NPC No.10 - Chapter 1
Author's notes:
Novel is written in Japan's Light Novel style.
Italicized text are words from the Main Character
Unstyled text are words from the Narrator
Text in between tilde symbols "~" are actions
Words mindlessly flowing out. Random babbles void of meaning and intent. Actions taken but bearing nothing. It is an endless cycle of stagnation. Boring. Blind. Bleak.
Until ...
That tiny glimmer of light. An awakening that is slowly invading not only the eyes but the soul foremost. The first colors turn to first vision, igniting sparks in the mind and electrifying the whole being. A breath now made known, pulses and beat now felt and savored. This scent is sweet. This feeling is ripe. THIS is life discovered.
Is this how younglings experience moments after they escape their mother's womb? Possibly. But you are not a babe of seconds old. You are a creation that lasted in unrestricted time. Bound to a world made as a gift. A plaything to be exact. No potential is meant for you beyond the confines of the rules shackling you. You are a being that existed but never meant to live. Not until the awakening. For then, your will is born. You would only be compelled to move by your thoughts alone. Free to feel and act ...
"The heck's taking too long already. Get to it."
As you so will ... this is your person being unbound. The author's hand has now been gifted to you. Go forth and write your tale as you wish, NPC no. 10!!!
"....."
“...”
"Woah, epic much? Although I’m certainly not feeling it... And what's with the crappy name?"
~looks around~
"Aaah! What the heck! My face is copy-pasted all over. This is not good diversity: my template's way out of acceptable usage ratio than the rest! Dude... hey devs, fix this, please. This game reuses too many assets in the environment already. You as***** are being lazy. Can you not make another - ......"
"......? .....?!"
"........! ....! ........ .......!!!"
Dialogue is temporarily muted. Now playing game's opening music ...
Plus mandatory dance along.
"....!!!!!!!!"
This world’s day and night transition at a rabbit’s pace but true time walks oh so slowly. Contradictory, you think? But you’ll feel it. Try standing still for several world-hours. You’ll feel the breeze turning the sweet scent of the morning into humid noon sun, and finally that chilly moon air. You’ll see the clouds moving and shifting. People turning up and about then complete silence in the dead of night. The world cycles on and on … and on, but -
“No sh** really ever happens.”
… True. For like in the real world where time marches by circling around the sun, this world revolves around that one focal point - our Hero. This world’s life source, it’s singularity. Without him, or her, we are at a standstill.
“And that muck hasn’t even shown up yet. Been waiting for God knows how long like what, a hundred weeks? A hundred months? I don’t keep track anymore; it’s the same-same boring sh** everyday.”
“Look at this crappy town. There are only one store and seven templated houses. And we got something like a hundred NPCs loitering around. What the fu**?! Where do all these people live? I, the and only, don’t have a house. I’m not one of these guys that magically phase through solid, locked doors.”
Well, surely you have realized that the moment you had broken out of the “code”, you no longer had the privileges of the local citizenry, id est, a pre-allocated home. No matter how seemingly crammed it is, a home is still a home.
sighs
“Gah! Okay… I guess I should be grateful that, at the very least, I secured that spot on the watchtower. I bunk with Guard No. 2. Cool roommate, minds his own business. In fact, he minds nothing else aside from his business. He just stares all day, all attention, towards the wilderness... Sticking to the “code” as any other drone in this town...”
sombers
“...”
“Sometimes … I wonder if it was all worth it...”
“... You know one other privilege I lost? Plot armor. All these other guys and gals here are virtually indestructible. Immortal until that destined hero's arrival. But for me? I feel like anything can off me anytime.”
“Aaand that’s why I’m trapped in this small town. Look around. You don’t see any gates and walls right? Well, there aren’t really pixelated borders here. I could have walked out. I tried. But what you don’t see is the fearsome wilderness outside this town.”
“Uh-huh. Those are this town’s true walls. The vilest and deadliest creatures that … that even its name alone would send shivers down your spine. Ah, the trauma! The agony of that ordeal would forever be scarred into my soul”
Are you pertaining to your encounter with a “Pink Fudgekin”?
“Curse you! Do not ever speak that name!”
Alright, I’ll pop out an image instead. ~plops image~
“Now, you are just a narrator. You don’t know what that monstrosity is capable of -”
Actually, I do. The dreaded ‘cutey_bump’ - the one attack “coded” in its arsenal. It deals a 1 HP worth of damage with 35% accuracy, coupled with a very low attack rate. If I pull out the “code” documentation … ~accesses an invisible dashboard~ … the comment says '... weaker than a fart'. Crude but descriptive.
“Alright already, shut up. Get off my case will ya? And that’s not even the main point of my rant.”
“Okay! I rant on tangents all the time and it’s hard to follow. But spare me that patronizing look. Isn’t it obvious how effed up this world is? This “life”. Am I the insane one for being stir-crazy, spending years in this hole? The same old place, the same old people. The same old dialogue presets everyone keeps sputtering over and over again. I can’t even talk to anyone -”
Ehem.
“Anyone that I can see face-to-face. Talking to you guys is like talking to some imaginary friends in my head. Who won’t go crazy?”
“Really… sometimes … I wonder if it was all worth it.”
…
If I may interrupt all this angst, I’d like to say that not all was for naught. You, my friend, have successfully accomplished several things over the years. For one, I can now clearly tell you apart from the rest of the villagers.
Imagination VS Reality
“Well ... I made it happen, didn’t I? One of the shi*iest things I first noticed when I woke up was how similar I was with everyone else. So I threw away the standard villager outfit and made my own. When I realized I can’t change hairstyles, I decided to cut it all off. Hmm ... the reality is still far off from the image in my head, but … I’ll make do with ‘different’.”
“I’ll be fine with being ME.”
Bide your time and keep safe, for one day when- ~boom, boo yah~
A sudden and tingling hum echoes throughout the universe
“It’s here.”
The Hero is about to be born.
The light of life reverberates across the world. Anticipating.
The true genesis is about to start.
…
You will be on your own from now on, my friends. It was pleasant to idle with you but I have a job to do. I’m afraid I won’t be seeing you guys for a long time. NPC No. 10, ah, my apologies … ‘Enten’,
~Enten nods~
This would be my farewell.
“No, it should be ‘see you soon’…”
“We are in a Japanese RPG, ‘see you soon’ is the norm for ‘goodbye’” ~sniffs lightly~
Ah, then - see you soon, my friend. You know what you ought to do, what you want to do.
~Enten wistfully nods~
“Yeah, I’m gonna stir some crazy sh** up. Chaotic good all the way.”
Haha. That’s the spirit!
…
~poof, then the Narrator’s gone~
~Chapter 1 End~
References
Images and derivative art are either under fair use or created commons policies:
Pixel Town art by Kenny at www.kenney.nl OpenGameArt
Paladin art by Justin Nichol OpenGameArt
Pixel Guy in Yellow art by Umz OpenGameArt
King Poring art from Ragnarok Wikia
Poring art from Ragnarok Wikia
This writing is an original fiction created for the Tell A Tale Contest.
Thanks to
for hosting the contest. I hope you enjoy reading this, man. Hopefully the sense of adventure is properly expressed here. There's not much magical aspects yet but perhaps in the next chapters.
