The First Large-Scale Update

Four in the morning.

We tidied up the club room and stepped outside. It was still the dead of night, but the streetlamps scattered across campus made the walk easy enough.

On the path from the school building toward the dorms, I walked beside Eunhye and hesitated.

Should I say something? Or… things turned out fine, so maybe I should just let it go.

No. I have to say it.

In a game where death meant permanent character deletion, throwing yourself in harm's way to protect an NPC was unthinkable. If this kept up, I would be worrying about it every time we logged in. Seolhwa was a critical piece of our party's combat power, too.

"Eunhye."

"Yeah?"

"From now on, don't push yourself to save NPCs."

"Huh?"

For a moment she just stared at me, as if the words hadn't landed.

"Your character's life matters more than an NPC's."

Eunhye looked at me in silence, her eyes wide with shock.

"If an NPC dies, that's it for them."

"If Seolhwa dies, that's it for her too."

"I can just level a new one."

She wasn't wrong, exactly.

"NPCs are just fragments of data."

"How can you even…"

Maybe she had overheard us. Walking alongside, Ms. Kim Sujin pulled Eunhye into a hug — her eyes locked on me the entire time.

"Doun. That was far too harsh."

She was the teacher who was always smiling. Tonight, for once, she looked angry.

"Yes… I'm sorry."

I wasn't sure it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was something I needed to apologize for, but the look on her face pulled the words out of me on their own. The feeling that I had to say it was overwhelming.

That was the last anyone spoke until we went our separate ways. I didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠believe I was wrong, and Eunhye seemed just as convinced that she was right.

"Hah…"

It was well past four, and I still couldn't sleep.

Was I being inhuman?

If this were real life, Seolhwa's actions would have been praiseworthy. She had sacrificed herself to save someone else. But Sarah was an NPC. Nothing more than data — zeroes and ones.

I had sensed for a while that Seolhwa treated NPCs like people. Today's stunt had gone too far. Slave NPCs could be bought again. We had more than enough in-game currency for that.

"Dammit. Then why does Sarah's face keep coming to mind?"

Maybe Seolhwa had started rubbing off on me. When I first bought Fersin, I had kept my distance and treated him as nothing but an NPC.

I didn't sleep a wink that night.

I passed out the moment I reached the dorm.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I had barely closed my eyes before the morning alarm went off.

"Ugh… I'm so tired…"

Still, we had grown our characters a lot yesterday. We had even taken down that female swordsman who looked like a boss monster, and thanks to Doun and Eunhye, Elena's level had climbed fast.

Exhausted as I was, I headed to class in a good mood — and then found Eunhye and Doun not speaking to each other at all.

Ordinarily, even when they didn't talk much, there was a tight bond between them. Tight enough to make a person jealous. Today, a wind as cold as Siberia was blowing through the space between them.

"Eunhye?"

"Yeah?"

"Doun?"

"What?"

They both answered me. Neither so much as glanced at the other.

After class, through buying lunchboxes at the student cafeteria, all the way to the club room — even while we ate — they didn't exchange a single word.

"What's going on with you two?"

Was it because of yesterday? I had overheard Doun and Eunhye talking on the way back to the dorms. At the time I hadn't thought much of it. Apparently, to them, it had been a serious problem.

"Ms. Kim…"

What threw me even more was Ms. Kim Sujin's mood. The teacher who was always bright, positive, and overflowing with energy was running on a low-pressure system today.

"This is about Sarah yesterday, isn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it?"

Doun and Eunhye didn't say anything, but their faces told me I had hit the mark.

"Doun, you go first. Why are you doing this?"

"Same as what I said yesterday. There's no reason to take risks for an NPC."

"Sarah isn't just some NPC."

Eunhye, who had been sitting with her mouth shut tight, finally spoke.

"If Sarah dies, we can just get another slave."

"How can you even…"

Ms. Kim Sujin was clearly on Eunhye's side. She had been glaring at Doun from behind Eunhye's shoulder for a while now.

"Let's settle our stance going forward. We can't keep fighting over this."

At least they both agreed on that. Doun and Eunhye nodded.

"Great! Each of you, make your case."

Eunhye raised her hand first.

"If an NPC dies, that's the end. But if a player's character dies, you can just make a new one."

"Then you have to level from scratch."

Doun shot back immediately.

"We can raise them fast, same as we did with Elena."

Eunhye fired right back.

"It might not be that easy from now on. Other players know the dungeon exists now."

Even after Doun finished, the two of them went at it for a long time. The gap in their views wouldn't close. Doun treated NPCs as tools. Eunhye, on the other hand, was overly attached to them.

"What if you voted?"

Ms. Kim Sujin, who had been listening, finally spoke up.

"Hmm… that might be best."

This wasn't getting resolved as it was. I made the ballots myself, and the four of us voted.

The results:

I had cast the abstention, which meant Ms. Kim Sujin had sided with Eunhye.

"Hah… fine. But only for NPCs registered as family. Don't take risks for any other NPCs."

Doun looked at the results and spoke.

"Okay…"

Eunhye agreed too.

And just like that, the little incident was over. Doun and Eunhye went back to normal as if they had never fought. Ms. Kim Sujin was smiling brightly again. I was starting to wonder if I had been the only one taking it so seriously.

Still… they had made up. That was what mattered. The outcome was a good one.

"Hey, guys. Let's play Hero~"

I said it as I switched on my computer.

"Yeah!"

"Sure."

Doun and Eunhye answered as they powered theirs on too.

"You two hungry after all that talking? Teacher will go grab something tasty~"

Ms. Kim Sujin left the club room to buy snacks.

I logged into the game and checked the sword we had obtained yesterday.

One hundred thirty-five attack. That was far above the seventy-five on the high-grade Shurie longsword I was currently wearing — and it came with a status ailment on top of that.

I confirmed the weapon's performance, then handed the Ice Dragon's Sword to Seolhwa.

I hoped this would close the emotional distance the NPC argument had opened between us. Seolhwa mattered to me. I needed the help of the powerhouse she was going to become — and as a friend, right now, we were in a good place.

Seolhwa asked as she swung the Ice Dragon's Sword, clearly taken with it.

The dungeon, huh.

I checked the party's levels. The original plan had been to push to level 80 in the beginner dungeon. The beginner's guide even said as much. We were four levels short of that plan.

But.

Word of the beginner dungeon had already spread across the internet, and players were pouring into Shurie Territory. Competition inside would only get worse from here.

In that case…

South of the Holy Royal Empire. West of Shurie Territory, where we currently were, the vast Apse Mountain Range reared up. It was the range that formed the border between the Atelier Kingdom and the Holy Royal Empire — towering, brutal, and nearly impassable.

Elena, who had been listening from the side, asked the question. Neither of them seemed to mind. There were only two directions we could go anyway.

Shurie Territory sat on the far southeastern edge of the Holy Royal Empire. South was the sea. East was a region not yet opened to players. Hongri Nation wouldn't unlock until a further update dropped.

I led the party to the mercenary guild.

Earth Territory. Land governed by Viscount Earth, bordering the Apse Mountain Range. I took the caravan escort mission bound for Earth Territory.

The quest had popped for Seolhwa and Elena as well. Neither of them raised any objection to my decision. We had hit a crisis on the ninth basement floor of the dungeon, but up to now I had led the party well enough to earn that trust.

Higher pay and access to better missions. There was no reason to turn that down. I applied for the promotion assessment for the entire party.

Following the clerk's directions, we entered a room that held nothing but a small orb.

I set my hand on it, and the orb gave off a distinctive light.

Seolhwa, Elena, Fersin, and Sarah each touched the orb in turn. Every one of them received D-rank.

We left the small room and returned to the guild counter.

Seolhwa and I turned in our F-rank badges. For Elena and the slave NPCs, we paid for the mercenary badges in coin.

The mercenary work wasn't the point. Getting to a territory near the Apse Mountain Range was.

I finished with the clerk and turned around. Behind me, Seolhwa, Elena, and Sarah were holding their mercenary badges and talking among themselves.

While the women talked, Fersin stood in silence.

Clop. Clop.

Three wagons rolled along the highway. I walked alongside them with the rest of the party.

Seolhwa and Elena walked on either side of Sarah, taking in the view. I walked behind the women with Fersin.

Ordinarily I didn't make small talk with NPCs. After the argument with Eunhye, though, I asked Fersin something personal, awkward as it felt.

The word Master sat strangely enough that the conversation stalled for a moment.

Sarah could hold all kinds of conversations. Fersin was stiff as a board. I couldn't tell if that was how his personality had been written, or if his AI simply wasn't as developed.

That was the end of our brief exchange. I wasn't much of a talker myself, but Fersin was worse.

The peaceful journey continued, and we arrived at Blood Territory, which bordered our destination of Earth Territory.

The merchant explained the schedule and went inside the inn.

It had gotten late. Ms. Kim Sujin was sitting beside us, glancing at the clock more and more often. We parked our characters in an inn room and logged out.

"All done~?"

"Yes, Ms. Kim."

"Good. Everyone pack up, and let's head to the dorms~"

Ms. Kim Sujin said it with a bright smile — the kind of radiant expression that matched her signature all-white look perfectly.