It's Raining, Kittens (Quest/O)

The Town of Beginnings was usually a drab place to be, it was where all of the hopeless people remained, afraid to challenge the wilderness of the 1st floor; though today the mood was fortunately up-beat. A fair number of days had passed since that ghastly announcement, perhaps people were starting to calm down from the initial panic. Genjo didn't care much, the only purpose he was here was to gather information; inns were solid places to hear rumors, but the truly useful tidbits could be eavesdropped in the market, as more experienced players rarely squandered their time in pubs. At the moment, however, he was not information gathering, just admiring the temperate weather. The dark puffy clouds saved the fair-skinned player from the suns harshness, allowing for a refreshingly chilly atmosphere. The boy sat on a small stone bench that rested beside a healthy looking tree, the buildings around here were packed in densely, but not enough to stop the tree from reaching towards the sun.

It wasn't often that Genjo felt like relaxing, but colder days like this wasn't too common on this floor. Sitting there contently, he suddenly noticed a player leaving a cafe to help an NPC, and since he was so close he couldn't help but eavesdrop a little. What he heard almost made him want to laugh, the strange player was being so nice to this NPC, like she was real or something; he abruptly sprung up from his seat to go chide the naive player a bit. With a leisurely pace Genjo sauntered over to the player, reaching him just after he finished making a promise to the NPC.

"You know she's just pixels, right?" He stated bluntly, folding his arms loosely around his chest. "You shouldn't waste your kindness on NPC's.." He continued, his expression was cold and serious, yet he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty; after all he was basically scolding someone for being nice, even if it was -just- an NPC. Feeling a need for some repentance, he opened his mouth to speak again, casting his eyes away from the stranger. "But..I shall help you complete this task..So we can both move on to something substantial." He said, hastily opening up the menu with his right hand and sending a party invite to the stranger.

GENJO "ONI" NISHIYAMA

Unsurprisingly he'd offended the dark-haired stranger, but what he couldn't predict was the boy's refusal of his party invitation. Genjo raised a brow quizzically, examining the defiant player with close attention; everything from his body language to the tone of his voice was showing his distaste for Genjo's words. It was true that being polite to one's elders was normal, and in the end it was his choice if he wanted to treat the NPC's as if they were real, but it definitely didn't seem normal considering the circumstances of being trapped in this lethal game.

The stranger's eyes were unflinching, he clearly felt strongly against his outlook on the NPC's. Was it foolishness that led him to behave this way, or was he honestly considerate enough to care about AI? He couldn't exactly fault the boy for having this mindset, if he really was this adamant about it there was nothing he could do anyways; regardless, he wouldn't easily be dissuaded.

"Well now, how kind of you to lend me a help. You do know that you'll be helping that 'pixels', right?" The stranger quipped, causing him to narrow his eyes slightly, his brow creasing in dismay. Soon the look faded into a slight shake of his head,

"I'm not looking to help some wandering packs of data, they'll just go asking for the same thing again once their quest timer resets," He replied with an assertive aura, raising his left hand to lazily point a finger at the stranger, "I want to help you." He finished with a lackluster sigh; he wasn't even sure if the stranger would trust his sincerity at this point, but he would've felt guilty anyways if he didn't properly explain himself.

GENJO "ONI" NISHIYAMA