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[Episode 227 begins!]

Finally, the online service has started.

At first, I was nervous that CEO Park or the company might be watching me. Even if they couldn’t read my thoughts, they were likely monitoring my actions.

If they saw me contacting players and asking for help, that would be the end…

No, let’s not jump to conclusions so quickly.

The service has just begun.

If necessary, I can pretend to be a villain siding with the players.

First, I need to find players who can help me.

On the opening day, a massive crowd entered this world through the transmission portal that looked like a pillar of light. They began expanding their territory around the portal.

Meanwhile, the sudden appearance of these strange beings from another world put the entire world, including the Empire, on high alert.

Amidst rampant speculation that the players were either divine apostles or a new breed of demons from hell, the players themselves made the first move.

“NPCs! Don’t worry! We’re the heroes summoned to save this world from the Demon Lord!”

“NPCs? Heroes? What are you talking about…?”

Some guilds, acting as representatives of the players, reached out to the inhabitants of this world. They shared food and handmade necessities to show their goodwill.

What they said matched what I had learned from the company. According to the game’s concept, the players are heroes from another world summoned to save this world from the Demon Lord’s invasion.

They seemed committed to this story, already forming guilds to build friendly relations with the locals.

I thought this was the perfect time and sent someone to establish contact with them.

Of course, the Imperial family and other nobles accused me of betrayal, but I didn’t care. I never paid attention to their words anyway.

After building trust with them for a while, I made a decision.

It was time to reveal my true identity to them. And to tell them about CEO Park’s actions and what this world really is.

They would surely be shocked. As fellow humans, they would be just as outraged by my situation and CEO Park’s atrocities.

But I was completely wrong.

*Whoosh.*

When I arrived, the Ruelberta Mansion was on fire.

“What is this…?”

“Master…”

The head butler, covered in blood, approached me. His wrinkled face was filled with terror.

“Run…! They suddenly-”

His words stopped there. The butler collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Arrows from somewhere were embedded in his back.

“Oh, is it because he’s old? Still, I got some experience points.”

I froze when I saw who was walking toward me.

They were the players from the guild I had invited.

“You bastards…”

“You’re finally here, Count.”

A handsome young man recognized me. His face was familiar. He was the guild leader of the large guild I was supposed to meet today.

The sword he held was dripping with someone’s blood.

“What… are you doing? Weren’t we on the same side?”

“Ah. I changed my mind.”

“Changed your mind?”

“Yeah.”

The youthful guild leader smiled like an angel, standing against the burning mansion. But his words were chilling.

“Turns out, there’s no better ‘experience points’ than you guys. Oh, look, some maids are trying to escape.”

“What? Where?”

The guild leader pointed to the maids trying to flee over the wall.

“Where do you think you’re going, bitches.”

The guild members quickly drew their bows, aiming at the fleeing targets.

“Stop!”

“Huh?! Hey! Why aren’t you dying?!”

Thanks to my charge, a gap opened. It wasn’t much, but it bought the maids some time to escape.

“Funny. Who told you to catch them?”

My hope was short-lived. The maids were engulfed in flames.

“Ah…”

“Hey. Were you trying to steal my experience points?”

The guild leader held a staff that had just fired a fireball.

“Ugh. I thought the guild leader told us to catch them.”

“I said don’t touch what’s mine.”

“Too bad. Should’ve just shot them without asking.”

They laughed, lowering their bows. It was hard to believe they had just killed people.

“Why are you doing this…? What did we do wrong…?”

“For the experience points.”

“What?”

“It’s more beneficial to level up by getting experience points from you than cooperating with you.”

“You’re killing us for experience points? Just for that?”

I thought I misheard.

They were killing people just for experience points.

“Why not? If we get experience points, doesn’t that mean we can hunt you? And you’re easier to hunt than monsters, and the experience points are better.”

I clenched my teeth at the guild leader’s words.

If this were just a game, he might be right. But this isn’t just a game. And…

“I… am a human like you.”

“Huh?”

My words drew their attention.

“I’m a living human like you. To you, I might just be an NPC, a piece of data, but we are humans with emotions like you. Yet you kill us like bugs without a second thought.”

“So what? What are you trying to say, pig bastard?”

One of the guild members punched me in the face.

“Hey, keep talking. This bastard’s words are really pissing me off. Did the game developers make NPCs this annoying on purpose? Trying to make us feel guilty or something?”

“Well, they did aim to make the game as realistic as possible.”

“I actually like it.”

It was the guild leader who said that.

“Killing NPCs who just repeat the same lines is boring. Here, it feels like killing real people. You can’t do that in real life.”

“Ugh… Our guild leader is such a psycho…”

“By the way, you said you’re human like us, right?”

The guild member who had been beating me drew his sword.

“Then let’s see if I get experience points from killing you. When we PVP among ourselves, we don’t get experience points. If you’re ‘one of us,’ I shouldn’t get any, right?”

“Oh, this guy’s a genius. I thought he was just an idiot.”

“Ha…”

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at their banter. I had been such a fool to wait for players like them. Who knew they were such scum?

I had hoped for help from these people!

Honestly, I understand why they’re acting like this. To them, we’re just NPCs. They’ll never see us as human.

Still, I… I was furious at their actions.

Seeing them laugh while killing defenseless people like bugs ignited a burning ‘wrath’ within me.

“What? You gonna stare at me, pig bastard?”

“I will never forgive you.”

“?!”

The player flinched when he met my wrath-filled gaze.

“I might forget the others, but I will remember you.”

“What… is this guy suddenly…”

The ‘wrath’ I had been suppressing began to seep out. A burning rage that felt like it would consume my heart. The players, overwhelmed by the intensity, clutched their chests in agony.

“I can’t… breathe…”

“Cough, cough…?!”

I didn’t take my wrathful gaze off them.

Let’s kill them. Burn them with my wrath. Burn them alive like they did to those maids…

*Thud!*

A sharp sound pierced my flesh, and a searing pain shot through my abdomen. Looking down, I saw the guild leader’s staff embedded in my stomach.

I collapsed to the ground.

“…Ugh!”

“Phew… That’s a new spell. Or is it a skill?”

The guild leader, who had thrown the staff, wiped off cold sweat and muttered. The guild members, freed from the ‘wrath’s’ influence, began to catch their breath.

“Pant…”

“Wow… That bastard scared me with whatever that was.”

“Hey, pig bastard. You’re not going to die easily.”

Perhaps feeling humiliated by an NPC, the guild members, now filled with shame and anger, drew their swords.

“Let’s start by cutting off your arm. Then-”

“Don’t touch the Count with those filthy hands.”

Suddenly, the world turned purple.

A lightning bolt struck the ground, tearing apart the players approaching me like paper.

A sturdy shadow stood before me.

“Helga…”

“Hehe… Sorry I’m late.”

Helga smiled, but I couldn’t bring myself to be happy to see her.

“You…”

“What’s wrong? Are you falling for me?”

Helga was in tatters.

She must have broken through the players’ encirclement to get here. Her clothes were torn, and arrows were stuck in her body.

She stood there, pretending to be fine, but blood dripped from her wounds.

Despite her battered state, she had come here for me.

Tristan’s loyal servant and the Ruelberta family’s strongest guardian, Helga Wolfbert, spoke to me.

“Don’t worry. I’m here now.”

“Hahaha! That guy just died and went back to the village.”

Laughter erupted among the players.

“He’s gonna have a hard time getting back here.”

“The funnier part is he lost levels because of the death penalty. Hehe.”

“Hey, keep the dropped equipment safe. Don’t steal it.”

“Aw, can’t I keep just one?”

Even though a guild member had just died, they laughed and joked.

“…You lack even the slightest sense of camaraderie.”

Helga glared at them with disgust, but it was a natural reaction.

To them, this is just a game.

Dying just means dropping some equipment and suffering a death penalty.

“I don’t know where you came from…”

The player who had grabbed my collar earlier looked at Helga and smirked.

“But you’re totally my type.”

“…Huh?”

“You’re really pretty. Seriously. Do you have a boyfriend? Or are you that pig bastard’s girlfriend?”

It was an incredibly rude question, but Helga smiled quietly and answered.

“What if I am?”

“Then be my girl from today.”

“What? This guy’s a total psycho. Now he’s trying to date an NPC? Even worse than the guild leader. Even if she’s your type, this is too much.”

“Hehe… Ahaha…!”

“Huh?”

“What?”

Listening to their vulgar conversation, Helga burst into laughter.

“You’re really amusing. I thought I’d seen all kinds of trash, but… compared to you, they’re almost decent.”

“What?”

“Just from your words, I can tell your level. What kind of trashy lives have you been living? I’m curious.”

“Hey… This bitch is getting too comfortable…”

“Comfortable?”

“?!”

The next moment, the man clutched his groin and collapsed to the ground. Helga’s lightning-fast kick had struck him between the legs.

“?!?!?!”

“That’s my line.”

“You…!”

“Comfortable.”

*Crash!*

“Comfortable.”

*Smack!*

Helga’s magic-infused fists slammed into the man’s face repeatedly. His figure blurred and then disappeared, leaving only his equipment behind.

“Hey… Surround her!”

Finally realizing the threat before them, the guild leader shouted.

“Sure, sure. Come at me. Whether it’s one or two, I’ll tear you all apart.”

Helga taunted them, unfazed by their threats.

But it was just bravado.

It was obvious.

Helga didn’t have much magic left after that attack.

Suddenly, Helga and I locked eyes. She gave me a silent signal.

Even someone as clueless as me understood what it meant.

Helga was telling me to run. She would buy time while I escaped.

I thought about it.

What would Tristan have done?

Would he have abandoned Helga and run?

Or would he have betrayed Helga and begged the players to spare him?

And what should I do?

A Tristan-like choice? Or my own choice?

As I pondered, I noticed a group of players in my peripheral vision. They were sneaking up from a blind spot, drawing their bows.

*Thump…*

The traits within me began to align.

What would Tristan have done?

Or what would I have done?

It’s all pointless.

In this world, Tristan… was me from the beginning.

“Count?!”

I lunged forward and shielded Helga.

At the same time, I felt arrows piercing my back.

“Why…?!”

Despite Helga’s cries, I silently endured the arrow barrage.

Ah… Yes. This is just like back then.

Helga, holding my corpse, dying under a rain of arrows.

“No! No! Let go! If this continues, the Count will…!”

“…There was a woman who said she would be my umbrella.”

“Huh…?”

Amidst the arrow rain, I looked at Helga. Her eyes, on the verge of tears.

She probably didn’t know.

How she died in the original story. What promise she made to me in the previous loop while shielding me with an umbrella.

But… I remembered. I knew.

“‘This time,’ it’s my turn to be the umbrella.”

“Count…?”

Arrows relentlessly pierced my back.

Strangely, it didn’t hurt.

Maybe it was because of all the self-harm I’d done.

Ironically, I was grateful for my fat at that moment. It could block at least one more arrow.

When the arrow rain finally stopped, I could no longer move.

“…Hah. Trying to act cool, huh?”

The guild leader kicked me, and I collapsed.

I had no strength left to get up.

“This pig bastard is annoying. Hey, take this woman.”

“Sigh… Come here.”

*Rip-*

As the guild member grabbed Helga’s collar to drag her away, her uniform tore.

“…What?”

But the next moment, the guild leader and members frowned.

Inside Helga’s torn uniform were bundles of mysterious scrolls.

“I told you earlier…”

Helga took my hand.

She looked into my fading eyes. In her single eye, there was no fear.

Only resolve.

“Whether it’s one or two pieces of trash…”

The explosive scrolls in her arms began to glow, each capable of causing massive destruction.

“I’ll tear you all apart.”

Finally realizing what they were, the guild leader’s angelic face twisted in horror.

“You damn bitch…?!”

The world was engulfed in a blinding white light.

 

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