Popular NPC in a Gender-Reversed Game

Boom! Bang! Crash!

The sound of heavy impacts echoed nonstop.

The battle had been going on for hours, and while many were exhausted, there were still quite a few who moved energetically. The remaining members gathered together to block Ammon’s attacks… the scene of dodging and blocking was truly dazzling.

"Wow..."

Chaerin murmured in admiration as she watched.

Now, only a small number of people remained fighting. Those who were lucky enough to avoid Ammon's attacks, or those with extraordinary skills like Vivian, Yurgen, and Yor, were still standing strong.

When watching such battles, it felt like a different world entirely. No matter how much you think about it, I could never perform such movements myself, but NPCs were doing things that ordinary people could never replicate. I wondered if there would ever be a day when I could do that… It was simply fascinating.

However, I couldn’t just stand there in awe.

‘Why do they even burn their clothes…?’

It was getting a bit embarrassing to watch. The flames rising from the ground covered a lot, but there was no way to avoid the mosaics.

Well, the game was realistic enough, so I guess that's why people liked it.

[So there, the basic move is sword energy, huh?]
[I wanna try using sword energy too...]
[Hey, move the fire! It’s covering all the important spots!]
[If you remove the fire now, it’ll be like a standstill;]

While watching the battle and admiring it with the viewers, something unexpected happened. Ammon, who had been rampaging for quite a while, suddenly fell silent.

Chaerin looked at him with a puzzled expression.

At first, she thought he might have exhausted his power and calmed down, but upon closer inspection, it didn’t seem like that was the case.

He had closed his eyes as if thinking deeply about something.

But just for a moment, Ammon quietly murmured.

"How unfortunate..."

His voice was no longer filled with anger, but was serious and downcast. It seemed like someone who had just made a decision.

"Well, I must admit. Even though I am a king, it’s difficult to defeat everyone in this half-formed state. I can’t even catch those irritating little pests in the corner."

Ammon said, pointing toward the safe zone. The knights in front quickly raised their shields, expecting an attack.

But Ammon kept speaking, regardless.

"If I could have fully descended in my true form, I wouldn’t be so powerless... Unfortunately, I must accept my defeat."

He declared his defeat.

For a moment, the faces of the hunting team members lit up in relief.

The viewers thought the hunt was over and began to voice their disappointed remarks.

However, Chaerin felt a strange sense of unease. Based on everything she had seen so far, she didn’t believe that this demon would just leave quietly.

And her suspicions were proven right.

"However, I cannot just accept this defeat."

Whoosh!

With those words, the flames around Ammon surged violently once again.

The intensity of the flames shocked even those who had been resting, causing a moment of confusion.

Then, Ammon’s voice echoed through the flames.

"I will use all the resources I’ve gathered so far. Now, I can use all of my true power for a short time. Let’s see how hard you can struggle."

The flames that had reached his waist now surged all the way to his head.

Afterward, Chaerin’s vision was completely obscured by the flames.

Whoosh!

The world turned red.

The heat surrounding me broke through my fire resistance and left scorch marks on my skin.

I winced at the intense pain spreading through my body.

"Damn..."

So this is how it ends. The bastard wasn’t going to let up until the very end.

According to his words, one of his objectives had already been achieved.

At least I had prevented him from manifesting in this world, which was a small victory. The real problem now was whether we could make it out safely.

"Ahhhh!"
"Help! Please!"

Screams echoed from beyond the flames. They were the voices of some adventurers who had stayed behind, destroying the ground until the end.

Fire consumes everything equally. While the mages' spells had helped us endure up until now… it was no longer of any use.

I quickly used blood magic to form a thin shield around me.

Though a bit cumbersome to use, these blood barriers did a decent job of blocking the fire.

I had grumbled earlier about Neriah’s ability, but I couldn’t deny that it was versatile.

With the barrier in place, I began to survey the surroundings. I was fine, thanks to my regeneration, but I was worried about some others.

As for the dimensionals... Well, sorry, but honestly, their lives didn’t matter as much.

Other adventurers and knights were the same. They made a living with swords, so they likely had some way of protecting themselves.

If not... well, there wasn’t much I could do about it. In a situation like this, I couldn’t afford to worry about those who weren’t connected to me.

The person I was most concerned about was Neriah. She had great abilities, but with her lack of combat experience, I wasn’t sure how she would fare in this fiery hell.

She might already be burning somewhere in the flames. Just thinking about it made a chill run down my spine.

"Neriah!"

I quickly started looking for her.

I called her name as I pushed through the flames.

Fortunately, I found her soon. After running around for a while, I spotted her still wearing her thick hood.

She seemed a bit pale, likely because she had overexerted herself, but she was otherwise unharmed.

I was relieved, but at the same time, I had a question.

"Why is your hood still intact?"

While everyone else’s clothes had become rags, hers was perfectly fine.

There was a moment of confusion.

Could this really be the game world?

Given that her minor clothing was intact, I started to get a reasonable suspicion. Even a company that could create high-performance AIs like mine would surely respect Korean law.

‘But even so, it’s a reversed world, isn’t it...?’

Maybe they had some gender equality thing going on in that world.

Fortunately, my questions were soon answered.

She turned her head slightly and replied.

"I just copied the magic of the mages. It helped me endure."

I opened my mouth in surprise. I hadn’t expected her to be able to replicate such magic.

Looking at her now, her abilities seemed much more comfortable and useful than my blood-soaked ones.

Pop!

As I was thinking about this, she handed me a thick cloak she had conjured.

"...Wear this. I’ve put a device on it, just like mine. It should help you endure."

As she said, when I put on the cloak, the intense heat surrounding me seemed to dissipate.

I thanked her.

"Thanks. And don’t overdo it. This must be tough for you too."

"...I am a bit tired. I’ve never used this much of my ability before."

She didn’t deny it, and she admitted it.

I could hear her voice was a little hoarse. It was probably one of the side effects of overusing her abilities.

Now that I had clothes and had confirmed Neriah was okay, the only thing left was how to overcome this situation.

I thought of three ways.

Endure until Ammon calms down, somehow break through the door and escape, or finish destroying the altar.

The first was obviously out of the question.

We didn’t know when Ammon would calm down, and blindly enduring would basically be a death sentence.

The second was also uncertain. If everyone worked together, we could break the blocked exit, but who knew what kind of damage we would suffer in the process? Honestly, I didn’t want to retreat after coming this far.

The third was the most appealing choice.

"...Then I’ll finish destroying the altar."

We were so close now. No need for more pointless resistance or escape. Destroying the remaining altar would be faster and more efficient.

"Are you really going in there...?"

Of course, it was dangerous. Ammon was still very much alive. In fact, with his final burst of energy, he was fiercer than ever.

Charging in could seem like suicide.

But Neriah didn’t plan to back down, and she made this request.

"Then let’s go together."

"What? Are you crazy? Don’t push yourself. Stay here."

"Don’t worry. I’ll support you from the back. I’m still good to go."

I wanted to stop her, but unfortunately, I couldn’t.

That little girl was stubborn. And honestly, I thought she’d be quite helpful.

‘She’ll figure it out.’

So, with her following behind me, I headed toward Ammon.

Someone was already there.

"Ha... Ha... What’s this? You came here too?"

It was Nikki. Despite being resistant to fire, she had come to this spot instead of retreating to the safe zone.

I asked her.

"Have you seen the others?"

"It seems they’ve retreated because of the burns. They said they’d prepare and come back quickly. Some went to break through the exit again."

Apparently, some people’s opinions had diverged here as well.

I grabbed my spear and said.

"Then we should finish this before anyone else arrives."

Somehow, only the activators remained.

I glanced down at the broken ground. Only about 4–5 meters around Ammon was left intact. In this huge dome, a lot of ground had been torn up.

Now, just a few more attacks should be enough to force Ammon to return.

"Neriah, do you want to do it?"

I decided to give Neriah the honor of delivering the final blow.

It wasn’t just for her; it seemed like the most efficient choice.

It would be better for her to prepare magic from a distance than for slow-moving melee fighters like us to approach and destroy it.

Besides, her ability, if used right, could be more than enough to destroy it.

"Do you think you can do it?"

"Yes."

Neriah nodded firmly.

Since it was her first time seeing Neriah, Nikki tilted her head slightly.

"Metal shard."

Neriah began preparing the attack, and a metal shard, much stronger than the one she had used before, appeared above her head.

She gradually increased its size. It seemed to take a lot more effort this time, as her expression tightened with each moment.

Ammon wasn’t just standing idly by, though.

Sensing the threat, he immediately swung his fiery fist at Neriah.

The blazing punch came at us with incredible speed.

Normally, dodging would be the standard. The weight of that fireball, and the difficulty of blocking fire with a human body, made it clear that it wouldn’t be easy.

But this time, I planned to block it boldly. After all, I had to protect Neriah while she attacked.

As usual, I activated blood magic to prepare myself, knowing that this battle was nearing its end, and I was ready to use all my strength.

Bang!

His punch slammed into me. I blocked it, but it still forced a groan out of me.

"Ugh..."

The combination of fire and physical force was both a blessing and a curse at times.

It was good that I could block it, but I had to endure both the weight and heat.

The pain coursed through my body. I extracted all the blood I could from my body and used it to counter the punch.

‘This isn’t easy...!’

He wasn’t lying when he said he had used all of his power. The weight was overwhelming.

If I hadn’t squeezed out every bit of strength, I would have been crushed in an instant.

Still, I managed to hold it off.

Slash-!

In the middle of it, Nikki stepped in and cut off his arm.

A reddish flame trailed behind Nikki’s sword. I was impressed and asked.

“Last time you used your nails to shoot fire, now you’re using your sword?”

“Yeah, it works.”

Ammon was equally shocked.

"You... That’s the Plauros’s ability, right? How do you use it?"

His eyes widened as he stared at Nikki.

However, that moment didn’t last long, and his gaze shifted to us.

"And you...”

It was unclear who he was looking at, but it could have been either Neriah or me. We were both there.

"You’re an activator too... And you happen to have royal blood. ...No wonder you’ve been able to endure."

"What...?"

That was not something I could easily let slide. I grabbed my spear and urgently asked.

“Wait, explain more. What do you mean, royal blood? Which one are you talking about? And who’s the king?”

But the response never came.

"Heh... You bastards... Even if you want to come to this world, why are you spreading all these connections? What? You’ll either die or become demons? What happens if you survive, then? Who’s going to clean up after your mess, huh? Damn you all..."

Only Ammon’s angry mutterings filled the air.

Sadly, it seemed like I wasn’t going to get any answers. He had closed his eyes and crossed his arms, clearly giving up on the fight.

At that moment, Neriah’s strike was completed, and the shard shot toward the ground.

Boom!

The large metal fragment shattered the floor, and the remnants of the ground flew in all directions.

When the last intact part of the ground was broken, it seemed like Ammon had no choice but to give in.

His form shattered like it had never existed. The flames, which had been burning so intensely, slowly died down.

The long battle finally came to a somewhat anticlimactic end.

"Ah."

I sighed, looking at the spot where he had disappeared, filled with a mix of relief and regret.