The scent of damp stone and freshly cut grass filled Ethan's nose as he blinked awake.
Where am I currently Aiyooo?
His body ached as if he had just woken from a long, unnatural sleep. The morning sun cast a golden shining glow over the courtyard with sprinkling rain , its warmth seeping into his skin. Birds chirped in the distance, the castle loomed ahead, and neatly trimmed hedges lined the stone pathways with beautiful flowers
"Is it a Dream"Ethan murmured "but It feels to real to be fake"
He sat up, rubbing his eyes, his brain still sluggish. Just last night, he had been sitting at his desk, playing Kingdoms of Eternis, a fantasy romance RPG where the player controlled a legendary hero who gathered powerful allies including several romanceable heroines to fight against an ancient evil.
Ethan had spent hours grinding levels, strategizing, and admittedly admiring the gorgeous character designs. Then, just as he was about to enter a pivotal moment in the story, his screen glitched.
Then... nothing. Darkness.
Now he was here.
"No way."
His heart pounded as he scrambled to his feet. Looking down, he realized he wasn't wearing his usual clothes. Instead, he had on a plain brown tunic, rough wool pants, and worn-out leather shoes—cheap clothing for a lowly servant.
A chime echoed in his mind.
[You have entered Kingdom of Aurelis, Loading Data...]
A translucent blue screen popped up in his vision.
Name: Ethan
Race: Human (NPC)
Class: Servant
Status: Alive (For Now)
Ethan stared, his blood running cold,his hands starting to shake
"NPC?"
"Servant? WTf is this "
"This has to be a joke," he muttered. His hands trembled as he swiped at the screen, but the system notification remained hovering in his vision.
Panic clawed at his chest. In Kingdoms of Eternis, NPCs were disposable. They weren't meant to have names or stats. Most of them existed only to give quests, fill backgrounds, or worse die to make the hero's journey more dramatic.
And he had become one of them?
"No. No, no, no," he whispered. His breathing quickened as another window popped up.
Main Quest: Survive as an NPC
Status: Ongoing
Failure Condition: Death
That was all the system said. No instructions. No guidance.
Just one simple command. Survive.
His stomach twisted.
Before he could process anything else, a shout startled him.
"You! What are you standing around for?!"
Ethan flinched as a stout, red faced nobleman in a decorated tunic stormed toward him. Baron Gorth
Ethan recognized him immediately he was one of the worst noble NPCs in the game.Who dies too early in the game He was a minor background character, a cruel noble who enjoyed tormenting servants. If the player never interfered, he often beat them to death for fun.
His gut clenched.
"Get back to work before I have you whipped!" Baron Gorth barked, his meaty hand gripping a riding crop at his belt.
This is bad. If I say the wrong thing to him, I could get beaten or even worse
Ethan bowed deeply, trying to suppress the trembling in his hands. "YY-Yes, my lorrd!"
For a moment, Baron Gorth's beady eyes narrowed in suspicion, but then he grunted and turned away. "Lazy good-for-nothing servants," he muttered before stomping off toward the castle.
Ethan let out a shaky breath, his fists clenching. He needed to get out of here.
But how?
In Kingdoms of Eternis, NPCs had no agency. They followed game scripted paths, responded with games pre-written dialogue, and couldn't escape their roles. If this world worked the same way...
I'm screwed.
A rustling sound behind him made him jump.
"Ethan, what are you doing just standing there?"
He turned to see a young girl with short brown hair and a dust-covered apron glaring at him. Her sleeves were rolled up, revealing toned arms from years of hard labor. She looked familiar.
He racked his brain. Anna. She was an unnamed NPC in the game, just a background servant. But now... she looked more real than ever.
"What, cat got your tongue?" she huffed, crossing her arms. "If you slack off, we both get in trouble!"
"I am SS-Sorry," Ethan stammered.
Anna sighed, rubbing her temples. "Come on let's go. There's firewood to chop before the knights wake up, and if you're too slow, old man Gregor will have our heads."
Ethan's pulse pounded. Firewood? Right. The servants' daily routine.
In the game, these tasks were irrelevant, never shown in detail. But now, he had to live them.
"Got it," he said, forcing a smile.
Anna gave him a skeptical look but gestured for him to follow. As they walked, Ethan took deep breaths, his mind racing.
First priority: Figure out the rules of this world.
Second: Stay alive.
And third...
Find a way to escape the fate of this fucking NPC.
Because if this world followed the game's script, then he was nothing more than a disposable background character.
And that meant...
One day, he'd die a meaningless death.
Not if I can help it.