Episode 2
I wasn’t a very greedy person since I was a child.
Even when I played with toys my parents bought me, if the kid next door looked envious I would just give them away.
Clothes, food, toys — there was nothing I wanted, so I was satisfied with whatever my parents bought me.
The first thing I ever wanted was Rian.
“Wow… I must really be dead.”
Left alone in a pitch-black space, I sighed faintly as I looked around.
Why do I feel so calm if I’m dead? Ah, maybe it’s because I’m dead.
No more commuting. No more being bothered by family.
As I stared blankly into the void, a strange screen appeared before me.
A blue background with stiff text.
SYSTEM: Seo Heewon. Age 26. Deceased due to traffic accident.
Yes, I know. There’s no need to remind me so bluntly….
SYSTEM: Player ID, lianevilbright (리안아이불깔아놨다). Login attempt successful.
“No, this is not it!”
Even though I was alone, I hurriedly covered the screen with both hands as if someone might see. Having my nickname exposed like that was unbearably embarrassing.
…Wait, login attempt successful?
Before I could wonder further the words changed.
SYSTEM: Memory initialization successful. Starting a new game.
The darkness around me gradually brightened, and a new window popped up.
SYSTEM: Would you like to do the tutorial?
Two new buttons appeared with the question.
[YES.] and [NO.]
Staring at the window in a daze, I sighed and clapped my hands.
“Wow, the afterlife must be modern now!”
Do they introduce it to people who fear death as a game?
Maybe because I’ve been watching a lot of dramas lately, I expected a handsome grim reaper to read from the ledger and call my name.
Has the world changed so much that even the afterlife has changed? With that simple thought, I reached out and selected:
[YES.]
❖ ❖ ❖
‘Do you have any regrets about your life?’
Once, on my way home from work, a Taoist believer stopped me and asked this kind of question.
I was exhausted and didn’t want to be bothered, but I’m not the type to let someone go without answering, so I gave one reply.
“No. Regrets? None.”
If I’d said I had regrets, would they have told me to believe in Taoism and be fixed?
Ah — thinking back now, maybe I do have something.
I couldn’t save Rian.
I sat up, still hazy as if waking from a long sleep. The room was pitch black as if blackout curtains were drawn; no sunlight was coming in.
Maybe I was staring blankly and blinking because I couldn’t make sense of the situation. The blue window I had seen earlier appeared before my eyes.
SYSTEM: Player ID, lianevilbright. From now on we’ll shorten it to ‘Player.’
…Am I dreaming?
SYSTEM: Beginning a short tutorial now.
The stiff text didn’t care that I was unresponsive and staring blankly; new text appeared regardless.
“Wait…”
I parted my lips and almost spoke, when the curtains automatically swept open and sunlight poured in through the wide windows.
The room was entirely draped in black, but every item, though dark, looked expensive and lavish.
I was sitting on the bed in that place. A chill ran from the tips of my toes up my spine when the blue window’s text changed.
SYSTEM: If you want to view your character’s info, say or think ‘info.’
“Info my foot — can you just let me talk…?”
At that moment new text appeared. It was far more nonsensical than before.
[The Demon King of Greed, Rehel.
Lv. Max
Race: ?
Attribute: Ice
Main Skill: Can make it snow within a 100m radius. While making it snow, cannot use other ice-attribute spells. There is no time limit and the skill can be canceled at will.]
This is… one of the demon kings from Jeonpikkot (전피꽃), right?
From the name to the main skill — it was exactly what I knew. I felt my hair stand on end.
“Wasn’t this supposed to be the path to the afterlife?”
SYSTEM: We have given you an opportunity to remove your life-long regret. Therefore this place is not the afterlife but the Player’s new life domain.
“My life regret is that I couldn’t save Rian…”
As the words left my mouth, I stopped myself at the thought that had just popped into my head.
When I asked to see my info, it showed me a villain from Jeonpikkot. And it said I was being given a chance to remove my life-long regret.
Even with my normally slow brain, the answer came quickly.
I was supposed to live as the Demon King whom my favorite character must kill.
SYSTEM: The Player must clear the main quests, hidden quests, and affection quests. Based on that, you must achieve the final goal to get what you want.
The blue window’s instructions were still confusing, but as someone who played a lot of games, it wasn’t too hard to understand.
Since I’m apparently in the world of Jeonpikkot, the system was built around that.
“What happens if I fail a quest?”
SYSTEM: We trust you will not fail.
Since it didn’t answer clearly, the implication was obvious. If I failed, they’d probably send me across the Styx right then.
There had to be some ulterior motive.
Using a system window to talk to me was suspicious in itself, like the person who grabbed me on the street to preach. No trustworthy corner in sight. But on the other hand, in my situation this was probably my only option.
“The only thing I want is to save Rian.”
SYSTEM: So may it be, as you wish.
It was as if the blue — no, system — window read my mind; it encouraged me and then vanished.
“If this is a dream, it’s prime drinking snack material until I die.”
It felt so vivid that it didn’t seem like a dream at all.
I threw back the soft silk covers and climbed down from the bed, heading to the mirror.
Beyond the mirror was a face I knew well. Silver hair with slight waves and chilling blue eyes.
Looking at the frozen, somewhat blank expression, I forced a bitter smile.
“Could’ve at least made me a hidden-power extra.”
Why did I have to be a Demon King?
Imagining Rian trying to kill me made me suddenly want to die. Maybe going back across the Styx wouldn’t be so bad….
“Sigh…”
I brushed my hair back as I sighed.
They say people should turn crises into opportunities, right?
If that’s true, maybe I should try living this out a little. After all, it’s a perfect chance to see my favorite in person.
“…Why are these clothes like this?”
Looking closely in the mirror, the white nightgown I wore was stained with blood.
If someone saw it and thought it was a plain nightgown with a fashion statement of blood, that would be creepy.
As I slid the strap down to take off the nightgown, there was a presence at the door and, without knocking, a man came in.
“It’s time for your cough medicine, Rehel!”
His voice was lively.
“…….”
His hair seemed a mix of navy and purple, and his pupils were vertically slit like an amethyst set in them.
The man, smiling brightly at first, stiffened the instant he made eye contact with me.
“Get out, you pervert!”
❖ ❖ ❖
After all the hullabaloo,
With the help of the servants who rushed in late, I managed to get ready. It felt odd to have someone do everything from washing to makeup for me, but I didn’t dislike it.
It was like being pampered with a VIP spa treatment at a hotel.
After dressing flamboyantly, I naturally headed to the audience chamber, accompanied by a man with a blue bruise around his right eye.
His name was Terio. The name sounded like a dog breed, but he was actually a bat-eyed monster and my closest aide.
Having played the game for a long time, I remembered him as the one who served beside the Demon King Rehel.
He wasn’t as strong as the Demon King, but he wasn’t weak either; he seemed decent.
He covered his right eye with one hand, making a woeful sound as if being hit by me had hurt.
“I’m so wronged….”
“What are you wronged about? You saw me take off my clothes and still—”
“You usually can’t get up by yourself before lunch!”
Oh, is that so? Today is my first day living as Rehel.
“You must wake up on time from now on; don’t barge in without reasons.”
“Yes…”
“And stop crying. Will you show that to the kids?”
“No way…”
I heard grumbling from behind.
He muttered to himself about my unusually prickly temper today, about people suddenly doing things they usually don’t and then dying — was I poisoned? — and other nonsense.
Did the character always act so clumsy?
He felt familiar, like my close friend [Dungjaengi] in temperament.
The thought of a bothersome friend came to mind, but it was pointless, so I shook my head and put more weight into my steps.
…Now, what should I do? I left the room but no quests had been given. The tutorial was too short. It hadn’t really guided me on how to proceed.
“Rehel. Wouldn’t it be better to eat first?”
“No appetite.”
Honestly, wanting to eat right now would be strange.
In this awkward situation, I wasn’t someone who could swallow food comfortably.
“But shouldn’t you attend the Demon Race meeting soon? If you need energy you should… ugh!”
He stopped mid-sentence when he bumped into my back; he hadn’t been watching where he was going.
A Demon Race meeting…?
Could it really be the one I knew? The gathering where all the Demon Kings in the world appear.
“I’m attending the Demon Race meeting today?”
“…Yes. You’ve been rejecting the invitation for a month, and you accepted yesterday. Did you forget?”
He looked at me with a strange expression.
At that moment the system window reappeared.
SYSTEM: Main Quest: Attend the Demon Race meeting and complete it successfully.
I was already waiting for the quest to be given. Perfect timing.
The easiest way for a player to adapt to a game is one: play the quests and learn.
“Terio.”
“Yes, Lord Rehel.”
“Let’s go eat.”
“You just said you had no appetite…”
“I’ve got an appetite now. If I don’t eat before work my head doesn’t work.”
I was already looking forward to it.
I would finally see in person the faces of those who destroyed the game’s world and killed Rian.
