NPC Fell onto My Bed C40

Chapter 40

A few hours before Gu Taeheon’s call came in—

Noah sat between Iron on his left and An Jeonghyeok on his right, wholly absorbed in the world inside the monitor. His true dive into the game began the moment the Hidden Quest notification had appeared.

“Bro— what is this? A Hidden Quest? Since when is this in the game? Noah-nim, you knew this was here?”

“No… nothing of the sort. I merely knew that going this way would lead to a shortcut into the deeper parts of Tyrel Forest.”

“So this is a dungeon? Damn, Tyrel Forest had one all along.”

The three leaned toward the screen for different reasons—Jeonghyeok in sheer gamer excitement, Noah because the sight of the deep Tyrel Forest filled him with nostalgia, and Iron because the word dungeon stirred his competitive instincts.

But the surprise was brief. The quest objective required killing thirty creatures. The moment Noah read it, he sighed and gave up mentally.

“I do not believe I can overcome this hardship.”

“C’mon, isn’t that way too wasteful? Clearing this will probably jump you straight to level 10. And you’ll get all the EXP from killing mobs.”

Noah stared gloomily at SteelWarrior1234, club in hand. The avatar looked sturdy and formidable—thanks to being modeled after Iron—but its soul was that of a priest. Noah gave the air a half-hearted swing and shook his head with a sigh.

“Taking life without cause angers Lady Aeir. This is as far as I can go. The rest, I leave to you, Iron or Lord Jeonghyeok.”

“Uh…”

Noah stood up. He gestured for Jeonghyeok to sit. Jeonghyeok hesitated, reading the room, then sat down.

For someone who had devoured countless RPGs, killing thirty low-level mobs was basically breathing. But the moment he touched the mouse and keyboard—

Warning! — Unauthorized login activity detected

“Huh?”

A large system warning filled the screen. Jeonghyeok blinked, stunned. In all his years of playing Last Chronicle, he had never seen such a message.

“What does this mean, Lord Jeonghyeok?”

Neither Noah nor Iron understood the text, glancing at Jeonghyeok for interpretation.

“It means… uh, crap. Is this like an unimplemented map? It’s basically saying we shouldn’t be here. We gotta leave.”

“Ah, so this place has not been blessed for adventurer entry. Understandable.”

Noah nodded calmly. Iron looked thoughtful. Jeonghyeok ignored them and tried to move the character out.

But the moment he pressed a key—

<Warning — Unauthorized login activity detected>
<Warning — Unauthorized login activity detected>
<Warning — Unauthorized login activity detected>

“What the hell— did it bug out?”

Last Chronicle was not the type of sloppy game where bugs were common. Even lesser games rarely triggered detection like this. When he reached to forcibly shut down the PC—

Iron seized his shoulder, voice suddenly deep and serious.

“How about returning control of SteelWarrior1234… to Noah.”

“What? Why? What does that even— change?”

“Call it intuition. It feels… correct.”

Jeonghyeok hesitated, then stood. He didn’t fully trust Iron’s instincts, but trying wouldn’t hurt.

Noah sat again and took the controls. He moved the character.

No warning popped up.

Jeonghyeok’s voice cracked.

“…What the hell?”

“My hunch was correct.”

“No shot. How is it detecting user change? IP didn’t change. There’s no fingerprint scan on my keyboard or mouse. This is— insane. Did my computer get hacked?”

Even if hacked, there was no way for ordinary hardware to detect a physical user change. As a programmer, Jeonghyeok knew this was impossible. Goosebumps rose on his arms.

“What is happening…? Iron, I’m scared.”

“I cannot hold you even if you are scared. Endure.”

“Ugh, don’t— don’t ever say crap like that again. I’ll puke.”

While he panicked, Noah and Iron remained strangely calm.

“We fell across dimensions to another world. Compared to that, this is nothing.”

“…Okay, fair.”

Noah guided SteelWarrior1234 deeper into the forest. To others, the forest paths would be confusing, but to Noah it was as familiar as his own temple grounds.

Soon, they reached where the rabbits grazed.

SteelWarrior1234 stood before a rabbit. Noah took a breath.

Whatever this was, it was clearly divine will. The gods wanted this indirect act of killing. Surely, they had led him here to carry out their command.

Just once.

Click once, and a life would end.

Noah’s fingers trembled on the mouse. He shut his eyes tight.

A rabbit from his forest. A creature that lived under his god’s domain…

Just as Noah was about to click—

“Noah.”

Iron’s hand closed over his shoulder. Noah opened his eyes and looked up. Iron smiled gently.

“If you despise it so much, must you force yourself to do it?”

“But… it feels like a trial given by the gods. Should I not endure and fulfill it?”

“Gods? Lady Aeir, is it? Noah, you know this well— the divine does not lead us into temptation.”

Lady Aeir would never deliberately place her beloved in moral ruin. Humans only grasp the divine’s gift of life briefly before passing it on.

“Even if it is a trial, you need not submit to it.”

“I am a priest, Iron.”

“I know. But I refuse to worship a god who forces wicked trials.”

If a god could stop evil but did not, were they good?
If a god could not stop evil, were they all-powerful?
If neither good nor omnipotent— why exist at all?¹

A dangerous thought back in the Holy Empire of Chronicle. But this was not Chronicle—and here, Iron could speak freely. Noah had no reply.

“This world changed us. You as well. And who brought us here but the gods themselves?”

“…”

“So do what you wish. Even that is divine will.”

Noah stared at the screen for a long time. Eventually, he moved the cursor away from the rabbit and walked beside it instead.

The little rabbit did not flee—beginner monsters rarely did. Noah sighed, opened his inventory, and checked his food. Five loaves of bread.

SteelWarrior1234 wasn’t starving yet—status listed as Normal. But hunger would come soon.

Despite that, Noah clicked and dragged the bread out of the inventory. The items dropped to the forest floor.

“Wait— why are you throwing away food?”

“When I dwelled in Tyrel Forest, I often shared my rations with animals. Sustenance should always be shared.”

Those animals must still be hungry now. Without hesitation, Noah dropped all five breads.

The animals approached. Rabbits hopped toward the bread, crowding around it. When the rabbits disappeared, the bread vanished as well.

“…?”

A new system window appeared.

Hidden Quest (In Progress) — Explore the Deep Tyrel Forest
Objective
Wild Rabbits 4/10
Wild Foxes 0/10
Wild Wolves 0/10
Time Remaining: 11:24:45