Chapter 78 : To the Demonic Realm (6)

In the world, there are good-natured people and pushovers.

The difference between these two, which look similar at a glance, is where the subject of the goodwill lies; in the case of a good-natured person, they bestow goodwill of their own will, whereas a pushover is different in that their goodwill is by others' will and is eventually forcibly taken.

From that perspective, Yohan was indeed a good-natured person, but he was by no means a pushover.

Yohan's giving was always goodwill chosen by himself, and there was not even a single piece of it that was by another's will.

In other words, apart from his good-natured-looking face, he wasn't so naive as to reveal his identity without any basis.

‘What is he thinking?’

I had felt this for a long time, but I sometimes found it difficult to fully understand Yohan's thoughts.

That was probably because the difference in values that Yohan and I held was just that large.

Nevertheless, the reason I still thought Yohan didn't have hostile intent was probably because of the faith I had in the person named Yohan whom I had seen until now.

“Strange…….”

“What is strange?”

“Ah, it's nothing else, but I've met a few other people in the Demonic Realm, and they were all Players. In the first place, there's no reason to come to the Demonic Realm alone unless you're a Player.”

The basis Yohan inferred was not much different from the reason I had initially guessed Yohan was a Player when I first saw him.

The Demonic Realm was a forbidden zone among forbidden zones for humans, and from a human's perspective, there were almost no eccentrics other than Players who would enter and exit such a place alone.

How should I react to this extremely rational deduction?

The answer was set.

“That's right, a Player.”

At this point, there was nothing to be gained by appearing suspicious to Yohan.

Not only was Yohan clearly stronger than me right now, but more than anything, it was because I didn't want to form a hostile relationship with Yohan.

Lies shattered relationships, and shattered relationships were rarely ever mended.

In a way, this was my own greed.

The greed of wanting to regain an old connection in this damn world that was so lonely.

“Ah…… as expected! I was worried I might have been mistaken, haha…….”

“I also didn't expect to see a person in the Demonic Realm.”

“It seems I surprised you. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.”

“No. It's alright.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Yohan, who had cautiously scanned the surroundings, spoke.

“Then let's talk as we go, it seems the demonic beasts will be coming again soon.”

“Yes.”

Just as he said, although we had a moment of respite, this place was fundamentally a considerably dangerous location.

Of course, how many safe places could there be within the Demonic Realm, but even taking that into account, it was better to get out of this place quickly.

“This way. Ah, watch your step. It's Phrek Spider bodily fluid, so it's incredibly sticky if you step on it.”

For having met a complete stranger in the Demonic Realm, it was a kindness that was somewhat excessive, but for me, who already knew about Yohan, it was understandable.

Yohan was that kind of person.

An upright person, who doesn't lose his goodwill.

“You seem familiar with the Demonic Realm.”

“Pardon? Ahh, I suppose it's because I've come here a few times……”

Yohan trailed off, smiling faintly.

I didn't know what had happened to Yohan up until now, but it surely wasn't smooth.

This world was that kind of place.

A place where one had to give up far too many things to live with simple goodness alone.

That was why I had many things I wanted to ask Yohan, but I didn't ask any more.

“We're almost there now.”

As I followed Yohan and walked through the Demonic Realm, the surrounding scenery felt somewhat familiar.

‘This path is…….’

As far as I knew, there was only one safe zone that appeared along this path.

It was clearly one of the safe zones in the Demonic Realm that I had told Yohan about in the past.

I never thought Yohan would lead me to this place, so I felt a strange sense of novelty.

Then, Yohan spoke.

“First, I want to say I'm sorry. I feel like you got caught up in this because of me.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I caused quite a commotion while trying to hunt a demonic beast this time. The demonic beasts probably went wild all of a sudden because of that.”

Ah, so that was it.

It certainly seemed like something was strange when I first entered the Radyun's territory, and it seemed Yohan was the cause.

“It's alright, that kind of thing is bound to happen in the Demonic Realm.”

“Still, I feel like you were put in a difficult position because of me. Again, I'm truly sorry.”

“It's really alright.”

“Thank you for saying so.”

As we passed through the trees that were laid out like a maze and nearly reached the safe zone, Yohan, who finally let out a sigh of relief, spoke.

“Come to think of it, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Yohan.”

Even though I already knew who he was, hearing the name from his own lips felt different.

The person I met in the Demonic Realm right now was not just someone who looked similar, but was truly Yohan.

“Please call me Luke.”

“So you're Luke.”

The reason I didn't reveal Cain's name, let alone Vell Blackwood's name, to Yohan was simple.

I still trusted the person named Yohan, but unfortunately, I couldn't trust the time Yohan had spent after falling into this world.

Time changes many things.

No matter how much Yohan was a person united in goodwill, that was an unchanging fact.

Especially in a situation where I didn't know what effect the demonic energy, which was still surging from Yohan, was having on him, it was necessary to be as careful as possible.

“Then, Luke, did you also come to the Demonic Realm because of the mutant?”

Yohan didn't hide his purpose.

Rather, because of that, I wondered if he was hiding something even more, but that would probably show to some extent as we talked.

“Well…… that is one of the reasons.”

“If so, that's great.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ahh…… the truth is, the demonic beast I failed to catch earlier is quite a high-level mutant. I was worried because I didn't think I could do it alone, but I think it might be possible with you, Luke. Could you possibly help me?”

Mutant hunting…….

I had known it ever since I saw the demonic energy Yohan held, but it seemed Yohan was gathering Ascension Stone Fragments.

“If it's mutant hunting, are you perhaps after the fragment?”

Yohan nodded his head slightly.

“Yes, well…… that's right. But isn't that the case for all Players? Even if our goals are different, it's true that we need fragments for them.”

“That is true.”

What the fragment was, was still unknown.

But it was a clear fact that at least, the more fragments one gathered, the more advantages it brought to the Player.

That was why many Players were still trying to gather fragments through mutant hunting or other means.

But just as there is darkness where there is light, the fragment was not an item that was only beneficial to Players.

“Do you also know that the power is dangerous?”

Yohan was handling demonic energy.

Seeing that, it meant he had already absorbed an amount of fragments incomparable to mine, but it was unknown what effect that would have on a human.

He seemed fine for now, but if he absorbed any more fragments than this, a moment would come when Yohan wouldn't be able to handle it.

“That…… can't be helped. I don't want to justify the means for the sake of the goal either, but the fragment is also a goal in itself.”

Although we hadn't talked much, from that, I could read one thought from Yohan.

“Do you want to go back?”

“……Everyone probably does.”

“I've seen people who don't seem to.”

I remember the countless people I had seen on the Anonymous Bulletin Board.

And among them, there were definitely those who were satisfied with life here.

“Even if such people exist, in the end, this is not the place for us to live. We are foreigners here, and we're bound to have friction with the people who have lived here. That problem will fester and burst someday.”

It wasn't that I hadn't thought about that part at all, but since making a living right now was the priority, I hadn't thought about it deeply.

‘But it's not a problem to just ignore, either.’

What did the Players think about the original inhabitants of this world?

Perhaps some would regard them as humans, same as themselves, and others would regard them as just NPCs.

Up to this point, it could be passed off as just personal values, but the real problem was that the Players had power.

An overwhelming power that could easily overthrow not just any kingdom but even the Empire if they united properly.

For now, they were only united at the guild level, but if the large guilds began to ally in earnest, a new type of power that never existed before would be born.

However, the reason that matter was not a priority for me was because it was obvious that it would take quite a long time from now to reach that point.

“You're thinking quite far into the future.”

“No…… it probably won't be that distant a story. I've already seen it several times.”

“What happened?”

A shadow cast over Yohan's face.

Although he didn't say it, it seemed there had been some kind of incident that I was unaware of.

“Ah, we've arrived. This is the safe zone. It's quite nice, right?”

Yohan changed the subject, smiling faintly.

At his reluctance to speak further, I also did not ask any more.

Since Yohan had decided as such, he wouldn't answer even if I forced the question.

‘Anyway, a safe zone…….’

The scenery of the safe zone was not much different from what I knew.

To be precise, it wasn't much different on the outside compared to other places in the Demonic Realm.

In the first place, this was even more so because the safe zone itself was not so much a special place, but rather a place created by the coincidental overlap of several conditions.

“It's gotten late. The Demonic Realm at night is dangerous, so it would be better to rest soon.”

“Let's do that.”

“It seems we can't make a fire separately, is that alright?”

“It's alright, I came with at least that much preparation.”

“That's a relief.”

The night in the Demonic Realm was not to be underestimated, but I had the Fang of Blazing Fire, which was no different from a permanent heating mechanism, so I didn't need to worry about shivering from the cold.

Preparing for sleep wasn't very difficult.

In preparation for a possible demonic beast intrusion, I made a simple trap for warning purposes, and to erase our scent, I lightly sprinkled the dried secretions of a high-level demonic beast, obtained from the auction house, on the border of the safe zone.

With this much, given the characteristics of the safe zone, demonic beasts would not come under normal circumstances, and even if they did, I could notice them immediately because of the sound.

When all the preparations for sleep were roughly finished, Yohan spoke with a slightly surprised face.

“……You seem extremely familiar with this. Do you come to the Demonic Realm often?”

“I have come a few times.”

“I see……. I thought something was different from the moment I first saw you.”

Yohan said, glancing around the area.

“Still, it's not perfectly safe, so we should stand watch. What do you want to do?”

“I will stand first. Let's switch every two hours.”

“Then, shall we do that?”

Yohan readily agreed to my proposal and immediately prepared to get into his sleeping bag.

“Ah, before that, what is the exact information on the mutant?”

“Have you decided to accept my proposal?”

“I have to check the conditions first.”

“Conditions?”

“First, tell me the information about the mutant. I think I'll be able to decide after hearing it.”

“Uh…… yes.”

Yohan said reluctantly.

“So…… it's a level 6 named individual. It's so heavily mutated that I don't know its exact species or type, but seeing as there was no pack around it, it wasn't a chieftain-type, at least.”

“7 to 3.”

“Pardon?”

“I get 7, and you get 3. This seems pretty reasonable.”

“……Pardon?”

Yohan's face was painted with a thoroughly flabbergasted expression.