Popular NPC in a Gender-Reversed Game-Chapter 72: Berserk Intuition
To be honest,
when it was revealed that Yor was a Manifestation Bearer, Chae-rin felt a bit disappointed.
It was because a secret known only to a few had been exposed to the whole world.
Of course, it was a matter of life and death for him, but with that, the secret shared by a small group had vanished.
Even if it felt a bit selfish, there was nothing she could do. After all, reason and emotion are different matters.
So she thought vaguely that it would be nice to learn another secret...
During such thoughts, an opportunity arose for her to encounter one of his secrets again.
However... contrary to Chae-rin's expectations, she didn’t feel particularly good about it.
Rather, a sense of heaviness pressed down on her heart.
This was not the kind of heavy secret she wanted.
“Ugh... kkkk...”
She narrowed her eyes and looked ahead.
A 19-mode scenario was unfolding before her. And it was a 19-mode of a somewhat different meaning.
A human, who had previously shown no concern even when pierced by a spear, was now writhing in pain.
Even Chae-rin, who had somewhat developed immunity to cruelty while leveling up, frowned at the sight.
When a part of his body began to squirm, Yor took a dagger and stabbed that part without hesitation. Blood spurted out, and it thrashed on the ground for a while before settling down.
Seeing that, Chae-rin understood what he was doing. He was drawing out the uncontrollable blood.
It was obvious that if left alone, it would damage the bones and organs.
However, the process looked exceedingly painful.
The only thing to be thankful for was that the pain seemed to come intermittently.
After a round of bloodletting, he had a moment to catch his breath.
That was the only time they could converse.
“...It's called Frenzy. Manifestation Bearers experience it once a month.”
Hoo, hoo.
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Yor was panting, leaning his back against the wall. Despite not much time passing, sweat was already glistening on his forehead.
“When it bursts, various side effects occur in the body.”
“...Wait, once a month? How long has that been happening?”
“Well... probably since I was over ten years old.”
Chae-rin glanced around the desolate cave.
Slowly, she began to understand how this cave came to be such a grim sight.
It was all created by him. Not just today, but months and even years ago.
He had endured this pain countless times here.
Realizing that, the surrounding scenery felt more impactful.
For a moment, she was overwhelmed by the weight of time felt everywhere. The countless days spent here flashed through her mind, momentarily taking her breath away.
No matter how much it was just a scene in a game, wasn’t this too much...?
Chae-rin asked him in a worried voice,
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No, it’s fine... Just being next to me is enough.”
That was the truth.
For Yor, merely having someone nearby was comforting.
There was no need to actively try to help. Just sending worried glances from nearby was sufficient.
Besides, there was no proper way to help him anyway.
From that, Chae-rin felt a slight sense of powerlessness.
Regardless of how she felt, the Frenzy continued.
Once again, when a part of his body began to squirm, he unhesitatingly sliced his skin with the dagger.
Each time, his expression would wrinkle, which was an additional burden.
After draining his blood again, he managed to chuckle and said,
“Hehe, isn’t it kind of similar? You guys have your period once a month too.”
“Seriously, a joke at a time like this?”
Chae-rin frowned without realizing it.
It wasn’t that his joke made her feel bad; it was his attempt to ease her worry in such a state that made her uncomfortable.
Why was he thinking of lightening the mood in this situation? He looked like he could barely hold on himself.
Of course, regardless of that, Yor just chuckled.
It was not because it was funny, but simply to try and ease the tense atmosphere.
Watching that, Chae-rin felt a moment of admiration in her heart.
‘People are really strong...’
It wasn’t just about physical strength. He was also mentally incredibly strong.
After all, that meant he had been living with that experience every month until now.
If it were her, she felt she wouldn’t have been able to endure for long and would have collapsed.
Chae-rin looked at him with a momentary gaze of sympathy.
Time passed like that.
The night was slowly fading away...
“Phew...”
How many hours had passed?
As I began to struggle to endure, I gradually drank the holy water.
Since there was only one bottle of holy water left, it felt a bit wasteful, but I couldn’t continue self-harming in front of a guest.
It was probably less than what I was suffering.
Her mental strength would surely have been drained from watching my self-harm show.
So using the holy water was right, for both her sake and mine.
Well, maybe it was because I had someone beside me. This month's Frenzy was bearable to some extent. Normally, around this time, I would have been rolling on the ground in pain.
As I was catching my breath, Chae-rin muttered.
“Oh, so that's why you keep using the holy water...”
It seemed she finally understood my requests from before.
After pondering something for a moment, she asked me,
“So, does that mean if you don’t have holy water, you have to go through this pain every month?”
“No, it’s not like that every month. There are two types of Frenzy, and when it’s different, it can be a bit easier.”
I briefly explained that the other type affects the mind.
It felt like revealing that I had a mental illness to someone else. Well, it only happens once a month, so it doesn't really interfere with daily life.
After explaining, she asked me again.
“So, how do you usually endure the other type?”
“Usually, I wander outside until morning... well, that’s about it.”
Sometimes, when the sexual desire flares up, there’s a way to endure it by just wanking in the cave.
But I didn’t feel the need to mention that. I have my own sense of shame, after all.
Fortunately, even though I roughly brushed it off, she let it go.
Still, anyway, I managed to get through this month well. I had earned myself another month’s grace period.
As the tension eased, fatigue crept in.
I got up and briefly examined my body. A wry smile escaped me.
‘My whole body is covered in blood...’
Well, it was to be expected after draining that much blood. I wanted to take a bath and sleep quickly.
As usual, I was planning to postpone cleaning the cave.
It was too tiring to clean, and it also takes a while to wipe away the blood.
Of course, some stains would remain this time as well, but I had reached a point where it didn't even matter.
So I stood up to head to the puddle of water in the center of the cave.
Chae-rin still wore a distressed expression at that moment. Honestly, she looked like she might cry if someone poked her a little.
Seeing that made me feel a bit guilty.
After all, it was me who asked her to stay because I was scared to endure alone.
Of course, I had no regrets. Now that the location of the cave was exposed, I needed at least one person to guard my side.
“......”
To be honest, I wanted to remain alert while I slept here.
But I decided to just send her back. Perhaps because I used the holy water, I still had some mental strength left.
With this much, I could adequately respond even if someone came in while I was sleeping.
So I pretended to be bright and slapped her back.
Smack!
“Ah!”
Startled by the sudden slap on her back, she looked at me in surprise.
“Come on, stop moping and get up. Thanks for being here at night. You must be tired, so you can go back now.”
With that, I sent her back home. Her expression was still gloomy.
When she stepped out of the cave, the sky was tinted with purple.
In other words, it was late dawn.
The sun hadn’t risen yet, but it would brighten soon.
She looked at the hazy sky and smiled bitterly.
‘Today, I’ve lost all my sleep...’
After unexpectedly staying up all night.
And she probably wouldn’t be able to nap either. The shocking sights she had seen today were too much for her to relax comfortably.
Even the strong-looking Yor had his weak moments.
And that was heavier than she had expected.
What surprised Chae-rin wasn’t just the Frenzy.
The dark and lonely atmosphere of the cave was also quite shocking to her.
If the remaining light was extinguished, darkness would envelop everything, making it impossible to see an inch ahead.
Thinking of Yor enduring pain alone in that darkness filled her with unnecessary worry.
Well... he seemed to have been managing until now.
But after witnessing sights like today, it was inevitable for her to be concerned.
“......”
So she briefly opened her skill window. There was a skill that came to mind.
The skill system of Demon's Saga was not much different from any other game.
When you level up, you gain skill points, which you can use to learn skills.
The only difference was that each skill was incredibly expensive.
Not just using points, but you could also gain them through direct training.
For example, the sword technique that users longed for required a whopping 160 points to acquire.
In other words, it meant you had to reach at least level 160 to learn it.
At this point, it felt like they were threatening you to just train and learn it.
Anyway, the explanation was a bit long, but the conclusion was simple.
Chae-rin had come up with a skill she wanted to learn.
Her gaze momentarily landed on a corner of the skill window. There was a skill that was still locked, blinking.
‘Night Vision (暗視).’
The ability was truly simple: to see clearly at night.
The reason she wanted to learn it was also simple: to navigate through the dangerous forest at night.
Until now, she had left it alone because it was useless and she didn’t want to waste skill points, but now she had a reason to learn it.
‘...I should visit more often at night.’
For now, her skill points were insufficient.
The determination to level up more diligently was etched in her eyes as she left the forest.
Time passed like that.
The short winter had come to an end, and the season was preparing to change once more.
