Uninvited Guest

"Time was going by fucking fast these days."

Dantalion had been resurrected.

And a whole week had already passed since I'd heard that news.

Why did time fly so damn quickly in this world? It felt as though someone was pressing a skip button.

Didn't that just mean my daily life was peaceful?

Leisure time, by its nature, always flew by fast.

'I hoped it would stay like this.'

Of course, that wasn't a bad thing. In fact, it was extremely good.

No one hates peaceful days.

Perhaps because Dantalion was drawing all the aggro, there were few people visiting the forest these days.

The supply of Holy Water had been cut off again, admittedly...

'Well, it would probably be lifted later.'

I decided to just think comfortably for now. Looking back at my past experiences, the Holy Water restrictions were always lifted once the demon was dead.

So, my strategy was to just hold out for the time being.

If I were being honest, I wanted to go out and see the demon for myself, but I couldn't.

Unfortunately, I had too much work to do right then.

"Haaah..."

I let out a breath. A faint puff of vapor escaped my lips.

It had already been 14 months since the Otherworlders had appeared here.

Before I knew it, the world was preparing to face its second winter.

*

Yeopyeop thought her luck had been incredibly good lately.

Just a few days ago, she had spun the story of participating in Dantalion's rescue, racking up over 6,000 viewers.

Of course, she'd gotten pilloried by the community, who asked if she was the one who'd barged in and ruined the subjugation...

But still, her recognition had gone up, and she'd earned a ton of donations.

She'd certainly profited from it.

So, she had intended to coast for a while, milking her 'eyewitness account of Dantalion' story, but...

'I had never thought I'd end up doing a live broadcast right next to him.'

As her words suggested, she had her stream on at that moment.

And she was right next to Dantalion. Thanks to that, red dots (RED) were floating all around her.

[lol]

[Hey Yeop]

[you son of a bitch, you like siding with the cult, do you? Yeah, you like that shit?]

[↳ Banned by a manager.]

[What's with her turning on the in-game cam today? She usually does home-cam because she's scared of getting caught]

[A stream sucking the blood of NPCs~ Wow, that must be so fun~?]

[↳ ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Banned by a manager.]

[Wait, but isn't that a demon next to her? o.O]

She could see a flood of viewer chats.

The recent incident had caused quite an influx of people. To be precise, it was less an influx and more a mob of trolls coming to insult her.

'Whatever.'

The viewer count was going up anyway, so she saw it as a good thing.

The more people watching, the higher the probability of hitting the platform's main page. Of course, those bastards were probably just coming to curse her out, but either way, it made her money.

What's more, the one who had allowed this broadcast was none other than Dantalion.

As she was calming the chat window down for a moment, one of the cultists walking with her spoke up.

"Um... Lord Dantalion. Is it truly acceptable to let this bitch broadcast like this?"

"Why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do you ask? Do you have a complaint about my decision?"

"N-no, not at all. It's just... I was worried whether it's safe to inform people during a mission, so I asked."

They were currently a five-person team walking through the Forbidden Forest.

The reason, obviously, was to find an altar located somewhere in this forest.

Regrettably, aside from the demon, there were no particularly strong individuals among them.

At best, the strongest was around Zone Leader level. The Branch Leader-level figures were all busy, and even knights couldn't easily enter this forest.

Since this was a region difficult to be surrounded in, they could enter with a smaller force this time.

Though it was still surprising that a broadcast was allowed, all things considered...

"Well, isn't it amusing."

Ultimately, since it was a net gain for Yeopyeop, she decided to just keep quiet and coast along.

Had someone posted the broadcast on a community forum? Yeopyeop's viewer count was growing exponentially.

She briefly glanced over to check the number of viewers, and her eyes widened.

'Whoa, 8,000...!'

That was a figure that usually required the scale of a major corporation streamer to hit.

And that number was now reaching her. Even if it was a chance to witness Dantalion in person, she never expected to draw this much of a crowd.

What was even more surprising was that the viewer count was still climbing at this very moment.

If this kept up, surpassing ten thousand viewers wouldn't be a pipe dream.

Though a third of them were probably trolls, of course.

Yeopyeop ran her hopium circuits internally for a moment.

'I hoped I could run into that NPC while we were at it.'

'That NPC' naturally referred to Yor.

By now, he was a familiar NPC to countless players, but that didn't mean the interest in him had decreased.

On a stream, good looks were practically a cheat code, and despite being a 'man', he was a powerful figure that wasn't easy to see.

Of course, the exact extent of his strength hadn't been precisely revealed yet, but... at any rate, it was certain he was at least at the A-Rank Adventurer level.

Plus, there was the unique factor that he lived in this forest. Just meeting him once was a guaranteed view count goldmine.

With all sorts of thoughts running through her head, she moved her steps deeper into the forest.

Fortunately ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for her, that wish was quickly granted.

While walking along the path, a pit suddenly appeared before her eyes.

*

There was one thing I always repeated whenever winter approached: stockpiling food.

Winters were short, sure, but that didn't mean animals roamed around like alpha males.

So, I had to hunt as much as possible before the animals went into hibernation.

And luckily, I'd been able to finish that task a bit earlier this time.

Hunting had become somewhat easier lately. Even though the Unicorn was dead, the enhanced hearing it had left behind was still proving quite useful.

If I focused my mind fully on my ears, I could hear even the sounds of small animals like rabbits or squirrels scampering around. With such sensitive senses, it was only natural that hunting became easier.

Thus, I had procured most of my winter food supplies.

All that was left was to salt and cure the meat. To preserve it, I had to sterilize it first, after all.

'It felt like it had been a while since I'd done this.'

As a result, I'd been holed up in my cave since the early afternoon.

Sprinkling salt onto the meat like this almost felt like I was making kimchi for the winter. Though I didn't think I'd ever made kimchi in my previous life.

"...Hm?"

It was right when I was completely absorbed in the work.

Murmur, murmur.

A sudden commotion came from outside the cave. It sounded like people talking; I could hear a mixture of voices. Startled, I hastily focused my attention on my hearing.

"Hey, how far are we going in? Honestly, anything past this point is kinda dangerous..."

"How should I know? Aren't we just following the direction the arm points?"

The voices sounded quite close. I guessed I'd missed them because I'd been too absorbed in the meat curing.

This was a flaw in the ability the Unicorn had given me. If I wasn't concentrating, my hearing naturally weakened.

"I can feel the Demonic Energy getting stronger the deeper we go. Won't our destination appear eventually? Please, let's everyone try not to be so impatient."

"N-no. I'm sorry..."

I frowned. Another uninvited guest intruding on my peaceful daily life.

What was worse was that the voices were getting closer and closer.

Which meant they were walking straight toward my cave.

"Damn it."

I muttered a curse. Why, of all directions, this way?

People entering the forest didn't bother me. I'd been getting used to that slowly.

But my home being exposed was a completely different problem.

Still, they hadn't come inside the cave yet.

I hastily concealed my presence. I had camouflaged the cave, after all.

I'd once scattered dirt on the roof and covered it with leaves so it would look like a simple pit instead of a cave entrance.

If I was lucky, they might just walk right past it.

"Tch, the arm is pointing this way."

"Is it pointing inside that hole, or beyond that cave?"

"I don't know. We just have to check, don't we?"

But as if telling me to give up that dream, the party stopped precisely near my cave.

"Tsk."

I clicked my tongue.

Would it be better to just let these bastards enter the cave, or should I go out first and at least show my face?

The deliberation was short. I hurriedly gathered my equipment and stepped outside to meet them.

They were already right in front of the cave. The five-person party saw me and immediately made surprised ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expressions.

"Oh?"

"What the—why did a man just suddenly come out of the forest?"

"Ah, might that be him? The one the Branch Leaders were gathering and holding a meeting about last time..."

I quickly scanned each of their faces. Seeing as the word 'Branch Leader' was used, they were probably from Lemegeton.

That wasn't all I noticed. In fact, there was one bastard who stood out the moment I saw them.

A male with a small, slight build and facial muscles that were visibly twitching in real-time.

This trait was so distinctive that I'd already been briefed about him. Thanks to that, I could recognize him immediately.

He spotted me, and his eyes glinted with interest.

"Ho-oh?"

The demon, Dantalion, was standing right in front of me without warning.