation with Amara, he realized that each person was much more than the NPC label, and the woman in front of him was no different. She had been brainwashed her whole life to be the perfect hero, to be Tharia's puppet, and having that taken away from her was like losing the only version of herself she had available. Darka took a deep breath and bent down, reaching out to her.

— If you don't know who you are, it's never too late to find out.

Still in tears, she alternated her gaze between the young man's hand and his face. The sound of running footsteps caught the attention of the three, when Miko appeared panting at the door looking like they had just gotten up a few seconds ago.

— Darka! Katarina isn't in bed and I'm sure she's going to come and kill you and... Oh. — finally paying attention to the scene, Miko calmed down. — I think everything is under control then. I'm going back to bed, good night.

Watching Miko yawn and go to sleep, Darka and Amara looked at each other and laughed. To her own surprise, Katarina also found it funny and a very subtle smile escaped her lips.

— It's... everything is under control now. — Katarina sighed, feeling a new and comforting relief.