Exploring the Map
Exploring the Map
There was a term: map exploration.
It referred to the act of traveling a game's world to find scenic views or hidden elements.
Among them were so-called map explorers—people who didn't properly play the game and only explored the map—and [Demon's Saga] was no exception.
No, if anything, there were more of them because it was a virtual reality game. The outstanding graphics and vast world were entertaining just to look at.
Despite penalties like experience loss on death, loss of some items, and being unable to log in for a set period, plenty of players headed to high-level zones just to sightsee.
The forest next to the Empire, named the 'Forbidden Forest' in the game, was one such place.
It was a considerably high-level zone, but there were quite a few people who enjoyed the thrill of the forest and its monsters.
While map-exploring as usual, one user put up a post saying they'd discovered something strange.
And because of that post, the forum was in the middle of debating the topic for a long while.
+
[Could this be a hidden NPC?]
This game's got tons of hidden stuff
Isn't that actually something the devs secretly hid, like an NPC or whatever?
Maybe a native who lives in that forest...
+
[Does that even make sense?? Why the hell would a dev randomly hide an NPC there, I don't get it]
[↳ fr, the monster levels there must be insane. Would a person live there? The paths are all tangled too—it looks tough as hell to survive]
[↳ This game puts crazy emphasis on plausibility. To live in a forest like that, there'd have to be a compelling reason. Either they're strong enough to survive there, or there's some other explanation. Plus, from the silhouette it looked like a guy—would a guy really have a reason to live in that harsh of an environment?]
[↳ fr if I were a guy I'd just live in the city sucking women dry lmao]
[↳ fr lol]
+
[It's probably just a glitch or a shop]
Idk but OP's really good at baiting;
+
[fr lol]
[100% photoshop, that fucker faked it to get a featured post]
[Honestly, isn't it just them seeing things? Turned out to be some other object that coincidentally looked like a person]
[↳ But for that to be the case, the silhouette's way too human?]
[↳ Yeah it kinda is...]
[↳ Actually, it's a ghost dundun. The grudges of a guy who died in the forest made him show up in the photo dundun]
[↳ gasp]
[↳ Turns out it was a creepypasta lmaooo]
Every kind of speculation came out.
It's an NPC. It's photoshopped. No, it's just a creepypasta. And so on. The mysterious photo taken in the forest was more than enough to draw people's interest.
The best way would be to go and confirm it directly, but unfortunately, there still wasn't a single high-level player who could run hunts in the 'Forbidden Forest' yet.
As with most topics that came up on the internet, this one started to cool down fast, half-concluding it was a shop or a creepypasta...
+
[But how weak was that Demon's Saga newb to die to a mere boar?]
Just what level were they lol
+
[Dunno, maybe around level 15?]
[↳ level 15 lmao]
[↳ So a total scrub lmao]
[↳ This is why map explorers smh...]
[↳ Bet they lowered their Assimilation Rate to shit like a total coward wwww]
[Hey you fucks, do boars look like a joke to you?]
In the end, only the OP got shit on like a dog.
*
I secured the boar. I didn't even need to exert much effort.
Since it wasn't a mutated one, I could just run up, swing my spear once, and finish it.
"Thanks to that, I can head back soon."
It was a shame she died, but thanks to that, I secured food. Now all I had to do was move the hunted game back to my dwelling...
"...Huh?"
I was thinking that when it happened.
Suddenly, an anomaly occurred with the woman's corpse.
The body that had looked like a cold corpse began to glow brighter, the light particles slowly erasing her.
The motes of light drifting up into the sky were even beautiful at a glance. All that remained was a single set of her clothes, which seemed entirely useless.
Of course, having witnessed that right before my eyes, I was wholly bewildered.
"...The hell?"
What the fuck.
Do people normally turn into light particles and ascend to heaven when they die?
No. Even if I hadn't seen many human corpses, the other corpses had stayed as they were.
So what I'd just seen was clearly an anomalous phenomenon.
"Seriously, what the...?"
Because of it, I could do nothing but stand there in a daze for a while.
*
Two months had already passed since then.
I'd salt-cured the boar meat, and I was able to learn about the anomalous phenomenon from a few months ago.
That was because I'd gone to the city once in the intervening two months.
Maybe because it turned out to be pretty widespread info, the back-alley trader didn't even charge me a separate information fee.
—Oh, look at this guy. You still don't know about that? Have you been shut away training in some deep forest or something?
—Hahaha...
—Good grief. I mean, I get it, but for your info to be this slow...
—How much for the information?
—Forget it. It's something everyone knows; why bother taking money for it?
—Surprising. I thought in this neighborhood, you'd do anything for money.
—You bought a lot of stuff. For that amount, I can show you this much goodwill. Well, if you're really grateful, how about giving me your body once, keheheh...
In the end, I flicked a small pebble at that information broker, but that was a minor thing.
Anyway, the information I got that way was pretty shocking.
Otherworlders had appeared in the world.
They came from a world different from ours, and when they died, their bodies didn't remain, and they'd even resurrect a few days later—these Otherworlders.
And it wasn't just a few at a time; tens of thousands of them appeared all at once.
Because it was such an enormous event, even if you went to some far-off countryside, everyone knew about it, apparently.
I was the only one who hadn't known, living as I did in a truly isolated area.
Thanks to that, the world had been in chaos, but since a fair amount of time had passed by now, they said everyone had adapted to some degree.
The nations' swift response in handling it was also a big reason. And the fact that most of the Otherworlders were, for now, gentle people played a huge part as well.
Of course, the nations had mountains of things to sort out, but that was another world's story to me.
Having heard the whole tale, I smacked my forehead.
'So that thing back then had been an Otherworlder.'
The puzzle pieces roughly fit together now.
No wonder she'd seemed to throw her life away so carelessly. It was because she could resurrect anyway.
Resurrection... that was fucking broken.
"Ah, so I should have used the skill back then..."
After finishing the deal, as I was returning to the forest, I had these thoughts alone.
I felt like I had a rough idea of how to use the 'Player's Eye' I'd obtained last time.
I had to use it not when I was alone, but when an Otherworlder was nearby.
Because I wasn't seeing through my own eyes, but through Player's Eye.
So here, one question arose.
What were Otherworlders?
Just who were they, and in what manner had they come here?
And just where had they come from?
Thinking about it carefully, I was also an Otherworlder. Since I wasn't a human who had originally lived here, but a human who died and was reborn.
If they were a similar sort...
'Could I try meeting them...?'
A tempting thought flickered past for a moment. But I shook my head not long after.
No, I couldn't. It was better to leave curiosity as curiosity.
There was no way I could comfortably meet humans I still had no proper information on, especially ones who were interacting with each of the nations.
If they knew the concept of 'Demon's Blood' and started treating me as an enemy, I might end up considerably inconvenienced.
I had to keep it in mind. I was a sinner permanently exiled from society.
And the shackles that bound me were none other than the blood inside my body.
So I shouldn't get cocky and should just keep on living quietly from then on.
"Haa... Ah."
As I let out a sigh while having those thoughts, a puff of breath escaped my lips.
It was proof that the weather had gotten a lot chillier. The weather was cold. Winter was slowly approaching.
Demon's Blood did raise my survivability, but it didn't turn me into a Transcendent who couldn't feel the cold.
"I should start gathering firewood soon..."
And just in case, I'd stockpile a bit more food as well.
Organizing the various thoughts floating in my head, I returned to the cave.
The inside of the cave was, as always, just dark and lonely.
...And then another two months passed.
*
"Yu-ha! Hello, everyone!"
If it was possible to play and enjoy a game, it was also possible to watch and enjoy that gameplay.
Especially in a game with incredibly high degrees of freedom like Demon's Saga, it was possible to do various types of play and mass-produce content.
Monster strategies, raids, player PVP, seducing NPCs, map exploration, etc...
Yoo Chae-rin, a broadcaster affiliated with Ppiriri, was also one of the people who made Demon's Saga her main content.
The moment she turned on her stream, chat scrolled down the chat window in a stream.
[hihi]
[Your energy's high today lol]
[What're you doing on stream today?]
[Please don't tell me it's another hunting grind today? Please don't tell me it's another hunting grind today??]
[Let's stop the grinding, I'm sick of it, Streamer, try playing with people like other streamers...]
[Our Streamer's a social outcast so she can't~]
"Ah, don't worry, everyone! I'm not hunting today."
[Oh]
[fr?]
[Then what're you doing today?]
"Everyone, don't be surprised. Why do you think all I've done this whole time is grind my level up?"
With a bright face, she said that and revealed a skill.
One of the new skills she'd recently learned after hitting level 66.
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[Stealth (隱身)]
You, who have faced countless opponents. You now know how to evade the gaze of your opponent.
Upon casting the skill, your body will blend in with your surroundings.
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[Oh lmaoo]
[The professional peeping skill dundun]
[I heard that costs a ton of skill points, did you really grind this whole time just to take that?]
[I knew the streamer was shady but I didn't know it was to this extent...]
[I'm disappointed... Chae-rin]
"No! I didn't learn it for that reason, I learned it for new content!"
Yoo Chae-rin, who had been gradually mutating into garbage because of the chat window, hurriedly began to explain.
"Everyone, you've been asking me to do map exploration content once."
She continued speaking.
"But most places are places other people have already been to once, right? So, since I was at it, I tried to go to a place that not just anyone can easily go to."
"So where do you plan on going today?"
She spread open a map. Then, she pointed to a vast forest next to the Empire.
"Today, I'm entering the Forbidden Forest."
A place that had never once been properly explored.
No, even if you entered, most died unable to pass the Middle Layer. One of the maps exclusively for high levels.
"As deep as I can go."
Exploring the Forbidden Forest.
That was her main content for today.