NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6
I had never used the “Player’s Eye” until now.
That’s because there had never been any Otherworlders around. No, in fact, I hadn’t seen another person in quite a while.
So up until now, I could only imagine what the “Player’s Eye” skill could do.
What abilities did it have? What happened when I used it? What did it mean to see through the Player’s Eye? No, what even is a Player in the first place?
The only clue I had was the name of the skill, so that’s all I could think about. Fortunately, I had plenty of time to think.
I don’t know who the Player is.
But seeing the name “Player,” they must be those who live in a game-like world. They might even have a status screen similar to mine.
If so, the “Player’s Eye” must be a skill that lets me see the world through their eyes.
I don’t know where those Otherworlders came from, but that was my best guess.
Luckily, my guess was correct. The problem was that there was more to it than that.
[Try asking them to remove the knife from my neck]
[Not possible, the owner is too scary to approach…]
[I’m getting flashbacks to my school days… my hands and feet are shaking…]
What the hell is that? It’s like a ton of people are communicating in a chat.
And surprisingly, I vaguely knew what that was. It was a design I had seen often decades ago.
22 years ago, when I was a modern human, the chat windows of internet streamers looked just like that.
A relic from a distant past I thought I’d never encounter again had appeared right before me.
“Uh, can you please keep your face away… I won’t do anything, so just your face…”
[LOL]
[Asking to remove the face instead of the knife haha, what a crazy person haha]
[I’m Yoo Chaerin, and I have a trait of being terrified when a handsome man is in front of me]
[I’m also more scared of a man than a bloodied knife… yeah]
[What is that, a bounty…?]
[He’s got the vibe of a Fourth Knight Commander, whoa]
[No, it’s not that level;;]
At that moment, a very ominous thought popped into my head.
Wait, if this is really what I think it is, then whether I kill him or keep quiet, it won’t really matter, right?
“…Ah, shit.”
“Eek, I’m sorry!”
I turned pale and took a step back from her.
Maybe it was because I muttered a curse, but she looked frightened. But the one who should really be scared right now was me.
I asked her in a serious tone.
“When did you start seeing me?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, when did you first see me?”
The other person stumbled over her words.
“I think I saw you about 5 minutes ago…”
[Confessing to being a Peeping Tom, dundundun]
[Stop lying, owner, I know you’ve been watching for over 15 minutes]
[Just saying whatever, since the other person won’t know]
[I was watching precisely for 15 minutes and 37 seconds]
[You perv haha, you can’t even say a word now]
[Didn’t know back then that you were a guy, though~]
15 minutes…
I guess it’s pretty much too late now. After 15 minutes, I’ve probably been completely exposed, haven’t I?
At least it’s a relief that she didn’t see the pattern on my collarbone, but the fact that my existence has been discovered itself is a problem.
What should I do now?
My head was a complete mess. My anxiety and tension made it impossible to think straight.
I don’t think I had been exposed to this many stares since the day I got caught.
I was a recluse for 12 years, and now I’m suddenly exposed to so many people?
Oh shit, I’m feeling nauseous, and I quickly said to her.
“…Get lost.”
“Huh?”
“I said get the hell out of this cave!”
“Y-Yes!!”
Immediate banishment.
That was the verdict I handed down to her, who I couldn’t kill or silence.
With those words, she hurriedly fled outside the cave.
*
“Wow… what was that earlier? I was really scared.”
[LOL]
[That urban legend was real dundundun]
[Sorry for ignoring the original poster…]
[Chaerin, you’re way too scared]
[If it were me, I would’ve gotten the number right away]
[Where did that ambition from talking with us go? Haha]
[Of course, it wouldn’t be just an NPC, you should’ve used a wall punch attack]
[Sounds like you’re being wall-punched for real]
[Chaerin, if you’re gonna use your face like that, just give it to me]
After leaving the cave, Chaerin caught her breath and shared her thoughts on what had just happened.
The primary feeling she had was being terrified…
She was the typical type of girl who had never interacted much with “men”.
She had almost no immunity to “men.” She hadn’t really talked to any and never had anyone come close enough to her.
That hadn’t changed even now, as she focused on streaming since she had become somewhat popular.
Having lived her life almost devoid of “men” until now.
And suddenly today, she had a knife pointed at her neck by a male, who even yelled at her!
That was genuinely… a horrifying experience, even considering the other person was an NPC.
Her atmosphere reminded her of those delinquent boys smoking in back alleys, which made it even worse…
[But he really was handsome]
[For real, I wanted to see the rest of his face, but it’s winter, so it’s so sadㅠㅠ]
[You have been blocked by the manager.]
[Manager, stop it! We all wanted to see too!]
[What if he was just a thick lump of fat inside? Haha]
[That’s slander!]
Of course, the next feeling she had was admiration. He truly was quite good-looking.
Even now, with countless beautiful people on the internet, she found herself amazed. To discover such a figure in a remote forest was bound to be influential.
A human with unexpected visuals appeared in an unexpected place.
“Wow… a viewer.”
Thanks to that, her viewership had increased significantly. Even after leaving the cave, there were still about 3,400 people watching.
She hurriedly checked how many viewers had tuned in when she had faced that individual in the cave.
“Whoa, 6,500 viewers!”
She wasn’t exactly popular, but for her, that was a massive number.
On a normal day, she struggled to reach even 1,000, so this was extraordinarily unusual.
[But why did you just let it happen?]
[For real, haha Chaerin, you should’ve pulled out a weapon and said, “Hey, let’s talk!”]
[Because the owner has no gear at the moment. Besides, even if she pulled one out, would she even win?]
[How tough could a guy really be, haha]
After that, the chatroom continued to buzz about men for quite a while.
“Alright, everyone, let’s stop chatting and continue the exploration.”
Concerned about the ongoing situation, Chaerin decided to steer the atmosphere back to the broadcast.
There was still a long way to go before reaching the heart of the forest. The content to be discovered still overflowed within this area.
By the time she looked around, the entire forest was bathed in a red glow. The sunset lay above them.
The crimson-tinged forest created a somewhat surreal ambiance. Yoo Chaerin admired the view with her audience for a moment, then ventured deeper into the forest.
*
When someone gets caught in a sudden current, they are bound to panic. I was one of those people caught in such a current.
After sending her away, I needed some time to calm my thoughts.
In an instant, my existence had been exposed to many people, rendering my 12 years of hiding meaningless.
And this was undoubtedly a huge deal. It was comparable to the confrontation I had years ago with that bastard from the army.
In other words, I’m in deep trouble.
“What should I do now?”
Therefore, I had no choice but to think for a while.
Was sending her away the best option? Honestly, it wasn’t. It was a hasty decision made in a confusing situation—I couldn’t expect a callous choice like that to be the best.
But even now, I couldn’t find a clear solution.
Should I change my living place? That’s a decent idea.
Even if I had been discovered, making it to the heart of the forest would be sufficiently arduous. The downside is that the place I’d be living in wouldn’t be safe either, but I’d manage to survive.
Yet, there was no immediate reason to execute this either. I couldn’t rush to act.
Most importantly, there was a lot of valuable resources stored in this cave.
To be honest, I didn’t want to give up this comfortable lifestyle…
Afterward, I continued to mull over various thoughts.
Would pursuers come? Would the Empire get involved, or would nothing happen at all?
But none of those thoughts produced any clear answers.
“Ugh…”
After a long deliberation, the conclusion I reached was this.
Let’s just stay put. If something goes down, then I can move then; it wouldn’t be too late.
Besides, the time for frenzy mode was about to draw near, and I didn’t want to waste my energy.
“Though, he really was handsome…”
After an episode of contemplation, what came to me next was a simple admiration.
Apart from the low-life losers in the back alleys, I had met an ordinary person after such a long time.
And honestly, they looked infinitely better than those dirty low-lifes from back alleys.
When encountering such a normal person, I sometimes wonder.
“If I had lived normally, wouldn’t I have been able to converse more easily?”
Just living normally like a medieval person, meeting ordinary friends.
Joking around, chatting casually, and eventually connecting with someone.
Of course, those are meaningless speculations. Being isolated from civilization has severely limited my interactions with others.
Continuing to indulge in such thoughts would only lead to sadness.
As I sat in silence for a while, night gradually approached.
The cave, dim as it was, was further cloaked in darkness, with the only flickering campfire driving away the gloom.
It was quite eerie, but having lived here for so long, I had somehow adapted to it.
“I should eat and sleep.”
With that thought, I started to prepare dinner when suddenly—
“Excuse me!! Is the man from earlier still there?”
A voice suddenly echoed outside the cave.
It was that woman’s voice from before. Startled, I hurriedly grabbed my spear and stepped out of the cave.
“What is it?”
Outside the cave, the woman stood around awkwardly.
“Ah, hello… Hehe.”
I decided to be cautious first.
“I clearly told you to get lost. Why are you back?”
“Oh, it’s just that…”
I pointed my spear at her, deepening my tone.
She shrank back a bit but didn’t run away.
Seeing her, it looked like she had something to say.
After an awkward silence, she eventually mustered the courage to speak.
“P-Please!”
She suddenly dropped to her knees as if begging! It looked quite desperate.
“Just for one night! Please let me stay for just one night! I promise I won’t do anything and will just stay still!”
“…What?”
“Eek! The outside is too scary! I can’t see anything because it’s so dark!”
“……”
Her appearance was quite a sight to see.
I was momentarily at a loss for words.