Popular NPC in a Gender-Reversed Game-Chapter 105: Sphere

In Demons Saga, the current number one ranking is held by the United States. However, the place with the highest average level is none other than Korea.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t because the average intelligence of the users was higher, or because of the national pride of being "the game nation." It was simply because the Korean servers had a geographically advantageous starting location.

They were one of the few countries that began in the Empire, where the surrounding facilities were well-developed. This gave them many advantages and allowed them to progress ahead of others.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that other regions were severely lagging behind, but the superiority was undeniable... as Heaven lightly explained.

Yor nodded lightly upon hearing that.

‘No wonder... I don’t see any other races.’

It made sense now, why he had only seen similar races. Apparently, each country had its own designated area.

It turns out that due to the distance, there wasn’t much interaction between the regions. From the perspective of the otherworlders, they were too busy leveling up to bother traveling across countries for weeks or months. Considering the travel expenses and potential obstacles along the way... they could easily end up isolated like the Earth Defense Headquarters.

"Heaven, even though we’re going into another country’s territory this time... we probably won’t meet anyone. The place we're heading is near a forbidden zone, and I heard there are hardly any people there."

As they traveled further south through the split plains, the land ahead began to burn with fire. This extreme heat made it uninhabitable.

It was certainly nice to hear this kind of information while being with otherworlders. Yor, with a slight look of apology on his face, turned to her.

"Thanks. It must be quite a long time for you too... I didn’t expect it to take this long."

"Heh, it’s fine. After all, the escort quest is also part of the deal, so it's no big loss. And..."

Going on a journey together? She hesitated before swallowing the words. Even though they were heading to deal with demons, she was going to travel with a 'man' for several weeks. For someone as conservative as her, this was not an easy thing to endure.

Even though it was a game, Heaven didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

"Phew, why is it so hard to find a merchant caravan going south... Anyway, leave it to me! With my amazing negotiation skills, I managed to find one."

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As they were chatting, Chaerin approached with a confident smile. Yor didn’t know much about merchant caravans, and Heaven wasn’t particularly sociable, so Chaerin had been the one to arrange it.

They then headed to the meeting point where the caravan leader was waiting.

Upon their arrival, the caravan leader asked with a slightly dubious expression, "Hmm... is this your party?"

"Yes. Don’t worry. They’re all skilled, for sure."

The leader was already aware of their skills; after all, they were holding B-grade adventurer cards. However, since the destination was risky, he wanted to double-check.

Then, suddenly, the caravan leader’s gaze fixed on Yor. After a brief silence, he cleared his throat and said,

"Ahem... well, please get in the carriage."

It seemed like there was a bit of personal interest in his acceptance.

As expected, dangerous jobs often involved women. These jobs usually required strength and bravery, and it was "common knowledge" that women generally had better physical capabilities on average.

Naturally, merchant work was a profession where women gathered. To sell goods, they had to travel far, often facing monsters or bandits along the way. It was a job that required a fair amount of courage.

That’s why it wasn’t surprising that Yor’s presence was drawing attention.

"It’s a bit... uncomfortable..." Yor muttered.

They were currently in the third of five carriages. This wasn’t a problem. Since they had to travel for two weeks, the ride was comfortable, and there weren’t many people traveling with them.

The problem arose during the camping at night. They had to set up tents and sleep wherever they could. And, as usual, flirtatious comments started to fly.

"Anything you need?"

"Ah, no. It’s enough."

"Hmm... If you need anything, just let me know. I can give you whatever you want."

From simple merchant hospitality...

"Hey, want to come to our tent?"

"Yeah, we’ll make it fun for you."

"We might even send you to heaven."

"Hey, you crazy bitch! Heh..."

To lewd propositions from adventurers.

Since they were on a long journey, there were no other otherworlders, but there were several adventurer parties traveling with them.

"I should have just brought a hood."

Honestly, for the first few days, Yor had enjoyed the attention. It was rare for him, who always lived in the forest, to receive such harmless attention.

Usually, when meeting people, he had to worry about survival, not flirting. This time, he allowed himself to briefly indulge in the attention.

But after several days, nearing a week, the stress started to build. He hadn’t reacted, and that only encouraged the adventurers to escalate their advances.

Some of them boasted about sending dozens of men to heaven, others even tried to physically engage with him. Even though Chaerin and Heaven were right next to him, these adventurers didn’t care.

It was clear now: these adventurers were driven only by money, with no sense of decorum whatsoever.

"Want me to cast an illusion for you?"

"No, you’ll probably know everything anyway."

Of course, Yor’s party felt just as uncomfortable with this situation, especially Heaven. She would deny it, but deep down, she had been hoping for something more between them after spending over two weeks together.

‘Even though we’ve been together for more than two weeks...’

Although they used separate tents... time alone together could easily lead to something happening. But, nothing did.

She was disappointed. She wanted to approach him, but... with no experience in such matters, she didn’t have the courage.

Instead, she could feel something more subtle. For example... the strange atmosphere between Yor and Chaerin.

It’s said that a dog can recite poetry after three years of living with someone. While she wasn’t a dog and hadn’t been around for three years, Heaven was smart enough to pick up on the change in the atmosphere between them.

Of course, they didn’t seem like a couple, but there was something about their physical proximity that seemed different.

For example, Yor casually resting his hand on Chaerin’s shoulder or poking her cheek. It wasn’t much, but these little signs of physical contact stood out. Even Chaerin didn’t seem to mind.

It was nothing big, but it bothered Heaven. She couldn’t help but wonder,

"Did something happen between them...?"

But she kept these thoughts to herself, not daring to voice them. Time passed this way.

Just as Yor was about to overreact to another provocation, monsters attacked the caravan. Hyenas, in fact... a pack of them. A pack of dozens of these monsters, to be precise.

It was known that these monsters were tricky and always strategized before moving. They wouldn’t charge forward unless they were confident they could win.

The fact that they had attacked meant they considered the caravan easy prey.

"Damn... of # Nоvеlight # course it’s them."

"Let’s form up with our parties!"

The merchants and adventurers knew what this meant, and their faces tightened.

Yor quietly stepped forward. It was just as well; the stress had been building up for him, and now he had an outlet.

"What’s your deal? Get to safety!"

"You guys stay out of the way."

He slipped into the pack of hyenas.

"Krreeek!"

"Screeeech!!!"

It didn’t take long for the pack of dozens of hyenas to be reduced to a puddle of blood. Amidst the stench of blood and the pile of monster corpses, Yor spoke with a refreshed look on his face.

"Ha, now the irritation’s gone. I was really about to blow up on someone."

The adventurers continued to stare at him with stiff faces. They could almost feel the cold sweat on their backs.

The two-week-long journey finally came to an end.

Fortunately, after defeating the pack of hyenas, there were no further advances. It became clear to Yor that any wrong move could have ended badly.

‘Should’ve done this sooner.’

He thought to himself, feeling a bit regretful. Still, it wasn’t all bad, as he had enjoyed the initial days of the journey, so he let it go.

They were now stationed in a territory located slightly to the southwest. They still needed to go a bit further to reach the place where Andras had appeared, but the caravan’s destination was here.

"Well, we’ll part ways here. Thanks for helping us with the hyenas," the caravan leader said.

"Don’t mention it."

After parting ways with the caravan, they paused for a moment to discuss what to do next.

"So, what do we do now...?"

"I think we’ll need to go a bit deeper to find the demon, but I heard that place is a wasteland... it’s tricky."

"Let’s just find an inn for tonight. We can rest and eat. We may log out, but Yor’s probably exhausted from sleeping in the carriage for two weeks."

Yor nodded at Chaerin’s suggestion and they headed to a nearby restaurant.

"Welcome!"

The restaurant was quite empty. It seemed to be a small town, and there weren’t many people around. He briefly worried about the food, but the small crowd was a relief.

After all, he had recently realized how uncomfortable it could be when too many eyes were on him. He made a mental note to always bring a hood next time. The food, thankfully, was good enough.

"So, should we look for an inn?" Chaerin asked.

"No, I’ll go by myself this time. I want to look around the city."

"Hmm... alright."

After finishing the meal, they briefly separated. Yor wanted to explore the city.

For the first time since receiving his identification badge, he was walking through the streets with confidence. Even though the city wasn’t part of the Empire, it was still a significant feeling to walk through the streets with such freedom.

He wandered the streets, observing people. Some gave him curious glances, while others were filled with worry about the recently appeared demon.

Since this place was close to where the demon Andras had appeared, it seemed that rumors about him had spread.

‘The knights still haven’t arrived, it seems.’

After all, the knights had more preparation to do than he did, so they likely had more equipment to gather.

As he wandered, absorbed in his thoughts, something strange caught his attention.

‘...?’

His senses detected something odd. Among the people passing by, someone had quietly started following him. At first, he thought it was just his imagination, but when he turned a corner, they were still following him. If it had been Chaerin or Heaven, they would’ve called out to him already.

Someone was tailing him.

‘Tch... this popularity.’

He figured it must be someone trying to strike up a deal with him in this relatively quiet town. It was a bit of an ego boost, but it was the only explanation his mind could come up with.

Since he had covered his collarbone, it wasn’t likely they’d recognize him as an otherworlder. Plus, he had been receiving more than a few advances over the past two weeks. His mind was naturally inclined to think along those lines.

‘Alright, let’s deal with this.’

Of course, he meant in a different way. He intentionally walked toward a quieter, less crowded street. Unless an S-rank adventurer showed up, he figured he could easily subdue them.

He planned to deal with it himself. If it went wrong, he could always just run away.

"..."

As he stepped into the quiet street, the followers began to approach. There were two of them, both wearing hoods, so their faces were hidden.

He quickly swung his spear at them to subdue them.

Swoooosh!

The spear cut through the air, heading straight for them. But it never reached its target.

Crack!

A thick ice barrier appeared in front of him. Although part of it shattered, the attack didn’t penetrate further.

"What?"

He was momentarily stunned. Then, a familiar voice came from the other side.

"Wait, wait! Don’t attack!"

The voice sounded familiar. They lowered their hoods, revealing their faces. Yor was even more surprised.

"...It’s us."

It was none other than members of the Lemegaton faction: Sephir, the fifth-wave member, and Nikki.

It was a strange encounter in such an unexpected place, and questions naturally arose.

"Why are you two here?"

Nikki frowned and asked in return, "Why are you here? You’re always in the forest, why are you here?"

"..."

A brief, tense silence followed between them.