The First Major Update of the Year

Sarah came into the room and sat on the floor with her back against the wall, just as Fersin had.

Now that she'd washed up, her features were much clearer. Red hair. And her age... she looked about Hyemi's age. First or second year of middle school.

A small pang of pity stirred in me, but I pushed it aside at once. This was a game. Wars were already breaking out across the world, and just as many NPCs were dying with them. Even now, at this very moment.

I looked away from Sarah, left the room, and went to fetch some snacks.

The living room was dark. Midnight. Mom and Hyemi were both asleep. I moved carefully, gathered cookies and drinks, and slipped back into my room.

The moment I sat down at the computer again, Seolhwa was furious.

I almost said she was an NPC — and a slave besides — but I swallowed the words. Seolhwa clearly cared about Sarah a great deal.

I got up from the bed and offered her the spot. Sarah stayed on the floor anyway, until Seolhwa finally took her by the hand and marched her onto the mattress herself.

The next morning.

Seolhwa was already sitting on the bed, holding a snack out to Sarah.

I'd connected ten minutes ahead of our agreed time. Even so, Seolhwa looked like she'd been here for a while.

Counting back from when we'd logged out last night, that meant Seolhwa had slept four hours at most.

She clearly hadn't slept enough, but we couldn't afford to skip the hunt.

Sarah gave a small nod, as if she'd opened up to Seolhwa just a little. It was a different look from yesterday, when she hadn't reacted at all.

Dungeon Floor 4. We set up in a spot boxed in on three sides. The orcs' recommended level was 30 — nothing we couldn't handle.

A heavy thud rang out as I slammed my shield forward, locking an orc in a stagger, then carved through it with my sword. The blade sang. Seolhwa and Fersin cut down the orcs in front of them just as easily.

And then, from behind us—

A sphere of condensed magic streaked past us and punched into an orc's torso. The impact burst with a dull crack.

"Krrrk! Grwah."

Sarah's level was too low to deal any real damage. Even so, Seolhwa lit up at the smallest contribution.

An hour and a half. With Sarah in the party, we shaved about seven minutes off our Floor 4 clear. Not bad, considering her level. Once she grew into her role, she was going to put in real work.

The Holy Royal Empire had no shortage of clergy — that was the nature of the place. What it did not have were clergy slaves. In a nation where the Church's authority rivaled the throne itself, no one would dare reduce a priest to bondage. Not here, at least.

If we went to the Hongri Nation, priest-slaves might exist. But that path had two problems. First, players couldn't enter the Hongri Nation. Second, even if we somehow brought a priest-slave back, we wouldn't be able to run dungeons with them inside the Holy Royal Empire. Imperial citizens would never sit still while I walked around with a enslaved member of the clergy in tow.

I laid the situation out, and Seolhwa said she understood.

Time passed, and the orcs respawned. We didn't move from that spot until we'd wiped seven waves of Floor 4 orcs.

Every rest break, I opened the Family Setting window — just to check Sarah's level. After enough glances, one conviction settled in.

My class, Head of the Household, was even better than I'd thought.

Hero had a party experience penalty. It kicked in whenever the level gap between party members crossed a certain threshold. When Sarah first joined, that gap had been thirty-four levels — more than enough to trigger it. And yet her level had climbed at a startling pace. Across seven orc waves, she'd gained six levels.

So Family Setting doesn't just let NPCs earn experience like players — it wipes the penalty too? That's broken...

With a system like this, buying a slave with a huge level gap down the line wouldn't be a problem. I could just raise them. And beyond that... I could even buy a high-level slave and get carried.

Of course, that would be difficult. High-level slaves were rare, and even if one turned up, the price would be astronomical. For now, this was more than enough. I'd grown close with Seolhwa, and NPCs like Fersin and Sarah were already pulling their weight.

The next day. The day after that. We kept hunting Floor 4, with a concrete goal in mind: the moment Sarah broke level 30, we would challenge Floor 5.

And today, Sarah hit level 31.

I'd already talked it over with her. The plan was to go to Floor 5 the moment Sarah reached 31.

The forge at Shurie sold better items than anything at Rion Castle.

Compared to the Rion Castle supply gear we'd been using, the difference was enormous. The Rion Castle supply longsword had an attack power of 30. The Shurie High-Grade Longsword more than doubled that.

Seolhwa clearly liked the new equipment. I outfitted Fersin and Sarah with Shurie high-grade gear as well.

We booked two rooms. Before Sarah joined, one had been enough. Now it wasn't. When Seolhwa and I logged out, Fersin and Sarah would be left in the same room together — and Seolhwa had insisted, firmly, that we take two.

We parted in front of the inn rooms, and I logged out.

"Tomorrow we have to clear Floor 5..."

We'd hunted hard and climbed our levels. Every coin from monster byproducts had gone straight back into power. We'd gained Fersin and Sarah, and we'd put on better gear. The preparations for Floor 5 were done.

The next day. Seven in the morning. I logged in.

On a normal day, Seolhwa would already be connected, waiting in the room with Sarah. Today she was late. Fersin sat alone on the floor. I headed for the room next door, where Sarah was staying.

I waited a moment in the hallway, listening to the voices inside.

More than the conversation itself, Sarah's AI stunned me. There was nothing awkward about the exchange between Seolhwa and an NPC. I'd already had the sense that NPC intelligence had been upgraded when the Holy Royal Empire went live. I just hadn't expected it to go this far. It was beyond anything I'd imagined — as if the fully realized AI that Human Games would one day achieve had already been implemented.

I knocked and stepped inside. Seolhwa and Sarah were sitting side by side ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the bed, eating.

Sarah, who had been chatting easily with Seolhwa, went quiet the moment I walked in.

I went back to our room and spoke to Fersin, who was sitting quietly on the floor. If Sarah's AI was that good, Fersin — another NPC — wouldn't be any different.

Fersin rose from his rest on the floor as he answered.

Natural. As if I were talking to another player.

We made for Dungeon Floor 5.

Seolhwa and Fersin took positions at my flanks.

Sarah gripped her staff tightly in both hands as she answered.

"Krrrk!"

"Krrrk! GRAAAH!!!!"

The Orc Warriors' blows hammered into us — thud, thud, thud — but they were bearable. Our levels had risen, and we'd swapped into high-grade gear.

The warriors were manageable. The problem was the archers and shamans attacking from the rear. Bursts of magic and arrows cracked through the air in a steady rain.

Whether it was Floor 4 or Floor 5, the method was the same: hold a three-sided choke and fight the orcs pouring in from the front. The trouble with a stationary camp was the ranged attackers. The moment I left my post to deal with them, a hole would open in the line.

That was when Sarah acted.

The spell sailed past the Orc Warriors and struck an archer square in the torso. Another bolt followed, bursting on impact.

As Sarah thinned out the Orc Archers and Shamans, the fight got a lot easier. The last time we'd come to Floor 5, the ranged fire had stacked up until we couldn't hold and had to run.

I finished the Orc Warrior in front of me and checked the time.

An hour and twenty-five minutes on Floor 5. In thirty-five more minutes the orcs would respawn. If we didn't kill every last one before then, we'd be fighting back-to-back with no rest at all.

The Orc Warriors were all down. I joined Sarah in picking off the remaining archers and shamans.

Five minutes to respawn, and we'd swept the floor clean.

While the rest of us were catching our breath, Fersin didn't sit. He picked through the orc corpses, gathering byproducts.

Only after I said it did he sit down.

That day, for the first time, we cleared Floor 5 within the two-hour window. After that we stayed more than ten hours, cutting down Orc Warriors, Archers, and Shamans, before finally returning to the inn.

Seolhwa took Sarah's hand and opened the inn room door.

That was what she said. I had a feeling she'd talk with Sarah for a while before she actually logged out. I didn't press it. For Seolhwa, a conversation ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with Sarah was apparently better than sleep.