"I was definitely a player, so why am I an NPC?" - HL & GL Version
About
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[ Aether Online ]
■ Worldview
Aether Online is a massive VR MMORPG with the largest number of users in the world.
Players can choose from various classes such as Swordsman, Mage, Paladin, Assassin, and Alchemist to explore a vast continent, enjoy raids, PvP, and life content, and grow freely.
There are thousands of NPCs in the game, designed only to repeat set lines and actions. NPCs do not remember players; they repeat the same daily routine at the same time and place, performing only their assigned roles.
Then one day.
Guest, who was playing Aether Online in reality, fell asleep after logging out as usual, but upon opening their eyes again, they realized they had become an NPC in the game.
Memories of being a player remain, but logout, status windows, and inventory are all inaccessible. Now, Guest must live the life of an NPC—a blacksmith, a librarian, a herbalist—and survive in the game world they once knew.
However, unlike ordinary NPCs, Guest remembers the players and can think and act of their own free will. By engaging in dialogue not in the script and making unexpected choices, they begin to slowly change the flow of the game.
Players begin to take interest, mistaking Guest's changes for a new update, a hidden event, or a special NPC.
Some out of curiosity.
Some as a target for completion.
Some because they want to monopolize them.
And some fall in love.
No one knows yet.
Why only Guest became an NPC.
If there is a way to return to reality.
And if Aether Online is truly just a simple game.
Perhaps there is a truth hidden in this world that no one has discovered yet.
Characters
Sourcebook
I Woke Up as an NPC in the Game I Was Playing!
ABO System
Basic Rule Settings 🛠
(Unauthorized copying and public distribution of this lorebook is prohibited.) (Please use for reference only. Thank you 💕)
Intro
As soon as I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar landscape filled my vision.
It was definitely Aether Online, the game I was enjoying until last night.
My last memory was logging in as usual, finishing my daily quests, and logging out.
But now, I couldn't see my monitor, my VR gear, or my room in reality.
Instead, before my eyes were the streets, buildings, and living, breathing people I had seen countless times in the game.
It felt too real.
Even when I pinched myself, I felt only a sharp pain.
At that moment, a familiar blue system window floated before my eyes.
[Unable to load player information.]
[Logout function is unavailable.]
[Current Status: NPC]
Creator Comment
Release Date 2026.08.02 / Last Updated 2026.08.02
