Chapter 22: Hero and Villain
A relationship between player and NPC.
It was one of the hottest topics on social media. At one point, it was the number one topic that most players vehemently talked about.
After all, players already knew how natural NPCs were. Everyone could see many emotions behind the game's residents and their unique reactions. Of course, not everyone received special treatment, but it didn't matter.
Social media had everything covered.
Many players shared their unique quests, relationship progress, and other NPC-related stuff that turned the game into a much better world.
Even though it was still not possible to stream or make pictures in the game, players believed each other wholeheartedly.
They all agreed about NPCs.
It was perfectly fine to treat them as if real. If the game company took the system away and the relationship bar, no one would be able to tell players and NPCs apart. Of course, that was a slight exaggeration as both worlds had different cultures.
Thus, players could tell who was who without looking at the statuses. Still, if the player hid their status window and acted as NPC, it could get quite dangerous.
Nonetheless, in another world with a peculiar culture, players could truly taste a lot of unique relationships, even with players themselves.
After all, it was much easier to break up with others as one simply could just delete another player from the friendlist and leave a short message behind.
Alex read many stories about relationships with NPCs during his school breaks.
Most of those stories came from horny guys and girls that had never been in a relationship. They just looked forward to raising the relationship bar and getting all fruits of their development for themselves.
In a nutshell, they wanted NPC just from themselves.
And that was what other players pointed out.
If one could get a rare NPC for their side, wouldn't they get unique quests all for themselves? Not only that, but all skills and special plot stories would fall into their hands!
Thus, from another perspective, it was worth genuinely improving relationships with others and trying their luck with beautiful ladies and handsome guys.
Many recommended keeping it as a side quest as solely focusing on a relationship with NPCs was too risky, and one could end up wasting a lot of time.
But Alex had it much different than others. In fact, he had it the best.
"You are interested in a harem?" Olivia bent her back and asked with her eyes deeply probing her boyfriend from below.
Alex looked at her, "Is harem already that popular? I thought you would've asked a different question."
"For example?" Olivia smirked and straightened her back.
Alex pondered for a second, "For example, whether it is normal for me to treat NPCs as real people."
"Haha! Even without asking you, I know you fall into the hero category. Otherwise, you would've ignored that NPC commoner from before," Olivia chuckled.
"Hero Category?" Alex asked.
"You haven't heard about it?" It was Olivia's turn to get surprised.
She quickly explained.
The current player base was divided into two categories. The first category was [Hero], and people from that category treated NPCs like real people. They were willing to form a genuine relationship and have a lot of fun with them.
The second category was [Villain].
Those people saw NPCs as quest machines, no more. In their eyes, NPCs should give quests, fulfill players' necessities, and no more. They demanded residents of the Avander World to provide them with quests forcefully.
They wouldn't think twice before killing NPC. In fact, a popular term started to rise in fame in the Villain Circle.
"EXP bags," Olivia sighed, "Villain Guilds have some treaty with each other. In a few provinces, they openly force quests and even kill NPCs in a broad light. They don't care about other players' feelings and quests. They are ruthless and selfish."
It led to the creation of justice and evil guilds, but that was a topic for another day.
"Villains…" Alex whispered beneath his nose, his eyes narrowed.
He looked concerned and in deep thought. One could think he was seriously thinking about something.
In his hues, Olivia saw a will to protect. To protect that certain someone, Alex would kill the opposition.
Killing players would never weigh his heart, as that was how gaming was. But NPCs were a different matter.
Although Olivia could tell what Alex's reverse scale was and what would have to happen for him to go against NPC's lives, that sight of him still made her redder.
She blushed and stared at him with unconcealable excitement.
A vivid memory from their high school first-year flashed in her mind. In that particular year, Olivia saw Alex's ruthless side once.
"Sorry, I spaced out," Alex apologized. He then found Olivia's dazzling smile.
She shook her head and replied softly, "I haven't thought about it because of my parent's divorce, but I will see more of My Yankee Alex in the game!"
"What Yankee Alex?" Alex's eye twitched, and he pinched Olivia's little nose, "You mean that first-year incident?"
Alex didn't want to recall that incident, but his girlfriend's words indicated that year and incident.
Back then, they entered high school as freshmen. It was a new school, and both of them ended up in different classes.
So every long break was reserved for only them. They would meet and eat together like a couple.
However, on her way toward their usual spot, Olivia was approached by four upperclassmen. They took Olivia to the alley and wanted to play with her body and bully her.
Alas, for them, they took a demon instead.
Olivia beat two of them alone in the blink of an eye. She was Yankee and beating up others used to be every day for her. Even though it was in middle school, those techniques and experiences helped her cope with the situation.
Alas, two other guys didn't stay idle.
While the third guy threw himself to stop Olivia, the fourth one took his lit-up cigarette between his fingers. He wanted to smear it on Olivia's face and sully her beauty!
But that was when Alex found them.
"You threw punches so well! My heart was pounding with relief when I saw how you beat them two! And then, you forced them to smoke all their cigarettes at once. They puked, and their vomits mixed with blood.
Serves them right! I was so excited!" Olivia clenched her little hands and threw a few punches.
Alex stared at her with dead eyes, "Don't make me remember that. I felt like a different person."
"You protected me," Olivia smiled softly, "I will never forget it."
Although Olivia turned that incident into an exciting memory, Alex recalled his girlfriend's tears. Thus, while she was proud of him, he was also proud of her as she overcame that incident well.
He smiled, "I fear you will use 'Yankee Alex' too much in this game. Let's don't talk about that incident anymore. Let it sink into our hearts as that side of mine would have never come out if I didn't have my other half."
"Hmmm!" Olivia read between the lines and hummed.
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[You have bought Severlam Province's Common Map.]
"Thank you," Alex thanked the NPC lady, then turned around.
Olivia held his arm, and they went around the city.
Alex felt overjoyed by the number of people and players going around. He felt like he was finally in the game and that he could enjoy it to the fullest.
Now that he had Olivia by his side, he truly could go all out and be free from all burdens.
Well, there was still a minor burden on his heart.
"We kinda got derailed from our initial topic, didn't we?" Alex chuckled.
Olivia smiled as well, "Harem topic, right?"
"Relationships between player and NPC… Yeah, I guess harem," Alex rolled his eyes.
Olivia patted his back, "Whatever you have in mind, I will wait for you to introduce me to your NPC friends. It's a game, so you have to try all adventures, right? Actually, out of all people I know, you might be the one to keep up a harem."
After all, a harem was not that easy to keep. One needed to nurture feelings, and it was also costly.
While players could just log out, NPCs lived in that world. And then, much more responsibilities stepped in.
Her boyfriend was pretty responsible for his age, so Olivia nodded her head with confidence.
Alex stared at her oddly, "You are pretty open-minded."
"As I said, it's a game. What about me, though? Can I go for a harem too?" Olivia sneered as she asked this question.
And as she predicted, trouble crept up onto Alex's face.
He grew a little nervous, and he scratched his hair too much. His lips parted from time to time, wanting to say something.
Olivia covered her smirk.
Alex gave up, "It might be too hypocritical of me-"
Olivia chimed in, "Yes, very hypocritical."
"I wouldn't be able to stomach you and other NPCs," Alex genuinely said.
What right did he have to stop his girlfriend from trying out a harem too? He already had good contact with the Deathwill Sisters. No, he was the husband. His main class was literally their husband.
If things went as they should, he would end up with all three of them in love. He even challenged Schnee!
"Luckily for you, I don't have wet dreams of being drilled by two-"
Alex stopped her vulgar words by putting his hand on her lips.
Olivia licked his hand while Alex looked around, ready to apologize to NPCs and players.
He then took his hand away.
"I am not going to bother with a harem. It sounds like a chore," Olivia said.
Alex sighed, "I won't bring it out. Only if needed."
Olivia laughed out loud, "Was it too much? Sorry, handsome! Haha!"
To that side of hers, Alex could only smile, "I need more of your spoiled and cute sides."
But inwardly, he was pretty content. After all, if she were to be too spoiled, Olivia wouldn't be independent.
Olivia sneered, "Show me your moves then, Alex. I want to see your skills. Let's go to one of the popular leveling zones where I can scream like a fangirl. Time to make some pests jealous."
"Where did my Olivia go?" Alex shook his head.
*Author's note; Maybe I was too honest in the latest chapter... Ah, oh good readers, give me a castle so I can continue writing... I really can't write without a castle... Sniff... Sniff...*