My name is Emma Walker, and I'm an NPC. But since my combat stats are zero, I'm always getting chased and beaten up by the players. With no other options, I applied to become the only delivery worker in this horror game.
During the day, I deliver to players; late at night, I deliver to the bizarre bosses after their shifts, earning every penny through sweat and tears.
After midnight, I take off my blue work uniform, revealing the yellow T-shirt underneath. The strange bosses are all busy with their jobs during the day, so only after work do they have time for themselves. Early morning is always the peak for orders, and lately, the delivery platforms have been waging a price war, so I've been as busy as an octopus with eight arms.
Today, like always, I started from the east side of the city, picked up the orders, sorted them by delivery distance, then hit the gas and sped off toward the residential complexes.
The first meal was for Northgate Gardens, order 1801 for Emily Anderson. She works in the "Deadly Crematorium" dungeon, in charge of burning players alive. Because of the nature of her job, every day after her shift—rain or shine—she has to eat a serving of chilled brain flower to cool off.
I know the route by heart, so I took a shortcut and made the delivery in just ten minutes. As the note instructed, I hung the meal on the doorknob, snapped a photo for the customer, and quickly headed back. On my way down the stairs, I picked up more than ten new orders.
But as soon as I stepped out of the building, disaster struck. Where were the meals I just picked up? Where was my delivery e-bike?
My mind went blank. I just stood there, stunned. My phone kept dinging—customers were bombarding me with messages about their orders. All I could do was explain in the group chat: "@Everyone. Sorry, folks, if you placed an order, please request a refund. Someone stole the food. Please don't order for now—my delivery scooter was taken too, so I can't make any deliveries. I'm really, really sorry!"
As soon as I sent the message, a whole bunch of bosses popped up.
Headless Uncle Bill: "What? I already poured my Harbin Blood Beer, just waiting for those human meat and scallion dumplings!"
Sharp-Tongued Beauty No-Brows: "It took me forever to win a free Blood Tea voucher—whoever stole the food is dead meat!"
Lucky Devil: "Who took my spicy little eyeball snack?"
Rice Warrior: "The food thief just saved me from disaster, did my work, and took my punishment for me—honestly..."
As soon as I finished texting, I burst into tears. Not only was my whole night wasted, but now I had to pay for all the missing orders out of my own pocket.
I've got eight kids at home about to start school, and they're still waiting for me to pay their tuition. I was so anxious I started stomping my feet right there.
Suddenly, I felt something under my foot.
Looking down, I saw a bloodied eye, a sticky puddle of blood tea nearby, and not far off, a shattered hộp gia vị Coca.
There were messy footprints everywhere, trailing all the way to the end of the alley.
I shoved my phone in my pocket and chased after the tracks, running through three blocks before I finally spotted my electric scooter—wrecked.
In the next alley over, a group of players was getting ready to divvy up the stolen food.
I rushed over, flashed my NPC badge, and tried to scare them off.
The players panicked: "Isn't she a hidden boss? Going out at midnight breaks the rules—don't risk your life over a meal!"
A few of the more timid ones bolted immediately.
Seeing them scared, I tried to act calm, planning to take back both the food and my scooter.
Bosses work all day and still have to wait hungry for a meal.
Right then, the leader kicked me hard in the stomach.
"Don't be scared. I know the boss guidebook by heart, and there's no NPC like you on the rankings. Besides, it's ridiculous for an NPC to just take a beating without fighting back."
I groaned, collapsing to the ground in pain. "Hey, can you guess why I'm out here delivering food?"
The other players, seeing this, breathed a sigh of relief:
"If this frail girl is really an NPC, then I must be the ultimate boss."
"Yeah, even these pitiful chickens dare to stand up to us. The props look so real, too. Whatever, let's just use our strength to grab a bite—no harm in that."
One by one, they kicked me to vent their anger, then started dividing up the food right in front of me.
Lão Hoàng buried his head in a box, took a deep breath, and looked like his soul was ascending to heaven.
Pimple Face buttered him up: "Hoàng, don't be mad. Eat up, the milk tea's still cold—have a drink first."
Lão Hoàng grinned, flashing his yellow teeth. "You've got a sharp eye, kid. Stick with me from now on."
"Wow, these spicy quail eggs smell amazing—and there are pork and scallion dumplings too!"
In the darkness, the aroma of food was irresistible. The players, starving for days, crowded around the takeout boxes, not bothering with chopsticks—just grabbing food with their hands and stuffing it into their mouths: human-blood vermicelli, Yuan Ji dumplings, Liu Liang spicy hot pot, "Hehehe" blood tea…
Watching those empty meal boxes get tossed aside one after another, it felt like my heart was being ripped apart, screaming in despair. All these meals had been ordered by the strange bosses, and if they didn't get their food, the consequences would be dire.
"You guys are dead meat this time."
Lão Hoàng ate until grease dripped from his mouth, sneering, "You little liar, always making things up and trying to scare us with bosses. I bet you're just hungry yourself. Don't worry, when I'm done, I'll toss you a couple of bones to gnaw on."
As soon as he finished, the crowd burst out laughing. One player even patted his belly and taunted, "We finished it all! If you dare, call a boss here to take it back!"
"Don't waste your breath on that girl. Let me take care of her."
Mặt Mụn charged at me with a massive blade. The moment he swung, my head hit the ground, rolling three times. My neck was sliced clean through—I couldn't make a sound.
All I could do was sit there and watch them devour every last grain of rice I had brought.
While everyone was still enjoying themselves, everyone's phones suddenly buzzed with a notification: "SSS-level alert. All players must immediately lock all windows and doors. Do not leave the safe zone."
By the time they realized what was happening, the once pitch-black sky had turned blood-red, and the air was thick with the stench of blood.
Finally, someone noticed the alert, their voice trembling with panic:
"What's going on? Was she telling the truth?"
"Even the final boss only ever triggered an S-level alert—how could this be SSS?"
Everyone started talking at once: "Every dungeon always follows the 16-hour work schedule. From midnight to 8 a.m., no bosses appear. So why is there an alert now? Is the game bugged?"
Amid the chaos, a raspy, duck-like voice called out from the corner: "Told you, you stole the boss's food. Of course they're coming for you."
Back when I was a delivery driver, I got chased plenty of times—but this was the first time I'd ever been beheaded.
I hurriedly stitched myself up, wrapping the thread around three times, tying a knot, and using my fingernail to snip off the excess. Only after finishing did I realize my trachea was leaking air. Oh well—as long as my head and body were reattached, it was fine.
When the players saw me come back to life, they recoiled in horror. "Y-you... what are you, exactly?"
I stuffed the needle and thread into my pocket, a little annoyed. "I've told you a hundred times—I'm an NPC. You just never believe me."
I twisted my neck to look down the dead-end alley. If the players wanted to escape, they'd have to risk going outside, where the bosses could attack them all at once. If they stayed, they'd just be waiting to die. Either way, it was a death sentence. So, heeding the warning, they started blaming each other.
Lão Hoàng, who had just been eating heartily, instantly became the center of attention. Mặt Mụn pressed a broadsword to his neck: "Lão Hoàng... this is your fault, you have to keep us safe!"
The other players chimed in together: "Yeah, this was all your terrible idea! If not for you, we'd still be safe at home!"
Watching them turn on him, Lão Hoàng replied coldly, "My fault? Weren't you all just eating happily a moment ago?"
Things spiraled out of control. Lão Hoàng snatched the blade from Mặt Mụn's hand and stabbed it straight into his neck. Blood sprayed everywhere. Then, he killed a few of the loudest complainers.
The crowd fell instantly silent.
Lão Hoàng ordered coldly, "Everyone, take out all your defensive gear and pile it up in the alley. In one hour, when the sun rises, the bosses will be forced to transfer to the dungeons, and we'll be safe. As for you, useless NPC..."
I hadn't even picked up my phone when Lão Hoàng glared at me. With a single motion, my freshly stitched head was chopped off again.
Sighing, I took out my needle and thread, ready to sew myself back together, but suddenly my left eye went dark—and then my right was gouged out too.
In the darkness, I felt my head being lifted and shaken. Lão Hoàng shouted, "Stay quiet and still. Don't even think about calling for help."
My phone was snatched away and smashed. To the players, I was now harmless, blind, cut off from communication—just annoyingly hard to kill.
I crouched and fumbled around for my head, sometimes getting stepped on or kicked, crawling along like a blind turtle.
The alley was soon piled high with defensive gear, forming a tightly sealed protective wall.
Outside, the bosses who'd lost their food paced back and forth, shouting:
"Did you steal my buns... my buns?"
Headless Uncle Bưu was running everywhere. He ran into Khẩu Liệt Nữ, who looked frazzled and muttered suspiciously, "Did you steal my rice?"
Time ticked by, second by second. All the players trapped in the alley held their breath, tense and anxious, eyes fixed on the eastern sky, hoping the sun would rise soon.
In a forgotten corner, I hurriedly stitched my body back together, then found my two eyeballs on the floor and popped them back into their sockets.
Maybe they'd fallen out of the blood tea. Not exactly the original parts, but they'd do for now.
With my vision restored, I immediately pulled another phone from my back pocket…
Just kidding—how could an independent king like me only have one phone?
When I opened the customer group chat, it was already flooded with messages—over 99 unread.
No time to climb upstairs, I just @-ed everyone, quickly explained the situation, and sent my exact location to the group.
Less than a minute after I sent the message, a flash of light suddenly appeared in the east.
The players thought it was sunrise, that they were saved. Everyone cheered in relief, praising, “Boss Hoang, you’re amazing!”
But right after, those at the front realized something was wrong.
A player’s trembling voice rang out: “That’s not sunlight… it’s… blood! So much blood!”
Looking closer, a thick, bright red stream of blood was gushing from a crack, sprouting legs and spreading at an alarming speed.
The next second, Lão Hoàng beside me recoiled in panic and shouted, “This is bad, an S-rank boss just broke in! Everyone, use your items now!”
As soon as he finished, the protective wall was instantly torn apart by an invisible force. A murderous aura surged in, followed by a wave of blood mist.
I dropped to the ground and crawled deeper into the corner, powerless to help—at least I wouldn’t get in my coworkers’ way.
The players, terrified, backed away and started sticking items all over themselves.