In 2046, a virtual reality game almost identical to reality is said to be released.
Gamers absolutely love this story.
Because every gamer harbors dreams of virtual reality.
Amidst such dreams, a studio previously unheard of made its entrance.
They released a VR game and uploaded a video flaunting the phrase ‘Another Reality’.
The title of the game was written as follows in the video:
[Demon’s Saga]
Overwhelming graphics! Overwhelming map size!
Completely autonomous NPCs designed by high-performance AI!!!
The world of Demon’s Saga appeared magnificent and enchanting in the video.
The premise of becoming an adventurer and defeating sealed demons scattered across the world was cliché, but I liked it.
It’s no surprise that pre-registered users began to snowball in numbers. After a long wait… the game was finally released.
As expected, the community was a frenzy due to the high expectations.
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[Finally out, lol]
Let’s dive in, lol
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[I’m going to slaughter all those demon bastards, lol]
[The first warrior’s charge will be mine!]
[Shit… I’ll be leaving two hours late because of overtime.]
[You dumbass, lol]
[I’m wasting half my life, www]
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[Is it true that this game has an Adult 19+ Mode?]
I feel like I’ve heard something about it somewhere
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[Surprisingly, it’s true!]
[Yeah, surprisingly it’s a game-supported feature]
[But they say it can only be unlocked in certain situations, so don’t get your hopes up for our hermit gamer.]
[Shut it, how do you know anything about me?]
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[Wow, look at the graphics, damn!]
Wow, check out the sound, damn! Wow, the sensory representation, damn!
It feels so real!
But the character designs are just average…
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[???: “Another Reality”]
[No need to make the NPCs look that good, right?]
[I logged in for a bit, and it’s really a mess;]
[There are so many people in the tutorial area, lol]
[No way it’s not lagging with this many people around?]
[Not even lag with those graphics?!]
[Did they somehow swap in aliens or something?]
Posts were coming in by the second.
It felt like everyone in the world was talking about Demon’s Saga. That’s how high its popularity was.
It had nicely satisfied gamers’ expectations.
Thanks to that, the player count for Demon’s Saga skyrocketed…
Two months passed like that.
*
[Condition not met!]
[Currently, “Player’s Eye” cannot be used!]
“What the hell is this?”
It had already been two months since the system window appeared before me.
It was the first system window to manifest after dropping into this world for 22 years, and I still had no clue what it was.
Who knew something like this could exist?
Okay, a holographic window appearing is nice.
But what good is it if I can’t use it?
I couldn’t see the usual stat windows or level displays at all.
The only thing I could see was that “Player’s Eye” trait, but… the conditions for using it weren’t met.
“Still, something has definitely changed.”
Otherwise, this wouldn’t have just suddenly shown up.
It was really inconvenient being in the forest at a time like this. Even if I wanted to gather information, there weren’t many places to do so.
“Maybe I should visit the city after a long while…”
Back when I was a kid, I thought I would live forever detached from civilization out of fear. Luckily, it didn’t turn out to be that extreme.
As long as I keep the black horn mark on my collarbone hidden, I can blend in with ordinary people.
Of course, I wouldn’t dare go all the way to the city center. The mark is larger than I thought, and you need a proper standing there.
The only places I could safely go were a couple of trading posts in the back alleys. They generally don’t ask too many questions about your background.
So, in order to gather information, I’d have to head to the back alleys…
“Hmm, I’ll go later.”
I quickly gave up.
I was curious, but it wasn’t urgent.
Plus, I already went there once a couple of months ago. I stocked up on necessary supplies back then.
For someone like me, visiting too often could work against me.
The more I go, the more familiar I’ll become in their eyes and the higher the chance of getting caught.
And the people there, well, to me, a guy who’s been forced to be an outcast for 12 years, they didn’t seem like good company.
So for now, I should focus on what I need to do.
With that thought in mind, I continued my exploration.
Lately, I had been living a little lazily, and I was running out of food.
The meat I had preserved through salting, smoking, and drying was starting to run low.
Even the emergency rations, aside from a few precious ones, barely amounted to a handful now.
Winter was just months away.
It was high time to restock my food supplies.
Thus, today would be a day of hunting.
Unfortunately, the prey was scarce.
Perhaps due to the increase in monsters nearby, the food sources had dried up. Besides, I can’t just eat ogre meat.
‘I need to clean up the area soon.’
I had an easygoing thought that nature would handle itself. While monsters exist, this is still nature.
And there’s a misconception: don’t assume that animals are weak compared to monsters.
This land is exposed to magic. Consequently, many animals have mutated due to it.
There’s a chance of seeing a mutated bear eating ogre meat. It’s such a bizarre land, so… I had to overlook its management.
Yet, after roaming around for a long time, I managed to hunt one or two rabbits.
However, that wasn’t enough. To restock the depleted salted meat, I needed to catch at least one wild boar.
Hence, I headed further into the outskirts of the forest. After all, there would be more pure animals there.
Of course, I could eat mutated meat, but those were harder to hunt, and cleaning them was pesky.
‘It’s been a while since I headed to the surface layer.’
This forest can be divided into three layers.
Surface Layer, Middle Layer, Deep Layer. The deeper you go, the denser the magic gets, and the stronger the monsters become.
In the deepest parts of the Deep Layer, I would be risking my life.
That’s why I live in a cave somewhere in the Middle Layer.
The monsters are manageable there and there aren’t many human footprints, so not much to worry about.
Moreover, there is even a small lake inside the cave, so I don’t have to go far just to wash up.
For various reasons, I’ve made the Middle Layer my home.
Anyway, that’s why my visits to the surface were quite infrequent.
Still, heading there after a long time stirs up memories.
“……”
Honestly, not many pleasant memories. Most of them were filled with the struggle to claw up to the Middle Layer.
I certainly couldn’t take down monsters from the start.
I used to struggle against single animals, and there were times I had to flee from pursuers in the forest.
Those memories of scavenging for scraps off the ground and curling up under rotting wood to find a place to sleep haunt me.
Those bleak times add up to allow me to live as I do now.
“But I’m still alone.”
Thinking about it, not much has changed, huh? Damn.
For a brief moment, I cursed my pitiful reality, but as I continued walking, I reached the boundary of the surface layer.
There isn’t a defined line separating the surface and middle layers, but you can roughly distinguish it by the size difference in trees.
At this point, I should be close to the surface, I thought.
But I couldn’t step any further.
“Ahhh! Somebody save me!!”
A scream echoed from ahead.
Upon hearing the voice, I quickly hid behind a nearby tree.
Crouching down to peek, I saw a woman being chased by a giant wild boar.
Dressed in leather armor and wielding a steel sword, she seemed to be an adventurer.
She must have crossed paths with the wild boar and angered it, ending up in this situation.
“Damn, why is it so fast! Just go away already!”
Though her voice sounded quite desperate, I had no intention of helping.
‘Can’t let myself get caught.’
Helping was one thing. But what if she turns around and starts yelling?
I would inevitably find myself in a troublesome situation, stuck hiding again for who knows how long.
It might seem heartless, but it was for the best. After all, she was an adventurer, right?
She must have been prepared for danger.
“Tsk, tsk, making so much noise will only get it more worked up…”
Still, I needed wild boar meat, so I decided to follow her. If she managed to escape, I’d take out the boar; if she got killed, it’s unfortunate, but I’d still claim the boar.
However, as I watched, it seemed dire for her.
Running while screaming, throwing her weapon, only fueled the boar’s frenzy. She was messing everything up.
In this forest, you need to keep quiet. Monsters lurk everywhere.
There was also a chance that making loud noises would attract other monsters.
What would happen if she threw her weapon? Even if she escaped the wild boar, she’d need her weapon to survive outside the forest.
How foolish.
The direction she was escaping was also a problem. Even if it was her first time in the forest, she was moving toward the Middle Layer rather than the Surface Layer. Even in a panic, her judgment was just worsening the situation.
I mean, given the state of her outfit, it looked like she was a newbie adventurer, but actually venturing this deep into the forest was already a mistake.
One should hunt in areas befitting their skills.
Eventually, exhausted from fleeing, she was unable to evade the wild boar any longer and fell victim to it.
Thud-!
“Gahhh-!”
With a dull thud, her body was flung far away.
The wild boar, having stomped where she fell, seemed ready for another charge.
She cursed in a hollow voice, oblivious.
“Ah, damn…”
They say you tremble with fear just before death, but she seemed surprisingly calm.
Was she already resigned? Or did she have no other feelings toward her life left? It was quite an unexpected sight.
“…Huh?”
In a moment, her eyes met mine. Oh crap, I let my guard down while watching.
But with the distance between us, I thought I wouldn’t be discovered.
Yet, she noticed me.
But it didn’t matter. She would soon meet her end here anyway.
Whether she stared blankly at me or not, I didn’t care.
Creeeak!
Soon the wild boar charged and trampled her body. A pitiful, beginner’s death.
I watched that unfold and quietly murmured to myself.
“Tsk, nature claims its due.”
But I’ll make sure to get my revenge on that wild boar.
*
That evening…
A strange post appeared on the [Demon’s Saga] board.
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[Discovered something strange while exploring Newbie map, what is this??]
(Picture)
Wasn’t this a high-level zone? There didn’t seem to be anyone here?
But what the heck is that standing there, looking at me die??
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[????]
[It’s too far to see well… Could it be a guy?]
[Why is a guy suddenly over there? Doesn’t make sense!]
[Is it a composite? Like mistaking something else for a person?]
[No way, looks clearly human!]
[Wow, zooming in, he’s super handsome, damn!]
[For real?]
[Shit, zooming in it’s glitching, I can’t see well!]
[But just from the silhouette, he does look handsome, lol]
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