"As expected, players," Victor mumbled as soon as he stepped outside of the manor. He saw small groups of people clad in armor and carrying various weapons like swords, warhammers, bows, guns, etc. Victor looked above their heads and saw the player tags, which allowed players to distinguish each other from NPCs.

"Lord Victor, these were the weird ones I was talking about. Other than being strange, they genuinely look like they came to help us," Edward whispered to Victor, who just nodded calmly as he looked at the groups of players.

As soon as he stepped closer, he could hear some of their conversation.

"How are you going to get the quest? I can’t seem to find the NPC quest giver."

"Hmm, I think we have to get the quest from the Lord of this territory."

"How on Earth are you going to find such an NPC?"

"Do you think we need to sneak into the manor to get the quest?"

"Don’t be crazy, any of the guards can easily kill us."

"Yeah, even one of them could wipe all of us out, especially that butler—he gave me the chills."

"Don’t worry, the butler NPC said he had gone to fetch the Lord."

"They look like destitutes," Amber said, looking up and down at their equipment and wondering if they could even serve as proper cannon fodder in the fight.

The players also noticed Victor and Amber approaching, and they were left awestruck. The female players felt their hearts skip seeing Victor’s handsomeness, and the male players drooled as they looked at Amber.

"H-Heavens, how could they be so good-looking?"

"Damn, are the developers trying to make us lose all interest in real-life women?"

"These might be the best-looking NPCs in the game. I doubt anyone can surpass them in terms of looks."

Victor and Amber watched them, especially Amber, who was looking at them with a frown and thought, ’Why are they calling me NPCs?’

Then, under their watch, a male player boldly walked toward Amber with a lecherous gaze and stood in front of her, leering at her from top to bottom, and his eyes paused on her chest.

Gulp.

He swallowed hard and said with a whistle, "Hey, have you seen the size of her—I’m going to be the first one to touch them."

The man boldly raised his hands and made a grabbing motion toward Amber’s chest. In his eyes, she was just an NPC without much human emotion or reaction, and he wanted to take advantage to feel what a gorgeous woman like her would be like. He even formed a bold plan that if she didn’t resist, he would strip her naked in public and take her to bed.

Amber’s face was completely red as she watched him boldly raise his hand toward her private parts. No one in her life had ever been this disrespectful, and even Victor only played with her in private.

Victor watched in anger and disdain and was waiting for Amber to explode, and sure enough, suddenly the temperature dropped, and the player was frozen in ice, with only his head remaining untouched.

"Damn, what the hell, I can’t move!" the player was dumbfounded; he did not expect these NPCs to resist or be this formidable. Then he broke out in a cold sweat when he saw five icicles appear out of thin air, all aimed at his torso. Even though he wouldn’t die, he would still feel the pain, and moreover, like some others, he also had the pain meter set to completely realistic, as this increased the chance of drop rates from monsters.

"Wait—...Argh!" Before he could even beg for mercy, the five icicle spears directly pierced his body, and he felt immense pain erupt through his body and read the notification on his retina.

[Your actions against the heir of Count Oreburgh have greatly offended her and the Lord of the Silvernum Territory]

[Favorability with Amber Oreburgh has dropped to -1000]

[Status has changed from neutral to hostile]

[If you ever step into the Oreburgh County, you will be hunted like a dog, tortured, and killed]

[Favorability with Victor Silvernum has dropped to -1000]

[Status has changed from neutral to hostile]

[If you ever step into the Silvernum Barony, you will be hunted like a dog, tortured, and killed]

He then watched helplessly as the last ice spear directly pierced his skull.

Hiss.

All the players sucked in a cold breath as they looked at the miserable way the player had died.

Victor looked at the players, who were horrified by the way the player had died, and they unconsciously lowered their heads, afraid of meeting his gaze. Most of them looked uneasy, but many of them were gloating at that guy’s misfortune.

"I am thankful that you have all come to help defend the Silvernum Territory, but I hope you will be respectful, or else..." Victor said in a cold tone as he eyed the players and then said, "Form a line; you can pick up the quest from me."

Victor said this as the players’ eyes lit up when they saw an exclamation mark appear on top of Victor, and they completely forgot about the player’s death.

Victor then opened the player forum, and sure enough, this incident had spread like wildfire.

------

NoobMaster69: Who was that idiot? Doesn’t he know that offensive actions even against normal NPCs will bring retaliation, not to mention he actually tried to grope a noblewoman?

Player678: Yeah, I understand she’s hot, but you can’t be this reckless.

Eternaldarkness12: Holy— as expected, the NPCs, especially the nobles, are extremely powerful. I’m glad I didn’t mess with them.

Thehighschoolgamer8889: Forget about him—can someone tell me where I can find the Silvernum Territory?

NoobMaster69: Idiot, ask a local NPC or take public transportation; they will take you to the Silvernum Territory.

NoobGod661: We should hurry; the top guilds are already on their way, and if we go early, we might be able to join their team temporarily.

-----

"Oh right, they are also coming—the heirs of the Eight Great Families," Victor muttered as he closed the forum.