Chapter 254: Wanna Come Too?

"It's not the first time I'm cursed to die by a dumbass god, and it won't be the last either. Anyway, let's keep the evaluation going." Josh didn't look at the sparkling eyes staring at him in awe.

[Floor 3: Dog leadership on a micro-level. The goal was to save face for the Heroic-Paws clan. Instead, you became their supreme leader ruling with a fist of steel. I want to say incredible, but it doesn't even suffice!] 

"Right! Master is amazing!" There was even live commentary of the recap. 

[Floor 4: Dog leadership on a macro level. The challenge was to make the enemy suffer at least 30% losses. Instead, you went with complete annihilation. Then, the one lizard you let escape destroyed their Capital. That's such overkill!]

"One lizard destroyed their Capital? How did that even happen?!" 

[It began a wild massacre in the city then went for a nap. This event led two opposing radical groups to believe it was the handy work of the other. They almost killed themselves to extinction. The scaly woke up from its nap, was hungry, and finished them all. Yeah…] 

"Wow! Just wow. It's pretty impressive how these monkeys managed to screw up so much!" Josh didn't know whether to laugh or offer them a silent prayer. How unlucky! 

"Haha, serves them right! As expected of Master!" Fangirl detected! 

[Floor 5: Banana Maze. This challenge tested one's ability to find the way along with resistance once more. You cleared that one in an instant and even made the test giver become one of your minions. Schooling the teacher is so goddamn awesome!] 

The monkey minion had been useless, but it was fine as long as it went on the report. Josh awaited the conclusion with expectation while pondering on if he should ask for an extra reward. 

[Conclusion: your score on a scale of 1 to 10 is …* drum roll * …100! Yes, somehow. But, eh, whatever. It's perfect, am I right? I'll use all these merits to craft you the goddamn best personal Training Tower of all time!] 

"About that, can I use a few of them for another request." Josh tentatively asked. 

[Sure, but it will lower the effectiveness a lot if you ask for too many things.] 

Josh turned toward the husky girl accompanying him before slowly asking: "Say, would you like to come along? There is a vast world outside to explore, full of marvels. But—"

"YES! Yes, Master!" She instantly replied, jumping in joy. Except Josh wasn't done. 

"But I'm not sure how you would end up. Maybe you'd have to become one of my summons. This means that you'd be stuck with me and—"

"I don't care! Yes, yes, yes!" There wasn't a single ounce of hesitation in her fluffy body, not a single one! She seemed to be already picturing all the new adventures to come. But that's when AT spoke again. 

[Josh…I can't do that, sorry.] 

The two of them suddenly froze, their shoulders slumping. Josh had stupidly assumed that AT would be able to realize it with so much merit. He had obtained pets in the past. What made this different? 

"Aren't you the creator?! Why can't you do it?!" She growled, fangs and claws out in the open. Josh was regretting. Had he known, he would never have proposed it in the first place. 

[I did my very best to create the best NPCs possible. They have their own will, emotions, and personality. But this made them complex, way too complicated to be taken out IRL! I don't have such power, and perhaps never will.] 

"That's easy! Creator, if you make me more simple, then I'll be able to follow Master, right?!" She happily chimed in with a questionable solution. 

[Yes, but it would kill your personality. You'd become nothing more than a big simpleton dog.] 

"That's fine! Do it! This way, I'll be able to help Master and—!" She shouted at AT. 

"No, I won't accept such—" Josh cut her, but she ignored it. 

"It's fine, Master! Let me be useful to you and—" She was resolved to anything to remain at his side, but he couldn't accept that. 

"NO!" Josh bellowed.

Hearing his shout made her jump as she closed her mouth. He spoke again: "It would be pointless. It would be a terrible fate worse than death for you, and it wouldn't help me at all!" he sighed heavily. 

She had the look of an abandoned puppy as she began sulking. She glanced at him with puppy eyes, hoping he would change his mind. No way when such a choice would kill the light in these eyes! 

He had grown slightly attached to this sidekick of his. So what if she was an NPC? Perhaps he saw himself in her. She was ready to go through anything to uphold her beliefs. Hers was that it was her duty to help the leader, even if he turned out to be human. 

"Sorry, AT. I didn't think this through and made things more complicated than they had to be." Josh apologized. 

[It's fine. I struggle to understand this power too. I usually know that something is impossible only when I try it.] 

"Makes sense. You're in the same situation that I am in with mana. Since this is not possible, put all the points into the Training Tower. This way it will be optimal." Josh decided with a heavy heart. 

Josh then exaggeratedly acted as if he had just remembered something: 

"Ah! Now that I think about it, the dog clans will be in trouble if I leave, right?! My trusty helper, I have a mission for you! I will need you to protect them all in my absence! I will come back to get you if there is ever the need! Go to their side now!" He ordered her. 

She looked at him, worried. "You'll come back to get me later, Master?! But…" She then seemed to resolve herself. "Alright! I'm on it, Master! You can count on me!" She said it with so much power. She would defend the shit out of the dogs! 

She then headed straight to the elevator, forcing herself not to turn back. She disappeared inside, and then she was gone. Josh gave a sad smile. This was a definite milestone for him, but he didn't feel that great. 

"Tell me, AT. What are the chances that you will be able to let her exit the Tower at some point?"

[Most likely, It won't ever be possible. She will have to live all her life here. The best I can do is make her keep her memories.] 

"Guess I'll have to visit then. I better add this to my calendar already!" Josh joked. 

[….] 

"Tell me, what is it?" The way AT was acting was suspicious. 

[Time in here flows differently than in the outside world. For you, it would only be a few days, but for her, it would be an eternity. It's fine in my case since I'm a system, but for her, it would likely be torture.] 

"She would be left waiting for her master to come back, eternally lonely. She would be estranged from others, burdened by the knowledge she shouldn't have. Even her loved ones would become nothing more than robots as she'd see them getting reset whenever a challenger appeared…." 

[Exactly…] 

"She is following me out of duty because I'm the leader. She admires my strength, but that is because we don't hail from the same universe. She also was influenced by that setting that made me belong to the dog clans."

[What will you do?] 

Creator's Thought

This upcoming decision would shape not only my future but also hers. This moment was extremely significant. It was my first time thinking deeply about NPCs and their place in this world of ours. It would indirectly impact the whole manner I would approach Climbing!