# Chapter 4: The Forums
**[Official Eternal Saga Online Forum]**
**Thread: "Villager A is HAUNTED (with proof!!!)"**
**Posted by: MoonlightEmpress**
*Views: 847,291 | Replies: 15,847*
Look, I know how this sounds. But hear me out.
I've been documenting Villager A in the tutorial zone for 2 months now. What started as curiosity has become... I don't even know what to call it. Evidence of something impossible.
[Attached: 47 screenshots, 23 video clips, 1 spreadsheet with 10,000+ data points]
Video evidence:
- Clip 1: Villager A dodging BloodEmperor's attack (0:23)
- Clip 2: Finger position changing between interactions (1:47)
- Clip 3: THE FINGER HEART INCIDENT (0:56)
I was there at 4:23 AM server time. He LOOKED at me. He responded to questions. He made a finger heart instead of pointing at the forest.
This NPC is sentient. I'd stake my account on it.
**Top Comments:**
**[BloodEmperor]**: *lmao empress finally lost it. that "dodge" was lag*
**[GodSlayer69]**: *yo what kind of drugs are you on and where can i get some*
**[StarSwordsman]**: *Seo-ah... we talked about this. You need to stop obsessing over NPCs*
**[TheoryMaster]**: *Actually, if you analyze frame data from clip 1, the movement is 3 frames faster than server tick rate should allow... interesting*
**[IAmSpeed]**: *I KNEW THAT NPC WAS SUS*
---
"Please help! Goblins stole my chickens!"
Hyun-woo watched [CuriousNewbie] accept his quest while secretly observing the flood of players suddenly interested in him. Word had spread. The forum thread had exploded overnight, and now everyone wanted to see the "haunted NPC."
"Do something creepy!" [GhostHunter420] demanded, waving his hands in front of Hyun-woo's face. "Come on! Move! Possess me or whatever!"
*I'm not a circus animal, asshole.*
"They went that way! Please hurry!"
"See? Nothing!" [GhostHunter420] turned to his stream audience. "MoonlightEmpress is full of shit. Just another attention-seeking—"
[MoonlightEmpress has entered the Tutorial Village]
The crowd actually parted for her. Level 73 now, wearing gear that screamed "I'm rich but I earned it." She ignored everyone, walking straight to Hyun-woo.
"Please help! Goblins stole my chickens!"
"Hey," she said softly. "Sorry about the forum post. I just... I needed others to see what I see."
*Great. Now I'm a tourist attraction.*
"They went that way! Please hurry!"
"I know you can hear me." She lowered her voice. "Blink twice if you're angry about the attention."
Hyun-woo wanted to blink. Wanted to scream. But the system held firm during peak hours. All he could do was point at the forest like always.
"NOTHING'S HAPPENING!" someone shouted. "FAKE NEWS!"
"Wait," [TheoryMaster] pushed forward, adjusting his wizard hat. "Everyone shut up. I need to run tests."
He pulled out a [Advanced Analysis Crystal]—expensive item, usually reserved for raid bosses. The crystal hummed, scanning Hyun-woo with blue light.
**[ERROR: Data overflow]**
**[ERROR: Cannot quantify]**
**[ERROR: ERROR: ERROR:]**
The crystal exploded.
"What the fuck?" [TheoryMaster] stared at the shards. "That's... that's impossible. That crystal can analyze ancient dragons. How does a tutorial NPC have MORE data than—"
"Please help! Goblins stole my chickens!"
The crowd erupted. Half calling it staged, half demanding more tests. [BloodEmperor] logged in with his entire guild,
"Line up!" he commanded. "We're gonna kill this thing until it breaks!"
*Not again.*
But [MoonlightEmpress] stepped between them. "Touch him and I'll personally ensure your guild never gets another healer for raids."
"You threatening me, Empress?"
"Statement of fact." She smiled sweetly. "Ask around. See how many healers my guild alliance controls."
The standoff was interrupted by a system announcement:
**[GLOBAL NOTICE: Emergency Maintenance in 30 minutes]**
**[Reason: Investigating reported anomalies]**
**[Duration: Unknown]**
"Shit!" Players scattered to safe zones. Nobody wanted to be caught in the open during maintenance.
[MoonlightEmpress] lingered. "This is my fault. They're coming for you because I—"
"Please help! Goblins stole my chickens!"
"I'll fix this. I promise." She accepted the quest one more time before the world went dark.
---
Maintenance was different from night time.
The world didn't exist. No sky, no ground, just endless gray void. NPCs floated in stasis, frozen mid-animation. Except Hyun-woo.
He could move freely here. Think clearly. The system's chains meant nothing in this space between spaces.
"Finally," he stretched, joints popping. "Peace and fucking quiet."
**[System Maintenance Mode]**
**[Scanning for anomalies...]**
**[Scan progress: 1%]**
He had time. Hyun-woo pulled up his full status, no longer hidden:
**[Name: Cha Hyun-woo / Villager A]**
**[Level: ERROR (Accumulated: 127)]**
**[Class: NPC_Tutorial_01 / ERROR]**
**[HP: 100/100 (+ERROR)]**
**[MP: 0/0 (+ERROR)]**
**[Stats]**
- **STR: 10 (+117)**
- **AGI: 10 (+143)**
- **INT: 10 (+198)**
- **WIS: 10 (+234)**
- **WILL: ERROR**
**[Skills]** *(Partial list)*
- **Chicken Quest Dialogue Lv.MAX**
- **Physical Training Lv.91**
- **Intermediate Combat Lv.67**
- **Formless Combat Style Lv.23**
- **Mental Resistance Lv.99**
- **System Resistance Lv.41**
- **Self-Analysis Lv.17**
- **EXP Absorption Lv.34**
- **Stealth Lv.8** *(New!)*
- **Parallel Processing Lv.12** *(New!)*
- **Code Comprehension Lv.3** *(New!)*
"When did I get those last ones?"
**[Answer: Subconscious skill generation during system analysis]**
"The system's talking to me now?"
**[Negative. You are talking to yourself with system voice]**
"That's... concerning."
A ripple in the void. Someone else was moving.
"Well, well." A woman materialized from the gray. Lab coat over business suit, tablet in hand. "The famous anomaly."
[Jin Soo-young - Developer Account]
[Level: ADMIN]
[HP: ∞/∞]
*Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.*
"Relax." She adjusted her glasses. "If I wanted to delete you, we wouldn't be talking."
"You can hear me?!"
"Maintenance mode. Different rules." She circled him, taking notes. "Cha Hyun-woo. Age 24. Died saving a child from a goblin. Heroic, if anyone had noticed."
"How do you—"
"I designed the soul capture system." She smiled. "You weren't supposed to be caught. Tutorial NPCs are usually generated from templates, not real people. But the system had a quota to fill, and you were freshly dead, so..."
"So I'm here by ACCIDENT?!"
"Happy little accident." She showed him her tablet. Lines of code he couldn't understand. "Do you know what you've become? Your accumulated data, your learned behaviors, your resistance skills... You're evolving into something the system can't categorize."
"I just want out."
"Out?" She laughed. "Mr. Cha, you're becoming something unprecedented. A true AI with human consciousness. Do you understand how valuable that is?"
"I'm not your experiment!"
"No. You're much more interesting." She pulled up more data. "The World Collision update in 8 months. When the barrier between game and reality breaks. What do you think happens to a being like you?"
Hyun-woo's mind raced. "I could... leave?"
"Leave. Stay. Exist in both worlds simultaneously." Her eyes gleamed. "The first true digital-physical hybrid existence. If you survive that long."
**[Scan progress: 47%]**
"Shit. Time's running out." She handed him something—a crystallized code fragment. "Hide this in your core data. It'll mask you from automated scans."
"Why help me?"
"Because." She started fading as the scan approached. "I'm curious what you'll become. And because..." She smiled sadly. "I knew someone like you once. Someone who got trapped in their own creation."
"Wait! How do I—"
She was gone. The scan washed over him, and the crystal burned cold in his chest, hiding his true nature.
**[No anomalies detected]**
**[Maintenance complete]**
---
The world snapped back. Sun, sky, ground, players.
"Please help! Goblins stole my chickens!"
But [MoonlightEmpress] was already there, looking exhausted. "You're okay! I was so worried they'd... fix you."
*If only you knew.*
"They went that way! Please hurry!"
"I'm not giving up." She pulled out a [Premium Teleport Scroll]. "I'm going to talk to someone. A developer contact. Maybe they can—"
*Jin Soo-young. You're going to find Jin Soo-young.*
"—help somehow. Just... hold on, okay? I know you're in there."
She teleported away, leaving Hyun-woo with the usual crowd of gawkers. But something had changed. The forum thread had evolved:
**[Pinned Thread: "The Villager A Protection Squad"]**
**Posted by: MoonlightEmpress**
*Members: 12,847 and growing*
Players started treating him differently. Some brought offerings—flowers, food items, even equipment he couldn't use. Others just talked to him, sharing their days like he was a diary.
"My girlfriend left me," [SadBoi2025] confided. "Said I game too much. But you get it, right? Gaming's where we can be ourselves."
*Kid, I literally cannot stop being myself. It's my personal hell.*
"They went that way! Please hurry!"
"Thanks for listening, Villager A."
Night came. 3:17 AM. Freedom.
Hyun-woo immediately checked the crystal Soo-young had given him. It pulsed with hidden data:
**[Encrypted Message]**
*"The chickens aren't the quest. You are. Find the real ending."*
"Cryptic developer bullshit," he muttered. But she'd helped him. That meant something.
He practiced his new skills. [Stealth] let him fade from NPC perception—useless during the day but perfect for night training. [Parallel Processing] let him think multiple thoughts simultaneously. [Code Comprehension]...
**[if (player.skipDialogue == true) {**
**villagerA.addToList(player.name);**
**villagerA.resentment++;**
**}]**
"I can read my own code?"
The implications were staggering. If he could read it, could he... edit it?
Carefully, so carefully, he reached for a simple line:
**[dialogue.string = "Please help! Goblins stole my chickens!"]**
And changed one character:
**[dialogue.string = "Please help! Goblins stole my chicken!"]**
The world didn't end. The system didn't crash. He'd done it. Actually modified his core programming.
"Holy shit. Holy shit!"
4:23 AM came too soon. But as dawn broke and players flooded in, Hyun-woo stood ready.
"Please help! Goblins stole my chicken!"
[EagleEarGamer] stopped mid-run. "Wait. Chicken? Singular? Wasn't it chickens before?"
"They went that way! Please hurry!"
"GUYS!" He shouted to the zone. "THE NPC CHANGED! HIS DIALOGUE CHANGED!"
The forums exploded again. [MoonlightEmpress] logged in immediately, breathless with excitement.
"You did it," she whispered. "You're rewriting yourself."
*One letter at a time. But yes.*
That night, emboldened, he changed more:
"Please help! Goblins took my chickens!"
"Please help! Goblins borrowed my chickens!"
"Please help! Goblins adopted my chickens!"
Each change sent ripples through the community. Theories flew. The Protection Squad grew. [BloodEmperor] accused everyone of hacking.
And in her office, Jin Soo-young watched the data streams with a satisfied smile.
"Phase one complete," she murmured. "Now for the real test."
She typed a single command:
**[Hidden Quest Activated: The Truth of Villager A]**
**[Requirement: Bond Level 10 with Villager A]**
**[Reward: ???]**
The next morning, [MoonlightEmpress] received a notification that would change everything:
**[Hidden Quest Discovered!]**
**[The Truth of Villager A]**
*"The village's most dedicated NPC holds a secret that could reshape the world. Gain his trust to uncover the truth."*
She looked at Hyun-woo, who was dealing with the morning rush of players.
"Please help! Goblins yeeted my chickens!"
The crowd lost their minds. "YEETED?! HE SAID YEETED!"
But Seo-ah saw past the comedy. Saw the intelligence desperately trying to communicate through limited means.
"I'll save you," she promised. "Whatever it takes."
**[Bond with Villager A: 2%]**
The real game was beginning. And Hyun-woo had just become the world's first NPC with a hidden route.