Chapter 58: The Crooked Little Bear

[Shadowfang Warlord]’s mind was a mess.

[Rabbit]… was dead.

Not the kind of death where a player could just laugh and respawn at a Resurrection Point, but true, permanent erasure.

The pink-haired girl who always had a lollipop in her mouth and never spoke properly was actually an NPC?

A… summon?

Then were her joys and sorrows before real? When she complained that the dungeon was too hard, was she truly complaining?

That smug look on her face when she handed over rare materials with a “consider yourself lucky,” was that just a programmed reaction?

Jiang You felt a sharp sense of dissonance.

He had always thought he was playing an incredibly realistic game, where every NPC had sophisticated AI and every interaction could trigger a different plot.

He enjoyed the battles, enjoyed the strategy.

It was fun, wasn’t it?

But now, someone he considered a friend had vanished completely, in a way he couldn’t understand.

It overturned everything he thought he knew about this world.

Even after working with Farushil many times, deep down he always saw her as just a string of code generated by a “super-high-intelligence AI,” no matter how human she seemed.

At most, he’d just marvel, “Star Moon Interactive’s technology is insane.”

But that feeling of detachment, like watching from outside the world, was shattered by a single lie.

…Once you’ve truly considered an “NPC” a friend, you can no longer accept the falseness of their life.

Instinctively, he looked at Farushil, one of the most difficult ultimate objectives to conquer in .

He wanted to find a crack in that eternally frosty mask—a clue that would let him keep treating all this as just a game.

And then, he saw it.

For the first time, there was a fracture on that face always as cold as ice.

It wasn’t the heaviness of facing a powerful enemy, nor the frustration of a failed command, but a kind of… utter despair.

Her eyes were no longer the sword overlooking the battlefield, but like a crystal shattered by something invisible, scattering painful light.

[Shadowfang Warlord]’s heart skipped a beat.

That expression was too real—so real it hurt his eyes.

His gaze involuntarily followed Farushil’s line of sight to the falling spire, and the mother and daughter clinging tightly below.

“Another plot kill?”

A numb thought flashed through his mind.

“A tragic scene arranged by the system to drive the Main Quest or… lower the difficulty for Divine Favored ones?”

But in the next second, his vision froze.

He saw what the little girl was clutching tightly in her hand.

A Handmade Teddy Bear.

A handmade, clumsily stitched, even slightly ridiculous-looking Handmade Teddy Bear.

It was identical to the one hanging from Farushil’s backpack—the pendant all players assumed was a “Divine Favored starting ornament,” the bear he’d once seriously analyzed to see if it was a special Quest Item.

So, it originated from this little girl.

Boom!

It was as if a bolt of lightning split open the chaos in Jiang You’s mind.

All the fragmented pieces were forced together in an instant.

[Rabbit]’s death was real.

Farushil’s current despair was real.

The little girl’s fear was real.

The bear representing pure kindness was also real.

This isn’t a game.

Or rather, it’s not just a game.

These NPCs can cry, laugh, despair, and die.

They’re not just lines of code, not programs waiting for player interaction.

They’re living people.

Farushil carried the burden of saving these people—that’s why she suffered.

That mother was willing to give her life to protect her child—that’s why she feared.

And himself… what had he been doing all along? Treating their pain as plot? Their struggles as challenges?

A scorching sensation surged from his chest, flooding every cell in his body.

It was a feeling mixed with shame, anger, and a certain… sense of duty.

He forgot about the quest, the rewards, forgot he was just a player.

He didn’t have time to think.

His body moved faster than his brain.

“Damn it!”

A curse squeezed through his teeth as [Shadowfang Warlord] shot forward like an arrow.

He had assigned all his Attribute Points to Agility, and now his in-game body exploded with superhuman speed.

The wind screamed in his ears, the world blurring into streaks of color, with only the terrified faces of the mother and daughter remaining crystal clear.

He could even see the reflection in the mother’s teary eyes, see Lina’s wide, fear-stricken gaze.

No time left!

In the instant before the spire’s shadow swallowed the pair, [Shadowfang Warlord] slammed into the mother like a cannonball.

The tremendous force sent her rolling away with her child, out of the deadly zone.

The mother didn’t even have time to scream, feeling only a forceful yet non-malicious strength pushing them toward survival.

And [Shadowfang Warlord] himself, because of this desperate shove, lost his last chance to dodge.

He looked up.

The massive spire filled his vision, blotting out the sky.

The breath of destruction rushed over him, making every hair on his body stand on end.

“Ha… damn it all…”

He wanted to laugh, but found he didn’t even have the strength to twitch his lips.

—

BOOM!!!!!!

A thunderous roar erupted, as if the earth itself were being torn apart.

The solid stone spire crashed down with unstoppable force, instantly reducing [Shadowfang Warlord]’s position to dust.

The shockwave of smoke and rubble blasted out in all directions, sweeping everything away.

[Warning: Your health has dropped to zero!][You are dead!]