Chapter 56
[Demons Saga] had been open for 13 months now.
During that time, users had leveled up quite a bit.
This was something I could personally feel.
Just looking at how many more people were coming into this forest.
Sure, most of them died, but at least they thought they could challenge it before coming in.
That was proof of how much levels had risen.
Well, I expected them to improve quickly since they keep respawning.
But still.
'To think she'd hit 100 already.'
It's not like I particularly looked down on her.
For one, from what I could see, Chae-rin seemed quite talented.
Her boldness in combat and decision-making were sometimes surprising.
I was just amazed that someone close to me had already hit level 100.
Though come to think of it, her level was already over 80 when we hunted that mutant rabbit.
More than 4 months had passed since then, so reaching level 100 was definitely doable.
Looking at it this way, it might even be a bit slow.
'But what does level 100 mean in terms of strength?'
Curious, I asked her.
"Hmm, roughly top tier among B-class adventurers I'd say."
That was her answer. B-class adventurer.
A notch below A-class, but definitely not a rank to be taken lightly.
They were among the upper ranks of those who made fighting their profession.
The Otherworlders had now reached the level of strong ones even by this world's standards.
Of course, they'd be no match for monsters like S-class adventurers or Knights' Order commanders...
But it was impressive nonetheless.
Thinking about that made me curious about something else.
"By the way, what level is the top Otherworlder now?"
"Ah, the rank 1? Let's see... around 118 I think. They reached A-class quite a while ago."
"...Hmm."
I let out a thoughtful sound.
It was definitely high.
Reaching A-class adventurer in just a year since Otherworlders appeared - that's incredibly fast growth.
But how should I put it... it felt like they'd hit some kind of brake.
Just 4 months ago, Chae-rin told me the rank 1's level was 103.
But in over 4 months since then, they only gained 15 levels.
And it's not like they were slacking off either.
Someone who could reach rank 1 must have poured in both money and time, yet that's all they could manage.
She must have noticed my doubts. Before I could ask, she provided the answer.
"Apparently, growth becomes noticeably slower around level 95. That's why it took me forever from there too."
Well, leveling getting harder as you go up is common sense in games.
But this isn't like Ma*le where you can endlessly farm monsters.
This isn't just clicking - users have to move themselves.
If their personal skill can't keep up, they can't match the physicals of rampaging monsters.
Then they fall behind.
A wall naturally forms.
Nothing they can do about it. From here on, it takes talent or effort to break through.
Plus, apparently still not a single Otherworlder can use 'Sword Energy'.
Seems you can't just learn skills even with skill points.
'Phew, that's a relief.'
After hearing all that, I let out a small sigh of relief internally.
I was worried these Otherworlders might grow so fast they'd come for my neck next.
Fortunately, it seemed that would still take some time.
I'd been wondering lately 'Am I actually just a weakling...?'
I mean, I know I'm strong, but after running into demons back to back recently.
I couldn't help but worry a bit.
Anyway, after hearing all that.
I gave her a small congratulations.
"Well congrats on level 100. Honestly I don't really know much about Otherworlder levels... but that must be pretty high right?"
So that's probably why she came to brag to me.
Probably wanted some praise or something, that's why she came all the way here.
She often visits for trivial reasons like this after all.
I figured I'd just give her some quick praise, chat a bit, and she'd be on her way.
That's what I thought.
But it seems she had another reason for visiting today.
She's looking at me hesitantly.
Her expression suggested she had something more to say.
I tilted my head and asked.
"What?"
"Well, I have a favor to ask..."
*
[Yooha]
[Yoha~]
[They're together again today www]
[Chae-rin I hate you, my world crumbles whenever I see you]
The chat window scrolls rapidly before my eyes.
The red recording light was blinking in front of me.
Yor thought it had been a while since he'd appeared on her stream.
[Hey Yor, did you know? This girl went out playing with another guy instead of staying with you]
[fr]
[His name was Yohan and he had a nice voice lol]
[fr]
[How dare she take a break from streaming to secretly travel with a guy?]
[It's all been caught on Kim Ma-ri's stream already~]
[fr]
[Sigh, someone needs to tell oppa about this...]
[fr]
Her viewers were already trying to stir things up as soon as the stream started.
Though I could see it all, I ignored it like usual.
At least fortunately, it didn't seem like my little adventure from back then had been discovered.
[But ngl I'd want to try dating her if I could lol]
... I deliberately cleared such comments from my mind when I saw them.
"Hey, all of you be quiet. Want to get banned?"
Thankfully, Chae-rin stepped in somewhat forcefully to extinguish such sudden flames.
Usually, controlling chat this aggressively while streaming isn't great for viewer sentiment.
But Chae-rin wasn't too worried.
The content she was about to show would pacify the viewers' minds.
Currently, they were standing face to face in a wide clearing in the forest.
Their positioning made it look like they were about to fight.
Indeed, they each held daggers in their hands.
Yor twirled the dagger in his hand as he asked her.
"So, you want to spar with me...?"
[wow]
[That's a roundabout way of saying you want to die]
When I first heard it, I wondered what she meant. What a bold statement.
No matter that she hit level 100, isn't the skill gap obvious?
Of course, she hadn't challenged him seriously expecting to win.
Rather, it was closer to wanting to receive guidance.
She hesitantly opened her mouth.
"Yeah, I've been hitting a wall lately actually."
Of course her level was still going up.
But honestly speaking, she hadn't gained those levels fair and square.
Rather than fighting monsters at her level, she'd been hunting multiple weaker monsters to level up.
The difference between level 80-90 monsters and level 100 monsters was just too big...
Even with her talent, dealing with monsters at her own level was becoming overwhelming.
And in a skill-based game like [Demons Saga], that was a huge problem.
It meant she might hit her limit someday.
The high-ranked players who came before had already proven this.
Those who rushed ahead by farming weaker monsters eventually got weeded out naturally over time.
Chae-rin thought her future might not be much different from theirs.
That's why she asked Yor to spar.
As far as she knew, there wasn't anyone stronger than him.
Though his main weapon was a spear, the fact he could use daggers helped too.
Surely he could give her specific guidance.
Of course, she agreed to pay him back later. About 3 pizza breads worth.
"Shall we start...?"
After briefly explaining the content to her viewers, Chae-rin gripped her dagger in reverse.
In the distance, Yor could be seen calmly nodding.
She immediately rushed at him.
...... And to cut to the conclusion.
She got absolutely destroyed.
Without landing a single effective hit.
He was being considerate and only attacked once after 5 minutes, but that one hit was enough to make Chae-rin retire.
The skill gap was just that overwhelming.
How was this even possible... was he even human?
Well, calling the 'Demon's Blood' human might be a bit questionable.
"Haa, haa, so... do you see anything I need to fix...?"
Chae-rin asked while catching her breath.
His answer was shocking.
"... Well."
"?"
"Don't know. How would I know from just one look?"
He'd never properly learned combat in the first place.
It's not like he learned swordsmanship from knights or got knowledge passed down from nearby adventurers.
He just swung however felt right and ended up like this.
... Still, though he never formally learned combat.
He knew the fastest way to improve.
It was real combat experience.
Keep clashing and you'll figure it out naturally. Well. That's how he survived.
"Enough rest, come at me again. No wait. Should I attack this time?"
"...Pardon?"
Chae-rin asked back with a bewildered face.
And so began her hell.