Yoshio is thirty years old, and his life is a mess. A shut-in living with his parents, he has no job, no relationship, and no prospects. When he receives a new sim computer game that boasts characters created with a new kind of A.I., he doesn't think much of it–until he gets drawn into a fantasy world so vibrant and lifelike that its residents can't just be game characters. Suddenly finding himself the benevolent god of a scrappy fantasy village is a lot for Yoshio to handle, but it might be the key to the change he desperately needs.

Murazukuri Game no NPC ga Namami no Ningen to shika Omoenai began as a web novel on Shousetsuka ni Narou on February 1, 2019. The first official volume was published on October 4, 2019, by Kadokawa.

The series was published digitally in English as The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! by Seven Seas Entertainment under the Airship imprint from August 5, 2021, to March 10, 2022, and in print from October 19, 2021, to April 12, 2022.