Chapter 41
Actually, Chae-rin had been quite busy lately.
To produce higher quality streams, she'd been focusing more on leveling up than streaming.
To be honest, she was still pretty shocked from her duel with that Rabbit the other time.
Being level 80 meant she was in the top 4% of users.
Using the old OLO game comparison, that's roughly equivalent to high Diamond tier.
Among regular players, that was considered top tier.
Of course, she still fell short of rankers who poured in their time, talent, and money.
And yet... she couldn't even properly beat a single Rabbit.
Sure, Yor had praised her saying even that was amazing, but coming from someone who could one-shot mutant wolves, it felt more like teabagging than praise.
So she'd been dedicating herself to leveling up lately, even putting aside stream entertainment.
She at least wanted to be able to crush a Rabbit.
Thankfully, her dedicated time investment seemed to be paying off with some progress.
...But she never expected to see something like this online.
"...What's this?"
She muttered while leaning closer to her monitor.
Of course, it was probably just her imagination. The NPC in the photo was thickly wrapped in a hood, concealing most of their body's outline.
Moreover, according to users who were at the scene, the person had brown hair and blue eyes, though they said the face wasn't clearly visible.
In other words, there wasn't a single thing in common with the Yor she knew.
Why would someone who lives in the forest even come to the city in the first place?
Though she didn't know his exact circumstances, from her frequent visits to Yor, she had a general sense. That he was reluctant to leave the forest.
So the chances were high that the person in the photo wasn't Yor...
But her intuition kept nagging at her. Something about that photo just didn't sit right with her.
No, if we assume it was him coming out, why change his hair and eye color?
And if someone changed it for him, who did it?
"Hmm..."
Her thoughts only grew deeper because of this.
*
A few days later.
'Well, there's no harm in checking...'
She ended up going hunting with her editor after quite a while.
The reason she met with Ha-neul instead of Yor was because Chae-rin had her suspicions.
Though they met in real life too, she and Ha-neul actually met more often in-game.
Leveling up was easier together, and honestly there wasn't much difference between here and reality.
Of course, today's party wasn't just about making hunting more convenient.
'Come to think of it...'
Her editor had recently learned a new skill.
She even used it occasionally in combat. From what she'd explained, it was magic that confused opponents by deceiving their eyes.
The skill was called 'Illusion' or something.
She was good at using that skill to create illusory walls in front of monsters or create illusions to confuse them.
Though her support made monster hunting easier, it still raised questions.
'Why learn that skill?'
There must have been other magic she could have invested in instead. And honestly, that would've been more efficient.
Though Ha-neul utilized the 'Illusion' magic well, something with actual substance would've been better.
And the timing was suspiciously convenient too. So Chae-rin casually asked her.
"Hey unnie."
"Yeah?"
"You know Yor, right?"
"...Of course I do. He's our YouTube channel's MVP."
Ha-neul showed no particular reaction up to this point. Well, this was still just normal everyday conversation. Actually, it would've been weirder if she got flustered here.
The next logical question should have been 'Have you ever met Yor?'
Conversations naturally flow in context, and context has its proper order.
But this time Chae-rin planned to skip that context.
Being direct would more likely shake Ha-neul's composure.
So she asked her editor.
"Have you been to the city with Yor recently?"
"......"
And Chae-rin's prediction hit the mark. Ha-neul's pupils trembled noticeably for a moment. After the sudden question, Ha-neul remained silent for a while.
Even her eventual response contained a slip-up.
"What are you talking about? He's an NPC who can't even leave. How could he go to the city?"
"...I don't remember anyone saying he couldn't leave."
And Chae-rin pounced on that mistake like a ghost.
She was glad her editor was so bad at lying.
It only made her intuition scream louder.
Come to think of it, her wand had changed recently too.
It used to be a simple wand made of old wood, but now it had a huge orb embedded in the center.
The embedded orb even looked quite expensive.
Though she wasn't sure exactly whose orb it was, the amount of magical power inside was no joke.
It was definitely not something obtainable with her level and resources.
"By the way, when did you change that wand? I've never seen an orb like that in the market."
So Chae-rin continued her questioning. Each time, Ha-neul grew more flustered and avoided eye contact.
Her inability to properly answer questions and constant hesitation was the typical behavior of someone with something to hide.
Ha-neul's lack of social skills meant she couldn't handle such sudden situations well and just kept panicking.
After enduring the constant interrogation, Ha-neul thought.
'Fine, I'll just tell her.'
There was no reason to hide it anyway, right? She just met an NPC a few times and happened to go to the city with him once.
Sure, several things happened while they were there... but it's not like she was dating Yor or had done anything lewd with him.
So she lightly told Chae-rin the truth.
About visiting out of curiosity recently, and how that somehow led to going to the city.
Of course, she completely omitted any information about the 'Demon's Mark' while explaining. No matter what, she couldn't tell others about that.
Though she was just relaying events, she strangely felt guilty.
After hearing everything, Chae-rin first expressed her displeasure.
"Unnie, how could you...!"
She felt somewhat betrayed. Her closest confidant had secretly become acquainted with the man she was close to.
It felt like she'd become some tragic character in a drama... it just felt wrong.
But that didn't last long.
'...Huh?'
As she was about to get angry, she noticed a contradiction in her own feelings.
...Wait, was this even something she had the right to be angry about?
Sure, Chae-rin met with Yor most frequently, but they weren't dating or anything. They were just acquaintances.
And her editor was free to enjoy the game however she wanted, right?
Ha-neul was just using her free time as she pleased.
While hiding that they'd met was a bit disappointing, there wasn't really any justification for her anger.
Of course, it would be different if this was reality. Feelings would be a serious matter then.
But this was inside a game. And Yor wasn't a real person, just an NPC who lived here.
It felt silly to make a fuss over a virtual character.
Because of this, Chae-rin could only stare at Ha-neul without saying anything else.
There wasn't much else to say, and she was confused by her own emotions.
'Why am I getting so angry?'
No way, could I...?
No, even so, that's just...
She didn't want to become one of those 'real ones' who developed genuine feelings for virtual characters.
"Still... next time something like this happens, let me know too okay?"
"Ah, yeah... sorry."
After all that contemplation, that mild admonishment was all she could manage.
Afterwards they continued hunting briefly before parting ways.
The meetup had been arranged just for questioning anyway, and she was aware enough to know her mood was off.
Various thoughts swirled in her head. It was surprising that Yor was really that hooded NPC, and amazing that he was strong enough to cut off Seere's left arm.
But what shocked her most was that Ha-neul and Yor had gone on a city date together.
In the end, Chae-rin logged off without properly sorting out her feelings.
Still, one thing had changed in her mind.
'I should meet him more often from now on.'
She hadn't been able to visit the forest much lately, so she decided to go play there more frequently.
This absolutely wasn't because she'd developed new feelings for an NPC due to recent events. Really.
Whatever the case, it was the kind of thought that would probably annoy Yor if he heard it.