Chapter 105
In \[Demons Saga\], the United States currently held the number one ranking.
But the country with the highest average level was none other than Korea.
Sadly, it was not for any patriotic reason like Korean Players having superior average intelligence, or because Koreans were simply the nation of gaming.
The reason was incredibly simple.
The Korean server had started in a geographically favorable location.
They were one of the few countries that began in the Empire, a place with excellent surrounding infrastructure. Thanks to that, they had gained many advantages and were able to push ahead overall.
Of course, that did not mean other regions were falling terribly far behind. But it was undeniable that Korea had an advantage.
That was how Haneul lightly explained it.
After hearing that, Yor gave a small nod.
‘No wonder… I haven’t seen any other races.’
He had wondered why he only ever saw people of similar ethnicity, and it turned out that each country had its own starting region.
Apparently, the distances were so great that there was not much exchange between them either. From the Otherworlders’ perspective, they were already busy leveling up. Naturally, they would hesitate to spend weeks or months traveling to another country.
Considering the round-trip cost and all the variables they might encounter along the way… one wrong move and they could end up isolated like Earth Defense Headquarters.
“The place we’re heading to this time is technically another country’s territory too… but we probably won’t run into anyone. I heard the place we’re going is right next to a forbidden zone, so there are barely any people there.”
If one went just a little farther south from the Cracked Plains, the ground itself began to burn.
Because of the heat, hardly anyone lived there.
Being with Otherworlders really was useful for gathering this kind of information.
With a slightly apologetic expression, Yor said to her,
“Thanks. Two weeks must be pretty long for you guys too… I didn’t know it would take that long.”
“It’s fine. We’re taking an escort quest anyway, so it’s not a big loss. And…”
Traveling together.
Wasn’t that actually a good thing for her?
Haneul forced herself to swallow the rest of her words.
Even if they were going because of a demon, she would be traveling with a “man” for several weeks.
Even for someone as conservative as her, this was something she could not resist.
Even if it was just a game, Haneul had no intention of letting an opportunity like this slip by.
“Phew, why is finding a merchant caravan headed south this hard… Still, who am I? With my incredible negotiating skills, I managed to get us one!”
After they had been chatting for a while, Chae-rin came over with a confident smile.
Yor knew nothing about merchant caravans, and Haneul was not sociable, so Chae-rin had been the one searching for a caravan.
With that, they headed to the place where the caravan was waiting.
As soon as they arrived, the caravan master looked them over with a slightly suspicious gaze and asked,
“Hm… are these your companions?”
“Yes. Don’t worry. They’re all definitely skilled.”
He already knew their skill level. After all, he had confirmed that they carried B-rank adventurer badges.
He was only checking one more time because the place they were headed was dangerous.
Then, suddenly, the caravan master’s gaze landed on Yor.
After a brief silence, he cleared his throat and said,
“…Ahem. Then please board the carriage.”
It was an acceptance that felt like it had some ulterior motive mixed in.
-
As was usually the case with rough work, most people in those jobs were “women.”
After all, that kind of work generally required strength and courage, and it was “common sense” that the average physical ability of “women” was higher.
Naturally, merchant work was also a profession where many such women gathered.
They had to constantly travel far away to sell goods, and they also had to worry about monsters and bandits they might encounter along the way.
It was not something one could do without a fair amount of nerve.
Because of that, seeing the opposite sex was not easy in this line of work. In that sense, it was only natural that attention gathered on Yor.
“This is kind of… uncomfortable.”
They were currently riding in the third carriage out of a total of five.
That much was not a problem.
Perhaps because it was a carriage meant to travel for two weeks, the ride was comfortable, and there were not many other people riding with them.
The problem appeared when they camped at night.
Even on a trading journey, people had to sleep. So at night, they usually had no choice but to set up tents in a suitable location and rest.
And that was when people occasionally started hitting on him.
“Is there anything you need?”
“Ah, no. I’m fine.”
“Hm… if you need anything, just say the word. I’ll give you whatever you need.”
It started with simple kindness from the merchants.
Then came the vulgar advances from the other adventurers.
“Oppa, wanna come play in our tent?”
“Yeah, hehe. We’ll make it fun for you.”
“We could even send you straight to heaven.”
“Hey, you crazy bitch! Kekeke…”
Since it was a mission that took them far away, there were no other Otherworlders, but there were a few other adventurer parties.
“I should’ve just brought my hood.”
To be honest, he had enjoyed it for a few days.
For someone who was always in the forest, receiving these safe advances was a rare experience.
Whenever he met people, he usually had to worry about killing them to silence them.
This time, he had been able to satisfy his shady male ego a little by basking in other people’s gazes.
But that was only fun for a day or two.
Once it went on for several days, approaching a week, his stress gradually started to build.
Since he had not responded in any particular way, the adventurers’ advances were also becoming more aggressive.
Some claimed that they had sent dozens of men to heaven in brothels, so they could definitely send him there too.
Some even began attempting physical contact.
They acted like that even with Chae-rin and Haneul right beside him.
As expected of adventurers who chased nothing but money without any proper foundation.
Not a single shred of manners could be found in them.
“Um… should I cast an illusion on you?”
“No. They’d know anyway.”
Of course, Yor’s companions did not like the situation either.
That was especially true for Im Haneul.
She would deny it, but deep down, she had been expecting something like that to happen.
‘Even if nothing else, we’ll be together for over two weeks.’
Of course, they used separate tents.
But still, as long as they had time, something could happen between a man and a woman.
However, nothing happened.
From her perspective, it could not help but feel disappointing.
She considered trying to approach him first, but unfortunately, she had no experience with this kind of thing and lacked the courage.
Instead, she was able to sense something else. Something subtle.
For example… the strange atmosphere flowing between Yor and Chae-rin.
There was a saying that even a dog could recite poetry after three years at a village school.
She was not a dog, and three years had not passed, but at the very least, she was smarter than a dog. She had enough sense to notice the mood.
Of course, they did not look like they were dating.
It was just that their physical distance seemed to have decreased somehow.
For example, lightly placing a hand on the other’s shoulder, or poking someone’s cheek.
They were nothing major, but they were noticeable little instances of physical contact. Chae-rin did not seem particularly bothered by those touches either.
They were minor things, but once noticed, they kept catching the eye.
From Haneul’s perspective, there was no way she could ignore them.
‘Did something really happen between those two…?’
Of course, she only thought that to herself and could not bring herself to say it out loud.
In any case, time passed like that.
Just as Yor was on the verge of overreacting to the provocation coming from every direction, monsters attacked the caravan.
Monsters that looked like hyenas.
In other words, a pack of gnolls.
And there were dozens of them.
According to common knowledge, gnolls were extremely cunning creatures.
Scouting was basic for them, and unless they believed they had some chance of victory, they would never step forward.
The fact that such creatures attacked meant they had judged the caravan to be prey they could swallow whole.
“Damn it… of all things, it had to be those bastards.”
“Everyone, form up with your own parties first!”
The merchants and adventurers seemed to know that as well, because their expressions stiffened for a moment.
In that situation, Yor quietly stepped forward.
His stress had already been building lately, so this was perfect.
“What are you doing? Get back somewhere safe!”
“You lot should be the ones getting out of my way.”
With that, he stepped into the middle of the gnoll pack.
“Krrriririk!”
“Kieeeeeek!!!”
It did not take long for the dozens of gnolls to become nothing more than a mess of blood.
Standing at the center of the piled monster corpses and the nauseating stench of blood, Yor spoke with a refreshed expression.
“Haa, now I finally feel less irritated. I was seriously about to blow everything up because of certain people.”
The adventurers continued staring at him with frozen expressions.
They felt cold sweat running down their backs.
-
And so, the long two-week journey came to an end.
Thankfully, after he dealt with the pack of gnolls, no one hit on him anymore.
They had witnessed firsthand that messing with him could get them seriously fucked.
‘I should’ve done that earlier.’
I thought that with a hint of regret.
Well, the early part had felt good, so I decided to let it slide.
At the moment, we were settled in a territory slightly removed from the southwest.
The place where Andras had emerged was farther ahead, but for now, this was the caravan’s destination.
“Then we’ll part ways here. Thank you for driving off the gnoll pack.”
“Don’t mention it.”
After parting from the caravan, we thought for a moment.
“So what should we do now…?”
“If we want to meet that demon bastard, we’ll probably have to go farther in, but I heard that place is an empty plain… so this is kind of awkward.”
“Let’s find an inn and rest for today. We can just log out, but Yor, you’ve been sleeping in a carriage for two weeks, so you probably haven’t recovered properly. And let’s eat too.”
I nodded at Chae-rin’s words.
Then we found a nearby restaurant and entered.
“Welcome!”
The inside of the restaurant was fairly quiet.
As expected of a small territory, there did not seem to be many people.
For a moment, I worried about how the food would taste, but fewer people was a good thing for me.
Recently, I had once again realized that attracting too much attention could make life uncomfortable.
Resolving to definitely bring my hood next time, I ate the food the server brought over.
Thankfully, it was edible.
“We’re going to look for an inn now… shall we go together?”
“No. This time, I’ll move separately. I want to look around the town a little.”
“Hm… okay.”
After finishing the meal, I temporarily split up from my companions.
Just as I said, I wanted to look around the town.
This was the first time I could walk confidently through the streets after receiving my identification badge.
Though the town was not part of the Empire, the act of walking proudly through the streets for the first time could not help but feel moving.
As I walked around, I observed various people.
There were some who glanced toward me, and others whose faces were full of anxiety because of the recently appeared demon.
Since this place was close to where the demon had descended, it seemed information related to Andras had spread here.
‘Looks like the Knight Order hasn’t arrived yet.’
Well, unlike me, they probably had a lot to prepare beyond grabbing a few pieces of equipment.
I continued strolling through the streets, immersed in those feelings.
Then—
“…?”
Suddenly, my senses picked up something strange.
Among the people passing each other by, someone was quietly following my steps.
At first, I thought it might just be my imagination, but when they kept following me even after I turned a corner, I knew it was not.
If it were Chae-rin or Haneul, I would have called out to them long ago.
In other words, someone was tailing me.
‘Haa… this damn popularity of mine.’
The first thing I thought of was something along those lines.
This was a territory with barely any people, so some people must have appeared wanting to try their luck with me.
It felt like bragging, but honestly, with my brain, that was all I could think of.
Right now, my collarbone area was covered, so there was no chance they had noticed I was a Manifestor.
On top of that, I had experienced blatant advances several times over the past two weeks.
Naturally, my thoughts could only go in that direction.
‘Fine. I’ll play along.’
Of course, in a different sense.
I deliberately moved toward a street with fewer people.
Unless an S-rank adventurer suddenly appeared, I could subdue most people easily.
I intended to catch them myself.
If things got dangerous, I could just run away.
“……”
Once I entered a deserted area, the people following me began to approach.
There were two of them.
Both wore their hoods deeply, so I could not see their faces.
For now, I quickly swung my spear to subdue them.
Whoooosh!
The shaft of the spear tore through the air as it rushed toward the target.
However, the spear never reached them.
Crack!
A barrier suddenly appeared in front of me.
It was a thick barrier made of cold ice.
I shattered part of the ice, but my attack did not pierce any farther.
“What?”
I was startled only for a moment.
Immediately after, a hurried voice came from the other side.
“Wait, wait! Don’t attack!”
The voice sounded somehow familiar.
Soon, they lowered their hoods and revealed their faces.
I could not help but become even more confused.
“…It’s us.”
They were members of Lemegeton.
The 5th Branch Head, Sephir, and Nicky were standing before me.
Because I had met people I had a strange connection with in such an unexpected place, a question naturally came out.
“No, why are you two here?”
At that, Nicky frowned and asked me in return,
“That’s what I want to ask. Why is someone who’s always holed up in the forest here?”
“……”
For a moment, a subtle standoff continued between us.