Popular NPC in a Gender-Reversed Game

Chapter 69

“Haah... haah...”

Heavy breaths echoed through the air.

Dantalion, having exited the forest, spoke.

“This expedition has failed.”

Though a smile still hung on his face, the atmosphere was anything but pleasant.

Blood was still pouring from the ear he had lost. Even a demon could feel pain, as I could see the corners of his eyes twitching.

It seemed that every time I met that human, the demons’ bodies ended up suffering.

At least it was a relief that it was just his ear that was cut off, unlike the other cases.

While it might be uncomfortable, it wouldn't hinder his combat abilities.

“There are truly many strong humans in the human world. I never expected to find someone like that in such a forest.”

“... Indeed.”

Harold nodded slightly, agreeing. He then briefly imagined the last image of Yor he had seen—the fierce killing intent he had exuded along with that glowing red spear.

The sight of an opponent serious about life and death was akin to that of a wild beast.

Even someone as proud of having lived a tough life as him flinched slightly in the face of such pressure.

To begin with, the very fact that he could inflict wounds on a demon proved his strength.

Of course, he could confront them.

“What shall we do? Should we gather our forces again? If it’s related to the altar, other division leaders will surely lend their strength as well.”

“No need. Given the situation, let’s temporarily hold off on searching for the altar in the forest.”

There were too many variables. Thanks to Andromalius’s arm, they had a rough idea of the direction, but that was it.

They had no clue whether it was inside the cave or beyond it.

It was better to search later. There was no way to deploy excessive forces in such an uncertain situation.

If they lost anyone, it would become quite a headache.

What was intriguing was that it wasn’t Harold who was contemplating this but Dantalion himself.

A demon, clearly, was now worrying about his losses.

Harold had several questions in mind.

“Dantalion, I apologize for my presumptuous question, but may I ask why you allowed the broadcast?”

“Ah, it’s for publicity.”

His face transformed, shifting subtly. Even though one of his ears had been severed, the distortion of his face didn’t stop.

Though, of course, his ear wouldn’t regenerate.

“Although it diverged from my original plan... my intention was to showcase your group and gather even more followers.”

“I see... However, you already have quite a few followers. There’s no need for you to go to such lengths to gather more.”

“No, I need even more. Much more than I have now.”

Harold glanced at Dantalion. There was a peculiar longing in his eyes.

Carefully, Harold asked him.

“What do you intend to do...?”

“I plan to establish a kingdom.”

Dantalion’s dark eyes lost their focus, as if he were gazing beyond what was in front of him.

“One day, when my king descends, I want him to easily take control of the world—a kingdom that humans can hardly covet.”

“.........”

Harold silently nodded. It was an ambitious dream, but it wasn’t impossible.

It was a reasonable thought for someone seeking immense power.

“Let’s go. Other altars will appear soon anyway. We have a lot to do in the meantime.”

With that, they casually returned to their hideout.

As I mentioned before, Yor, the NPC, was quite a famous figure on the internet.

His outstanding appearance, the fact that he was a ‘man,’ and his considerable combat skills made him a being that could draw interest in various ways.

However, that alone didn’t fully explain his recognition.

The reason he attracted so much attention was remarkably simple.

It was because a fully functional ‘man’ lived in that dangerous forbidden forest.

Why was there an NPC here? Why didn’t he enter the city?

Why didn’t he live comfortably in the city and instead chose to survive in the perilous, uncomfortable woods?

From the moment he appeared in the game, people had generated numerous questions and speculations. Some were quite plausible.

[So does that mean Yor has been hiding in that forest all his life?]

Not living in the city is ultimately because he could die if he meets someone.

So he was just hiding away in the forest, trying to survive?

Wow... that’s quite something.

It was sympathy.

It was already the third goblin house I was burning.

I could feel that the goblins’ intelligence had risen quite a bit. Who would have thought they would coat their wooden houses with mud to prevent fires?

Thanks to that, I found myself momentarily flustered the first time I saw it. Their determination to not get burned for the third time was evident.

But just because they had some rudimentary intelligence didn’t mean they could escape the hands of an experienced arsonist like me.

If mud was applied to make it hard to catch fire, all I had to do was strip it away and ignite the fire.

Fortunately, the goblins with their half-baked intelligence didn’t have the skill to build a proper earthen house.

Though it took a bit of time to work under the cover of night, I managed to set their house ablaze once more.

Seeing the enraged goblins was just a bonus.

I felt a bit sorry for them, but... this way, I would be able to detect danger more easily.

“Haah...”

And so, I reinforced my defenses.

After that, what I did was prepare thoroughly.

I still hadn’t left the house.

It was true that I needed to go out soon, but there was just too much to prepare for.

I hadn’t finished organizing all the items in the storage, and finding a new dwelling would also take time.

Of course, if a hunting squad were to come in, I’d have to escape immediately... but that wasn’t the case right now.

After all, there were only a few days left until the end of the month; I couldn’t just recklessly move my residence.

So, two days passed.

Suddenly, I remembered when Im Ha-neul first discovered my identity.

At that time, I had also raised my vigilance significantly. Now, it wasn’t much different.

It had been a nerve-wracking couple of days.

Even when I tried to sleep at night, I had to worry about someone potentially breaking in. Thankfully, I had the hearing gifted to me by the unicorn.

As time went on, someone finally came to the forest.

It was the first visitor since Dantalion had left.

Step, step.

Hearing the footsteps of the approaching person, I heightened my vigilance.

Fortunately, it seemed there were only a couple of them—two at most.

I followed them to find out what brought them here.

I then encountered two otherworldly women.

They were unfamiliar faces to me. However, I didn’t feel any hostility directed at me.

“... Who are you?”

What was a bit strange was that as soon as they saw me, they made a pitiful expression.

It was as if they were looking at something unfortunate. If I added a bit of exaggeration, it felt like they might tear up at the slightest provocation.

Then the two women handed me something.

“Here, please take this.”

It was bread. A delicious-looking sausage bread that looked quite modern. Along with it were various types of bread stuffed into a paper bag.

“I thought you might like bread, so I brought some. Please continue to live strongly.”

With those words, they turned back and left the way they came.

They didn’t ask anything or try to harm me. It felt like giving me bread was the sole purpose of their visit.

“... What was that?”

I stared blankly in the direction they had disappeared.

For some reason, I felt oddly unsettled.