NOVEL NEXT Chapter 18
Just a few days ago, something big happened.
She said that a pretty serious incident occurred in some remote village.
A little kid called a “Mine” showed up and killed quite a few villagers.
The knights came, and the situation was wrapped up, but they even suggested that a demon might descend if things went south.
Thanks to that, the topic has become quite a buzz among the otherworlders right now.
There’s been a lot of information circulating about Mines, demons, and Demon’s Blood. Plus, the video itself was pretty shocking.
Because of this, the otherworlders are having heated discussions in the community, or so Yoo Chaerin told me.
After hearing her story, I couldn’t help but look a bit serious.
In a way, it was related to me as well.
“Mines, huh.”
I know a thing or two about that topic.
A Mine is created when a human sells their soul to a demon.
Generally, it’s the Blood Manifestors with Demon’s Blood who usually transform into them.
In special cases, ordinary people without Demon’s Blood might also transform.
Still, having lived in the city until I was 10, a Mine showing up is quite a serious matter in my eyes.
Because the moment you sell your soul to a demon, the chance of them descending becomes significantly higher. Plus, those killed by the Mine could have their souls used as offerings.
From the perspective of countries, it’s a topic that can’t help but be serious.
And this time, the guy who transformed into a Mine had Demon’s Blood like me.
I offered my condolences for that guy.
“How unfortunate…”
It’s a rare occurrence, to say the least.
If we’re being specific, it happens about once in several decades.
A Blood Manifestor avoiding the eyes of the countries transforming into a Mine.
As expected of a medieval setting, the identification system here is quite sloppy.
It’s not like there’s a Resident Registration Card like in modern times, nor is there an organization like a statistical office going around conducting household surveys.
Of course, when heading to big cities, you need something like an Identification Tag… but that’s just about it.
It’s too much work to investigate every remote village.
Because of that, there’s bound to be loopholes.
It’s possible for a Blood Manifestor to appear in a remote village and have that identity hidden by their 10th birthday.
Or that the guards were so lax that they couldn’t execute the Manifestor, and they managed to escape, and so on.
Naturally, I fell under the latter category.
However, I escaped from the Imperial City rather than a remote village, so the class was a bit different.
Anyway.
Thanks to her, I gained quite a significant piece of information. Even if a Mine appears, the otherworlders only now found out about “Demon’s Blood.”
“Thanks. I learned about a major incident.”
Of course, I still don’t know how the otherworlders will react to “Demon’s Blood.”
I know the video was provocative, and their reactions weren’t great, but that’s about it.
I still don’t know their thoughts on it.
While I couldn’t just outright ask, as that question might give her clues.
“Still, well…”
At least there seems to be some sympathy towards it. I’ll settle for that.
After all, that’s better than the people here who would immediately try to kill you upon laying eyes on you.
After that, I listened to her talk a lot.
Being a streamer, her speaking skills were quite remarkable.
As I listened to her for a while, the sun quickly began to set.
“Oh.”
“Ah.”
She looked outside and, with a forced smile, seemed troubled.
She likely missed her timing to head back.
As I saw the other day, she was afraid of the darkness of this forest.
“The sun’s setting quickly…”
She murmured pitifully as she gazed at the darkening outside.
She had arrived around 4 PM, so it was only natural for the sun to disappear quickly.
Winter has ended, but it’s still early spring, giving shorter days too.
She looked at me and cautiously opened her mouth.
“Uh, could I possibly…?”
“Not happening.”
I instantly refused. It was obvious she wanted to ask to stay over.
Last time, I allowed her to sleep with me because I had so many questions about the otherworlders.
But this time, thanks to our previous conversation, all the juice had already been squeezed out of it, right?
There’s really no need to let her stay. Also, I honestly feel uneasy when someone is beside me when I sleep.
However, unfortunately, it seemed my guess was wrong this time.
“Ah, no! You think I’d ask to stay over at a guy’s place again?”
She continued with a sly smile.
“Would you like to see how logging out works?”
*
In [Demon’s Saga], logging out is incredibly simple.
You just turn off the game. Then the players’ minds naturally return to reality.
After all, players have a real life too, and game companies can’t block that logout.
However, they did put in a slightly unique system.
It’s called the Fatigue system.
This fatigue accumulates even when a player logs out. It’s as if the character gains fatigue as if they have two bodies.
What happens if you log in while at maximum fatigue?
You get to experience the feeling of waking up three hours after getting massively drunk.
In other words, it feels like you’re about to die.
Thus, managing fatigue is essential for players.
Fortunately, managing it is quite simple. Either sleep in-game instead of in reality, or drink a fatigue potion sold at stores before logging out.
Drinking the fatigue potion allows the body here to automatically take a rest.
This time, Yoo Chaerin chose the latter.
Gulp, gulp.
Her throat moved as she downed the fatigue potion that looked like a bottle of Bacchus in one go.
Then she looked at Yor and said,
“See you tomorrow!”
Paf-paf-!
Then she vanished, almost like teleportation. In the blink of an eye, her physical form disappeared.
Yor let out a faint chuckle upon witnessing it.
“…Ha, amazing.”
Well, I had suspected that logging out exists, but seeing it right in front of me was genuinely fascinating.
Every time this happens, I realize anew; for them, this is just a game…
In moments like this, I genuinely get confused about whether this is reality or a game.
Could it be that even my life, which I’ve lived so intensely, might not be real…?
“Well… that can’t be, can it?”
Of course, it was an unhealthy thought for my mental health, so I didn’t think too deeply about it.
Yor stared at the spot where she vanished for a moment before going to the cave to sleep.
*
Meanwhile, Chaerin, returning to reality, didn’t sleep immediately.
She still had a few things left to do in real life.
Chiiiiiik—
The capsule opened, and Chaerin woke up. Her hazy consciousness and heavy sensations welcomed her.
Despite the game being fun, the sensation of returning to reality was still hard to adapt to.
“Ugh…”
She lightly stretched and immediately grabbed her phone.
She had great news to share with her editor.
[Chaerin: Hey sis!]
[Chaerin: I got accepted on YouTube!]
[BlackKitty: That’s something to brag about.]
[BlackKitty: So now you just have to edit, right?]
Of course, her editor was as cool as usual.
Chaerin casually browsed the internet before falling asleep.
*
Days passed, and the next morning.
Waking up, Chaerin immediately entered the capsule to log into the game.
Paf-paf-!
“I’m back!”
She greeted cheerfully as she entered.
Yor was already hovering near her, seemingly waiting.
Once Yor confirmed she returned, he said to her,
“Let’s go, I’ll take you to the entrance.”
Chaerin couldn’t help but look surprised at that.
She was planning to head back, but she didn’t expect him to escort her.
Receiving an escort from a “guy”… felt a bit strange.
Noting his unusual kindness, she asked Yor,
“Are you really going to escort me? What’s going on all of a sudden?”
“You’re going to be coming here again anyway. So at least you should know what’s dangerous.”
He explained that there are rules to be followed in this forest.
If you wander around ignorant of those rules, you might end up in trouble.
At the same time, he warned her not to spread information elsewhere.
Those monsters do act as guardians of their home, after all. Spreading strategies might attract too many people, and that would make things troublesome for him.
Hearing that, Chaerin felt a slight joy.
At least telling her this meant he considered her a guest, didn’t it?
So, Chaerin listened to Yor explain.
The content was about the territories of the monsters living in this forest.
“The claw marks on that tree usually indicate the territory of an Owlbear, so be careful, and that dirt mound over there? That’s the territory of a mutated wild boar. And sometimes, though you can’t see them now, if you spot red cloths hanging on trees, that indicates a goblin settlement nearby, so avoid it as much as possible…”
It was truly a high-level zone, and danger lurked all around.
Most of the seemingly harmless marks she passed by were markings of monsters’ territories.
On the other hand, her curiosity also peaked.
How long had he been around for him to know even the tiniest details?
Unable to resist, she asked Yor,
“Do you always take care to avoid those things too?”
“Me? Well, sometimes I dodge them, and sometimes I just pass through…”
He replied nonchalantly. Chaerin could sense his ease and confidence from that.
She thought to herself.
“Just what level is he…?”
Based on that time he tossed the item, it was certain he was strong.
After all, simply living in this forest was no ordinary feat.
But that was just a guess; she had never seen his actual skills.
Usually, “guys” are weaker than “girls.”
Of course, there are exceptions, but generally, women are more involved in combat-related scenarios. That made it hard for her to shake off those stereotypes.
However, that didn’t mean she was denying his strength.
After all, he had indirectly shown plenty of evidence of his capabilities.
She was just curious. What would it be like to see him fight?
Of course, she couldn’t just outright ask him to fight, so she left her curiosity as it was. Well, maybe someday she’d have a chance to witness it.
As she listened to Yor’s explanations, they soon reached the surface.
After parting ways with Yor, she headed back to the city.
*
A few days later.
“Yoo-ha! Hello everyone!”
A streamer showed up in front of the Forbidden Forest.
She was clad in impressive armor that looked like she threw money at it.
And behind her, there was a pretty high-level party.
These were the party members she gathered for today.
[Hi hi hi]
[What are you doing today?]
In response to the chatroom asking about her plans for the day, she answered.
“Today? Don’t be surprised!”
She pointed at the forest as she spoke.
“We’re going to raid the Forbidden Forest!”
Her nickname is Kim Mari.
“Let’s do it fair and square with strength!”
She was a streamer part of a high-level ranking team.