Ch.166The NPC Who Sees the End of Trials (5)

The Tentacle of Lust. If you’re directly hit by its attack, there’s a high probability of falling under her mental domination status effect.

And according to the game’s setting, the attack shows you the opposite sex person you know with the highest affection.

For instance, if a party-eligible NPC of the opposite sex with high affection appeared in a somewhat suggestive illustration to set the mood, and if you were drawn to it, you’d take damage.

The way to avoid damage was through button actions. Performing what’s called a QTE (Quick Time Event) pattern.

Some people would deliberately get hit just to collect the illustrations.

‘…I don’t feel like I did that.’

My head feels fuzzy and my stomach is warm. And my jaw hurts like hell.

After seeing the faces of my friends in the Lust’s mental domination world—and noticing Chikuyo putting a dog leash on her brother’s neck—I was able to recognize that “world.” Now, having escaped from there, I quietly close my eyes and gather my thoughts.

‘When exactly did I start thinking incorrectly?’

I’ve thought about it countless times, and repeated it to myself over and over.

The online game from my past life, [Eight], is different from this current reality. This isn’t a game; I’m living in “reality” now.

I’ve always tried to overcome the present, the reality, and when it seemed too difficult, I tried to run away. Clearly, I was accepting this world as reality.

But.

‘…I’m really fucking stupid.’

While repeatedly telling myself that I accepted this world as reality, I fled from Ponia out of fear of my death… and my sister’s death.

So, while running away, I got entangled with various people and witnessed situations unfolding differently from the game, reinforcing my belief that games and reality are different—that this is my current reality. But.

‘…In some part of me, I was still seeing myself as an NPC.’

Not just me. Rey, who told me she liked me, Ragni, Gord, and even… my beloved little sister Ira.

‘I was thinking of them all as “fragile NPCs.”‘

I thought they were NPCs who would be swept away by the flow of the world if I didn’t protect them, who would die anywhere, anytime if they couldn’t overcome their preset settings.

‘…How much of an idiot have I been?’

I only realized this when I was on the verge of death. No, if my ancestor hadn’t saved me, I would have died with these stupid thoughts.

‘I just gave up, thinking I was meant to die here, that I was supposed to die, that this was my “setting” as an NPC.’

Realizing this, I can’t help but laugh bitterly at how absurd it is. I never thought of myself as a patient who couldn’t distinguish between games and reality, but WHO wins this one, doesn’t it?

‘…If I were truly just an NPC, I wouldn’t have fallen into her mental domination world of Lust.’

In the game, QTE button actions are mini-games given only to “players.” This means it’s not something that would happen to an NPC like me, who was supposed to just guide the way and die.

But that domination world showed me a sweet future that I couldn’t yet see, and I met my women and my little sister there.

Yes, according to the “setting,” I should have been impaled by tentacles and died after merely guiding the way, but instead, player settings were applied to me.

[If you intend to continue fighting for what is truly precious to you, you must be certain of who you are and where this world is, and not change your perspective.]

I thought it was just nonsense. I didn’t understand what it meant. I thought the person who wrote it must have written it for someone else, some other reincarnated person, not me.

‘…The fact that it was meant for me, except for the part about being wise and smart, is legendary.’

…I am not a mountain keeper NPC. Simply put, I abandoned my profession and ran away from there. I gave up being a [Mountain Keeper] knowing the unfairness in advance.

This is not the world of the online game [Eight]. It’s a completely different world that just happens to have similar settings and structures.

The followers of Envy are perverted bastards. Rey is a pretty woman who’s just a masochistic celestial, not as troublesome as I thought. Ragni is an imperial princess who followed me without clinging to the queen’s position, and she’s also a masochist.

Even Gord is a status window monster that evolves by eating other monsters not found in the game. She’s a masochist too.

And I single-handedly crushed the Demon of Wrath despite it being a raid boss. The mayor of Aigram, a deus ex machina and even one of the Seven Deadly Sins demons, is gradually submitting to me.

The green stone I thought was a deus ex machina ended up like Shanks, and Mr. Devil, whom I thought would die, reappeared before me having grown stronger to nearly level 300.

The list goes on and on. Yes, this isn’t the [Eight] I knew.

The history of the game I know and the history of this place are vastly different. I should have realized it just from what Naiad told me about the truth of the world.

From the moment I learned that celestial people were bird-humans, everything I thought was right was wrong. I should have noticed at that point.

‘…So, Miho, Chikuyo, and the Beast Elder.’

Their profession is a player profession? So they’re the [Saviors] of this world? They’re players?? Am I really insane?

None of them can see any quests or status windows; they’re just ordinary people. No one has the right to force them to save the world just because their profession appears that way. But I…

‘I was forcing it on them. Telling them they were saviors, players, different humans from me, different people. I arbitrarily judged that the history they had to walk was “wrong,” and kept my distance from them.’

It’s embarrassing to call myself a reincarnator anywhere. It’s utterly shameful. This isn’t the kind of thinking a person over 40 years old, including past and present lives, should have.

Am I really a game addict? WHO, you win, damn it.

As I start to acknowledge the world before my eyes, my perspective changes. Looking back at the world I’ve walked through, I understand where this world is.

And I gain a completely different certainty about myself as a human being.

‘…I am not a [Mountain Keeper NPC].’

Why did I think that way?

Because my status window showed me as Mountain Keeper Jack, an NPC? No.

Because my skill was Mountain Keeper? No. The reason is more primal.

‘I knew the “me” in the game who dies in the mountains of Ponia. So I was arbitrarily assuming it might happen again.’

That’s why I’ve been depending on and leaning on the status window that showed me as a Mountain Keeper NPC.

The one who judged myself based on a single status window before my eyes was none other than me.

‘I am…’

I slowly open my eyes, feeling like my foggy mind is finally awakening. My stomach feels a bit warm, but I can tell for sure I wasn’t impaled. My jaw hurts, but thinking of it as the pain that saved me, it’s not unbearable.

-Rustle.

Slowly pushing against the ground and raising my head, I see the golden-shining saint of the warrior tribe and my ancestor, who looks similar to me, engaged in combat with the Demon of Lust, who looks like Mr. Frieza failing at a second transformation.

“—Sip, huaah.”

Taking a slow deep breath, I definitely feel something different from before. Yes, this feeling is probably similar to what I felt “that day” for the first time. Though the size seems quite different.

“Well, I promised. Let’s finish this quickly and go back.”

[new! Job change successful.]

[Level and stats will change.]

[Skills will change.]

[Because you have defined yourself, all titles collected so far will be consolidated. (Total: 49 -> After consolidation: 3)]

[Stats will be adjusted as titles are consolidated. Additional skills will manifest.]

[%$@!~!○―’s status interference is completely suppressed.]

[After job change, stats previously added as [Mountain Manager] will be changed to basic stats.]

[(!)Quest – Pass the trial of the highest-grade spirit.]

[Reward: Your chances of not dying will increase.]

[Quest cleared! As a reward, your probability of dying is greatly reduced.]

Seeing the clean status window appearing before my eyes, I can’t help but smile bitterly.

Yes, this is right. How could it be normal for “NPC” to be attached to a person’s name?

Just looking at Rey, Ragni, and Gord, their jobs and statuses changed according to what they were feeling, what they had felt, what they wanted from me, and their positions. It didn’t make sense for only me to keep having “NPC” attached.

[new! -Job: Ira’s Brother- Level: 1 Name: Jack. Age: 19.]

[Strength: 768+100]

[Agility: 1063+100]

[Luck: 106+100]

[HP: 56,000]

[MP: 1]

[Skills: new! Brother. new! Retired Mountain Keeper. new! Overprotective. new! Human Radar. Slime Golem Tamer. Demon-handling Thug.]

[Brother: Additional stats are granted when with your little sister. (Stats between 50-300 are granted depending on the situation.)]

[Retired Mountain Keeper: Mountain Manager and Veteran Mountain Keeper have been consolidated. You gain +100 additional stats in mountains you previously managed. (You cannot add mountains to manage in the future./Currently registered mountains: 4: View details.)]

[Overprotective: Limited to those you want to protect, you can locate their position regardless of distance.(Registered: Ira. Rey Sol. Gord. Ragni Bluemoon Ottoman. Miho. Chikuyo.)]

[Human Radar: Consume 1 MP to detect everything within 10km of yourself for 1 minute.]

[Demon-handling Thug Effect: The strongest of the Seven Deadly Sins has submitted to you. Additional damage occurs to all demons except the Seven Deadly Sins. (Currently submitted demon: [Wrath] / Additional damage: 1,000)]

[Slime Golem Tamer Effect: When directly instructing golems, grants additional stats proportional to your own strength and agility.]

[new! Titles: Awakened Sister Complex. Enlightened Brother. Possibility Bomb.]

After speed-reading the considerably long status window at a pace incomparable to before, I can’t help but smile at the stats that appeared at the end as if forgotten.

Honestly, just looking at the other stats makes me wonder if this is right. And my level became 1? I’ll grow more from here? Am I a gangster?

It’s fortunate that the additional stats were marked with question marks until now. This is almost top-tier specs for level 1,000, isn’t it?

…Hmm. I feel sorry for those who got beaten by me. No wonder level 100-200 entities were getting destroyed.

If the Mountain Keeper additional stats hadn’t been hidden, I might have really been acting like a thug.

I’d have been a real gangster in the world before the tutorial started.

“Well, even though it says my probability of dying has decreased, I guess that means I still need to grow.”

I push away the status window that appeared at the end with my hand and rush toward where Mr. Frieza Stage 2, the warrior tribe, and our ancestor are fighting.

Now, it’s time to end this tiresome trial.

[Intelligence: 7]