Popular NPC in a Gender-Reversed Game

After that, similar situations occurred a few more times.

There were still many monsters in the forest that were too dangerous for Chae-rin to handle. So, whenever a particularly strong monster showed up, I stepped in to take care of it. I filtered out the threats several times, making sure she only fought those she could manage.

I may not have played Demons Saga in VR, but I knew enough to understand that a 10-level difference was a big deal.

Sigh, I was such a considerate man, wasn't I? Really quite thoughtful.

"...Ugh."

But something seemed off about Chae-rin’s reaction. I was only trying to help by screening out the monsters for her, but she seemed unusually down. Her normally cheerful energy had vanished, and her shoulders drooped as if she’d lost her confidence.

Even the viewers were offering her words of encouragement.

["It’s okay, Chae-rin. It’s just the wrong opponents."] ["But seriously, stop whining. A warrior doesn’t show such weakness."] ["Uh, isn’t Yor the real warrior here?"] ["Damn, dude’s too strong... can’t you tone it down?"] ["One-shotting everything, lol."]

It seemed like my thoughtful actions had wounded her pride. Maybe I had spent too long disconnected from society because I found it hard to understand others' feelings. It wasn’t like I interacted with people that much.

"This is weird... the wolf I met last time wasn’t that high-level," she said, her voice tinged with frustration.

"It was probably a juvenile," I replied.

"That strong even though it wasn’t fully grown?"

"Well, carnivores aren't exactly weaker than deer, are they?"

I couldn’t help but feel a little excited, though. It was a common human trait—when someone talks about something you’re good at, it naturally boosts your confidence. And when it came to this forest, I was one of the most knowledgeable people around.

"Oh, that one looks good."

After wandering for a while, we finally found a monster that was just the right level for her.

"...Kyu?"

[Mutated Rabbit Lv 81]

It was a rabbit.

Still, since it had the "mutated" prefix, it emitted a significant amount of magical power and was noticeably large. Well, at least, large for a rabbit. It was about half the size of her body.@@novelbin@@

Still, it wasn’t a creature to be underestimated. Even at that size, the rabbit was fast and aggressive. And as an herbivore, it was also incredibly cautious. I’d had my fair share of trouble with these rabbits in the past.

However, the sight of a rabbit somehow elicited laughter from the chat.

["After all that walking, and they’re fighting a rabbit, lol."] ["Yor says, 'You’re only capable of hunting rabbits.'"] ["He’s too weak for wolves, so here’s a rabbit for you!"]

"No, look at its level! This isn’t something to take lightly!"

She shouted at the chat, clearly upset by their taunts. And I agreed with her. Judging something based on its appearance alone was a mistake. Overconfidence and carelessness were the quickest paths to death.

So, I decided to encourage her a bit, to boost her confidence.

"Exactly. You can do it. Just don’t let your guard down and watch the opponent carefully."

["Exactly, Chae-rin! You can do it!"] ["Aww, is our baby going to catch the rabbit? So cute."] ["??? Don’t underestimate the rabbit (says the guy who took down an owlbear in one hit)."]

"...Ugh."

Well, it didn’t seem like my encouragement helped much, but in any case, she finally found a suitable opponent and rushed in, wielding her twin daggers made from the fangs of a wolf.

The rabbit reacted to the sudden attack.

"Kyu?"

With a cute sound, the battle began. Chae-rin’s daggers sliced through the air, but the nimble rabbit dodged with its quick, springy legs.

The mutated rabbit wasn’t very large—barely reaching her thighs in height—but despite its small size, it had the strength of a B-rank adventurer. True to its nature as a rabbit, it was extremely quick and agile, dodging her attacks with ease.

No matter how much she swung her daggers, she couldn’t land a hit. And soon, the rabbit counterattacked.

"Kyuuk!"

"Ouch!"

The rabbit kicked her shoulder with its hind legs. The blow wasn’t severe enough to cause serious damage, given the rabbit’s small size, but it did hurt.

Seeing this, the chat started teasing her again.

["Man, you fight so pathetically, lmao."] ["She can’t land a single hit."] ["Pro tip: To win, just hit the enemy, duh."]

"Ugh, shut up! I can’t focus with all this noise!"

She snapped back at them, clearly frustrated.

I understood why the viewers found it funny. Watching someone struggle in a life-or-death battle against a cute, fluffy rabbit would be hilarious to anyone watching from the sidelines.

But to me, someone who had once been locked in a bloody battle with one of these creatures, it looked different.

‘She’s fighting well.’

Chae-rin had good combat instincts. If you looked closely, her sword swings weren’t random; she was predicting the rabbit’s movements and reacting accordingly. It was just that the rabbit was too fast.

That made sense. The rabbits in this forest put a lot of their stats into speed. They were faster than even some of the higher-level carnivores.

Considering she was a level lower than the rabbit, it wasn’t surprising that she was struggling to catch it.

‘So, what are you going to do next?’

I watched the fight intently. If things continued like this, she’d wear herself out before she could land a blow, and she might even lose the fight. If she didn’t come up with a new strategy, she might end up defeated.

Fortunately, she had something up her sleeve.

"Kyuuk!"

The rabbit aimed another kick at her. It was a small, cute kick, but the damage wasn’t something to ignore. Normally, she would block it.

But instead of defending, she raised her daggers, preparing for her next strike. She watched the rabbit’s kick carefully, readying her weapon.

And just as the rabbit’s kick connected with her side—

Whack!

"Guh!"

With a small groan of pain, she slashed out. As the rabbit was left vulnerable after its kick, her dagger plunged into its chest. With no time to react, the rabbit was killed instantly.

I couldn’t help but let out a small word of admiration.

"Oh."

She had taken the hit in order to create an opening to strike back. It was a bold strategy. A strategy most wouldn’t think of. Maybe her low synchronization rate allowed her to be more daring. Either way, it was impressive.

Clap, clap, clap.

I gave her a small round of applause as she panted heavily. I was genuinely impressed.

“Well done. You fought better than I expected.”

"...Are you making fun of me?"

I wasn’t sure if my sincerity had reached her.

["Our boy is teabagging her victory."] ["LOL, he's probably thinking, 'That was some weak-ass fighting, but it was entertaining.'"]

Anyway, the rest of the day went similarly. When she encountered monsters she couldn’t handle, I stepped in to help. But whenever a suitable one appeared, I let her fight.

As she mentioned, the experience gain was substantial. I even got to watch her level up in real-time. There were no major boosts to her health or mana, but the leveling effect was noticeable. It almost felt like I was raising a newbie.

"Hey, did you know?"

In between fights, she would sometimes share tidbits of information. Today’s content was mostly hunting, but there were plenty of moments where we just walked around looking for monsters.

Since walking in silence wasn’t ideal, she filled the time by telling me small pieces of news.

"The number one player ranking has changed."

She spoke while wrapping her wounds with bandages.

"The previous top player was from China. He spent a lot of money to get there, but it seems like he’s hit a wall after reaching level 100."

Apparently, an American player had taken advantage of the Chinese player’s stagnation to claim the top spot. Of course, the new guy had also spent a lot of money.

Anyway, the current top player’s level was 103.

I nodded lightly as I listened.

"103, huh..."

I didn’t know much about levels, but Chae-rin had mentioned that A-rank adventurers usually started at around level 110.

A-rank was considered incredibly difficult to achieve in this world. Only a handful of warriors among hundreds managed to reach that level.

So it made sense that players would hit a wall around the 100-level mark.

Actually, the fact that someone had reached A-rank within nine months was astonishing. Sure, they had infinite respawns and could control their pain levels, but still, it was impressive.

As I pondered these things, a question came to mind.

‘What level am I?’

Since adventurers had a way to measure their levels, I assumed there had to be some method of determining NPCs' levels as well. There might even be an item to check levels directly.

"Hmm."

I was curious, but I decided not to pursue it. Even though I trusted Chae-rin, there was no need to reveal everything about myself. I’d leave it as just a passing curiosity for now.

With that, I continued to assist her with the content, and by sunset, she had progressed to the point where she could fight two mutated rabbits at the same time.

That was a huge improvement. Although the chat was still full of teasing comments, I couldn’t deny her growth. As I munched on the pastry I had been saving, I made my way back to my home.

A few days later, troubling news spread through the land.

A new demon had descended—Seere had appeared.