Prologue
“Idniss?”
“Yeah. It’s me.”
Even after hearing the answer, he didn’t look like Idniss.
He didn’t feel like the Demon Lord I knew.
When I stayed silent, he leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.
His expression was strange—like someone completely full and satisfied.
“I feel good… but my insides are hot. I’m thirsty. No… not really thirsty. What is this?”
He laughed under his breath. “It feels like I swallowed a heated stone.”
His rambling grew more excited with every word.
“This feeling… it’s my first time.”
He turned his head and looked at me.
That slight tilt of his head sent a chill down my spine.
“But… why are you over there, Evan?”
“……”
“You’re supposed to be next to me.”
He said it with a face so beautiful it made my heart tremble—
so why was fear the first thing I felt?
My lips parted. I wanted to say something, but my mind went blank.
In the end, I just opened and closed my mouth like an idiot.
“Why?”
I flinched at his lowered voice as he stood up.
With a fierce expression I had never seen before, he stepped toward me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
It felt like an ice spear pierced my spine. I hesitated, then forced myself to step forward.
“No. What are you talking about? What kind of look?”
His sharp gaze locked onto me. Slowly, he raised his hand.
“Then, Evan… come here. To where you belong.”
The moment he finished speaking, Srandur stepped in front of me.
The young Demon Lord vanished from my sight.
“If you’re going to say that, at least put some clothes on. Are you aware you’re naked right now?”
“Oh. Is that so? But this much is—”
I peeked from the side just as Idniss snapped his fingers.
A white swirl rose from his feet, wrapping around his body in an instant.
“Simple.”
The outfit that formed was something I had never seen before.
A mix between a suit and a uniform—mostly black, with white and silver accents lining the sleeves and belt.
A luxurious black cape rested over his shoulders.
Once dressed, he opened his arms toward me as usual.
And just like that, the unsettling expression from before disappeared, replaced by a radiant smile.
“What do you think, Evan? I matched it to your dress.”
I wanted to grab the god of the heavens and ask—
What the hell did they do to this kid?
“But what are you doing? Why are you behind him? Why aren’t you coming to me?”
I didn’t know how to respond.
As I hesitated, Idniss seemed to reach his own conclusion.
“Ah… you want to come to me, but you can’t because you’re being held back. Right?”
A dangerous smile spread across his face.
Our eyes met again—
but this time, it felt completely different.
If a jewel were born from darkness and fire, it would look like that.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t even breathe properly.
It reminded me of the first time we met.
A dark forest.
The moment I saw the young Demon Lord in Chrysus’s arms—
when I was being hunted as a wanted player.
Back then…
it felt exactly like this.
As if something had taken hold of me—
and I couldn’t look away.
Chapter 1: Bellos Atinos Idniss — The Sealed Demon Lord
8:00 PM
A sedan sped across the empty Hannam Bridge.
In the back seat sat the President and his personal bodyguard.
The President gnawed at his nails so badly the skin had torn.
The bodyguard let out a quiet sigh.
“Calm down.”
“Calm down? You think you could stay calm in this situation?!”
The man snapped, his voice shaking.
The bodyguard fell silent.
He understood.
This mission was no joke.
A virtual reality game—Red Scope.
A hyper-realistic FPS.
And the man… was a GM.
Well, “GM” sounded impressive—but in reality, he was just another low-level employee in a massive company.
The kind who had no choice but to obey.
It’s finally here.
That Monday morning, his boss had called him in with an unusually serious face.
That’s when he knew something was wrong.
Evan accepted an SS-rank quest.
He suppressed a groan.
Of course it had to come to this.
“I trust you’ll do well like always. But if you get assassinated, that’s one month of overtime. Hahaha. Unfair? Hahaha. That’s how companies work.”
“…Bastard.”
He grabbed his head with both hands.
“Why me? Why does it have to be me?!”
His teammate, playing the role of bodyguard, patted his shoulder.
“It’ll be fine. You know how insane the difficulty of this quest is.”
He knew.
He knew better than anyone.
They had designed it so brutally that even if someone came back from hell twice, they still couldn’t clear it.
And yet—
because overtime was on the line, he couldn’t relax.
“Relax. Traffic’s been blocked for 30 minutes. There’s not even an ant around. Once we cross the bridge, time’s up. There’s no way he could—”
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
“W-What?!”
Warm liquid splashed across his face.
Instinctively, he wiped it—
then froze.
It wasn’t water.
It was blood.
The blood of the GM sitting beside him.
His hands trembled as he slowly looked forward.
In the rearview mirror, the driver was smiling.
A pistol pointed toward the back seat.
“Y-You…”
The face matched perfectly with the photo his boss had shown him.
“You fu—”
Bang!
[Character has died.]
Ding!
[Quest Complete.]
[Assassinate a 5-star target | Difficulty: SS]
[Reward: Main scenario altered | Name reflected in story | 10kg gold | SS weapon box | Title: ‘Eye of Odin’]
The pistol vanished back into his inventory.
He gripped the wheel and slammed the accelerator.
Notifications flooded his vision.
[Main Scenario Open!]
[PVP Restrictions Removed]
[Bounty placed on ‘Revolutionary Evan’!]
“What?”
Screech—!
His vision blurred.
“Shit… now of all times?!”
Updates were supposed to happen after all players were logged out.
Doing it now?
The reason was obvious.
Ding.
[Your vehicle has been downgraded.]
[SS Quest Field has been removed.]
The empty bridge suddenly filled with cars and NPCs.
Gunfire erupted behind him.
His sedan—now just an ordinary car—couldn’t withstand the bullets.
The tires burst.
The vehicle spun out of control.
He jumped out just before it exploded.
[You have killed a player.]
“Good. Saves me the trouble of requesting PVP.”
He ran.
Shot a biker.
Stole the bike.
Raced toward the tunnel.
Boom!
An explosion sealed the entrance behind him.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then—
a faint light ahead.
Freedom.
And then—
Thud!
The world flipped.
[Character is stunned.]
…
[0 seconds elapsed. Character awakens.]
He opened his eyes—
and froze.
“This… what is this?”
It wasn’t asphalt beneath him.
It was wet soil.
Thick vines. Towering trees. Giant mushrooms.
A forest.
Ancient. Dense. Alive.
“…Ah.”
He grabbed his face.
“Tunnel 1… was an unopened area.”
He had mistaken it.
“…How did I even get in here?”
He should have been erased.
Not dead—
erased.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
“…Damn. I almost died right after clearing an SS quest.”
He exhaled slowly.
“Must be a bug. Well… thanks, I guess.”
Pain spread through his body.
He drank a potion—cheap strawberry flavor.
Changed into battle gear.
Then muttered—
“…Is this… Namsan?”
