I Became an NPC That Rankers Are Obsessed Over

We won.

The wyvern, which I thought was impossible to defeat, had turned into chunks of meat scattered in the sky.

Amidst that downpour, Ji-soo slowly descended to the ground.

“Noona…”

I hurriedly ran toward her.

Gyu-seon was already standing beside her, praising the finishing blow she had delivered.

It was a joyous occasion.

My beloved noona had surpassed herself once again.

But the more she experienced such moments, the more bittersweet I felt.

The stronger she became, the farther away she seemed to grow from me.

Imagining the day when she’d leave as a ranker, while I’d only watch, made it hard to smile freely.

“Why the long face on such a good day?”

Hyun-soo hyung asked, puffing on a cigarette.

He stood still next to me, gazing at Ji-soo and Gyu-seon.

“Well… I just feel like I wasn’t much help again this time.”

Hyun-soo glanced at me briefly, then flicked his cigarette ash onto the scattered chunks of meat.

“Still, you did better today.”

Unexpected words came out of his mouth.

His expression wasn’t the condescending one he usually showed me.

“Ji-soo’s last strike earlier—it faintly carried a holy attribute buff.”

“A holy attribute buff…?”

“What? You didn’t even realize what you did?”

“Not at all.”

Hyun-soo casually rested his thick arm on my shoulder.

His arm, which always felt so heavy, felt oddly bearable today.

“Think carefully. What’s the difference between the heal you gave Ji-soo earlier and your past heals?”

The difference…

I held onto that word and thought hard.

What could have changed?

The manifestation of my ability was the same as always.

“Oppa! Do-hyun!”

Ji-soo came running toward us, smiling brightly.

She stumbled as she tripped over a chunk of meat.

“So clumsy…”

Hyun-soo shook his head and flicked the cigarette he had finished onto the ground.

“Did you both see? How I sliced that massive dragon in one blow!”

“Yeah, yeah, we saw. How does it feel to land the final strike after all our hard work holding it off?”

“It feels amazing!”

She grinned widely, her face still covered in blood.

“Noona, congratulations. Taking down a Grade 7 monster without any backing—now it’s just a matter of time before you become famous.”

“Of course! Someone might’ve already uploaded it to YouTube by now.”

Ji-soo, anticipating a potential broadcast appearance, tried to tidy her face with her powered-off phone.

However, with the wyvern’s blood splattered all over her, it seemed impossible to appear on screen without cleaning up first.

“Don’t forget me when you’re famous—”

I smiled, doing my best to hide my bitter feelings.

“What are you talking about?”

She tilted her head.

“Of course, we’ll do the next raid together too!”

Ji-soo playfully shoved my shoulder.

“Yeah, kid. We’re sticking together at least until we take down a Grade 3 monster.”

Hyun-soo crossed his arms, replying in a tired tone.

“Means I’ll be stuck looking at your annoying faces for a while.”

“Don’t like it? Then leave. I might as well recruit a warrior class that’s better-looking and more capable!”

“What’s that? Who do you think has been training you all this time? You should be paying me tuition fees!”

At the mention of money, Ji-soo visibly recoiled.

While they laughed and joked, I quietly looked down at my hands—the hands that had worked a miracle earlier.

Did I grow a little through today’s experience?

If I truly had gained a buff skill like Hyun-soo mentioned, maybe I could laugh and joke as freely as they did someday.

Yes, I wouldn’t let myself wallow anymore.

“Come on, let’s go collect the loot before Gyu-seon takes it all for himself.”

Ji-soo rubbed her palms together and headed toward the wyvern’s corpse.

Hyun-soo began to follow her with his heavy steps.

“Hyung.”

“What?”

“There’s a bar in Seoul called ‘Moment’.”

“A bar? What’s with the sudden topic?”

“They have a drink there called Victory Cry. It’s a commemorative drink for hunters who succeed in raids.”

“Drinks are all the same anyway.”

“Still, I want to drink it with you, Gyu-seon, and noona.”

Hyun-soo stopped in his tracks.

“Do whatever you want…”

He muttered in a low voice and stuffed his hands in his pockets before continuing toward the wyvern’s corpse.

As my comrades moved farther away, I tilted my head back and looked up.

The once-ashen sky was now clear and cloudless.

Yes, my life starts now.

I closed my eyes.

Then I took a deep breath.

“…”

Already, my body felt lighter, as if I’d become a new person.

Time to move, too.

I recalled watching a YouTube video about what kind of loot wyverns dropped.

If its teeth were forged, they could make excellent protective gear.

Maybe I should craft wrist guards for noona, who always hurt her wrists during sword practice.

The rest could be used to make arrowheads for Gyu-seon.

And for Hyun-soo hyung, knee protectors.

“…”

While lost in thought, I suddenly felt a strange sense of unease in the sky.

It seemed like someone was standing on the steel frame of a broken building.

“Who could that be…?”

I blinked, wondering if I had seen it wrong.

The moment I rubbed my eyes, the small silhouette had already disappeared from the steel frame.

“Was it just my imagination…?”

Well, considering today was the hardest raid we’d ever faced, I could’ve been fatigued.

I shook off the thought and walked toward my comrades.

But as I approached, a strange red dot appeared in the space where my comrades stood.

“What’s that…?”

I furrowed my brow and stared at the dot intently.

Were they too distracted by the loot to notice it?

While walking cautiously, I suddenly stopped.

I realized what that dot signified.

Chills ran down my spine as if all the blood in my body had drained into the ground.

“Hyung! Noona! Get away from there!”

I shouted urgently, and my comrades all turned to look at me.

Above them, a small rod began to fall.

“No!”

The rod embedded itself near them, emitting an eerie scream.

As I reached out toward them, crimson waves erupted from the rod.

Then, Hyun-soo hyung and Gyu-seon’s bodies started to distort like liquid.

Gyu-seon’s form completely collapsed first, spraying blood in all directions before disappearing.

Soon after, Hyun-soo hyung’s body succumbed to the waves, exploding into a burst of blood as well.

Only Ji-soo noona remained, standing firm with her sword embedded in the ground.

But even she seemed to be struggling, as black blood began to drip from her eyes and mouth.

“How could this…”

“Do-hyun! Don’t come over here!”

She managed to shout at me, coughing up blood.

What is this?

This… It has to be a dream, right?

It doesn’t make sense otherwise.

I’ve never heard of such a power before!

“Wow, your comrades are impressive.”

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice spoke near me where no one had been before.

The strange presence froze me in place.

“D-rank guys usually burst right away, but how’s she holding on?”

I forced my stiff eyes to move and looked toward the voice’s owner.

Black hair and crimson eyes.

A young woman in a navy hoodie and tracksuit.

Through the gap in her hood, I could see a tattoo on her neck that read “09.”

Instinctively, I knew.

This woman had been the one standing on the steel frame earlier.

“Shall we turn up the intensity?”

With a snap of her fingers, the rod’s screams grew louder.

So loud that the glass windows of the surrounding ruins shattered.

I had to move.

I had to stop her.

But my body wouldn’t obey.

Like when I faced the wyvern, my useless body was paralyzed with fear again.

I thought I had grown a bit, but I was just a fool.

While I stood frozen in fear, Ji-soo’s body continued to falter.

“But aren’t you going to help her? You seem pretty close, from what I’ve seen.”

The insane killer stared directly into my eyes and asked.

Her crimson eyes had no focus, like those of an insect.

“Oh, is it because you think you’d be no help anyway? If that’s the reason, you’re smarter than I thought.”

Her eyes narrowed mockingly.

“Then stay there like the bug you are and just watch.”

She pulled a small dagger from her sleeve.

The blade was coated in a sickly purple liquid.

With each drop that fell to the ground, steam hissed up from the surface.

If she hit noona with that, she’d surely die.

I had to stop her somehow.

But why…

Why is all I can do as a man to cry and sniffle? How pathetic.

Hot tears slid down my lips.

The salty taste on my tongue reminded me of something noona had once said.

“Humans weren’t made to depend on skills, you know.”

I bit down on my tongue.

I chewed and tore at it like mad, sinking my teeth deep into the flesh.

A chunk of bloody flesh fell to the ground with a thud.

Then, the blood that had drained from my body surged back, flooding me with heat.

The fear that had gripped me finally loosened its hold.

Freed from my shackles, I bolted forward like a madman.

Even if I, a skill-less weakling, charged a ranker, there was nothing I could do.

But what did it matter?

Fueled solely by the desire to save noona, I grabbed the shoulder of the psycho ranker.

“What the…”

As my hand touched her shoulder, a soft white light burst from my fingertips.

The light enveloped the ranker’s body.

“…”

The crimson-eyed woman froze in place as if her power had been switched off.

The gravitational force pinning Ji-soo down eased as well.

What just happened…?

Did my skill include some sort of stun ability?

Taking the opportunity, Ji-soo struggled to her feet.

Drawing her sword, she spoke to me with a trembling voice.

“Good job… Do-hyun…”

Her dry voice lacked any warmth.

“This… this…”

Her lips quivered as she aimed her sword at the ranker who had killed our comrades.

But there was no anger in her eyes.

Ji-soo wore an expression unfamiliar to me.

But I recognized it all too well.

Better than anyone else in the world, I knew that look.

Because it was the face I used to wear so often.

A face full of resentment and injustice toward the world.

To think that someone as talented as her could make such an expression—I learned that for the first time that day.

The ruined city was filled with the sound of her screams.

Even now, I can’t forget that sound.