This NPC Quits

Terranova.

These days, it was the virtual-reality sandbox RPG driving the whole country out of its mind.

And me. A nobody streamer with a measly five hundred subscribers, still dreaming of making it big someday.

"We're going a clean sixteen hours today."

The problem hit right after I wrapped that sixteen-hour Terranova marathon and passed out like I'd been clubbed.

When I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar wooden ceiling stared back at me.

"......?"

I lifted a hand. The wrist was so white and slender I couldn't believe it belonged to me. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Without thinking, I looked down.

Huh?

Two things that had never been there before had sprouted, large and unmistakable. And my precious junior was...

......AAAAAHHH!!! Give it back! Give it back, I said!

No sound came out. I turned to the mirror sitting beside me.

Some pretty girl with a shock of bright pink hair was blinking back at me. Blue eyes, cheeks plump and soft as rice cakes, and a general-store apron to finish the look. I knew that face from somewhere...

......Sera?

The general store clerk NPC from Floen Village, Terranova's beginner town. Not a crown prince. Not a hero. Not a mage. An NPC!

Wasn't the golden rule of possession stories that you became some overpowered munchkin who leveled up? Instead, Gu Minhyuk — a strapping twenty-something game streamer — had become, overnight, an otaku-bait pink-haired NPC.

What kind of game turns a VIP customer into a slave, for fuck's sake!

Ding-a-ling!

The shop door swung open, and someone stepped inside.

"Sera! Ten health potions, please!"

"Hey, Sera, where's my daily quest reward?!"

Players filed in one after another, and my mouth moved on its own.

"Welcome, Adventurer!"

Complete with the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bright little smile that came factory-installed. I was fucked. For real.

How many days had it been?

Fuck. I can't do this anymore.

The life of an NPC who bellowed "Welcome, Adventurer!" thousands of times a day, sold potions, and handed out quests was a genuinely pitiful thing. Unpaid labor, no less.

But the real problem was a handful of players who had clearly lost their minds.

"Sera, marry me."

The sight of him doing a courtship dance on top of the counter, of all places.

"Heehee, Adventurer, you do love a joke!"

Get lost. Please.

My insides were rotting, but my mouth wore a capitalist's smile. Wait — was it even a capitalist smile if I wasn't getting paid?

Anyway. That was exactly why those types kept crawling in. And as if that weren't enough:

The line outside the door stretched on without end.

Somebody help me! There's a person in here!

At this rate I'm going to die!

Day ten of forced NPC labor. The change arrived out of nowhere.

I was on shift at the general store, same as always. Some lunatic newbie who hadn't even finished the tutorial had grabbed the hem of my skirt, shaken me around demanding the main quest, and gotten chased off by the guards. I'd barely had time to breathe.

At this rate I'm actually going to snap and die of it.

I was drowning in that hollow, bone-deep fatigue when the next player asked,

"Sera, what's the best weapon around here?"

Ha. Another freeloader who hadn't done the tutorial properly...

The line that was supposed to come out was already written.

We don't carry those here, but if you visit the blacksmith...

Except that day.

"...?"

"Why are you asking me something you should ask the blacksmith?"

The voice in my head had simply come out of my mouth. The player recoiled, stumbling backward.

"I-it's a bug!"

He screamed and bolted.

Huh? Just now, my mouth...? Did it finally come loose...?

The lock had finally broken. Which left only one thing to do.

Escape!

In the dead hours of dawn, when the player count was at its lowest, I swept up everything I'd need for a new life and stuffed it into a backpack. Considering the overtime pay and severance I was owed, looting the entire shop wouldn't have been enough — but the bag was small.

I grabbed a pickaxe, started for the door, and hesitated.

I should at least leave a resignation, right?

I tore a sheet of paper from a corner of the shop and picked up a pen.

I opened the shop door and stepped out. A scruffy yellow village mutt NPC, the kind that wandered the square at dawn, trotted over with its tail wagging.

"Hey, Nureongi. I retired. Take care of yourself."

I gave his head a rough pat and started walking toward the woods behind the village. The destination was a stretch of deep mountain where players never set foot. I'd till a field, cook good food, and live however I damn well pleased.

Except—

Pat, pat, pat.

"......Why are you following me?"

I looked back. Nureongi was panting along at my heels.

"I don't have the bandwidth to take care of you, you know?"

I waved him off, shooing him back, but he just hung his tongue out and kept panting.

"Do whatever you want."

In the end I gave up on shaking him and headed for a deep mountain valley in the forest. The moment I crossed the village boundary, an alert popped up.

"Still beats working myself to death at the general store."

Nureongi ran on ahead.

Hiking in a skirt and heeled shoes was a little rough. I jumped a rock, caught the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hem, and went down.

"Kyaa!"

An adorably tiny scream popped out before I even hit the ground on my rear. Nureongi, apparently worried, came bounding back with a string of woofs.

"Hey. Pretend you didn't hear that."

I dusted off the skirt, slung the backpack on again, and started walking. On the way down the ridge, a cave opened up — not deep, mouth facing south, a stream nearby. Auspicious enough to count as a lucky spot, surely.

"An NPC who just scored her own south-facing house. I've made it."

I gathered branches to block the entrance and laid dry grass thick across the floor. I was spreading out the picnic mat I'd taken from the general store, about to lie down, when—

Boing!

Nureongi hopped up first and sprawled across it.

...That's my spot.

I shoved him. He didn't budge. If anything, he rolled onto his back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and offered up his belly.

"......"

I had no choice. I curled up beside him.

The next day. Country living, day one. Farmer life: commence.

Thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk!

I tore into the earth, working the soil into a proper field.

"Oh. Maybe I've got a knack for farming?"

Two hours of frantic pickaxe work, and not a single drop of sweat. I was still marveling at the unreal comfort of an NPC body when—

Thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk!

Nureongi, copying me, was digging hard with his front paws, carving out furrows of his own.

"......Not bad."

What had taken me two hours, he finished in ten minutes. Stealing my bed still made him a little punchable, but he was a capable slave... no. A companion.

I planted the seeds I'd brought from the general store along the furrows and watered them.

Fully grown in four days? That was an absolute steal. In the real world it would have taken months.

Wild strawberry vines sprawled all around the cave, so whenever I got hungry I picked a handful and ate. "These are insanely good." I tossed some to Nureongi, one at a time. Between the two of us, we demolished a whole basket.

I was back at the furrows, digging hard, when a thin electronic beep cut through the air and a wave of dizziness hit me.

Kssshhhk—

I looked up. An ugly red warning window was blinking in front of my face.

"Uh...?"

Because I'd only been eating strawberries? I set the pickaxe down and sat back against the cave wall.

...Come to think of it, have I even looked at my status window?

I'd been so busy since becoming an NPC that the thought hadn't even occurred to me.

"Status window!"

A transparent interface bloomed in front of my eyes.

"Wait...? At this rate I'm going to starve to death."

Cold sweat prickled as I rummaged through the menus, and then a tucked-away option caught my eye.

"......Huh? Why is this here?"

AkaTV. The platform I'd streamed on. It even supported converting in-game gold. My head started spinning.

Start a stream on Archmage Hyuk's channel → viewers show up → I ask for help → pick up donations and views while I'm at it.

"I might be a genius?"

There was, of course, one worry. How was I supposed to explain looking like Sera? Event skin? Cosplay? I'd wing it somehow. Getting immortalized as a cringe compilation was a little terrifying, but my subscribers might actually like this look more...?

With trembling hands I hit account link and typed in my ID.

"What? That's impossible...?"

I checked for typos and entered it again, character by character.

"It's gone?? No — why!?"

My channel. My small, precious channel had vanished into thin air.

"......Ha."

Well. What was I supposed to do? I could hold the funeral after I survived. Living came first.

Terranova NPC Sera's Escape Stream

A system camera lifted into the air, and a transparent chat window opened.

"Hellooo..."

Ten minutes passed. Nobody came in. Fair enough. Who was going to watch a brand-new, bottom-tier nobody stream?

Please. Just one person. I'll take anyone.

Then the number changed.

They're here!

"Welcome. You've come to the right place. This is Sera's Escape Stream."

I set the strawberry basket on my lap.

"As you can see, currently in the middle of a strawberry mukbang."

"It's not clickbait. I really am Sera."

And then they left.

"...That's seriously too much."

The world was cruel to nobody streamers. But ten minutes later, that same viewer came back with a community gallery link attached...

Huh?

The viewer count was climbing. Fast.