Demon King

The Lee Man Corps – 4

“Hmm.”

“Whoo…”

“Captain, why the long sigh?”

“It’s just…”

In the end, we found a Chinese restaurant on the university street in Jongno-gu. The very same one where I died. Since I had been unable to find a meal in Seongbuk-gu, I was determined to come here and completely cut off any regrets I had.

“This is a place where I was once greatly respected.” I heard Lee Chan-yu mumble these words, a bit surprised. I turned to look at him as I entered the store.

“Is it okay if you show up here?”

“It’s alright. I evolved several times in the dungeon, after all, so my face has changed quite a bit.” That was how it happened with me as well. When I evolved into a Crimson Elf, Lee Chan-yu had said he was envious of the way I looked. But in my opinion, I thought he was the one that looked pretty cool. I sat down at a table that had just been wiped off as I considered these idle thoughts.

“The last time I was here, I was still human.”

“Look.” Following Lee Chan-yu’s gesture, I gazed outside the store. I had been so focused on the restaurant that I didn’t even notice the other stores around. There were all sorts of businesses around us: Italian and Indian restaurants, clothing stores, and even a movie theater directly across the street. Thinking back to my human memories, I didn’t remember this place being so active. In fact, I assumed that most of the places here would be destroyed in the attacks. But instead, it appeared to be flourishing.

Thinking about it, it started to make sense. The facilities and people here were all gathered in one place, which meant the manpower required to defend them would be reduced. They wouldn’t have to spread thin to defend a large area; they just needed to protect this fortified place. It was an effective way to deal with enemies and reduce the number of allies sacrificed. Theoretically. The danger would never be zero. Now, humans had to risk their lives every day, and if they were afraid of dying, then their only choice would be to hide inside their houses and wait for death. Knowing that everyone here had to live with death at every corner, the sight of them laughing and talking looked different to me. Perhaps more determined.

“The whole world has changed in such a short time.”

“It’s hard to adapt to it. For me as well.” He muttered with a bitter smile after we ordered some jajangmyeon and sweet and sour pork.

“It’s a good thing that communications and transportation are still working.”

“No kidding.” Many of the humans we had seen in Seongbuk-gu weren’t original residents of the town. There wouldn’t have been enough to deal with that group of monsters if that were the case. Other administrative districts nearby, Jongno-gu included, were supporting them. Not that battles like that were commonplace. Everywhere was dangerous, but that would be too much to deal with even given how effective humans were at moving together to solve problems. It was necessary for them to do so, after all, to keep their population safe. They were sending those with the ability to fight to struggle against the odds, so that the others may be safe.

“Here’s your meal.” The clerk brought us several plates. The dishes were a proud reminder that this restaurant had survived despite the world around it. I couldn’t help but recall the events of when I faced my death here.

“If you need anything else, please let me know.” I felt like I could even hear the voice of an old friend. I raised my head, the young male clerk stepping back as he felt my gaze upon him.

“Are you a college student?”

“What in the world is a college student in a place like this? I’m just working here.”

“I’m sorry for asking something weird.”

“No, it’s alright.” He waved it off and left, my eyes staring blankly at his back. I let out a sigh and put a hand to my forehead, closing my eyes.

“Captain, what’s up?”

“That was someone who was with me when I died.” I let out a laugh, the situation so absurd. He was working at a restaurant where his friend died. Lee Chan-yu gave me a bitter smile.

“Life is often full of irony.”

“It doesn’t sound like a joke when you talk about it.” He retorted as he lifted up his chopsticks. I decided to push it all aside, the jajangmyeon before me much more important than those reflections. I had to eat before it got cold, after all. I dug in right away.

‘Ah.’ Inexpressible emotions filled me, countless memories filling my mind rather than the taste of the food. The jajangmyeon before me was no longer a simple meal. Instead, it became a symbol for my life, my death, my patience, and my suffering. Everything that happened since I rejected Rain’s offer. I couldn’t be a human, but here I was. I became a man who could fool all these humans. I hadn’t accomplished everything, but I was here, eating jajangmyeon. It was delicious. So delicious that I wanted to cry.

“If there was an eating contest, you would definitely take first place, Captain.” I ignored his words, focused on the food in front of me. There was no time to joke around.

“Ah, wait. Don’t eat in such a hurry; we have plenty of time!” Lee Chan-yu’s chopsticks moved faster, as well. Neither of us said another word until our bowls were cleared out.

“Your total is three silver and thirty-eight bronze.” I went ahead and paid for both of our meals, leaving the restaurant as I expanded the range of my senses. It was second nature to me by now, although I had to laugh at myself for being so cautious. I was too used to the dungeon where there were monsters around every corner. Comparing this place to that experience, or even the tower or the garden, this world was overly peaceful.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“No?”

The elves. The Knights of Elakatra. Even in this world, we still had to be alert. I had Lee Chan-yu use a flying creature to scout around for us as we moved about.

“We should’ve done that in Seongbuk-gu as well.” The Elakatra were pretending to be cooperative with the humans and couldn’t just betray them. That would jeopardize their already strained alliance. So they wouldn’t do anything flashy in a place like this, at least. As I wondered what their plan was here with these monsters, a hypothesis came to mind.

‘On the Rookie’s Battlefield…’ I destroyed hordes of monsters on the battlefield enough to create quite a void. Even one of the knights died. I wondered if they were in disarray right now, trying to get things back under control. Maybe that was why they hadn’t shown up to help the humans earlier. The thought made me happy that my enemy could be so hurt right now.

“Lee Chan-yu, can you find a place to stay for a bit?”

“I’ll go find a room in this neighborhood.”

“Alright, let me know by message when you do.” I waved him goodbye and continued down the street. Using the power of Reaper, I slowly erased my presence and floated in the air. No one around me noticed as I vanished, unable to register this power born from a higher system. I floated alone in the air, wanting to reach a place away from all the city noise. But that was just my desire to escape. I already ran away once. Not this time.

‘I have to move forward.’ I took a step through the endless sky, making full use of Ubiquitous to move. It let me jump several kilometers forward at once. While returning to Seongbuk-gu wouldn’t be instantaneous like this, it was faster than riding in a car. The distance I could leap kept growing longer as my control increased, and I became accustomed to using it in the sky. The mana consumption was massive, but my recovery was able to keep up with it. As I became used to it, the amount it consumed decreased as well.

[Ubiquitous became Lv2. The power of the skill has been amplified.]

The notification popped up when I reached the halfway point, a welcome sight. Not much longer, I already reached Seongbuk-gu. The place where I had lived. It was completely gone.

“…” I landed there, looking around. Initially, it had been a place where apartments and houses had been built, but now, it was little more than a vacant lot. There had even been some popular restaurants nearby, and a supermarket that you had to use because it was so close, even though the prices were high. Now, a clean stone wall was placed in the space, several tombstones standing within the walls—a cemetery.

I jumped over it, passing right by a young guard who couldn’t sense me. I paid him no mind as I passed through the tombstones, one after another. It didn’t take me long to find them, although I was hoping I wouldn’t. My parents, the two great people who had raised me. One tombstone, their names written upon it in black letters.

“…Ugh…” Even though I knew that I wasn’t originally a human, it was impossible for me to forget the ones who raised me, who loved me. No, rather it was because I wasn’t human that I knew how noble they had been. I thought I couldn’t cry anymore, but the tears flowing down my cheeks and onto the ground proved that wrong. I sobbed for a few minutes, unable to even apologize. Even after my tears stopped, my emotions didn’t calm down at all. Only a sliver of reason returned to my mind.

‘Why is this tombstone so large?’ My parents hadn’t been great heroes or celebrities. They were just ordinary citizens.

“Who are you?’ The voice of a young woman came from behind me. This was someone who could tell me the answer.

“I came here to visit after the battle, but a strange person is crying in front of the tomb of another’s parents.” I didn’t turn to look at her, unwilling to see her with my own eyes. I was afraid of being caught by the past; my eyes were fixed on the tombstone as I responded.

“My father’s name was the same. I must’ve been mistaken.”

Only

“Ah.” I sensed her behind me and could only marvel at her strength.

“I’m sorry, I’m just a bit tired after the battle. I thought I would come to see my parents.”

“No, you don’t need to apologize. I’m the one at fault.”

“I want to apologize still…”

“Excuse me.”

“Ah.” I stepped away from the tombstone, walking to the other side of it, so I didn’t have to meet her face to face. This girl, who had an ordinary bandit as a partner, had succeeded in attaining a level above 150 in such a short time. I didn’t know how, but I knew it must have been incredibly painful and incredibly difficult for her. All I wanted to do was hug her and comfort her.

But I didn’t.

Ignoring her gaze upon my back, I left my sister in the cemetery and went outside.