ITDG 01

ITDG

Posted by Alex, Released on October 19, 2025

Chapter 1

Trapped in a Damn Game

Vines had overtaken the cracked, ownerless buildings.

Structures long untouched by human hands stood in disrepair, forming a desolate ghost town that was once bustling with travelers.

Now, it was nothing but ruins.
Yet, there were still some who roamed these abandoned streets as if it were their home.

“Man, I’m excited just thinking about how much money we’re gonna make.”

The scrawny man grinned, stomping on the fallen door of a half-collapsed inn.
His gaunt face was stretched into a greedy smile, and every time he spoke, air whistled through the gap where his two front teeth used to be.

“Yeah, same here. Wonder how much that half-demon’ll sell for.”

At his comment, his companion — a much larger man towering nearly two heads above him — snorted out a laugh.

They were slave traders, and by some stroke of luck, they had caught something rare — a half-demon.
Excitement gleamed in both men’s eyes as they looked back at their captive.

“What’s that bastard smiling about?”

The skinny man frowned at the blond man bound by thick ropes.
Normally, captives either begged for mercy or tried to negotiate their release.

But this one?
He was just staring into space, grinning like an idiot.

“Leave him. He’s got demon blood in him. No way his head’s right.”

“Fair point.”

The two slave traders tugged on the rope and turned toward the mansion that loomed on the hill beyond the ruined village.

They planned to show the captive to the baron who lived there and sell him for as high a price as they could.
Some might refuse to even approach a half-demon, but they didn’t care.
Because of how rare half-demons were, nobles with twisted tastes would bid fiercely — and the price would skyrocket.

All the two men could think about was the feast and women they’d enjoy once they made the sale.

“Hey there, handsome. Wanna have a little fun with me?”

A soft, sultry voice drifted out from one of the ruined buildings.

It was the kind of sticky temptation one couldn’t easily ignore — a prostitute who made her living off passing slave traders.

“Only costs two silver coins.”

The skinny man licked his lips and reached into his pocket.

“You seriously wanna do this now?”

“Won’t take long.”

The big man sighed. “Fine. Ten minutes. If you’re not out by then, I’m leaving without you.”

“Five minutes’ll be enough,” the smaller man grinned, jingling the coins before heading into the ruin.

Inside, it was pitch black — not a sliver of daylight reached in.

“Idiot in heat,”
the big man muttered, crouching by the wall outside.
He toyed with the hilt of his sword, the only thing to do while waiting.

Too quiet.

He glanced around.

This place was technically abandoned, but it still saw traffic — slave traders, smugglers, and nobles who came to buy from them.
There should’ve been someone around.
Yet there wasn’t even a single ant crawling in sight.

It was eerily silent.
As if no living thing existed here at all.

“Ever hunted a demon before?”

“Huh?”

The man turned toward the voice — it was the blond captive.

“Just shut up.”

“Wow, rude. Typical NPC behavior.”

“NPC?”

The blond shook his head.

“Answer the question. Ever hunted one or not?”

“Keep yapping and I’ll shut you up myself!”

The big man’s fist flew toward the blond’s head — his expression irritated him.

Smack!

“You could’ve just answered, no need to get violent,” the blond muttered, scratching his head.
“Anyway, for a guy ‘having fun,’ it’s pretty quiet in there, don’t you think?”

He nodded toward the building.

“…”

The big man frowned.
Now that he thought about it — there was no sound from inside.

“I’m guessing your buddy’s not among the living anymore.”

“What are you talking about?”

His gut twisted. Something felt wrong.

“There’s a demon in there,” said the blond flatly.

“Trying to trick me into letting you go? There’s no damn demon here.”

“Suit yourself.”

The man stood up, unsheathing his sword and tugging on the rope.

“If you think I’m falling for that—”

“Then why pull your sword?” the blond interrupted, smirking.

“Shut up before I gut you.”

The big man tried to steady his breathing.

‘There’s no way a demon’s here. That’s bullshit.’

Even so, his hand was trembling slightly.
He told himself it was just nerves.

This was the black market’s turf — heavily guarded by enforcers.
No demon could possibly prowl freely here.
The weird feeling he had was just nerves, or maybe that damned half-demon’s words getting to him.

‘Still… it’s too damn quiet.’

His heavy boot creaked against the warped floorboards inside.

Creaaak.

No response from within.

“Hey, you done yet?”

No answer.

“Hey! Say something!”

“I’ll be done soon,” came the reply from the inner room.

Right. Of course.
No demon. Just his idiot partner.

He sighed in relief and sheathed his sword.

“Only costs two silver coins,”

came a woman’s voice suddenly from behind the half-open door.

“I said I’m good—”

He froze.
Through the crack in the door, a faint silhouette stood in the dark.

“Who’s there…?”

It wasn’t a woman.
And it wasn’t his partner either — this figure was as large as him.

A foul stench wafted out of the room.
Not just blood — rot.

He’d smelled blood before in his line of work, but nothing this vile.

He wanted to run.
But his body wouldn’t obey.
He stood frozen like stone, muscles locked tight.

The shadow shifted — and came into view.

A creature with the body of a bird fused with a man.
Eyes burning red.

A demon.

“Five minutes’ll be enough,”
it croaked in a warped, echoing voice.

Before he could scream, its taloned hand wrapped around his neck.

He saw the black, clacking beak — filled with other people’s voices echoing from within.

“Please—don’t kill me!”
“Guards! Anyone—help!”
“My lord, run away!”

Voices of its victims, spilling endlessly from its beak.

The man struggled to draw his sword, but—

Thud.

The demon’s other hand seized his wrist mid-motion.

“Half-demon! Help me! You’re part demon too, right? Talk to it—!”

He turned his head toward where the blond captive had been.

But there was only an empty rope on the ground.

The half-demon was gone.

“Son of a—”

Crunch!

The man’s curse was cut short as the demon’s beak pierced through his forehead.

“Like hell I can talk to a demon,”
the blond muttered outside, clicking his tongue.

He’d told them there was a demon inside, but they hadn’t listened.

“Wow… that’s some impressive graphics.”

He looked around the ruined village, admiring it.

The smell of grass in the wind.
The clear blue sky without a hint of dust.
The dirt kicking up beneath his boots.

Everything felt real.

He was playing “Demon World”, a game that had originally released ten years ago for PC — now remade as a capsule VR version.

It wasn’t officially launched yet, still in closed beta, but he’d been lucky enough to be chosen as a tester.

He brought up his status window.

[Name: Dermo]
Class: Half-Demon
Reputation: 0
Strength: 5 | Stamina: 5 | Agility: 5 | Intelligence: 5

Skills:
Authority: ??? (Locked)

Half-Demon.
A new class added in the remake — born with natural immunity to fear.

Unlike other classes that began as a farmer, mercenary, or noble guard, this one started out as a slave.

Perfect.
The harder the game, the better.

Dermo grinned.

The thrill of clearing brutal challenges — that was what he lived for.

His heart pounded in excitement as a new quest window popped up.

[Class Tutorial]
Defeat the Fallen One-Star Demon “Psittacu.”

Reward: Unlock Authority.
Failure: Death.

He eyed the reward.

Authority, huh?
He was curious to see what it did — so the sooner he finished, the better.

To hunt the demon, though, he needed weapons.

“Psittacu…” he murmured.
He remembered that name.

One of the low-ranked demons from the original PC version.

“Starting with a demon tutorial, huh? Harsh.”

Even a one-star demon would be tough with his current stats.
The modifier “Fallen” meant it was weaker than usual, but still deadly.

Most players wouldn’t even try.
But Dermo wasn’t most players.

He’d been a top-tier player back in the PC days — the kind who cleared endgame content before anyone else and got begged for guides.

Time to move fast.

Demons thrived in darkness — he’d need to lure it outside before sunset.

He decided to check the mansion first — a place like that should have supplies.

“Ugh, that smell…”

As soon as he stepped inside, the stench of blood hit him hard.

Following the smell, he found a staircase leading underground.

He descended without hesitation.

The demon wouldn’t come here — too much sunlight above.
He was safe for now.

“Found myself a weapon.”

At the bottom, a hallway stretched ahead, littered with debris and broken tools.
He picked up a sword.

“Basic weapon, huh?”

A window popped up — no bonuses, just a standard blade.

As he walked further, the smell intensified.

He peeked into one room — piles of corpses stacked high.

Clearly the demon’s work.

The realism was uncanny — most people would’ve thrown up.
But thanks to his Fear Immunity, he felt nothing.
Still, it wasn’t something he wanted to look at for long.

He shut the door and continued down the hall.

Another room stood open, lined with glass cabinets filled with bottles.

Pop!

He uncorked one and sniffed.

Strong liquor.
A plan formed in his mind — these bottles could be useful.

“Inventory,” he said.

[#^@#$&]

“What the…?”

Instead of opening his inventory, a strange garbled window appeared.
All the UI elements around his vision suddenly vanished.

“Logout.”

He waited.
No response.

Just a red warning window and—