Trapped in a Cursed Game, But Now with NPCs

 

 

<Save The Earth 308>

 

This game was surprisingly the most well-designed MMORPG among the existing virtual reality games, with an outstanding rendering system.

 

Anyone with a VR device could personally witness and experience a fantastic fantasy world, slay lifelike monsters, and become a mighty adventurer.

 

Moreover, most of the characters and monsters were equipped with AI.

 

As a result, it wasn’t simply about completing quests or leveling up; players had to adapt to numerous variations and follow the story accordingly.

 

Even as someone who had played quite a few RPG games, I was amazed when I first tried the demo.

 

‘This… is going to make a lot of people go crazy.’

 

The game’s story wasn’t much different from the typical Hero’s journey.

 

The player falls into this world and helps the protagonist kill monsters, gather allies, and save the world from destruction.

 

Although having a separate protagonist in the game was somewhat unique.

 

Anyway, whether the player became the Hero or not, getting sucked into the endless quest hell was inevitable, so it wasn’t that special.

 

What made this game stand out was its impeccable virtual reality implementation system.

 

The world that unfolded before your eyes was incredibly intricate and vivid.

 

From the landscapes, people, and the monsters you had to defeat, to even a passing bird…

 

It was so realistic that it was hard to distinguish from reality.

 

Furthermore, the game’s time passed much faster than real-time, which added to the enthusiasm of the players.

 

Even if you lived to your heart’s content in the game for half a year, only six hours would have passed in reality. How efficient was that?

 

‘It feels like I was just raising my ⁽¹⁾Tamago-X yesterday…’

 

I was constantly amazed by how much the gaming industry had advanced.

 

However, applying artificial intelligence to all characters as well was a bit of a stretch, considering the virtual reality system itself was already groundbreaking.

 

It had quite enormous production costs and massive advertising campaigns.

 

Despite releasing the beta version with high expectations from many people, the servers crashed daily, and bugs were rampant.

 

It wasn’t even released to everyone; it was only distributed to a select few hundred players who were chosen based on strict criteria.

 

Moreover, the difficulty level was hellish, and even among those chosen few, nobody had reached the ending.

 

As a result, “Save The Earth 308” remained an unreleased game with only rumors surrounding it.

 

⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋

   —  Emergency! Error detected.
We are restricting the usage of the 308
beta version for urgent system
maintenance. We request the
responsible personnel for
that area to review the
content and make the
necessary corrections.

⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋⚋

 

“No, why is another error occurring again in less than 12 hours after releasing a new version?!”

 

Having finally been freed from overtime, I reluctantly launched the infuriating game in response to the urgent summons from headquarters.

 

That’s right. I was a member of the operations team for the game ‘Save The Earth’.

 

Being part of the operations team wasn’t a particularly impressive job.

 

I simply dealt with scenarios, quests, and character checks when bugs occurred, as well as handling the countless customer complaints.

 

Most of the bugs were caused by those damned AI characters.

 

The players would die or not advance to the next scenario because of some unimportant extra, and the complaints would pour in every time.

 

“Sigh… When I joined, it was in the 200s, and now it’s already in the 300s…”

 

The number following the game title indicated the number of bug fixes.

 

This crazy game had already gone through 307 upgrade versions and reached the 308th.

 

‘These stubborn humans.’

 

Despite the repeated bugs, I marveled at the executives who continued to pour money into the game without giving up. Powerlessly, I reached for the VR device.

 

‘If you’re a low-end employee, then you’ll have to do it. What else can I do?”

 

Having used it so much that the fixed mechanism had worn out and become loose, I placed the device on my head, and immediately, a familiar start screen appeared along with a message.

 

   「 Operations Helper ID SARI_SSS verified. 」

 

「 Entering Save The Earth. 」

 

I think I may have been unconsciously attached to the game, because even though I have been seeing the same scene repeatedly after joining the company…

 

Every time I saw the scenery of the world that appeared along with the majestic BGM, my heart would flutter.

 

I used to laugh at the players who were obsessed with living in a virtual world.

 

But it suddenly occurred to me that maybe I was the one who had forgotten reality and immersed myself the most.

 

  「 Welcome back to the Zenith Continent, sari_sss. 」

「 You have 01 new messages. Would you like to check the message? 」

 

 
While waiting for the server connection, a system alarm appeared as if saying it had been waiting.

 

Even without looking, it was obvious that it was about a bug.

 

To some, it might be just a game, but to me, it was reality, so I immediately checked the message.

 

  「― Error Report: Bug found with the NPC Apothecary in Dover Village,
located in the northern Count Hailey’s territory.」

「― Error Details: Infinite distribution of potions and items.
Please verify and make necessary code modifications.」

 
“…What the hell? Isn’t this the NPC I made?”

 

As I reviewed the content, my eyes widened.

 

The error occurred with a character I had created not too long ago.

 

Although the Operator Helper couldn’t be involved in the main scenario, I could make minor adjustments to quests and NPC characters depending on the bug.

 

It was possible since it was still the beta version.

 

The gloomy NPC wearing a shabby robe, an NPC-only costume, was a character I created a while ago.

 

By the way, this game had an incredibly well-made character customization system to encourage in-game purchases.

 

In addition, I was an operator, so I was able to test it out to my heart’s content.

 

‘What does a trial version mean?’

 

It means it’s free!

 

Being someone who was more excited about customization than actual gameplay, I enthusiastically adorned my avatar.

 

And thus, I brought forth an extraordinary character.

 

‘It’s so pretty.’

 

When I completed character creation, I stared at a woman with a mesmerizing face that felt so real, as if she were actually alive.

 

She had cute features and lovely light pink hair.

 

She also had clear, violet eyes that seemed to be made of transparent amethysts.

 

‘She’s a masterpiece. If there is a contest, she would undoubtedly take first place. I can’t let it go to waste in my inventory!’

 

To widely publicize this insane beauty, I set her as the main scenario NPC that all players must encounter at the beginning.

 

As an operator, I could enjoy the game to some extent, make money on the side, and show off my customization to everyone.

 

In other words, it was killing three birds with one stone.

 

However, it wasn’t long before frustrating things started to happen.

 

Players who saw my character and stupid AI beings kept pestering me.

 

Furthermore, since the game had not been officially released and players couldn’t make in-game purchases, there were some who imitated my customization using the “Limited-time Plastic Surgery Voucher” given as occasional quest rewards.

 

‘There’s a person behind the NPC, you idiots!’

 

After blocking the player who made a harassing remark about my character for the eighth time, I had no choice but to move the character to a rare location that players rarely visit.

 

However, I couldn’t give up on the NPC settings.

 

In preparation for the full release, I decided to save everything that could be saved.

 

Therefore, even if the NPC was replaced, I would still have a significant amount of in-game currency that I had hoarded without spending real money.

 

For this purpose, [Dover Village] was the perfect place.

 

It was a village that only appeared briefly in the tutorial, and since there were no main quests, there was technically only one NPC in the area.

 

However, it was impossible for me to block every stupid AI and occasional player who made their way to this corner.

 

With tears streaming down my face, I dressed my precious little one in an NPC-only costume, the Shabby Robe.

 

Her name was Haya, a top-ranked beauty living in seclusion in a rural village due to unavoidable circumstances…

 

‘The settings are perfect.’

 

Settled in the Dover Village, I crafted high-end items to my heart’s content, sold them for more than the market price, and made a nice little living.

 

If players found out about this and accused me of unfair advantages, it would be a big problem, but…

 

‘It’s not like I’m embezzling real money, so what’s the harm? It’s not like I’m using this to defeat bosses either…’

 

That’s how I secretly accumulated quite a bit of game currency.

 

Fortunately, there were hardly any players who revisited the village mentioned briefly in the tutorial, and it wasn’t a place where the main scenario unfolded, so I could avoid getting caught by anyone.

 

Just to be safe, I made sure that the NPC fulfilled its role properly when I was away.

 

So…

 

“Infinite distribution? This is crazy! My money!”

 

For someone like me, who was obsessively collecting in-game currency in secrecy, this was an unimaginable bug.

 

‘I’m sure everything was fine until yesterday, so why?’

 

I couldn’t understand.

 

But the important thing was that at this very moment, my precious potions were leaking like water, one after another.

 

  「 Do you want to connect to the server as [Shari Azrael]? 」

 

Anyway, in order to fix the bug, I needed to understand the situation accurately.

 

I quickly logged in as the problematic character.

 

  「 Caution. Prolonged gaming can harm your mental health and have a negative impact on daily life… 」

 

As the warning message appeared, a dizzying sensation engulfed me, as if my consciousness was being sucked away somewhere.

 

It was a phenomenon that occurred when players synchronized their brain waves with the VR device to perceive the virtual reality as reality. Once the connection was complete, the sensation quickly disappeared.

 

It was a bit scary at first because it felt like my mind was being transported somewhere while my body remained the same.

 

But now, it wasn’t something I hadn’t experienced once or twice.

 

I relaxed my mind and immersed myself in the virtual reality.

 

And then…

 

“Disconnect!”

 

  「We are currently unable to disconnect you due to an unknown error.」

 

“…Fuck.”

 

When I regained my senses, I realized that I had become Shari Azrael, the apothecary of Dover Village, for the past two years in the game.

 

 

 

[Collection of Footnotes]

1) “Tamago-X”

– Tamago-X is one of the pets in Tamagotchi, a handheld digital pet that was created in Japan. It was one of the biggest toy fads of the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Have you ever played one? 💖

 

 

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