I Refuse to Be a Cannon Fodder NPC

The mountain was bare.

The grass was withered.

There were barely even any trees.

All it had was a crude stronghold built from wood.

Strictly speaking, this was just a desolate hilltop where even passing birds refused to linger.

"sigh"

Qin Shujian sat idly on a large rock, bored out of his mind, with a broadsword sporting several chips in its blade beside him.

Together with his patched clothes and the worn straw sandals full of holes on his feet, it completed the picture.

He looked more like a beggar than a bandit.

But—

He really was a bandit.

No, to be precise, he was a Bandit.

Name: Qin Shujian

Identity: Ordinary Bandit

Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold

Realm: Martial Entry, first level

Cultivation technique: Body Tempering Scripture, first level (five levels total) (Mortal Tier, Low Grade)

Equipment: chipped broadsword, tattered shirt, tattered trousers, worn straw sandals

This was Qin Shujian's current status panel.

When he first arrived in this world, he thought he had transmigrated and been reborn.

But after spending a day learning about it, Qin Shujian finally realized that he had become an NPC in a game.

As for why he was so certain...

There was a constantly ticking countdown in the bottom-right corner of his status panel.

Time until players arrive: 2 days, 15 hours, 23 minutes, 41 seconds.

"sigh"

Seeing this, Qin Shujian let out another long sigh.

The players were coming.

And no matter how he looked at his current identity, he seemed exactly like a cannon fodder NPC in a Novice Village.

One who existed solely to give new players experience.

"Killed... respawned, then killed again... and respawned again."

Qin Shujian suddenly recalled the games he used to play.

Back then, he had never felt much for those cannon fodder NPCs. Now that their roles were reversed, he could truly feel how miserable it was.

Wait!

Qin Shujian's expression suddenly froze.

He seemed to have overlooked something.

Namely...

The original owner of this body had indeed been an NPC, but he had now taken over and replaced him completely.

That meant whether he could still respawn was an unknown.

At that thought, Qin Shujian shuddered and jumped off the rock.

"No... this won't do."

"If I can't respawn, won't I be completely screwed?"

"There are still more than two days left. I can't just sit here waiting to die."

Qin Shujian took several deep breaths. Looking at the countdown on his status panel felt like watching a countdown to his own death.

He had finally gotten another chance at life. Even being an NPC was better than ceasing to exist altogether.

"Even if I have to be an NPC, I refuse to be cannon fodder!"

Qin Shujian silently made a vow that practically tempted fate.

If he wanted to avoid becoming a cannon fodder NPC, his only option was to raise his level... his strength, and escape the predicament awaiting him.

This game did not use the level system he was familiar with.

Instead, it used a different system of cultivation realms.

As for the so-called Body Tempering Scripture, Qin Shujian discovered that this cultivation technique really did exist in his mind.

But it was only a rudimentary method of training the body. It required steady effort over time, with no possibility of rapid progress in the short term.

However...

Qin Shujian had an idea of his own.

Since this was a game, surely killing NPCs to level up had to be part of it.

But where could he find NPCs to kill?

Qin Shujian glanced at the people moving around him and smiled faintly.

He was already in a nest of NPCs. Why would he need to look elsewhere?

The only question was...

Since he was an NPC himself, could killing his own kind really grant him something like experience points or levels?

Bending down to grab the chipped broadsword from the rock, Qin Shujian walked toward a Bandit dressed much like himself.

At the same time, that Bandit's stats appeared in his mind.

Name: Zhang Ergou

Identity: Ordinary Bandit

Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold

Realm: Martial Entry, first level

Cultivation technique: Body Tempering Scripture, first level

Apart from the name, everything was identical to Qin Shujian's own stats.

He did not know whether this was a feature of the game or because the other Bandits belonged to the same faction as him.

Either way, Qin Shujian could see their stats whenever he wanted.

Even if he could not see every detail, he could still get a general idea.

When Qin Shujian approached the Bandit, the man remained standing blankly in place, his eyes fixed on the outside, as motionless as a wooden post.

Qin Shujian had also tried talking to these people.

In the end, he had reached a conclusion.

Apart from himself, these Bandits were no different from the cannon-fodder NPCs he remembered.

They barely spoke and showed little intelligence.

Every day, they ate, rested, stood guard, and patrolled at fixed times, as though everything followed a preset routine.

“Brother!” Qin Shujian patted the man's shoulder.

Zhang Ergou turned to glance at him, then turned back.

"Mmph..."

A large hand suddenly clamped over his mouth, then forcefully dragged him behind a nearby rock.

With his mouth and nose covered, Zhang Ergou instinctively struggled, a trace of confusion seemingly appearing in his vacant eyes. Qin Shujian's gaze hardened, and his sword hand suddenly moved.

Chipped though it was, the broadsword was still extremely sharp.

With a soft squelch of steel piercing flesh, the blade went straight through Zhang Ergou.

Blood flowed from the wound.

Then a warm current rose from the broadsword and poured into Qin Shujian's body.

Thud!

Qin Shujian's legs buckled, and he stumbled to the ground, his chest heaving and his face visibly pale.

He had killed someone!

He had killed someone!

He stared at Zhang Ergou, whose eyes remained open in death, and at the bloodstained blade protruding from his chest. The crimson blood was painfully vivid.

Qin Shujian had never expected killing an NPC to feel so real.

For an instant, he almost believed that he was not inside a game, and that the one he had killed was not some NPC, but a real person.

Fortunately—

Before Qin Shujian could dwell on his shock and doubt, Zhang Ergou's corpse slowly vanished before his eyes.

Only Zhang Ergou's chipped broadsword remained. With nothing left to support it, it fell to the ground.

Clang!

The faint sound of the broadsword striking the ground brought Qin Shujian fully back to his senses.

At the sight, he let out a long breath, and much of the pallor faded from his face.

"Thank goodness... it might be a little too realistic, but at least my guess was right."

If he really had to kill a person, whether Qin Shujian even had the courage was one thing, but he certainly could not do it so decisively without so much as batting an eye.

With his fears eased, Qin Shujian finally remembered the warm current from earlier and immediately checked his own stats.

Name: Qin Shujian

Identity: Ordinary Bandit

Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold

Realm: Martial Entry, first level

Cultivation technique: Body Tempering Scripture, first level (+) (five levels total) (Mortal Tier, Low Grade)

Life Source: 1

Equipment: chipped broadsword, tattered shirt, tattered trousers, worn straw sandals

The status panel was still the same as before.

The difference was the addition of a Life Source stat.

There was also a plus sign after the first level of the Body Tempering Scripture.

Seeing that plus sign, Qin Shujian acted on a thought and lightly clicked it with his mind.

His one point of life source instantly dropped to zero.

Under cultivation technique, the words "Body Tempering Scripture" briefly warped. Then a surge of strength rose within his body, as though some subtle changes had taken place.