Actually, Chaerin had been quite busy lately.
She was focusing more on leveling up than on streaming for higher quality broadcasts.
To be honest, the shock from the last time she had a duel with a rabbit was pretty significant.
At level 80, she was in the top 4% of users.
If we compare it to the OLO analogy, she was roughly at the top tier of Diamond rank.
Still, it meant she was among the elite of the average players.
Of course, she fell a bit short compared to the rankers who invested time, talent, and money.
But seriously… unable to defeat a single rabbit?
Sure, Yor had praised her for that, but hearing it from someone who could one-shot a mutated wolf sounded like just teabagging.
So, she had prioritized leveling up over the fun of streaming for a while.
She at least wanted to crush a rabbit.
Luckily, thanks to the time she put in, she had made a bit of progress in her growth.
…But who would’ve thought she’d see something like this online?
“What… what is this?”
She muttered to herself as she leaned closer to her monitor.
Of course, it was highly likely that this was just her misconception. The NPC in the photo was heavily hooded, almost obscuring their body’s outline.
Even the users present reported that the opponent had brown hair and blue eyes. Although they couldn’t see the face clearly.
In other words, there were absolutely no common points with Yor as she imagined him.
After all, what reason would he have to come to the city?
She didn’t know his detailed circumstances, but as someone who frequently visited Yor, she had picked up on his reluctance to step outside the forest.
So the probability that the person in the photo wasn’t Yor was high…
But her intuition kept holding her back. There was something about that photo that could not be easily dismissed.
Then again, if he had come out, why had the hair and eye colors changed?
And if they had been changed, who was the one who did it?
“Hm…”
Thanks to that, her thoughts only deepened.
*
A few days later.
‘Yeah, checking it out wouldn’t hurt…’
She finally went out hunting with her editor for the first time in a while.
The reason she met Haneul instead of Yor was that Chaerin had a hunch.
They did meet in real life, but honestly, she and Haneul met more frequently in the game.
Playing together made leveling up easier, and honestly, there wasn’t much difference between here and reality.
Of course, the fact that she formed this party after a long while wasn’t just to make hunting easier.
‘Speaking of which…’
Recently, her editor had learned one more skill.
She occasionally used it in combat. From the explanation she received, it was a magic that deceived the opponent’s eyes to create confusion.
The skill was called ‘Illusion.’
With that skill, she effectively set up imaginary walls in front of monsters or created illusions to confuse them.
Thanks to her support, hunting monsters became a bit easier, but doubts still nagged at Chaerin.
‘Why did she learn that skill?’
Surely there were other magic options to invest in. Honestly, that would have been more efficient.
While she utilized ‘Illusion’ well, having something tangible would have been better.
And the timing was suspicious, too. So, Chaerin decided to subtly ask her.
“By the way, sis.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know Yor?”
“…Of course, I do. He’s our YouTube cornerstone.”
Up to this point, Haneul showed no particular reaction. Well, it was just a typical mundane conversation, after all. In fact, being surprised here would have been even weirder.
The next question would have been, ‘Have you ever met Yor?’
Conversations flow according to context, which naturally has an order.
But this time, Chaerin was skipping that context.
She was sure that asking directly would shake Haneul’s heart more easily.
So, she asked her editor:
“Have you gone to the city with Yor recently?”
“…”
And Chaerin’s guess was spot on. Haneul’s pupils twitched violently for a moment. The sudden question left her in silence for a while.
Even the words that came out after a moment of contemplation were mixed with slips of the tongue.
“What are you talking about? He’s an NPC that can’t go outside. How would he go to the city?”
“…I don’t remember saying that Yor can’t leave.”
Chaerin pounced on that slip-up like a ghost.
She was glad her editor was so bad at lying.
Thanks to that, her intuition was growing louder.
Come to think of it, the wand she was using lately had also changed.
It used to be a simple stick made of gnarled wood, but now it had a massive jewel embedded in the center.
And the jewel looked quite expensive.
She couldn’t say exactly whose jewel it was, but the amount of magical power within it was no joke.
It wasn’t something she could get with her wealth and level.
“By the way, when did you change that wand? I’ve never seen such a jewel in the market.”
Chaerin kept the questions coming. Each time, Haneul grew flustered and avoided her gaze.
Her inability to respond properly and her stammering clearly indicated that something was off.
Haneul, who usually lacked social skills, couldn’t handle this sudden situation and just became flustered.
While under constant questioning, Haneul thought:
‘Yeah, I might as well just say it.’
After all, there was no reason to hide it. She had just met an NPC a few times and gone to the city once, after all.
Of course, there were multiple happenings along the way, but she wasn’t dating Yor or anything.
So she casually shared with Chaerin the facts—how she had visited Yor out of curiosity and how it had led to their trip to the city.
Naturally, she completely omitted any mention of ‘the demon’s mark.’ No way she could share that with others.
Haneul thought she was merely conveying information, but strangely felt a sense of guilt.
Once she had finished speaking, Chaerin expressed her disappointment.
“Sis, how could you…!”
She felt a sense of betrayal. Her closest friend was secretly close to the guy she was fond of.
It was like being a pitiful character in a drama… or something like that.
But that feeling didn’t last long.
‘…Huh?’
Just as she was about to let her frustration out, she noticed a contradiction within herself.
…But was this really a situation she should be angry about?
Sure, she encountered Yor the most, but in the end, it wasn’t a relationship. They were just acquaintances.
And wasn’t her editor free to enjoy the game however she wished?
Haneul was just using her leisure time.
Sure, it felt a bit hurtful that she had hidden the fact she met him, but there was little justification for her getting angry.
Of course, it would be a different story if it were reality. Emotions are a serious matter, after all.
Yet this was in a game. And Yor was merely an NPC here.
It was a rather absurd situation to get upset over a virtual character.
Thus, Chaerin could only stare at Haneul, unable to say anything.
In fact, she didn’t have much to say anyway, as she was still confused about her own feelings.
‘Why am I trying to get angry?’
Could it be that I…?
No, surely not.
She didn’t want to become a ‘real’ person that took virtual characters seriously just yet.
“Still… if something like this happens in the future, make sure to let me know.”
“Ah, yeah… sorry.”
In the end, what came out after all that contemplation was just this kind of advice.
After that, they continued hunting for a while before parting ways.
After all, it was a setup made for questioning, and she could sense her own feelings were a bit mixed up.
Many thoughts swirled in her mind. It was fascinating that Yor might actually be that hooded NPC, and it was surprising that he was strong enough to slice off Seere’s left arm.
But the most surprising thing was that Haneul and Yor had gone on a date to the city together.
In the end, Chaerin logged out of the game without fully understanding her own feelings.
Yet she did have a change of thought.
‘I should try to meet up more often.’
She hadn’t visited the forest much recently, so she decided to go visit there more often.
Not that she had developed new feelings for the NPC because of this incident. No way.
Whatever it was, it would definitely be a bothersome thought for Yor if he ever found out.
