24. One Step Closer
[Half-Demon: A special being who possesses mental power but has not completely overcome the power of demons, causing them to transform similarly to demons.
They possess greater physical abilities than when they were human and can use mental power much more freely.
However, because their minds are easily shaken by their own mental power, they often eventually fall and become demons.]
I had chosen it simply because it looked pretty good with those horns, but it turned out to be much better than I expected.
It also suited my current condition surprisingly well.
And on top of that!
My stats had increased in several areas, making my confidence—which had fallen all the way to rock bottom—slowly rise again!
Well, even so, I still couldn’t compare to those people with abnormal bodies whom I had encountered during the trial.
“You were here.”
“Oh, Pai!
Why did you take so long to come out?”
Pai suddenly appeared behind me while I was sitting on a large tree root near the lake.
I didn’t think she had the ability to appear so silently before.
Could something have changed in her body after evolving?
Maybe her body had become so light that her footsteps were almost impossible to hear.
“It took me a while because I couldn’t adapt.”
“You couldn’t adapt?
Why?
Did you evolve into something weird?
You look perfectly normal.”
“That’s because…”
Srrr.
Pai’s hand began to ripple black.
It looked almost like black smoke, as if it would completely disappear if someone blew on it.
“What is that?
What did you evolve into?”
“I don’t know.
They called it a Shadow Human.
It’s a race name I’ve never heard before either.”
Oh.
So it wasn’t actually smoke, meaning she wasn’t going to blow away.
Good enough.
Pai looked at me, who was stupidly grinning even after hearing her explanation.
She gave a short sigh and sat down beside me.
I’m pretty sure her eyes were saying,
Yeah, what would you know?
“…Why did you make me sing?”
“Ah.”
“Don’t just say ‘ah.’
I’m asking why you made me sing.”
“Hmm.
I didn’t exactly ask you from a logical or reasonable perspective.
Yeah, I wasn’t in my right mind at the time.”
“Were you ever in your right mind?”
“Uh… no.
But seriously, if you say it like that, you’ll hurt my feelings!
I’m actually very sensitive, you know?”
Pai smiled faintly at my words.
It felt like I was experiencing something called flirting for the first time in my life.
I’d never talked to a woman so naturally in real life before.
If you looked at things this way, this game wasn’t an RPG.
It was basically a dating simulator.
Especially considering that quest rewards even gave you affection points.
If we’d started in a normal village, wouldn’t there have been some NPC who could tell me the affection levels of other NPCs?
Or was that kind of system already outdated?
“…This is really my first time going on an adventure like this.”
“Are you having fun?”
“I guess so?
Sometimes I feel frustrated whenever I look at you, but overall, I think I’m enjoying it.”
“Uh, yeah.”
At this point, I was starting to wonder if Pai actually hated me.
Maybe she was trying to build the Great Wall of China between us before I could cross any boundaries.
Was this really flirting?
Something felt strange.
I didn’t think I’d done anything specifically worthy of Pai’s hatred.
Was it because I looked creepy?
“Honestly, whenever I saw adventurers entering the Labyrinth Forest, I thought they were all crazy people who desperately wanted to die.
I used to wonder why anyone would throw away a perfectly normal life like that.”
“I would’ve thought the same thing.”
“You said you came here because you chose to.”
“Well, technically, I did choose to come here.
But how should I put it…
Yeah.”
I wanted to call it an unfortunate situation where unnecessary curiosity had brought disaster upon me.
But everything had ultimately been the result of my own choices.
So I couldn’t complain to anyone.
I’d experienced things completely different from everyone else.
That alone was enough to make me satisfied.
If it weren’t for that, I probably would’ve grabbed the angel lady and begged her to let me be reborn somewhere else.
“How long do you think we can live like this?”
“…”
I looked at Pai with a confused expression.
Our eyes met.
That’s when I realized something.
You can’t see into someone’s heart just by looking into their eyes.
I couldn’t tell whether Pai’s words were hopeful, meaning she wanted to continue living like this, or pessimistic, meaning she believed this life would eventually collapse.
“If we get tired of this place, we’ll find a way out.”
“We’ll be able to leave the forest if we find the relic.”
“…That’s what it was?”
“You were looking for it without knowing?
I thought you knew and were the one who suggested we go find it.”
How highly had Pai been thinking of me?
Had she followed me without complaining because she assumed I naturally knew something like that?
Hmm.
Come to think of it, I had talked as if I already knew there was a relic in the center of the forest.
So I guess her assumption wasn’t completely unreasonable.
“Didn’t I tell you before?
The relic in the Labyrinth Forest is part of a witch’s body from long ago.
It’s almost as if the relic itself created the Labyrinth Forest.
And possessing that relic means you’ve become part of the forest.”
I see!
So simply possessing the relic made you part of the forest.
That meant you wouldn’t get lost inside it and could freely enter and leave.
If there weren’t any other benefits, that was a little disappointing.
Still, it was definitely valuable.
If someone possessed the relic and settled down inside the Labyrinth Forest, they could perfectly protect themselves from outside intruders.
This was a forest where you might have to travel ten meters just to move one meter forward.
And that was with a guide.
“The important thing is that despite the long history of the Labyrinth Forest, and despite everyone wanting an item like that…
Not a single person has ever obtained it.”
“My confidence just dropped again.”
“Groups can’t easily possess the relic because its power could cause conflict.
