"Hello, my name is Shin Da-eun."

If Da-eun were to introduce herself, nine out of ten times, she would begin with this sentence.

"I'm 26 years old and a streamer on PC-sik."

What usually followed was a brief personal introduction. Many streamers preferred not to reveal their occupation. Some of Da-eun’s colleagues would hide their faces or not disclose their streaming jobs because of the negative perceptions surrounding the profession. Even though public opinion had improved, revealing her job could still lead to uncomfortable situations, like people changing their attitudes once they learned she was a streamer.

Da-eun understood why her colleagues wanted to keep it a secret. She had experienced the same issues. Despite this, she chose to be open about her occupation, partly because she had always shown her face on stream and also because she didn't want to be constrained by such concerns.

This attitude carried over into her streams, where the main themes of her content became freedom and healing.

"I’ve been streaming for five years, and my streamer name is ‘Journey.’ I chose it because I love traveling, and it comes from the English word 'journey.'"

Loving to travel was a defining aspect of Da-eun’s life.

She loved it so much she had named her streaming persona after it.

From a young age, she had traveled frequently, both domestically and abroad. Her parents, understanding her passion, silently supported her endeavors. After all, for a child who had practically grown up in hospitals to now be healthy enough to travel the world, money seemed like a trivial concern.

In fact, Da-eun often found herself struggling to stop her parents from supporting her too much.

For someone like Da-eun, *Silia Online* was nothing short of a revolution.

"Wow…!"

The warmth of the sun on her skin, the breeze gently rustling her hair, the soft texture of the earth beneath her shoes—it all felt indistinguishable from reality.

Da-eun savored the lush nature that was hard to experience in real life.

She instinctively knew that she was utterly captivated by this enchanting world.

---

A week since its first discovery.

“Ahhh!”

“Healer down!”

And then another week.

“Just die already!”

“You crazy boss, enough already!”

And a few days more.

"How did you die?"

"My neck was sliced with a single blow. How about you?"

"He crushed my heart."

"Oof… But why are you talking like that?"

"I’m foreigner. Korean not good."

"Dude, what? Big data auto-translation's been out for ages. What's with the nonsense?"

"I not understand. Korean hard."

"This guy’s a role-playing nut…!"

Among players, the Gravekeeper was considered an unbeatable boss—at least for now, until someone discovered a key gimmick. Some thought it was an NPC intentionally designed to block player progress, while others saw it as a major blunder by *Silia Online*’s developers, Demonin.

Many players gave up on clearing it. The remaining ones split into two groups: those relentlessly pursuing the first kill and those who embraced the chaos for fun.

---

[Dragon’s Tail Raid Group Gives Up on Clearing]  
[Today’s Mad Movie of the Gravekeeper I Recorded Myself]  
[Shouldn’t It Be Called the Undertaker, Not the Gravekeeper?]  
Which gravekeeper buries people themselves?

[Comments]  
- "Creating your own work, I see."  
┗ "Self-employed, I guess."

---

[Achieved Solo Clear of Gravekeeper in 2 Minutes]

*(Timer screenshot)*

"No big deal, lol."

[Comments]  
- "???? How’d you do that?"  
- "Hacker. Reported, bye."  
┗ "You think Demonin doesn’t care about hacks? You idiot."  
┗ "’Noob.’"  
- "Wasn’t the top raid group still under two minutes?"  
┗ "Yeah, that’s right."

---

[Tutorial: How to Last More Than 2 Minutes Against the Gravekeeper]

First, you don’t need buffs or preparations. Buffs are useless because the Gravekeeper one-shots everyone except tanks.  
You’re better off putting your weapon away for more survival time.  
Once you enter the boss room and combat starts, your first move is to run to the clearing.  
If you make it there, sit down and enjoy your last meal.  
The Gravekeeper lets you eat in peace.  
With this method, I managed to last over two minutes.

Pro tip: If you sit in the flower field instead of the clearing, you die instantly, so be careful.

[Comments]  
- "Lol, this is so stupid, haha."  
- "This is a guide? I rushed here for this?"  
- "Did the Gravekeeper just get confused and watch?"  
- "I tried this, but it killed me as soon as I took out food from my inventory."  
┗ "Did you do it right? The post says not to sit in the flower field."  
┗ "I checked, it was the clearing."  
┗ "Got a screenshot or video?"  
┗ "No, didn’t record it."  
┗ "Then I don’t know. Guess you got unlucky."  
┗ "Ew, that stinks."  
- "Maybe it’s an environmentalist monster."  
┗ "’I kill those who ruin nature.’"  
┗ "It makes… sense…!"

---

The community was full of ridiculous exploits and jokes, but the hype surrounding the Gravekeeper was clearly dying down.

---

[Basics of Magic Control]  
[Why Did the Gravekeeper Run Away?]  
[Let’s Talk About Demons]  
[101 Reasons a Swordsman Can Never Beat an Archer]

Mentions of the Gravekeeper were dwindling, a stark contrast from its peak. With no progress and no one coming close to clearing it, interest was naturally fading. It was inevitable that the Gravekeeper would become just another forgotten, poorly designed boss.

That is, if nothing extraordinary happened.

---

“Ugh… Guys, are you sure this is the right way?”

- "Yeah, it’s right."  
- "Just go wherever you want."  
- "Why do you keep asking when you don’t believe us anyway? Third time now."  
- "I’m already a dead user out of frustration."

“This doesn’t feel right!”

Journey’s chat was usually calm, with viewers occasionally teasing her, but overall the atmosphere was gentle. Given her laid-back streaming style, there was little reason for harsh words, and even when trolls tried to stir up trouble, she was quick to ban them.

- [Message deleted.]  
- [Message deleted.]  
- "Do you think she’ll make it today?" *(genuinely doesn’t know)*

However, today was different. There wasn’t a single supportive voice in chat; everyone was throwing stones.

As she banned the worst offenders, Journey raised her head and looked ahead.

“Can this even be called a path?”

What exactly is a path?

By dictionary definition, it's a space on the ground where people, animals, or vehicles can travel.

There were other meanings, of course, but for now, they didn’t matter.

“With all this overgrowth…?”

She wasn’t expecting a nicely paved road or sidewalk in the middle of the woods, but still, if this was supposed to be a path, shouldn’t it at least be passable?

In front of Journey was a dense forest with trees and undergrowth, making the mountainous terrain all the more difficult to traverse.

‘I heard the route would be tough, but not like this….’

She sighed deeply.

"The raid groups passed through here every time they died, didn’t they? Wow, I’ve got to give them credit."

It took a long time to get here from the nearest resurrection point, and even after arriving, they had this mountain to climb. Journey thought it wouldn’t be surprising if most people gave up in frustration.

- "So, when are you going?"  
- "Might as well spend the night at an inn. Climbing at night? You’ll get eaten by a tiger."  
- "Did you just time travel from the Joseon era?"

“Alright, I’m going.”

She finally resigned to the reality and began making her way through the treacherous terrain.

"But seriously, couldn’t they have made a proper path? Wouldn’t that be logical?"

- "When would raid groups have time for that?"

“True, I guess.”

They’d probably rather bash their heads against the boss.

Journey easily accepted this logic.

Huffing and puffing as she climbed, she wiped the sweat beading on her forehead.

“Wow, this is rough. At this rate, I bet at least one person has wanted to burn the place down.”

- "???"  
- "What?"

“Oh, no! Not me! I’m just saying someone might’ve thought that!”

- "<<<< totally that someone"  
- "When people say ‘someone,’ they usually mean themselves."  
- "If you want to get permanently banned from Liberi, that’s one way to do it."

“Permanent exile…? What’s that?”

- "It’s a penalty if you kill too many NPCs or build up too much bad karma."  
- "You get banned from the Liberi faction, can’t respawn at their points, and every NPC becomes hostile."  
- "Also, players get quests to hunt you down regularly."

“…So basically, they’re telling you to quit the game?”

Considering you could only have one character, and there was no option to delete and recreate, it seemed like a pretty severe punishment.

- "It’s only for killing neutral NPCs like villagers. Hostile NPCs don’t count."  
- "I think it’s a system to discourage slaughtering NPCs since they don’t respawn

."  

“Huh, didn’t know that…”

Journey was surprised. She didn’t expect *Silia Online*, known for its high degree of freedom, to have such a system.

“I thought *Silia Online* wouldn’t care no matter what you did.”

- "People think it’s there for realism, but it’s divisive."  
- "You won’t get exiled unless you do something extreme. There’s always a warning first."  
- "Only psychos go around massacring NPCs. Why care about them?"  
- "Then is *Grand Theft Auto* just for psychos? It’s just a game, after all."  
- "It’s not the same! *GTA* doesn’t even use AI. These NPCs act like real people!"

“Hey, stop fighting. If you fight, I’ll ban you.”

Journey quickly shut the gate to the arena that was about to open. She locked it tight and glared, making sure no one tried to slip through.

“They’re exiles. They’ve already paid the price, so there’s no need to argue. If you’ve got complaints, take them up with the developers.”

People have different ways of enjoying games, and it’s not up to anyone to decide what’s right or wrong. Unless someone was exploiting bugs, using the systems the game provides shouldn’t be criticized.

Though, to be honest, Journey didn’t particularly like the idea of indiscriminately killing NPCs either.

---

"By the way, are we almost there yet? Feels like I’ve been walking forever."

- "Just a little further."  
- "How come you haven’t run into any monsters yet?"  
- "That’s a good thing! If you did, I’d have to watch you cook again."  
- "Oh…"

“...”

They had a point.

According to the information she’d gathered, the monsters in this area were high-level, making them tough for someone like her to handle. She wasn’t experienced in combat, and her skill level was far too low.

“Don’t jinx it. If you keep talking like that, something’s bound to—”

*Kieeek!*

“…happen…”

- "LOL!"  
- "She’s done for!"  
- "Run for your life!!!!!!"

Words have power. Was there ever a better situation to illustrate that?

As soon as she finished speaking, a monster appeared—a *Cocatrice* with the head of a chicken. Worse, it was a flying monster, something she was particularly ill-suited to fight.

"Um, I don’t mean you any harm. Could you maybe let me go?"

*Kieek! Kiek!*

“…I guess not.”

- "It clearly means harm."  
- "Press X to pay respects."  
- "X"

Unfortunately, the Cocatrice didn’t seem interested in talking. Should she run? No, she’d just get caught and killed. Accept death? That would mean trekking all the way back here from the resurrection point. And if she ran into more monsters on the way, it’d just be the same story again.

And…

‘I don’t like pain.’

Journey gritted her teeth and drew her sword.

The chat erupted with suggestions and commentary, but none of it reached her.

‘I can do this.’

Just watch its movements and react calmly.

Her grip tightened on the sword until her knuckles turned white.

She took a deep breath, then exhaled. Repeating the process three times, she prepared herself.

*Kaaak!*

“…!”

‘Here it comes!’

The Cocatrice charged at her.

Journey, her senses heightened to the limit, watched its movements in slow motion.

Its right leg pushed off the ground, followed by its left. Its wings tensed, ready to strike, and its deadly gaze locked onto her. The head seemed to detach from the body as it slashed toward her—

“…Huh?”

*Splat!*

The Cocatrice’s head suddenly flew into the air.

Its body collapsed to the ground, and a fountain of blood spurted from the severed neck.

*Thud.*

Before Journey could process what had happened, a dark figure landed gracefully in front of her.

“…The Gravekeeper!”

The figure she’d seen countless times in community posts was standing right before her.

- "Whoa, this is epic."  
- "The Gravekeeper saved her?"  
- "Why though?"  

“I don’t know either.”

Still, she was alive, and that was all that mattered.

The tension in her body eased, and relief washed over her.

But it was too soon to relax.

“….”

“W-wait!”

The battle hadn’t ended, and the sword was now pointed at her.

Even a clueless person would understand what that meant.

The old, worn-out sword had sent countless players back to the resurrection point.

*Drip.*

A drop of blood fell from the blade, and Journey swallowed hard.

“W-wait! Time out!”

Just like the other players who had tried to reason with the Gravekeeper, no answer came.

One step.

Another step.

The Gravekeeper drew closer.

Journey’s heart pounded like crazy as she watched death approach.

In desperation, she cried out.

“Wait!”

*Thud.*

The Gravekeeper stopped.

“…’Granique’?”

And then, a soft, girlish voice came from beneath the Gravekeeper’s cape.

“…?!”

- "???"  
- "???"  
- "????"  
- "!!!!"

Journey and her viewers were left stunned.