It has already been 13 months since the [Demon’s Saga] opened.
During that time, user levels have increased significantly.
I can feel it myself.
After all, the number of people entering this forest has definitely grown.
Of course, most of them end up dying, but at least they thought it was worth a shot.
This is proof that levels have indeed risen.
Well, considering they keep coming back, it was expected they would level up quickly.
But who would have thought?
‘She’s already hit level 100.’
I wasn’t dismissing her outright.
To be honest, Yoo Chaerin seemed to have quite a bit of talent.
Sometimes, her fighting boldness and judgment were surprisingly impressive.
It’s just amazing that someone close to me has already reached level 100.
After all, her level was over 80 when she caught that mutated rabbit last time.
It’s been over four months since then, so reaching level 100 should be reasonable.
Looking at it this way, it seems slightly slow.
‘But what does level 100 even mean?’
Curious, I asked her.
“Well, you’d probably be among the top of B-ranked adventurers.”
I got that answer. B-ranked adventurers.
It’s one step below A-ranked, but it’s definitely not a rank you can ignore.
These are the top players among those who fight for a living.
The otherworlders have now ascended to the ranks of the strong by this world’s standards.
Of course, they wouldn’t stand a chance against S-ranked adventurers or captain-level monsters…
But it’s still impressive, nonetheless.
Lost in thought, another question popped into my mind.
“By the way, how high is the rank of the top otherworlder right now?”
“Oh, the number one in the rankings? Let’s see… it’s about 118 now. They’ve been A-ranked for quite a while.”
“…Hmm.”
I let out a thoughtful hum.
That was indeed high.
An A-ranked adventurer just a year after otherworlders appeared, their growth rate is incredibly fast.
But somehow… it feels like there’s a bit of a slowdown.
Four months ago, Yoo Chaerin told me the number one was level 103.
And yet, more than four months later, they’ve only leveled up by 15.
Did those guys not play the game seriously? That’s not likely.
If you’re at the top of the rankings, you’ve definitely poured time and money into the game, but to only gain that little level is puzzling.
Did she catch that too? Before I could even ask, she provided an answer.
“Well, apparently, growth significantly slows down at around level 95. I took a long time to get past that point myself.”
True, it’s common knowledge in games that leveling up becomes harder as you progress.
But unlike some games, you can’t farming monsters infinitely here.
It’s not just a simple click; players have to move themselves.
If individuals don’t have the skill to match the physicality of the rampaging monsters, they’ll fall behind.
Naturally, barriers appear, and there’s no escaping that. From this point on, it must be breached through talent or effort.
Moreover, it seems no otherworlders are currently using ‘sword energy.’
It looks like having skill points doesn’t mean you can indiscriminately learn skills either.
‘Phew, thank goodness.’
Hearing that, I let out a small sigh of relief inside.
I was worried that the otherworlders would rapidly level up and take my position.
Fortunately, it seems it will still take some time for that to happen.
After all, I’ve recently started to question, ‘Am I actually the weak one…?’
Of course, I consider myself relatively strong, but after continuously bumping into demons, I can’t help but worry a bit.
Anyway, after hearing her story, I congratulated her a bit.
“Anyway, congratulations on hitting level 100. To be honest, I don’t really know much about otherworlder levels, but that should be pretty high, right?”
So she probably came to brag about it.
She must have wanted some praise or something along those lines.
She often comes over for trivial reasons like that.
After giving her a slight compliment and some small talk, she would usually go back on her way.
That’s what I thought.
But it seemed she had another reason for visiting today.
She fidgeted and looked at me.
Her expression suggested she had something more to say.
I tilted my head curiously and asked.
“What?”
“Well, I have a favor to ask…”
*
[Yoo Ha]
[Yoo-ha~]
[We’re together again today www]
[Chaerin, I hate you. Every time I see you, my world crumbles.]
The chatroom in front of me was scrolling rapidly.
A bright red recording light was flashing before my eyes.
Yor thought it had been a while since he appeared on her stream.
[Yor, did you know? The owner ditched me to hang out with another guy.]
[Me]
[His name was Johan, but he had a nice voice, lol.]
[Rock]
[How dare she take a break and secretly travel with a guy?]
[No way, that’s already been caught on Kim Mari’s stream!]
[Me]
[Ugh, I need to tell the oppa about this….]
[Rock]
As soon as the stream began, her viewers were already ready to set things ablaze.
I could see them all, but I ignored them like usual.
Luckily, it didn’t seem like the crazy thing I did last time was going to be exposed.
[But if I knew, I think I would want to try it too, lol.]
…I tried my best to brush off such comments from my mind.
“Hey, everyone, can we just be quiet for a second? Do you want me to hit pause?”
Fortunately, Chaerin managed to tame this sudden firestorm with some authority.
Normally, being forceful with chat control during a broadcast isn’t great for viewer sentiment.
But Chaerin wasn’t worried.
The content we were planning would surely calm the viewers.
Currently, they were facing each other in a wide clearing in the forest.
It looked like they were about to fight.
Actually, they each held their own daggers.
Yor twirled his dagger and asked her, “So, you want to spar with me…?”
[Wow]
[That’s a cute way to say you want to die.]
At first, I was unsure what that meant. What kind of cute words were those?
No matter how you looked at it, the level difference was clear.
Of course, she wasn’t serious about trying to win.
Rather, she wanted to learn from him.
She hesitated and opened her mouth.
“Yes, actually, I’ve been feeling some barriers lately.”
Though her level was still rising,
to be honest, the level she gained wasn’t entirely fair.
Rather than fighting monsters at her own level, she was mostly hunting weaker monsters to level up.
Just how can there be such a stark difference between monsters at levels 80 to 90 and those at level 100…?
She has talent, but it feels challenging to face monsters of equal level.
And that’s a huge issue in a skill-based game like [Demon’s Saga].
It means she might hit her limits someday.
In fact, this was evidenced by the earlier top-ranking players.
Those who sprinted forward by farming monsters eventually fell behind over time.
Chaerin thought her future might not be so different from theirs.
That’s why she asked Yor for a spar.
At least, he was the strongest she knew within her capabilities.
Though his main weapon was a spear, his knowledge of daggers played a part.
Surely he could suggest a concrete way forward.
Of course, she agreed to pay him later in pizza bread—around three pieces.
“Then, shall we begin…?”
After explaining the content lightly to the viewers, Chaerin gripped her dagger in reverse.
In the distance, Yor nodded, seemingly relaxed.
She charged toward him.
…And to cut to the chase, she got utterly wrecked.
She didn’t land a single effective blow.
Thanks to his generous timing, she managed to get one attack in after five minutes, but that was all before she was downed.
The gap in skill was overwhelming.
How is this even possible? Are you even human?
Though, I guess, considering he’s ‘Demon’s Blood,’ it’s a bit ambiguous to call him human.
“Haah, haah, how was it…? Did you see any areas for improvement…?”
Chaerin panted and asked.
The response was shocking.
“…Well.”
“?”
“I don’t know. How would I know by just watching?”
After all, he’d never really had any combat training.
Did he learn from a knight, or did some adventurer pass down skills to him?
He just swung around randomly, and it turned out like this.
…Still, while he hadn’t trained formally, he at least knew the fastest way to improve your skills.
And that was through practice.
If you keep clashing, you’ll figure it out eventually. At least that’s how he survived.
“Take a break and then come at me again. No, how about I attack this time?”
“…Huh?”
Chaerin looked bewildered as she responded.
And thus, her hellish training began.
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