In 2046, a virtual reality game, almost indistinguishable from reality, was released. Gamers were thrilled by this news.

After all, every gamer has dreamed of experiencing virtual reality.

Amid this excitement, an unknown game developer made waves. They released a VR game with the tagline "Another Reality" and uploaded the game trailer. The title of the game in that video was:

[Demon’s Saga]

Stunning graphics! Massive maps! Fully autonomous NPCs designed with advanced AI!!! The world of Demon’s Saga showcased in the video was majestic and captivating. The setting, where players become adventurers tasked with slaying demons sealed across the world, was a bit clichéd but still enticing.

The number of pre-registered users skyrocketed. After such a long wait... the game was finally released.

As expected, the community went wild.

[Finally, it’s out, LOL]
Let’s dive in, LOL
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[Let’s slaughter those demon bastards, LOL]
[I'm claiming the first warrior role!]
[Damn... Because of overtime, I’ll be starting two hours late.]
[You noob, LOL]
[Half your life is wasted already, LOL]

[Is it true this game has an adult 19+ mode?]
I think I heard it somewhere
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[Yeah, it’s true.]
[Yup, the game officially supports it.]
[But it only activates in specific situations, so it won’t apply to most of us shut-in gamer nerds. Don’t get your hopes up.]
[Shut up! What do you know about me?]

[Look at the graphics, damn!]
[Look at the sound, damn! Look at the sensory immersion, damn!]
It feels just like real life.
But the character designs are pretty average...
+

[???: "Another Reality"]
[Did the NPCs really need to look that plain, though?]
[I hopped into the game for a bit, and it’s seriously awesome; no joke.]
[There are so many people in the tutorial area, LOL]
[How is there no traffic overload with so many people?]
[And there’s no lag despite the graphics, LOL]
[Did they swap in alien tech or something?]

Posts were flooding in every second. It felt like the whole world was talking about Demon’s Saga. That’s how popular the game had become. It met gamers' expectations brilliantly.

As a result, the number of players for Demon’s Saga grew exponentially...

Two months passed.

[Condition not met!]
[The ‘Player’s Eye’ feature cannot be used at this time!]

"...What the hell is this?"

It’s been two months since the system window first appeared in front of me. This was the first system window I’d seen in the 22 years since I arrived in this world, but I still didn’t know what it was.

The fact that something like this existed at all was surprising.

Sure, it’s nice that a holographic window appeared, but what good is it if I can’t use it? There were no stat displays, no level windows—none of the usual things people would expect.

The only thing visible was the ‘Player’s Eye’ feature, but I couldn’t use it because the conditions weren’t met.

‘Still, something strange must have happened.’

There’s no way something like this would appear out of nowhere. In times like these, living in the forest was a hassle. Even if I wanted to gather information, there was nowhere to find it.

"Maybe I should visit the city again..."

When I was younger, I thought I’d live forever isolated from civilization. But thankfully, it didn’t come to that. As long as I hid the black horn tattoo on my collarbone, I could pass as a normal person.

Of course, that didn’t mean I could go to the city center. The mark on my collarbone was large, and only people with proper identities could walk around freely there. The best I could do was visit a few of the shady back-alley markets where no one asked too many questions.

So, if I wanted to gather information, I’d have to go there...

‘Hmm, I’ll go later.’

I quickly gave up on the idea. I was curious, but it wasn’t urgent. I’d already visited two months ago and stocked up on all the necessary supplies.

For someone like me, going too often would be dangerous. The more I visited, the more I’d stand out, and the higher the chance of getting caught.

And the people in those back-alley markets... even to someone like me, who’s been an outcast for 12 years, they were shady as hell.

For now, I decided to focus on what I needed to do. Lately, I’d been slacking off, and my food supply had run out.

The meat I had preserved—whether by salting, smoking, or drying—was almost gone. My emergency rations were nearly depleted too, with only a handful of the most valuable items left.

Winter was only a few months away. It was time to start restocking. So, today was going to be all about hunting.

Unfortunately, the prey had become scarce. Maybe it was because more monsters had appeared nearby, but I couldn’t find enough animals to hunt. And there was no way I was eating ogre meat.

‘I guess it’s time to do a bit of cleanup soon.’

Usually, I’d leave it alone, thinking nature would take care of itself. Even though monsters roamed this area, it was still part of the natural world.

One mistake people make is thinking animals are always weaker than monsters. This land has been exposed to magic for a long time. As a result, many animals have mutated due to the magic’s influence.

If you’re lucky, you might even witness a mutated bear feasting on ogre meat. It’s that strange of a land... managing this area is nearly impossible.

Still, after wandering around for a while, I managed to catch a couple of rabbits.

But that wasn’t enough. To replenish my stock of salted meat, I’d need at least a wild boar.

So, I ventured farther out towards the forest’s outskirts. That’s where more regular animals were likely to be found. Sure, I could hunt mutated animals, but they were tougher to kill and more troublesome to prepare.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve been near the forest’s surface.’

This forest had three layers: the surface layer, the middle layer, and the deep layer. The deeper you go, the denser the magic and the stronger the monsters.

The deepest parts of the forest were life-threatening, even for me.

That’s why I lived in the middle layer, inside a cave. The monsters here were manageable, and people almost never ventured this far, so I didn’t need to worry about security. Plus, the cave had a small lake, so I didn’t have to go far to wash up. For these reasons, I chose to live in the middle layer.

Because of this, it was rare for me to visit the surface.

But heading there now stirred up old memories.

"..."

To be honest, they weren’t pleasant memories. Most of them were of the struggles I went through, clawing my way up to the middle layer.

I wasn’t always able to fight monsters from the start.

I used to struggle even with regular animals, running and hiding from the hunters that came searching for me in the forest. I remember scavenging animal carcasses from the ground in despair and having to sleep under rotting trees when I couldn’t find shelter at night.

Those miserable times built me into the person who could survive like this now.

“But I’m still alone.”

Come to think of it, nothing has really changed, damn it. I cursed under my breath at the harsh reality, but as I kept walking, I eventually reached the boundary of the surface layer.

There was no distinct line separating the surface from the middle layer, but you could tell by the size of the trees. I figured this was about where the surface layer began.

But I couldn’t go any farther.

“Help! Somebody, please!”

A scream echoed from up ahead. I quickly ducked behind a nearby tree.

Peeking out, I saw a woman being chased by a fully grown wild boar. Judging by her leather armor and steel sword, she was probably an adventurer. It looked like she had entered the forest, crossed paths with the boar, and provoked it, leading to her current predicament.

“Damn it, why is it so fast? Please, just leave me alone!”

Her voice sounded desperate, but I had no intention of helping.

‘It’d be troublesome if she noticed me.’

Helping her wasn’t the issue. The problem was, what if she returned and spread word about me? I’d end up in trouble, and I’d have to go into hiding again for a while.

It might seem heartless, but this was the right choice. And besides, she’s an adventurer, right? She should’ve known the risks of her profession.

“Tsk tsk, yelling like that is just going to make it angrier...”

Still, I followed from a distance. If she managed to escape, I’d take down the boar. If she didn’t... well, I’d still get the boar.

Watching her, it seemed unlikely she’d make it. She kept screaming as she ran, which only made the boar angrier, and she even threw her weapon, further enraging the beast.

In this forest, the key to survival is staying quiet. Monsters lurk everywhere. If you make too much noise, you risk attracting even more attention.

And what was she thinking, throwing her weapon away? Even if she escaped the boar, she’d still need a weapon to make it out of the forest. What an amateur.

To make matters worse, she wasn’t running in the right direction. Instead of heading towards the surface layer, she was moving deeper into the middle layer. I get that she was panicking, but running that way was only going to make things worse.

She looked like a rookie adventurer, and entering this deep into the forest was a mistake from the start. People should stick to hunting grounds that match their abilities.

In the end, she must have tired out because the boar rammed her with its tusks, sending her flying.

Thud!

“Ack!”

With a dull thud, her body flew through the air. The boar lowered its head and scraped the ground, readying for another charge. She let out a resigned curse.

“Damn it...”

Most people panic when they’re about to die, but she looked strangely at peace. Had she already accepted her fate? Or maybe she didn’t have much attachment to life. It was an unexpected reaction.

"...Huh?"

Our eyes met for a moment. Damn it, I must’ve been too absorbed in watching and forgot to hide properly. Even though we were far apart, she still noticed me.

But it didn’t matter much. She wasn’t going to make it anyway. Whether she saw me or not didn’t change anything.

Bweeek!

The boar charged again and trampled her body. A rookie adventurer’s pointless death. I quietly muttered to myself as I watched.

“Tsk, a natural death.”

Still, I’ll take revenge on the boar for you.

 

And that evening...

A strange post appeared on the Demon's Saga forum.

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[I found something weird while exploring the newbie map—what the heck is this??]

(Image)
Wasn’t this supposed to be a high-level zone? Isn’t this a place where no one lives?
So, why is this guy just standing there watching me die like that??
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[????]
[It’s too far to see clearly... but is that a guy?]
[How does it make sense for a guy to just show up there?]
[Is this a fake? Did you mistake something else for a person?]
[No way, it totally looks like a person.]
[Wow, I zoomed in, and damn, he’s ridiculously handsome, LOL.]
[For real?]
[Fuck, dude, when you zoom in, the graphics get all pixelated, it’s hard to tell.]
[Still, even from the silhouette, he looks good, LOL.]