NOVEL WEB Chapter 55
After Kim Mari’s death, was Yor able to defeat Amducias?
Unfortunately, he couldn’t.
As soon as he took care of Kim Mari, that guy gracefully flew away into the sky.
“Hmph, today truly would have been a great day. It all fell apart at the end…”
He said trivial nonsense like that. Yor and his party could only watch in a daze.
To begin with, catching something that flies in the sky is quite difficult.
Right now, Yor’s mental state was in shambles due to Ikgagong’s gift and mental attack.
He felt like he could follow, but he didn’t really want to.
He just wanted to go home and rest…
“…I guess I’ll have to return this later?”
So, the party had no choice but to return with the dropped money pouch after Mari’s death.
Of all things to drop, it had to be a money pouch. Chaerin said she’d personally return it later.
At least, it was fortunate that no one here suffered a loss.
Actually, they did benefit a bit.
Even though they couldn’t take Ikgagong’s head as originally intended, everyone received a little gift.
While riding their carriage back, Chaerin and Haneul pondered for a moment.
“But, it seems we still haven’t done it…”
Well, considering he lived in the forest all the time, it was somewhat expected.
Because of the penalty of “Demon’s Blood,” he probably couldn’t find a decent opponent either.
But the thought of “what if” remained.
After all, his appearance was quite striking. But now that he received the authentication mark from Ikgagong… it felt nice in a weird way.
Of course, the one receiving it seemed quite embarrassed, though.
Anyway, that was the end of the encounter with Ikgagong.
…However, the topic in the community was just beginning.
After all, the scene of Kim Mari’s death was broadcasted live.
Naturally, the fact that Amducias could distinguish between reality’s purity also spread among the users.
Thanks to that, users were plunged into a whirlpool of shock and fear.
In a world where a game character can notice what you had for dinner yesterday is creepy enough.
But the fact that it could also judge your real-life intimacy… what the heck?
What kind of sorcery is this? Did they just get lucky with a guess? Can the game invade users’ privacy?
Countless questions and complaints flooded in.
Some even speculated that this was the real isekai world.
But aside from that, the responses weren’t very positive.
Even if the technology was fascinating, it was still an invasion of players’ privacy.
Although it was limited to the community, the flames of discontent were pretty fierce.
Whether the gaming company felt burdened by this fire or wanted to show off their technology, they surprisingly released a statement this time.
A gaming company notorious for its lack of communication releasing a clarification? That’s quite unusual.
The staff from the server team, GM Vashin, stated it was a side effect caused by a high-performance AI.
Users automatically register their physical information in a capsule when creating a character in [Demon’s Saga].
This allows characters to resemble the user’s appearance.
However, the high-performance AI they developed for the game’s NPC unintentionally read users’ biometric information.
That’s how this whole mishap occurred.
GM Vashin wrapped up the statement promising to minimize any such incidents in the future.
The users’ responses varied.
[So, how the heck can AI read biometric information??]
Does that even make sense?
It would be difficult even with an alien doing it, you company idiots!
[For real lol]
[Anyway, it’s a technical glitch~]
[Honestly, just saying it’s an isekai makes more sense lol]
Distrust.
[Thinking about it, that’s creepy.]
So, if they wanted, couldn’t they find out how many times I did it yesterday?
How many times I did it yesterday, how many times today,
and how many I plan to do today?
That means they could voyeur me in real time, right?
Whoa…
I need to take a step back right now.
[?]
[How did we reach that conclusion?]
Shock.
[Yes, we’ve read your information.]
So what?
What are you gonna do about it? lol
Are you going to quit this game? What else do we have to play? lol
Just keep playing quietly.
[Thanks as always.]
[No, this game can’t fail. I still haven’t made enough money for my rent this month.]
[No, rice-farming rice-farming~ Happy rice-farming~]
[Instead of saying you’ll minimize this happening again, you’re just saying you’ll do it less often is completely absurd lol. Are they joking? lol]
[Hey Kim, stop whining and get to work. You not going to work today?]
[No, I have to…]
Understanding.
How advanced does AI need to be to read something like that? How detailed does biometric information have to be to figure it out?
Honestly, it’s a bit creepy, but most were in an accepting mood.
After all, there’s no alternative to a game with such technology.
With plenty of so-called “dark gamers” making money in the game, it had embedded itself too deeply into daily life to quit over this problem.
And as the gaming company said, incidents of determining real-life intimacy didn’t happen frequently.
A few days later, news of Amducias’s extermination spread.
*
After being mentally shaken a bit by that cursed unicorn, I returned to the cave for a moment to recuperate.
I needed time to adapt to the gift I received from that guy.
Although the original goal of demon hunting was a failure… well, in the end, the hunt was completed.
The Second Knight Commander of the Empire had cut off Amducias’s head.
He really couldn’t have lasted long anyway.
Being a unique character, his position was being shared in real time, and that information naturally reached the military’s ears as well.
Given that he had killed many who had lost their purity, it was only natural for a hunting party to be formed.
But how did they capture something that flies in the sky?
The answer was simple. He charged at the Second Knight Commander first.
With an extremely angry face…
-Dirty!!! Non-virgin!!!!!!
That’s the kind of screeching he let out.
At the time, it’s said there were other knights nearby, but how angry could he have been…
Somehow, it seems the Second Knight Commander was one to take liberties with his body.
That said, someone of the knight commander’s level wouldn’t lack skill, so he perished gloriously, leaving only his solid horn behind.
…Well, if it’s him, that’s a fitting end. I actually felt a bit of affection for that guy.
Even though he vanished like that, at least the gifts he left behind remained.
Since some time had passed, I had adjusted somewhat.
Thanks to what he said, I could roughly control it to some extent. If my hearing was too acute, I could voluntarily lessen it.
The ability I gained was indeed quite useful.
“……”
Listening closely with my ears, I focused on the sounds outside the cave.
Numerous noises from the forest pierced my ears.
Of course, since they were happening far away, the sounds weren’t as loud as if they were right in front of me.
Yet, I could discern the many noises within them.
The simple sound of wind rustling leaves, the mutation wild boar digging up the ground to establish its territory, and even the distant goblin howls…
‘…Impressive.’
Having heard all that, I nodded to myself.
That guy left behind a really nice ability before he left. The increase in detection range in this forest was a tremendous advantage.
After all, it was a place where ferocious beasts lurked all around.
Being able to recognize danger even a second sooner in such a place meant increasing my survival probability by several times.
But that wasn’t all.
If I played my cards right, I could even stand a chance against those down in the deep layer.
While my original detection ability wasn’t bad, I still couldn’t compete with those beastly critters.
Of course, their fighting powers were a concern too… but at least having the ability to compete is a significant upgrade.
It means I’d worry less about being ambushed by those monsters, doesn’t it?
‘I should try to check it out eventually.’
So I entertained this thought for a moment.
The deep layer was undoubtedly a dangerous place, but it was also a space with many precious herbs.
Since it’s a place barely touched by humans, there are many grasses that have grown over a long period.
Some of those grasses would surely be elixirs that increase mana.
It seemed worth a shot to venture around there.
Just as I was sorting through my thoughts alone,
There was another sound that reached my overly sensitive ears.
The sound of someone walking. However, it was a rather familiar sound.
There aren’t many who’d walk that stealthily unless they were worried about being killed by a monster.
I went out to greet the other party member this time.
Sure enough, it was Yoo Chaerin. She looked surprised when she saw me and said,
“Oh, what? How did you know I was coming?”
“I heard the sound.”
“…Heard the sound? From this distance?”
She looked at me as if she couldn’t believe it. To be honest, I found it a bit strange too.
I asked her,
“More importantly, why are you here again?”
It had only been a few days since she told me the news of Amducias’s extermination.
Even though she had been visiting quite frequently, it felt a bit too soon.
When I asked her, she gave a meaningful smile.
“Hehe, I came because I have something to brag about.”
Then she confidently proclaimed,
“I reached level 100!”
At that statement, I tilted my head.
“Already…?”