LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 107
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Niki Tanesha sometimes refers to herself as “a person who doesn’t exist.”
It was somewhat self-deprecating.
After all, manifestors were beings that were rarely welcomed anywhere.
Except for the group called Lemegaton, Niki’s life was filled with hiding.
The most vivid memory in her mind was, without a doubt, her 10th birthday.
As she infused divine power, a nail-shaped tattoo appeared on her side. Her mother’s expression suddenly scrunched up as if she had just bitten into rotten meat.
The shocked deities and her father, quietly shedding tears in a corner, all this was engraved in her memory as if it had just happened a moment ago.
Even though she was only 10 years old, she clearly understood that something had gone horribly wrong.
That night, Niki was thrown out into the freezing streets.
She cried and shouted, but the people merely turned their backs on her.
In just a moment, she went from a noble lady of high honor to someone stripped of all identity.
Since then, she had gone through a lot. She ran away from surprise inspections by the guards, joined an adventurer party for a brief, comfortable life… and got kicked out, leaving her with a deep emotional scar.
Somehow, she managed to survive by joining Lemegaton… but the wounds accumulated since childhood weren’t easily healed.
That’s why she called herself “a person who doesn’t exist.”
Anyway, she was a credit delinquent without even an identification tag, living like a shadow on the outskirts of society, so treating her as if she didn’t exist made little difference.
It was quite a pitiable situation, but Niki wasn’t one to wallow in sadness about it.
After all, this was just the average life of a manifestor.
In fact, she considered herself somewhat lucky. Most manifestors were typically discovered and executed by age 10.
Those who survived often ended up becoming mines and would self-destruct shortly after.
In that sense, surviving into adulthood was a pretty decent life for her. Life had become quite comfortable and peaceful after joining Lemegaton.
So she thought, “I guess I’ll just live as I was born… Recognition seems impossible from here on out,” and continued living that way.
Accepting some things while resigning to others, she found a way to get by.
She had many wishes, but all in all, it was a satisfactory life.
…until she met him.
Ever since she encountered the guy leisurely living in the forest, she started feeling one emotion.
It wasn’t anything special. She sometimes felt it when she saw citizens walking down the street laughing out loud.
This emotion was… inferiority.
*
“Ugh… that was quicker than I expected.”
I frowned slightly while watching the knights entering the territory.
There wouldn’t be any worries about fighting now, but the timing wasn’t great. I had so many more questions to ask those guys.
“Well then, we’ll take our leave.”
Unfortunately, this seemed to be where it had to end. If the knights overheard this conversation, it would be trouble for both parties.
“If you need anything, please visit us at the nearby inn. We’ll be staying there. Oh, and please don’t report us.”
At Sephir’s words, Haneul and Chaerin momentarily looked a bit unsettled. It seemed they were thinking the same thing.
With that said, the two disappeared into the crowd, hoods drawn.
Once they vanished, Chaerin let out a sigh.
Having been with someone as high-ranking as a branch leader in Lemegaton, it was suffocating. But now that they had disappeared, I found Haneul turning to me.
“Are you sure it’s okay to cooperate? Honestly, dealing with Lemegaton feels a bit… sketchy.”
In other words, she was saying she didn’t trust them.
“It’s fine. Neither side intends to lend real help anyway. They are at least somewhat trustworthy. The more forces we have, the better, right?”
I said that to persuade her.
She seemed a bit hesitant, but ultimately, they both appeared to agree.
After all, a branch leader is someone who is not easily made an enemy.
Just not being obstructed in our hunt was a gain in itself.
Once the conversation ended, Chaerin began to lightly grumble.
“Sigh, but I’m a little disappointed. I thought I could finally stream comfortably, and then the knights show up right away. Guess I’ll have to be careful again…”
Not all streamers were like this, but Chaerin was particularly cautious about her broadcasts.
What I mean is, she tried to protect the NPCs’ image rights.
As time went on, even the Gaian residents had learned about the existence of streaming.
And the response wasn’t particularly good.
Not being able to see the reactions themselves, while their faces were being sold without them even knowing? It was understandably something they didn’t like.
Knowing that, Chaerin would only stream while in the carriage whenever she was doing transactions, often complaining about it.
For streamers, a comfortable streaming environment was an important factor, so it was only natural for her to feel gloomy in this situation.
After all, once the knights arrive, broadcasts would be restricted due to security reasons.
I casually said something to comfort her.
“Well, you can stream from inside the inn. I will come out, too.”
It didn’t seem like it would be boring. It felt somewhat like a trip.
So we headed into the inn.
*
We booked a total of two rooms: one for Yor and one for Chaerin and Haneul to share.
Of course, since they were the opposite sex, we had to secure two rooms.
Honestly, Yor would have preferred just one room, but I couldn’t ignore their consideration.
Especially because Haneul, the conservative type, wouldn’t be very open-minded about such things yet.
In any case, thus began our inn life.
And this inn life seemed like it would last longer than expected.
After discussing with the knights, we concluded it was better to wait in the territory instead of recklessly searching for Andras.
Since he had descended nearby, the chances of him passing through this territory were high. The citizens here were not to be ignored either.
We thought it would be better to set ourselves up and wait rather than risk a disaster from a coincidental encounter. Yor’s group decided to follow suit.
Thanks to that, their recent daily routine had been unbearably peaceful.
They just had to eat what was served, and their only task was to occasionally exchange opinions with the knights.
In fact, it had become their main job to pass the time.
Consequently, there were often days when they sat in the room, streamed, and chatted persistently.
Based on the viewers’ reactions, at least the time passed quickly.
“Hello, everyone!”
[ㅇㅎ]
[Yoo-ha~]
[What’s the owner doing? The scenery’s always the same?]
[Is it just talk again today?]
[Stop talking already; we’ve shared too much already]
[Let’s not get too close anymore…]
[Owner, just go outside and hunt some monsters…]
Of course, with the background being so similar, viewers often expressed discontent.
“Ah, don’t worry! I have something prepared for today.”
Chaerin didn’t just sit there doing communication streams, either.
She also brought some preparations of her own.
“Today is a juggling practice stream~.”
Chaerin said this as she pulled out three daggers.
[I’m seriously gonna lose it]
[Do you want to get hit, owner?]
[I hope you get stabbed while juggling~]
Of course, the viewers only mocked her.
Shik-shik-
Then, she began tossing the daggers into the air and catching them repeatedly.
Yor quietly observed from the back as she demonstrated her skill.
Thanks to Amducias’ bestowed dexterity, her juggling level was quite top-notch. Since she was using daggers, it felt like watching a circus act.
But such skills didn’t last long.
“Oops.”
Being a practice session, she often dropped the daggers.
Every time she did, she bent down to pick them up.
“Ugh, this is harder than I thought… It seemed doable when I watched on YouTube…”
And with each time she bent over, Yor’s eyes couldn’t help but focus on a particular spot.
It was on her rear, enhanced by the bending over.
‘Hmm…’
It seemed that with her wearing comfortable leather pants, the unique curves of her body stood out even more.
No matter how much the world had turned upside down, it felt a bit reckless to be so unguarded with him right behind her.
Unable to hold back, Yor suddenly gave Chaerin’s butt a hard smack.
Smack-!
“Kyaah?!”
Along with a loud noise, her yelp echoed instantly in the chatroom.
[Whoa!]
[Suddenly smacking her, huh?]
[Me too… me too, hit me! Hehe…]
“Why did you suddenly hit me?!”
“Just move your butt. You keep sticking it out, so I was tempted to give it a smack.”
‘…Hmm.’
Haneul looked at the scene with a meaningful gaze.
At first glance, it seemed like a typical playful moment, but it was hard to ignore that the physical distance felt a bit too close.
Initially, she thought it might be a misunderstanding, but staying together in the inn made it feel different for even a conservative person like her.
Of course, she couldn’t outright ask. She was still too timid for that…
Time passed, and two weeks flew by once more.
That day was the day the new moon rose.
“Ugh… urgh…”
Haneul could hear Yor’s voice from beside her.
Even though we had booked two rooms, this was a shabby inn in a remote territory.
There was absolutely no soundproofing whatsoever.
‘…Ahem.’
Upon hearing that sound for the first time, Haneul had a fleeting thought. Was it possible Yor was enjoying a little personal time in her room without anyone knowing?
But it definitely wasn’t anything skimming the surface of romance; Chaerin and Haneul were there, after all.
No matter how much a “man” he was, he would still have sexual urges.
Unlike them, who could log out and comfortably have a happy time, Yor was alone in this unfamiliar inn. It made it awkward for him to relieve those urges.
As such, it was only natural that Haneul’s thoughts drifted toward something unseemly.
However, Chaerin thought differently.
She had come to understand what it meant when the new moon rose.
Chaerin mumbled to the wall with a worried expression.
“Oh, today must be Berserk A…”
“…Berserk?”
Haneul questioned Chaerin’s mumbling.
After a moment’s hesitation, Chaerin decided to just speak up. After all, there was no need to hide, and she thought Haneul would understand well enough.
She lightly explained the side effects he would experience with each new moon and how to cope with them.
She didn’t mention Berserk B at this time.
Since he was currently dealing with A, and explaining B would be a bit embarrassing.
Thanks to Chaerin’s explanation, Haneul’s face also grew serious.
“Is it okay to just leave it like that…? “
“Yeah, it looks like he’s completely out of holy water right now…”
“Let’s go visit the knights. They probably stocked up on plenty.”
“Good idea, sis.”
With that, they headed toward the knights to gather some holy water and then made their way to Yor’s room.
*
“Urgh…
Agony surged through me.
The pain racing from within felt like something that could never be accustomed to.
Each episode drove me closer to thoughts of ending it all.
What the hell, if I had known, I would have grabbed more holy water.
I thought that while grimacing.
At this rate, I might find myself tossed out by tomorrow’s innkeeper.
However, thankfully, such worries didn’t last long.
“Yor, are you there?”
Chaerin entered my room, holding four holy waters.
Haneul, with a serious expression, was next to her.
‘Looks like she talked to her…’
After all, there was no longer any reason to hide this secret.
A wry smile escaped my lips, thinking I had shown them something they shouldn’t have seen.
Surprised, Haneul worriedly asked me,
“Are you okay…?”
It was a word heavy with emotion.
Struggling to smile, I replied to her,
“It’s okay now. You brought me the holy water. Thanks to you, I survived.”
“Do you need us to stay with you?”
“No, you two should get some rest. You’re already tired.”
After saying that, I took the four holy waters and slowly closed the door.
That alone was extremely appreciated. Thanks to that, I could ride out this berserk moment without charge.
Gulp gulp –
As I drank the holy water, the pain began to subside.
It felt like drinking strong alcohol; all my strength drained out of my body. But it was still better than suffering.
With a clearer mind, I started to contemplate the coming hours.
After tossing and turning for about two hours… It seemed like having just one more of the holy waters would allow me to get through this berserk phase without issue.
‘That means I have two left.’
That felt like more than I expected.
I was about to put the remaining holy waters away into my space when a figure came to mind.
A manifestor right nextdoor was probably suffering through the same turmoil.
Manifestors would go berserk on new moon days, and he was undoubtedly groaning about it too.
That led me to ponder for a moment.
Should I just give him the holy water?
‘Ugh, it feels like a waste, but…’
But my deliberation was short. I had received help from him before.
Though he wasn’t quite a comrade, he was still one of my kind.
‘Right, this is the time to help each other out.’
After all, living in this harsh world, we should help our kind wherever we could.
Even if he’s a bit annoying.
Thus, I grabbed the remaining holy waters and stealthily headed to the inn where he was.
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