Fluffy
Fluffy
They said that with every meeting came a parting.
In the end, I had no choice but to send off my dear Happy.
No matter how much I wanted to hold on, I had no justification to do so.
I'd already gotten extra Holy Water and gained unexpected information. On top of that, she'd even gone along with my unreasonable demands.
Now it was time to let her go.
So I pretended to cry as I saw her off.
"Goodbye, Happy. I'll miss you. Sniff sniff."
"For the last time, my name is...! Hoo... never mind."
Contrary to my expectations, the atmosphere at our parting wasn't hostile.
Considering everything I'd done, I'd figured she'd bolt the moment I untied her.
She was parting ways with me more calmly than I'd thought.
Though she did look a little stiff, probably from being tied up all that time.
As I watched her stretch outside the cave, I recalled the conversation we'd had a few hours ago.
'She said they'd pinpointed Dantalion's location and would send a proper subjugation squad soon.'
Even if she didn't know the Knight Order's deepest secrets, she wasn't completely clueless. She'd shared a lot of genuinely helpful information.
The reason they still hadn't caught Dantalion was that the bastard, un-demon-like, kept hiding here and there.
Thanks to that, civilian casualties had been low, but the other nations couldn't help being on edge.
Because the quiet was precisely what suggested he was gathering strength somewhere.
During their search, they'd finally discovered Dantalion.
The knights planned to march on an expedition without delay.
'I won't have to deal with any bother for a while...'
Though I didn't know how long that would last.
Anyway, there was plenty of other information too. What tempted me the most was that she received a supply of Holy Water from the knights once or twice a month.
Even though I'd gotten three bottles of Holy Water, it still felt a bit lacking.
To be honest, I wanted to just make a contract and trade with her outright.
'Should I ask...?'
Of course, I hadn't asked yet. No matter what, even I had a conscience.
Given everything I'd already done, it wasn't easy to bring it up.
'Ah, screw it, let's just ask.'
But that hesitation was brief. I opened my mouth.
Yeah, since when did I take such good care of my conscience.
"Say... that Holy Water you get every month. Any chance you'd trade it with me?"
"...What?"
"Don't worry. I'll pay you handsomely. I'll at least give you more than the market rate."
"Hah, honestly. Do you really think I'd trade with you, a Manifestor?"
She frowned and looked at me. I nodded with a glum expression.
"Yeah, figured as much... well, forget it."
I honestly hadn't expected much. After all, she was on the Knight Order's side.
"Ahem..."
But that silence was short-lived. Soon she cleared her throat and spoke.
"Well... if you just promise not to lock me up again. I might bring some... occasionally."
"Oh, really?"
My face lit up when I heard that.
Since it had been a question I'd asked without any expectations, the unexpected joy was all the greater.
What on earth had changed her mind and made her accept the offer?
Maybe she'd gotten Stockholm Syndrome or something. Whatever it was, it worked out well for me.
So I grinned from ear to ear and massaged her shoulders.
"Ayy, how could I possibly harm my valued supplier? Don't you worry, just bring it on by."
"Let go, let go..."
And that was how I secured a new supply route.
*
About ten more days passed like that.
It was almost time to prepare for this month's Berserk condition.
And this time, unlike last time, I planned to endure the Berserk right here in this cave.
I'd already confirmed during the last pit episode that a beast could wander in during Berserk.
Last time, it had just been a rabbit and it had ended in humiliation, but if some vicious creature came in, Yor would be in serious trouble.
So this time I'd endure it in my original spot.
Even if the location had been exposed... it was comfortable here.
And besides, people couldn't easily come looking for me at night.
Fortunately, no intruders had visited my cave in the last ten days.
That was probably largely because I'd beaten the rank-1 Han-byeol last time.
The 5 million gold bounty on his head was certainly a lot of money, but a reckless challenge would clearly only bring losses. The Otherworlders could figure out that sort of cost-benefit.
Thanks to that, Yor was actually spending his days more peacefully than expected.
'Probably won't be anything special this time either.'
Splash.
Thinking that, Yor submerged his body deep into the pool.
It was the pleasant bath time that came after finishing the day's work.
Conveniently, tonight was also the night of the new moon, so I planned to wrap up the day a little early.
Whether A or B burst out, stamina was crucial for enduring it.
"Hoo..."
The pleasant water temperature wrapped around my whole body. It seemed like it had been worth the trouble of heating the water.
Thinking about tonight immediately soured my mood, but at least the tension itself was easing.
It was while I was languidly enjoying my bath.
"Yor...! Where are you?"
Suddenly I heard Chae-rin's voice from far away.
It was the time for her regular visits. The timing was just especially bad this time.
'What?'
Yor panicked and tried to get out of the bath.
Even as he did, Chae-rin was striding closer.
Since I hadn't been focusing on my hearing, her footsteps sounded quite near.
If there was one thing that had changed little by little over time, it was Chae-rin's wariness.
It had already been nearly a full year since she'd gotten to know him. Naturally, she'd come to this cave dozens of times.
As such, she couldn't help but grow familiar with the place.
And since Yor wasn't the type to make a fuss about her just walking into his home... the catastrophe was an inevitability.
"What, you were here...?"
Just as Yor got out of the bath, Chae-rin appeared before his eyes. Her beaming face quickly hardened.
Her eyes shook violently.
Yor smacked his forehead. What was this, some kind of lucky pervert scene?
Reflexively he moved to cover his lower half... then immediately stopped.
'No, no...'
Because when he thought about it, that seemed like a terribly gay thing to do. Covering his lower half with an eek and a shriek wasn't manly.
Instead, he activated Player's Eye. It was an unconscious action.
No matter who it was, if the other party was an Otherworlder, turning on Player's Eye first had become a habit.
Fortunately, there was no chat window visible, so she probably wasn't streaming.
Instead, I saw something a little unusual.
[Would you like to unlock 19+ Mode?]
[YES / NO]
Along with that text, a cloudy haze was draped over my own imposing cannon.
An artificial cloud that could never occur naturally. And it couldn't possibly be clustered together in one mass like that.
Just in case, Yor briefly deactivated Player's Eye.
Then his imposing cannon came back into view.
'...Is it only visible through the system?'
Thinking that, Yor reactivated Player's Eye.
Either way, there no longer seemed to be any reason to cover up.
"Uh, um..."
Meanwhile, around that moment, Yoo Chae-rin had fallen into deep distress.
First of all, she knew the current situation was completely fucked.
Hadn't she just walked into his house without a second thought and suddenly seen a naked "man"?
If this were real life, not only would she get dragged to the police station, she'd have a red line drawn through her name and no room to argue.
But the reason sex crimes happened in the world was usually because someone couldn't control their inner desires. Lust had such an addictive nature.
She was no different.
An extremely stimulating sight was spread out before her eyes.
Sculpted muscles, a six-pack carved into his stomach, a dark-red tattoo on his collarbone contrasting with his pale white skin.
And further down, the male vital region was shrouded in a fluff-fluff cloud.
Gulp.
Her throat moved noticeably. Her index finger trembled in front of the system window.
The system window in front of her eyes was tempting her.
[Would you like to unlock 19+ Mode?]
[YES / NO]
Just once. She only had to pretend she hadn't noticed and click it once.
Then she could see the forbidden territory hidden behind that cloud. The situation had already happened anyway; since things were already fucked, she figured it wouldn't hurt to take a look just this once.
Chae-rin was just about to unwittingly press YES.
"Hold it right there. If you move any further, I'm actually going to force a log-out."
But at his murderous words from in front of her, Chae-rin had no choice but to come to her senses.
Once her reason returned, the cold reality was right before her eyes.
She immediately dropped to her knees on the floor and apologized.
"Ah, aah! I'm sorry!"
"Hoo..."
Yor let out a deep sigh.
Even Yor was momentarily confused about how to react in this sort of situation.
*
"...So, what did you come here for?"
After the brief incident was over, Chae-rin and I sat across from each other.
For now, I decided to bury what had just happened.
It had been an accident anyway, and the fact was that I'd been careless too.
I'd feel a bit weird nitpicking every little thing like this.
There was nothing to gain from it either, so I decided to just let it go.
"..."
Of course, that didn't mean she was comfortable.
She was sitting on her knees the whole time like a criminal.
Even more than that, whatever she was thinking about, her face was still flushed. She was clearly thinking about something else.
After waiting for a long while, I called out to her again.
"Hey."
"Ah, yes?"
"I asked what you came here for today."
Only then did she hesitantly open her mouth.
"Umm... today's the night the new moon rises, right?"
"It is."
"So I came because... I was thinking we could endure it together like last time."
At those words, I was briefly moved.
Because what she'd said was something I was truly grateful to hear.
But at the same time, I hesitated slightly. Frankly speaking, it wasn't a pleasant sight to behold.
Last time the circumstances had coincided and I'd kept her with me, but.
Honestly, Berserk A wasn't something to show someone else often. Just looking at it drained your Mental Power.
I appreciated the sentiment, but I felt I had to refuse.
And today, the probability of Berserk B was also quite high. If B were to trigger while someone in their right mind was present?
'Ugh...'
Then I wasn't confident I could hold myself back.
"Thanks for the thought, but it's fine. I'll manage on my own tonight."
"Ah, okay..."
And so I sent her back.
And that night, Berserk B came calling.
*
"Hoo..."
After leaving the forest like that, Chae-rin logged out and lay down on her bed.
Perhaps because of what had happened today, Chae-rin's expression was endlessly gloomy.
'This isn't how it was supposed to go...'
Originally she'd planned to just casually chat and then endure the Berserk together with him.
But an incident had broken out in the middle for no reason, and now the mood had turned awkward.
Of course, Yor had said it was fine, but Chae-rin's own conscience was pricking her for no reason.
Even if he was usually easygoing, no matter how you looked at it, there was no way a "man" would be indifferent after showing his naked body. Maybe she'd gotten kicked out for that very reason.
So Chae-rin blamed herself for no reason.
'Augh, if only I'd been a little more careful going in...!'
If she just hadn't walked in without thinking, that incident wouldn't have happened.
Of course, the body of his she'd seen that way was incredibly hot.
To what degree? Enough that it would rank high even compared to any lewd art she'd ever seen.
The scene she'd witnessed today had that much destructive power.
On the other hand, a thought like this also occurred to her.
'And he endures that all alone...'
It was about the Berserk condition.
The scene from last time of Yor slicing into his own flesh still remained as a shock in her heart. It had looked that painful, and that lonely.
And Yor was saying he would endure that alone again.
The time in [Demon's Saga] flowed at a 1:1 ratio with reality, regardless of login status.
When she thought of him groaning in pain all through the night, a feeling of pity welled up inside her.
Still, for the last two months, he'd been taking refuge in the pit, so hadn't she been unable to stay by his side?
Which meant she hadn't even gotten to use the Night Vision she'd learned for that very purpose.
Leaving him on his own over a mere incident, she couldn't help feeling concerned about it.
Of course, she'd already been refused once, but...
So she lay on her bed and agonized for a while.
Would it be better to go find him after all, or better to leave him alone today like he said?
The agonizing went on for quite a while.
From when the sun was still up, until the view outside the window had grown dim before she knew it.
At last, when night fell and she looked out the window and couldn't see the moon, she made up her mind.
'Yeah, let's just go back.'
Wouldn't staying with him be better than letting him endure it alone?
She'd go and apologize again for what had happened during the day.
Thus she climbed back inside the Capsule.
And then she began running through the dark forest toward Yor once more.