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― [GM Ari] : If you look in your progress log, there should be an
autosaved highlight video, Shari!
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I immediately opened my progress log after hearing those words.
Since my character was an NPC unrelated to the game progress, there weren’t any notable highlights.
“Peace and tolerance are the symbols of [Dover Village]. Please be lenient even to the sinners, Hero.”
It was just the same video of me handing out 15 potions to players doing the tutorial while uttering such scripted lines.
So, I rarely looked at the progress log.
However, at the top of the opened progress log, there was an updated highlight video that I had never seen before.
「 ~ Tutorial Complete! ~ You stopped [The Lord of Nightmares]… 」
「 ~ First Quest Achieved!~ You have defeated 100 intermediate monsters…」
“W-what is this?”
I looked at them with trembling eyes and quickly played the tutorial video.
It didn’t look much different from the other players’ highlight videos.
The naked [Lord of Nightmares] was trapped in an iron cage and was being escorted by the soldiers.
Several villagers who had gathered to watch spat insults at him and threw stones.
Usually, at that point, disguised players would stab their weapons through the iron bars or notice me, an NPC marked with a [!], and acquire a potion bottle to throw it at him.
But if there was something different in my highlight…
“He’s so handsome. What grave sin did he commit to deserve this…?”
“It’s not that kind of handsome, but a bunch of scoundrels like Jack should be sitting there instead and get hit by stones. Oops, what am I saying…?!”
I saw my crazed past self muttering to herself at the sight of a handsome, bleeding man getting stoned. Then, my past self hastily shut up.
“Shari! Shari! Where did that woman go after closing the apothecary?”
“Damn it! A terrible criminal has arrived in the capital! She should at least have given potions to our village’s valiant heroes who protect us before closing her shop!”
That’s when it happened. Just as they say, the tiger comes when you mention it.
Breaking through the crowd gathered to watch the prisoner, a group of heroes was looking for me.
In the video, I discovered them with a completely battered face and quickly searched my pocket, as if I had made up my mind.
My thoughts were obvious from my resolute expression.
‘Rather than giving it to those bastards…’
Whoosh, clang―!
Secretly, but swiftly and accurately, I threw a potion bottle from the gap between the people throwing stones at the prisoner.
And perhaps realizing something was different, [The Lord of Nightmares] spotted me among the crowd.
With his chilling, crimson eyes fixed on me, the video ended.
“I… I went crazy.”
Tearing my hair out with both hands, I shed bloody tears over the atrocities of the past that I had completely forgotten about.
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― [GM Ari] : As far as I know, you have never thrown a potion bottle
yourself, but why did you do it a while ago? ㅠㅠ
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The GMs seemed curious about my behavior, but I had no words to say.
I couldn’t bring myself to say that I’d been so absorbed in the game that I’d lost my mind.
“Is there any way to… not play the game?”
I asked with a voice that sounded worn out, like a person who had aged ten years.
“I’m just an NPC. I didn’t even know it was a quest because the quest window didn’t pop up…!”
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― [GM Ari] : Unfortunately, [The Lord of Nightmares] has recognized you,
Shari, and a disaster is about to occur soon.
― [GM Ari] : If you don’t stop it soon, [Dover Village] will disappear!
― [GM Sera] : You are an ★Immortal NPC☆, so you won’t die, but if
the automatic summoning point disappears, there will be a significant
penalty for health recovery.
― [GM Jinu] : Yeah, it’s true. We’ll let you know about quests
you don’t know.
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In the chat window that followed, my eyes became dark.
I was just an ordinary citizen who loved games but wasn’t particularly good at them.
However, I found myself unexpectedly tackling a highest-difficulty game with no room for error.
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― [GM Ari] : According to the game, the day of disaster
is only three days away!
― [GM Ari] : The shortest recorded time to reach the final boss of the game,
[Ancient Demonic Dragon], is eight hours in real-time.
― [GM Ari] : Perhaps Shari could be the first player to reach the ending in
just 8 hours…!
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“Don’t give me that false encouragement!”
8 hours? It was an impossible feat.
But even as I protested, they argued that 8 hours was better than 48 hours.
I despised myself for hurriedly moving to the quest location.
– ̗̀ ˚ ·* ༊*·˚ ˊˎ–
「 ~ Main Quest!~ [Count Hailey’s Territory], where
[The Lord of Nightmares] is exiled. 」
「 Keep [The Lord of Nightmares] from falling asleep to prevent
disaster and stop [Count Hailey] from being corrupted by evil energy. 」
– ̗̀ ˚ ·* ༊*·˚ ˊˎ–
“Annihilation.”
“Kiiiieeeeek―!”
「 You have obtained 100 [Screams of Latania Forest]. 」
「 You have obtained 100 [Demon Seeds]. 」
「 You have crafted 100 [Insomnia-Inducing Awakening Potions]! 」
“Phew…”
I finished preparing for the quest in the field near [Count Hailey’s Manor].
When I heard that there were only three days left until the catastrophe arrived, I felt nervous.
Fortunately, I was a capable NPC, and the game was still in the very early stages, so it should be relatively easy.
Moreover, what I was doing now was just a simple grind of hunting monsters and collecting materials to create a specific potion.
‘No, I can’t say it’s easy. It’s a crazy game…’
All of this was just preparation for the upcoming main quest.
Most people who start a new game are filled with excitement and a bit of arrogance.
Of course, I was no exception.
After all, the beginning of any RPG game is usually a piece of cake.
There wouldn’t be any quests that kills the players dozens of times right from the start, would there be?
‘The players won’t drop like flies, and the developers must have some consideration…’ I thought to myself.
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― [GM Sera] : Indeed, as an apothecary NPC, potion crafting seems to be
quick for you! The average completion time for this quest is 1 hour,
but you finished it in just 10 minutes!
― [GM Jinu] : New record, congrats.
― [GM Ari] : As expected, Shari. You tore through the field.
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I glanced coldly at the game masters and then asked.
“Did you disable the apothecary NPC here?”
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― [GM Ari] : Yes, of course! You can go straight to the castle.
― [GM Ari] : To avoid disrupting gameplay, the chat window will now switch
to auto-close mode unless Shari opens it.
― [GM Ari] : It’s a shame. ㅠㅠ
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‘Good to hear.’
It was because no matter how much I turned off the chat window, those annoying spectators kept making comments as if they were some kind of audience.
Having completed all preparations, I quickly used the teleport scroll to move to the entrance of [Count Hailey’s Manor], where [The Lord of Nightmares] was exiled.
Then, wearing a deeply shabby robe, I approached the soldier guarding the manor’s gate.
“Who goes there?!”
“I heard that you were looking for an apothecary, so I came.”
The soldiers quickly moved and reported my arrival.
There were no special identity verification procedures, so passing through the mansion was easy.
Thanks to Ari, who used their GM authority to disable the apothecary NPC in this area, there was no other apothecary nearby except me.
I cursed the incompetent developers, but I couldn’t help feeling strange knowing that they could be of help sometimes.
“Are you the apothecary who came to see the Count?”
As I followed one of the soldiers into the castle, a man named [Aide Bill Kendrick] came out to greet me.
With a dignified and sharp appearance, he scanned me from top to bottom with an arrogant attitude before abruptly turning around.
“Follow me.”
‘Was this character supposed to be like this?’
I knew he existed, but he wasn’t a major character.
As an operator, I couldn’t know everything about the game.
Especially for someone like me, who had little interest in gameplay…
Following the aide, I passed through the grand main hall and climbed the central staircase.
It was when we reached the second-floor hall, which connected to the staircase, that I noticed a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Casually looking around, I suddenly discovered a small, dot-like inscription below the chandelier.
[Level 25 An old Chandelier that has lost its Light and fell asleep]
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