–★★★–

No Sinner warmed up to you as quickly as Dante. Well, excluding Meursault.

But to say Meursault "warmed up" to you would be quite the overstatement. In fact, he merely accepted his position and continued on as per usual. He was under the Manager's command, but- by a technicality- the Manager was under your command. Therefore, you were his true superior here.

He was willing to tolerate you and follow through on your commands. While some of your remarks were more questionable, he was willing to turn a deaf ear and continue his duty as long as you were there to give it to him. As for his real "warming up"… well, that comes later. Far later. And no one even notices when it does.

Outis as well accepted her position. Her little remarks weren't tolerated when you experienced the stories of the Sinners (she had received enough reprimand from Dante for attempting to slip a snide remark you immediately clocked and grew confused on), so all she could do was grit her teeth and go along with whatever order you issued in battle and listen to you be so foolish she wish she simply could—

…It was no use. Clearly, someone in a position like yours was better off blissfully unaware they were essentially a god looking in upon a world of dolls sat prettily for them to watch suffer again and again. Even if you were, kindly put, an actual idiot often, you were capable of slight strategy at times. Often scraping past bosses in the first few attempts if they were deemed a challenge and doing what you could to ensure fights ended in the favor of the Sinners (even if the story often turned around and said they failed).

And while certain things could improve, she wasn't going to break the orders given to her and say anything.

Ishmael, meanwhile, had to such qualms.

Specifically after her Canto, to be precise. Her confrontation with the fake woman who ruined a false life wasn't what she yearned it to be the moment she started going down this path, yet you treated it as if it were real. Being horrified at the things she suffered through and cheering as she speared through the Whale's heart with her snag harpoon.

She wanted to scream it was fake. That it didn't matter and was pointless. But you… you made it had a point. Somehow, someway, you forced it to be real. Real to her, at least.

But, by the name of the Head, your team building skills were pathetic. These passives won't work well with this character- This isn't even a keyword for the central team comp and offers no support- Did you just attempt to put Sunshower Heathcliff onto a team you want to use to complete Canto 7? What is wrong with you?

While she isn't allowed to directly intervene, she is going to make comments in the story. Slight, missable things. Hints to what keywords to use for an upcoming boss, recommendations for IDs and EGOs… all carefully crafted to keep you as oblivious as possible as she drills this information into you.

Of course, the wiser of the Sinners catch on to what she was doing. Yet, Faust has no complaints. Being the way she is, it hadn't taken her especially long to catch onto the fact that she- being the primary ID of all Fausts- was the most real one. The others barely existed outside of IDs or EGOs you'd cycle through for each team comp you struggled to compile- even with a certain Sinner's help- and yet she, and only she, would be the one found in each Canto. Returning in each story, central to the plot.

Not to mention, you clearly had a soft spot for her. Specifically her, as the LCB Faust. She couldn't necessarily place it's source- perhaps relating to her role as a shunned figure in the Gesellschaft and connecting it to your own life- or simply finding her to be specifically likeable. Either way, you seemed to listen intently to her lectures. Often complimenting her or something akin to that.

And to say she didn't enjoy it would be an utter lie. She relished in your praise, almost blooming in it like a flower under the sun. It was the first genuine praise she constantly earned in her life, real or fake. And she'd much prefer if it stayed, flowing around her in a constant veil she wanted to wear on her day in and out.

And she was Faust. She was wise enough that, if you stopped enjoying the game, you would leave. Therefore, to regulate success in the form of viable teams was immensurable in ensuring you stayed. Thus, Ishmael was permitted to continue her hints and Faust did what she could to tweak the rates of Extraction in your favor. Especially if the newly released character was something you want.

Furthermore, making her base ID appear in your pulls regularly surely wouldn't bother you. You may question how you acquire so many of her EGO shards, but she knows you will care little about the constant Fausts as you see the chains shine gold.

Yi Sang doesn't miss Ishmael's actions either. He's simply unable to truly comment on it in a way that feels as if it truly meant something. Out of each Sinner, he is one of the most devastated his entire history was a lie. Forced to time and time again witness people he remembers as friends tear themselves and others apart by a past that was never real. Even at the end of his Canto, he felt like he had only slipped deeper into the shell of who he was.

Even your joy didn't make him regaining his wings feel real. Merely a scripted event he was made to undertake. He felt rather pathetic, in a sense. Even his current compatriots were more capable of coping than he was. But he could not.

And when you noticed he continued to behave similarly to how he did pre-Canto. Noticing a few missing lines here and there and slight alterations anyone could've missed. But you commented, and you worried for him.

Perhaps it was simply a worry stemming from an issue with your game, but Yi Sang noticed your murmurs of concern. And to say it didn't warm his heart would be a lie. Constant encouraging, sweet worry, almost delusional behavior on your end… You made him want to use those wings he regained, to fly once more. To reach you so high up in the sky and thank you for the love you gave him.

A part of him regretted he never truly could. Never could thank you, or feel your warm skin, or hold you in his arms. Never could utter so much as a new sentence without your experience being warped and you'd leave in fear. But that didn't matter to how his feelings of you changed.

You went from the being that proved it all to be fake to the being that made him feel a genuine warmth he'd never feel again. Perhaps that's why he was the first to admit his love for you.

And his admission wasn't necessarily popular. By this point, out of every Sinner, only about a third of them felt positively about you. To the others, you still were the personification of their ruin.

Of course, though, their attachment grew as you watched them through each of their stories. Encouraging and watching them move forward. Perhaps that was how the seeds of obsession were planted. Perhaps it was because others heard little snippets of what you said and assumed you to be a divine being. Perhaps that was why they started to believe it too.

Don Quixote became one of your most reverent followers by the end of her Canto. Not only had you bore witness to a past she herself wasn't aware of existing (unlike the others, her devastation over the fact her life was nothing but fake fizzled away rather swiftly) and your perception of her barely changed (leave her blissfully unaware you always knew, will you?), but you had listened with rapt attention when she spoke of her beloved Fixers. You deemed each word she uttered as meaningful, and she would do all she could to repay you in whatever way she can.

When you were gone- oh it was painful when you were gone- she was your greatest defender. Any snide comment against you was quickly retorted with a quick yell and charge from her. How dare they slander someone as kind as you! You did not mean to shatter their worldviews! No. After it happened for a second time, she understood you quite well. You only meant well.

You were a truly just figure—the very thing Don would picture when thinking of such a thing. And she would do all she could to ensure your name remained untainted with foul lies and remarks! Alas, she could not speak to you. Could not lead you about her room and show you each memorabilia and merchandise she has collected for every Fixer she could find merchandise of. She could not see you listen with rapt attention, seeing you nod along from the corner of her eye. Could not hold your hand in hers and usher you about, shield you from those who wished you harm, could not sing your praises to your face…

But she would be your knight for as long as you were unaware, and for long after.

Heathcliff was in a similar boat to Don. However, at first, he absolutely despised you. Was his love for Cathy even real? Why was he forced to recall suffering that never even existed outside of pieces of code etched into his being? And why did you have any right to saunter about and act as if you…

You're lucky the others held him back from screaming his head off at you. You're also lucky to be safely behind a screen, separated from him and the bat he would love to use to split your skull in half.

But then came along his Canto. It wasn't something he was looking forward too, not feeling ready to go back to Catherine—not with all these doubts of his love you sown in him. But this wasn't something he was allowed to change.

So he went through it. Listening to your words that made him want to pop a blood vessel, deal with the bastards who didn't even truly exist, and find out she was dead. He had to confront his other self, distort, and then fight the Wild Hunt until the Red Gaze stepped in.

But as the Canto started to creep to its end… he couldn't muster that hate for you anymore.

Maybe because you didn't leave. Maybe because you let him rest on that moment with the memory of Catherine. Maybe because you mourned alongside him as she was deleted.

He remembered, he was forced to remember. Him and only him.

But you remembered too. Of course you did, you weren't in the bloody game, but…

It was nice knowing someone remembered her alongside him. That, even if he nor she were real, their love was. What he felt wasn't something that could be forced into him, he knew it.

It grew harder to stop him from saying lines that weren't supposed to be in game. Specifically regarding Catherine. Constant comments about her, confusion from the Sinners, but sympathy from you. He wanted you and him to talk about her. Someone who recalled her to hear all the stories he remembered having with her. And you were that someone. You were someone he wanted to walk and reflect with, the real journal he wanted to keep.

You became his new Catherine. The two of you separated, but in love. And he refuses to mess up like how he did with Catherine. There will be no Erlking when it comes to you.

But with Gregor, the Ungeziefer Kaiser is inevitable. Not out of malice—no. The fight was something he couldn't prevent, as much as both of you wished he could.

It wasn't a pleasant thing, first having everything he knew uprooted and then suffering through… That. He already felt lowly enough, with his arm and past experiences. He couldn't understand why you seemed to… like him?

You were sweet, appearing unbothered or regularly forgetting about his arm. You thought of him as entirely a human, not the pathetic bug he knew he was. He didn't resent you for forcing him and his coworkers to learn they were never real. He didn't resent you for not leaving and constantly reminding them again and again they were just bits of code in a device. But he couldn't understand how you thought so highly of him.

In all honesty, he didn't think you were half-bad. He didn't get too attached to you or despised you too much. You were alright, and he was alright with you. Then came the Ungeziefer Kaiser fight.

After that, it was like a switch flipped. He was horrified to realize he could be forced into becoming a brutal boss-fight you'd helplessly grow stuck on or struggle past. He was miserable to be left out of the plot for a long time after, alone from everyone.

Being unable to hear your voice for the first time after growing so used to it felt off. He just felt entirely off. When alone with only his thoughts, that's when his opinion of you spirals. And it does moreso when he gets back.

Hearing the relief in your voice… overjoyed to see him return and using the new IDs you acquired for him with utter glee… He came to realize you loved him. You had to. Why else would you be so glad to see him okay? He couldn't see any other reason for you feeling like this. And, in a way, he supposed he loved you too. Couldn't understood what you saw in him, but… A part of him enjoys your love. He'd rather it didn't disappear.

Unlike the others though, he wasn't particularly skilled at hiding his newfound infatuation with you. And Rodion would relentlessly tease him, as if she hasn't been in love with you since Time Killing Time.

Was it something she'd simply fess up to? Oh, absolutely not. She's not that gutsy, after all. She simply knew that, by the end of that Intervello, she had decided she loved you. There was no big build-up like Heathcliff or sudden change like Gregor. She simply decided you were no longer annoying and instead were rather cute.

Funny, how thin a line annoying-ness and cuteness is. And it was simple enough you crossed the line and became a harmless crush. But, having a crush that you can't act on and merely grows as you don't leave, well… It went from harmless to so, so much worse.

And unlike the crush, she was well aware of how wrong she was. What kind of woman began to view someone as a possession? But in a sense, you weren't truly a thing to her. You existed outside of her world as a voice who could control the actions taken during combat at most. She saw no physical body of yours, no eyes or skin or anything. She already wasn't entirely sure you viewed her as a human, and she wasn't able to entirely humanize you.

Well, you were doing the same thing, weren't you? Just listening in, thinking of her as just a beloved PNG with text in a box below… Maybe making some things for her or admiring her, but not thinking of her as real, no? She was sure you'd make some fucked up shit about her, wouldn't you? So how wrong was she really? You're just as bad as her…

Oh, don't worry! She doesn't hate you for it, no. You're both shitty people with how you think of each other. What's the harm in both of you being shitty together? Shame there's that screen separating you two, and the others on this bus thinking the same as her… Wanting her winnings? She'd be offended if she didn't understand why. And at least some of 'em are cute about it, like Gregor or Sinclair…

And speaking of Sinclair… He is the most wet, sad, pathetic thing when it comes to you. Already you cooing over him flusters and embarrasses him. But he can't see your face when you do it. And he is so lucky there doesn't exist a sprite of him blushing for you to see…

It also took him quite awhile to fall for you. Mostly due to what you did for him and… well… his trauma. He sometimes wondered if he was as good as a prosthetic user because he isn't real. He never was. Does he even count as a human..?

Yet, by the time Canto 7 ended… well, he was used to your kindness. You wormed your way into his mind until almost every thought involved you. How would you react to this..? Would you enjoy this kind of thing? How would he protect you if..?

There were many what-ifs for someone he couldn't truly interact with. Someone the mere thought of made him tremble. He wondered so many things about you, but feared he'd never get the answers he wanted. He'd never talk face to face with you. He'd never hold your hand. He'd never…

Hong Lu, though, wasn't as caught up by these what-ifs. To be quite honest, he was rather apathetic to you before his Canto. Oh? So your arrival came with worldview shattering realizations? Oh well, it is what it is.

Then came his Canto. Where he finally learned how to express his opinions on things. Where he finally figured that he didn't like you due to what you made him realize. Sure, you were kind, but you destroyed any semblance of existence he thought he had. But a part of him wasn't sure, so he kept thinking. Trying to formulate just what he thought of you.

And by the end of Canto 9, he came to the realization he actually liked you. Sure, the realization that his life was never real was not something enjoyable, but it wasn't your fault. You didn't mean any ill will by trying to play a game you enjoyed.

And on the contrary, you were quite a likeable person to hear. Made a good few humorous jokes, took serious moments as solemnly as you could, and served as more of a guide than Vergilius did. What was there not to like? Shame he's forbidden from speaking with you… he'd like to hear more about what you think on a wide array of random topics.

Ryōshū, meanwhile, could genuinely care less. She already forgot pieces of her life, already had the trauma from the Nursefathers, already had suffered so much. What was one more thing on the pile? S.H.E.E.T. (She had expected everything, thickhead).

If she had her way, she'd S.Y.N.C. you. You quite honestly annoyed the hell out of her. She'd want you to S.T.F.U. constantly. But you wouldn't, and she couldn't, so she just had to begrudgingly deal with it. And all she could do to resist was make Faust withhold her IDs and EGOs from you in Extraction.

Then came her Canto and her change of heart. Maybe it came from forgetting Araya. Maybe it came from your warmth now truly directed at her. But she didn't want you to B.U.R.N. anymore (break up, run now). She didn't know why herself, but all she knows is she—like the others—fell to your whims. Impressive, T.B.H.

Though her interest manifested in the worst forms. Notably, with how she wanted to turn you into A.R.T. (Absolutely relentless torture). Your body would be soft and malleable under her, a perfect canvas for whatever suffering she wanted to paint on you. She wanted to see you powerless, looking up at her in fear, and understand how she felt below you. And after, she wanted to nurse you back to health so it could start all over again.

She was one of the latest to fall, but the quickest to spiral into complete utter obsession. Almost ironic, in a sense.

And then there were the others on the bus.

Vergilius was perhaps the most affected by your presence. Unlike the Sinners, he would get no Canto. He would be given no opportunity to see those he remembered and move beyond his past. He wasn't even a playable character, merely a playable NPC who's join a fight or two now and again.

Yet, he tolerated you. Begrudgingly, of course, after all, you annoyed him as much as Don did, but he tolerated you nonetheless. You weren't something he could get rid of, not without fuss and the worry that—without you—they'd eventually cease to exist.

He watched the others fall to your apparent spell with faint disgust but hesitant acceptance. He could not control the others, just as you could not control him in battle. He also wasn't particularly inclined to tease anyone like Rodion or grow angry with them like Outis—well, not that they had any right to make fun of anyone when they felt the same way…

He doesn't even realize when he falls. He doesn't even realize he did fall. There isn't even a specific point where he does fall. It takes a long time, yes, but it comes. And he only realizes when Charon comments on how happier he looks when he hears you finally log on and progress the story, or do a Mirror Dungeon run, or anything of the sort.

Charon herself isn't bothered by you. In all honestly, she always knew this was a game yet didn't care as long as she had Verg and Mephi. Though, now she has you too. You make Verg perk up slightly when you finally show up, and Mephi likes you… well, she guesses she likes you too then. Disappoints her you aren't here, but she copes better than the others do. Anyways, with the rate they're going, their work at getting out of the game to meet you will be finished in a little while. So, she, you, and Verg can all be a family soon enough.

She wonders who's going to wear the wedding dress in the marriage. Probably Verg.

–★★★–

If they were only a little more patient, everything would've probably ended in their favor. But no.

The well of content had run dry. All current story? Completed. All current events? Completed. IDs? EGO? All you wanted that were out as gathered as you could get them (your newfound "luck" was instrumental to that), and leveled up and threadspun too. So, outside of dailies and MD, there wasn't much to stick around for.

And they started to panic. Sure, every few weeks new content would drop for you to play for, but you were appearing to lose interest. Not in the series, no—they hear how you consume fan content (it isn't the same as spending time with them), but in the game. If you were gone, they'd be…

They didn't want to know what would happen if you left. If you deleted them. If you suddenly stopped being there. They didn't want you to go. Even nights without you were almost unbearable now. What would happen if it became a week? A month? Forever?

So they came up with a plan. A very stupid, very rushed plan. They'd get access to the rest of your device.

It was hard enough to dig into the code—their life blood—to find the permissions. It was even harder to alter them, change what the game was allowed to access. Especially when they realized they needed you to tap the little button and approve them accessing these things.

But they were in too deep to give up now.

When you logged on, you were startled to see, "'Limbus Company' would like to access Camera," as a pop-up. But when you clicked, "Don't Allow," the pop-up came back. Every time you tried to deny it, it kept popping up.

Then the text read, "Just let us see you," and you nearly chucked your device through the nearest window. But curiosity overtook you, and you allowed it.

Then the next pop-ups came. Location, Contacts, Storage, Call Logs, Gallery, Memory, Personal Information, other apps…

And when the Microphone came up, all the text next to it said, "We already hear you." You nearly went and uninstalled the game right there. By this point, you came to the realization your game was hacked and you made a horrible mistake, or…

Then there was Dante's sprite standing in a blank, empty void.

<Sorry about that…> The textbox read, <We couldn't get access to what we needed to otherwise.>

And then they confirmed that, yes, they were aware of you. Always were (at least since you showed up). They wanted to finally reveal it to you, but you weren't given a reason. The text continued, growing faster over time, until you just shut off the game and buried the device in a drawer somewhere.

You checked it again the next morning, and found it open on your Notes app.

"Don't do that again. We can make you regret it."

And then came the slow, painful process of trying to change everything. Your email, phone number, important information like pins and passwords… all when the aggressors causing this came from inside the very device you now tried to get rid of.

It was a hard, delicate balance. Especially when the characters would lull or pressure you into opening the game, into chatting with their sprites and silent voice lines because they didn't know how to artificially create voiced lines for you to listen too. Especially when they inevitably noticed and did all they could to destroy your progress.

But it was too late. You were able to change it all, let everyone know you changed it all, and throw the device far, far away. You accepted you never could risk playing Limbus again, stuck solely to watching others enjoy this game. But it was for your own good.

But you should've known you weren't safe.

–★★★–

Living alone came with benefits and losses.

The most notable loss, though, was there was no one to help protect you when they showed up.

It was late at night. Sun set, hour past ten, and you were relaxing alone in the safety of your general living space. There was something small playing on the TV, mindless background noise as you folded laundry. It was still warm in your hands, and smelled just like your favorite soap. A bit of mindless comfort that got your mind off things.

Your hands had finally stopped shaking now. The thought of your strange game was far in the past. Months have gone by, anyways, with nary an issue in sight. You had many plans going forward, especially for the upcoming weekend. But for now, all you focused on was laundry.

Then there was a knock at the door. At this hour? Naturally you checked, why wouldn't you? But the sight you were met with… How were they here?

"Open the door." Vergilius ordered simply. His voice speaking in a non-Korean language was… jarring. You heard ticking, probably from Dante, but you couldn't understand it. You just moved as far from the front door as you could.

"We know you heard us." Faust told you, "The lights in your home are activated, strongly indicating you are here."

You started to lose track of who was saying what when they spoke again.

"C'mon bud, let's just make this easy and open this door…"

"Attempting to resist is futile, Player!"

"Open this bloody door already! Before we just knock it down!"

"Mine dearest player, I implore thee to welcome us into your abode!!"

"Y.I.B.H.A.N."

"I- I agree-! Just… please let us in..!"

"What do you hope to get out of this? We know where you live."

"Aww~ Look at your home! I hope ya got enough room in there to fit all of us~"

"I understand if this intrusion startles you, but-"

"Is it really that hard to open a door? Perhaps they work differently here."

"The Manager has requested I-"

The sudden banging on your door made your head spin, and you realized—in horror—they're trying to knock it down.

So you fumbled to unlock the thing and swung it open. Your chest heaved, and you stared at the fifteen people standing on your porch, illuminated by it's light and the glowing bulbs from the inside of your own home.

You couldn't muster up a word to say as Charon moved to the front of the small crowed.

"We're home now. Charon wants to go inside."

–★★★★★–

Final Note: A tier list summarizing when each Sinner starts to simp (Featuring the Driver and Guide)