The Sak had passed, and the crescent moon had returned.
Which meant, for the next month, I was safe.

Thank goodness there’s only one day each month where the moon doesn’t appear.
If there had been two or three days like that, I probably would have taken my own life by now.

The day after enduring the berserk episode, I spent the entire day asleep.
If it had been Berserk B, I might have managed, but Type A drained my energy too much.
Pulling an all-nighter to deal with it had become such a routine that sleeping afterward was practically part of my recovery.

After sleeping the whole day, I got to work cleaning up my blood.

I walked deeper and deeper into the cave. As I shined my light into the darkness, I saw the walls stained with dried blood, and the floor soaked in it. I couldn’t help but let out a small exclamation.

“Wow.”

It looked like the workshop of a serial killer. Anyone walking in here would think I’d butchered several people.
But unfortunately, the only one I’d “butchered” in here was myself.

Sadly, I couldn’t clean up the stains.
The blood had splattered and dried too many times, leaving deep marks like scars on the cave walls.

Well, what could I do? I only came to this part of the cave when berserk episodes hit, so I’d just have to leave it as is.

Once I finished mopping up my bloody mess, I took a shower.

The best part about this cave was the underground spring flowing deep inside. It meant I rarely had to trek all the way to the distant stream to bathe.
Of course, when the spring water freezes over, I have no choice but to make that trip. But luckily, today wasn’t one of those days.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

The downside? It’s freezing in winter.
The only heat source in the cave is a campfire, and expecting something like heated floors here would be a joke.

At least I could heat the water if I wanted to, but today I was too lazy.
Besides, as someone with Demon’s Blood, I rarely caught colds anyway.

After finishing my shower, I ate a quick meal and started washing my clothes.
Since I’d bled all over myself the previous night, my clothes were soaked in blood and needed cleaning.

Sometimes I skip clothes entirely during berserk episodes just to avoid this hassle, but in winter, that’s not really an option.

“Phew, done.”

After hanging the laundry outside the cave, I ran a hand through my hair.

Aside from the post-berserk cleanup, this was pretty much my routine.
Eat, shower, do laundry. If there’s time left, I forage for food or supplies.

It’s not much different from living like an unemployed bachelor.
The lack of friends to meet up with was another similarity.

I wish I had friends.

I muttered to myself, knowing that wish wasn’t going to come true anytime soon.
Life in the forest was mostly dull and lonely, leaving me with thoughts like that.

...Would anyone visit me again?

Suddenly, the image of that streamer, Yoo Chaerin, popped into my head.
Jeez, I’m the one who told her not to come back, and here I am hoping for it.
What a contradictory person I am.

But I couldn’t help it. Reason and desire are two different things.

I knew that contact with society meant putting myself at risk. But I was so starved for conversation that I was willing to forget that for a moment.

“Hah...”

Of course, just because I wished for it didn’t mean my desire would be granted.
The forest was peaceful and uneventful today, as always.

Yor’s face appeared on YouTube, and its impact was quite significant.

So significant, in fact, that it took up half a page of the [Demons Saga Gallery], also known as ‘Ak-gal.’

It had been a while since such a good-looking NPC had appeared, especially in a place as unexpected as the Forbidden Forest.

To top it off, this wasn’t the first time he’d been mentioned. A few months ago, a player had captured a silhouette of a man in a screenshot. At the time, it had been written off as either a hoax or a creepy legend.

But now, that legend turned out to be real!

Yor, whether as a meme or a topic of serious discussion, became prime fodder for content.

Of course, half a page on Ak-gal may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of viral internet phenomena, but still, it caused ripples. Yor had become quite the conversation piece.

Most people treated it as mere gossip.

However, as with any community, if you gather hundreds of people, you’re bound to have a few bad apples.
And Demons Saga was no exception—like most games, it had its share of toxic players.
The only difference? The toxic users in this game were of a particularly nasty breed.

That’s because Demons Saga was so realistic it was practically “another reality.”
The game had an extremely high degree of freedom. In fact, it even supported an official “18+ mode.” You can imagine what that entailed.

Players could essentially do anything their imagination allowed.

But this led to a particular problem...
Some people sought to commit heinous crimes in-game that they couldn’t in real life.

“Idiots.”

One such example was Jiwoo Bang, a 27-year-old shut-in (and lifelong virgin).
She was on her way to the Forbidden Forest, heading there for one reason: to find Yor.

“How can such a perfect toy be out there, and no one’s thought to go after him yet?”

To put it more bluntly, she planned to overpower him and force herself on him.

She had already watched Chaerin’s stream dozens of times, mapping out the route perfectly.
The path through the forest all looked the same, but with enough determination, Jiwoo had pieced it together.

It helped that her character was the same class as Chaerin’s—a thief.
“Good thing I saved up my points.”

She silently praised her past self. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she had managed to learn the “Stealth” skill without needing much leveling. Everything was falling into place.

Now, you might wonder: How can an open-world RPG allow for something like rape?

Well, technically, it doesn’t.

Players who commit such crimes are permanently banned, with the community treating them like the scum of the earth. And since the game only allows you to customize your character’s appearance to be within 5% of your real face, it’s not hard to figure out who these toxic players are in real life.

So yes, the game had plenty of safeguards.

But, as in real life, as long as you don’t get caught, you’re in the clear.

Most players who got banned had been caught by other players or NPCs and thrown in prison first.
As long as there were no witnesses, you could get away with anything.

That made Yor a perfect target.
The Forbidden Forest was remote, with strong monsters and no people around. If Jiwoo could handle Yor properly, she could pull off the perfect crime. She could even kill him afterward...

In this game, once an NPC died, they didn’t respawn. They were gone forever.

To Jiwoo, the idea of raping and killing an NPC didn’t bother her in the slightest. She had antisocial tendencies, sure, but at the end of the day:

“He’s just an NPC.”

That thought echoed in her mind.

It was all fake anyway. While it would be a shame for an NPC to disappear permanently, that was all it would be. No one was really dying.
Those other players caring about NPC “rights” were the weird ones.

She also wasn’t worried about taking him down.
Despite appearances, Jiwoo was a high-level player. She was level 79, which was incredibly strong, considering the top-ranked player in the world had barely reached the 90s.

While this area was high-level and intimidating, Jiwoo wasn’t concerned about subduing one guy.

Eventually, she made it to Yor’s cave.
It looked like he had been doing laundry—clothes were hung on nearby branches. She spotted Yor, the man from the YouTube video, currently gathering the clothes.

Still dressed in his winter furs, as it was quite cold.

Like a true thief, Jiwoo crept up behind him silently and swung her hammer down on his head.
She didn’t kill him, just knocked him out.

Thud!

With a dull sound, Yor’s body collapsed to the ground. A thin trickle of blood ran down his head, but he was still alive.

“Hehe...”

Jiwoo let out a small laugh, walking over to him.
Her sexual frustration had been building ever since she’d watched him on YouTube. Even bleeding, his face was still attractive to her.

Without hesitation, she began undoing the fur coat he was wearing. After all, trying to do anything with all that thick clothing on would be a hassle.

Once she had unfastened his fur and pulled up his shirt, Yor’s body was fully exposed.
His chiseled abs, broad shoulders—it was a sight to behold. She couldn’t stop herself from letting out a low, expletive-laced whistle.

“Damn...”

The Yor in the YouTube video had been wearing furs so thick that no one could make out his figure.
There had been a few people in the comments speculating that his body might not live up to his face.

Jiwoo had laughed off those baseless claims at the time, but a part of her had been worried.
What if his body really was disappointing? She wouldn’t know until she “opened the box,” so to speak.

But now that she had, all her doubts vanished.
His body wasn’t disappointing at all—if anything, it was more impressive than his face.
His physique was something straight out of a woman’s fantasy, well-defined and muscular.

How could a man’s body be so enticingly muscular?

With abs so perfectly sculpted, smooth, unblemished skin, and a powerful chest, just looking at him made her feel a rush of arousal.

Half-crazed with lust, Jiwoo leaned in, ready to take what she wanted.

But then...

“...That’s a shame.”

Yor’s voice, clear and steady, broke through the silence.

What? She had been sure he was unconscious. Had he already woken up?
A flood of questions ran through her mind, but none of them lingered for long.

“Maybe if you were a bit prettier, I’d have considered letting you have your way.”

Slash!

Before she could react, her wrist was severed from her body.
Pain shot through her as blood poured from the wound.

“Aaaaaaah!”

Jiwoo screamed in agony. Having maxed out her synchronization with the game, the pain was all too real.

Gripping her severed wrist, her mind raced.
How had he had a weapon? She hadn’t even seen him swing it.

Besides, she was fully armored. Even if her class had lower defense, it should’ve been tougher than regular skin. And yet... she’d been cut so easily.

Her mind spun with confusion as Yor calmly continued his attack. He kicked her to the ground and pinned her beneath him, his dagger now aimed at her throat.

Looking down at her, he spoke with cold disdain.

“Yeah, you’re definitely too ugly.”

Whether from the pain or humiliation, Jiwoo wanted to cry.