Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Confessions in the Carriage
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In Akare, you could hire coachmen stationed in each region to travel to other areas.
"Heading to the Earldom of Litania? That'll be 10 gold, please."
Daehyeop Kim currently had 25 gold on hand.
Buying level 10 armor had cost him 10 gold.
Level 20 armor would probably run about twice the price.
Spending 10 gold here would leave him unable to afford gear in the next region.
"Here you go."
"I'll serve you with the utmost care. This way."
While he agonized over it, Raven—disguised as a man—took the initiative.
💬 Comments — Viewer lol — Viewer Alpha male life — Viewer Pretty girl pays first — Viewer Special prosecutor — Viewer Pay five times the tax Daehyeop Kim had unintentionally been treated like trash.
He felt wronged, but for now, he followed Raven and boarded the carriage.
With the coachman up front, just the two of them remained inside.
As the awkward silence grew palpable, choices appeared.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Main Story - Conversation] [Main Story - Skip Travel] 💬 Comments — Viewer No way you're skipping? — Viewer Alone in the carriage hehehe — Viewer Skip and no yachu Daehyeop The public sentiment made the choice obvious—there was only one option.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Proceeding to Main Story - Conversation.] Clop-clop...
Before he knew it, the carriage had set off, the sound of horses galloping at full speed echoing around them.
He'd heard medieval-style carriages had poor ride quality, but this one was different.
His butt didn't hurt or anything, though the rattling was a bit annoying.
"Huu... Should be safe inside the carriage."
Raven pulled a clock-shaped artifact from her bosom.
She fiddled with it, and her appearance reverted to her true form.
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"Just the two of us."
💬 Comments — Viewer moan moan — Viewer What's flirting — Viewer Illwa it lololol — Viewer Mating mode — Viewer Chat's so vulgar Sighing at the ever-rowdy chat window, Daehyeop Kim simply turned it off.
"I'd be anxious alone, but with you, I can relax."
"...I'm not as reliable as you think."
Raven let out a soft chuckle at his sullen response.
"An unreliable person risking their life to save me."
"That's..."
Players respawned upon death.
There was no way an NPC like Raven would know that.
Even if he explained, she probably wouldn't understand.
Hell, she might even treat him like some weirdo.
"...You risked your life for me too."
Thinking about it, Raven was the truly odd one.
How many people would choose sacrifice for someone they'd just met?
"Trying to sacrifice yourself so recklessly."
"...I swore to myself I'd never run away again."
Raven continued slowly, lost in reminiscence.
"I survived at the cost of my entire kingdom's sacrifice. I must live in atonement forever... and one day, pay the price."
"..."
That was a cruel thing to say.
Atonement for life... paying the price.
"Then don't treat sacrifice so lightly."
He'd only said it out of worry for her willingness to sacrifice.
Yet Raven's eyes widened at his words.
"If you survived thanks to the kingdom's sacrifice, then cling to life tooth and nail—for their sake."
"..."
Raven gazed at Daehyeop Kim.
His eyes were straight and unwavering, without a hint of falter.
"You've saved me twice now."
"Saved? That's some pretty grand phrasing."
His immersion shattered in an instant, and Daehyeop Kim turned his head away.
He was just struggling to keep his expression in check.
But Raven interpreted his action differently.
"...What a cool guy."
"Huh? What'd you say?"
"Nothing."
Raven simply smiled.
A brighter smile than before—one laced with a different emotion.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Today, as always, Aka-chan's daily routine was monitoring.
Tracking a thousand users at once was nearly impossible.
At least by human standards—and Aka-chan was far beyond human.
"Piece of cake. Salary's sweet as ever."
Lately, her mood had been at an all-time high.
She'd made her exploitative boss wear a bikini.
And gotten to witness her boss lady—no, her master—squirming in embarrassment.
Seeing the hero who'd saved her world in such a state was a priceless experience.
"Lifetime record. Bookmark saved."
(Screenshot of Aurora entering the capsule in a bikini.)
(Screenshot of bikini-clad Aurora looking mortified.)
These were the screenshots of Aka-chan's life.
Of course, Aurora would delete them immediately if she saw.
But what she didn't know couldn't hurt her.
Aka-chan had hidden the records among countless others, like a tree in a forest.
- Master. Incoming call.
"What's up?"
A teddy bear doll approached as she sorted her memes.
This bear doll was one Aka-chan had crafted using the court mage's golem magic.
It handled monitoring duties in place of its slacking creator.
- Codename: Daehyeop Kim. Anomaly detected.
An anomaly on a high-priority watchlist codename.
An emergency requiring the top authority—Aka-chan—herself.
She dropped her salary-enjoying antics and swiftly assessed the situation.
"Affinity levels opening?"
A feature exclusive to the admin-only test world.
Scheduled for official release, so naturally unavailable now.
"You again."
Akare's walking bundle of bugs: Daehyeop Kim.
Still, not as dire as last time.
She'd prepared safeguards for cases like this.
And the safeguard had worked perfectly, delaying the affinity unlock.
Now she just needed to figure out why it had tried to open...
"Daehyeop Kim. Flirting prowess: Casanova-tier."
His unconscious charm was on par with Aurora's—nearly.
If Daehyeop Kim were a woman, the two might've made a fine couple.
At any rate, it wasn't a major bug. An easy fix.
She configured the main VR to block affinity content.
And set the test world to not pull from main server data.
Unlike last time, she'd nipped it in the bud—Aka-chan smirked with confidence.
"Competent. Amazing."
This was the prestige of the Akashic Records.
Clap clap clap.
Bear Dolls 1 and 2, watching her, clapped their paws.
"Skinship limit cap. How far?"
Last time, it'd tried to enable full intimacy, earning her a smack from Aurora.
Unwilling to repeat that, Aka-chan capped it at "kiss."
"Kiss. Extremely difficult."
No matter the incelgal hype around alpha-male Daehyeop Kim, he wouldn't get that far.
And if he did? Fine by her. Maybe even better.
The story Aurora had crafted would hit harder the deeper the player-Raven bond grew.
"Master's wicked."
She called Aurora wicked, but truth be told, Aka-chan was dying to see players' reactions too.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ There's a saying about the five stages of grief.
Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance.
The next morning, Sweet woke up and recalled yesterday's events.
"A dream?"
Denial.
What happened was just his brain playing tricks.
Like the momentary flutter when passing a pretty woman.
Objectively, Raven was stunning. Any guy would feel it.
See? Thinking of her now felt totally no—
Thump!
"No, why would I pine for a data chunk..."
Anger.
Sweet despised galge to an extreme degree.
He couldn't immerse in fictional characters made of 0s and 1s.
No immersion meant no other emotions either.
The varied reactions he faked during galge streams? Pure acting.
So why was he feeling deprived?
Yeah. That logic calmed him a bi—
Thump!
"Fine, that NPC is attractive. I'll admit it."
Bargaining.
Sweet acknowledged his true feelings.
Along with a sliver of honesty.
Thump!
"Ah, how the hell did I end up like this..."
Depression.
He was just depressed. Fallen for a data fragment.
"Everyone else feels the same. This isn't weird for me."
Acceptance.
This wasn't mere rationalization.
Objectively, Raven was captivating.
A beauty willing to sacrifice for him? No such thing in reality.
Only possible in VR.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Sweet's broadcast has begun. - Akashic Records 1 sec ago] Mind a mess, he flipped on his stream anyway.
The chat window, usually crystal clear, wouldn't come into focus.
To vent his tangled feelings, he hurled fireballs at dungeon monsters.
He froze every approaching skeleton and ghoul solid, charging toward level 20.
"Oh, a ring."
⚔ ITEM ACQUIRED ⚔ [Ring of Oath]
Attack +5 Durability +5 - A ring gifted by a knight's partner to the knight. Imbued with the knight's vow.
"I swear it. For all my life, I shall live to protect you."
Rings had four slots.
Sweet would've equipped it right away under normal circumstances.
But the ring's history caught his eye.
He'd avoided mentioning it, but the chat hadn't.
💬 Comments — Viewer Romantic's ring — Viewer Knight's so romantic — Viewer That ring being here means...? — Viewer Gasp — Viewer What He equipped the ring and pressed on with the hunt.
✨ LEVEL UP! ✨ Lv. 19 → Lv. 20 He finally hit level 20 and immediately equipped the obsidian staff.
"Guys, check out this shine?"
His old level 10 staff had been solid enough.
But this boss drop—a level 20 obsidian staff—was on another level.
"Burn to ash, Fire Ball!"
Roar!!!
A massive fireball slammed into the ratmen blocking the sewer passage.
Even just grazing them turned the ratmen to cinders.
Accounting for their low levels, it was overwhelming performance.
"This is it."
RPGs were all about that growth high. That loot thrill.
The essence of any RPG.
Dating sims with data blobs? Please.
Fully immersed in the joy of progression and drops, Sweet left the sewers.
📜 EVENT ALERT 📜 [The Mercenary Guild is seeking you.]
[Accept to teleport to the Mercenary Guild.]
"Wonder what event this is."
An event popping up at the peak of fun? No brainer.
Sweet hit accept and warped to the Mercenary Guild.
"You've arrived."
But the familiar voice from behind made his body go rigid.
"Ra-Raven?"
"...?"
Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, Sweet stuttered.
Raven's face flashed with puzzlement at his odd reaction.
But she soon continued her prepared lines, explaining recent events.
Once done, she got straight to the point.
"I'll hire you."
"That's..."
Thump!
He wanted to refuse, but the damn pounding made words fail him.
"You'll come with me, right?"
"Yeah. Sure."
Let's go right now.
Huh? Why are my words coming out normal all of a sudden?
The moment he saw her eye smile...
The thumping, the tension—all vanished.
This comfort. This normalized heart.
Sweet hired a coachman alongside Raven.
"I'll cover the cost."
He paid in her stead and boarded the carriage together.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Main Story - Conversation] [Main Story - Skip Travel] Reason screamed to pick skip travel.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Proceeding to Main Story - Conversation.] Yet his body wouldn't obey.
"Huu... Should be safe inside the carriage."
Raven, who had been in male disguise, released her transformation.
Her true form emerged, and Sweet unequipped the ring he wore.
He handed it to her casually, playing it off.
"Thanks for saving me back in the Darkness-Devouring Forest."
No deeper meaning.
Thankfully, self-censorship kicked in before he blurted more, and he shut his mouth.
"The ring... Pfft."
Raven took it with a small laugh.
"Do you know what it means in the Raven Kingdom to gift a ring to an unmarried woman?"
"No clue."
Sweet answered honestly.
As if she'd expected that, Raven flashed a radiant smile and murmured softly.
"It's a confession."
Confession.
The unexpected answer wrecked Sweet's heart all over again.