An NPC on the Red Carpet

I should've been careful. I ended up following her anyway.

If you really looked at her, this woman was something else. She'd fuss over you all sweet and caring, and the next thing you knew, you'd been dragged along. Thanks to her, I was wearing a fluttering dress for the first time in my life.

More importantly — there were so many people here.

"Whoa…"

"There are so many people, right? This isn't the kind of place I'd normally get to come to, but thanks to you, Goat-jjang, I made it here!"

She wasn't wrong. This was the kind of scene I'd only ever seen on the news. A red carpet stretched across the floor, hunters walking its length while journalists fired off photos from every angle. It looked just like a movie awards ceremony.

Well, ever since the Tower appeared, "hunter" had been the number-one career dream for kids. At least a lot of people had brought their families along. If I just stayed quiet, I probably wouldn't stand out too much.

The problem was that my masters were even more excited than I was.

My masters were chattering away, but with so many eyes around, I couldn't exactly answer. No need to draw attention by acting weird.

The silver lining was that people weren't paying much attention to us. They were too busy photographing the famous hunters. Thanks to that, we made it into the banquet hall without getting drowned in camera flashes.

"Our seats are over here!"

The table she led me to was right up front, close to the stage.

Ugh… this is a little much.

The only upside was that the food stations were right next to us. I really shouldn't stand out too much.

That said, why were my masters so interested? Immortal cultivators barely ate, didn't they?

I was glad they were complimenting it, but… what was their world like that they were reacting like this? Did they not have buffets over there?

Ah! They said they barely ate, so of course they wouldn't have buffets!

No, wait — weren't my masters basically chairmen? And chairmen were rich, right?

While I was tilting my head at all these questions, the banquet proper got underway.

It was a pretty standard program. Starting with the Nebula Guild Master, the guild members took turns giving their greetings. Highlight footage played on a big screen, followed by interviews.

I probably would have found it fascinating before. Now I just felt indifferent. Before I entered the Tower, hunters had been a mysterious profession from an unknown world. After living inside for over a month, they just felt like neighbors from the floor above. That old sense of awe was gone.

Anyway, after that long, boring main program finally wrapped up, it was time to eat. Since I was already here, I might as well load up on the good stuff. I piled my plate with foods I'd never seen before and sat back down.

And in that instant, a bolt of lightning struck.

"I can't! Taking food home from a buffet is bad manners!"

No. Why couldn't my masters understand? Was their world that different?

What was I supposed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to do?

I'll grab the food first, then send them some kind of gift later.

I had no choice. Glancing around, I headed for the food stations. If I use Divine Sense, I can see what everyone around me is doing…

When nobody was looking, I pretended to scoop food with the tongs. Fwoosh! The food vanished into my storage pouch. Then the next station. Fwoosh! And the next. Fwoosh!

While I was carefully loading up, I overheard a waiter's radio from behind me.

Ugh. I'm sorry. My conscience twinged.

But why were my masters so thrilled?!

"I'll send the food later."

Ugh. I couldn't forget to send them a gift.

Meanwhile, on the banquet hall's dais, tonight's stars — Yoo Se-ah and Shin Eun-woo of the Nebula Guild — held their ground. The interviews were already over, but people's interest hadn't waned. They posed for photos, made small talk, and attended to the guests.

Eventually they grew tired, and when the attention finally ebbed, they slipped quietly into a corner of the stage.

"Ah… I'm drained."

"These events are always exhausting."

"By the way, that assemblyman showed up earlier, right? What did he want?"

"He asked if I could tutor his son."

"Isn't that guy's son older than you?"

"The tutoring's just an excuse. He's trying to get his foot in the door."

"That's pretty blatant."

"Well, our side's got plenty of dowry to offer."

Yoo Se-ah gazed at the crowd with a detached look. Not joy, not excitement — just the face of an office worker putting in tedious hours. Shin Eun-woo watched her quietly.

"Se-ah. Are you having fun right now?"

"It was fun when we cleared it. Then it went cold pretty fast."

"Same. When we beat the 50th Floor, the dopamine was insane. Honestly, the old days felt better."

"Already talking like an old man?"

"Back then, we'd run the lower floors and lose our minds over a single skill book."

"Until we found out it went for less than five million won at auction."

"The next one that dropped was expensive, and you took that one."

"Shut up. You took the one after that."

Shin Eun-woo gave a wry smile, then tossed out another question.

"Do you still enjoy raiding?"

"It just feels like a job now. I've got a guild to be responsible for."

"Yeah."

"Like I'm following a set of tracks that were already laid down."

"We've only got one life."

They were talking so calmly when Yoo Se-ah's gaze, sweeping across the banquet hall, suddenly stopped.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong all of a sudden?"

Her languid eyes sharpened. Her pupils locked onto Otto, sitting at a table up front. More precisely, on the girl next to Otto.

"Hold the spot for a second."

"Huh? Why all of a sudden?"

Without answering, she made her way toward the table as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Yoo Se-ah struck up a conversation as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

"Ms. Oh Ga-eun. Thank you for coming."

"Ah! Guild Master Yoo Se-ah! Congratulations on clearing the 50th Floor! Thank you so much for inviting me!"

"Is the food to your liking?"

"Yes! The food is amazing."

After the brief greeting, Yoo Se-ah turned her head. Looking at the face again, there was no doubt. It was the NPC.

"Um, this person is…?"

"Yes! This is Goat-jjang!"

That bright, sunny expression. Had she brought her here without knowing? Was she just a low-level hunter who didn't understand the situation?

"Then this person is a hunter, I take it?"

"No! She's an NPC, but she said she could come out, so I brought her along!"

What on earth was this woman talking about? Did she not know anything because she was a newbie? An NPC leaving the Tower?

It wasn't established fact, but there had been experimental results. A video uploaded by some foreign hunter. He'd tried taking an NPC outside. In the footage, the NPC kept refusing, and when he tried to drag it out by force, it turned hostile. The next day, he tried the same thing with a newly spawned NPC. Same result.

Based on everything so far, the accepted theory was that NPCs would not leave the Tower. If there was an exception…

She came out on her own?

The suspicion only grew. She needed information. Yoo Se-ah was about to carefully probe further when Goat-jjang stood up from her seat.

"I'm going to grab some more food."

Was she avoiding her? Or did she just want to eat?

Food, huh.

NPCs would eat if you gave them food. She acted like an ordinary human. And yet the questions only kept piling up.

Yoo Se-ah pretended to move seats, passing by, and bumped the cup Goat-jjang had been using. The instant it started to fall, she caught it by the base with perfect timing.

"I wasn't paying attention. I'll get you a new one."

"It's fine. I'll go swap it myself."

"I couldn't possibly make a guest do that. Just wait a moment. I'll bring you a fresh cup right away."

Yoo Se-ah grabbed a napkin, wrapped the cup, and tucked it away before bringing back a new one.

Meanwhile, the hot topic on Hunter Gallery was the Nebula Guild's victory banquet. Everyone was watching the live broadcast of the event. Then, out of nowhere, a piece of bait hit the board.

The gallery went up in flames. Everyone had been bored anyway, so they all piled into the flame war.

Posts were regenerating so fast the site started lagging. Amid all that, one post stood out.

NPC? Hunter?

The atmosphere grew more and more taut.