A ghostly girl watched the scene from above. Next to her was Ms. Boing Boing, who was kneeling before the girl.

“I feel like shit,” the girl sighed. “I still feel like I should have added some instructions. Games without instructions aren’t fun, after all.”

“You did what you had to do, Your Majesty,” Ms. Boing Boing replied. Still bowed, she added, “Furthermore, this is the Hell Tutorial. The difficulty warrants withholding information. Plus, I think they say that modern games hold gamers' hands too much.”

The girl felt Ms. Boing Boing was being too smug, so she rolled her eyes and retorted, “You don’t even play games.”

Ms. Boing Boing pressed her hand against her chest, as if making a vow. “As your first in command, of course I would do research on Your Majesty’s interests! I studied very hard.” Her words grew quiet towards the end.

“Sure. Sure.”

The girl waved her off with a look of disgust. The disgust was for two big reasons. Well, three big reasons if the two mounds each counted as their own reason. The final reason was the word ‘study.’ Having been forced to actually study, the number of complaints the girl wanted to file against the comparison was endless.

‘How dare you compare gaming to studying!’

Of course, if she actually said this, she was liable to be smacked. After all, the person who first said that gaming was studying was the girl herself. It was an excuse to evade Ms. Boing Boing’s constant lectures. She couldn’t fold now. That would be too shameless!

“I thought you liked to cheat,” laughed a giant who appeared out of nowhere.

The girl started to sweat. “W-what, I don’t c-cheat!”

“You're a sore loser.” The words came out from a shadow. Bitterness was evident in the sullen voice.

“Yeah, you do it all the time!” The giant laughed again.

“See. Even the stupid brute notices.”

The girl’s face turned red.

“S-shut up.”

With those two words, her four subordinates couldn’t speak up. Well, one was not likely to speak much anyway. Nonetheless, the girl sniffled slightly, which transformed into a full-blown sneeze.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“I think I got a cold.”

“...”

“Oh, you can all speak again…” The girl scratched the back of her neck. Feeling itchy, she turned her head in a random direction for some reason. She stared at a spot for a moment before the sound of her subordinates made her turn back.

“A Demon King shouldn’t be able to catch a cold,” Ms. Boing Boing said as she adjusted her glasses.

‘Why does she adjust her glasses when she doesn’t even need them?!’

“Furthermore, foolish people are also known to be impervious to such symptoms,” the shadow hissed.

“W-what! Why are you all being so mean today!”

“Your Majesty.”

“What…”

“Are you crying?”

“N-no…”

“I think I know why you sneezed,” Ms. Boing Boing said.

“Are you just going to ignore my tears?”

“I thought you weren’t crying.”

“...”

It got quiet, except for the blood curdling screams, monstrous snarls, and the like that came from below.

The girl coughed. “So, do you think it actually is like a cold?”

“No. I’m pretty sure the humans are just talking shit about you.”

“W-what!”

“Yeah, I heard when you sneeze someone is talking behind your back.” The shadow added weight to Ms. Boing Boing’s theory.

“O-oh like what you guys are doing!”

“No. We say it to your face, Your Majesty,” the brute laughed. He ducked as a small fist was aimed at his stomach. Even though he dodged it, he still collapsed and began vomiting blood.

“You… also do it behind my back.”

“...”

Ms. Boing Boing gave the girl some tissues. “Anyway, don’t feel bad about killing the humans. In fact, you should kill them all for insulting you!”

“Aren’t the participants in the Hell Difficulty Tutorial actually the lucky ones? They get an express ticket to join our ranks!”

“Just don’t take any ill-behaved strays. Remember we have standards!”

“Yeah, we don’t want them if they have fleas.”

“No ill-mannered brats except you, Your Majesty!”

“The fuck!”

Feeling depressed, the Demon King went off to spawn-kill the Chosen Hero.

“Wait, someone was looking at me…”

‘That should be impossible, right?’

She would have to ask her subordinates later. She sneezed again.