Chapter 40
"..."
With a slowed brain, I gradually assessed the situation.
The moment I took a step, a gunshot rang out.
Bang.
And simultaneously, something started flowing from my head.
Drip.
Swish.
With a dazed face, I raised my hand to check what it was.
Liquid, red, and a tangy smell.
Blood.
Blood is flowing.
From where?
Swish—swish.
Not from the head.
Ear.
The flying bullet grazed and tore my ear.
Then who shot and hit me?
...Surprisingly, it was Django.
"...Mr. Noah. I think the warning was well conveyed. Next time it won't be the ear, but the head. Don't come any closer."
"..."
The moment Django drew his gun.
The [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait activated properly.
I had leisurely taken steps in the slowed space-time.
As long as I had the [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait... bullets shot by opponents were like dodgeballs flying during PE class.
I thought I could easily dodge bullets shot by Django too.
But...
Whoosh—!
Django's bullet wasn't a dodgeball.
It was a baseball.
In this world, there were very few such people.
Geniuses with tremendous talent that could rival... the cheat trait [Best Gunslinger in the West].
I thought he was a naive sucker, but...
Django seemed to be that type.
I let my guard down.
If I took one more step here, another bullet would fly.
— Next time it won't be the ear, but the head.
So instead of moving forward, I closed my eyes.
This was a kind of mind control.
Mind control that could overcome the current situation.
With my eyes closed, it felt like someone was asking me.
Kid, what do you like?
What I like...
Cigarettes so strong that just one puff makes you dizzy.
Strong alcohol that gets you drunk with just one glass.
This era's painkillers full of morphine... that makes you feel hazy with just one hit.
Everything that led me not to reality but to unreality and fantasy.
Then what do you dislike?
What I dislike.
Majestic and solemn scenery that makes your heart heavy just by looking at it.
A heart pounding with excitement.
Rough sex that makes excitement rise to the top of your head.
Among those, what I dislike the most is...
Pain so sharp it makes your whole body dizzy.
Whoosh—
Blood flowed from the torn ear, and pain spread throughout my body.
That pain gave me a sense of reality.
Sense of reality.
Yes, I dislike everything that gives me a sense of reality.
Why?
Because this world is not my reality.
Because this is just a world inside a game.
It's strange to feel a sense of reality in a game.
Whenever I feel a sense of reality in this world, I fall into fucking delusions.
Maybe I'm really Noah?
Dokgo-young from South Korea. Maybe that's just my fantasy?
This damn West...
Maybe it's really the world I live in?
Whenever I suffered from such delusions, I barely escaped by shouting like this.
Fuck off.
Who are these damn fake bastards trying to fool?
I muttered to myself that it couldn't be.
This is not the real world.
This is just a world inside a game.
This is not my world.
There's a separate place for me to return to.
And to return there...
[Unable to log out]
[Remaining amount until logout: $905,586 / $1,000,000]
...I need money.
Flash.
When I opened my eyes again, all my thoughts were organized.
My head was cold as ice, but my body was burning with excitement, perhaps due to the stinging pain.
"...$94,414 left until I can go home."
I was stupid.
No matter how well-made a game was, it was strange to feel sympathy for NPCs inside the game.
I must have lived too softly during the 3 years after leaving San Francisco.
Swish.
As I touched my torn ear, pain spread and anger rose too.
"...It hurts."
I felt like my mind had finally returned properly.
Then all I could see were NPCs worth $10,000 if killed and NPCs worth $10,000 if saved alive.
***
"Ah..."
Emma couldn't understand the situation before her eyes for a moment.
Someone was shot.
Who?
...It was her boss, Noah.
"..."
From the first time Emma met Noah 3 years ago, he was like a child.
Every time Emma saw Noah, who was sometimes sloppy, sometimes frivolous, and sometimes curious, she felt like she was watching a child playing by a stream.
How could such a person handle guns and catch outlaws?
To be honest, until the early days of working as his secretary, Emma thought Noah would die soon.
So she had stocked bandages, painkillers, and disinfectants in the office.
If the clumsy Noah got shot, there would be no one to treat him in Justice Town without a doctor.
She couldn't let her boss meet a meaningless death, so she thought she would at least provide basic treatment.
But Emma didn't need to use those medicines for 3 years.
For 3 years, Noah was clumsy in everything but never got hurt.
He subdued outlaws with unbelievable marksmanship and dodged bullets shot by outlaws with even more unbelievable reaction speed.
Seeing such inhuman aspects of Noah, one belief became fixed like a concept in Emma's mind.
The belief that Noah would never get shot.
But now Noah was bleeding after being shot.
"Ah...!"
Emma, who came to her senses belatedly, took out a handkerchief and ran to Noah.
"Boss...! We need to stop the bleeding quickly...!"
But...
Thud.
As Emma approached, Noah spread his palm as if to keep his distance.
"..."
It was a simple action, but Emma's heart strangely trembled just from that.
And then when Noah turned his head towards Emma and made eye contact.
"...!"
Emma felt as if her trembling heart suddenly froze and stopped.
"...Boss."
"...Ah Emma. Emma is a friendly NPC with no bounty, so pass."
Noah often smiled despite his deep dark circles and always looked extremely tired.
Noah was smiling while looking at Emma.
But...
Emma saw Noah's smile, which she saw every day, as somehow different.
Tremble.
Her hands were shaking.
What is this strange feeling of fear?
Why was she reminded of what the South Brotherhood leader said to Noah last time?
— You still don't see people as people.
She knew Noah often called people by the incomprehensible word “NPC”.
Still, until now she thought it was just one of Noah's habits, but... today it sounded different.
Ah...
Emma finally realized why she felt fear at Noah's smiling face.
The smile of a Kid when crushing an ant in front of them.
From the ant's perspective, that must certainly be terrifying.
Then if the ant bit the child's hand to resist.
Crunch.
The smile would disappear from the child's face, and anger would rise.
Noah was like that now.
Noah, who was smiling at Emma...
Thud.
As he turned his head back towards Django, he erased all expression from his face.
"...How dare an NPC bastard."
As if angry that an ant had bitten his finger, Noah somewhat irritably drew a knife from his back pocket.
And after leaving final words for Emma...
"Ah, right. Emma. There's a change from the plan earlier."
"...What."
"20,000 dollars. We're earning 20,000 dollars today."
He rushed towards Django like the wind.
***
It hurts.
Pain that started from the ear... spreads throughout the body like a burn.
Whether FPS or RPG.
If a player actually experienced the pain that game characters went through, that game would be called a fucking failure no matter how well-made it was.
I'm in a fucking failure of a game right now.
"Mr. Noah!!"
As I rushed in, Django raised his gun as if he had no choice.
And fanning.
Click.
It was clearly a somewhat clumsy fanning posture, but Django succeeded in fanning at an invisible speed.
And fired.
Bang.
Whoosh—!
The [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait was still applied, but Django's bullet was a baseball.
I managed to dodge by turning my body from the moment Django started fanning.
But I didn't dodge completely.
Drip.
Hot blood flowed again from my shoulder grazed by the bullet.
It wasn't as much as when my ear was hit, but I felt a slight pain this time too.
Though there was no interface, I could feel my character Noah's HP being reduced.
But is it because of that pain?
Whoosh—
As pain spread throughout my body, anger and excitement spread throughout my body too.
My body heated up and my movements became lighter.
Bang—!
Django's bullets that weren't visible started to become visible gradually.
Like that, I completely dodged Django's third bullet and...
Whoosh—
In the slowing space-time where the [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait applied, I stabbed my knife precisely towards Django's neck.
I could have finished off other ordinary NPCs here.
But...
Whoosh.
Django showed a surprising reaction speed and dodged my knife.
"Miss! Get back!"
And he even had the leisure to take care of Josephine and pull her back.
It had been a very long time since I had seen a skilled NPC.
"Right... so you won't end easily either, huh?"
My only regret is not having a gun in my hand.
Gun and knife.
The difference in armament was almost like heaven and earth.
Nevertheless, I didn't think I would lose to him.
Because there was an absolute difference between Django and me that could never be bridged just by gun and knife.
"I'll show you why an NPC can never beat a player."
"..."
Player and NPC.
Human and non-human.
Reality and virtual.
I intended to properly teach that difference to that $10,000 negro NPC.