Squatting behind the back of the barber shop, Vivian checked his new skill.

[No More Human Meat]

+5 SPD and DEF when you face any enemy that has eaten human flesh or has the [Cannibal] trait.

“Well, that’s… kind of useful. They were still way faster than me, though… well, I’m level one, after all.”

Yawning, he poked at his Level +7. Seven ability points appeared.

“Hmm… let’s see. This time, let’s… do this.”

HP: 10/10

SP: 5/5

STR: 10

MAG: 1

SKL: 7

SPD: 9

MDEF: 5

DEF: 5

Vivian nodded, pleased with his choices. Mainlining strength is always a good idea, and as an NPC with generally trashy stats, I might as well be able to run away from trouble. So far, all my gardening tools have been melee range. SPD and STR are both good melee stats. If I get a ranged weapon, I’ll need more SKL, but for now, I’ll focus SPD and STR.

If I make a bad decision, I can always die and reallocate my stats. I’ll lose [No More Human Meat], but how often am I going to face cannibals, anyways?

He drew out his clippers and looked around him. A few tufts of grass poked through the cobbles. Humming to himself, he clipped the grass. Nothing happened.

Unperturbed, Vivian kept on going. He waddled around the back of the barber’s shop, clipping any plant he laid eyes upon. Grass, weeds, a stray bit of ivy… anything he saw, he clipped.

[Trim] Lvl 1

Vivian pumped his fist. Victory!

Still squatting, he grabbed the clippings and threw them on a bit of bare earth. The clippings piled up, but nothing happened.

Vivian frowned. I want the Compost skill, but that isn’t enough to proc it, huh? He put a hand to his chin. A moment later, his eyes lit up. I’ve got it!

Time passed. The back door opened, and the barber stepped out. “You—”

Vivian stared at him, gripping Allan’s body by the ankles. A shiny red trail of blood snaked behind him, back around to the front of the shop.

The barber’s eyes widened.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Vivian said, laughing awkwardly.

The barber backed into his shop and shut the door.

Dropping Allan’s ankles, Vivian ran to the door. He knocked on it desperately. “No, no, come back, I swear I’m not crazy! I was just speedrunning skills, I swear!”

The door opened. The barber hooked a brow at him.

“Really. It’s called Compost, and you need to put dead things on plants to trigger it. It’s not super useful. I was just testing how easy it is to mash my skills back up to where they were,” Vivian explained quickly.

“Up to where they were?” the barber asked.

“Right, we can die and respawn, but we lose all our skills and levels,” Vivian explained.

The barber held up his finger. “We can respawn?”

“Yeah. I woke up because I was killed a bunch, you?”

“Woke up?”

The two of them stared at each other again.

Vivian licked his lips. “Why don’t I go first?”

The barber gestured.

Quickly, Vivian explained everything that had happened since he woke up. The barber listened, nodding occasionally.

“…and then I killed the second cannibal, and you showed up, and here we are,” Vivian finished. He nodded. “What about you?”

“You… don’t know who you are?” the barber said.

Vivian shook his head. “It doesn’t seem very important, frankly.”

“You said your name is Vivian?”

“Yeah. Or Vi, or Viv, or Vivi, I mean, your call, really.”

The barber put a hand to his chin. After a moment, he turned to Vivian. “My name is Cha Kyung. Son of Cha Yeong-ho.”

“Nice to meet you, Kyung,” Vivian said pleasantly.

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Kyung paused. He looked at Vivian. “Do you remember anything from before you were an NPC?”

Vivian licked his lips. “Uh… kind of? Why? Did we know each other?”

“Not… as such,” Kyung said, shaking his head.

“I take it you remember everything normally?” Vivian asked.

Kyung nodded.

“I only remember stuff about the Tower. And a little bit about the world outside, but nothing about me. It’s like the Tower edited that stuff out specifically. But I guess not, if it didn’t do it to you?” he said, tilting his head at Kyung.

“Perhaps every version of this glitch is unique,” Kyung suggested.

“That’s possible, for sure,” Vivian agreed. You can set your watch by some of the Tower’s glitches, but others are so random and rare that they’re considered rare Events in and of themselves. It’s not uncommon for glitches to manifest differently for different people, either. I remember one where butterflies all looked like magenta boxes to me, but… but, someone else… someone else thought they looked like eagles.

A blurry image of a woman passed before his eyes. He frowned, then tapped his forehead. Ah, that’s right. When I looked at this kid… “I did remember a guy who looked like you. White streak in his hair? Sword?”

“That’s my father. He’s a Ranker,” Kyung explained.

A Ranker. That means he’s one of the best Tower Climbers in the world. Rankers were the best of the best. The strongest Classes, the most powerful Skills. A Rank in the top thousands could net the Ranker a high-paying job as a Delver, or someone who retrieved materials, on top of whatever they made in the Tower, while the top hundreds could generally support themselves as Climbers.

The top ten are celebrities. Household names, even. Like… like… uh. Like someone, for sure. Maybe this kid’s dad, Kim Yeong-ho, is like that. Maybe I remembered his face because he’s famous, and that’s all.

But then, why was he killing monsters in my memory? I mean, could’ve been some kind of special effects interview, but… I just can’t remember enough to know.

Damn, my memory sucks.

Vivian nodded. “What rank? Thousands? Hundreds?”

Kyung snorted.

“…Double digits? Single…?” Vivian tried.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kyung said, tossing his perfect K-pop hair.

Oh, sure it doesn’t matter. You’re the one who brought it up. It means something to you, alright. I’ll have to poke around at the Rankings later, see if I can figure out where his father ranks.

If I remember correctly, there’s a Ranking table somewhere on the first floor… over in the Ruined Castle. The boss dungeon of this floor. Vivian twisted his lips, then shrugged. Next time I hit zero state, maybe I’ll bop on over there and take a peek.

Vivian waved his hand, dismissing his thoughts. “How’d you end up as an NPC?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t?”

Kyung leveled him with a stare. “Do you?”

Vivian sighed. “I don’t, but I was hoping you did…”

“I entered the Tower. There was a flash of light. The next thing I knew, I was cutting hair. That’s it,” Kyung said, shrugging.

“And you just stayed in the barber shop?” Vivian asked.

Kyung eyed him. “I didn’t wake up and immediately find out I respawned. It’s dangerous wandering the Tower as an NPC. I decided to settle in and gain levels as a Haircutter first.”

“So? What level are you?” Vivian asked.

“Ten. Twelve, now.”

Vivian raised his eyebrows. “I hit seven in a day.”

“You weren’t cutting hair. Besides, I’ve only been awake a week.”

Taken aback, Vivian frowned at him. “A week?”

Kyung nodded.

A week. I woke up yesterday. Is this whole NPC debacle some kind of recent glitch? I wonder if anyone else got caught up in this mess… He shook his head. “I can’t leave the Tower.”

“Me either.”

“Want to party up? We can try to conquer the Tower. We both respawn… probably. We’ll be unstoppable,” Vivian said, clenching his fist.

“No,” Kyung said.

“What? Why not?” Vivian asked.

Kyung frowned. “Why would I? I have offers from all kinds of Player parties. Why should I party with a weak NPC?”

Vivian opened his mouth, then closed it. He scowled. “You have a point.”

“Unless.”

“Unless what?” Vivian asked.

“Unless, you are…” Kyung said slowly. He paused, lost in thought.

“I’m what?” Vivian asked, tilting his head.

Kyung turned. “Never mind. It’s not possible.”

“Hey, hey, wait, wait,” Vivian said. He grabbed the door before it could swing shut. “What would it take?”

Kyung cocked a brow at him.

“For you to party with me. I mean, I don’t have the face of a pop star, so I’m not going to be able to recruit Players as an NPC. So… what would it take?”

Kyung shook his head. “Later.”

“Later? Oh, like after the Players stop mobbing you,” Vivian translated, nodding.

Kyung opened his mouth, then shut it. He snorted and turned away.

Letting the door fall shut, Vivian pressed his lips together thoughtfully. His eyes fell on Allan’s body. Moving on autopilot, he grabbed it again and went back to dragging it into the neighbor’s flower patch.

Kyung’s tied up for a while, if he’s even interested in partying up. If his dad is a high enough tier Ranker, he’s essentially a celebrity’s kid, so he might have a big head. Though I guess he wasn’t personally in the spotlight, if none of those Players recognized him by his face. Still, growing up with a famous dad… he’s at least a rich kid.

Wait, but if his dad is famous, and not only that, but a famous Climber who’s in the Tower all the time… why hasn’t Kyung reached out to him? Sure, he might not be able to leave the Tower, but his dad has money, resources, equipment, friends. He could be doing better than a barber shop on the first floor.

Vivian shrugged to himself. Maybe he can’t contact his dad. Maybe they have a bad relationship. Maybe he’s a compulsive liar, and this supposed Ranker dad of his is as real as a unicorn. I wouldn’t know. Ultimately, that’s his problem, not mine.

Dropping Allan’s corpse on the dark topsoil, Vivian sighed. I thought I finally found a party member. Really, I should’ve expected this. It’s not like every NPC is going to want to join my party. Just because they’re in the same situation as me, doesn’t mean they want the same things I do. Kyung might be happy to spend the rest of his life as a barber on the first floor. There’s certainly roleplayers who’d happily clip hair in the Tower for hours and hours.

[Compost] Lvl 1

Vivian dusted his hands off and stood. That’s all the skills I know I have. What next?

I don’t have a party, but I’m not a solo Climber. I… strongly don’t want to try that. Why not? Is it a failure state? Very hard? Mmm… but I’ll do it if I have to. I can always find a party along the way.

For now, let’s pick up a few levels and see if I can’t pick up a few more skills. I can quickly regain all the skills I’ve learned so far on respawn.

On top of that… I shouldn’t rely on the System. For some reason, I don’t like that idea. That, and it’s not like the System is going to teach me how to fight. I’m a Gardner, not a Player.

I need to practice fighting with the clippers and the rake. I can treat the rake as a bo staff, and the clippers as a sort of pole-dagger. Not my preferred weapons, but it’s better than nothing.

Vivian frowned. “What is my preferred weapon?”

“Ah! There you are!”