I Was Born a Non-Player Character (NPC)… and Then I Awoke!

By Peter J. Merrick, co-author of the #1 International Bestseller It Starts With Gold   

I did not always see the world the way I do now.

For most of my life, I played along. I said what I was supposed to say. I did what I was supposed to do. I followed the rules, chased the milestones, and told myself that was freedom. 

Looking back, I see it now for what it was. I was asleep. Not physically asleep. I was functioning. Earning. Socializing. Laughing even. From the outside, I looked normal. Maybe even successful.

Inside, I was just following the script.

There is a term I learned later. Non-Player Character, or NPC. It comes from video games. NPCs look real. They move, talk, react. They are part of the world, yet they are not aware. They are not playing. They are programmed.

That was me.

And here is the hard truth. I did not know it. 

Then March 2020 happened. The world shut down. And in that sudden silence, something cracked open. Not just in society. In me.

The routine stopped. The noise faded. And I began to see things I had never questioned before. I started asking myself. Why did I believe what I believed? Why was I chasing what I was chasing? Who wrote this script I was living?

It was a terrifying feeling. I wish I could say it was empowering, but at first, it was not. It was disorienting. Like waking up in a room you thought you knew, only to realize you had never really looked at it before.

I started seeing the patterns. In others, yes. The loops. The prepackaged opinions. The same words coming out of different mouths. But more painfully, I saw it in myself. I had been reacting to life, not living it.

It hit me like a punch to the gut. I had spent so many years playing a role someone else had written for me. I was not the author of my own life. I was just another character in a system designed to keep me asleep.

That realization changed everything.

I want to be clear. I am not writing this because I have all the answers. I do not. I am not better than anyone reading this. I was just lucky enough, or maybe broken enough, to start asking the questions. To feel the weight of the lie pressing against my chest and refuse to ignore it any longer.

And I was not alone.

Around the same time, my friend and now co-author Adrian C. Spitters was feeling it too. We had different experiences, different paths, but the same question began tugging at both of us. What if this entire system, the education, the media, the politics, the economy, was never meant to wake us up? What if it was built to keep us from ever asking the question?

We talked. We shared stories. We admitted how lost we had felt. How tired we were of pretending. How long we had both stood on the sidelines of our own lives, waiting for permission to step forward.

And then we made a decision. No more waiting. No more spectating. It was time to get on the field.

We wrote It Starts With Gold as our way of stepping forward. It was not just a book. It was a declaration. A way to take back control of our minds, our choices, and our lives. Writing it was how we began waking ourselves up and how we hope to help others do the same.

This is not about rebellion for the sake of it. It is about remembering who you are before the programming. It is about learning to think with your own mind, not one borrowed from a system that thrives on your obedience.

If you have ever felt like something was off, like the world around you did not make sense, like you were just going through the motions, then you are not alone. I have been there. Adrian has been there. And chances are, you have too.

Waking up is not easy. It is not comfortable. It is raw and painful. You question everything, even yourself. You lose illusions that once gave you comfort. And you realize that the cage was never physical. It was mental.

I was born a Non-Player Character. So were many of us.

I am awake now. Not perfectly. Not fully. This is a journey. One step at a time.

All I know is this. I can no longer remain silent. The world needs more people willing to break the script. To step out of the illusion. To live wide awake.

If this resonates with you, I would love to hear from you. You can connect with me directly through ItStartsWithGold.com

And if you are ready to go deeper, our book It Starts With Gold is now available. It was written for people just like you and me—those beginning their own journey toward becoming sovereign individuals.

👉 Click here to get your copy of It Starts With Gold

This is only the beginning. The awakening continues. 

Peter