chapter_0080

80 – The Demon King’s Castle is Home to Evil (2)

80 – The Demon King’s Castle is Home to Evil (2)

Rapi-para, the Lapitz Parallel Alliance team.

Even before the official raid named Rapi-para began, there was already a buzz among the community centered around Rupko and Ronje about the insane design of the fourth-floor banquet hall.

… ─ — Rupko (Internet Broadcaster) Gallery ─ ─ — …

[Majiya, isn’t this crazy?]

Shit, hahahaha.

I never dreamed that a 5-star would come out on the fourth floor, hahaha.

“Ah, damn, it’s another star.”

“Cards are just ridiculously rigged; only the top players are showing up! Ah!”

“… What? The star is watching? Shit, we’re screwed.”

Just Rupko being an idiot, hahaha.

[Comments]

— Rupko846: Just not your average crazy person, haha.

— Rupko931: I didn’t even know you could embed videos in 64 Cubics this time, haha.

– Rupko694: You too?

— Rupko040: It’s been a while, so it’s nice to see.

–
Rupko040: I heard you find really interesting videos when doing review content in Parallel; how did you find this one so precisely?

–
Rupko842: Honestly, if you’re a fan of that guy, you can’t forget that scene, haha.

–
Rupko268: For real, haha.

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

… ─ — Rupko (Internet Broadcaster) Gallery ─ ─ — …

[Hey, but you managed to include something that wouldn’t catch fire, huh?]

That guy curses so much that it sometimes feels like UFC, and there have been many moments where it almost turned into a real fight.

If they had brought something like that, it would have been a total mess.

Was it intentional or just luck? Haha.

[Comments]

— Rupko513: I’ve been watching since I Am Wolf; they’re just an internet ghost.

–
Rupko513: It feels like they found something that wouldn’t cause a fuss?

–
Rupko292: I checked what other people uploaded, and they only included videos that were smoothly passed over, yeah.

–
Rupko904 (Author): Oh, I see.

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

However, the fans of Lapitz and Parallel, especially those from Lapitz, didn’t have high expectations.

It was suspicious how well Majiya knew the memes of other streamers.

But still, they were competitors.

Aside from constantly muttering about the Lapitz Potion, most fans thought it would be difficult for Majiya to know the Virtual YouTubers affiliated with Lapitz.

… ─ — Lapitz (Virtual YouTuber) Gallery ─ ─ — …

[I’m really looking forward to this.]

I can’t even imagine what’s on the fourth floor.

I saw them changing modes earlier.

It seems like it’s different from regular streamers, haha.

[Comments]

— Lapitz351: She’s thorough in useless things, haha.

— Lapitz009: My heart is racing for the first time in a while.

— Lapitz773: But they probably prepared mainly for Parallel, right?

– Lapitz773: As a Parallel employee, I don’t think it’s possible to keep up with our videos.

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

This was no different for Iona, who was preparing to enter the Demon King’s Castle.

Majiya’s target for mental attacks was probably the Parallel side.

They had discussed among their peers and juniors that they would let them tank while they focused on the raid.

“Lapitz. Is everyone ready?”

“Yep! I’ve distributed all the potions. Food is all set too!”

“I’m ready as well, senpai.”

“How about the Parallel side?”

“Parallel, are you ready?”

“Ready to kill.”

“Rain, you’re really going to break Jia’s head, aren’t you?”

“Probably for the first time.”

“Sharab Maruchongchong.”

“This is going to be fun~.”

In just two minutes, the gates of the Demon King’s Castle would open, and the 30-minute countdown for the dungeon raid would begin.

They hadn’t filled the maximum of 16 members, but since the parties led by Rupko and Ronje, who were previously rated as the strongest on the server, had broken twice, there was a slight possibility.

The key was not to spend too much time on the fourth floor.

And focusing damage when attacking the Demon King was crucial.

The longer the battle dragged on, the more disadvantageous it became for the raid, so the core strategy was to burst down the Demon King before drawing the Demon Sword.

After drawing the Demon Sword, they would immediately check the formation and attack type, and if the formation broke and one person fell after another, it would become nearly impossible to proceed with the raid.

This discussion arose from something Rupko had said while preparing for the next challenge.

“Other parties, please do not attempt any mental attacks. I was going to try to rattle them, but it’s absolutely not going to work. They’re just robots. They react but have no emotional changes.”

If they could disrupt their focus even once, they might steal the timing to drink potions and take them down.

An emotionless Demon King, it didn’t work at all against Majiya.

Even if they hurled curses or said embarrassing things, or even told plausible lies, it didn’t work.

They said it would be better after exhausting all the potions.

But during the time they held down one party, they only used about 80 potions on average, leaving them with still twelve hundred left.

For now, they had no choice but to try.

They had to trust in the variables that could occur at any time.

At least for the Rapi-para party, it was fortunate that Momo knew Majiya relatively well.

Of course, the problem was that Momo had a high chance of getting wrecked by Majiya.

Anyway, they had integrated into the regular strategy.

Iona approached Momo and asked.

“Are we going with the plan as is?”

“Yes. But it might not work. Don’t get your hopes up too much.”

“I heard you’re a well-behaved employee…”

“What good is being well-behaved? When I’m stubborn, I’m as tough as rebar.”

“Is it that serious…?”

“So basically, let’s aim to take them down all at once in sync. We’re a bit outnumbered, so we need to focus.”

With just 20 seconds to go before they entered.

Iona carefully opened her mouth, thinking she might not be able to speak once the battle started.

“It’s a bit funny to say this now, but thank you for suggesting the raid first. Honestly, it wasn’t something we could have suggested first.”

“Oh, is that so? But I understand. I’m the Boss, so I do what I want. If I were in your position, I would have been cautious too.”

“… Thank you for understanding.”

Anyway, the time had come.

The massive iron double doors creaked open with a screeching sound.

Iona nodded and said to Momo.

“Let’s go. Everyone, fighting!!”

“Fighting!!”

“Let’s go!!”

* * *

However, the Rapi-para team, which had charged through the first, second, and third floors with great momentum, ended up spending more time than expected on the fourth floor.

It was because of that damn banquet hall.

One shouldn’t simply think of the castle’s banquet hall. If you go up the T-shaped stairs at the end, you’ll immediately reach the audience chamber where the Demon King is, but the entire wide hall leading up to it was a kind of mirror maze.

It was already nearly impossible to distinguish between the paths that were open and those that were not, as all the mirrors were semi-transparent screens.

And those screens weren’t just sitting still; they played various videos set up by Majiya.

The entire mirror maze was filled with the members’ embarrassing histories.

As the sounds tangled from all directions, there was no mental attack like this.

The most surprising thing was that for some reason, Iona’s videos were the most numerous.

The previous prediction that Lapitz would be free from Majiya’s traps was completely off.

[Hmph. Low level. Can’t you speak a bit more elegantly?]

“Ahhh!”

Even though she was Lapitz’s older sister and senior, just two weeks away from her second anniversary, she really hated watching her debut broadcast again.

Just like a novice writer might create an enormous brick paragraph while trying to unfold a wonderful world and setting they want to show, a novice Virtual YouTuber also ends up showing exaggerated and awkward speech patterns to people because they became too immersed in their setting.

Now, she naturally blended her setting into her communication with viewers.

But at the time of her debut, Iona was also a broadcasting novice.

[Hello everyone. I am Iona, the moon goddess from the realm of the gods. I hope you will serve me well from now on.]

“Ahhh! How do I turn this off! How do I turn this off!!”

Panicking, Iona started banging her staff against the screen, but the screen was indestructible decor, so it didn’t take any damage.

Only the viewers watching that scene were excited.

— Hahahahahaha

— I hope you will serve me~

— So fresh, haha

— Hahahahaha

— Wow, how long has it been, haha

[Hah. The human world is so humid and hot. I liked it better on the moon. My soft skin keeps getting moist, which is uncomfortable.]

“Hey! Crazy! Stop! Stop talking!!”

— It’s too humid and hot~

— Ugh~ The human realm is too stuffy~

— I feel like I’m going to suffocate, haha

— Hah, I’m the moon goddess~

— Ah, haha

— Hahahahaha

Other Virtual YouTubers also suffered the same fate in the fourth-floor banquet hall, but not as much as Iona.

There were over ten videos of Iona in the banquet hall, and they played more frequently than any others.

Because of this, Dohee was the only one who was confused.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t there a video of me…?”

“Oh, right?”

“Jia, I’m going to kill you. I won’t forgive you. How can this be replayed again? Kill Jia!”

No one would know that this was Majiya’s petty revenge for not receiving the donation she had given.

However, Dohee didn’t feel relieved just because her video was absent.

How many pranks had she endured until now?

She had to be prepared for any sudden shocking twists that might pop up.

Above all, Iona, who was in charge of the main deal with Momo, was already on the verge of sinking, so Momo had to stay sharp.

Anyway, after wandering through the maze for a few minutes.

Iona completely collapsed on the floor, exhausted.

“It’s… over…”

The others watching, especially the juniors, felt too awkward to comfort her.

Only Dohee could offer some words of consolation to Iona.

“I’m sorry. Our employees’ pranks were a bit too much.”

But instead of being angry, Iona respected Momo.

After all, as she learned about Majiya, she also discovered that Majiya was Momo’s malicious sniper.

Thinking about how Momo must have suffered for years from such a strange person made it impossible not to respect her.

“You’re amazing, Momo. How did you endure against such a malicious opponent…?”

“… Huh?”

“Let’s go for now. We don’t have much time left.”

“Ah. Right. There are only three minutes left.”

Iona and Momo each grabbed a side of the door and pushed it open.

Creeeak───!

With the eerie sound of rusty hinges, the door opened.

The red carpet, torn and frayed at the edges, lay in waves on the floor.

In the dark interior, a beam of light coming through the broken stained glass ceiling illuminated the Demon King, or rather, Majiya, who was sitting crookedly on the throne.

Those watching the broadcast for the first time were busy admiring the sight of Majiya.

— Wow, haha

— What a cool vibe, haha

— Wow, haha

— Truly, there’s no one like the Demon King, haha

Soon, Majiya stood up with a clank, clank, clank, clank, making the sound of armor clashing.

She slowly applauded, the heavy gauntlets clashing together.

“Congratulations on breaking through the fourth floor. Truly impressive.”

Rain couldn’t hold back and spoke up.

“Jia! Do you want to die? Really?”

“Since I’m the Demon King, I acted like one. It’s the Demon King’s specialty to shake the mental state of the hero party, right?”

“Ugh.”

“Hold on, Rain. Talking to her will only drag you in.”

“Jia, Komari is stopping to watch!”

Majiya chuckled softly and stepped lightly over the ruined red carpet, standing about ten meters away from the party.

In this tense moment.

As time ticked down, Dohee, who was in charge of the raid, was timing the attack when a loud voice echoed through the dome-shaped audience chamber.

[Uwoong. Hey, I’m going to be a little mischievous.]

It was truly a classic.

It was the cute voice Momo had tried to use to simp during her early broadcasts.

The first person to recognize the owner of the voice was Maru.

She, like Jia, was a long-time simp for Dohee, so she understood.

“Wait a minute. Is that the Boss…?”

“No! No!!”

Just as a panicking Dohee shouted, the wide audience chamber echoed again.

[Senpai~! Buy me a Tidburger. Tidburger~!]

This time, Dohee couldn’t deny it.

No matter how much she tried to tone down her voice, her characteristic boisterousness couldn’t be hidden.

Naturally, Cheon Dohee took a deep breath to scold.

Right at that moment.

“Boss, watch your back!”

At Maru’s sudden voice, everyone turned their heads in unison.

Maru spoke again.

“Uh? That’s me. Ah.”

Thud!

“Ahhh!”

Maru was suddenly knocked back by something.

As everyone’s attention was diverted, another voice from Maru was heard.

“I told you to watch your back, Boss.”

Maru was rolling away.

In other words, this voice was not Maru’s.

A malicious entity imitating human voices was now mocking the raid while wearing the guise of the Demon King.

Startled, Dohee turned her head to see a red Demon Sword flying right at her.

As the Demon Sword struck the back of Dohee’s head.

Majiya then imitated Dohee’s voice.

And it was the cute voice from Dohee’s past that she was most embarrassed about.

“Please buy me a Tidburger~ Boss!”

Author’s Note (Author’s Afterword)

Tidburger~!