"You think I''d trust you just because you say NPCs drop loot?" nk shot back, clearly skeptical.


    Orson paused, momentarily stumped. She had a point. Sure, some yers had tried attacking NPCs out of curiosity, but it usually ended with them getting insta-killed. Take Hazel, for example: she might look like a frail, sickly young girl, but with a full set of legendary gear and an S-tier "Heavenly Judgment" spell at her disposal, she was no one to mess with.


    But this was still the early days of the game. Soon enough, yers would discover that certain NPCs could be defeated, and that the loot they dropped was often more rewarding than what you''d get from elite bosses. In fact, somerge guilds wouldter form alliances specifically to ambush high-level NPCs.


    "Because I understand this game''s mechanics better than you do—how''s that for an answer?" Orson replied smoothly.


    nk hesitated. She knew Orson was a former pro, and his confidence suggested he knew what he was talking about.


    "If it weren''t for the healer NPC constantly patching up her teammates, I wouldn''t need your help at all," Orson added, drawing nk into his party.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Seeing him so confident, nk decided to set her doubts aside and dashed toward the NPCs'' position. At the end of the mist-shrouded path outside the city, an eerie castle loomed—the Butcher''sir.


    nk asked, "Got a n? Those NPCs seem to be waiting for us to make the first move."


    Orson grimaced. "Yeah, that''s the tricky part. I was hoping they''d be useful in taking down the boss so we could just swoop in at the end."


    The four NPCs eyed nk suspiciously, clearly expecting her to lead the charge.


    This was no ordinary MMO. In Infinite Dimensions, NPCs were practically indistinguishable from real people. They had distinct personalities, behaviors, and levels of intelligence that made them feel like genuine characters, not mindless automatons.


    "Let''s go for it," Orson said. "I''ll take the two warriors; you handle the healer and the mage. We don''t need to kill them, just keep them upied."


    "What if we take too long? Someone else might swoop in and grab the boss," nk countered.


    "Let them try. They won''t oust me," Orson replied with a grin.


    nk was convinced. Without a word, she darted forward and, with a swift motion, drove her dagger into the healer''s side.


    Critical Hit -736!


    Bleed -120!


    Bleed -120!


    …


    "True damage bleed?"


    Orson''s eyes widened as he watched nk''s dagger hit an artery, causing the healer NPC to bleed profusely, with not one but four instances of true damage ticking away.


    The earth mage beside the healer retaliated with a stone spike, but nk sidestepped andnded another sh across the healer''s throat. True damage bleed was a rare rogue passive that typically required a critical strike on a vital point to trigger.


    More impressively, nk''s bleed effect appeared to scale, increasing with each sessive hit. There was no question in Orson''s mind now: she must have a Divine-tier soul seal enhancing her damage over time.


    Orson could already envision how a rogue like nk could dominate one-on-one duels. With a bit of prep time, she could stack enough bleed effects on a training dummy to make any opponent drop dead in seconds during a PvP match.


    "What are you waiting for? Attack!" nk snarled.


    Snapping out of it, Orson forced a chuckle. "Sorry, your moves were mesmerizing. I was… distracted."


    He said it as he turned tail and sprinted in the opposite direction.


    "You jerk! Trying to leave me here and take the boss for yourself?" nk cursed.


    "Patience, dear. I''m, uh… getting into position!" Orson replied, realizing how his words sounded only after he''d said them.


    "Position? Three hundred meters away? Who are you kidding?" nk shouted back, realizing she had no choice but to handle the NPCs herself.


    With the four NPCs now gged as hostile, their health bars were visible. The heavily armored Luka had an imposing 300,000 HP, while even the frailest mage had 100,000 HP.


    "Betrayers of the lord will perish!" Luka roared, charging forward with his sword drawn.


    nk sprang into the air, her movement as precise as a dancer''s,nding a pinpoint strike at Luka''s nape. Another critical hit—her damage was off the charts!


    "What in the world… Is this even rogue gamey?" Orson thought, watching in awe. nk wasn''t using any special skills, yet she was pulling off moves that would be impossible for most yers. It could only mean one thing: she could perform these moves in real life too.


    Infinite Dimensions synchronized the yer''s physical abilities and skills with their neural input, which meant that yers were limited by their real-world capabilities as well. A yer who couldn''t swim in real life, for instance, would also need a skill to swim in the game.


    "Could she be… a martial artist?" Orson wondered, recalling the ancient martial artists who had fought on the front lines during the apocalypse in his previous life. Many of these masters came from influential ns, possessing fighting techniques that ordinary people couldn''t even dream of. Without their resistance on the US front lines, guilds like Dragon''s Kiss wouldn''t have been able to unt their strength in the rear.


    But even for nk, four against one was a losing battle. The two warrior NPCs were especially problematic; with high attack and defense, they were a rogue''s worst nightmare. Without a clean hit on a weak spot, they could counter her attacks easily.


    With a dull thud, one of the warriors struck her with the t of his de, sending her flying and leaving her at critical HP.


    As she stumbled back, rage red in nk''s eyes as she red in Orson''s direction, vowing to hunt him down and kill him a hundred—no, a thousand times for this betrayal!


    But before she could voice her frustration, nk looked up, stunned. A brilliant light streaked across the night sky.


    "A… meteor?" she whispered in disbelief.


    No, it was something much more terrifying.


    Big Daddy had arrived.


    With a thunderous roar, an enormous fiery serpent descended from above, weaving through the air before crashing directly into the NPCs.


    -830!


    -830!


    -1600!


    The Touch of the me Serpent scorched everything in its path. The NPCs, shocked by the sudden assault, scattered, each one set aze.


    "Orson, what the—how did you—?!" nk stammered.


    "Never underestimate the power of distance," Orson called out, stepping from the shadows. His face was a picture of smug satisfaction.


    Orson continued casting, the mes raging wildly as he let out oneugh after another.