What do you think?
Rate this book
The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! Manga #1
The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real!, Vol. 1
Yoshio is a thirty-year-old shut-in with no job and no prospects, still living at home after all these years. His mundane life is suddenly interrupted when he receives a copy of "The Village of Fate," an experimental game with graphics and A.I. like nothing he's ever seen before. In the game, he takes on the role of a guardian deity who watches over the people of a new village...but he finds that the game characters are so intelligent, so reactive, so human that he starts to wonder if they might somehow be real people. Through his connection to their strangely vivid lives, Yoshio begins to discover the brightness that had been missing from his own existence.
184 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 7, 2021
6 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 17, 2023
It has the elements of a portal fantasy, but done by an author with an obviously voyeuristic streak. This is The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real!
Main character Yoshio thinks he's beta testing a new computer game, but the characters are so real, and there's the warning that came with the warning to keep quiet about this game; if all his characters die, it's game over, for real.
It really feels like an isekai, but the main character never stepped over that door to the new world, but instead is stuck in the mundane world, where he has to keep on living as a recluse in his parents' home, a man beaten by society, someone the Japanese call, a hikikomori.
The reader is drawn by what would happen next in this villager simulation, and what the main character would do to keep the game playing. See how Yoshio, little by little, overcome his social anxiety, so that he could earn the cash to spin the gacha element in the game. When you see gacha, and pay-to-win elements in a game, this is definitely a story written by a Japanese author.
I look forward to the next volume.
Main character Yoshio thinks he's beta testing a new computer game, but the characters are so real, and there's the warning that came with the warning to keep quiet about this game; if all his characters die, it's game over, for real.
It really feels like an isekai, but the main character never stepped over that door to the new world, but instead is stuck in the mundane world, where he has to keep on living as a recluse in his parents' home, a man beaten by society, someone the Japanese call, a hikikomori.
The reader is drawn by what would happen next in this villager simulation, and what the main character would do to keep the game playing. See how Yoshio, little by little, overcome his social anxiety, so that he could earn the cash to spin the gacha element in the game. When you see gacha, and pay-to-win elements in a game, this is definitely a story written by a Japanese author.
I look forward to the next volume.
January 17, 2022
Yoshio’s in his mid-30s and shut-in at home. He enters a lot of giveaways, which explains the appearance of a game called The Village of Fate at his doorstep. What it doesn’t explain is why Yoshio is actually god to these people and how, exactly, this leads to changes in the real world…
Great premise, mediocre execution. The idea that Yoshio is lured in by this gacha game that lets him talk to a bunch of villagers once a day via a holy book and earns power based on their faith in him is a corker. Even better, the struggles of these hapless fantasy folk lead to him deciding to make a change for the better in the real world. Like, that book basically writes itself, honestly.
It might be better if it had.
There’s something especially tragic about a story that should be better than it is, but suffers under the skill of the author. Maybe the light novel is better, but the manga makes me suspect that it would just be a different form of uninspired.
Yoshio’s story is sad enough and the struggle of NEETs shouldn’t be ignored, but he doesn’t seem to have a personality beyond that to define him. There’s one moment with his sister that’s trying to establish some pathos, but it comes off really weird.
The non-disclosure agreement prevents Yoshio from discussing anything going on, but who’d believe him anyway? It’s rare to see a manga let a story down hard, but the real world and the village look identical and Yoshio’s only exclamation is how unbelievable the graphics are. I get that’s to illustrate that the village is real, but it really doesn’t work.
This story is struggling to sell itself the entire way, basically. Even Yoshio finally deciding that he’s about to leave the house for the first time in two years because he’s inspired by his new charges doesn’t come off as especially logical cause and effect.
As for the villagers, they seem like a bunch of stock characters. Priestess, sword guy, husband and wife, child. Gams, the sword guy whose name I only remember because it’s flipping Gams, is related to the Priestess who has a very uncomfortable brother complex (no, seriously, she sees the seven year old as competition). Everybody else is next to nothing in terms of personality.
There’s just something about the writing that can’t do what it’s trying to do. It can’t make the characters seem at all real, it can’t do proper conflict, it can’t convey any excitement. This isekai-adjacent idea should be a slam dunk and it really whiffs it.
And you can’t tell me that most gamers, finding out that what they type will be conveyed via book to their “followers”, wouldn’t have god’s first message be something like ‘farts’ written 54 times or something similar.
2.5 stars - I want to round this up just for the concept, so I will, but this was a bit of a bummer. I might try another volume to see if it finds itself, but it really feels like a dog catching a particularly excellent tail and having no idea what to do with it.
Great premise, mediocre execution. The idea that Yoshio is lured in by this gacha game that lets him talk to a bunch of villagers once a day via a holy book and earns power based on their faith in him is a corker. Even better, the struggles of these hapless fantasy folk lead to him deciding to make a change for the better in the real world. Like, that book basically writes itself, honestly.
It might be better if it had.
There’s something especially tragic about a story that should be better than it is, but suffers under the skill of the author. Maybe the light novel is better, but the manga makes me suspect that it would just be a different form of uninspired.
Yoshio’s story is sad enough and the struggle of NEETs shouldn’t be ignored, but he doesn’t seem to have a personality beyond that to define him. There’s one moment with his sister that’s trying to establish some pathos, but it comes off really weird.
The non-disclosure agreement prevents Yoshio from discussing anything going on, but who’d believe him anyway? It’s rare to see a manga let a story down hard, but the real world and the village look identical and Yoshio’s only exclamation is how unbelievable the graphics are. I get that’s to illustrate that the village is real, but it really doesn’t work.
This story is struggling to sell itself the entire way, basically. Even Yoshio finally deciding that he’s about to leave the house for the first time in two years because he’s inspired by his new charges doesn’t come off as especially logical cause and effect.
As for the villagers, they seem like a bunch of stock characters. Priestess, sword guy, husband and wife, child. Gams, the sword guy whose name I only remember because it’s flipping Gams, is related to the Priestess who has a very uncomfortable brother complex (no, seriously, she sees the seven year old as competition). Everybody else is next to nothing in terms of personality.
There’s just something about the writing that can’t do what it’s trying to do. It can’t make the characters seem at all real, it can’t do proper conflict, it can’t convey any excitement. This isekai-adjacent idea should be a slam dunk and it really whiffs it.
And you can’t tell me that most gamers, finding out that what they type will be conveyed via book to their “followers”, wouldn’t have god’s first message be something like ‘farts’ written 54 times or something similar.
2.5 stars - I want to round this up just for the concept, so I will, but this was a bit of a bummer. I might try another volume to see if it finds itself, but it really feels like a dog catching a particularly excellent tail and having no idea what to do with it.
August 2, 2023
Neat concept. If only some video games had the same level of stakes as this does.
October 2, 2021
I'm on the fence about this manga so far. It's amusing but at the same time, it's like watching somebody else play a video game. It's exactly like watching somebody else play a video game. You'd rather play the game yourself (or read another manga).
Protagonist Yoshio graduated high school and college but wasn't able to immediately get a job in his field so he just completely gave up on life. Now he's 30, mooches off his parents, has no friends or hobbies, and never leaves his room. He's never had a job, he doesn't have a yen of his own. Even he knows he's a loser, but he has no desire or motivation to change any of that. He's deeply ashamed of himself, but he'd much rather hide behind his bedroom door than make any improvements to his life. He's just content to be a bum.
Then one day a mysterious video game is delivered to the house in his name. And the rest of the manga is just watching this guy play the video game. A sim game. It's a little like watching paint dry. Someone else is having all the fun, and the story is predictable. Yoshio realizes the game is basically pay-to-win, but since he's never worked a day in his life, he has no money to spend on the game. So he decides to pawn his other games to get money to fund what could be his new addiction. He hasn't left his house in two years, but he's already so wrapped up in the characters of the video game that he musters the courage to go out in public. Then after he sells his games in a shop, he gives himself a big pat on the back for spending part of his earnings on pudding that he gives to his parents.
The video game characters aren't particularly interesting. There's the quiet warrior, the only useful guy in the game. He's my favorite. His little sister clearly has a crush on him, if that kind of thing turns you off. Then there's a family of three traveling with them: a mother, father, and child. The five of them are traveling in a rundown wagon (à la Oregon Trail) after escaping from a monster attack on their village.
There's no teleporting into the game or anything. The game instructions tell Yoshio he is god of the villagers and he starts writing instructions in their religious text and they just do what he says. So he feels responsible for them. At the same time, he did get the nerve up to leave his house so he could earn money to spend on game points to buy things for the villagers. So you can see where this manga is going... The game will help him break his cycle of hiding in his room alone all the time, and he'll help the villagers by playing the game and granting them miracles as their god.
I don't like the "god" concept of the manga, where the villagers worshipping him grants him points. It seems culty. And it seems unrealistic that a shut-in would benefit in any way from a video game. I mean...the opposite is actually true. lol So...I feel like the creator of this manga is just creating their own personal dream, but like I said, it's literally just the reader watching someone else play a video game. It might make for a more enjoyable anime. And I didn't dislike the manga but if every volume ends up like this, it's going to get tired real fast.
Protagonist Yoshio graduated high school and college but wasn't able to immediately get a job in his field so he just completely gave up on life. Now he's 30, mooches off his parents, has no friends or hobbies, and never leaves his room. He's never had a job, he doesn't have a yen of his own. Even he knows he's a loser, but he has no desire or motivation to change any of that. He's deeply ashamed of himself, but he'd much rather hide behind his bedroom door than make any improvements to his life. He's just content to be a bum.
Then one day a mysterious video game is delivered to the house in his name. And the rest of the manga is just watching this guy play the video game. A sim game. It's a little like watching paint dry. Someone else is having all the fun, and the story is predictable. Yoshio realizes the game is basically pay-to-win, but since he's never worked a day in his life, he has no money to spend on the game. So he decides to pawn his other games to get money to fund what could be his new addiction. He hasn't left his house in two years, but he's already so wrapped up in the characters of the video game that he musters the courage to go out in public. Then after he sells his games in a shop, he gives himself a big pat on the back for spending part of his earnings on pudding that he gives to his parents.
The video game characters aren't particularly interesting. There's the quiet warrior, the only useful guy in the game. He's my favorite. His little sister clearly has a crush on him, if that kind of thing turns you off. Then there's a family of three traveling with them: a mother, father, and child. The five of them are traveling in a rundown wagon (à la Oregon Trail) after escaping from a monster attack on their village.
There's no teleporting into the game or anything. The game instructions tell Yoshio he is god of the villagers and he starts writing instructions in their religious text and they just do what he says. So he feels responsible for them. At the same time, he did get the nerve up to leave his house so he could earn money to spend on game points to buy things for the villagers. So you can see where this manga is going... The game will help him break his cycle of hiding in his room alone all the time, and he'll help the villagers by playing the game and granting them miracles as their god.
I don't like the "god" concept of the manga, where the villagers worshipping him grants him points. It seems culty. And it seems unrealistic that a shut-in would benefit in any way from a video game. I mean...the opposite is actually true. lol So...I feel like the creator of this manga is just creating their own personal dream, but like I said, it's literally just the reader watching someone else play a video game. It might make for a more enjoyable anime. And I didn't dislike the manga but if every volume ends up like this, it's going to get tired real fast.
May 13, 2024
A hopeful story about a middle-aged shut-in - unemployed, living with his parents, disappointed with his life and embarrassed of himself - who receives an experimental video game with advanced graphics and AI like nothing he's ever seen. In this game, he is a guardian deity watching over a small group of refugees looking for a safe home; but the characters seem so intelligent and behave so realistically that he starts to wonder if they might be real. As he gets into the game, he wants to help 'his' people, but that would take pay-to-play miracle-points - so he'd have to go outside (*gulp*) and do something to get that money. Could this fantasy game be the push that drives him to rebuild his real life?
The game's fantasy-world is pretty standard, with a few standard tropes (the sister who's a little too attached to her brother - not in a creepy sexual way, but she gets a little too upset if anyone shows romantic interest (we learn why in vol.2); the obligatory cute kid who has a childlike crush on the grown-up guard - again, not in a creepy way, in a normal kid-crush way). But the real interest is how the game drives the player to face his real-life fears and anxieties. You slowly find out a bit about his family and how he got into his present situation, and I'm interested/invested in seeing how he's going to change his real life and rebuild his family relationships.
I usually hate video game-based manga (so overdone nowadays), but I'm enjoying this new angle and am interested to see where it goes!
Content concerns: depression (including social withdrawal, feelings of shame, and family strife); fantasy violence and peril (monster attacks, sword fights, etc); no swearing, drugs/alcohol, or nudity/sex so far (vol.2 has a brief flashback involving an alcoholic, neglectful parent, no longer part of the story)
The game's fantasy-world is pretty standard, with a few standard tropes (the sister who's a little too attached to her brother - not in a creepy sexual way, but she gets a little too upset if anyone shows romantic interest (we learn why in vol.2); the obligatory cute kid who has a childlike crush on the grown-up guard - again, not in a creepy way, in a normal kid-crush way). But the real interest is how the game drives the player to face his real-life fears and anxieties. You slowly find out a bit about his family and how he got into his present situation, and I'm interested/invested in seeing how he's going to change his real life and rebuild his family relationships.
I usually hate video game-based manga (so overdone nowadays), but I'm enjoying this new angle and am interested to see where it goes!
Content concerns: depression (including social withdrawal, feelings of shame, and family strife); fantasy violence and peril (monster attacks, sword fights, etc); no swearing, drugs/alcohol, or nudity/sex so far (vol.2 has a brief flashback involving an alcoholic, neglectful parent, no longer part of the story)
August 15, 2024
The MC is the standard Japanese brand of loser shut-in, except this one actually wants to improve himself. The MC's family is a little undercooked and his coworkers are mostly flat characters. The 'villagers' are all pretty one-note.
I find it really hard to believe that the 30 year old MC has never worked a single job and has parents who just... take it. There's no way that the hikikomori phenomenon in Japan is THAT bad... right?
The story is... weird. The MC's cover for the random fantasy items appearing is that a village is shipping them to him. No one ever asks the name of the village. The shipping company never asks why the hell someone is shipping a singular log... can you imagine being the guy who gets that loaded onto the truck that day?? What kind of beast deliverymen does this version of Earth have? Screw deliveries, these freaks of nature are needed in construction!
I'm not even going to get into how both the MC and his coworker were sending money to a company that doesn't exist. How was his coworker planning on filing taxes with money that was sent to him by God for his villainous conquests?
The lizard that the MC gets is... funky. What is going to happen with this mythical and magical beast from another world from this point onwards? What happens when scientists discover this thing's poison? What happens with the seeds of the fruit from another world? Do they destroy the ecosystem? What of the parasites on the boar meat that have been transferred to this guy's entire family?
Too many holes in the logic here...
I find it really hard to believe that the 30 year old MC has never worked a single job and has parents who just... take it. There's no way that the hikikomori phenomenon in Japan is THAT bad... right?
The story is... weird. The MC's cover for the random fantasy items appearing is that a village is shipping them to him. No one ever asks the name of the village. The shipping company never asks why the hell someone is shipping a singular log... can you imagine being the guy who gets that loaded onto the truck that day?? What kind of beast deliverymen does this version of Earth have? Screw deliveries, these freaks of nature are needed in construction!
I'm not even going to get into how both the MC and his coworker were sending money to a company that doesn't exist. How was his coworker planning on filing taxes with money that was sent to him by God for his villainous conquests?
The lizard that the MC gets is... funky. What is going to happen with this mythical and magical beast from another world from this point onwards? What happens when scientists discover this thing's poison? What happens with the seeds of the fruit from another world? Do they destroy the ecosystem? What of the parasites on the boar meat that have been transferred to this guy's entire family?
Too many holes in the logic here...
December 8, 2021
At first, this seemed like a weird combination of two story types. First, it's about a character who seems to have given up on life after failing to find a job after finishing college. Second, it's about a real-world character interacting with a very unusual computer game.
The thing is, as we find out more about both the character and the game, things get more complicated and very weird. For instance, his original moping kind of ignores the fact that he has some very real trauma issues that he's clearly not addressed, and which just might have contributed to his tendency to just stay in the home of his parents, not even going outdoors. Second, there are things which are clearly not normal in this game, to the extent technology "indistinguishable from magic" in the way it works.
As a result, I found myself drawn more and more into the story. There are some weird things about the characters inside the game inside the story, and I'm curious about those things, too, but I'm pretty sure that I will pick up the next volume when it becomes available.
The only thing which didn't quite ring true was the main character's immediate willingness to get rid of some of his possessions to finance helping the characters in the game. That felt rushed, but may have been due the abridgment needed for this manga version of what started out as a light novel series.
The thing is, as we find out more about both the character and the game, things get more complicated and very weird. For instance, his original moping kind of ignores the fact that he has some very real trauma issues that he's clearly not addressed, and which just might have contributed to his tendency to just stay in the home of his parents, not even going outdoors. Second, there are things which are clearly not normal in this game, to the extent technology "indistinguishable from magic" in the way it works.
As a result, I found myself drawn more and more into the story. There are some weird things about the characters inside the game inside the story, and I'm curious about those things, too, but I'm pretty sure that I will pick up the next volume when it becomes available.
The only thing which didn't quite ring true was the main character's immediate willingness to get rid of some of his possessions to finance helping the characters in the game. That felt rushed, but may have been due the abridgment needed for this manga version of what started out as a light novel series.
January 1, 2024
Esta historia trata de un Hikikomori que recibe un juego de fantasía, en el cual tu tomas el rol de un dios y tienes que ayudar a los NPC (No playable character) a sobrevivir en su mundo.
El juego tiene detalles tan reales que el protagonista queda fascinado y hasta sorprendido con la calidad.
Conforme avanza la historia nuestro prota comienza empatizar con sus NPC y a preocuparse por ellos.
Entonces los NPC en agradecimiento le hacen un altar y le dan ofrendas. Estas ofrendas llegan al domicilio del prota...como? no era una simulación? al parecer no.
Realmente el protagonista tiene comunicación con los NPC que existen en algún lugar del universo.
Esto trae mejoría al protagonista en su vida, pues ocupa dinero para ayudar a sus NPC.
Seis libros comprenden esta historia.
El juego tiene detalles tan reales que el protagonista queda fascinado y hasta sorprendido con la calidad.
Conforme avanza la historia nuestro prota comienza empatizar con sus NPC y a preocuparse por ellos.
Entonces los NPC en agradecimiento le hacen un altar y le dan ofrendas. Estas ofrendas llegan al domicilio del prota...como? no era una simulación? al parecer no.
Realmente el protagonista tiene comunicación con los NPC que existen en algún lugar del universo.
Esto trae mejoría al protagonista en su vida, pues ocupa dinero para ayudar a sus NPC.
Seis libros comprenden esta historia.
January 2, 2022
i liked it!! Lowkey saw the titled and laughed and I was like I want to get this! So I did and read it in one sitting. Usually I don’t go through manga that quick. Can’t wait to get vol. 2! it was interesting watching yoshio find life motivation from motivating npcs in a video game. I want to know what happens next!
December 2, 2022
This one didn't really hit with me, I found the protagonist lacking and while the idea is sound I don't think it's executed particularly well, at least in the manga. The art is a little busy for my taste, and the style of everything feels muddled. There's a solid concept that I'd love to see played with by an author that doesn't focus so heavily on uncomfortable relationships.
November 17, 2021
This was a very good first volume. My 11yo loved it and the entire idea of a village sim that plays this way.
I'm worried for the next volume because of the slight references to child/adult and brother/sister tropes in manga that I find really disappointing.
I'm worried for the next volume because of the slight references to child/adult and brother/sister tropes in manga that I find really disappointing.
October 31, 2023
Isn't it sad to say that I wasn't expecting much from this manga? But alhtough it is sad, it is my truth.
Anyway, I'm happy that my truth was discredited. I trully enjoyed my moment reading this book.
Anyway, I'm happy that my truth was discredited. I trully enjoyed my moment reading this book.
August 5, 2024
Yoshio is thirty years, without a job or any kind of social life, and still lives at home with his parents. When Yoshio begins playing a strange new video game, he develops very strong connections to the game's characters. Consequently, Yoshio slowly begins to find new meaning in his own life.
January 1, 2022
DNF @ 10%
Did not like this at all.
Maybe light novel reads better, but manga is very busy visually.
Did not like this at all.
Maybe light novel reads better, but manga is very busy visually.
December 6, 2023
Such a quick read! Excited to read more :-)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews