Demon race.
Hungry souls wandering the forsaken lands.
No one knows their origin.
Some call them the byproduct of a demon realm where all suffer, while others scorn them as the remnants of the mythic-era warlocks' sins.
But there is one undeniable fact.
As of today, finally, I have become the Demon King leading all demons.
♠
"Lord Credos."
A voice pierced through the consciousness.
It was a calm yet cold voice.
Startled, Kim Jangcheol, a graduate student at the College of Agriculture at Korea University, raised his head.
Thanks to that, I could meet him.
"The army is ready for deployment."
"..."
Someone was approaching this way step by step. Black hair. Dark eyes tinged with red energy. The transparent glasses over them looked chillingly cold. His demeanor matched.
Though it was our first meeting here in reality.
In fact, he was a character I had seen countless times.
'Zephyros.'
Kim Jangcheol recalled.
From the infamous game, Blood Paladin.
Officially known as the Paladin of Blood.
The aide to Credos, the final boss in the game.
In other words, the Demon King's adjutant.
And now, here he was calling this side 'Credos.' Kneeling with restrained steps and even raising his gaze.
"Everyone is awaiting the Demon King."
"....."
Kim Jangcheol swallowed dryly, unwittingly.
Is this... real?
Me, becoming the Demon King?
Even thinking back an hour ago, if someone had seriously said to me, "You will become the final boss Demon King you're playing right now," I would have immediately searched for the number to the nearest psychiatric hospital to show them.
But this was a stark reality, a fact.
There was no denying it, no matter how much I wanted to.
The air was so vivid.
The realism as if in reality.
Even Zephyros' cold and polite tone as he approached this side.
"I will escort you to the Hall of Destruction."
"...Alright."
Kim Jangcheol realized the unprecedented situation he was in. It would be troublesome if he was exposed as a fake. He didn't know how Zephyros and the other demons would react. No, maybe he already knew the answer.
'I might get ripped apart. Exposed as a fake.'
That can't happen. I would avoid being in that situation by any means necessary. That's why Kim Jangcheol hoped to appear as natural as possible and stood up from the demon king's throne.
Swish.....
Awkwardly feeling his own movement.
Of course.
Because this was not the body of an ordinary person. This was the physical form of the final boss of the game, Demon King Credos, at level 666.
Therefore, walking naturally wasn't as easy as he thought. The physical balance was all unfamiliar. It seemed like considerable adaptation was needed.
"...Phew."
To avoid falling embarrassingly.
So that he wouldn't be exposed.
He walked carefully, paying attention to every detail.
He followed behind Zephyros, who was walking ahead.
Whether fortunate or unfortunate, the corridor wasn't long. As the end of the corridor approached, the cheers grew louder. No, they were overwhelmingly changing.
Ku-waaaah-!
A clouded crimson sky.
The gathered demon army.
Roaring enthusiasm and screams.
The sky trembled and the earth shook.
Standing on the balcony overlooking the Hall of Destruction at the end of the corridor, Kim Jangcheol felt a breathless oppression. A feeling of fur standing up all over his body. Or fear. Meeting countless demons seen only in the game in the flesh, let alone as a complete set, gave him a creepy shock beyond imagination.
But Kim Jangcheol wasn't perplexed. At least outwardly, he pretended to be calm and observed the ranks of demon legions.
That's when it happened.
"Today, with our great invasion! Let's end our hunger!"
At the forefront of the army, a demon wrapped in crimson tendons and tentacles roared. A fierce cry that scratched rusted iron plates. It was the one wielding the ice-edged greatsword.
Kim Jangcheol could recognize that figure at a glance.
'One of the Four Kings, especially Asurat of Blood Flame. Level... 534.'
As soon as he saw it, memories surfaced vividly.
It was natural.
Having played Paladin of Blood and fought tirelessly. The same went for the other Four Kings.
"Born of the barren land where nothing grows! Surviving by devouring kin and enduring the pain! We will turn that miserable time into a past recorded only in history!"
Another chilling and resolute shout swept through the legion. A demoness clad in ice armor, four ice blades sprouting from her back, appeared.
'That's... Absolute Zero, Blade of Extreme Cold, Sirgi. Level 531.'
As Kim Jangcheol recalled, his gaze sharpened.
But that wasn't all.
"Tear apart humans! Devour elves!"
"Let's make them all our sustenance!"
A middle-aged demon with wings of black fog shouted. Next to him was a giant muscle mass of a demon standing like a mountain. It was the Black Boulder Tyrant, Baal.
'Their levels are 555 and 539....'
The Four Kings of the game, who had tormented him endlessly. Seeing them in reality, it felt like a thick and dense espresso. Powerful realism surged through him like salmon swimming upstream, pounding his spinal cord more intensely than that.
"I... How did this happen by chance?"
I just lived hard.
I just tried to get a degree.
Suddenly, life in Korea came to mind.
I was poor, but I had a dream.
With that dream, I entered the Graduate School of the College of Agriculture at Korea University. As soon as I entered, I gave my best. Those around me noticed that. Thanks to that, I quickly became the ace of the lab.
Up until that point, everything was fine.
That was, until I realized what being the lab ace actually meant.
"....."
If someone had told me beforehand, I would have been cautious. I would have been careful. The truth that being the lab ace was nothing more than being the professor's number one slave.
It was strange.
I couldn't understand it.
I did all the work.
I made all the effort.
But the results were all taken by the professors.
It felt unfair.
But there was no one to complain to.
My mental state deteriorated day by day. Results weren't being given to me, and it was too late to quit, as I felt the efforts I had put in up until now would be wasted. But if I kept going, the end was nowhere in sight. It drove me mad.
Perhaps that was why.
The old game console that I had received from a junior who had quit the lab first became my only, faint escape. The only game loaded on that console, Paladin of Blood, became my sole obsession.
"..."
It wasn't exactly a great game. No, to be more precise, it was a disaster of a game.
Was it because it was boring?
Was it because the system was terrible?
No, it wasn't any of those things.
The only reason Paladin of Blood failed miserably was one thing.
'Poor difficulty balance.'
It was hard. Ridiculously hard. Far beyond the common sense of an average person. As a result, it was only a brief sensation when it first launched, and due to a flood of players quitting, very few players saw the ending of the first playthrough.
But... I liked it because of that.
'Every time I killed a boss, I imagined it was that professor jerk, and the immersion just hit.'
The professors who took all the research results.
The professor jerk who didn't even review the thesis.
The same professor jerk who forced my driver to take him to his wife's Pilates sessions and even made his son's friends act as shuttles to get him out of military service for a visit.
I imagined that jerk's face while fighting the bosses. I was slaughtered countless times but kept challenging them. And finally, I defeated them. Each time, an indescribable rush of dopamine surged through me.
I gradually became more absorbed in this notoriously difficult game that no one else cared about. In the midst of my graduate school life, I split my time between eating, sleeping, and strategizing. As a result, I eventually achieved what was likely the only 19th playthrough clear in the world.
'Right after that, when I was asked if I wanted to start the 20th playthrough, I just chose "YES."'
The TV screen exploded with light.
I lost consciousness.
And when I woke up, I found myself in this(?) situation. The situation where I had become the final boss of the game, Credos.
"...."
So should I be happy about this? Should I rejoice in becoming the strongest demon in this game with an atrocious difficulty level, the Demon King at level 666?
'No.'
Kim Jangcheol shook his head.
This wasn't something to be happy about. Absolutely not. Today, the demon army was roaring, preparing to invade the human realm. He was the only one who knew what would be the outcome for them.
'If this invasion proceeds... if it goes on like this... I will definitely die.'
Ku-waaaah -!
The roar of the demon legion pushed aside his thoughts. The cheering crowd eagerly anticipating the invasion of the human realm. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't an unfamiliar sight.
It was the opening scene of the game's grand beginning.
'This war... it must be stopped.'
Suddenly, the next scene of the intro, which I had seen countless times, appeared above the elated demon army.
…..Whoooosh!
The tomb of the paladin, shrouded in darkness.
A desolate coffin, bathed in the faint light of dawn.
The lid would open. A strong hand would rest on the corner of the coffin, receiving the first light of the world. The upper body, filled with unwavering determination, would rise. And he would open his eyes, vowing to defeat Demon King Credos.
'Once this war starts, I... I will definitely die to that guy.'
Ding-dong!
[Starting the 20th playthrough.]
[Your playable character,
...A message that seemed to echo in his ears, like the beginning of a game. A hallucination. Or a vivid and eerie certainty.
"..."
I couldn't let this happen.
I didn't want to die helplessly.
I refused to accept such a tragic ending.
I wanted to survive.
To do that, I could never let the protagonist, whom I had painstakingly raised, notice me.
So, I...
Without starting a war, I needed to calm the hunger of the demon army and the discontent of the Four Kings, and live a long, happy life without being hunted down by the paladin. That was the only way I could survive.
".... Demons, hear me!"
I shouted.
To the army.
With determination, I made my decision.
At my cry, the cheers of the army ceased. An eerie silence filled the vast Hall of Destruction. Everyone waited for my next declaration.
"I, Credos, command all demons!"
The army's eyes blazed red.
The beating of their hearts raced.
They burned with the excitement of the invasion.
Anticipating days of slaughter.
Their thirst for blood was evident.
Everyone was looking up at me.
"From now on, we.... "
The only way I could think of, the one method that would ensure the survival of the demon army, the survival of myself, and avoid the fate of being destroyed in the seven-star eel dance of annihilation, was declared.
"....Stop the invasion, and start farming!"