Chapter 32: Experiencing the Forbidden Forest

What the hell?

That was Chae-rin's first thought after hearing Yor's question.

Did she hear that right?

For him to suddenly ask about relationships out of nowhere.

Actually, even the word 'relationship' he just used wasn't very clear in meaning.

After all, doesn't the word relationship have many different meanings?

He could simply be asking about forming a friendship, or more broadly about how to get closer to someone.

Given that friendships between Otherworlders and NPCs aren't exactly easy.

Her rotten brain might be thinking of something else, but there's a higher chance it's not what she's thinking.

So to clarify his meaning, Chae-rin asked Yor again.

"Um, when you say relationship, what kind of relationship are you asking about...?"

"Ah, sorry was I too vague? Obviously I mean se-"

"Stop! Stooop!! That's far enough!!!"

Of course, Chae-rin's assumption was correct.

She quickly cut off Yor before he could finish his sentence.

First of all, mentioning such things on her all-ages stream could get her suspended.

Though the chat was already descending into chaos since the first word had already slipped out.

[Ah... he means that?]

[Our young man,,, interested in that stuff,,? lol]

[I could teach you myself if you're curious..haha]

[I'll teach you about 'sex']

[ㄴ You have been banned by a moderator]

[Things are getting wild here lolololol]

Chae-rin felt bewildered.

Honestly, it was just too out of nowhere. There was literally no context. They were just having casual small talk when suddenly the topic veered in this direction.

Chae-rin wanted to at least understand his intentions.

"But why are you suddenly curious about that?"

"You know... that incident from before?"

By 'that incident', he meant when a malicious user came to this forest trying to assault him.

Since it was an awkward topic for both parties, they usually referred to it indirectly as 'that incident'.

According to Yor's explanation, thinking about it now, something seemed strange.

That person was clearly an Otherworlder, while he was a human living here.

Is that kind of thing even possible?

As far as Yor knew, this place was a 'game' to Otherworlders.

And not just any game - one that everyone in the world could play, basically rated for all ages.

So suddenly having 'relationships' in such a game...

He wondered if that was even possible system-wise.

From Yor's perspective, it was a fairly reasonable question. As someone who was a modern person in his past life, he knew about the restrictions that came with 'games'.

But from Chae-rin's view, it was still a random question. The answer was too obvious.

After all, this game has an 18+ mode so of course it's possible...

'...Ah!'

At that thought, Chae-rin realized something.

Come to think of it, she had never told Yor about the '18+ mode' system!

Even though she was Yor's source of information, there was no need to explain such specific details.

Moreover, they were still a man and woman.

And she was a woman with absolutely zero experience with the opposite sex, NPC or otherwise.

That's why she naturally hesitated to bring up such topics first.

Even if she was in a position to provide information.

But when he asks so directly, she can't dodge it anymore.

So Chae-rin had to explain while enduring her embarrassment.

"Um... there's actually a system called '18+ mode'..."

Her face gradually turned red. Maybe from embarrassment, but she felt her face burning up with each explanation.

[Feels like teaching a kid lol]

[Ah lol he didn't know until now lololol]

[Host's face is about to explode..]

[Like that explanation's gonna help?]

[fr lol one practical lesson is worth more than theory, wait I'll come teach you myself]

[ㄴ You have been banned by a moderator.]

Of course, the viewers were just enjoying the show.

For those always seeking dopamine, this was quite an entertaining scene.

Despite the moderator working hard to manage things, occasionally some lewd comments would slip through.

"Anyway, there's nothing really different when having... relationships with people here."

After finishing her explanation, Yor clapped his hands as if understanding.

Then he said:

"Aha, so Otherworlders don't have restrictions even during sex?"

"No, stop mentioning it directly!"

Chae-rin let out a sigh.

Though Yor was marveling "Wow, your world seems so convenient" up front, she ignored it for now.

First she needed to calm her burning face.

What kind of 'man' mentions such things so casually... he really wasn't in the normal category of humans.

Well, at least she got some YouTube content out of it.

Finding the atmosphere awkward, Chae-rin decided to quickly change the subject.

"Ah, let's stop and head out!"

The reason she was doing a collab with Yor after so long was because she had actually prepared some content.

It had been over 9 months since [Demons Saga] opened.

During that time, she had leveled non-stop and was now over level 80.

Of course, as the overall user level increased, being level 80 wasn't considered high-ranking anymore...

Still, she was clearly a high-level user.

So today, to commemorate hitting Lv 80, she planned to hunt monsters in the 'Forbidden Forest'.

For example, getting revenge on the mutated wolf that took her life a few months ago.

That kind of thing.

"You need to watch over me properly. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it."

And Yor's role today was to be her bodyguard.

*

Like most action games.

[Demons Saga] requires a certain level of control.

Actually, to be honest, the difference in control between users was more extreme than any other game.

Being a VR game, you had to actually move your body to fight.

The game demanded many things - courage, reaction speed, body movement, etc. when fighting monsters.

And if your control was good enough, you could handle opponents several levels higher than yourself. Though the opposite was also quite common.

Anyway, that was why Chae-rin had prepared today's content.

To be frank, she wasn't quite at the level to hunt monsters in this forest yet.

Like that Owlbear from before, monsters residing in the Middle Layer started at minimum level 80.

But that wasn't reason enough to avoid it.

As mentioned before, with good enough control you could take down stronger monsters.

This was even better for experience points than farming low-level monsters.

The problem was that doing this had a higher risk of death but...

'Well, that person will protect me well, right...?'

That's why she asked Yor for help today.

The price needed to ask was just three pastries from the city.

For his skill level, it was an absurdly cheap price. Though she had no idea why he was so obsessed with those pastries.

Well... it was a good deal for her so she decided to let it slide.

So Chae-rin turned on her stream again, far from Yor's cave.

[Yoha]

[The waiting room feels familiar now...]

[ihatethisdarknessihatethisdarkness]

Viewers quickly joined as she started streaming. Maybe because they were all in the waiting room, it filled up fast.

After watching the viewer count rise, Chae-rin started walking to find monsters.

Of course, while respecting the territory of nearby monsters.

What she wanted was monsters just one or two levels higher than herself.

She wasn't looking for monsters like the Owlbear.

After walking for a while, she finally encountered a monster.

It was even the mutated wolf she wanted revenge against.

Though the level wasn't quite what she wanted.

"Grrrr...."

[Mutated Wolf Lv 91]

A whopping 91. Compared to the one she met before, it was 9 levels higher.

"Eh?"

She tilted her head.

Even if individuals varied in level, this much difference?

It even looked 1.5 times bigger than the one she met back then.

Seeing it bare its fangs, perhaps viewing Chae-rin as prey.

Her face went pale as memories of the past suddenly came back.

"Ah, this won't work."

That's when Yor, who had been munching on bread behind her, stepped forward.

Seems he quickly recognized the level mismatch.

Yor raised his spear and threw it at the beast.

A clean and powerful throwing spear.

Shunk-!

The spear pierced right between the wolf's eyes.

That fierce giant body took less than 10 seconds to die.

"Wow, I mean..."

Chae-rin was dumbfounded.

Of course she knew he was strong... but to so easily kill a monster she couldn't beat even after dozens of attempts.

It felt a bit empty, and somehow her pride as a 'woman' took a hit too.

Just how much time would she need to become that strong?

As she stood there blankly watching, Yor spoke again.

"Let's go, we should find something more your level."

"Ah, yes..."

She nodded.

Even before starting the hunt, her spirit was already a bit crushed.