*Ping~*

[Congratulations! You have defeated a lvl.8 Hobgoblin!]

[EXP Points Earned: +8]

[ALERT: All EXP Points are currently stored. You cannot level up before fulfilling the necessary conditions!]

"Haah... Finally, a nice HP potion. The pain was really killing me all this time."

After going through that dreadful pain for so long, I was finally back at full HP!

'Hmm~ Wasn't this guy a bit too weak for a gangster?'

After seeing their level of swagger, I assumed these newbie robbers would be a bit more powerful than that, at least.

'Ah, whatever.'

Now, I really missed the additional level-up effects from the game that restored the player's MP and HP after each level-up.

If the Demon King also included those effects in the deal he made with that unknown existence, my life wouldn't have been so miserable for the past few days.

-------QUEST WINDOW-------

>> Tutorial Quest: The Demon King's Awakening!

>> Quest Description: An otherworldly miracle...(redacted)

>> Clear Condition: The Demon King's sealing...(redacted)

>> Rewards: EXP+500, Demonic Sword – '???', Shop Currency+2

>> Failure Penalty: Other demonic creatures will devour you and become the new Demon King.

-------------------------------

Completing this damned 'Tutorial Quest' only gave me a bunch of experience points I had no use for at the moment, as well as a useless sword that I couldn't even unsheathe.

Well, I did get a few shop credits, but I couldn't buy anything useful with them right away.

The only thing they were useful for was unlocking the original game's 'Shop Window', not that I could afford anything from there, anyway.

After all, even the cheapest HP potion from the shop cost 5 credits, leaving only the low-grade mana potions within my measly budget of 2 shop credits – mana potions I had absolutely no use for.

In short, those shop credits were useless too – at least until I earned more of them.

Without any way to heal my injuries, I could only use the dormant 'Demonic Sword' as a crutch in order to pathetically crawl out of that dungeon.

...It was far too anticlimactic, especially after I had defeated the Awakened Divine Guardian in such a cool way.

'Tsk, talk about bad luck.'

Anyway, after reaching the surface, I immediately took off in the opposite direction of the dimensional crack I could see shimmering in the distance.

I didn't have any kind of map to navigate around the Demon Realm, but I knew the basic facts about this region, thanks to the original game's late-stage gameplay.

In the end, no matter which Hero character I played, the end goal would always remain the same – to reach the dungeon where I, or rather, the Demon King was sealed.

So, after coming out, my plan was to first reach a nearby scavenger city to heal myself, before planning or doing anything else.

And till now, I would say that my plan worked out pretty well, considering I didn't know anything about the Demon Realm, aside from the bits and pieces of information I remembered from the game.

"D-Dead... Bu-Busir...is d-dead...I-I..."

...Well, except for the mess that was shivering on the ground right now, next to the cold corpse of the Hobgoblin warrior.

*Sigh...*

I mentally sighed, seeing the devastated look on the Lycan woman's face.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Well, I did turn her companion into a top-grade HP potion right in front of her eyes. So, I guess that reaction was to be expected? Though this normal reaction was far from the reaction I was expecting right now.

Even if she witnessed the brutality of my whip's skill, at the end of the day, she was still a demon.

I could understand her reaction if she was from Etheria, but the demons usually weren't empathetic enough to shed tears when one of their minions died, let alone show such a devastated look.

Of course, there could be exceptions like the Heavenly King I encountered in the dungeon, but expecting that kind of loyalty from demons was normally beyond foolish.

'Were these two an item or something?'

But, if that assumption was right, then me standing in front of this terrified woman, inside an abandoned alleyway, next to the dead body of her male companion...

'Shit! Why does it look like I am the criminal here?!'

'No, these two were the ones who tried to rob me. It was fully justified self-defense!'

Well, I did show off my money at that greedy Troll's store deliberately a while ago, but I didn't explicitly tell him to come after me, now did I?

'Damn the law! Do I kill her now, or should I just leave her be?'

"Hmm~"

Swinging back my arm, I swiftly retrieved my whip from the Hobgoblin's corpse, making the Lycan woman flinch back with a loud shriek.

"Hieeeek!"

*Sigh...*

Yep, it couldn't be helped. If I let her live, then she would definitely try to come after my life.

While I didn't fear her personal retaliation, the high-ranking demons were a completely different story.

Just like the 'Tutorial Quest' mentioned, my position as the Demon King was always up for grabs, as long as a demon was powerful enough to kill me.

If I was cocky or ignorant enough to reveal that their King was back without having enough power to defend that title, my body would turn into a fresh batch of tender and juicy steak faster than I turned the Hobgoblin into my HP potion.

After all, there was no shortage of powerful and brutal demons in the Demon Realm.

"Haah... I'm really sorry to do this to you, but I can't take any risks."

Apologizing to her beforehand, I stepped toward her with my claws stretched out.

*step*

"N-No! S-Stay away! D-Don't come closer!"

The Lycan trembled even more violently, tears flooding out of her silvery eyes.

Consumed by fear, she couldn't even brandish her own claws like she did before.

I really did feel bad for her now, but showing mercy to a demon was something I couldn't do.

*step*

"I-I will do anything! Please! Please don't kill me! I-I will even be your s-slave! Please!"

*step–!*

"Ahh... please...please don't kill me...please..."

As I pulled back my arm to grant her a swift, painless death, I suddenly paused, a complicated emotion rising up in my chest as I watched the demon pitifully plead for her life.

"...please....please don't kill me...please...I'll do anything...please..."

The Lycan woman had tightly closed her eyes shut, trembling and mumbling the same thing over and over again.

"F*ck..."

I didn't know what kind of stunt I was thinking about pulling off, but something told me things weren't so simple with this Lycan. It was kind of a gut-feeling.

...And frustratingly enough, I didn't discard this weird gut-feeling immediately.

If this was before I met the real Demon King, I would've definitely finished her off by now, not paying any attention to what my instincts were saying.

But now, I had the same abilities as the Demon King – abilities of a true Devil...

I could vaguely sense the emotions and thoughts of others. Not to the point of mind reading like the original Devil, but it was enough to know what the Lycan in front of me was thinking.

'I really hope I don't regret this...'

That's right. Despite knowing that it was probably just my idiocy, I was going to give this demon a chance.

"Ugh...uhh...*sniff*...*sniff*...ughh..."

"Hey, Miss Lycan. If you can explain why you wouldn't come after me after I leave you alive, I might consider sparing you."

"*sniff*...*sniff*...uh...huh...?"

Amidst her sniffling, she slowly and cautiously opened her teary eyes, her starry silver eyes gazing at my blood-red ones.

"I said, I would consider sparing you if you explain why you wouldn't try to come after me and avenge your dead companion."

"Y-You...won't kill...*sniff*...me...?"

"I said I might. Now you better start talking unless you want your brains splattered all over the ground."

"Uh...y-yes, YES!"

A visible wave of relief washed over the previously crying woman, before she slowly started talking.

"I-I....If you let me go, I-I will never approach you..."

She paused for a moment. Carefully selecting her next words, she gulped and opened her mouth to speak again.

"A-And, u-um....t-that guy was my only subordinate, but w-we weren't close. I was forced to accept him due to some circumstances! I would never, ever appear in front of you after today! Please don't kill me!"

A flurry of words left her mouth, confusing me even more than before.

"Whoa, wait, slow down a little. First of all, what the hell do you mean by 'forced to accept him'...? Weren't you two running a mugging business around here?"