That Weird NPC I Met Earlier?
...I said I was heading outside the Tower... but that didn't mean going out into the real world.
It was outside, sure, but not the outside. More like a discarded space sandwiched between the Tower and the outside world.
A place even the System didn't know about. The Tower might seem perfect and flawless, but honestly, it had its glitches. My very existence proved that.
I'd died as a climber and been resurrected as an NPC. If something like that could happen, could the Tower really be a perfect, error-free system?
Not a chance.
There were so-called irregulars in the Tower. Ones who'd slipped free from its bindings, just a little.
Such beings existed.
I'd discovered one purely by accident. Back when I had no clue about the gallery or anything, wandering the city as a freshly reborn NPC.
I spotted some off-kilter NPC darting away fast. Without thinking, I chased it... and that flipped my NPC life upside down.
In all sorts of ways, really.
"Put the doll here."
I placed the doll on the bed. It was a glitch item I'd made—modeled after me, with my hair. Even if I vanished, the System wouldn't register it as long as this was there.
Tricking the System with it only lasted less than half a day, though. I had to be back before midnight at the latest.
"Alright, prep's done."
I wrapped myself in a robe as much as possible to avoid recognition by other NPCs. On the System's end, I was still in bed—if another NPC spotted me wandering, it might tip off the System.
I hunched my back a bit and slumped my shoulders. Completely shrouded in shadow, I stepped outside.
NPCs stuck to well-lit areas. Being visible to climbers was the goal—get noticed, maybe even chat once. Some lived for that.
On the flip side, no NPC wandered dark spots. Meet a climber in the shadows? Nine times out of ten, you just die.
NPCs aimed to serve climbers, but meaningless deaths? No thanks. To avoid misunderstandings, steer clear of the dark.
Quests or assigned spots aside, no one went there. Stick to shadows, avoid NPCs entirely.
The wildcard? Climbers were inside right now. But they were busy with quests—perfect timing.
I slipped through sunless paths, quiet as could be. A pre-planned route.
NPC patrol ranges, sightlines—all mapped out. Deviate even a little, and detection risk skyrockets.
Step by step, shadow to shadow in sequence, I reached my target: the back alley.
A dead-end with nothing around. Most NPCs didn't even know it existed.
I double-checked: empty. Good.
Tap. Tap-tap. Tap-tap.
I knocked the signal on the bricks.
A beat of silence, then a voice from behind the wall.
"...Password."
"Tower's a piece of... damn, can't swear. Tower trash."
"Come in."
Grrruk. Bricks shifted; the wall parted.
A blank, colorless void. I stepped in.
The moment I did, it transformed into something else entirely.
A warehouse crammed with things from worlds unknown. Trash heap? Cleaner than that. An organized junkyard, maybe.
From the jumble stepped a figure.
"Welcome, Reina. Long time no see."
"...Yeah, long time. Rohan."
I shed the robe as I spoke. Rohan. Tower's irregular NPC. The grotesque hunchback the Tower made—the first to defy his fate.
I met the eyes of the hunched man, face half-crumbled, barely able to walk. But freer than anyone.
"Talked like you'd never come back, yet here you are. Banned from the gallery or something?"
Rohan casually pulled a kettle from the trash pile.
"Nah. Climbers entered the Tower."
Clunk. His hand froze mid-reach for tea leaves.
"Really? Here to hide, then..."
"No! Layer quest's just starting—plenty of time."
I backpedaled fast. Tower was fine. No real danger yet.
"Then why?"
"...Got a tricky problem."
I pulled a chair from a trash-wall—it looked intact. Sat, and vented.
"Tower gave me a hidden quest. Fix this."
I took the broken bow from inventory.
"Elf Queen's Bow, huh."
"How'd you know without appraising it?"
"Got about ten around here."
He said it like no big deal. That thing's rare as hell.
"Climbers would freak if they knew."
S-rank weapons stacked up? Word gets out, moths to flame. Horrifying.
"Fixing it needs multiple launderings—headache."
He paused pouring tea, opened a nearby box. Sudden new items might ping the Tower, so disguise as Tower-spawned.
"Help a girl out. You know what happens if I fail a hidden quest."
"Oh, I know. Tower punishes NPCs who betray expectations."
He fished something from the box.
"World Tree branch. Snagged a few from a collapsing Tower days back."
"Whoa. How'd you snag 'em mid-collapse?"
"Easy from intact Towers—collapsing ones? Piece of cake."
He wheezed a creepy laugh.
"Problem."
Laugh cut off; he stared.
"What?"
"Elves in your Tower?"
"Nope. None."
No like that. I'd wandered everywhere.
"World Tree branches only exist in Towers with elves."
"Uh... so."
"No elves, can't insert the branch."
"Then what?"
"Can't fix it. Sorry."
Damn. Major snag.
I scratched my head.
"Half-ass it, take partial rewards. Penalty sucks, but no death."
Practical as ever. Honestly, right call. Perfect fixes? Dream on.
If even he said impossible...
"Rewards are too good to half-ass."
Gallery posting rights. Crafting skill level-up. No idea on the skill thing, but posting access? Gold.
Miss this, who knows next chance.
"What're the rewards?"
"Gallery write access and crafting skill level-up."
"...Level-up?"
He froze again.
"...What? Issue?"
"Big issue."
He eyed me hard.
"NPCs can't level up. Only climbers."
"...Huh?"
"What are you, exactly?"
His gaze sharpened.
...
Choi Mi-na had called Choi Kang-hyuk. To share today's finds.
"You came."
"Yeah."
Choi Kang-hyuk stayed curt as ever.
"Got a few intel bits."
She opened the gallery, recited facts.
"Loves snacks. Probably an NPC who can mass-produce potions."
"...That's it?"
"One more."
She mentioned the hidden quest.
"Reina's a hidden quest NPC, looks like."
"Hidden quest?"
"Yeah. Offered to fix my bow."
She hadn't believed it possible. World Tree branch? Forget getting one— no NPC could repair a broken item bow anyway.
Modern smiths made bows, sure. But item repair? No.
"...Getting more important by the minute."
"Yeah, ridiculously so."
Potion and item crafting. Item repair? Insane.
"Always wished for an NPC like that. Now one's real? Headache."
Announce it? Or not? Tricky.
"Tough spot."
"Eh... we'll manage. Grandpa Park'll figure it."
"Oh. Speaking of—"
"What?"
"Tower break outside."
"What...?"
Choi Mi-na's eyes went wide.