I Became an NPC That Rankers Are Obsessed Over

“You too… Happy birthday.”

I repeated her words like a machine.

And then I tipped the edge of the glass to my lips.

A calm ocean settled in my mouth.

Before long, the drink slid down my throat like a wave.

Maybe because I drank it all at once, I ended up coughing repeatedly.

“Idiot. Who drinks a cocktail like that?”

Sun-ye approached me with a worried expression.

Then she dragged her chair closer and sat down.

“…”

She wiped my lips with a handkerchief.

But soon, the bartender froze mid-motion and stared intently at my face.

Her black pupils shimmered under the moonlight.

I stared at that glimmer.

And then I asked.

“Do you. Have something. To say?”

“How did you know I had something to say?”

She smiled bashfully.

Perhaps feeling her smile was too frivolous, Sun-ye covered her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Now you can figure things out just by looking?”

“We’ve been together. For three years now, so of course.”

I sipped my glass, as if her question was nothing new.

The aquamarine was nearly gone before I realized it.

“That’s true. It’s already been three years since we left that place.”

Sun-ye gazed into the distance, as if recalling the past.

Then, as if something came to mind, she glanced at me and spoke.

“You’ve gotten so much stronger during that time.”

I chuckled lightly and shook my head.

It was true I’d grown stronger, but still, I was only around the 30th rank.

“I just. Did as the old man. Told me to.”

At my casual words, Sun-ye responded with a serious expression.

With a calm voice, she raised a finger.

“You can’t get stronger just by doing as you’re told. You’re quicker to learn and more creative than others.”

“Anyone. Can do it. With effort.”

“No matter what, becoming an S-rank Hunter in three years is impossible.”

Sun-ye laughed faintly and ruffled my long hair.

But I felt uncomfortable with this meaningless back-and-forth.

Why was she suddenly showering me with praise?

It felt like she had something to say but was preparing for it, and it annoyed me.

That annoyance soon turned into a question.

“So. What is it you really want to say?”

At my blunt question, Sun-ye’s face momentarily stiffened.

She soon looked despondent, as if waking from a blissful dream.

“Actually… there’s something I’ve never been able to tell you.”

It was the words I’d been waiting for.

The seeds of doubt sown by Tolkien’s drugs had thirsted for these words from Sun-ye.

“What is it?”

I set my glass down.

Was this finally the moment my curiosity would be satisfied?

“The day you become a Ranker, they’ll come to retrieve you from the facility.”

“What… retrieve?”

Using the word “retrieve” for a person?

It was absurd.

And hearing the word “facility” again after so long was deeply unpleasant.

It made this life with Sun-ye at the inn feel like it had all been a dream.

“How would. They know where we are?”

“They couldn’t not know.”

Sun-ye spoke with eyes as clouded as mine.

The freshness that once lingered in her gaze was long gone.

“Because I reported everything.”

The moment I heard those words.

The bar fell into a deafening silence.

The sound of cars outside.

The occasional cries of cats.

Everything went silent.

“What… did you say?”

“I reported everything to the facility. How many times you swung your sword. How many times you went to the bathroom. How many hours you slept.”

Once, I’d felt the sensation of centipedes burrowing into my brain.

Hearing Sun-ye’s words brought that sensation back, as if it had never left.

“In fact, the facility let us go on purpose. They’ve been watching you grow in reality.”

The centipede crawled deeper into the folds of my brain.

The pain began to make me colder, more ruthless.

So what’s the conclusion?

That you’re a traitor, so I should kill you?

“Why are you. Telling me this. Now?”

I asked her with a detached expression.

Sun-ye spoke calmly, as if she’d given up on everything.

But her half-open eyes glistened with countless emotions.

“Because today’s the last day I’m sending a report. The ‘S-rank Project’ ends today.”

Outside the inn window, a faint light glimmered.

My dull eyes instinctively caught it.

“Then why not ambush me in secret, instead of telling me now?”

Seemingly unaware of the light, Sun-ye kept staring at me.

She spoke.

“Because I liked you. I didn’t want to see you get taken away…”

Hearing those words, my mind froze like it had been struck by lightning.

Before I realized it, my unrestrained hand was already around Sun-ye’s neck.

You deceived me.

You broke me.

And now you think a simple “I like you” will make it all okay?

Unforgivable…

Sun-ye’s face trembled faintly.

Soon, blood began trickling from her nose.

“Run, Anna. Somewhere no one will find you.”

Sun-ye spoke quietly.

The blood dripped from her chin like raindrops and splattered on the floor.

At her final words, the inn’s window shattered.

With the shards came armed Hunters descending on ropes.

Sun-ye seemed to have anticipated their arrival, closing her eyes halfway.

Before long, a Colt revolver was in her hand.

Even as I strangled her, she hadn’t drawn it.

But now, she pointed it not at me, but at the intruders.

The bartender, who had meekly poured drinks earlier, now had a fierce glint in his eye.

It was the look of a survivor who had fought to the death in the facility.

The revolver spat fire.

“—!”

Three years may have passed, but her skills were unchanged.

Sun-ye perfectly hit the foreheads of two descending on ropes and immediately kicked a chair to obscure the third’s view.

I took the opening to draw my sword.

And as the blade emerged, I sliced the third Hunter in half.

“There’s no time. A facility-affiliated Ranker will be here soon!”

Sun-ye shouted.

But even as she shouted, she began coughing up blood.

Sun-ye gripped the revolver tightly with both hands.

She fired warning shots at the Hunters entering through the front door.

But they weren’t foolish enough to only come through the door.

Avoiding her shots, three more Hunters climbed through the windows.

I began to deal with them one by one with my drawn sword.

Striking the solar plexus of one wielding a large sword with the hilt.

Piercing the chest of another behind me by thrusting the hilt backward.

But I couldn’t stop the last one.

The man with a masked face ran past me, heading straight for Sun-ye.

Why was this happening?

Surely, their target was me, and Sun-ye was supposed to be on their side.

Fortunately, she easily blew off the attacker’s head with her gun.

The last armed Hunter who stormed the bar collapsed without resistance.

Thanks to that, the bar fell silent once again, as if nothing had happened.

“…”

Something was off.

If they knew I had become an S-rank Hunter, they’d know that sending just these small fries wouldn’t cut it.

It felt like I was being tested.

I slowly surveyed my surroundings before turning my gaze to Sun-ye.

There had to be a Ranker as strong as the man I’d seen back in the lab…

The moment that thought crossed my mind, something happened.

A massive hand burst out from the wall Sun-ye was leaning against.

And the spot it emerged from…

Was right in the center of Sun-ye’s abdomen.

It had completely pierced through her body.

“Ah…”

Was it from the shock?

The brilliance in Sun-ye’s eyes began to fade.

“Sun-ye.”

I muttered as I watched her.

That fleeting moment I witnessed shook even my usually calm state of mind.

The centipede I had barely suppressed writhed as if awakened, and my head spun.

The arm that had impaled Sun-ye abruptly retracted into the wall.

She slumped to the ground, smearing blood across the wall.

Moments later, a man wearing sunglasses entered through the bar’s front door.

His steps were leisurely, his hands drenched in blood.

No one was left to fire warning shots at the door.

Occupation: S-rank Hunter, 10th place.

Details: Rose to 10th place through assassination, not raids.

A member of the South Korean Hunter Association’s lower house.

Adjusting his slipping sunglasses, he looked at the gasping Sun-ye.

Shaking his head, Chang-yoon muttered.

“What an idiot. If the ambush had succeeded, it would’ve been over, but why bother now…”

“…”

A Ranker.

And one who ranked within the top 10.

But his presence didn’t even register in my mind.

I was focused solely on Sun-ye, blood pouring from her stomach.

Noticing my gaze, Chang-yoon moved.

Quickly and stealthily.

His blood-stained hand darted toward my neck.

I wanted to ignore that hand.

But the drug implanted in my brain seemed intent on keeping me alive, instantly commanding my body to react.

Block it.

I didn’t even see it clearly.

It wasn’t an attack my eyes could follow.

But my arm moved in response to the sound of the air tearing.

Following that sound, my mind issued an order, and my hand raised the sword.

The blade, drawn from its sheath, intercepted his grasp.

“—!”

Though his hand was bare, a metallic clang rang out as it collided with the blade.

Chang-yoon chuckled, seemingly surprised by my swift defense.

“Most kids can’t even block this… You really are different.”

His hand, pressed against the blade, began to slide.

Harsh friction sounds and sharp sparks flew.

Such strength.

But I didn’t back down either.

The sliding edge of his hand slipped past the blade and aimed for my abdomen.

I barely twisted my body to dodge the attack.

My dress shirt was torn.

My navel was fully exposed.

A red wound appeared on my bare skin.

Having tasted blood, he immediately launched another strike.

It was to prevent me from finding a moment to swing my sword.

Understanding this, I didn’t bother trying to swing my sword immediately.

Instead, I slammed my foot forcefully into the wooden floor.

The other end of the plank shot upward.

The sharp edge jabbed at Chang-yoon’s throat.

“—!”

Caught off guard, he clutched his neck.

Black blood trickled down from his torn skin.

Taking advantage of the moment, I swung my sword.

He retreated swiftly to avoid the attack.

“As expected…”

The high-ranking Ranker barely gained some distance, catching his breath.

He regained his composure, brushing back his hair as if nothing had happened.

“They said this test subject was promising… They weren’t exaggerating.”

He murmured with a face flushed with excitement.

As if he was enjoying the situation…

“This one, huh…?”

His cryptic words made me frown.

“Oh, she hasn’t told you that part yet, huh. That there are plenty of other test subjects besides you, sent out from the island.”

He grinned smugly.

His crooked teeth were grotesque.

“Most of them just stuck to the training methods they learned at the facility and ended up dead at my hands. But you’re different. Creative.”

He evaluated my skills as if he were a bureaucrat.

To him, killing people was just part of his job, another performance metric.

Oddly enough, I liked his cold detachment.

I, too, had mastered the art of killing.

We’d get along just fine.

My lips twitched into a grin.

I was thrilled.

I had craved a fight this intense all my life.

Not since the Ranker who subdued me in the lab had I experienced this.

In response, the seasoned killer sliced through the air and charged at me.

He was fast.

No matter how long my blade was, dealing with someone who closed the distance this quickly was difficult.

Before I could swing, I was busy dodging his relentless strikes.

I found myself being cornered.

“Your movements are good, but if you only dodge, you’ll eventually be trapped.”

He spoke with ease, as if offering advice.

I didn’t respond and calmly let myself be pushed to a dead end.

His dark hand shot toward my face.

At that moment, I dropped my body as if I were collapsing.

Just like with Sun-ye’s abdomen, his arm pierced straight through the wall.

But that wall…

Was made of tiles.

And behind those tiles were steel beams.

“—!”

His nimble fingers crushed into the steel beams.

The beams twisted to match the shape of his fingers.

“This… This is…”

The 10th-ranked Hunter stared at the warped beams tangled between his knuckles.

“A Hunter who doesn’t even investigate their prey’s habitat properly?”

I smirked lazily.

That grim smile made his eyes twitch uncontrollably.

His once-confident pupils shrank in surprise.

No matter how much he struggled, his hand wouldn’t come free.

The wall just shook but refused to let go of the arrogant intruder’s hand.

Now it was my turn to teach him a lesson.