The stench of rotting corpses and the reek of blood permeated the air.
Sure enough, Players’ bodies lay scattered throughout the village hall—across the kitchen, the stairs, beside the windows, and against the walls.
I was the one responsible for this horrific scene.
‘The first time is always the hardest.’
This was already the third time I had done it.
By now, luring the packs of feral dogs that Respawned in the mountains every ten minutes into the village hall was not particularly difficult.
“……Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue and approached the Players’ corpses.
They had died after scattering all manner of Items around them, resembling plants desperately spreading their seeds to ensure the survival of their species.
Perhaps that was why the word ‘Item’ had been coined in the first place.
In any case, I touched each of the items scattered across the floor with my finger.
The Items broke apart into tiny squares called Pixels and began being drawn into the Inventory.
At that moment, a black screen abruptly appeared before me and muttered.
[What you just did is known as Item Farming.]
“How many times do I have to tell you not to speak to me as though we’re friendly?”
[You were the one who said you did not wish to remain an ignorant fool.]
“……What does Farming mean?”
[Agriculture.]
Then was I harvesting Players right now?
Between that and the Items, the Administration seemed to regard Players as some kind of plant.
‘Then I suppose those three would be poisonous weeds.’
My gaze turned toward the last three people who had died.
Unlike the other Players, they had been stripped completely bare except for their underwear and underclothes, yet not a single Item had fallen around them.
The Items had not vanished.
Everything they had been wearing or storing within their Inventories was already sitting inside my Inventory as though it naturally belonged there.
Listing every single Item would have made my mouth ache, so I would omit that part.
What mattered was that the three corpses reflected in my pupils—
[All three are your kind.]
—were Red Players.
[Their time in Amuse Online ended the moment they encountered you.]
“What do you mean, ended? You said they would Respawn after a certain amount of time, just like Monsters and NPCs.”
[I was referring to ordinary Players. The instant a Red Player dies even once, all of their data is permanently erased. They can never connect to Amuse Online again.]
“I see.”
Grid examined my complexion.
[You failed to understand. I am saying that the moment you die, you will be erased.]
“So what? It isn’t much different from before.”
Before I was a Player, I was an NPC.
If I died once, my soul would be erased.
Even without committing any crimes, we were forced to live under harsher conditions than Red Players.
‘……I should stop thinking about it.’
It would only make me feel more miserable.
“Show me the screen that appeared earlier.”
Grid stared at me for a moment before complying with my request.
【Average Contribution: 85.3%…… Excellent. A truly excellent victory!】
【Calculating Kill EXP.】
【EXP +91,812】
【Lv UP!】
【Lv UP!】
【Lv UP!】
【Lv UP!】
【Lv UP!】
【Lv UP!】
【Lv UP!】
【Lv UP!】
【You have reached Lv 33!】
【HP and MP have been fully restored.】
【EXP Progress: 37.9%】
I had not seen it incorrectly.
Killing a mere three Red Players had raised my Level by eight stages.
‘……Isn’t this difference far too extreme?’
Before reaching the village hall, I had personally slaughtered a pack of more than a dozen feral dogs in the mountains.
My Level had not risen even once.
Even when combined, I thought they had only given me approximately 1,000 EXP.
Later, I found a wounded regular Player whimpering nearby and beat him to death with my staff, but my Level still did not rise.
That had probably given me approximately 3,800 EXP.
Most importantly, whether I killed Pitch-Black Fangs or Players, they hardly ever dropped any Items.
Even when they did, the Items were worthless pieces of garbage I would not have accepted for free.
‘Red Players scattered valuable-looking Items everywhere in almost excessive quantities.’
What was the reason for this disparity……?
Could it be?
“It feels as though the Administration is encouraging everyone to kill Red Players. Am I imagining it?”
Grid smiled faintly.
[You have seen through it.]
“……Then what about regular Players? They can’t attack Red Players, can they? The moment they do, they’ll become Red Players themselves.”
[That situation is an exception. Killing a Red Player carries no Penalty whatsoever.]
“What is a Penalty?”
[A discreet disadvantage.]
Perhaps it was short for ‘I’ll beat you without making it obvious.’
“You’re saying that anyone can kill a Red Player, correct?”
[I do not wish to repeat myself.]
“No, then…….”
The scattered fragments in my mind fell into place.
Before I stormed the village hall, Grid had warned me dozens of times not to kill regular Players openly.
They had also repeated until my ears nearly burst that I had to conceal the fact that I was a Red Player at all costs.
I finally understood why.
‘Red Players aren’t merely hunters.’
A Red Player was both a hunter and the most tempting prey imaginable.
Even Red Players would inevitably target their own kind.
I had personally experienced that the fastest way for a Red Player to grow was to kill other Red Players.
Grid spoke at that moment.
[I find my siblings’ base production revolting, but I approve of how they treat Red Players. It is almost worthy of applause.]
“Do you find this amusing?”
[The ‘Red Ones’ have always been persecuted within Amuse. They are faithfully continuing that history. How could I not find it entertaining?]
“The Red Ones?”
[You will learn naturally when the time comes.]
“In any case, the Administration is persecuting Red Players.”
Grid confirmed it with silence.
“Then…….”
I pointed the end of my staff toward the second-floor railing.
“Are those people acting like that because I’m a Red Player too?”
The residents of Arche were clustered together behind the second-floor railing.
Even though I had removed my hood, none of them welcomed me. Every one of them wore a terrified expression.
The fisherman was shouting at me to leave immediately, while a girl around my age collapsed when our eyes met because the strength had left her legs.
The married couple known for their cooking tightly gripped kitchen utensils in both hands, adopting stances as though they might attack at any moment.
The farmer renowned for his diligence seemed to have lost his mind. He stared straight through me while clutching a stone.
They looked ready to punish me severely the instant I did anything suspicious.
[Most likely.]
“Don’t say ‘most likely.’ You said Character Profiles aren’t forcibly applied when only NPCs are present.”
Even if I wore the guise of a Red Player, I was still fundamentally an NPC.
I was the old man’s foremost apprentice and an Apothecary of Arche.
Unless another Player was present in the same location, the other NPCs had no reason to persecute or fear me.
That was especially true for the people of Arche.
Clinging to even the faintest hope, I raised my voice so everyone could hear.
“Are all of you acting like this because I killed these people?! Did I frighten you because I’m treating the corpses too casually? Is that it?!”
I spoke while tapping the corpses with my staff.
“You might not know this, but a Player’s real body exists somewhere else called Earth! You can think of the bodies here as something like puppets! I also heard that the regular Players among them will come back to life after enough time passes. They call it Respawning…… In any case, I’m not a murderer! No, fuck, even if I am, so what?! Every one of you must have suffered something at a Player’s hands, haven’t you?! I’m allowed to do this much!”
There was still no response.
“Ah…… Is this because of my Character Profile?! This is…… something like a System error. It says, ‘He is a talented Apothecary Player!’ but I haven’t truly become a Player! I’m still Akkun, the man who was born and raised in Arche and learned Apothecary Crafting under that old man Golden. Please don’t misunderstand!”
Even after I spoke to them several more times, their wary reactions did not change.
“Could you possibly be upset because I poured liquor over you?! That was a misunderstanding too! There’s an herb that feral dogs despise so much that they refuse to approach it. I mixed a concentrate made from that herb into the liquor before pouring it on you! That was the only way to stop those feral dogs from attacking all of you…….”
After explaining this much, it should have been time for them to resolve the misunderstanding.
Yet none of them moved.
“……Please.”
A familiar voice brushed past my ears.
The Village Chief was slowly descending the stairs.
His voice became clearer as he approached.
“Do not cause any more disturbances. Please leave our village.”
Those were the worst words I could have heard.
I swallowed the voice threatening to burst from my throat and looked toward the railing.
They looked at me anxiously, as though they had done something wrong.
Although it was not particularly cold, some were trembling from head to toe.
“……So that’s what happened.”
I explained everything.
I had cleared up every misunderstanding.
If they still feared me and regarded me as an enemy after hearing all of that, there could be only one reason.
‘They’re already dead.’
Because I had altered my Character Profile, they probably could no longer recognize me as Akkun.
There was no other possible answer.
I accepted the fact calmly…… No. Looking at myself again, I could not claim I had accepted it calmly.
DING, DING, DING-
Mental Fortitude Adjustment messages were appearing noisily.
At the moment, the System was merely controlling my emotions—
THUD!
Something struck my head, and something crimson and sticky streamed down my forehead.
It was a red fruit or vegetable.
Eggs, stones, spatulas, and other objects immediately followed, striking my head, shoulders, and arms with repeated THUDS.
It did not hurt.
What truly hurt was something else.
“I told you to leave our village!”
“Get out! Get oooooout!”
“Leave our villaaaaaage!”
It was difficult to listen to their voices.
At that moment, the Village Chief raised one hand, and the noisy barrage of objects stopped.
“No one in Arche welcomes you.”
I had never known that an old man could speak in such a cold and heavy voice.
“Please leave.”
“……I suppose I should.”
Despite the Mental Fortitude Adjustment, my voice was trembling.
I did not want to accept that none of them remembered me.
But it was the reality before my eyes.
‘My master is dead.’
The Village Chief was dead too.
The fisherman was dead, and so was the girl my age who had been famous for her sewing.
The married couple renowned for their cooking was dead.
The diligent farmers who had cultivated wheat were dead too.
They were all dead.
What did I have left now?
[Nothing.]
Every resident of Arche had been reduced to a puppet that moved according to a Character Profile.
Every human figure screaming at me now was merely an NPC, not one of the residents of Arche I had known.
[Arche is a confined place. It would be stranger if only a few of them remained alive.]
As Grid said, Arche was an isolated village at the farthest edge of the Eastern Continent.
Either all of them were dead, or all of them were alive.
There could be no middle ground.
Grid spoke.
[Do you still wish to remain in the village?]
“……Be quiet for a moment.”
[I will explain the reality of the situation. Arche lies a considerable distance from other regions. Furthermore, the Monsters that appear here are only Level 17. It is unsuitable as a hunting ground.]
In other words, Players had no reason to visit.
[It is also unsuitable as a hunting ground for you.]
Because I needed to hunt Players.
[You managed to hunt several Red Players this time, but do not expect the same fortune again. If you remain buried in this remote corner, you will not reach Rank 1 even after several decades.]
Grid delivered their conclusion.
[Leave for a wider world. If you are reluctant to abandon Arche’s residents, I can also create a justification that will force you to leave this place.]
‘No. That’s enough.’
There was no need to accept their help.
I looked at the Village Chief and the residents once more.
Some were breathing heavily with anger, while others sent cold gazes toward me.
“I’m saying this just in case any of you are still listening from inside. Listen carefully.”
“We don’t want to hear anything! Get out!”
“You all know what a foul temper I have, don’t you? I’ll remember every humiliation you inflicted upon me today.”
Regardless of what I said, the residents grew even more agitated and hurled sharper curses.
It did not matter.
They were merely NPCs making noise.
“Let me make one thing clear. I’m leaving because I’m angry, not because I’m frightened and running away. You haven’t defeated me. Don’t misunderstand.”
I looked around.
The packs of feral dogs and the Players’ corpses were turning into Pixels and scattering through the air.
After enough time passed, they would all return as though nothing had happened.
Amuse had become a world where even death was controlled.
For now, at least.
“If you keep waiting here like idiots, one day all of you will have to bow before me. You’ll have to mutter, ‘We’re sorry,’ and ‘Thank you.’ Do you understand?”
No one understood, but I crossed the first floor without hesitation and stopped before the noticeboard attached to one wall.
It displayed portraits of Players.
There were six in total.
[They are wanted criminals.]
Those who had caused disturbances in Arche.
Those who had earned the hostility of Arche’s NPCs.
In other words, the people who had murdered the residents.
Among them were the faces of Yes, I’m a Necromancer and BONBIN, but both portraits had already been crossed out.
It meant they had been hunted down.
‘Not the others.’
The rest were still alive.
I had to kill all of them.
I tore down the four remaining wanted posters, placed them inside the Inventory, and headed toward the hall’s door.
“Wait for me. I’ll poison every wanted criminal, Ranker, and member of the Administration before I return.”
With those final words—
BOOOOM!
I left the village hall.
The brilliant morning sun had already risen.
With my back to the sun, I walked quickly toward the mountain behind the village.
It was closer to running away than walking.
I had put on every show of strength I could manage, but in truth, watching the residents like that had been unbearable.
I felt as though I would collapse if I saw them again right now.
For the same reason, I did not turn around.
I gave no answer.
I did not stop by the workshop or check on any of the other NPCs.
Instead, I quickened my pace, followed the mountain ridge, and swiftly left the village behind.
‘It’s better that all of them are dead.’
I had no lingering attachment left.
My objective had become clearer.
The fate of Arche’s residents depended upon me.
I alone could save them and change everything.
I knew of an ingredient capable of doing so.
[I have selected our destination.]
“Guide me there immediately.”
I crossed the mountain and left the village.
It was my first journey beyond Arche in twenty-five years.
* * *
Three months passed.