Npc 101

 "Thud!"

Jiekhe crashed into Lu Sha.

He lifted his head and, looking at this beautiful, blonde-haired, golden-eyed half-elf boy, kindly said, "I suggest you start running now."

Lu Sha: "???"

The next second, a giant rat roared and charged toward the crowd where Jiekhe was.

"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak—"

"!!"

Jiekhe quickly got up, his short legs moving as fast as propellers.

"Ah—!!"

The new players screamed, following closely behind, as chaos broke out at the scene.

"Wow!" Jiang Yan, standing by the fire wall, shrugged indifferently.

[Ah???]

[Ah????]

[What's going on??]

"Yan Yan!!"

Then, Jian Hou appeared from the Adam ring, followed by Tao Shi and Cao Yufeng.

At this moment, chaos had already erupted on the other side of the fire wall. Jiekhe, Lu Sha, Yu Jia, and the new players were running around in confusion. The giant rat chased the crowd, with players' screams and the rat's "squeaks" echoing throughout the center of the town.

"Damn..." Cao Yufeng played with the bandages on his body and said to Jiang Yan, "I didn't expect you to be so scheming."

Jiang Yan's face showed no major expression.

Jian Hou reached out and put his arm around Jiang Yan's shoulder, patting him helplessly, then complained, "You just ran a couple of extra laps. You should be working on your fitness too. Is it really necessary to get so mad over this?"

[Hahahahaha... So that's how Yan Yan vents his anger?!]

[Hahahahaha... Serves Lu Sha right for kicking Yan Yan earlier!]

[So! The meaning of venting anger isn't because Lu Sha kicked Yan Yan, but because of some inexplicable reason?]

[It must have been because he just ran such a long distance and tripped, right? Hahaha... Yan Yan is really so cute!]

[So cute! He got so mad because he was tired from running and tripped!]

[Hey?? Who were the ones calling Yan Yan trash earlier?? Come out and see how the "trash" is making your "idol" spin around in circles!!]

[...Anyone can play dirty, right??]

[Ah?? Was he playing dirty?? Who kicked Yan Yan out first?]

[...]

Lu Sha, who was being chased by the giant rat, suddenly cursed Jiang Yan for counterattacking.

As a high-level real NPC, he naturally wouldn’t sit still and let the giant rat butcher him.

"Ping!"

[Item: Flame Sword]

Lu Sha swung his silver longsword, and a fire dragon shot toward the giant rat that had been relentlessly chasing him!

In an instant, the fierce flames set the giant rat's fur and the small rats, which were like maggots, ablaze.

The "town center," surrounded by towering pointed-roof houses, filled the air with the stench of burning flesh, as if it were a circular prison.

"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak—!"

Seeing this, the new players were delighted and stopped running in panic.

"Wow! So amazing..."

The girl with glasses looked at the giant rat that had been burned by the flames, then glanced at Lu Sha beside her, her eyes filled with admiration.

The players on the game forum also began to cheer:

[Wow!! Awesome!!]

[At times like this, it's the physical attack items that are really useful!!]

[Jiang Yan’s [Lost Rose] should be able to achieve the same effect, but his character setup seems to have some restrictions.]

[Yeah! Lu Sha's character setup is clearly more flexible. In this magic world, having an elf and giant hybrid setup, it's definitely easier to use items.]

[Give me a break! What about [Lost Rose]?? An S-level item in Jiang Yan’s hands doesn’t even perform to its full potential. It’s simply a wasted treasure!]

[Exactly! Lu Sha’s character has more flexibility, but does that mean Jiang Yan’s character has less? Lu Sha is a half-elf and half-giant, but Jiang Yan is an elf prince with divine blood! Which one’s character setup is actually more advantageous?]

[It's just a rat! Lu Sha doesn’t even take it seriously! Does Jiang Yan think that just bringing the rat through the fire wall will make Lu Sha look bad? Ridiculous!]

[Right! It's just a normal attacking NPC, and even an S-level one doesn't pose a threat to Lu Sha and Yu Jia at all.]

[Look at the smug expression on Jiang Yan's face earlier. Who does he think he's venting at? Lu Sha is a high-level NPC!]

[Probably because Jiang Yan used this method to deal with his ex in the previous hospital dungeon, so it gave him confidence, right? It just seems ridiculous!]

[Come on! Lu Sha was the one who kicked Jiang Yan out first! What's wrong with Jiang Yan getting revenge??]

[The fire wall is Lu Sha’s item, and if he doesn’t want to share the outcome of his item with Jiang Yan, what’s wrong with that?? What right does Jiang Yan have to seek revenge??]

[The main system’s favoritism toward Jiang Yan is obvious, but just because the main system favors him doesn’t mean everyone has to! Lu Sha doesn’t want to cater to him, so what?]

[Honestly, I’m really curious! Why does Jiang Yan have followers and a fan club?? What’s going on?? Even if his performance hasn’t been as absurd as before, it still just fits his C-level NPC strength. There are plenty of real NPCs who are stronger than him!]

[Exactly! If I saw him in a dungeon, I wouldn't indulge him!]

"Ping!"

[Game Forum Reminder: Players Cen Qiu, Cheng Tu, and Real NPC You Qi have been added to the "Jiang Yan Fan Club" blacklist and are now featured on the homepage!]

[...Does this fan club need to be even more abstract? You just blacklist them, why buy a loudspeaker for the game forum??]

[What's going on?! Is there a bounty on him now?? Have they broken through the defenses?? Were we wrong in saying any of this??]

[This level of system NPC interaction is something only a low-level player like Jiang Yan would be chased around like that!]

At this moment, the fire on the giant rat’s body was completely burned away, and it collapsed into a pile of charred remains with a loud crash.

Lu Sha laughed, looking at Jiang Yan. "This level of chasing curse..."

Before he could finish his sentence, his eyes suddenly widened in disbelief, his pupils constricting!

"W-what?!"

Lu Sha stared in shock at the scene before him.

Surrounded by towering buildings, the town center, resembling an arena, was suddenly flooded with waves of countless small rats coming from all directions, making the onlookers' scalps tingle with fear!

"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak..."

The little rats quickly gathered where the giant rat had just fallen, climbing over each other in layers. In no time, a massive "rat tree," several layers high, appeared in front of everyone.

"Squeak—!!"

With a loud screech, the giant rat, which had just been burned to ashes, stood up again.

This time, its body was even larger and more imposing, and its decayed form, with fangs like those of a wild animal, looked even more terrifying.

"How... how is this possible?!!" Lu Sha said in disbelief.

"Ping!" [Item: Puppet Strings]

Dozens of transparent threads shot from Yu Jia's back toward the giant rat, entangling it with everything they had!

The giant rat was briefly sliced into several pieces, but the next second, like rubber, it quickly reassembled itself.

"What..."

Yu Jia froze for a moment, then threw his cigarette to the ground, stomping it out. His expression turned serious.

[No way?!! Two S-level items can’t even control this NPC??]

[What are this NPC's stats?? This is outrageous!!]

[So, what I said earlier... was it just seeing it from Lu Sha’s perspective??]

"Where's the person who just said, 'This level of system NPC!'? Come out!!"

"Now what should we do?!" The middle-aged man anxiously looked at Lu Sha.

Lu Sha rolled his eyes in disdain at him.

"It’s useless," Jiekhe, who was standing next to Lu Sha, said. "This is a curse set by the gods. It’s a chasing curse, not a monster. Magic has no effect on it."

"No... no effect?!" The short-haired man panicked.

"So what should we do now?!" The bespectacled girl asked in a near-crying tone.

"Now..." Jiekhe looked at the giant rat before them and took a step back.

The giant rat’s eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light, clearly enraged by the actions of these humans and elves.

"Squeak! Squeak!!"

The giant rat lunged at the players even more ferociously than before!

"Run!!!" Jiekhe shouted.

As the giant rat charged, the players quickly turned and started running!

Seeing this, the person behind said to Jiang Yan, "The show’s over. Let’s take this chance to leave the fire wall and let them be chased and trained inside."

"Good idea," Jiang Yan replied.

The two of them high-fived in agreement.

Tao Shi's Adam Ring hadn't been retracted, and Jiang Yan and the person behind him turned to dive back in to leave the fire wall.

However, at that moment, the blazing fire wall in front of them suddenly vanished.

Jiang Yan: "..."

The person behind: "..."

Jiang Yan instinctively turned around and saw that Lu Sha’s group, with Jiekhe and the giant rat behind them, was charging straight at them.

"Ehh?! He did that on purpose!!" The person behind cursed.

Then, he grabbed Jiang Yan and pulled him forward. "Run!!"

Jiang Yan was pulled by the person behind him and started running. Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng closely followed, with Lu Sha, Yu Jia, several new players, and Jiekhe trailing behind. And last were the giant rats, relentlessly chasing them.

The group ran in circles around the town center's large fountain, doing several laps back and forth.

At first, Jiang Yan was being dragged by the person behind him, but after a while, he couldn't run anymore. He was then carried by Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng, still holding Yu Xiu's severed limb in his arms.

Jiang Yan felt like his soul was about to give out!

"Think... think of a way! Think of a way..." Jiang Yan panted.

"We can't hit it!! This thing can't be killed!! Items have no effect on it!!" Cao Youfeng, supporting Jiang Yan, complained.

"Squeak... squeak..."

"Are we just going to keep running like this?! This thing seems to have endless stamina... but we will run out of strength!" Jiang Yan heard the person behind him, panting, "Don't even talk about you, Jiang Yan... even I’m about to collapse!"

At this moment, as he was being dragged like a helpless person, Jiang Yan suddenly thought of something.

He shouted toward Jiekhe, "You said this thing is a cursed creature, right??"

"Yes! That's why magic doesn't work on it!!" Jiekhe responded.

"Since it's a curse, there should be a way to break it, right??" Jiang Yan, breathing a little easier as he was dragged, said, "Like... like a true love's kiss or something??"

"True love's kiss??" Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng both said in unison, sounding disgusted.

"Isn't that how it goes in fairy tales?? The prince turned into a frog or beast needs a true love’s kiss to break the curse!!" Jiang Yan said.

He turned to Jiekhe and asked, "Do we need to find someone to kiss it or something?!"

"Kiss... kiss it?!"

"Squeak..."

Hearing the terrifying squeals of the giant rat behind them, the group running ahead: "..."

"Actually, there is a way to break the curse!!" Jiekhe loudly responded to Jiang Yan.

"Only sinners can enter this town. I was the first sinner, and you new sinners, though exiled here, are still completely imprisoned.

"This giant rat is a cursed creature and also a warden and judge—it monitors all the sinners here and judges the crimes of everyone who enters the town."

"If you're willing to sacrifice a companion who has committed a greater sin than mine, let it judge, devour, and imprison that person, it will temporarily calm down and disappear."

Jiekhe explained.

"What happens to the person sacrificed??" The cook, trembling, asked.

He was the fattest of them all, and besides Jiang Yan, he was struggling the most to run. Sweat soaked his entire body, making him look like he had just been pulled out of water.

Jiekhe replied, "Of course, they'll be completely imprisoned in this town, just like every other sinner here, reliving the endless cycle of being devoured and spat out by the giant rat daily.

"Each chase, each time they're swallowed, the pain multiplies. This is the curse of the evil god, a punishment for sinners ordained by the divine."

Everyone: "..."

"But don't worry," Jiekhe continued. "Not just anyone is qualified to be sacrificed. The person must have committed sins greater than mine."

"Then... what is your crime?" Jian Hou asked.

Jiekhe replied, "I stole two grains of rice while cooking in the evil god’s fields."

Everyone: "???"

Dragged along without expression, Jiang Yan said, "You're kidding, right?"

"I'm not! That's exactly why I was cursed!" Jiekhe said seriously.

"The god decreed that stealing even two grains of rice counts as theft. I violated the sin of greed from the Seven Deadly Sins, and for that, I was cursed.

"But I know!" Jiekhe clenched his teeth, recalling his resentment. "It was because those were the first and only fields planted by the evil god himself! He wouldn't allow anyone to touch them—not even two grains of rice."

Jiekhe sneered, "He was just jealous!"

"Uh... that's a bit much, isn't it?" Jian Hou muttered. "Maybe it was to teach people not to dismiss minor sins?"

Jiekhe chuckled coldly, "Once, a passing servant in the temple complimented the aroma of the cooking and received a smile and a word of thanks from the god's wife. The god immediately cast the servant out of the temple."

"Luckily," Jiekhe added, "when the god’s wife invited the servant to taste the food, they declined. Otherwise, their fate would have been far worse than mine."

Jian Hou: "..."

Jiekhe took a deep breath, pulling himself out of his memories. Then he addressed everyone:

"Alright! To find someone more sinful than me to sacrifice, you all need to confess your sins!"

In an instant, the faces of all the players—except Jiang Yan and Jian Hou—changed drastically.

"Confess... our sins?"

"Squeak—!"

Previous Chapter NPC 100 Next Chapter NPC 102