“Well, look at what you make me do.”

I could only glare at him since I was still coughing from my own smoke. Yeah, I never smoked in my life, I shouldn’t do that now. But still, he was really annoying.

“Cough, you... you are the one who forced yourself into me...! Pervert! Lolicon! Pedophile! Loli lover! Pervert!” I waved my hand and threw some small [Firebolts] at Zero. He dodged the [Firebolts] easily. It was a small room with no room to dodge, but he could dodge them all with minimum movement... He laughed awkwardly while dodging.

“No, no, you are the one who forced me to kiss you. If you didn’t ask Briana to help you, I didn't have to kiss you, you know? It’s because you tried to yell, and if I covered your mouth with my hand would be unnatural, I didn’t have any choice but to kiss you. Also, if you are an adult, a kiss or two shouldn't be a problem.” He said with his grin.

...what he said was reasonable. Was it really my fault? If I didn’t try to ask Briana to help me, he wouldn’t cover my mouth with his mouth, would he? Yeah, perhaps it was really my fault... no, no, no, what was I thinking? Why did I think that it was my fault? It was definitely his fault for forcing me to ask for help from whoever opened the door! No, perhaps, the one who opened the door without knocking was the one at fault! Yep, that silly Goddess was the one we should blame!

“Now, now, rather than playing a blaming game, let’s talk about a more serious topic,” Zero spoke solemnly. Ugh, he already knew my identity, and I couldn’t lie even if I wanted to, what kind of topic he wanted to ask again?

“No matter who is wrong, I still stole your lips forcefully. As an apology, as a man, I should take responsibility. Mm, let’s get married.”

...alright, I didn’t know whether he was joking or not. His face was serious. At least, if his cheek didn’t twitch a lot, I would believe that he was serious. Seriously, he could say something like that as a joke?

“I’m not joking. Fanarie D. Darriskha. I love you. Even though I don’t bring a ring, but I’m seriously proposing you right here right now—”

“Alright, I understand. Yes, I perfectly understand. You are that type of person, huh? I really pity your parents now, I really do.” I looked at him with pity in my eyes. Yes, even in my past life I knew several people like him. Well, not knew as personally knew, I just heard rumors about people like him. People that got married to 2D characters. If I remembered correctly, he was married to a virtual idol or something like that, right?

Anyway, he was that type of person, huh?

Oh, I know, it must be because he was rejected by the real girls and in his desperation, he proposed to a game character like me. Seriously, if I rejected him too, he could try suicide, huh? I guess there’s no other way but accept...

“Ow, ow, ow, why are you pinching me again!?” I complained.

“I don’t like the way you look at me as if I’m a loser who can’t get a real girlfriend and, in my desperation, I propose a game character.” He explained with a smile that was not a smile. Hey, that was cheating! A smile that was not a smile was a privilege for a woman, not a man like you, right?

By the way, he was reading my mind? Again?

“Ugh, but, but, isn’t that true? Otherwise, why would you propose to me!? Not to mention that I’m still underage! No, you are still underage too!” From his appearance, he looked like... fifteen years old? Or at most, sixteen years old. If I remember correctly, the age of consent should be around twenty years old. Or was it eighteen? Anyway, he looked too young now.

Zero stopped pinching me and sighed. “Stop pretending to be a fool, Fanarie. Well, I should explain my reasoning or else a silly Demon Lord like you will never understand. I don’t know whether you are a Game Master playing as Demon Lord... no, there is no way a Game Master is as idiot as you. Also, you cannot be a staff with your attitude. So, I assume that you are someone who comes from Earth and now, you are trapped in this game... no, this world, right?”

He knows everything!?

I looked away so he wouldn’t read my expression, but it seemed it was useless as he grinned with a face full of victory.

“Well, you see, no matter how advanced our technology at the moment, isn’t it impossible for the AI to be this advanced? I mean, you see, everyone in this world, the NPCs, or the denizens of this world, they have each have a distinct personality. Unless you created an AI for each NPCs, it is an impossible feat, in my opinion. So, what does that mean? If it’s impossible to create the people of this world, don’t you think that it means that it is not a game but rather just another world?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

...how do I say it, don’t you think you oversimplify everything? Rather than believing about another world, I would believe that there were myriad AIs operating the game. Like the Cardinal System... or something like that!

“Well, at least that is, no, that was only what I believed, but now, you just confirmed my suspicion.” He grinned.

Annoying. Having someone to know what you were thinking was really annoying. No wonder I would always lose in a game of poker. Seriously, I should learn how to have a poker face so no one could tell what I was thinking.

As for his suspicion, it was useless if he already knew that much, huh?

“Well, so, after knowing everything, what do you want to do?” I asked him seriously.

“Hey, I did tell you what I want to do, didn’t I?”

Hm? Did he tell me what he wanted to do? I couldn’t remember he said such a thing...

“Let’s get married, Fey.” He was staring at me with passionate eyes, though I sensed a hint of awkwardness in his eyes. He grabbed both of my hands and kept staring at me. He was kind of... hopeful?

“...” But this guy was really a hopeless pervert that loved little girl, huh? For the sake of his future, I should tell him that I refused him.

“I refuse. I don’t want to have a lolicon as a lover.”

Yep, though that was not my only reason for refusing him, I really didn’t want to have anything to do with a pervert like him.

“Ah, what do you mean by lolicon? Oh, right, you are, I mean, your figure is that of a child, isn’t it? But, isn’t your real figure is an adult of seventeen to twenty years old or something like that? Wait a minute...”

I raised my eyebrows when he started taking out something that looked like a... smartphone. Yeah, though it was too thin to be called a smartphone. Also, it was foldable, so it was definitely not a smartphone. Rather, that looked like a card. Though it had a similar function with a smartphone, which was able to play a video. I wondered if that was something that only Players had? Like the Scouter things that could detect Combat Power. Speaking of the Scouter, I rarely saw Players wearing them anymore. So, the trend was over, huh? Or maybe, there were many Players that underestimated the CP of their enemies, and then, they were defeated? Well, anyway, I looked at the foldable smartphone thing in Zero's hand. 

It was a promotional video of this game. And in one scene, there was a scene where they introduced their main enemy, The Demon Lord Fanarie, or in other words, me. Though it was in my former state when I was in a Dungeon, so it looked like an adult version of me. When did they record it? How could I didn’t notice anything at all? It was definitely me in my own Dungeon, so I should notice. I could even notice a small ant entering my Dungeon, so it was impossible for me not to notice a camera...

By the way, if the Players watched this promotional video, shouldn't they know that I was the Demon Lord Fanarie? Seriously, I just became one head shorter and looked younger. Besides that, my appearance didn't change much. But no Players could guess that I was the Demon Lord Fanarie, huh? How weird.

Well, it might be the power of whoever caused even me and the other Gods and Goddesses to be powerless, so it was possible for the Players to not notice that it was me. Let’s not think too deeply about it.

“That’s you, right? Would you still say that I’m a lolicon if I love the, uh, adult version of you?” Zero asked.

“...then I said I don’t want someone who only loves my physical appearances.” I refused him again.

“Guh, you sure are persistent... well, whatever. By the way, it’s just a joke, but you want your identity as Demon Lord to be kept as a secret, right? What if I use that secret as blackmail material... cough, it’s just a joke, just a joke, I’m not a type of person to do something like that!” Zero immediately spoke when I glared at him. Also, several bolts of fire floated above my hand. If he used that as blackmail material, then it meant he should be prepared for an all-out war. Well, he said it was a joke, so I should let him go for now. Though I was still angry at him.

“...though you won’t do something like that, for you to even think something like that cause your points to be reduced a lot, you know?” I said with a smile. Not that he had a lot of points, to begin with. Perhaps, in the scale zero to a hundred, he only had ten points. And because he thought something like that, his point now was negative. Oh, also, he kissed me without my permission, it reduced his points as well.

“Anyway, can we talk, like, a serious talk now?” I asked him.

“Hm? I’m always serious, you know? Also, that marriage part is also serious, but let’s forget about it for now. So, what do you want to talk about?”

Well, marriage was a serious matter. But the way he casually mentioned it made me think that he was joking. I didn't care whether he was joking or not, but that was not what I wanted to talk about. 

“No, like, what will you do next? Alright, you know that this world is just another world and it is a real-world, but it doesn’t change the fact that for you, this world is like a game world, right? I mean, you still have to log in from your room or somewhere else and you won’t die in this world, so, it doesn’t change anything, right?” I asked seriously.

“If you said it like that... well, that’s true. But it means that you are a real person, and the people are real as well, that means the people killed in this world are really dead! The Goblins are a threat to this world, so, I—”

“Well, that’s the point, right? If it were a game, you will kill the Goblins and protect the people because it’s a quest. It was not a game, but you are still going to kill the Goblins and protect the people, right? And you will still get a quest to do that, right? So, what’s the difference?” I cut him off and continued asking.

“That’s... a-anyway, it’s different.” He looked troubled. That was right, for me, it was no different whether it was a game or a real world. If all people knew that it was a real-world rather than a game, the most likely to happen was for them to stop killing the residences of this world. Maybe.

I sighed. “Well, whatever, for me, it’s not different at all. Congrats for finding out this world’s secret.” I smiled without putting my feeling into it. Or rather, since I didn’t feel anything at all, I just smiled.

“...that doesn’t sound sincere...” He complained, but then, he grinned again. “Well, let’s stop talking about me. Let’s talk about you. So, is it true that you have the ambition to destroy this beautiful world?”

...right, I almost forgot about that. The game said that the evil Demon Lord Fanarie, or me, wanted to destroy the whole world. I forgot because I assumed the identity of Fey all this time.

I shook my head and smiled mirthlessly. “Alright, I’ll tell you what. I’ve been living in this world for thousands of years. Maybe. I have seen generations of a village changing. Well, it’s true that I have a Dungeon to manage, but I never use my Dungeon to kill anyone... except those people who attacked the village under my protection to capture them and enslave them. So, do you think a person like me that only wants to live her life peacefully inside her Dungeon would have that kind of ambition like destroying the whole world? I... want to say that I never kill anyone, but that would be a lie, but anyway, I always tried my best not to kill anyone... any innocents. Well, except Players, but you won’t die even if you are killed, so you are not people. So, do you think I will destroy the world? I'm just too lazy and too scared to do that kind of thing, you know?”