As he walked, Vivian went over his inventory again. Nothing but clippers? You’d think I’d have a few more tools than that. What kind of [Gardener] am I?

He rolled his eyes at himself. The kind that clips an endless hedge maze. What do I need, aside from clippers? I could clip that maze for the rest of my life and never be done.

He pulled out a piece of the leather armor and strapped it on experimentally. Instantly, his arm dropped to his side, weighed down as if by lead weights.

[Incompatible Gear] [Studded Leather Bracer] [Bloodied]

Equipped limb weight increased 10x. Skill bonuses cannot be applied.

It’s a ten times limb multiplier on armor? Damn. If I pump my strength high enough, I might be able to counteract the weight… but what a waste of stats! I can’t fight like that.

I’m not going to start every fight by dropping my armor. For one, although it might increase my bodily strength to walk around with weighted limbs, the System’s stat increases will quickly outpace any improvement I do with ordinary exercising. For two, it won’t look very impressive! It’s not as if the armor is heavy in reality, it just applies a weight multiplier when I equip it. If I drop it…

Vivian unstrapped the bracer. It fell to the earth with a floppy piff.

“Yeah. Like I thought.” He tapped the bracer and sent it back to his inventory. Incompatible gear… What kind of gear can a [Gardener] wear in the first place? Leather gloves, maybe? Work boots? Leather aprons? I’ll have to figure that out.

As he walked, he scratched at his hair, scruffing it around. Speaking of figuring out… What do I remember?

Images again. Blood. So much blood. His own body, torn in half. He pressed hands to his chest and pulled them away red. All the heat leaked out of him from his torn abdomen, his guts mixing in with the blood on the stone floor. His legs laid in a heap across the cave, half-sunk in shallow water. He pressed his hands to his stomach again and laughed. It came out hysteric, thready with his breath.

Rage flashed, suddenly. He turned over his shoulder and jabbed a bloody finger at the figures behind him. “You—”

Black.

Vivian twisted his nose. His stomach twisted, his heart beating at his ribs from leftover anxiety. He swallowed and ran a hand through his hair, forcing himself to take a deep breath. That’s right. I was a Player, and I died.

And then I became an NPC and died a bunch more times, the sarcastic part of him responded.

Right, but… the point is, I was a Player. How did I end up as an NPC? How long was I an NPC? Where did I die? Who was I?

I remember my name, but…

He shook his head and thumped his fist into his open hand. “Focus on now. I can figure everything else out later.”

I wonder. Those people I shouted at… did they betray me, or…?

“Focus, focus. Okay. Get to the Starter Town. Leave through the Spawn. Forget about the Tower and never come back,” Vivian said, nodding to himself. If I leave the Tower, I might not be able to leave my NPC tag behind, but at the very least, I won’t be so bound to an NPC’s restrictions. I won’t need to equip armor in the real world. I can get an ordinary job, one that has nothing to do with the Tower. I—

Vivian paused. “Do I have any employable skills?”

After a second, he walked on again. “I probably have family. They can support me until I learn real skills. I mean, I died, right? They should be happy to see me, probably.”

An uncomfortable sensation twisted in his gut. Vivian pressed his lips together. “Or… maybe not?”

He scowled. “Dammit. I wish I could remember something. Anything.”

A few steps later, he shook his head. “No, you know what? New life, new me. Forget the past. The only me that matters is the Vivian who’s here right now.”

At that, a weight lifted off his shoulders. Vivian walked on, nodding to himself. A few paces later, he hesitated. “Unless my family is rich, and then we can negotiate.”

He glanced at the forest as he walked. The moon’s thin light barely pierced through the upper layers of the dense canopy, leaving the lowest level black as pitch. Occasionally, something rustled in the forest’s depths. Vivian patted his clippers to be sure and walked on, shoulders square.

“Still, I must’ve been a melee class before,” he mused. He leaped forward, repeating the movements he’d made in the fight. His hands curled around a nonexistent weapon. He stepped, planted his feet, and thrusted, tearing upward to gut an imaginary attacker. The motions flowed smoothly, almost second nature. “Something close-range. A short blade.”

[Skills] are only half the battle. If you let them move your body, you lose half their power. Move yourself, and use the [Skill] to boost your own strength, a familiar voice whispered in his mind.

Vivian rubbed his ears and wrinkled his nose. That was unpleasant. If I need to remember something, let’s not remember it at a creepy whisper next time.

Stretching, he glanced to his left. A narrow path cut through the dark forest, fading instantly into shadow. He licked his lips. From what I remember, that’s a shortcut to the first town. I also remember… it’s incredibly dangerous at night.

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He rubbed his forehead. Memories stuck at the tip of his brain, frustratingly on the verge of floating into his mind. At last, one peeled itself free. A man in mage’s robes laughed, shaking his head. With a wave, he vanished into the dark forest.

That’s right. People called it the Mages’ Highway because all the enemies had extremely high DEF and low MDEF. That’s why I could never use it. I was a melee class without any magic!

He shook his head. I wonder who that guy was. Did I know him? He paused, thinking, a hand to his chin. Nothing came to him.

Vivian shrugged and walked on. Eh, he’s probably not important.

One step at a time, Vivian grew closer to the hunting ground. This late, the ground stood mostly empty, but a few parties still dotted the landscape. Whether they hunted EXP or nighttime spawns, the parties fought on. Vivian quickly scanned the hunting ground. I guess it isn’t time for that Event yet, or it’d be packed.

Just as well. I don’t know how people would react if they Scanned or Assessed me and found out I was an NPC. I want to gain a few more levels first. If I can reach level seven, I’ll be on decent footing for Floor One. After all, Floor One has a level-twenty level cap. Seven is survival-land. No one’s going to fuck with you just to fuck you up at level seven.

Ahead, four dark-dressed men crouched by the side of the road. Their backs turned to Vivian, they faced the low-level hunting ground. Crude weapons hung from their backs, and they’d strapped cheap armor to their bodies.

Bandits! Vivian’s eyes lit up. He reached of his clippers, then paused. I’m only level five. I can’t kill them easily. I should probably sneak by.

Sneak? I’m an NPC. They won’t attack, right?

Vivian pursed his lips, then shrugged. Might as well find out! Worst case, I fight some bandits. They shouldn’t be too much stronger than the Players I beat in the garden. So thinking, he strode boldly ahead down the path.

As Vivian walked by, still subtly gripping his clippers, the bandits glanced at him. Dull eyes gazed right through him.

That’s right, ignore me! Vivian thought, nodding. I’m just an NPC—huh?

A number suddenly appeared over one of the bandits’ heads. Glowing in a little green box, it scrolled wildly, counting from 0 to 100 over and over again. The number slowed, ticking by. 49… 50… 51…

“That’s not good,” Vivian muttered to himself.

The bandit jumped up, pointing his sword at Vivian. Very loudly, he shouted, “Put yer hands up!”

In the hunting grounds, a nearby party looked over. The four members laid prone in the long grass, nearly invisible from the hunting grounds, if extremely visible from behind them.

A rare Event! Lucky! Vivian thought sarcastically. He rolled his eyes. How could I forget? There’s always a small chance the bandits decide to attack a passing NPC, spawning a rare protection quest. He turned, putting his hands up obediently, though he didn’t drop the clippers. From the corner of his eyes, he watched the party.

One of the party members startled. She looked at the air in front of her, then turned to her party and pointed at Vivian.

Another party member shook his head. He pointed at a beast in the hunting ground and threw his arm out.

Let me guess. “Hey guys, look, I got a quest!” “No! We’ve been up all night hunting this level five Pigbeast! We can’t give up now!”

The NPC protection quest might be a ‘rare Event,’ but it’s a skippable quest, ultimately. They don’t have to accept it. And why would they? It’s a pain in the ass that barely gives rewards.

Vivian huffed out a slow breath. His eyes narrowed at the bandits. Looks like it’s on me.

“What’er ya lookin’ at?” the bandit snarled. He raised his sword threateningly. “I’m tellin’ you, give us yer—”

Vivian ran at the bandit.

Cursing, the bandit waved his hand, urging his allies on. They shouted and leaped out from behind the rock, ambushing Vivian. The bandit who’d initially shouted hung back, glaring impressively from behind his rock.

Vivian swept his eyes over the bandits. They’re all swordsmen. I don’t see any ranged units around.

Good. This is a low-level encounter. Something a level five can handle.

The nearest swordsman struck at him, telegraphing the blow. Vivian slipped by that swordsman, pushing on his back. The swordsman stumbled with his swing, carried by the force of his own attack as much as by Vivian’s push. Behind that swordsman, a second bandit startled, surprised to find Vivian suddenly in front of him. He jabbed at Vivian’s gut, but Vivian was ready. He slapped the blade down with the palm of his off-hand and stabbed the bandit’s eye with his clippers.

The Tower is full of tricks and traps. An enemy that telegraphs its attacks hides a bandit with a poison blade behind it, so the second you block the first blow, the second enemy stabs you and kills you.

Luckily, I’m used to these patterns.

Screaming, the hidden bandit fell backward. The first bandit whirled around, while the third bandit slashed at Vivian’s gut from the side.

“Three on one still isn’t fair,” Vivian pointed out, whirling the clippers around. He grabbed one of the arms and let the momentum snap it open. Bending his body around the third bandit’s slash, he jabbed the clippers at his wrist and slapped them shut. The third bandit’s eyes went wide. The blade dropped from his hand, and he fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding wrist.

Bandit A defeated! +10 EXP

Vivian stepped back as the first bandit pressed the attack with a wild set of slash attacks. The boulder loomed up to Vivian’s side, framing him in. Vivian edged to the side, getting his back away from the boulder.

A blade whispered through the air behind him.

Now! Vivian dropped directly down. One bandit’s slash met another. Their blades clashed, and their arms flew back.

“Boss!” the first bandit snapped, frustrated.

“Dammit, getting in my way!” the boss snarled.

Not waiting for the two to figure themselves out, Vivian stood up with all his might, headbutting the first bandit in the crotch. With a pitiful squeal, the bandit fell backward.

Bandit B defeated! +10 EXP

The boss stumbled back, startled. Vivian turned, pointing his clippers at the boss. “So?”

Screeching as pitifully as the dickshot bandit, the boss threw his hands up and fled to the woods.

Bandit Leader retreats! +0 EXP

Vivian rubbed his head. Ow. I’m lucky that guy wasn’t wearing a codpiece. It still hurt, but it hurt him worse, at least. He kicked the nearest bandit. “Where’s my rewards, huh? Loot!”

Nothing appeared. Vivian twisted his lips. Can I not earn rewards as an NPC? I can pick up loot, but only from dead units, not from defeats, huh?

Across from him, in the hunting ground, the party stared, jaws dropped.

Sam was the first to recover. He nudged Katy. “See? I told you it was fine.”

“You did not expect that NPC to kill the bandits. They’re supposed to die if we don’t save them,” Katy retorted.

“And this one didn’t, so…” Andrew shrugged.

Lily licked her lips. “Do you think that was… maybe… an ultrarare Event?”

“If Sam made us miss an ultrarare, I’m quitting the party,” Katy declared. She stood up.

“Wait! You’re abandoning it now?” Sam asked.

Katy gave him a look. “The black Pigbeast will respawn. How often do ultrarare Events happen?”

“We don’t even know—” Sam sighed. He glanced around. “Guys?”

“We might still be able to get the ultrarare if we go now,” Lily said, climbing to her feet.

Andrew shrugged. “Katy’s right. The black Pigbeast can wait. I’m gonna go check out the ultrarare.”

“We really don’t know if it is!” Sam protested, but he followed the rest of his party anyways. Under his breath, he muttered, “Stupid ultrarares. Probably isn’t even one. Probably isn’t even an Event. Total waste of time…”