Apocalypse: Everyone Levels Up, I Return to the Time Before the Server Opened

Chapter 22: The Death of an NPC, the Consequences are Serious!

Under normal circumstances, players could not directly command NPCs to do this or that.

In fact, just now, it was the burly young man who voluntarily stepped forward to fight.

Zhao Hanyan had been looking for a chance to turn things around, eager to shake off the frustration from before.

So when the burly young man offered to fight, she naturally raised both hands and feet in approval!

And thus, the current scene unfolded.

Facing the provocation of the burly young man, the middle-aged man with a blade only frowned slightly before responding in a cold voice, “You’re just a kid, yet you talk big.”

The burly young man grinned. “I despise people who pull rank just because they’re older. Hmph!”

With that, he charged forward.

The middle-aged swordsman remained calm and composed, extending his blade in a measured arc.

Whoosh!

The blade sliced through the air, sounding as if it were cutting the wind itself, producing a sharp whistling noise!

“Nice!” The burly young man dodged, but instead of retreating, he laughed heartily.

The two NPCs began their fierce battle, while a crowd of players stood around, watching in awe.

“Holy crap! So this is the strength of NPCs? They’re insane!”

“Look at that guy with the blade! Every swing makes a sonic boom, and when he strikes a tree, it splits cleanly into several pieces!”

“When will we ever be that strong?”

“Honestly… even if we reach the same level as these NPCs, I don’t think we could beat them.”

“Does anyone know how to recruit NPCs?”

“Hey, are there female NPCs we can recruit?”

“There are! I met one before, and she’s super gorgeous! That face… tsk tsk… that figure… tsk tsk…”

None of the players dared to get too close.

The shockwaves from the fight alone were enough to make them tremble in fear!

“Brother, do you think the swordsman can win?” Ning Qingyue asked in a low voice, eyes fixed on the battle.

Hearing this, Ning Qianjun’s once-confident expression faltered.

He hesitated before answering, “He should be able to win… right?”

In truth, he had never wanted his hard-earned recruited NPC to get dragged into battles like this.

If anything happened to him, that would be a huge loss!

However, as players, with such low levels, they had no way of controlling what an NPC did.

They couldn’t even stop an NPC from acting on its own.

Simply put, players had no authority over NPCs!

NPCs only agreed to join them because of the “benefits” they could gain.

Otherwise, why would they even bother?

“Please don’t let anything go wrong…” Ning Qianjun prayed silently.

He had never recruited an NPC before, so he hadn’t known how things worked.

But now that he had, he was starting to understand the dynamics between players and NPCs.

For example, in a pure recruitment, without a foundation of goodwill, there was always a risk that the NPC could leave at any moment!

Additionally, during a party, players only received one-tenth of the experience from monster kills.

Even if the NPC did most of the damage, and the player landed the final blow, the result was still the same!

To make things worse, when teamed up with an NPC, no loot would drop from defeated monsters!

Naturally, if a quest was involved, it wouldn’t count either.

But Ning Qianjun had already accepted it.

As long as he could level up quickly, that was fine!

He was lost in thought when…

Splat!

A sudden sound made everyone snap their heads toward the battlefield.

One of the NPCs, the middle-aged swordsman, was sent flying backward!

Midair, he coughed up blood violently.

His chest was a mangled mess of flesh and blood!

At that moment, a system notification echoed in Ning Qianjun’s mind.

Ding!

[The NPC in your party has suffered severe injuries. Their goodwill toward you has dropped to 0. The party has been automatically disbanded.]

“What?!” Ning Qianjun’s expression changed drastically.

He rushed over to the fallen NPC.

The moment the swordsman hit the ground, he was already on the verge of death.

“I’m level 10, you’re level 9. And your sword skills are far too weak!” The burly young NPC withdrew his hand, gazing coldly at the dying swordsman. “You should just go home and farm instead.”

Pfft!

The middle-aged swordsman coughed up another mouthful of blood.

Then, his eyes shut.

And he stopped breathing altogether.

Ding!

[The NPC you recruited has died. Your reputation has dropped by 100 points. For the next 10 days, you cannot recruit NPCs, accept quests, enter the novice village, or receive full experience and loot from monster kills.]

Another system notification rang in Ning Qianjun’s head.

His face darkened instantly.

Damn it!

I had spent over 100,000 just to recruit this NPC!

And now… he is dead?!

To make matters worse, I had only gained two levels!

Unlike players, NPCs don’t respawn.

Once they die, they’re gone for good!

And the worst part? Losing his NPC also meant losing access to quests, his monster EXP was halved, and the loot drop rate was reduced!

Damn, damn, damn!

Ning Qianjun was about to break down.

“Hehehe…” Just then, a light chuckle came from Zhao Hanyan’s direction. “Looks like the NPC you recruited wasn’t as strong as mine, huh? Tsk, and now he’s dead, too.”

Her mocking tone made every muscle in Ning Qianjun’s body tense.

He wanted to log out immediately, hunt Zhao Hanyan down in real life, and beat her up!

This was too much!

She had provoked this whole fight. And yet he was the one paying the price!

Why?!

In real life, the Zhao family already bullied his family enough.

And now, even in the game, he was being crushed by them!

It was absolutely infuriating!

However, he could only swallow his anger.

His family was simply weaker than the Zhao family. And since this was just a game conflict, there was no way to get revenge outside of it.

His family wouldn’t intervene over something like this.

“Zhao Hanyan… I’ll remember this!” Ning Qianjun gritted his teeth.

That was the only thing he could say before turning away.

Ning Qingyue was also furious, but this was the first time she had ever seen her brother so enraged.

She still didn’t know the consequences of losing a recruited NPC.

Meanwhile, Zhao Hanyan laughed.

“Come on, don’t be so angry! We’re all family now. We’ll be seeing each other often, so why make things so tense?”

She still didn’t realize just how much trouble Ning Qianjun was in.

But just as she finished speaking, the burly young NPC beside her suddenly said, “By the way, I expect some compensation for this.”

His tone was firm and non-negotiable.

Zhao Hanyan, still in a good mood, waved her hand dismissively.

“Relax. The woman I promised you has already been arranged.”

But the burly young NPC licked his lips, his eyes burning as he stared at Zhao Hanyan.

“Actually… you’re not bad yourself. If you agree to spend the night with me, I’ll help you kill monsters for free. I know your Undead race can gain levels that way.”

Zhao Hanyan’s face darkened. “Don’t push your luck. If you cross the line, you won’t get anything I promised.”

Before she could say more, Ning Qianjun and Ning Qingyue, who had been fuming moments ago, suddenly looked ecstatic.

“Brother! You’re finally here!”

At the foot of Tiger Mountain, a cloaked figure slowly ascended the path.