"Hah, but it's night..."
"Why not say that to the sacrificed as well."
With their hoods up, I couldn't see the dumplings or the mage's faces. Still, it seemed like I could faintly hear them gulping.
"...I'll go too."
"Oh dear... making an old man feel ashamed."
Hmm. Even if we'd acted separately, I would've been fine with it. Guess they really are party characters after all. They always end up sticking with you somehow.
"Hero? Sage...?"
"Heh heh, we're grateful for the bishop's consideration... but this friend of ours isn't the type with such 'low responsibility' that he'd rest with a demon right in front of him, using fatigue as an excuse."
In the midst of it, the sage was subtly throwing shade with his masterful touch. If he kept that up, it'd tarnish their own image a bit too, but he fearlessly called out the priests for clinging on with fatigue as their excuse.
"Such...!"
"An old man like me can't hold you back. Now, let's get going."
"...Yes!"
At the archmage's words, the inquisitor lit up like a kid who'd just gotten permission and stuck right by my side. It was ridiculous, but cute, so I let it slide.
"Alright then... time to uncover the demon hiding in our midst."
We'd held them up a bit longer, but in the end, the three of us left the temple and began searching the village.
With no set destination, we were wandering aimlessly for now, but if I thought of it as memorizing the map, it wasn't entirely useless.
"Let's hear more from the witness—"
"No need."
I cut off the archmage and focused on the smell. As I recalled, draugr had a distinguishing feature: an overwhelming stench.
Of course, back in the PC days, it was just expressed with a speech bubble saying 'A strange smell wafts in.' But now in VR, I had to sniff and distinguish it myself.
"Oh? Have you figured out what kind of demon it is this time?"
That question was a bit hard to ignore outright. They were allies, after all—should I share the info? But would my concept allow it?
More than that, it was funny for a sage not to know a single demon. Though his expression suggested he knew and was asking anyway.
Well, you couldn't ditch players without base knowledge, so guiding them to figure it out themselves like this was the right call. Games had to be player-driven, after all.
"No reason to play along with such ignorance."
So I spat out some fitting lines for the concept. I heard the dumpling gasp beside me, but you're cute, so I'll let it go.
"...May I hear your insight?"
Still, the inquisitor was a cleric who didn't shy from her ignorance.
She asked hesitantly at first, then with growing confidence, her green eyes blazing with determination to etch it into her mind.
"I just can't believe you're the hero."
"I know I don't inspire trust, but please refrain from irreverent remarks."
Ah, so she doesn't believe in me, but believes in God? What a rigid cleric.
"So, what kind of demon is hiding here?"
Persistent, too. I irritably turned my head.
"...A draugr."
"Draugr... I see! That would explain it."
She seemed to know about draugr themselves. The inquisitor's eyes sparkled instantly.
"As expected of a demon hunting expert. You identified it right away..."
No, looking at the mage smiling warmly from behind, he knew too. At this rate, I'd end up as their companion NPC without doing a thing?
Along with that thought, I bit down on my twitching lips. Holding back a laugh was tough enough, and doing it without showing was even harder.
I quickly dredged up grim, serious thoughts. That always killed the urge to laugh.
"Then we should head where the stench is strongest. Right?"
Conveniently, there was a good light topic.
"If there's a graveyard, investigating there would be wise. I hear draugr are born in graveyards."
"You know it well too, Inquisitor."
"Not compared to you, Sage, or the Demon Knight."
In the original, the draugr incident led to the diocese's corruption and even demon worshippers.
So what about in this remake?
"Ah, there's a strange smell!"
Was the priest's nose better than mine? More precisely, my sense of smell was sharper, but I sucked at distinguishing scents.
"Not a pleasant one."
Following the priest into the alley, the smell I'd encountered so far intensified dozens of times over.
I'd thought it was just street stink, but apparently not.
"This is the draugr's...!"
And I realized something else: my night vision was better than the inquisitor's.
I grabbed her armor and yanked her back. Her cat-like startled face was pulled along, and I took the lead.
"Demon Knight...?"
Ignoring the lingering smell in the alley as much as possible, I reached for my waist. Click. The lantern there lit up, illuminating the dark alley.
"...Lord have mercy."
"Too late..."
Inside lay a single corpse, dried out so thoroughly not a drop of moisture remained. Better than crushed or half-eaten remains, but still gruesome to the unaccustomed eye.
Leaving the sighing pair, I strode straight to the body. The stench filling the alley clung thickest to it.
So this confirmed it as the draugr's smell.
But the draugr itself, the source, was gone. Yet even the traces left such a foul odor. Facing the real thing would be rough.
Crunch.
But that wasn't the point.
Pondering concept-fitting actions, I quickly decided. A character driven to prevent further victims as a survivor—what they'd feel seeing one they couldn't save was obvious.
"...Leave the vengeance to me."
Self-reproach for not being faster. Hatred that all demons must be eradicated. The rage stemming from it.
"Rest in peace."
Even now, projecting their family onto the victim, feeling sorrow and a selfish wish for their peace.
There, call me a character analysis genius. Aha.
"...I'll offer a prayer."
The inquisitor approached me and clasped her hands. From her lips flowed a prayer neither too long nor too short, accompanied by holy light.
As an atheist, even I thought it looked pretty good.
"I've called the guards."
The archmage had apparently contacted them in the meantime. Good sense.
In games, leaving bodies like this always felt off. Some summoned guards instantly.
"Judging by the strong smell, it hasn't been long since the kill. The draugr should still be nearby. Let's find it before the next victim."
"Are you boasting about stating the obvious to show how great you are? Tracking would be more efficient than yapping."
Grateful for the quest prompt, but the concept hated it. I snapped sharply and moved past the body.
Not to desecrate the dead—the stench trail led that way.
"Heh heh, indeed."
But the cheeky mage clapped at my snark. The airborne stench turned into visible fluorescent trails.
"A tracking spell. It won't last long."
I'd worried about relying on smell without the skill yet, but they implemented it like this.
I made a puzzled face at the convenience. Did this mean no need for the tracking skill...? And what if you started as a mage?
"..."
Good is good, so I chased it.
I led into the alley depths. Then white light burst from behind.
"I'll purify the demonic energy as we go."
Holy power softly lit the alley, and the fluorescent mist near the inquisitor faded.
No risk of confusion later like 'Was it this way??' And as the rear of the party, her traces wouldn't vanish either.
Thud.
Time to run, then. I put force into my legs. Flap. The three-pronged coat tails spread like a peacock's.
"Mmm, winds, lighten our steps!"
As I started running, the archmage hastily chanted. Judging by the effects and hazy incantation, probably Haste, the movement speed buff.
But why buff only you two and not me? Karma?
"A dead end!"
A short run later, the draugr's trail pierced through a building wall. Possible because draugr were amorphous demons that phased through objects.
"..."
What now? Detour? Might lose the trail. And it wouldn't look cool.
Then, leverage the VR game advantage again?
"Demon Knight?!"
Instead of slowing, I veered sideways. The clustered buildings offered plenty of handholds and footholds.
Boom!
I ran up the wall, grabbed a window frame, and pulled myself up. Thought it might not work, but it became full parkour. And with game physics, it was even smoother than imagined.
My rooftop ascent was instantaneous. The bark-shingled roof creaked faintly under my boots.
"What a fearless man..."
Party members often teleported if you got too far, so no worries there. Where'd the smell lead?
I sprinted across rooftops, scanning the streets below. Fluorescent mist dotted the path: building-street-building.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Crushing the dry shingles, I leaped across. If building-jumping worked, this was faster.
But it was awfully quiet behind. No teleport for party distance?
Glance.
Confirming the empty rear sealed it.
Some games booted you for straying too far, but no such window popped. No 'Rejoin your party in X seconds' nonsense.
So it supported solo play? Or dev oversight? Too basic for that—they'd patch it. Or just meant to match party speed...
Sorry, but no thanks. As a pure-blooded Korean, I hated going slow!
"Found it."
The spell wore off, but I spotted the stench's source. A narrow lot between buildings.
Through pitch-black fog, glowing red eyes—straight-up draugr, 2D to 3D.
「Draugr│A specter that deceives human eyes and drags them into its maw. Rising from the grave, it swims through rock like water in search of prey.」
「❖ Village Hidden Evil
∎ Track the demon lurking in the village
∎ Eliminate Draugr 0 / 1」
Flap!
Quest updated, and I leaped into the lot, moon at my back.
My coat flared but wasn't much hindrance. My hands drew the two-hander from my back with a click.
Wrrrrrr—!
The draugr growled, barely dodging as my two-hander slammed where it stood. Gripped two-handed right after drawing, but a miss—regrettable.
Even a hit wouldn't have done damage against its physical immunity as an amorphous type.
"...Glory to the heavens."
Did I say true concept players had to be perfect even alone?
"Vengeance for the dead."
I wrenched the sword from the ground and aimed at the draugr again.
Black fog thickened in the lot. Mind-numbing stench included.
Whoooo.
More importantly, amorphous types couldn't be parried, as I recalled. Shame. Parrying had the easiest timing—
Wrrrr!
"The heretic removal puzzled me... but as expected of Grechen."
—A new variable.
"Grechen, the king seeks you."
A robed figure rose from the draugr's fog.
Gloomy black robes adorned with red gems. Obvious identity, no original recall needed.
「Demon Contractor│Those who contract with demons, selling their souls. Whether they truly sold to demons or their own desires, none can say.」
A demon contractor.
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