“……”
With my slowed-down brain, I slowly grasped the situation.
The moment I took a step, a gunshot rang out.
Bang.
And at the same time, something started flowing from my head.
Drip.
Swish.
With a dazed expression, I raised my hand to check what it was.
Liquid, red, and a fishy smell.
Blood.
Blood was flowing.
From where?
Swish-, shhk.
Not my head.
My ear.
The bullet that flew by grazed and tore my ear.
So, who shot at me?
…Surprisingly, it was Django.
“…Mr. Noah. I think the warning was clear enough. Next time, it won’t be your ear but your head. Don’t come any closer.”
“……”
The moment Django drew his gun.
The [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait activated properly.
In the slowed-down space-time, I leisurely moved my feet.
As long as I had the [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait… the bullets fired by my opponent were like dodgeballs flying during gym class.
I thought I could easily dodge Django’s bullet too.
But…
Splat-.
Django’s bullet wasn’t a dodgeball.
It was a baseball.
In this world, there are very few, but some people exist.
Those with immense talent that can rival the cheat-like [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait.
I thought he was just a naive pushover…
But Django seemed to be one of those.
‘I let my guard down.’
If I take one more step here, another bullet will fly.
Next time, it won’t be my ear but my head.
So instead of moving forward, I closed my eyes.
This was a form of mind control.
A way to break through the current situation.
When I closed my eyes, it felt like someone was asking me.
Kid, what do you like?
What I like…
Cigarettes so strong that one puff makes me dizzy.
Alcohol so potent that one drink gets me drunk.
Painkillers filled with morphine that make me numb after one dose.
Everything that pulls me away from reality into unreality and fantasy.
Then what do you hate?
What I hate.
Majestic and grand landscapes that make my chest tighten.
A heart pounding with excitement.
Rough sex that sends excitement surging to the top of my head.
Among those, what I hate the most…
The searing pain that makes my whole body dizzy.
Whoosh-.
Blood flows from my torn ear, and the pain spreads through my body.
That pain gives me a sense of reality.
Reality.
Yes, I hate everything that gives me a sense of reality.
Why?
Because this world isn’t my reality.
This is just a game world.
Feeling a sense of reality in a game is strange.
Every time I feel a sense of reality in this world, I fall into some messed-up delusions.
Maybe I’m really Noah?
Maybe Dokgo Young from South Korea is just my fantasy?
This damn Wild West…
Maybe it’s really the world I live in?
Every time I’m tormented by such delusions, I shout like this to barely escape.
F*ck off.
Who do these unreal bastards think they’re fooling?
I tell myself it can’t be.
This isn’t the real world.
This is just a game world.
This isn’t my world.
The place I need to return to exists elsewhere.
And to get back there…
[Logout Unavailable]
[Amount Remaining Until Logout: $905,586 / $1,000,000]
…I needed money.
Flash.
When I opened my eyes again, all my thoughts were sorted.
My head was as cold as ice, but my body was heated with excitement, perhaps due to the sharp pain.
“…$94,414 left until I can go home.”
I was stupid.
No matter how well-made the game is, feeling sympathy for an NPC in the game is strange.
I must’ve lived too comfortably in the three years since leaving San Francisco.
Swish.
As I touched my torn ear, the pain spread, and anger rose.
“…It hurts.”
I finally felt like my mind was back in place.
Then, all I saw were NPCs worth $10,000 if killed and $10,000 if saved.
***
“Ah…”
Emma couldn’t comprehend the situation in front of her.
Someone got shot.
Who?
…Her boss, Noah.
“……”
From the moment she first met Noah three years ago, he was like a child.
Sometimes clumsy, sometimes frivolous, sometimes curious—every time she saw Noah, Emma felt like she was watching a kid playing by the river.
Could someone like that really handle guns and catch outlaws?
Honestly, in the early days of working as his secretary, Emma thought Noah would die soon.
So, she stocked the office with bandages, painkillers, and disinfectants.
In Justice Town, where there were no doctors, she thought she’d at least provide basic treatment if Noah ever got shot.
But for three years, Emma never had to use those supplies.
For three years, Noah, though always clumsy, never got hurt.
With unbelievable shooting skills, he subdued outlaws, and with even more unbelievable reflexes, he dodged their bullets.
That kind of human…
Seeing Noah’s unusual appearance, a single belief solidified in Emma’s mind like a conviction.
The belief that Noah would never be shot.
But now, Noah was bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound.
“Ah…!”
Emma, snapping out of her daze, pulled out a handkerchief and rushed to Noah.
“Boss…! We need to stop the bleeding…!”
But…
Thud.
As Emma approached, Noah stretched out his palm as if to keep his distance.
“……”
It was a simple gesture, but it strangely made Emma’s heart tremble.
And then, when Noah turned his head and locked eyes with her.
“……!”
Emma felt her trembling heart suddenly turn cold and stop.
“…Boss.”
“…Ah, Emma. You’re a friendly NPC with no bounty, so I’ll pass.”
Noah, with dark circles under his eyes, was usually very tired but often smiled.
He was smiling while looking at Emma.
But…
Emma noticed that Noah’s smile, which she saw every day, seemed different this time.
Shiver.
Her hands were shaking.
What was this strange sense of fear?
And why did the words the leader of the South Brotherhood once said to Noah come to mind?
‘You still don’t see people as people.’
Emma knew that Noah often referred to people as NPCs, a meaningless term.
Until now, she thought it was just one of Noah’s quirks… but today it sounded different.
‘Ah…’
Only then did Emma realize why Noah’s smile had filled her with fear.
The smile of a child about to crush an ant in front of them.
From the ant’s perspective, it must be terrifying.
And if the ant bites the child’s hand in defiance.
Crack.
The child’s smile would vanish, replaced by anger.
That’s what Noah was like now.
Noah, who had been smiling at Emma…
Snap.
Turned his head back to Django and wiped the expression from his face.
“…How dare you, you NPC brat.”
As if angered by the ant biting his finger, Noah irritably pulled a knife from his back pocket.
And after leaving Emma with one last word…
“Ah, right. Emma. There’s been a change in the plan.”
“…What?”
“20,000 dollars. We’re making 20,000 dollars today.”
He charged towards Django like the wind.
**
It hurts.
The pain, starting from my ear… spreads through my body like I’ve been burned.
Whether it’s FPS or RPG.
If players actually felt the pain their characters experienced, no matter how well-made the game, it would be called a shitty game.
I’m in a shitty game right now.
“Noah-!!”
As I rushed in, Django raised his gun as if he had no choice.
And then, fanning.
Click.
Though his fanning stance looked clumsy, Django succeeded at an invisible speed.
And then, firing.
Bang.
Swoosh-!
Even though the [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait was still active, Django’s bullet was a baseball.
I managed to dodge just as Django started fanning.
But I didn’t fully avoid it.
Drip.
Hot blood flowed again from my grazed shoulder.
It wasn’t as bad as when my ear was hit, but I still felt a slight pain.
Though there was no interface, I could feel my character Noah’s HP dropping.
But perhaps because of that pain…
Whoosh-.
The pain spread through my body, and so did anger and excitement.
My body heated up, and my movements became lighter.
Bang-!
Django’s previously invisible bullets started to become visible.
And so, I completely dodged Django’s third bullet…
Whoosh-.
In the slowed-down space-time where the [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait was active, I precisely stabbed my knife towards Django’s neck.
Any ordinary NPC would have been finished here.
But…
Swish.
Django showed an astonishing reaction speed and dodged my knife.
“Miss-! Get back!”
He even had the leisure to pull Josephine back and create distance.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a skilled NPC.
“So… you’re not going down easy either.”
It’s a shame I don’t have a gun.
The difference between a gun and a knife is like heaven and earth.
But I didn’t think I would lose to him.
Because between Django and me, there was an absolute difference that no gun or knife could bridge.
“I’ll show you why NPCs can’t beat players.”
“……”
Player and NPC.
Human and non-human.
Reality and virtuality.
I was going to properly show that difference to that 10,000-dollar black NPC.
