The day has dawned. Thankfully, I was still alive and well.
Though my mental state was a complete wreck.
The annoying thing about Berserk B is that it knows how to gently scratch the desires sleeping deep inside me.
“···sigh.”
As a result, every morning after I wake up, I feel downright filthy.
But still… at least my body is in one piece.
I was a bit exhausted, but that’s nothing a little nap can’t fix.
‘…I’m tired.’
Maybe it’s because I was running around all night, but my eyelids felt incredibly heavy.
If I lay down now, wouldn’t I be able to sleep right away?
To execute that plan, I promptly returned to my cave.
The best thing about the cave is that it’s always dark deep inside.
Thanks to that, I can sleep comfortably at any time.
The downside is that it’s always dark, which might drive me insane after a while. Still, it’s the safest place.
So, after entering the cave and taking a quick shower,
I lay down in my blanket to get some sleep. The cool air and lonely atmosphere welcomed me.
In this gray space, there were no signs of life except for me. Bitterly, this was exactly where I was living. For someone exiled from civilization, this was the only place I was allowed.
Maybe I had consumed a lot of mental energy, because sleep came easily.
“······.”
“······ Hello! Is anyone there!”
“It’s me, Yoo Chaerin…! Ah, is no one there…?”
A voice came to wake me from my deep sleep six hours later.
*
This would be our third meeting.
A week after the stream with Yor, Chaerin visited Yor’s house again.
The reason was simple: to ask for permission to upload the broadcast source to YouTube.
Of course, I had uploaded a video once before… but back then, I didn’t feel guilty about it at all.
For future video activities, I thought it would be better to get approval in advance.
Man… who knew I would need to get permission from an NPC over YouTube.
In reality, there wasn’t much need to go this far.
However, Chaerin didn’t want to have even a tiny nagging feeling in her heart.
And just because the other person might not see it, doesn’t mean NPCs won’t notice it.
There had already been quite a few instances where they had been caught. It wouldn’t hurt to have some insurance.
Anyway, for that reason, Chaerin was here today without actually starting a stream.
Standing in front of the cave, she called out to him several times. But, unfortunately, she received no response.
“Where could he be…?”
Since it was bright daylight, he might be out and about.
So, Yoo Chaerin pondered whether she should wait at the cave entrance like last time…
She couldn’t quite bring herself to go inside, but sitting at the cave entrance was doable.
In fact, she had done that last time.
…Ultimately, she did get a slap for it.
Just as she was mulling over these thoughts… finally, Yor popped out of the cave.
“…What is it?”
He looked quite tired when he said that. Seeing him, Chaerin could only swallow hard for a moment.
‘Wow.’
His outfit was… quite daring.
Well, to be honest, it wasn’t much different from what she saw last time.
It’s just that his coat was opened a bit wider than before. Thanks to that, his bare skin was peeking out.
She hurriedly looked away and asked, “Um… have you been sleeping until now?”
“Yeah… I was woken up by someone, though.”
She didn’t need deep thought to realize that “someone” was her.
She made a face that seemed apologetic, having not expected him to be sleeping so late when it was almost 4 PM.
Since he had been rudely awakened, Yor lightly complained.
“But, don’t you come here too often?”
“Uh, um… was it a bit burdensome? I’m sorry! I’ll come by less often next time!”
“…No, that’s not it.”
As Chaerin sincerely apologized, Yor scratched his head.
In fact, he didn’t mind since she was the only one who visited him at his home.
Feeling slightly awkward, he looked at her and said, “Just come in.”
Chaerin nodded and followed him inside.
“…So, what brings you here this time?”
Another specialty of this dark cave is that
when silence falls, it becomes eerily quiet due to the walls surrounding them.
Yor’s voice echoed slightly inside the cave. He seemed to still be waking up, rubbing his forehead with one hand.
From his appearance, one would think he had a drink yesterday. He looked that tired. Of course, there was no alcohol here.
Yoo Chaerin thought to herself.
‘What in the world happened yesterday…?’
She could tell he had gone to bed late.
However, seeing his condition, it looked like there was more to it than that.
Of course, it seemed like a topic she shouldn’t inquire about so she wouldn’t ask.
Another noticeable point was… that Yor was wearing surprisingly comfortable clothing.
Being referred to as “comfortable” here implies a high level of exposure.
He was dressed in only a tank top and a thin coat.
Moreover, that coat was falling off his left side, revealing a good portion of his skin.
Because of that, she couldn’t help but be drawn to him.
In fact, Chaerin had occasionally seen such a fashion style.
Usually, she would see older teens wearing it around 2 AM while walking the streets, the type that looked like they had smoked and had tattoos back in school.
Yor’s fashion was exactly like that.
Even the vibe felt the same. It felt like she was confronting a rumored ‘bad boy.’ A unique pressure and curiosity coexisted.
‘Surely he doesn’t have any tattoos, does he?’
Chaerin thought for a moment and shook her head.
Nah, surely someone living in the forest wouldn’t have tattoos.
The silence was starting to become burdensome, so she gently said, “Um, the thing is, I came to ask for permission.”
“Hmm?”
“Actually, there’s something called YouTube in our world…”
She continued explaining in a way that the NPC Yor could easily comprehend.
Since Yor was a human who died after living in the modern world, it didn’t take long for him to grasp the concept.
After she finished her explanation, Yor showed lukewarm reactions.
“That’s a little… troublesome.”
From his perspective, it didn’t really offer him any benefits.
While Chaerin’s streaming might provide fun by allowing him to see viewer reactions,
What about videos on YouTube? He wouldn’t be able to see them at all.
Even if they did attract attention, it wouldn’t benefit Yor at all.
Even though he appreciated Chaerin’s sentiment for asking permission despite not being able to see it,
he still wasn’t particularly pleased.
But this kind of reaction was what Chaerin had anticipated.
Thus, she had already brought a negotiation card with her.
“I’ll… pay you!”
“Money? I’m not exactly short on that.”
“…!!”
That negotiation card was shut down in less than five seconds.
Yeah… it’s obvious that someone who can offer mutated materials as payment wouldn’t be short on cash.
When I think about it, it’s only natural, but since I had only that card, I had momentarily forgotten. Her face immediately turned sullen.
What should I do? I have nothing more to propose…
Just then, a suggestion came from Yor instead.
“…Or how about this?”
“Huh?”
Yoo Chaerin immediately perked up.
“You’ll do me a favor regularly.”
Thinking calmly, gaining permission for YouTube didn’t really do him any good.
But given the situation that Chaerin was suggesting, he could indeed find it favorable.
This way, he could set various conditions for himself.
As it was, he lacked connections to civilization.
Not only could he not secure human relationships, but also faced various challenges when it came to gathering information and acquiring items.
So, he thought of using her as a bridge to civilization. If it worked out, he could gain some advantages himself.
And… he could also have someone to talk to.
Yor offered a total of three conditions.
First, without asking why, she’d regularly supply him with bread and holy water.
Second, she wouldn’t hide information about her world or games from him.
Third, if any new information arose regarding the city, she’d share it with him.
As he was slow to access information, he was essentially establishing an information source.
Yoo Chaerin nodded vigorously.
“Sure, I can do that! That’s great!”
Honestly speaking, it wasn’t a deal where she could lose at all.
Of course, the first condition might be a bit annoying, but the other two were beneficial for her as well.
This would give her a legitimate reason to interact with Yor, the NPC, regularly.
Thus, the two happily finalized the exchange.
After the deal was established, a thought suddenly popped into Yoo Chaerin’s mind.
It was about that video she had seen a few days ago. The one about a new enemy called a ‘Mine.’
Since that incident, it had spread quite a bit across the continent, making it a pretty big deal.
However, it was highly unlikely that Yor, living in these woods, would know about it.
“…It happened a few days ago.”
Chaerin promptly conveyed the details to Yor.
