Do you know what an electronic ankle bracelet and my demon mark have in common?

They both get you branded as a criminal if caught.

Though, to be fair, getting caught with an ankle bracelet just earns you social disdain, while getting caught with my mark could get me executed. So, yeah, I’d say I’m more of a high-risk criminal.

Another similarity is that neither can be removed by choice. Oh, and there’s one more thing they both share: they both need to be “recharged.”

But while an ankle bracelet is charged with electricity, my mark gets recharged with sunlight and air. And by the way, during this “charging” process, my feet need to stay grounded, and I must be in open air. Really weird conditions, right?

Why do I even have to recharge it? It’s not like I gain some amazing demonic powers afterward. I mean, charging an ankle bracelet doesn’t make it shoot lasers or anything.

No, the reason for charging it is pretty much the same as for the ankle bracelet: to avoid problems.

If the battery dies on an ankle bracelet, the cops come after you for violating the law. In my case, if I don’t recharge my mark, I get some nasty side effects.

The mark starts to itch. At first, it’s like getting poked with tiny, thin needles, right at the spot where the horn-shaped mark is. And the longer I go without recharging, the worse it gets. If I leave it too long, the itch becomes unbearable, more like a sharp, burning pain.

Honestly, it’s less “charging” and more “programming.” It’s like my mark is designed to punish me if I try to hide my true nature for too long.

After suffering through this enough times, I think I’ve started to understand the mark’s message: Don’t hide that you’re a criminal. Your blood was tainted by evil from birth, so don’t even dream of living peacefully among people.

“Ugh, damn it…”

This demon mark is such a pain. It can’t go five minutes without trying to make my life miserable.

Normally, though, I don’t let it get this bad. Recharging it only takes a few weeks, tops.

And all I have to do is go outside, strip off my shirt, and soak up some sunlight. Even in winter, I just light a fire nearby and let the sun hit me for a bit.

But lately, I haven’t been able to do that.

Who knows when or where some wandering player might show up and spot me? I can’t exactly go around flaunting my mark.

It’s been weeks now.

“Haa…”

The itching has been getting worse every day.

The day after a light dinner with Chaerin, Im Haneul, her editor, lay down in her capsule and logged into the game. Once Chaerin’s ban was lifted, she would be busy again. So, she figured she might as well try to visit Yoru while she had some free time.

After all, before she was an editor, she was also a player.

She gathered a few basic items and stood at the entrance of the Forbidden Forest. She was dressed in a low-level mage’s robe, carrying a basic wand for beginner mages, along with fatigue potions and low-tier mana potions.

Everything she had on was expendable in case she died. In other words, she was well-prepared.

“But... how do I even get in?”

Standing at the edge of the forest, she hesitated. Sure, she was over level 60, but nowhere near strong enough to force her way through the Forbidden Forest. And it wasn’t like she could use stealth like a rogue.

She was stuck from the very beginning.

“Hmm…”

But of course, she hadn’t come here without a plan.

It wasn’t foolproof, but she had something in mind.

Haneul was a rare breed among mages: she specialized in support magic. She wasn’t great in direct combat, but she excelled in defensive spells and buffs.

And one of the more interesting spells she had recently learned was “Flight.”

It wasn’t exactly practical in a fight and drained a lot of mana, but it seemed perfect for navigating the Forbidden Forest.

'This should work... right?'

Of course, she had some doubts. How would she manage her visibility from above? What if her mana ran out mid-flight and she fell?

‘Eh, whatever. I’ll figure it out.’

She decided not to overthink it. If she tried to account for every possible variable, she’d never even get started. Yoru was a rare NPC to meet, and while it would be great if she found him, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if she didn’t.

With that in mind, she activated the flight spell and took off into the air, completely unaware of how vast the forest was.

It was only a few hours later that she ran out of mana and crash-landed in the middle of the forest.

With a series of thudding sounds, my axe split the wood with ease. Today was a wood-chopping day.

Despite the arrival of spring and the warming weather, fire was still essential. People need to eat to survive, and cooking requires fire.

Recently, the stockpile of firewood I'd gathered during the winter had dwindled alarmingly fast. I’d thought I had prepared enough to last, but winter fires had burned through the stash quicker than expected.

Fortunately, I had a new axe—a souvenir from Kim Mari—and today, I was determined to replenish my stockpile. The forest was vast, so gathering firewood wasn’t exactly difficult.

Thud! Thud!

"Ugh."

There was just one problem: every time I swung the axe, my right collarbone itched like crazy. It was the damn demon mark acting up, itching more violently because I hadn’t “recharged” it in weeks.

The prickling, as if thin needles were poking into my skin, grew more intense by the day. At night, when everything was quiet, it even started to feel like a sharp pain.

Still, I tried to ignore it as much as possible, focusing on chopping wood. I reminded myself of how I pushed my focus outward to cope with berserk mode, trying to clear my mind by concentrating on the task at hand.

Thud! Thud! Crack!

The rhythmic sounds of splitting wood echoed through the quiet forest. With the warmer weather, I started to sweat, and my thin T-shirt became damp and clingy.

But the itching wouldn’t stop.

“Agh!”

Thud!

I finally gave in and threw the axe to the ground in frustration. This itching was driving me insane.

If I didn’t do something soon, I’d end up dying from stress long before any knights discovered my secret.

I needed to take care of this—now.

Leaving the axe behind, I dashed into the forest, heading for a spot behind my cave—the same clearing where I’d hung my laundry. As I mentioned before, that area gets the best sunlight.

Sometimes, I dry myself out there too.

After running for a few minutes, the clearing came into view, bathed in sunlight. I didn’t waste any time; I started pulling off my shirt to let the sun hit my mark.

“Huff... huff...”

I was still cautious, though. Just because I was desperate didn’t mean I was about to expose my mark recklessly. I scanned the area, my senses heightened, focusing on every rustling leaf, every shifting stone, and the faint breeze against my skin.

Even if someone were hiding, no invisibility skill could completely cover up their presence. There would always be signs—footsteps, disturbed leaves, something.

After a while, I confirmed that the area around me was clear—no lifeforms nearby.

Good. Time to recharge.

I pulled off my shirt, revealing the lean muscle I’d developed from surviving in the forest. The cool breeze hit my sweat-soaked skin, instantly soothing the itching sensation.

It was like the sun itself was scratching the itch for me, and for the first time in weeks, I felt relief.

"Haa..."

This must be what sex feels like. It was so refreshing, I could count it as a substitute for it.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sunlight, completely unaware of the disturbance above me.

“Hmm?”

A strange noise made me pause, my brows furrowing in confusion.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Something—or someone—was falling fast.

The idea of flying over the forest had clearly been a mistake.

If it were possible, wouldn’t the NPC mages have already tamed the forest this way? Why hadn’t I thought of that?

Flying through the dense forest with wind resistance was draining my mana far faster than anticipated. I’d already downed three mana potions, yet it felt like my energy was being sucked dry.

And now, I was out of potions.

To make matters worse, the wind picked up, jostling me around violently. The gusts were much stronger in the sky.

Im Haneul grimaced. If she wasn’t careful, she would crash before even catching a glimpse of that NPC.

“Damn it!”

There was no choice but to land. Trying to maintain balance mid-air would only waste more mana. It was safer to fall and mitigate the impact.

She disabled the flight spell, immediately feeling the weight of gravity as she plummeted toward the ground.

The forest floor rushed up to meet her at an alarming speed. A flicker of fear flashed through her, but she kept her focus and quickly cast two spells: a mana shield and a wind spell.

The wind spell slowed her descent just enough, and the shield would absorb the worst of the impact. Hopefully.

“Ahhhhh!”

With a loud crash, she hit the ground, a plume of dust rising around her. The force was enough to pierce her synchronization threshold, but the shield had worked. After a few moments, she managed to gather herself.

“Ow...”

Rubbing her head, she looked around—and immediately froze.

Standing in front of her, shirtless, was Yoru.

His chiselled upper body was on full display, and he stared at her with wide eyes, clearly surprised by her sudden arrival.

“Uh...”

Her face turned bright red.