Chapter 1: Lifting the devil

I lift the Demon Lord.

Is this enough to become a Ranker?

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– ㅇㅇ(151.125) – Ranker, lol. Even after just one year, you’d probably be higher than that.

– ㅇㅇ(106.121) – Stop being a rice farmer, lol. How much did you sell to have such pathetic combat power?

A new post appeared on the Free Bulletin Board.

The comments were a sight to behold today as well.

Average one-upping.

It was a common characteristic of online communities these days.

I left a comment.

“You raised it well. Keep going.”

Immediately, the original poster’s grateful reply comment appeared.

Seeing that they only replied to me, they seemed like a user familiar with the community.

“That’s the way to go.”

There’s no need to get provoked by such people and respond to each one.

Because most of them are agitators who don’t even play the game.

It was common for a dozen or so anonymous agitators to gang up on one person.

I pressed refresh.

Then, a post from a new user I hadn’t seen before appeared.

Title: Has anyone heard the Demon Lord’s voice?

Content: She looks super pretty, but I’ve never seen her speak;;

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– ㅇㅇ(106.121) – Would anyone?

– ㅇㅇ(59.113) – Of course not.

Just then, a notification popped up, indicating a new comment on that post.

I pressed refresh once more.

– Asperm – She’s an NPC who doesn’t speak in the first place.

I frowned at that comment.

“Asperm…”

Unlike the anonymous floating users, this was someone active with a fixed nickname.

And they were someone I disliked.

There wasn’t any particular reason.

Asperm had briefly been a Ranker in the past.

It seemed they were quite proud of that.

To the extent that they had kept that fleeting screenshot on their profile picture for years.

The problem was that they were drunk on ‘their past as a Ranker’ and spouted all sorts of nonsense.

Just like now.

I quickly replied to their comment.

– 응애나애기뉴비 – Nah, she does.

The response came back quickly.

– Asperm – Don’t bullshit.

– 응애나애기뉴비 – ?

– Asperm – You should just go verify yourself, lol.

What they said like a parrot every time they saw me.

It was a demand to verify my ranking by linking the community with the game’s API.

But why would I?

– 응애나애기뉴비 – Why bother?

It was clear that if the fact that I was active in the community was revealed, it would become a hot topic.

Because I was a top-tier Ranker who only played solo.

I had refused all requests related to socializing, such as invitations to join guilds or add friends.

There was only one reason.

To focus solely on the game, not on socializing.

However, perhaps dissatisfied with my stance, there weren’t just one or two people waiting for me to slip up.

It was obvious even without seeing it.

The moment I revealed my identity, it was obvious that an suspiciously large number of anonymous users would come to pick a fight.

But why would I do such a thing?

– Asperm – If you’re hesitant, just hide your nickname and upload your equipment window, lol.

– 응애나애기뉴비 – Why bother?

That’s also a useless endeavor.

Time-rich people exist everywhere.

Like that Asperm, who lurks around the community all day.

The moment someone like that thinks, ‘You’re just what I needed; I was bored.’

They would probably compare every single character’s equipment window to find me.

– Asperm – Lol, have you even been to the Demon Lord?

– 응애나애기뉴비 – She’s sitting right next to me now?

– Asperm – Bullshit. She’s the type to cut your head off just for talking to her, even if you follow the Demon Race route to the end.

– 응애나애기뉴비 – Hmm, that’s because you…

“They did go there, huh.”

That was true.

I tried completing all quests on the Demon Race route and killing all the Empire guys, but it was all useless.

– Asperm – If you have nothing to say, stop trolling and get lost, you idiot.

Such harsh words.

– 응애나애기뉴비 – Hmm, I was going to teach you. This newbie will log off~

– Asperm – Bullshit.

“But it’s true.”

Well, it was understandable that they wouldn’t believe it.

Because it was a route I had barely found through a unique method.

I completely changed my approach.

Since it seemed impossible with brute force, I decided to try something completely different.

Special points given only at character creation.

I distributed them in the exact opposite way of the usual method.

With stats like Charisma, Spirit, Dignity, and Appearance, all far removed from combat.

It was a struggle to gain even a little favor with the Demon Lord.

As soon as I created the character, I started spreading information wildly.

Such as the Empire invading this place, or the existence of intruders.

That method was the correct answer.

After fending off the Empire’s forces a few times, the Demon Lord’s favorability began to rise.

In fact, thinking about it now, it was obvious.

From the start, the Demon Lord was one of the strongest in the game in terms of power.

Achievements accumulated through brute force held little meaning for such a being.

Thus, for the first time in the game, I gained a character that could converse with the Demon Lord.

I captured the screen showing me sitting next to the Demon Lord.

And attached it to the comment.

– 응애나애기뉴비 – [Photo.jpg]

– Asperm – That AI image, you f*cking b*tch, ah, you goddamn bastard, really—

– 응애나애기뉴비 – But it’s true ㅜㅜ

However, no additional comments were posted.

I clicked my tongue, ‘Tsk,’ and went back to the community’s main page.

But a new post had appeared.

Title: Any mods around?

Content: If so, please comment.

It was a post created by Asperm.

I quickly clicked on it.

In the comments, a mod with a blue icon had already appeared.

– ㅇㅇ – ?

– Asperm – To have a verification bet with that bastard, Aegineunewbie.

– ㅇㅇ – ??

– Asperm – I hated seeing that bastard always commenting without any verification.

– Asperm – [Link.url] Please check the content of this comment.

That’s what I should be saying?

Dopamine rapidly began to surge in my brain.

I quickly jumped into the comments.

– 응애나애기뉴비 – Have you been living your life being deceived? I told you it’s possible?

– Asperm – How would that be possible, you pathological liar, lol.

– ㅇㅇ – I read the previous post. Is this a ‘can talk to the Demon Lord or not’ bet?

– Asperm – Yep.

– ㅇㅇ – Aegineunewbie, do you also agree to the verification bet?

– 응애나애기뉴비 – Go for it.

– ㅇㅇ – How much is the bet for?

– Asperm – 20.

“Oh.”

Their stakes were bigger than I thought.

– 응애나애기뉴비 – Hmm, do you farm rice diligently? You’re quite bold…

– Asperm – Scared?

I pondered for a moment before replying again.

– 응애나애기뉴비 – Let’s change the terms.

– Asperm – ? To what?

– 응애나애기뉴비 – Hugging the Demon Lord. If I fail, I’ll give you 1,000,000 won, so if I succeed, 500,000 won, okay?

The moment I posted that comment, notifications started pouring in like crazy.

– ㅇㅇ(59.12) – What the hell is this, lolololololol

– ㅇㅇ(110.28) – Lolololololololololololololololololololololololol

– ㅇㅇ(60.41) – Aegineunewbie, isn’t that a bit much? Lolololololol

– ㅇㅇ(102.10) – No, she cuts your neck off just for talking to her, lololololol. Hugging is insane, lololololol

The reaction was explosive.

My lips curved into a smile at the comments that instantly piled up like a mountain.

“It had been quiet lately.”

The community had indeed been peaceful these days.

For those who had been frantically searching for dopamine, prey had finally appeared.

I figured I’d have a similar reaction too.

A 1,500,000 won verification bet between two well-known fixed users?

This was certainly something they couldn’t resist.

No wonder the post’s view count was unusually high.

It seemed everyone was lurking in the comments, constantly refreshing.

And then the mod commented.

– ㅇㅇ – This requires pre-payment. No refunds.

“Stating the obvious.”

– 응애나애기뉴bi – Account number, go.

As soon as I commented, the mod’s account number flew into my private messages.

I immediately transferred 1,000,000 won to that account.

– ㅇㅇ – Confirmed deposits from both. You must upload with the current time visible. For AI prevention, you must verify your fixed nickname in the in-game chat window. If you don’t upload within 10 minutes, Asperm wins.

Asperm also seemed confident.

Seeing that they finished the transfer so quickly.

Comment notifications were still exploding.

It seemed there were more lurkers than I thought.

I pressed Alt+Tab to switch screens.

Then, I saw the Demon Lord standing still right in front of me.

I pressed the interaction key.

Immediately, numerous menus appeared. Among them, I clicked ‘Hug’.

In fact, it was an action that would have originally been rejected.

No, it was an action where it wouldn’t be strange if my head was cut off immediately.

However, I had countless debts owed to me for helping her.

And she was certainly not a character with a shameless personality who would pretend not to know.

If she were, my character would have died long ago.

—…Reason?

The Demon Lord’s dialogue script appeared.

I quickly entered my dialogue.

—It’s important.

Ten seconds passed, then twenty seconds.

However, no refusal dialogue appeared.

“Nice.”

All I needed was to hug her once. I didn’t think about what would happen after that.

After all, I was planning to delete this character soon anyway.

It was just a Demon Lord-conquering one-trick character.

Since I hadn’t put any points into combat-related stats, there was almost nothing it could do.

The moment I lifted the Demon Lord, an achievement popped up.

It was a special achievement for successfully making contact with the Demon Lord.

Ding!

[Dignity has exceeded its maximum…]

[New skill. ‘Spirit’ has been generated…]

Something was completing wildly, and notification windows started appearing.

I frantically pressed Esc, roughly clearing them away.

The time limit was 10 minutes.

Considering the upload time, there was no time to read each one.

I could just read them later.

I recorded the screen, displaying the current standard time as well.

Because if I only took a screenshot, they could deny it.

[Recording completed.]

I checked the time.

Five minutes remaining. It was enough.

I wrote a post.

Title: 1. Lift the Demon Lord.

Content: 2. Receive 1,000,000 won.

Attachment: DemonLord.mp4

Earning money is this easy.

I stretched once and then refreshed the page.

About 30 seconds had passed since uploading the post.

In that short time, the view count had exceeded several hundred.

Naturally, comments were also flooding in.

– ㅇㅇ(64.10) – You really live up to your nickname, lolololololol.

– HealerManaPoolBuffPlease – Let’s gooooooo~~~~~~lolololololol.

– ㅇㅇ(59.40) – Lolololol no, damn, how did you do that? Lolololololol.

– MantisAreCute – The transparent, transparent single downvote of utter defeat, lololololol.

– LookingForSunshineGuildMembers – Someone gets their neck cut off, but someone else is hugging her, damn lolololol. The alpha male life lololololololol.

– ㅇㅇ(16.1) – A legendary incident has occurred lolololololololol.

– Asperm – Ah, f*ck.

– ㅇㅇ – Any objections?

Even fixed users who weren’t usually seen appeared en masse.

Seeing their reactions, laughter naturally escaped me.

Asperm’s comment did not appear even on the mod’s comment.

– ㅇㅇ – Please send your account number via private message.

An additional comment from the mod.

After I sent my account number, less than 30 seconds later, my 1,000,000 won and Asperm’s 500,000 won, totaling 1,500,000 won, were deposited.

“Delicious…”

It was super sweet.

A sweetness so intense it felt like my teeth would rot.

To share this joy, I wrote a new post.

Title: Suddenly have 500,000 won in my account, what is this? Giving away chicken. First 5 people line up.

There’s nothing more thrilling than being generous with someone else’s money.

I pressed Alt+Tab, reveling in the dopamine rush.

In the meantime, a new dialogue from the Demon Lord had appeared.

—What is it?

I hummed softly while looking at the screen.

“Thank you for the 500,000 won.”

I was done with this character now.

What happened next was none of my business.

I exited to the character selection screen and pressed delete.

—Are you sure you want to delete?

A warning window with red text appeared.

I pressed the ‘Yes’ button without hesitation.

At that moment.

—Deletion failed.

—Deletion failed.

—Deletion failed.

—Deletion failed.

—Deletion failed.

—Deletion failed.

—Deletion failed.

—Deletion failed.

—Deletion failed.

—Deletion failed.

—Deletion failed.

—Deletion failed.

Error windows with red text started popping up like crazy.

“What?”

I was flustered.

This had never happened before?

Had only five seconds passed?

In that short time, the red text had already covered the entire screen.

I frantically shook the keyboard and mouse.

But nothing worked.

Not the mouse, not various hotkeys, not even the Task Manager.

Warning windows were endlessly generating, as if they would burst through the screen.

Goosebumps instantly rose at that bizarre phenomenon.

I immediately pulled the power strip plug.

But then.

Chizzzzzzzzzz!

Even though the power was clearly cut, the monitor did not turn off.

Moreover, as if mocking my actions, it started crackling and even spitting sparks.

And those sparks immediately enveloped me.

“Crazy!”

I instinctively covered my face.

“…”

However, I felt no particular pain.

The sound of sparks also gradually subsided.

I cautiously lowered my arms.

The first thing that caught my eye was a vivid crimson sky, as if stained with blood.

An unknown warmth emanated from my arms.

When I lowered my gaze, a figure held in my arms came into view.

It was the Demon Lord, ‘Lasian,’ looking at me with murderous eyes.

“I asked you for a reason.”

Her face was heavily scrunched up, as if displeased.