Thousands of soldiers.
Hundreds of knights.
Hundreds of mages and dozens of priests.
And even several large chests filled with holy water.

On the day the demon was prophesied to descend, the gathering site was packed with people, like grains of sand on a beach. Thankfully, they had managed to roughly pinpoint where the demon would appear, allowing everyone to congregate in one place.

No matter which direction you turned, the view was filled with armed soldiers, all fully equipped for battle.

“...Wow.”

Chaerin let out a small gasp of admiration as she took in the sight.

Even though she knew this was the first raid event, she hadn't expected so many people to show up. And this number only represented those who had been filtered out and accepted.

The requirement to participate was a minimum rank of C-grade adventurer. For Otherworlders, that meant a minimum level of 60.

Only those level 60 and above could join this raid. For many, it was a steep requirement.

There had been some complaints in the community about the restrictions, with some accusing the game of catering to high-level players.

Of course, the game company, notorious for its lack of communication with players, didn’t seem affected by the grumbling.

[There’s so many people, damn.]
[And there’s no lag even with all these players?]
[Is the server really going to hold up?]
[Incredible how stable this is.]

Naturally, Chaerin was streaming.

As a streamer, she couldn’t miss out on such a massive event.

However, with so many streamers gathered in one place, her viewer count wasn’t inflating as much as she had hoped.

As she looked around in fascination, she noticed something strange—most of the people stationed at the front lines were players like her.

Sure, it made sense that NPCs wouldn’t want to volunteer, as they valued their lives too much. But even so, there seemed to be a disproportionate number of players at the front.

She even spotted mages and priests, classes typically meant for the rear, standing up front.

Her viewers picked up on the same thing and chimed in.

[They’re using us as cannon fodder since we can respawn.]
[I get it, but it still feels kind of shitty, LOL.]
[But considering they’ll return our gear and give us 50,000 gold, it’s a good deal, right?]

Hmm.

Chaerin disagreed silently as she read the last comment.

The fact that you couldn’t log in for three days after dying was a big deal—especially for game streamers like her. A three-day absence felt like an eternity.

Sure, she could always do a chatting stream, but with Demons Saga being so popular right now, those weren’t very appealing. If she were to chat with her viewers, it would usually be while playing the game.

Even with the risk of being locked out for three days, it was still worth participating in this raid.

She could show her viewers the excitement of the raid, and if she managed to make a significant contribution, she might even earn extra rewards.

The odds were slim, but you never know until you try, right?

As she mulled over her thoughts, she suddenly noticed someone familiar in her field of vision.

“Oh?”

With a smile of recognition, Chaerin approached the person.

“Unnie!”

It was her editor.

Online, she went by the nickname "Black Meow," but her real name was Im Haneul.

Her black wavy hair, dark eyes, and square glasses with thick lenses were immediately recognizable. Not to mention, her chest stood out quite prominently compared to the other players around.

Some of Chaerin’s viewers greeted Haneul, recognizing her from her occasional appearances on the stream, though not frequently.

On top of being Chaerin’s editor, Haneul was also her manager.

[Oh, it’s the manager. Heyo!]
[This slacker’s gaming instead of editing, LOL.]
[Wait, does this mean...?]
[Oh?]
[Sexysexybodydy...]
[You freaks, LOL.]

As soon as viewers realized that Haneul was playing the game, the chat began to heat up, with a few risky comments popping up that could easily lead to a temporary ban.

Haneul furrowed her brows.

[Yor, even if you want me to bear your children!]
[You’ve been kicked by the manager.]
[Oh.]
[She’s watching the stream too, huh?]
[^^7]
[^^7;;]

The small rebellion was quelled in a matter of seconds.

Chaerin let out a sigh of relief.

It was a common occurrence. Haneul was a strict moderator, known for keeping a tight leash on the chat. Every now and then, the repressed viewers would try to revolt.

Chaerin killed time chatting with Haneul until the raid officially began.

It wasn’t long before an alert popped up in front of her eyes, and the area ahead of her grew restless.

[The demon Andromalius has descended!]

The demon had finally appeared.

“Don’t be afraid! Fight with courage! The lives of the people depend on your bravery!”

The commanding officer shouted, rallying the troops. Mages prepared their powerful spells in unison, and priests cast buffs as they muttered prayers.

Chaerin snapped back to focus, drawing her dual daggers—her newest gear crafted from the fangs of a mutated wolf.

With these, it wasn’t impossible for her to make a name for herself in this raid!

“Waaaah!!!”

Hearing the cheers erupting all around her, she charged toward the demon.

It didn’t take even five minutes for her to die from a single strike from Andromalius.

[Everyone, repeat after me.]

We are nothing but weaklings.
+

[We are nothing but weaklings.]
[You are nothing at all.]
[I am nothing at all...]

•  

[All those players who happily joined the raid got wiped in under 10 minutes, LOL.]

There was a reason they only let high-level players in.
+

[To give the latecomers a chance, we’ve decided to suspend all high-level players for three days, LOL.]
[But hey, you still earned 50,000 gold, right? Time to celebrate!]
[The streamer I was watching logged off just three minutes into the raid, lol.]
[Who are we?]
[NPC cannon fodder.]

•  

[What’s funnier is that this demon was considered a weaker boss.]

In the end, we just weakened it by dying, and then the 5th Knight Commander stepped in and sliced off its head.

And then he had the nerve to say, “That was truly an easy battle this time...” Like, seriously, WTF?
+

Chaerin was sitting in a bar near her home, eating dinner with her editor, when she clicked on the video from one of the posts.

Since she had died way too quickly during the raid, she figured she might as well finish up her dinner plans.

The video she played was already at the raid’s conclusion.

Andromalius, severely weakened by the players, was being engaged in a one-on-one duel by the 5th Knight Commander.

With a sharp slicing sound, Andromalius’ left arm fell to the ground, and the serpent coiled around it wriggled for a moment before going still.

The demon, now gravely injured, let out a scream in a strange, foreign language.

“Damn you, Seere! This was supposed to be your turn to descend! The blood that brat carries was meant for you, yet you dared offer me up as your sacrificial pawn!?”

It sounded more like the demon was yelling at someone else rather than focusing on his opponent. His actions now seemed less about domination and more about desperation.

After a futile struggle, Andromalius’ head was cleaved off by the knight commander’s sword.

That was the end of it.

Aside from a few heavily injured NPCs, there were no casualties among the native forces. A flawless victory, if you didn’t count the players.

The screen showed a joyous scene: survivors embracing their comrades, celebrating their narrow escape from death.

After watching the video, Chaerin scrolled down to read the comments.

[Wow, the demon really was weak.]
[Yeah, but we all still got wrecked by it, LOL.]

[Wait, 72nd-ranked? Isn’t that super low-tier?]
[Lol, she thinks that’s an actual ranking system, hahaha.]
[Wait, it isn’t???]
[LOL, wow, you really didn’t know, huh? Sorry, my bad.]

Honestly, the raid felt more like a spectacle than something the players could truly participate in.

It was as if they were just there to watch a trailer for the game rather than actively shape the story.

Of course, Demons Saga was a freeform open-world RPG, so such distinctions weren’t supposed to exist. But still, in this case, the players were more like spectators than anything else.

It was as if the game was telling them, "Not your time yet." The difference in level between the demon and the players was just that massive.

“Haa, what am I going to do for the next three days?”

Chaerin sighed softly as she finished her thoughts.

With her character dead, she was looking at a forced three-day break. Since she’d even taken time off from school, she was now stuck in limbo, an unemployed gamer with nothing to do for three days.

“I told you to stay back, didn’t I? They weren’t just giving away 50,000 gold for nothing.”

Across from her, her editor Im Haneul spoke up, taking a light jab at her.

Unlike Chaerin, who had been wiped out in five minutes, Haneul had survived to the end of the battle.

Not because she’d cowered in fear, but because she was a mage, a class that allowed her to stay relatively safe during the raid. Her calm and calculating nature had also kept her from making rash decisions.

“I was planning to visit Yoru this week, but I guess that’s out of the question now.”

Chaerin grumbled, sipping her drink.

Haneul couldn’t help but comment on that.

“Why do you keep visiting that NPC so often these days?”
“Well, you told me to try getting closer to him, didn’t you?”
“I did, but...”

Chaerin had been spending almost all her time in the game lately.

As her editor and an older sister figure, Haneul wanted to tell her to live her real life a little more.

Even though Haneul herself was a hikikomori who spent most of her time editing in her room, she still couldn’t help but feel a bit concerned.

There had been cases where players became too attached to NPCs that felt almost human. It was like a modern-day Pygmalion syndrome.

With how immersive the game’s sync system was, including sensory feedback and the option for a 19+ mode, it was no wonder some players formed emotional attachments.

It was understandable, but Haneul knew that losing oneself in such relationships could be dangerous.

After all, NPCs weren’t real. Becoming too deeply involved could only lead to heartache later on. It was crucial to keep fantasy and reality separate.

However, even Haneul couldn’t help but feel curious.

Yoru, the NPC she had seen in the videos, was indeed intriguing. So, it wasn’t too surprising that she found herself wondering about him.

‘Maybe I should pay him a visit.’

With Chaerin stuck in a forced hiatus for three days, Haneul wouldn’t have any editing to do.

The idea of checking out Yoru herself didn’t seem like such a bad one.

As she quietly sipped her drink, her eyes grew more thoughtful.