Chương 3: Ryan the NPC

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"We need more damned healers. Oi you! why don't you sign up to be a [Medic]?"

"No way man, I heard what the Witch's hexes do to [Healers]." *A common interaction between recruiters and recruits after the declaration of war from the Tyrants. The already undesirable class became even less sought after when the Witch Tyrant started her crusade against every high realm [Healer]. Earning her the moniker of the Healer-killer Witch. Wrong. That was what Ryan had felt the moment he left the forested path and arrived to a village half an hour's jog away.

He was walking on open road now, only a hundred feet from the village. It wouldn't have much more than the basics. A general store, a small blacksmith and the farm he was walking through now. The real problem was that the village hadn't been slaughtered yet. As terrible as that thought was, if the adventurers were planning to max out combat achievements, then killing the town would have been done immediately.

The only reason Ryan could think of was that a team was maximizing achievements while having one member go for a non combat class. Maybe it was a full team of bloodthirsty crafters? That didn't sound right. He was lost in thought when a friendly voice called out to him.

"Hello! And where are you from then?" A farmer that had been tilling the fields waved at him. Stopping his work and stepping up onto the main road. This man was an early warning crier for the village. The farmer kept a healthy distance from him. If he was alive, then everyone else was probably alive too. Ryan's hopes started to go up.

"I came from a larger town!" He said cheerily.

"Heard there was a beginner's dungeon here." It seemed to put the old man at ease.

"Ah, of course! Though I guess you hadn't heard. An undead noble woke up there, killed the poor people at the waystation." Ryan checked his notifications. As expected, the quest updated. Trial Quest updated! Quest Completion Conditions Slay the undead noble Capacity 3/3 + 1"What's going to happen now?" Ryan asked.

"Oh, we should be able to deal with one undead noble. Three great adventurers from the town nearby dropped by. Perhaps you know them. Oh, there they are now!" Ryan looked past the old man and stiffened as he saw the said trio approaching them. They were walking out of the village settlement. They had clearly heard the farmer yelling. One drake, one dwarf and a human in the middle.

But the odd species choices weren't what made his blood go cold All three of them were wearing Trial issued helmets that obscured their faces. There was zero reason to do that. That is, unless all the members wanted to keep their identities a secret. The only teams that did that were those trying to stay hidden while infiltrating The Realm. Ryan waved at them cheerily, he used the farmer to block the other team's vision so that he could swing his Trial standard knife strap to his back.

He called out to them first, in the most generic voice he could think of.

"Hello! I heard that this town needs help! I have come to give aid!" The three helmeted adventurers looked at each other as one gave another a nod. Ryan tensed as they whispered something to each other. He strained his ears, getting ready to bolt the moment they turned hostile. It turns out he didn't need to worry. The human one in the middle walked forward. He wore simple bland clothes with no identifiers.

"It's good to meet you. We're preparing the town's defenses. Though we plan on heading to the dungeon ourselves. Do you have a specialty?" They were talking to him like he were a Trial person. Ryan internally breathed a sigh of relief as his ploy worked.

"Yes! I'm a [Rogue], I'm happy to help!" Ryan the friendly NPC responded. They looked at each other and gave each other a nod.

"That'll do. Do you mind heading towards the entrance of the dungeon and being a scout in case the undead noble attacks early? I'm sure you can outrun when they come loose."

"Of course! Happy to-" Ryan paused as he noticed one of the drakes staring at his feet. He followed the gaze down to his own feet. His very modern sneakers. The man talking to him also looked down, following his own gaze. Ryan acted first. He started with a shout.

"Attack! Attack! These are traitors to the kingdom!" The human adventurer in front sprinted forward, brandishing a blade without hesitation. Ryan leapt back and started sprinting the way he came from. Keeping an eye behind him in case the man tried to throw his sword at him.

"What's going-" A sword went straight through the farmer's eye. The dwarf had thrown his blade at the only witness remaining.

"They're traitors!" Ryan yelled as he hoped the rest of the village would hear. He met eyes with the only human member of the group, his arm about to throw the sword. The man decided against it and chose to sprint at him instead. Ryan just kept running, straight into the forest. – Bravo cursed himself as he realized the odd acting Trial rogue wasn't actually a Trial person. That one wasn't his fault. Even the First Trial could throw out minor curveballs from time to time.

He sprinted after the Destined [Rogue] as he shouted.

"Stop! We aren't here to kill you, we can work together." The [Rogue] didn't even pause for a second. Damn, he had chosen the [Mage] class and was cursing it thoroughly. He was a spec ops soldier falling behind what looked like a regular civilian. His squad member sprinted past him. They were at the top of their physique before their [Rogue] class. Despite that, they were only able to match the pace of the [Rogue] ahead. Damned classes. His dwarf companion ran beside him, clearly pissed off at the whole scenario.

"I thought the Manager stopped sending Destined in like this."

"Guess he thought we deserved special treatment." Bravo said. The human and the drake were sprinting ahead now, they'd just broken into the forested path. The two [Rogues] were getting further and further away as they kept sprinting. All of a sudden, the Destined jumped out of the path and straight into the forest. That was one too many variables. He whistled to his companion. The drake stopped chasing and doubled back towards them. Clearly frustrated at the call.

"He was slowing down! I would have had him."

"Enough, there's too much risk in that forest to chase blindly. We need to get back to the plan." They'd already lost sight of the damned Destined, Bravo shook his head.

"You go on ahead and guard the dungeon. Us two will finish organizing and clear the village." The dwarven [Warrior] spat in disgust.

"The whole shit's fucked now." Bravo grit his teeth.

"I could have salvaged it if you hadn't killed that farmer." His dwarven companion didn't seem to want to acknowledge the blame. He just chuckled.

"Heh, well maybe we've done enough for your [Tactician] class. It must be something if The Manager is interfering like this." Bravo stayed silent but couldn't help silently agree with the dwarf's words. The brass wanted a [Strategist] after finding out that the Tyrants had been cultivating one in secret. Bravo had to follow a specific path to get the pre-class offered to him at Realm 1. He hadn't been excited for it, but now that the Manager had shown his hand… maybe it would be worth something after all.

"Let me do the talking." The duo made their way back to the village. There hadn't been any other witnesses to that farmer's death. They had just organized everyone into the village center after all. At most, the Trial NPCs would be crowding around the dead man, and then they could explain themselves. What he hadn't expected was to find the Destined [Rogue] shouting at a crowd of villagers, yelling at those that had come out with makeshift weapons.

The Destined pointed at the sword in the farmer's eye then at the empty scabbard at his companion's belt. – Ryan had run for a few minutes with the trio hot behind his heels. His head start had allowed him to keep the distance, but not so much that they'd lose sight of him. He came up with a new plan on the fly. Soloing the dungeon? Impossible with the three behind him. Hiding out in the woods? Also impossible considering the Trial perimeter would slowly shrink after the completion of a main quest. Fighting them?

Now that was a bad joke. None of them brought emergency gear or guns. Paradoxically, that was scarier. The only ones that did that were the really confident ones. Those that had practiced and honed their skills for years. Those going for max achievements so that they could push for the deeper Trials. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. These definitely weren't any ordinary soldiers from Earth. The only option Ryan had was to rally the village.

He jumped into the forest and started doubling back the moment he was out of sight. To his relief, he arrived first. Quite a few of the villagers had gathered around the farmer's corpse and were holding bits and pieces of makeshift weaponry. That made him sigh in relief. He had no idea why they were still left alive and holding weapons. Did the soldiers really plan to slaughter the village? It didn't matter anymore, he had to act. He walked out into the open and towards them with his hands up.

"Hello!" He called out. A man in common clothing put up his pitchfork, he held it steady with only a slight hint of fear. A young woman scrambled at her crossbow, the only one in the village.

"Stay back!"

"I called out the attack! Those three adventurers are traitors! They're the ones that killed him."

"They're here to protect us!"

"They're liars, what did they tell you to do?" Ryan asked.

"They told us to gather so they can organize us in formation. We were going to fight off the skeleton noble together." They did? But that didn't make sense, none of them looked like they were going for non-combat classes. That was all the time Ryan had to think on the matter. The soldiers appeared out of the forested path. That was unfortunate, he hadn't had enough time to convince them. It was obvious from his perspective that those were illegal soldiers.

But that didn't matter to these villagers, they wanted to stick with the ones that had warned them and gave them security. If only they'd realize that these guys had killed the inn people and the farmer. Wait a second. Ryan pointed at the newly arrived duo.

"Look, it's them! They killed the farmer, you see that dwarf? It's his sword that was put in that man's head." The villagers all looked towards the dwarf's belt. His face might have been hidden behind the Trial issued helmet, but Ryan could tell the surprise on the bastard. The human man put his hand out to his companion and shouted out.

"A lie! This [Rogue] came along and was accosting him. We were trying to stop this fugitive until he grabbed my companion's blade and threw it back at us, Ja'kar died because he missed!" The soldier's voice was authoritative, calm and completely demanded that he was the one to listen to. The villagers all turned to Ryan as if that made total sense. The bastard used the farmer's name too, that wasn't fair, he didn't know that one. Ryan could almost see the smug look of victory on that soldier's face.

Even if he couldn't actually see a face behind that helmet… Wait. Ryan narrowed his eyes.

"Oh yeah? Why don't you show your face to everyone here? Why keep your faces hidden, huh? what have you got to hide? Huh?" That was like a light switch in the minds of the villagers. They all turned to stare at the 'friendly' adventurers as if suddenly realizing that having three masked heroes that all wore identical helmets was a little unnerving. Ryan decided to push while he had the advantage.

"Why would I double back to the scene of the crime? I could have just ran off. Your argument doesn't make sense!" One villager whispered to another, "I thought it was weird they told us to organize all of our stuff and they would distribute it later. Took too long, too much time wasted." Ryan's argument would collapse the moment they took off their helmets. But they couldn't. They wouldn't show their faces to him and have them be identified, that was far, far worse than losing a safety life here.

The Tyrants weren't friendly to active soldiers from Earth encroaching in their territory. They'd get slaughtered the moment they stepped foot in The Realm. Hell, as long as Ryan exposed them, it wouldn't matter if they stayed on Earth or not. The Witch Tyrant would hex them until they regretted being alive. The best part? They didn't know he had lost his safety. They probably still thought he had it. For a moment, the human soldier turned to Ryan, his eyes boring into him.

The [Mage] just sighed and shrugged, far too casually.

"Operation's been blown I guess." Ryan's hair stood up. The man looked at his companion and offered his sword. The dwarf took the blade. His expectation was for the soldiers to retreat and complete the Trial dungeon themselves. Ryan could then rally the townspeople and go for the exit at the dungeon. What he didn't expect was for both soldiers to charge at the crowd. Two versus twenty. Most of the villagers were surprised too. But there had still been plenty of time for them to raise their pitchforks and spears.

A [Magebolt] hit the villager in front right between the eyes. The dwarf used that opening to charge into the middle of the shocked villagers. He swung his blade. [Cleave] It was like the scene out of a nightmare, a warping in the air showing the extension of the blade as it bisected eight people. Blood flying everywhere. Then the screaming started, everyone shocked in full as they looked like deer in the headlights, about to be run down.

The dwarf didn't stop, he jumped out as he stabbed another terrified person through the gut and pulled back. He snatched a pitchfork and threw it at another villager's head. Eleven people had died just like that. Why the fuck was he standing still? Ryan finally started sprinting. His hand reached for a throwing knife as he made an exaggerated throwing motion, not at the [Warrior] dwarf, but at the [Mage]. The disarmed [Mage] that had just cast his only spell.

The soldier [Mage] instinctively dodged as he realized the [Rogue] hadn't actually thrown. He had used the fake throw to close the gap. He threw his knife for real and immediately drew another knife. The [Mage] dodged again, this time more ready than before. Ryan leapt forward with two blades outstretched. It looked like he was trying to tackle and stab the [Mage]. A classic maneuver that would gut pretty much anyone.

The soldier, instead of dodging, spun around and did the quickest forward kick Ryan had ever witnessed anyone do. The kick slammed into his chest as he was flung backwards. He coughed as he looked up from his prone position to see the [Mage] look at his own chest. A knife and a sword had pierced through his ribs. Maybe if Ryan weren't a realm zero [Rogue] he wouldn't have had the coordination to throw his weapons with the flick of his wrists.

Unfortunately for the [Mage] soldier, he hadn't expected that Ryan had never been planning on trying to go for the stab. He wasn't stupid, of course a confident soldier would know how to handle a charging stab.

"m-[Magebolt]!" Ryan rolled out of the way as a blue bolt of magic smashed the ground, right where his head had just been.

"Ah shit." The [Mage] said. He finally fell forwards into the weapons embedded in his chest. Ryan turned around to look at what was happening to the villagers. The dwarf just stared at his fallen teammate.

"The fuck, Bravo really died to a kid?"

"I'm not a kid, asshole." The dwarf turned around, he took a step towards Ryan.

"You're a dead kid, that's what you-" There was a twang and a thwack as a crossbow bolt embedded into the dwarf's side. The [Warrior] looked at his side then looked at the girl that had just shot him. He had let his guard down and the villager had waited for that shot. Ryan grinned, getting caught off guard by a villager was a Settler generation classic. The crying villager glared hatefully at the dwarf. They had shaking hands and were trying to reload. The dwarf turned around.

"You're fucking dead too." The dwarven [Warrior] stepped towards his shooter, blood leaking from his side. Another villager took that opportunity to try to spear the dwarf in the back, he screamed in righteous fury as he stabbed forward. The soldier simply sidestepped the thrust and cut off the villagers' hands. The man looked at his stumps and screamed. The others froze as the woman fumbled a bolt. The villagers weren't coordinated at all. They weren't fighters, and they'd already lost too much to act rationally.

Ryan started shouting orders.

"Stand back! Let him bleed out! You with the crossbow! Get further back, two of you with pikes stand in front of her. Keep it extended and start sprinting back if he charges!" The dwarven soldier looked at the villagers following orders, then he turned back at Ryan.

"You're a little shit, I'll remember you."

"I'll make sure to tell the Tyrants that." That made the dwarven [Warrior] pause. Then the dwarf charged Ryan, a mad bull that didn't seem to care for the bleeding hole in his body. He kept his distance, his human [Rogue] legs outpacing the dwarven [Warrior] by a fair margin. He wondered if the soldier was planning on retreating to his drake teammate. That would be a silly move. Ryan would hound the dwarf from behind until he bled out. He sneered, pretty confident with his victory.

"Should have brought armor or healing potions, you idiot."

"You don't know what you're dealing with."

"I know-" The dwarf stopped running after him and jumped to the side. Onto his fallen companion's body. He took off the soldier's helmet, and smashed the corpse's face into the ground. Again and again. The dwarven soldier was mutilating his teammate's corpse. Ryan stepped forward, readying a knife. He had to stop the dwarf from destroying the evidence. Three steps in the [Warrior] slowed down, not by much but just a little.

Ryan stepped back, feeling like something was off, the dwarven [Warrior] sped back up and he realized. Thirty seconds had passed and [Cleave] was likely back up. It was likely a trap. Another bolt pierced into the dwarf's back as he continued to mutilate his companion's corpse. Once he was satisfied that the face was unrecognizable, he looked up and laughed at Ryan.

"Thanks for reminding me, kid." The dwarf fell forward on top of his companion, any chance of identifying the human soldier was completely gone. Ryan didn't dare to get close to retrieve his sword from the [Mage]'s chest. He just took out a knife and threw them at the fallen dwarf. There was an audible noise as Ryan narrowed his eyes at the 'fallen' dwarf.

"Can someone bring a pitchfork and make sure this dwarf is dead?"

"Fucking coward." the 'corpse' coughed. He decided to put dwarven durability a few notches higher in his mind. Then the notifications came in, signalling that things had really ended. You have slain a realm 0 [Mage] You have slain a realm 0 [Warrior] – Thirty minutes later the villagers were getting ready to leave. Nearly half of their combat capable members had been decimated by a single dwarf. Waiting for the skeleton noble to siege them was practically suicide now.

A few had collapsed and sat down, just staring blankly or wailing at the corpses of their fallen while the others were dragging them into a pile. There was no sense in letting the skeleton noble resurrect them after all. The two adventurers' corpses were in their own pile. He took one more look at the soldiers' bodies and felt disgusted. There were children in this village. No wonder nobody ever admitted to taking the path of slaughter.

He didn't think he'd even be able to take those online discussions seriously again. It was fucked up, even if these were Trial people and would reappear in the next Trial. It was still fucked up. An old man walked up with the things Ryan asked for. The man nodded at his shaking hands.

"Was that your first time killing someone?"

"Ah, that's not the problem. I'm just angry at the pointless murder, that's all." The soldiers had extra lives, Ryan hadn't actually killed them, he didn't feel bad at all. He looked at his hands as he tried to stop them from shaking. It had been so quick, so easy. The old man squeezed his arm, looking him in the eyes.

"It'll fade with time. Just remember that if it wasn't for what you did, we would all be dead." The old man said. All of you have died countless times already Ryan didn't say. Killing just for a tiny potential upgrade to their achievements. It probably wouldn't have changed a single letter grade. Assholes.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else? You can't kill a skeleton noble by yourself." Ryan checked over his gear—a single sword and three throwing knives, cleaned by the villagers themselves. Also, a map of the dungeon.

"I have a plan, I can't bring too much or it'll scare the boss. Don't worry it's a pretty good plan." The old man didn't seem to trust his current state of mind. He pulled on Ryan's arm.

"You can come travel with us. Please, it would be safer to travel together than for you to handle the noble yourself. Trial Quest updated! Slay the undead noble Or Help the villagers flee into the next village five days away. Capacity: 3/3 + 1 He wasn't going to try the second option. Five days was far too long, and the journey would have too many random elements. It was far better for him to handle the boss with a tried and tested plan, then come back to alert the villagers.

He shook his head as he pulled his arm free of the old man's grip. He started walking-"Stop him!" He ducked as a villager tried to tackle him. Another man jumped at him as he sidestepped them, then Ryan started jogging down the road. He waved back, laughing at the people that thought they were trying to save him.

"Don't worry about me. Watch out for that drake! He's definitely a [Rogue]. If he comes back, keep your distance and don't fire until he's close." He had a three scaled Trial to solo.