2:00 AM. The time when everyone is lost in sleep.
A man was sprinting down a dark alleyway.
“Huff… huff…”
His breath caught in his throat. How had things come to this?
“Sa… Somebody help me!”
What grudge could possibly lead to this? Why!
All he did was take a few pictures of the currently popular Iris, try to find out where they lived, and attempt to uncover their true identity—why!
…No, now that he thought about it, there were plenty of reasons he could get caught.
…Still!
“Why are you chasing me?! You damn bastard!”
“…”
“You don’t have any reason to interfere with this!”
Why was that guy so angry as to chase him like this?!
The sticky sound of viscous fluid continued to pursue him. The sound slowly tightened its grip on him.
“Huff…!”
And finally, a dead-end.
The man turned his head while spewing curses. In his hand, he clutched a small knife.
“I…Come out! Right now!”
“…”
“I know you’re there, so come out!”
Thud thud.
Footsteps approached.
The sticky sound of viscous fluid drew nearer.
Beyond the corner, a tentacle writhed violently.
“…Got you.”
“H…AAAAAAAAAAH!!!”
“This pervert. Voyeurs deserve the death penalty.”
The last thing he saw…
“…Not bad. Living as an outright villain has its merits.”
Was the sight of Kraken muttering incomprehensible words.
+++++
“…Phew.”
“Successful apprehension of the perverted voyeur. Good job.”
“Good work, Kkomkmu.”
There’s a saying that every crisis is an opportunity.
It means that no matter how dire the situation, there’s always a way out.
No, maybe it’s slightly different in my case.
“E-grade with no essence to eat. I left them alone because they were a fairly well-known journalist.”
“They crossed the line, so they deserved it.”
“That’s right.”
Though I didn’t completely turn the situation around, I used this chance to settle matters.
“Looks like our infamy will rise. Congratulations.”
“Yeah, I wonder how much more bad karma I have to accumulate.”
Kkomkmu was right.
Right now, I’m receiving far more attention than ever before.
Ever since I demolished the Association headquarters and exposed all the corruption within, I’ve become a hot topic.
Hero or villain?
The positive side calls me a dark hero or something similar.
The negative side labels me a reckless disaster.
“To me, it doesn’t really matter.”
Usually, I’d have to be cautious and careful about my actions due to others’ watchful eyes, but not anymore.
I don’t need to worry about running into other heroes.
I don’t need to fret about getting caught by Noah or causing any harm.
“So, who’s next?”
“Hmm. Someone targeting Noah…more specifically, a religious group worshipping Iris as a deity.”
“Eek? What’s that? Worshiping Iris as a god?”
“Yeah. Looks like they’re trying to bring Iris here for real this time.”
“Gross.”
“Even fandom has its limits.”
Thanks to that, I’m breaking bad endings without any hesitation.
It’s been about a month since then.
In that time, I’ve already eliminated over three bad endings.
“This is tough.”
I wanted to go home.
The bed provided by the Demon King was surprisingly comfortable, but the atmosphere was off.
An uncomfortable atmosphere.
I wanted to escape from it immediately.
And there was another source of distress.
Beeeep!
The communicator rang.
The tiny-sized communicator resembled a child’s toy.
No, it was a toy.
“…Damn it.”
Cursing under my breath, I answered the call.
A voice came through from the other end.
“Contact received.”
“…Kraken, are you there?”
“Yes, it’s Kraken.”
“I heard you were busy, so I wasn’t sure if I should disturb you.”
“No, it’s fine. I just finished up.”
There was a brief silence before “Is that so?” came from the other side.
What a bothersome guy.
He only contacts people briefly and straight to the point, yet somehow fails to understand simple messages.
After waiting for quite some time, I let out a heavy sigh.
I had a good idea what he wanted.
“Do you want me to come now?”
My casual tone slipped out.
Something I wouldn’t normally consider doing—madness.
“Uh…would that be alright?”
“If I don’t come, you’ll just cause trouble again, right?”
“Hmm…yeah, please come.”
There was no sign of reluctance on his part.
Rather, he seemed welcoming.
I ended the call and focused my mind.
As I closed my eyes, the surface of the water rippled gently.
I threw a pebble into the water.
One. Two. Three.
The ripples increased accordingly—one. Two. Three.
Just as I was about to throw the fourth pebble, my reflection appeared clearly on the rippling surface.
It felt like I was being pulled into a deep pool, surrounded by darkness.
When I opened my eyes, I was already in the Demon King’s room.
How do I know?
“…Welcome, Kraken.”
“Yeah. You called me back exactly two hours after I left.”
“Ah…was it that long? Sorry about that.”
The Demon King sat solemnly in pitch-black armor. He greeted me cheerfully.
A sigh escaped me internally.
“…Sigh…how did things come to this?”
+++++
It was about two weeks ago when I became fairly close with the Demon King.
That day, I had just returned from a fierce battle with Iris, exhausted.
Looking back, I had also just destroyed another evil organization.
Physically drained and emotionally battered, I became rather cynical.
Maybe it was the stress from trying to curry favor with the Demon King to extract information.
“Report.”
“…”
“I fought with Iris roughly. That’s all.”
I just wanted to rest.
With that thought in mind, I deliberately spoke rudely to the Demon King.
He might have been annoyed.
Thinking I needed to leave quickly, I turned around when the Demon King called out to me.
“Hold on.”
“Hm?”
“I observed your battle. It was…lacking excitement.”
“…”
“Try to do better next time.”
Those words set me off.
Who made me do these ridiculous things, speaking like that?
I snapped and spat harsh words at him.
“What the hell, you psycho.”
“…What did you say?”
“You, speak honestly.”
“What do you mean?”
“Isn’t it boring? This whole thing.”
A line from the game popped into my head.
The bad ending where you defeat the Demon King, but Noah dies.
[Actually…this isn’t what I desired. Ah…fighting really is boring.]
He didn’t derive joy from fighting but rather suffered from it.
He was pretending to find it interesting.
“Why are you forcing yourself to do something boring?”
“…”
“What’s the point of all this nonsense? No, why even become a Demon King—what the hell is this?”
“Enough.”
“…Sigh, damn it.”
The Demon King tilted his head from side to side before lowering it deeply.
“How did you know?”
“Will you teach me the method?”
“…You truly are an unusual person.”
“Tiring. Isn’t being a Demon King embarrassing?”
“It’s not embarrassing. It’s a nickname given to me by my creator.”
Creator?
Creator.
“Like a father figure?”
“Yes. Following my father’s will, I wandered the world and eventually returned here.”
“…Hmm, handle it yourself.”
I turned to head back to my room, but he kept pestering me.
“Hold on.”
“Why. Again. What.”
“…Would you like to play with me?”
“Not interested in your weird fetishes.”
“Why do you assume it’s a fetish…?”
The Demon King, whose size didn’t match his behavior, tilted his head curiously. He forcibly grabbed my arm and dragged me somewhere.
This lunatic has unnecessary strength.
We arrived at a room filled with toys.
Stuffed animals, toy blocks, mobiles flying around, and a pool filled with balls.
I was utterly baffled.
Is this really where the Demon King plays?
“Just a playground, right?”
“This is usually a place I don’t let just anyone enter…but since you noticed my true hobby, I guess it’s fine to show you.”
“I didn’t notice anything. I just said it looked boring.”
“Did…did I?”
This isn’t retardation. Is this really the Demon King? Such thoughts almost escaped my lips when—
“Deactivate your transformation here. There’s no need to stay on guard in this place.”
“…What?”
“I’ll discard my armor too.”
At his words, a sudden unease washed over me.
Could it be…
‘Really gay?’
Was his act of knowing nothing a trap to lure me in? Could it be that underneath the armor lies a naked, muscular uncle—
‘Shit!’
It can’t be. Damn it, it better not be.
If I got dragged here forcefully and then forced into something, I’d rather die after making a mess of everything.
With that thought, I stiffened my tentacles, ready to fight at any moment.
The clanking of discarded armor.
Then,
“…What?”
A bewildered sound escaped my lips due to the unexpected reality before me.
“Ugh…so heavy…ugh…ugh! Haaah~!”
Clang!
The black helmet fell with a loud noise.
Apparently, the helmet had a voice modulator, allowing me to hear the Demon King’s original voice.
“Are you just standing there? Kraken. I’ve given you the opportunity to personally participate. This is the Demon King’s true form of entertainment!”
Sure enough, it was unmistakably…
The voice of a young girl.
+++++
“Big Brother. What are you thinking so deeply about?”
“…Sigh.”
I sighed and looked at the girl before me. She couldn’t be older than seven.
Her bright, innocent eyes were quite clear.
Who would ever think this child was the Demon King?
“Why? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”
“…No, nothing.”
My head throbbed.
‘Does the Demon King look like this!?’
‘Ara ara, Mr. Shin Hyun didn’t know, huh?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘These days, Demon Kings aren’t muscular uncles…pretty girls are common knowledge, right?’
‘What kind of common sense is that!? This, this reality!’
I yelled at Kkomkmu and looked at the Demon King again.
“Big Brother! Let’s play with dolls this time! It’s way more fun than killing people!”
“…Alright.”
“Hehe.”
“…!”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No, nothing.”
“I’ll be right back! I’ll go get the dolls!”
The cheerful back of the departing Demon King.
I rubbed my forehead as I watched her go.
‘Kkomkmu. Am I hallucinating?’
‘I saw the same thing, so don’t doubt yourself.’
‘Then…even if I don’t want to believe it, this must be reality, huh.’
The Demon King, this girl.
Truly, it sounds insane, but…
She resembled someone incredibly closely.
Someone who looked extremely familiar.
Snow-white hair that shone brilliantly, amethyst eyes reminiscent of delphiniums.
If we ignore the fact that her hair was a bit longer and she was much younger…
“…Too similar. What’s going on? Kkomkmu.”
“How should I know?”
“Exactly…why…?”
Why does the Demon King resemble Noah so much?
