In fact, Chae-rin had been quite busy lately.
To produce broadcasts of higher quality, she had been focusing more on leveling up than on streaming.
To be honest, she was still reeling from the shock of losing to a rabbit in a duel the last time.
At level 80, she was in the top 4% of users. In terms of the now-defunct game OLO, she would have been in the top tier of Diamond rank.
Still, that meant she was among the very best among regular players. Of course, she fell a bit short compared to ranked players who poured in time, talent, and money.
But to think she couldn’t even beat a single rabbit!
Yor had praised her for even that, but when you heard it from someone who could take out mutated wolves in one hit, it felt more like a mockery.
So, she had set aside the fun of streaming to focus on leveling up for a while. She wanted to crush at least the rabbits.
Fortunately, all her hard work seemed to have paid off; she had made some progress in her growth.
...But who would have thought she’d see something like this online?
“What the...?”
She muttered to herself as she leaned closer to the monitor.
Of course, it was highly probable that she was just imagining things. The NPC in the photo was heavily hooded, concealing almost all of his physical features.
According to the players who were there, he had brown hair and blue eyes. Even if his face was hard to see, that meant he had absolutely no resemblance to the Yor she had in mind.
After all, what reason would someone who lived in the forest have to come to the city?
She didn’t know his exact circumstances, but as someone who often visited him, she had a good sense that he was reluctant to step outside the woods.
So, the person in that photo was most likely not Yor...
However, something kept nagging at her gut. There was something about that picture that she just couldn’t ignore.
Besides, if he had come out, why would he change his hair and eye color? And if someone had changed it for him, who was that person?
“Hmmm...”
Thanks to that, her thoughts only grew deeper.
And a few days later...
‘Yeah, it wouldn’t hurt to check...’
She set out to hunt with her editor for the first time in a while.
The reason she met with Ha-neul instead of Yor was that she had a hunch about something.
Although they met in real life, she and Ha-neul actually spent more time together in the game.
Playing together made leveling up easier, and to be honest, there wasn’t much difference between being here and reality.
Of course, the reason they formed a party after so long was not just to make hunting easier.
‘Now that I think about it...’
Recently, her editor had learned an additional skill.
She even used it in combat from time to time. According to the description, it was a magic spell that confused opponents by tricking their eyes.
Wasn’t it called 'Illusion'?
With that skill, she could create virtual walls in front of monsters or conjure illusions to confuse them.
Thanks to her support, hunting monsters became a lot easier, but it also raised some questions.
‘Why did she learn that skill?’
Surely, there had to be other spells worth investing in. And honestly, those would be more effective.
While she had made good use of the 'Illusion' spell, having something tangible would have been preferable.
Plus, the timing was quite peculiar. So, Chae-rin subtly asked her.
“By the way, sis.”
“Yeah?”
“You know Yor, right?”
“...Of course I do. He’s our number one star on YouTube.”
Up until this point, Ha-neul had shown no reaction. Well, it felt just like any normal conversation. In fact, it would have been weirder for her to be flustered at this point.
The next question she had intended to ask was, “Have you ever met Yor?”
Conversations usually flow according to context, and there’s always a specific order to that context.
However, this time, Chae-rin planned to skip that context.
Asking directly would surely stir Ha-neul’s emotions more easily.
So she asked her editor straightforwardly.
“Have you been to the city with Yor recently?”
“...”
And Chae-rin’s guess was spot on. Ha-neul’s pupils trembled violently for a moment. Perhaps it was due to the unexpected question, but she fell silent for a brief moment.
Even the words she managed to muster up after some thought included a slip of the tongue.
“What do you mean? He’s an NPC who can’t even go outside. How could he go to the city?”
“...I don’t recall you ever saying that Yor can’t go outside?”
Chae-rin pounced on that mistake like a ghost.
She was glad her editor wasn’t very good at lying.
Thanks to that, her instincts were growing louder.
Now that she thought about it, the wand she used recently had changed too.
What used to be a simple wand made from an old tree now had a massive gem embedded in the center.
Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.
That gem looked pretty expensive.
She didn’t know exactly whose gem it was, but the amount of magical energy contained within was no joke.
It was definitely not a material that she could obtain with her current wealth and level.
“By the way, when did you change that wand? I’ve never seen such a gem in the market.”
Chae-rin continued with her questions. Every time, Ha-neul would panic and avoid her gaze.
Not being able to answer properly and stammering was exactly how someone with something to hide would act.
Ha-neul, who lacked social skills, couldn’t easily cope with such sudden situations and was merely flustered.
As she was being persistently pressed, Ha-neul thought.
‘Yeah, I should just say it.’
After all, there was no reason to hide it, right? She had just met an NPC a few times and happened to go to the city once together.
Of course, there had been various happenings along the way... But she wasn't dating Yor or doing anything inappropriate, after all.
So she lightly shared the facts with Chae-rin.
She told her about the time she had visited out of curiosity and how that led to her going to the city together.
Of course, she completely omitted any information about the ‘Demon’s Mark.’ No matter what, she couldn’t speak about that to anyone else.
Ha-neul was just conveying the content, but she strangely felt guilty.
Once she finished speaking, Chae-rin expressed her dissatisfaction.
“Hey, sis, how could you...!”
She felt a sense of betrayal. Her closest friend was secretly acquainted with someone she was close with.
It felt like she had become a tragic character straight out of a drama... and it was all just a bit too much for her.
But that was only for a moment.
‘...Huh?’
As she was about to get irritated, she caught on to a contradiction within herself.
...But was it really something she should be angry about?
Sure, Chae-rin met Yor the most often, but they weren’t dating or anything. They were just acquaintances.
And her editor had the freedom to enjoy the game however she wanted.
Ha-neul was simply spending her leisure time, after all.
While she felt a bit hurt that Ha-neul had hidden the fact that she had met him, there was hardly any justification for her to be angry.
Of course, in reality, it would have been a different story. Emotions were an important matter.
However, this was a game. And Yor wasn’t a real romantic interest, but an NPC living in this world.
It felt ridiculous to get upset over a virtual character.
As a result, Chae-rin could only look at Ha-neul without saying anything.
She didn’t really have anything to say anyway, and she was also a bit confused by her own feelings.
‘Why am I so angry?’
Could it be that I...?
No, even so, she didn’t want to be someone who genuinely invested feelings into a virtual character.
“Still... if something like this happens again, let me know, okay?”
“Ah, okay... sorry.”
In the end, all she could say after much contemplation was a piece of advice like that.
After that, they continued hunting for a while before eventually parting ways.
After all, this was a meeting meant for questioning, and she could sense that her feelings were quite turbulent.
Many thoughts swirled in her mind. It was intriguing that Yor was that hooded NPC, and it was also surprising that he was strong enough to cut off Seere’s left arm.
But what amazed her the most was that Ha-neul and Yor had gone on a date in the city together.
In the end, Chae-rin logged off without properly understanding her own feelings.
Yet, her thoughts had shifted somewhat.
‘I should meet him more often from now on.’
She hadn’t been able to visit the forest recently, so she thought it was a good opportunity to go see him more often.
She definitely hadn’t come to realize new feelings for an NPC because of this. Not at all.
Whatever it was, it was a thought that would surely annoy Yor if he heard it.