Chapter 18: Don't Touch Those Ones

It happened just a few days ago.

According to her, quite an incident occurred in some remote village.

A young killer called a Demonkin appeared and slaughtered quite a few villagers.

Though the Knights came and resolved the situation, there were ominous predictions that it could lead to a demon's manifestation.

Because of that, it's currently a hot topic among Otherworlders.

With terms like Demonkin, demons, and Demon's Blood, lots of information came out. Plus, the video itself was quite shocking.

Thanks to that, Otherworlders are having heated discussions in the community about this new content... or so Yoo Chae-rin told me.

After hearing her story, my expression couldn't help but turn a bit serious.

In a way, this was related to me too.

'A Demonkin, huh.'

If it's that topic, I know it well.

A Demonkin is what's created when a human sells their soul to a demon.

It often happens to Manifestors who have Demon's Blood.

In special cases, even normal people without Demon's Blood can transform sometimes.

From my perspective, having lived in the City until age 10, a Demonkin's appearance was quite a serious incident.

Because the moment someone sells their soul to a demon, the chances of a demon manifesting increase. Additionally, the souls of those killed by a Demonkin could be used as offerings.

That's why from the nations' standpoint, this was a topic that couldn't help but be taken seriously.

And this time, the one who transformed into a Demonkin was, like me, someone with Demon's Blood.

I said a prayer for their soul.

'Poor thing...'

It was a truly rare case.

If we're talking frequency, maybe once every few decades.

When a Demon's Blood carrier who's escaped the nations' notice transforms into a Demonkin.

True to the medieval era, the identification system here was quite sloppy.

Unlike modern times, there were no ID cards, and no statistical office doing direct household surveys.

Sure, you need some kind of identification to enter big cities... but that's about it.

It's too much work to investigate every remote village.

Because of that, gaps like this could naturally appear.

When by chance a blood Manifestor appears in a remote village, and it gets hidden when they turn 10.

Or when security is lax and they fail to execute the Manifestor who escapes.

I belonged to the latter category, of course.

Though in my case, I was a bit different since I escaped from an Imperial City rather than a remote village.

Anyway.

Thanks to her, I was able to get quite important information. Beyond just the Demonkin's appearance, I realized that Otherworlders had only just learned about "Demon's Blood".

"Thanks. You've helped me learn about a major incident."

Of course, I still don't know how Otherworlders will react to "Demon's Blood".

I knew their reaction wasn't great since the video was shocking, but that's all.

I still couldn't tell what they actually thought about it.

Of course, I couldn't just ask directly either.

The question itself might give her hints.

'Still...'

At least there was some sympathy, from what I heard. I decided to be satisfied with that.

At minimum, it was better than the people here who try to kill us on sight.

After that, I heard many more stories from her.

As expected of a streamer, she was quite skilled at storytelling.

As we talked for a while, the sun set before we knew it.

"Oh."

"Ah."

She looked outside and gave a bitter smile, seeming troubled.

Probably because she'd missed her timing to return.

As I'd seen before, she was afraid of this forest's darkness.

"The sun sets so fast..."

She muttered pitifully while looking at the dark outside.

Since she'd originally come around 4 PM, it was natural for the sun to disappear quickly.

Though winter had ended, the days were still short in early spring.

She carefully opened her mouth while looking at me.

"Um, could I possibly..."

"No."

I refused immediately. It was obvious she was going to ask to stay over.

Last time, I'd allowed her to sleep over since I was curious about Otherworlders too.

But this time I'd already squeezed all the useful information out of our earlier conversation, hadn't I?

No need to let her stay. And honestly speaking, I feel uneasy having someone else around when I sleep.

However, unfortunately, my assumption was wrong this time.

"Ah, no! As if I'd ask to stay over at a man's place alone again!"

She continued with a grin.

"Would you like to watch me log out?"

*

The way to log out of [Demons Saga] is fucking simple.

You just turn off the game. Then users' consciousness naturally returns to reality.

Obviously the game company won't prevent logging out when users have real lives.

However, they did implement one unique system.

That would be the fatigue system.

This fatigue drains even when users are logged out. The character's fatigue accumulates as if they really had two bodies.

What happens if you log in when fatigue is maxed out?

You'll feel like you woke up after 3 hours of sleep while blackout drunk.

In other words, you'll feel like death.

So fatigue management is essential for users.

Fortunately, managing it is simple. Either choose to sleep in-game instead of reality.

Or drink a fatigue potion from the shop before logging out.

Drinking a fatigue potion makes the body here naturally fall asleep too, they say.

This time Chae-rin chose the latter option.

Gulp gulp.

Her throat moved as she downed a bottle that looked like an energy drink in one shot.

Then she said to Yor.

"See you tomorrow!"

Pop-!

And with that she vanished. Like teleportation. Her body disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Seeing that, Yor let out a small laugh.

"...Heh."

Well, of course he'd figured there must be logging out, but.

Actually seeing it happen right before his eyes was still fascinating. At times like this he'd freshly realize it. This really was just a game to them... that sort of thing.

At times like these he really wondered if this was reality or virtual.

Maybe even his own hard-fought life was fake...

'Well... that can't be.'

Of course, since that wasn't good for mental health, he didn't think too deeply about it.

Yor watched the spot where she'd vanished for a moment... then went to sleep in his cave.

...Meanwhile, Chae-rin didn't go straight to sleep after returning to reality.

She still had a few things to do in real life.

Shhhk-

The capsule opened and Chae-rin got up. Hazy consciousness and stiff sensations greeted her.

Though the game itself was fun, she still hadn't gotten used to these sensations when returning to reality.

"Ughhhh..."

She stretched lightly then immediately grabbed her phone.

She had to deliver the good news to her editor.

[Chae-rin: Unnie!]

[Chae-rin: I got approved for YouTube!]

[Black Cat: Good for you]

[Black Cat: Now I just need to edit, right?]

Of course, her editor was cool as ever.

After that, Chae-rin browsed the internet a bit before falling asleep.

*

After time passed, the next morning.

As soon as she woke up, Chae-rin immediately entered the capsule and logged into the game.

Pop-!

"I'm here!"

She entered and gave a light greeting.

Yor was already lingering near her as if he'd been waiting.

After confirming her return, Yor spoke to her:

"Let's go, I'll escort you to the entrance."

Hearing that, Chae-rin couldn't help but be a bit surprised.

She'd been planning to head back, but she hadn't expected him to offer an escort.

Getting an escort from a "man"... it felt somewhat strange.

Puzzled by this unusual kindness, she asked Yor.

"You'll escort me? What's this about suddenly?"

"You'll be coming here again anyway. So you should at least know what's dangerous."

He said there were rules that needed to be followed in this forest.

If you wander around without knowing them, you might run into trouble.

At the same time, she got a warning not to spread information elsewhere.

Since those things help protect his home too. If strategy guides got spread around and lots of people started coming, it would be troublesome for him.

Hearing that, Chae-rin felt a slight joy.

After all, explaining this meant he at least thought of her as a guest.

So Chae-rin listened to Yor's explanation.

It was about the territories of monsters living in this forest.

"See those claw marks on that tree? That's usually Owlbear territory so be careful, and see that dirt mound over there? That's Mutated Wild Boar territory. And though you can't see it now, sometimes there are red cloths hanging on trees? That means there's a Goblin village nearby so try to avoid those..."

As expected of a high-level zone, dangers lurked everywhere.

To think those traces she'd passed by without thinking were mostly monster territories.

On the other hand, her curiosity about him grew too.

Just how long had he been here to know all these little details?

Unable to hold back, she asked Yor.

"Do you also have to be careful of all those things, Yor?"

"Me? Well, sometimes I avoid them, sometimes I just pass through..."

He answered casually. Chae-rin could sense his composure and confidence there.

She thought to herself.

'Just what level is he...?'

At least from when he threw that item before, it was clear he was strong.

Just living in this forest in the first place wasn't normal either.

But even that was just speculation, she'd never actually seen his abilities firsthand.

Originally, most "men" were naturally weaker than "women".

Though there were occasional exceptions, combat-related things generally favored females more. Because of that, it was hard to shake off preconceptions.

Of course, she wasn't denying his strength.

There had been too many indirect demonstrations of it for that.

She was just curious. What would he look like when fighting?

Of course, she couldn't just ask him to fight directly, so Chae-rin just kept her curiosity to herself. Well, someday she'd probably get to see it.

As she listened to Yor's explanations, she eventually reached the surface layer.

After that, she parted ways with Yor and returned to the city.

*

Several days later.

"Yooha! Hello everyone!"

A streamer came to the Forbidden Forest.

One woman wearing luxurious plate armor that looked expensive.

And behind her was what appeared to be a high-level party.

Her party members that she'd gathered for today.

[hi hi]

[what u gonna do today?]

Answering the chat asking what she'd do today, she replied.

"What we're doing today. Don't be surprised!"

She pointed at the forest and declared.

"We're going to conquer the Forbidden Forest!"

Her username was Kim Ma-ri.

"With pure strength, fair and square!"

She was a streamer belonging to a high-level ranker team.