HPDBC Chapter 49
Chapter 49
“No way, what is this...?”
Im Ha-neul.
She felt a moment of confusion upon seeing the scene before her.
The reason she had come today was simple. She just wanted to deliver some information, as usual. Today, however, she had some rather important news.
Then, she suddenly heard a woman shouting nearby in the forest, which piqued her curiosity and led her here.
What kind of crazy person yells in this forest, after all?
But... she never expected to witness such a spectacle.
A woman was stripping right in front of her. Thank goodness she hadn't turned on the stream; she almost got hit with a content warning.
Was she trying to pounce on Yor again, like last time...?
No, both of them looked too calm for that.
‘Gasp, then...?’
For a moment, her thoughts wandered into that direction. I won’t bother explaining what "that direction" refers to.
However, those thoughts didn’t linger for long, and she soon shook her head.
Given the atmosphere between the two, it didn’t seem like they were at that level of comfort.
Upon seeing Ha-neul, Yor asked her,
“Ha-neul? What are you doing here all of a sudden?”
“Well, I heard some noise here, so I came to check it out...”
“Yor? Ha-neul? Do you two know each other?”
Then, Niki intruded into their conversation, wearing a sly smile.
“Ahh... Could it be that you’re reluctant to come because of her? Just because you can’t let go of a mere lover?”
“L-lovers?!”
“No, what nonsense are you spouting...?”
Yor frowned, looking utterly incredulous.
It was such a far-fetched assumption.
There was no evidence to support it, nor was it even logical. Ha-neul had just accidentally stumbled into this place.
However, such details were irrelevant to Niki.
Her trigger had already been pulled.
‘How foolish to trust someone who is not of your kind...’
In fact, Niki had lived among people for a brief time after turning ten years old.
Her family, which valued honor, wanted to hide the fact that a descendant of demons had emerged from their clan.
Thus, she had been cast out from her home, but in exchange, she had managed to survive.
As a manifestation bearer, she utilized her physical abilities to become an adventurer.
After all, she had to make a living. An adventurer who did not care about one’s background suited her perfectly.
It had been quite smooth sailing for her. She made close friends, had juniors who admired her, and even had a man with whom she shared a mutual understanding.
Perhaps with them, she could reveal that she had the "blood of a demon"...
Just how foolish that thought had been was illustrated by her current predicament within the Lemegeton.
What the hell! Bring me an axe!!Damn it! This demon spawn has been pretending to be human all this time?!Honey, I’m sorry, please just spare my life...
Trusting another human is a sin.
It is nothing but greed for a cursed human to hope for normalcy since birth.
As she watched her kin pretend to be ordinary people, she felt something dark rising within her.
At Yor's words, question marks popped up above the heads of both women, as if they were wondering what nonsense this was.
But he wasn’t going to back down from his assertion.
Being born as a man in this reversed world was a big deal. Simply having a stick down there raised your appeal!
Emotions are a very important criterion for humans, and attractiveness scores have a significant impact on those emotions. In other words, having a penis was an extremely significant fact.
“No, that can’t be!”
“Feeling wronged? Then you should have been born with one too.”
“That’s impossible!”
“No! Accept reality! Your lower half has no value!”
It was the fault of the one who had been born a male in this reversed world. Or rather, they shouldn’t have been living in a reversed world in the first place.
Yor’s mockery caused Niki to explode with anger. Being a manifestation bearer, her mental state didn’t seem particularly stable either. Her reaction to such a light provocation was telling.
“...”
Now turned into a mute, Ha-neul simply stood there, dumbfounded.
However, after a moment of such mockery, Yor regained his seriousness and spoke again.
“Now, I should probably tell you why I’m not going to go there.”
Niki wasn’t wrong.
“As you said, going there would indeed allow me to live more comfortably.”
The forest wasn’t particularly comfortable, after all. I could roughly understand why she had joined the Lemegeton.
Although there were many enemies in the Lemegeton, to manifestation bearers, the whole world was essentially an enemy.
Whether for survival or for the sake of quality of life, joining a group was a rational choice.
“But there, they worship demons.”
He continued speaking, a strange heat rising within him.
“I can’t accept that at all. Ultimately, the ones who twisted my life are those damned demons.”
That was the stance of the people here. It was frustrating, but I could reluctantly understand it. After all, it was true that their lives would be threatened if they became demons.
But the demons were different. Thinking about the rampage I faced every month, I felt my teeth clench. What were those beings? Just how remarkable were they to drive countless people into suffering?
“But hell... you want me to join a cult that worships those beings? Am I some kind of dumb fool? I’m not a neighborhood dog looking for a master; why should I do that? I’d rather bite my tongue and die.”
It was quite an extreme expression. Ha-neul looked at Yor with wide eyes upon hearing those words. And she could see it. He was extremely angry.
While she had seen him annoyed before, it was the first time she had witnessed such a fierce atmosphere. That meant he had a lot of pent-up feelings inside.
“If you understood, get lost. The only reason I’m not killing you now is out of respect for kin.”
“...Damn.”
With that, Niki silently left. After all, she realized it would be pointless to try to persuade him further.
Thus, what remained were just Yor and Ha-neul, in a somewhat awkward atmosphere.
“...” “...”
A moment of silence passed.
With a sigh, Yor mustered the courage to speak to Ha-neul.
“Sorry for showing you something unpleasant. If you could just keep what you heard today...”
“Keep it a secret? Don’t worry, I can definitely do that.”
“...Thanks.”
Yor fumbled over his words several times. Various emotions, such as anxiety and concern, stirred within him.
He was going to emphasize it a few more times, but he decided to stop. He felt that speaking would only make him seem more foolish.
The only undeniable fact was that the number of people sharing secrets had increased. But surprisingly, unlike his expectations... it didn’t feel as bad as he thought.