I Never Said I Was an NPC

Kim Tae-hyun had never actually said, "I'm not a player, I'm an NPC." Technically, he was telling the truth. A truth that deserved a thorough beating!

"You... you bastard... So you knew all along and worked us like dogs anyway?"

"Worked you like dogs? That's a bit harsh. I only accepted because you guys offered to help."

"Shut up!"

"If you didn't want to do it, you could've just said so. Why didn't you speak up?"

They couldn't speak up because doing so would fail the quest and tank their reputation in the village. Of course, Tae-hyun knew this perfectly well.

"Do you even know who we are?"

"I rarely see anyone sane ask, 'Do you know who I am?' Let's see. Who are you? A guild?"

The guild members flinched at Tae-hyun's words.

"What kind of guild is that anyway?"

"Read ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it backward."

"..."

"I'll kill you!!!"

Already furious, the guild members were pushed over the edge by Tae-hyun's relentless provocation! They drew their weapons and lunged at him.

"Stop them," Tae-hyun ordered.

"Chwik! What do you think you are doing?!"

"Chwik! Is this a rebellion?!"

"Shut up, you stupid orcs!"

"We suffered all that useless labor because of you guys!"

At this point, they didn't care about Alcott or the quest anymore. They were going to kill this bastard no matter what! Orcs blocked their path, but they were low-level compared to the guild members. Every single guild member here was a high-level player.

"An opening! Get in there!"

"Wow. Not bad," Tae-hyun remarked casually.

The guild members were acting according to textbook strategy. The textbook strategy for dealing with a high-level mage: don't waste time, close the distance as fast as possible, and force them into close combat! No matter how high-level a mage was, they were bound to be weak in melee.

"Don't waste time on the orcs, group up! Just focus on taking down that bastard!"

"Don't give him time to cast!"

"E-everyone! I'm rooting for you! Please untie me too!"

Seeing the fight break out, the bound demon began to chime in. He didn't know what was going on, but since they were fighting among themselves, he might be able to escape if he played his cards right. However, no one paid any attention to the demon. Their only target was Tae-hyun!

"Haaah!" The first guild member to reach Tae-hyun unleashed an attack. And then...

"Gahhh!" As if struck by a giant monster, the attacking guild member was sent flying into the distance. The unbelievable sight made the other guild members freeze in their tracks. It was shocking enough to halt even those who had completely lost their minds to rage.

"With a staff...?"

"What... that's impossible...!"

To the guild members, it looked as though Tae-hyun had done that to their ally using nothing but a staff. No such mage existed in the game!

"I-is he really a mage? Isn't he a warrior disguised as a mage?"

"Maybe... Come to think of it, he hasn't used any magic!"

"No! He used it when he subdued the Mage's Slave!"

"O-oh, right."

In truth, he had beaten down the Mage's Slave with raw physical strength as well, but the guild members couldn't even begin to imagine that. Tae-hyun's appearance was just too perfectly mage-like.

Ah, it's over. Right on cue, the Fortune Conversion skill expired. Tae-hyun smirked and raised his staff.

"...!" Just as they were wondering if he was actually a mage, Tae-hyun cast a spell, throwing the guild members into confusion.

"Dodge!" Should they close in, or shouldn't they? The guild members, who only knew how to act by the book, completely lost their coordination in the face of this chaotic situation. One lunged forward while another tried to back away, completely out of sync!

Whoosh! Tae-hyun threw his staff. The charging guild member dodged in surprise, suspecting another trick. Of course, there was no trick.

Bang! Tae-hyun pulled out a musket and fired. The guild member, whose movement had stalled while dodging, took the hit directly and staggered.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Thud. The next attack followed immediately! A bomb thrown by Tae-hyun rolled right in front of the guild member. Afflicted with a critical hit and a stun, the guild member couldn't even attempt to dodge. Boom!

When Tae-hyun took down their ally so effortlessly, the guild member who had backed away froze solid. What's more, that last move wasn't magic, nor was it melee.

"W-what on earth are you...?" But Tae-hyun didn't answer. Instead, he used a skill.

"?!!!"

The curse wasn't aimed at the guild member backing away. Tae-hyun had cast the curse on Alcott, who was sneaking up on him from behind.

As soon as the battle began, Alcott immediately used Stealth. It wasn't because he was afraid of Tae-hyun. This was simply how the Assassin class fought. Slip into stealth, get behind the opponent, and unleash a devastating burst of damage with a skill combo!

The surrounding area was loud and chaotic, filled with the aftershocks of explosions and the clash between the orc warriors and the guild members. The noisier and more chaotic it was, the easier it was for an assassin. Alcott approached triumphantly. It didn't matter if his opponent was a ranker mage. In an assassin-versus-mage matchup, the assassin held an overwhelming advantage. It was incredibly difficult for a mage to stop an assassin before they closed the distance. The moment the assassin got close, the mage was as good as dead.

But then... Thwack! The mage swung his staff and sent a guild member flying.

"...?!"

Alcott, still in stealth, was dumbfounded. What kind of mage fought like that?

Is he not a mage? No, wait. There are countless classes in Pan-On... Could he be a magic warrior? Since Pan-On had so many classes, there were indeed hybrid classes like magic warriors who attempted to engage in melee combat while casting spells. The magic warrior archetype ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was notoriously weak, and there weren't even any famous players who played it...

What's going on here? Alcott paused. It was a cautious move, though some might call it cowardly. However, it was precisely this personality trait that had allowed Alcott to thrive as a top-tier assassin. If something felt dangerous, stop!

It doesn't look like my stealth has been detected... Good. I'll observe the situation, prepare my skills, and strike all at once. If his opponent was a magic warrior, he couldn't just charge in carelessly as he would against a pure mage. He had to be fully prepared.

First, I'll prep my crowd-control combo to lock him down, apply some poison to boost the damage... If an assassin revealed themselves and unleashed their full combo but failed to finish the target, they would be the ones in grave danger. Thus, Alcott prepared meticulously. Meanwhile, the other guild members charged in, only to be taken down by the musket-bomb combo...

I don't know who this guy is, but now's my chance! Alcott's eyes gleamed as he lunged forward. While Tae-hyun was distracted talking, his back was completely exposed.

Got him...

Archisus's Curse!

In that split second, Tae-hyun spun around and unleashed his skill. Alcott saw it clearly—the mocking smirk playing on Tae-hyun's lips.

...? In that brief moment, dozens of thoughts raced through Alcott's mind.

Archisus? That name sounds incredibly familiar...

If it's Archisus's Curse, what kind of curse is it? Why isn't the description window popping up?

The answer came immediately.

The curse itself possessed no offensive capabilities, but the events that unfolded after being afflicted by it were horrific. It was a complete gift set of terrible luck!

A skill failure? I haven't failed a skill since I was a novice...! Alcott had never seen a notification saying he had poisoned himself due to a failure in handling poison. He thought only the clumsy fools featured in funny video compilations did things like that!

...Oh no! Seeing his stealth break snapped him back to reality. However, Tae-hyun didn't attack him. ...??

"Hey, stomp him," Tae-hyun said.

The orc warriors rushed over in a swarm!

"W-wait a minute...!" Alcott tried to fight back, but because so many of his skills had failed, the resulting penalties were no joke. He couldn't even move!

Thud, thwack, bam, bam, bam! Heavy, dull impacts echoed as Alcott fell to the ground and began to get thoroughly beaten by the orc warriors.

"N-no!"

"Chwik? Chwik! This is a human!"

"Chwik! A human was deceiving us! That's why he betrayed us!"

The enraged orcs let out furious roars. Tae-hyun clapped his hands, egging them on. "Exactly. Do you see now? I did all of this to root out the traitors."

"Chwik! The mage's schemes are so deep and terrifying!"

"Chwik! Indeed!"

The sole surviving guild member standing in the distance, frozen in indecision, locked eyes with Tae-hyun.

"..."

Tae-hyun curled his finger, gesturing for him to come over. The guild member approached cautiously.

"U-um, well..."

Thud! Thwack! Bam!

"What was it you said earlier?" Tae-hyun asked.

"W-well... I was just so angry earlier... and as you know, we did work incredibly hard, didn't we?" His attitude had become extremely polite!

"Incredibly hard? Did you do that for my benefit? It was for your own good. Did your Strength stat go up while doing that, or did it not?"

"..."

What kind of crazy bastard is this? the guild member thought, but he kept his mouth shut. He had already witnessed what happened to Alcott.

"It... did go up."

"Then you should be grateful. Why are you throwing a tantrum and trying to PK me? Huh? You were planning to camp my spawn point and kill me repeatedly, weren't you?"

"I-I don't think we ever said that..."

Thud! Thwack!

"Even if you didn't say it, you were definitely thinking it!"

...Did he overhear our whispers? The guild member looked panicked. He had no idea how Tae-hyun could have known.

Bam, bam, thud!

"Why is this taking so long? Is he still not dead?" Tae-hyun grumbled.

Even though Alcott was an assassin, he was a high-ranking player with incredibly good gear. As a result, despite the relentless beating from the orc warriors, he was still holding on to life.

"Chwik! This guy is too tough!"

"Chwik! Let's set him on fire! Since he can't move, it'll be easy to burn him!"

"No, you crazy bastards! Stop! I'll kill you!" Alcott struggled, but the orcs were merciless. Tae-hyun said indifferently,

"Hey, kill him quickly. My stats are draining."

"Chwik, understood!"

The only thing Alcott could do was talk. He cried out between blows, "Negotiation! Let's negotiate!"

"Sure, negotiation sounds great. I get what I want, and you get nothing. Isn't that a wonderful negotiation?"

"...?" Alcott froze for a second. This sounded incredibly familiar...

"K-K-Kim... Kim Tae-hyun!!!!!"

It was practically a shriek. Alcott screamed with an expression far more panicked and terrified than when he had been cursed. The surviving guild member was even more shocked by Alcott's reaction. He had never seen the assassin look so utterly terrified in his life!

"How did this guy figure it out? He didn't even notice when I cast the curse earlier..." Tae-hyun wondered. Why did he suddenly realize it now when he hadn't when the curse was applied?

"Hey, how did you know?" Tae-hyun asked.

"N-no... I saw your skill..."

"Isn't it a bit too late for that to be the reason?"

"N-no, really... I really figured it out because of your skill."

"Then why are you avoiding my gaze?"