Holy Sword and Demon Sword

The place I arrived at with Sohee was in front of the offline event venue for Deron Online.

It wasn’t just Koreans there. Despite the sudden event announcement, there were foreigners who had found their way to this venue.

“Looks like it’s already started.”

“Yeah.”

As Sohee said, the event was already underway.

What on earth was so amazing that they kept everything a secret?

It was finally the moment the hidden secret was about to be revealed.

I walked towards the entrance of the venue with Sohee.

Then, the staff standing in front of it approached us.

These were the staff checking Deron accounts in front of the venue entrance.

I pushed my small chest forward and put on a confident expression.

They’ll recognize me. It was obvious they would have to recognize me.

I was the most famous user on the Korean server. So, the Deron staff should also recognize me.

“Are both of you here to enter the event?”

At that moment, the staff member who was looking down and operating a large tablet raised his head.

Our eyes met. I looked up at him with a gaze mixed with equal parts anticipation and anxiety.

“Uh… To verify your account, we’ll proceed with fingerprint and iris scans?”

I blinked at the staff member’s anticlimactic words.

Is that it? No surprised expression at seeing me? No asking for my autograph?

What about the autograph I practiced so hard at home?

No, does this person not know me? Really?

Doesn’t he know this Blood Demon King?

Can he even call himself a Deron employee if he doesn’t?

Numerous thoughts flashed through my head in an instant.

“Could you please hold out your hand for a moment?”

My mind goes blank. I felt drained by the reaction that was completely different from what I had expected.

I held out my hand with Sohee and scanned the fingerprints of all ten fingers.

Next was the iris scan.

“Please don’t blink~”

The staff member, wearing a small name tag around his neck, performed his job very diligently.

Holding a small scanner in his hand, he slowly waved it in front of my and Sohee’s faces.

“Scanning complete. Both of your accounts have been verified. Please make sure to wear this necklace when you enter~”

With those words, the staff member handed me and Sohee small necklaces with the Deron game logo on them.

Looking around, everyone entering the venue was wearing this necklace, displaying it outside their clothes.

I put the necklace around my neck, following their lead.

“Have a great time~”

The staff member immediately went to the next person.

I stared blankly, my mouth open, watching his receding back.

“You look disappointed?”

“Disappointed…? Yeah… I’m disappointed.”

“What are you disappointed about?”

“I, I thought… if he was a Deron employee, he would recognize me.”

“A Deron employee?”

“Yeah…”

I nodded at Sohee’s question.

I’m the user who took the first kill achievement in Deron’s first raid, and the user who won the first victory in the arena tournament.

Besides that, I could go on for hours listing my achievements.

“That person isn’t a Deron employee.”

“Ah, he’s not?”

“Yeah. He’s just a part-timer.”

“Heok…”

I suddenly felt lighter at Sohee’s words.

That’s right, if he were a Deron employee, there’s no way he wouldn’t know me.

The reason that person didn’t recognize me was simply because he was just a part-timer.

I nodded to myself. It was normal for someone who doesn’t play Deron not to know me.

“Were you perhaps disappointed that that person didn’t recognize you?”

I neither affirmed nor denied it.

I grabbed the hem of my coat and took Sohee’s hand.

Sohee’s laughter followed behind me.

The inside of the venue was decorated colorfully to match the Christmas atmosphere.

There were people cosplaying as Deron characters, and there was also a merchandise shop prepared by Deron.

Despite the strict participation requirements, there were more participants than I thought.

Where is it? Where could it be?

I narrowed my eyes and diligently looked around.

The merchandise shop and the cosplayers were outside of my interest.

“What are you looking for so intently?”

It seemed strange that I was constantly looking around.

I walked forward and answered.

“I’m looking for the place that’s giving out costume coupons. It said in the announcement that they’re giving costume coupons to everyone participating in the event.”

“Ah, if it’s that…”

At that moment, Sohee, who heard my answer, stopped in her place.

Wondering why, I turned my head, and she rummaged through her coat pocket and took out a small card.

“Are you talking about this?”

“Heok…!”

What I received from Sohee was a Deron event card.

The front had a cool illustration on it, and the back had a coupon number to get a costume.

Where, where did she get this?

Was it perhaps lying on the path we passed?

I quickly looked behind Sohee.

“W-where did you get this? I didn’t see it!”

“I was worried, so I asked my dad to take out a few and got them.”

“Y-you can do that?”

“Yeah. This center is my dad’s, so if I ask for a few coupons, I can get them. It’s the same with event coupons for other games.”

“D-did you take them out in advance, thinking of me?”

“Yeah.”

Really… it was so touching.

It might have been a light request for her, but it wasn’t for me.

Wasn’t the whole purpose of coming to this event because of this coupon in the first place?

I carefully put the card I received from Sohee into my pocket and hugged her.

Because I was short, my face ended up being tucked between Sohee’s large breasts.

“Do you like it that much?”

“Yeah.”

After that, I walked around the venue with Sohee.

Since there was still time left until the important announcement started, I was planning to spend time walking around this area.

How long had we been walking? It was the moment we arrived in front of the merchandise shop.

A man sitting inside the booth, yawning as if he was bored, opened his mouth blankly the moment he made eye contact with me.

His half-closed eyes began to widen more and more.

“B-Blood Demon King…!”

That’s right.

Finally, someone recognized me. The corners of my lips naturally rose.

I smiled lightly and waved at him.

“It’s… it’s real…”

The merchandise shop employee muttered blankly, then waved his hand in the air.

It was a gesture he used to make when manipulating the system in Deron.

But it wouldn’t appear. Because this was reality.

I understand his actions. Guild members also did similar things at the regular meeting place.

Sohee, who was watching my actions closely from the side, asked cautiously.

“Hayun-ah. Is he someone you know?”

“No. I think he’s my fan.”

“Fan…?”

Was my answer strange?

Sohee’s face twisted strangely.

Why is she looking at me like that? Is it strange that I have a fan?

“Hayun-ah… that person being your fan is…”

It was at that moment. The merchandise shop employee, who had jumped up from his seat, ran towards me with a small notebook and a pen in his hand.

“P-please sign! You’re the Blood Demon King-nim, right?”

As expected, my thoughts were not wrong.

I looked up at Sohee with a smug expression.

She looked at me and the man asking for an autograph with a complicated expression.

“Ahem… An autograph. Okay. I’ll do it for you.”

“Thank you!”

It’s time to show off the autograph skills I’ve been practicing hard at home.

I rolled the pen in my hand back and forth and engraved a fancy signature on the notebook.

HY

Under the large alphabet, I drew a small cow’s head.

That was it, a perfect autograph.

The merchandise shop employee stepped back with a satisfied expression.

I pushed out my small chest towards Sohee.

My immense recognition doesn’t distinguish between the game and reality.

This was the normal reaction.

“Eueu…”

For some reason, Sohee’s expression wasn’t good.

As if she didn’t like this situation itself, wrinkles formed on her fair forehead.

I understand everything. It was an emotion that a girl of that age should naturally have.

I carefully approached and took Sohee’s hand.

It was clear that she was feeling envious of me.

“Hayun-ah…”

“Yeah.”

“I think we should wear a mask.”

“A mask? Why?”

“W-when you look at celebrities, they wear masks and sunglasses to hide their identity, right?”

“U-uhm… I see…”

Certainly…

I understood Sohee’s words. It was definitely a worry in preparation for what would happen in the future.

I nodded.

Sohee bought a black cat mask and star-shaped sunglasses hanging in front of the merchandise shop and put them on my face.

She was a very thorough child.

But can my identity really be hidden with just these things?

Wearing a mask and sunglasses, there were even more people looking at me than before.

Even if I cover my face, it seems like there’s something I’m emitting that people can sense.

I put my hands behind my back and followed Sohee.

It was during that time. The moment I passed near the entrance of the venue, I was able to witness a very strange sight.

Men wearing black suits were guarding a girl, walking around cautiously.

The girl inside, as if she was used to such guards, was looking around.

The first thing that caught my eye was the girl’s hair color.

It wasn’t the blonde or black hair that you can commonly see around.

White. A slightly dull white straight hair was hanging down long and fluttering weakly.

Her skin was also white. As if she hadn’t been exposed to the sun at all, her skin even looked sickly.

At that moment, my eyes met with the little girl.

Unlike her sickly-looking face, the girl’s eyes were sparkling with a light blue color.

I stopped in my place the moment our eyes met.

For some reason, it was a familiar-feeling gaze.

Where on earth have I seen that gaze before?

But, no matter how much I searched my memory, I couldn’t recall any memories about that little girl.

The girl also seemed to recognize me, and stopped in her place and flinched back.

We were exchanging subtle glances and connecting with each other.

Sohee gently pulled my hand.

“Hayun-ah?”

“Ah, uh?”

“It looks like they’re going to start something. Let’s go quickly.”

Turning my head at Sohee’s words, the staff were diligently moving large objects onto the stage in the center of the venue.

I nodded and followed her.

For some reason, a familiar gaze followed behind me.