novelraw Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Episode 7
GM Ari: If you look at your progress log, there should be an auto-saved highlight video, Shari-nim!
At those words, I immediately opened the progress log.
My character was fundamentally an NPC unrelated to game progress, so there wasn't really anything you could call a highlight.
"Peace and consideration are the symbols of Dover Village. Please, show mercy even to the prisoner, Hero."
It was just the same videos of me spouting those kinds of pre-programmed lines and handing 15 potions to users doing the tutorial.
That's why I had rarely ever viewed the progress log.
But at the top of the progress log I'd opened, a new highlight video I'd never seen before was updated.
~Tutorial Complete!~ You, who stops the Lord of Nightmares...
~First Quest Achieved!~ You, who defeats 100 mid-grade monsters...
"Wh-What is this?"
I stared at them with trembling eyes, then hurriedly played the tutorial video.
It was no different from other users' highlight videos.
The scantily clad Lord of Nightmares, trapped behind iron bars, was being transported by soldiers.
A few villagers who had come out to watch spat curses at him and threw stones.
Usually, at that point, users disguised as soldiers would either thrust their weapons through the iron bars, or...!
They would spot me, the marked NPC, acquire the potion bottles, and throw them.
But the different part in my highlight was...
"He's so handsome, what on earth could he have done to deserve..."
"It's not gorgeous guys like him, but good-for-nothing X bastards like Jack who should be sitting there getting hit with stones. Hah, what am I saying...!"
My past, out-of-her-mind self was visible, muttering to herself at the sight of the decadent, sexy man who was silently taking the stones and bleeding, before she hurriedly covered her mouth.
"Shari! Shari! Where did this wench go, closing the apothecary?"
"Dammit! They said a terrifying prisoner came from the capital! She should at least give potions to us Heroes who protect this backwater hole before closing up!"
It was then. Speak of the devil.
The group of Heroes was looking for me from one side, pushing through the crowd that had gathered to see the prisoner.
The me in the video spotted them with a completely crumpled face, and then, as if having made a decision, fumbled in her pocket.
My thoughts were clearly legible on her grimly determined face.
'Rather than give it to those bastards.'
Hwik, Jjaeng-geu-rang!
Me, secretly, but quickly and accurately, throwing a potion bottle from within the crowd of people throwing stones at the prisoner.
And the Lord of Nightmares, who clearly spotted me from among the huge crowd, as if he'd noticed something was different.
The video ended with his cold, sunken red eyes looking directly at me.
"I... I must have been crazy."
I tore at my hair with both hands, shedding tears of blood over my past atrocity that I had completely forgotten.
GM Ari: I know you've never thrown a potion bottle yourself before, so why did you do it a while ago? T_T
The operators seemed curious about my bizarre behavior, but I had nothing to say.
Because I couldn't bring myself to say that I had assimilated too much into the game and had been living out of my mind.
"Is there... no way to not play the game?"
I asked in an exhausted voice, like someone who had aged 10 years in an instant.
"I'm an NPC. The quest window doesn't even pop up, so I didn't even know it was a quest...!"
GM Ari: Unfortunately, the Lord of Nightmares has recognized Shari-nim, so a disaster is scheduled to occur soon.
GM Ari: If you don't stop it quickly, Dover Village will disappear!
GM Sera: You are the ★Immortal NPC☆ so you won't die, but if your auto-teleport point disappears, you will incur a large penalty to your health recovery.
GM Jinu: Yeah, it's true. We'll tell you the quests you don't know.
My vision went dark at the chat window that continued to scroll.
I was just an ordinary citizen who liked games, but wasn't good at them.
But now I was stuck having to beat a game with the highest difficulty level.
GM Ari: Timing-wise, the day the disaster arrives is already just three days away in game time!
GM Ari: They say the fastest record for reaching the quest to subjugate the game's final boss, the Ancient Dragon, is eight hours.
GM Ari: Maybe Shari-nim could become the first user to see the ending in eight hours...!
"Don't say crap like that as consolation!"
Eight hours?
It was absurd.
But even as I snapped at them, I hated myself for thinking that eight hours was better than 48 hours.
And for rushing off to the quest location.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
"Annihilate."
"Kkie-e-e-ek!"
You have acquired 100 Screams of the Latania Forest.
You have acquired 100 Demon Seed Berries.
You have crafted 100 Insomnia-Inducing Awakening Potions!
"Hoo..."
I finished preparing for the quest in the field near Count Hailey's estate.
I was anxious at the thought that there were only three days left until the disaster arrived.
But, fortunately, I was a pretty capable NPC, and the game was still in the very beginning, so it was on the easy side.
Besides, the task at hand was just simple grinding: hunting monsters and gathering ingredients to craft a specific potion.
'No, I can't say it's easy. This crazy game...'
This was all just trivial preparation for the main quest that would come later.
Most people who have played a few games approach a new one with excitement and a bit of arrogance.
Of course, I was one of them.
Aren't the beginnings of all RPGs pretty much the same?
There's no way they'd have a quest that kills users dozens of times right from the start.
'They're not trying to drive away all the users, so the developers must have some sense...' or so I thought.
GM Sera: Indeed, as expected of an Apothecary NPC, your potion crafting is fast! The average completion time for this quest is one hour, but you finished in 10 minutes!
GM Jinu: Grats on the new record.
GM Ari: As expected of Shari-nim. You tore up the field.
I stared at the developer bastards with cold, unimpressed eyes, then finally asked.
"Did you deactivate the Apothecary NPC settings here?"
GM Ari: Yes, of course! You can go straight to the castle.
GM Ari: To avoid disturbing your game concentration, the chat window will now switch to auto-close mode unless you open it, Shari-nim.
GM Ari: That's a shame. T_T
'That's the best news I've heard all day.'
Because I was getting sick of those bastards who kept chiming in with comments like a peanut gallery, no matter how many times I closed the chat window.
Having finished all preparations, I quickly used a teleport scroll to move to the entrance of Count Hailey's estate.
Then, wearing my shabby robe pulled down low, I approached the soldier guarding the mansion's main gate.
"Who goes there!"
"I heard you were looking for an apothecary and came."
The soldiers moved quickly to report my visit.
Passing into the mansion was smooth, without any particular identity check.
This was because Ari had used operator authority to deactivate the Apothecary NPC here, leaving me as the only apothecary in the vicinity.
I had cursed them as incompetent developer bastards, but it felt strange to think that they could, after all, be helpful sometimes.
"Are you the apothecary who came to see the Count?"
As I followed a soldier into the castle, a man with Adjutant Bill Kendlick written above him came out to meet me.
Gaunt and sharp-featured, he looked me up and down with an arrogant attitude, then spun around.
"Follow me."
'Was he always this kind of character?'
I knew he existed, but perhaps because he wasn't an important character, he felt quite unfamiliar.
Just because I was an operator didn't mean I knew every single thing about the game.
Especially a mere employee like me, who wasn't particularly interested in gameplay...
It was just as I followed the adjutant across the spacious main hall and started up the central staircase.
A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling of the second-floor hall where the staircase ended.
As I casually looked around, I suddenly spotted tiny, dot-like text written below the chandelier.
Lv.25 Old Chandelier That Lost Its Light and Fell Asleep