NOVEL WEB Chapter 23
Thousands of soldiers.
Hundreds of knights.
Hundreds of mages and dozens of priests.
And a rather large box filled with holy water.
On the day the demon was supposed to descend, the place was literally packed with people like grains of sand.
Fortunately, they had a rough idea of where the demon would appear, allowing everyone to gather in one location.
No matter how you turned your head, the sight was filled with people.
All of them were fully armed combat personnel.
“…Whoa.”
Seeing this, Chaerin let out a small gasp.
Even though the first raid was held, she never expected this many people to show up.
And this was after filtering out some participants.
The requirement for participation was to have at least a C-class adventurer’s skills.
For otherworlders, the minimum level for C-class adventurers was 60.
You had to be at least level 60 to even participate in this raid.
From their perspective, that was quite a tough condition.
As a result, there was some discontent in the community.
Wasn’t this too biased towards high-level users?
Of course, since the game company barely communicated with users, it didn’t have much of an impact.
[There are so damn many people]
[How is it that there’s no lag even with this many gathered?]
[Can the server handle this?]
[Wow, that’s crazy]
Naturally, Yoo Chaerin was currently streaming.
As a streamer, she couldn’t miss such a large-scale event.
However, it seemed there were so many other streamers gathered that the viewer boost wasn’t significant.
While curiously looking around, Chaerin suddenly noticed something new.
Most of the ones positioned at the front line of the army were players just like her.
Well, NPCs tended to avoid taking risks with their lives.
So, most of the volunteer soldiers were players.
Even considering that, there were just too many players clustered at the front.
Even the mages and priests, who originally should have been in the back, were visible at the front.
The viewers, who noticed the same fact, chimed in.
[They must be using us as bait since we can respawn anyway]
[I get it, but it’s still a bit annoying lol]
[Thinking about it, we do get our items back and 50,000 gold, so it’s not too bad, right?]
Well…
Chaerin internally refuted the last comment.
The fact that you couldn’t log in for three days after dying was a significant burden. Especially for game streamers like her.
That three-day gap felt pretty substantial for them.
Of course, they could do a chatting stream, but right now, with [Demon’s Saga] being popular, simple chatting streams didn’t have much appeal.
Even if they did stream, they had to be logged into the game.
Nonetheless, the reason for participating in this hunt was that it was worth taking that risk.
She could show the raid to her viewers, and perhaps even score some rewards by achieving something.
Of course, the chances were slim… but life is unpredictable, isn’t it?
While she was running her hope circuit, someone she recognized suddenly entered her line of sight.
“Huh?”
Chaerin lit up with joy and approached the person.
“Sister!”
The individual was her editor.
Known online mainly by the nickname “BlackKitty.” Her real name was Im Haneul.
With wavy black hair, dark eyes, and a pair of thick square glasses.
And, notably, a larger bust than most others.
Some viewers, recognizing her, greeted her. Though she didn’t appear often, she occasionally made appearances on the stream.
By the way, she also served as Yoo Chaerin’s manager.
[Oh, the manager is here haha]
[Isn’t this guy not editing and playing games here lol]
[Wait, if she’s here, that means…?]
[Oh?]
[SexSexBeautyDaddy]
[What the heck lol]
The viewers, realizing she was gaming, began to stir the pot.
Opinions that could easily lead to a ban were sneaking into the chat.
For a moment, Haneul’s brow furrowed.
[Yor, let me have a baby!]
[You have been kicked out by the manager.]
[Huh]
[Oh, so the stream is on…?]
[^^7]
[^^7;;]
Of course, such rebellion flames were extinguished in less than a few seconds.
Chaerin let out a sigh of relief.
This sort of thing happened occasionally.
The conservative Haneul tended to keep the chat in check.
Oppressed viewers sometimes staged a rebellion.
Chaerin waited, chatting mildly until the raid began.
It wasn’t long before an alarm popped up in front of her, and the area started getting bustling.
[The demon Andromalius has descended!]
The demon had finally appeared.
“Everyone, don’t be afraid! Fight bravely! The lives of the people depend on you!”
With that, the commander stepped up to boost morale. Mages began preparing powerful spells.
Priests were praying to provide buffs.
Yoo Chaerin snapped back to reality and drew out a pair of daggers.
Her latest equipment made from the fangs of mutated wolves.
With these, it wouldn’t be impossible to make a significant contribution!
“Whoooaaa!!!”
Hearing cheers erupt from everywhere, she charged toward the demon.
Less than five minutes later, she was dead from a single blow from the demon.
*
+
[Everyone, repeat after me]
We are all cannon fodder
+
[We are all cannon fodder]
[You are nothing]
[I am nothing…]
+
[User participation from happy-go-lucky users all got cut down in under 10 minutes lol]
So that’s why they only allowed high-level users haha
+
[To catch up with the latecomers, we’ve decided to ban all high-level users for three days haha]
[Lol]
[But hey, we did earn 50,000 gold, right? Let’s celebrate!]
[I saw the streamer quit the raid just 3 minutes in, and I was like, what’s happening?]
[We are who?]
[NPC’s backup]
+
+
[The more ridiculous thing is that this demon was relatively weak]
In the end, while we were taking the hits, the Fifth Knight Commander came in and beheaded it.
Then he said, “That was surprisingly easy…” Seriously ;;
(Video)
Well, thanks to hiding like a coward, I survived and got to see the hunt.
If anyone’s curious, feel free to check it out.
+
*
At a nearby pub.
While having dinner with her editor, Yoo Chaerin clicked on the uploaded video.
Surprisingly, they died faster than she thought. She figured she might as well finish up their dinner plans too.
The hunting video she played already showcased the very end of the situation.
Conflicted by users, Andromalius faced off against the Fifth Knight Commander.
With a chilling sound, Andromalius’ left arm fell off.
The snake coiled around that arm wriggled for a moment and then stiffened.
The severely injured demon let out a cry of despair.
“Damn it, Seere! It was your turn to descend this time! That brat’s blood was supposed to be yours, yet you dared to offer me as the vanguard!?”
It seemed he was directing those words toward someone else rather than the immediate foe.
In hindsight, the demon’s attack seemed more of a desperate attempt to survive rather than a conquest.
The demon, fighting desperately, soon lost its head to the knight commander’s sword.
That was the end of it.
Zero casualties, excluding the otherworlders. Among the NPCs, there were some serious injuries, but no fatalities.
It was a perfect victory.
The faces reflected on the screen looked bright.
Everyone rejoiced at having survived and hugged their nearby comrades.
Having watched the whole thing, Yoo Chaerin scrolled down to check the comments.
[It does seem pretty weak;]
[But we got wiped out by that weakling haha]
[But isn’t 72nd place basically embarrassing?]
[This girl thought ‘place’ meant whatever ranking, haha]
[Wait, what?]
[It wasn’t? Oh wow]
[Oh, so no one knew that? My bad]
Honestly, this raid felt closer to spectating than participating.
It was like the players weren’t crafting the story but rather watching a game trailer.
Of course, as it was an open RPG with high freedom, there wasn’t a clear distinction.
Still, it meant that this time, the otherworlders were more like spectators.
It seemed it wasn’t their time yet; this fight was truly on a different level.
“Sigh, what should I do for the next three days?”
With those thoughts, Chaerin let out a light sigh.
Her character was currently dead, forcing her into a three-day forced break.
Having taken a leave of absence, she now found herself in a temporary unemployed state.
“So I told you to stay back a bit. They wouldn’t be paying just for participating.”
While she was lamenting, the editor sitting in front of her spoke up.
Unlike her, who had been taken down in five minutes, Haneul was someone who had survived to the end of the battle.
That was not because she was hiding like a coward… but because her job as a mage was relatively safer.
Moreover, being quiet and composed by nature, she knew how to ensure her own safety.
“I was thinking of visiting Yor this week, but that seems off the table now.”
As she took a sip of her drink, Chaerin expressed her woes.
Haneul couldn’t help but interject.
“Why have you been visiting that NPC so often lately?”
“Didn’t you say I should get closer to them?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
Recently, Chaerin had been living purely in the game.
As a close friend prior to being her editor, Haneul wanted her to experience real life.
Of course, even Haneul was a hikikomori who only worked from her room…
But she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of worry.
Such cases happened occasionally.
Where players ended up falling for NPCs who felt far too human. Almost like a modern-day Pygmalion.
Due to high immersion and even some modes allowing for intimacy, it was natural for attachments to develop.
While that’s understandable, one shouldn’t let it consume them completely.
Reality and fantasy must be distinguished.
Falling too deeply for an NPC would only lead to trouble down the line.
However, there was a growing curiosity as well.
That NPC named Yor was indeed attractive when seen in the video.
So it was only natural for Haneul to be pondering such thoughts.
‘Should I visit him once?’
After all, her live-streaming was on hold for three days, so she had nothing to edit.
It seemed like a decent idea.
As she filled her drink, her eyes grew even more concentrated.