I Became an NPC That Rankers Are Obsessed Over

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-four, no, twenty-one…”

I poured tequila into a shot glass with trembling hands.

“What, you’re older than me. Just speak comfortably, noona.”

Si-woong leaned his arm on the sofa.

And that arm slowly moved closer to my shoulder.

“Sorry for scaring you earlier. You talked so tough I thought you had some amazing ability.”

“…”

“Who would’ve thought you were powerless? But at least you’re cute. That’s enough to get by in life, right?”

His rough hand wrapped around my shoulder.

The touch made my stomach churn like I was about to throw up.

I wanted to hit him over the head with the tequila bottle right away, but if I did…

I’d be crushed under that massive fist, with not even powder left of me.

“Give me your number.”

Absolutely not.

My body instinctively sent warning signals.

“I don’t have a phone…”

“No phone? Does that even make sense?”

“I couldn’t pay the bill, so it got cut off…”

“What? That’s all? I thought you were just playing hard to get.”

Si-woong gestured to the male student who came with him.

The guy pulled a backpack out from the floor.

With a smug expression, he unzipped it.

When the bag opened, it was filled with wads of cash, far more than you’d see in a cash dispenser.

“Take one of these.”

He placed a bundle of cash on my thigh.

At a glance, it was more than 5 million won.

But I felt a fear far greater than the money before my eyes.

How did these kids get such a huge amount of money?

And what would they demand of me in return?

“Ah, don’t feel burdened. I just like you, that’s all.”

He smirked as he drank the tequila I had poured.

Then, using his finger, he dabbed at the white powder spread on the table and sniffed it up his nose.

Wait a second, wasn’t that salt?

Why is it going into his nose…

Normally, you’d lick salt off the rim of a tequila shot glass or off your hand after taking a sip.

Si-woong shuddered in ecstasy after inhaling the powder.

Drugs.

These guys must be making money by dealing drugs.

“Just think of it as the price for spending a day with me.”

His hand began sliding from my thigh further inward.

My heart pounded like crazy.

What’s going to happen to me now?

Am I really about to face something I can’t even bear to imagine?

“I’m a physical enhancement ability user. Maybe that’s why I prefer soft things unlike me.”

I trembled all over at the unbearable thought of what might come next.

I focused my mind on my fingertips.

If it came to this, I’d knock him out with Angelic Hand.

He thinks I’m powerless anyway.

His hand reached the inside of my thigh.

At that moment, I extended my hand toward Si-woong’s neck.

“What the…”

Just as my hand was about to touch him, he pulled his arm away.

The sound of a car stopping outside the inn had interrupted him.

“Is that the Association’s security squad?”

The other students murmured uneasily.

“Se-hee, didn’t you say this place was safe?”

Si-woong glared at Se-hee with narrowed eyes.

She shook her head vehemently in response.

“No way… How would they know we’re here?”

I quickly withdrew my hand.

The tension in my body released, and I instinctively curled up.

Tears welled up in my reddened eyes and poured down.

They dripped to the floor from my bowed head.

“Hide the bag, and you, go see who it is.”

Si-woong gave orders in a serious tone.

The students acted in unison, moving as if following the commands of an A-rank hunter.

“Why are you trembling, noona… You’re making me worried.”

After they left, he casually brushed my hair back.

“Don’t worry. If there’s a problem, we’ll just change the location. There’s a much better place than this dump. Somewhere cozier…”

He scooped up some powder with his finger.

Then he brought it right up to my nose.

“Take it. You’ll feel better and get there in no time.”

“Wait…”

If I took that, it was all over.

I turned my head away desperately to resist.

But his burly arm soon grabbed my head.

And he started guiding me toward the powder.

“—!”

Just as the powder was about to touch my nose, it happened.

The scream of the student who went to check outside made Si-woong stop.

Then, from the direction of the shop entrance, familiar footsteps echoed.

I knew those footsteps.

Heavy and cold, like work boots on a job site.

Soon, a woman holding a carbon blade stepped into the shop.

Her sword dripped with fresh, vibrant blood.

In contrast, her flowing silver hair glimmered beautifully.

For some reason…

The murky and fearsome eyes that had once seemed so frightening now felt unusually welcome.

“Ha.”

Si-woong scoffed, getting up from the sofa.

He clearly recognized who had just arrived.

“Anna Danilova.”

He stretched his body, cracking sounds like gravel colliding resonating from him.

“I’ve always wanted to try going up against a ranker.”

“…”

Anna didn’t respond to his words.

Instead, her gaze shifted from the massive Si-woong to me, small and cowering.

Anna approached me and asked.

“You… Are you a mental ability user?”

Why was she asking about my ability all of a sudden?

I couldn’t answer, so she grabbed my wrist and opened the system window.

“Powerless…?”

Anna furrowed her brows.

It wasn’t the result she had expected.

It made sense.

My ability was inherited from my past life and wasn’t registered in Si-ho’s existing records.

“Then that alcohol… Was it just a coincidence?”

She slowly lowered her head to look at me.

“Let me go…”

When I groaned in pain, Anna let go as if it had been meaningless.

“Hey, Anna. Are you ignoring me right now?”

Si-woong spoke to the assassin who had turned her back on him.

“…”

But Anna didn’t react to his second question either.

His shadow loomed over her face darkly.

Si-woong’s fist came crashing down toward Anna.

I thought she’d be crushed outright by that monstrous fist.

However, the fist he struck down only shattered the innocent floor, and Anna was nowhere to be seen.

She was already lightly perched on Si-woong’s shoulder, raising her sword toward him.

Without a moment’s hesitation, her sword descended on Si-woong’s neck.

“—!”

The moment the sword touched him, a gray aura surrounded the body of the A-rank hunter.

He tightened his muscles to their maximum density and deflected Anna’s blade.

“He blocked a ranker’s sword! That’s Si-woong for you…!”

The other students exclaimed with astonished expressions.

It was indeed an impressive physical enhancement ability.

To block a sword that had effortlessly sliced through the Executor so easily.

“Your skills don’t match your reputation. This is barely ticklish.”

Si-woong let out a roar.

The force of Anna’s strike, embedded in him, was reflected back toward its wielder.

The ranker barely dodged it and stepped off his shoulder.

Cunningly, Si-woong seized the moment when she was about to land to charge forward swiftly.

He caught her in an unguarded moment.

His enormous fist tore through the air, rushing toward Anna’s face.

“—!”

But unlike before, Anna didn’t dodge the attack.

She stood firmly as if she intended to take the punch directly.

“Do you really think you can withstand my punch?”

Si-woong shouted in frustration.

His fist was soon within inches of Anna’s nose.

At that moment, Anna’s eyes gleamed as if she’d been waiting for it.

She suddenly bent her body downward as if collapsing.

Then she burrowed beneath Si-woong’s exposed motion after throwing his punch.

Her crimson blade aimed for his exposed leg.

The sharp blade severed Si-woong’s Achilles tendon.

Just as the half-god, half-man Achilles fell to a single arrow, Si-woong’s massive body toppled from her single strike.

“You bitch…”

Si-woong staggered and struggled to rise again.

But with his severed tendon, his body refused to obey him.

It was like watching a broken-legged ox thrash about without realizing its state.

Anna watched the massive beast with an expression devoid of emotion.

And then, she slowly approached.

What does a hunter do to their captured prey?

Usually, they dismember it, separating flesh and bone.

Si-woong curled his arms and raised his guard.

He hardened his body again, deflecting Anna’s blade just as before.

He blocked it and blocked it again.

But Anna merely brought the deflected sword back down with precision.

The shop echoed with the sound of metal clashing.

“Stop… Stop it…”

A voice was heard, one I hadn’t heard before.

Si-woong’s once-heavy voice now quivered like that of a child about to cry.

Though he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol, he was still just a boy.

But Anna’s blade did not stop.

Pretending to be strong and truly being strong are different.

Just as pretending to be crazy and truly being insane are different.

Soon, black blood spurted like a fountain from Si-woong’s arm.

Anna’s pale face became increasingly stained with that blood.

“…”

Finally, Si-woong’s arm fell limply to the ground.

The blade dug into his defenseless neck.

At first, the sword bounced off as if hitting hard wood, but after repeated strikes, cracks formed.

Soon, white neck bones appeared between the torn flesh, and they were eventually severed.

I couldn’t bear to watch the scene, so I turned my head away.

Her work ended only after Si-woong’s head rolled and touched Se-hee.

The young girl clutched her face with a look of mental collapse.

No teenager could endure such a gruesome sight with a clear mind.

Seeing the final moments of the leader they trusted and followed, the children began to retreat.

They instinctively felt it, too.

That they were next.

“Wait…”

I reached out to Anna to stop the carnage.

But it was already too late.

She turned her gaze toward her next prey.

And as soon as her targets were decided, she swiftly darted toward them, beheading the children one by one.

The child hiding under the table.

The child kneeling and begging.

The child clutching the front door and desperately twisting the knob.

All were beheaded by her sword.

Lastly, Anna turned to Se-hee, who was trembling alone.

It was a scene I had seen somewhere before.

That unsettling familiarity jolted my frozen body awake.

Anna raised her blade.

With all my strength, I ran to Se-hee.

And just as Anna’s sword was about to strike Se-hee’s crown, I embraced the girl.

“Stop it… Please, stop killing!”

“I don’t understand. Your assailant. Why are you trying to save them?”

“There’s no rule that says you can kill someone just because they did something wrong!”

When I shouted, Anna leaned her face closer to mine.

Her breath tickled the fine hairs on my skin.

“All loose ends. Eliminating them. Is the most efficient way.”

It felt like something was stuck in my throat, and no words would come out.

But somehow, I forced myself to speak and asked the killer.

“Then… Why did you spare me?”

“Because the alcohol you made. Was useful to me.”

Anna’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The killer only spared those who were useful to her.

“Then… Spare this child too.”

“That child. Is of no use. To me.”

“If you don’t spare her…”

“If I don’t?”

“Then I’ll never give you alcohol again.”

I looked up at Anna with teary eyes.

This was the only leverage I had over her.