The content found was due to the mine incident that happened over a month ago.
Thanks to that, a major event called the Andromalius hunt took place, and the video itself was quite shocking.
The personal information about the protagonist of that video, that little boy, was somewhat investigated.
One should never underestimate the determination of the users.
There were many survivors from the incident, and information could also be obtained from the knights.
And the information gathered was compiled and organized on the Tree Wiki.
As expected of the Tree Wiki. It contains the Akashic records of all universe’s documentation, even information on a mere NPC is stored there.
Of course, most of the information is distorted and unreliable, but at least it was a place that provided credible information within the game.
Thus, Im Haneul had been drifting in the sea of information with just the keyword ‘Tattoo’.
It was quite a fascinating experience to see ‘Demon’s Blood,’ a seemingly unrelated keyword, pop up as a related search term.
“Huh?”
With a tilted head, Im Haneul immediately entered that related search term and was able to reach the records of the mine incident.
Im Haneul went straight to the information about the mine in a section composed of various lists.
It was said that the mine who caused the incident was a 14-year-old boy.
He was a local kid in that village, and his Demon’s Blood had manifested at the age of 10, but due to the remote location of the village, it was hidden.
Coincidentally, the boy’s parents also cherished their child and worked hard to keep him hidden.
Thanks to that, the villagers were unaware that the boy had Demon’s Blood. It was unfortunate that time just passed, but tragically, disaster struck when he turned 14.
He couldn’t withstand the Demon’s Blood and eventually lost his sanity. Thus, the incident escalated and ultimately spread throughout the world.
What Im Haneul was curious about was this.
First, it’s clear that Demon’s Blood is incredibly dangerous. A mere child practically annihilated a village and summoned a demon.
The nation even posted recruitment notices to capture that single demon, so one could roughly guess how hostile NPCs were towards Blood Manifestors.
But how do they realize that someone has manifested Demon’s Blood?
Fortunately, this was surprisingly simple. Blood Manifestors without exception have demonic patterns appear on their bodies.
Though the shape and location of the patterns vary, what is certain is that they appear.
If you actually dug through the corpse of that boy who became a mine, it was said that a dreadful tattoo was engraved—a demonic claw.
“Could it be…?”
Her thoughts naturally continued.
The horn-shaped tattoo engraved on Yor’s collarbone and the excessive hiding of it.
He was a holder of Demon’s Blood.
Realizing this, Haneul fell into a different kind of shock.
Wanting to gather more information, she diligently searched for ‘Demon’s Blood.’
However, since it seemed like the information had only recently been revealed to the users, no matter how much she searched, she couldn’t find much.
The only thing she knew was that holders of the blood were extremely hazardous.
Thus, the people there executed all Blood Manifestors.
At this point, Haneul felt a bit sorry. To her, those born with such blood were still human.
They just had that blood because they were born with it. However, the world simply wouldn’t tolerate them.
“So, that person…?”
Haneul thought.
She was slowly beginning to guess why Yor lived in such a dangerous forest.
He was a holder of Demon’s Blood. And according to the logic of that world, he was facing the death penalty.
However, for whatever reason, he had somehow escaped and managed to survive in that forest until adulthood.
There was not a trace of the disordered past she had preconceived.
The other party merely fought hard to survive day by day in the forest. Thinking about that made her feel slightly guilty.
“………”
Now, she had two choices.
To report to the state like those people did, or to just turn a blind eye.
“………”
Her thoughts momentarily deepened.
It didn’t take her long to reach a decision.
*
It had already been two days since that girl who fell from the sky disappeared.
During that time, I had prepared everything I could do.
First, I had packed my belongings to be able to leave the cave immediately.
Though I was living as a natural person, I had collected a fair amount of stuff. There were many items I had gathered in the storehouse.
Gathering those supplies and some survival gear made my load considerable.
Additionally, I tied a thin rope and bells near the trees. This was to hear if someone came to this forest.
Of course, wild animals often rang the bells, keeping me on edge, but this much was bearable.
Other than that, I secretly set fire to the goblin village.
I felt a bit sorry for them, but this would make them heighten their vigilance.
If humans showed up, the chaos caused by them would give me a signal. Goblins’ cries are quite distinctive.
Anyway, I was all set for what I could do.
Now all that was left was to wait in the cave.
Depending on whether the next visitor was a simple guest or a hunting party armed with swords and bows, my response would change.
If it was the hunting party, I would have to quickly retreat to the Deep Layer.
No matter what they were, they couldn’t possibly send an army even to the Deep Layer.
Waiting itself was a considerable source of stress.
I couldn’t tell whether what was coming for me was goodwill or a dagger. So I had no choice but to stay alert even at night. Naturally, I couldn’t sleep well.
It was a rather nerve-wracking time.
The anomaly occurred on the morning of the third day.
With bleary eyes, I stepped out of the cave, and someone was looking for me.
It was that mage woman I saw three days ago. Surely, there hadn’t been much noise, but it seemed she had flown over like last time.
“Oh, I finally found you.”
The moment she spotted me, her eyes widened.
I instantly raised my guard.
Regardless, she slowly approached.
*
Humans love a twist.
Because we evolved that way in our genes.
Long ago, our humanity was full of uncertainties and we had no choice but to spark our curiosity to find answers.
That’s why humanity evolved to activate their peripheral nerves and release dopamine when they saw secrets or twists.
In simple terms, people are attracted to the unexpected.
It’s often called ‘gap moe.’
Someone we dismissed turns out to be an extraordinary person.
Hearing about someone’s misfortune whom we thought was simply happy.
Or.
“…What is it?”
Someone who looks like they’ve had some fun turns out to be a lonely person with a sad past.
That was the reason Im Haneul returned to the forest.
She wondered how much she had roamed before the morning just to meet this NPC.
She thought she might not meet him at all.
Yor, upon discovering Im Haneul, was raising his guard considerably.
His demeanor sharp as a hedgehog lifting its quills.
What should she say? Im Haneul thought for a moment.
Unfortunately for her, who wasn’t very sociable, good conversation didn’t come to mind.
After a brief thought, she decided to get straight to the point.
“I didn’t say anything to anyone, so don’t worry.”
Yor flinched slightly as he stood opposite her.
He looked doubtful. Well, he had no reason to believe just words.
And to be honest, she didn’t have concrete evidence either. Being an NPC, he wouldn’t be able to see their world.
But she could at least show him through her actions.
Holding her breath, she pointed to his right collarbone.
He was still wearing short sleeves as if trying to hide that pattern.
“Can you show me that for a second?”
Just asking to see his body right after meeting him would land one in the police station in the real world.
But he didn’t seem to mind, so she moved on.
Of course, Yor was suspicious at first. Suddenly, she asked him to show his collarbone again right after reconnecting.
It wasn’t a normal request.
“Ah, don’t worry, I won’t take any pictures or anything.”
“………..”
Yet, due to her seemingly important request, Yor decided to show it briefly.
After all, he had met her once. If she tried to take a screenshot, he could react immediately with the ‘Player’s Eye.’
It wouldn’t matter if someone tried. He could escape to the Deep Layer without hesitation.
Thus, as he lowered the front, she took a step closer to Yor.
Then she began to let her mana flow with her hand.
“Do you know how many points I’ve consumed to learn this?”
Gradually, Yor’s pattern began to fade from her sight.
It wasn’t precisely disappearing, but it was being hidden from view.
It was an illusion spell, a magic trick she had recently learned.
Naturally, it was tough to use in combat or everyday life, but it would serve as a great way to show goodwill to the other party.
Im Haneul’s words didn’t end there.
“I’m Yoo Chaerin, the editor.”
Usually, such people prefer tangible efficiency over mere words.
They need to understand that whom they are dealing with is beneficial in order to relax.
While this might seem a bit bleak at a glance, she thought this would rather help put him at ease.
“And you are credited for boosting our YouTube view count. I have no intention of stirring up any trouble. Got it?”
Yor stared at her in a daze for a moment. Im Haneul couldn’t quite guess what he was thinking.
Was he believing her, or was he still skeptical? It was uncertain whether he even knew what YouTube was.
“So what I mean is…”
Im Haneul took her time choosing her words.
But for someone like her, who wasn’t good with words, it wasn’t easy to rearrange them. Approaching someone first was already a huge leap of courage for her.
As she fumbled for the right words, she could only let out a sigh and repeat the same phrase.
“Anyway, don’t worry because I didn’t say anything…”
The sun was high.
The fresh spring energy offered a wonderful ambiance even in this cruel forest.
Yor remained in a daze as he received her illusion magic for a while.
In the tranquil forest, only her faint heartbeat echoed softly.
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