CHAPTER 5: Mainhwa (3)
Close beta might just be romantic. The balance isn't fully ironed out yet, which makes it unstable, but that opens the door to emergent playstyles exploiting system glitches—playstyles that wildly deviate from the developers' intentions. Ridiculous multiplier stacking can birth absurd death spear weapons. Content volume is at its lowest compared to later patches, but simply diving into a fresh game ignites the player's greatest sense of adventure. All these little things accumulate, get talked about endlessly, and eventually become cherished memories. I think I really loved that stuff...
Until the pendant's effect kicked in, I was tidying up my dorm room. Gotta vacate soon anyway... might as well check everything over... Or so I thought, when my mind snapped like a cut thread, my vision went black, and I plunged into a deep abyss.
………………
My vision was pure darkness. How long is this gonna last? Something's wrong here, right? Just as terror started bubbling up, a hazy mist coiled into being, birthing a shadow with glaring white eyes. Kinda owl-shaped up top... but the lower half was impossible to make out.
—Creature...
The demon's voice came through distorted, like a radio tuned to the wrong frequency.
—You've made your resolve, I see. Creature.
Screw the clichéd greetings. I cut straight to business.
"Skip the chit-chat. What's your rank?"
—So, your despair and rage are genuine...?
"What rank are you?"
—......
For a split second, the thing that looked like a demon froze, as if my response wasn't what it expected. Do demons even get flustered? Fantasy characters sure love their long-winded monologues.
Hero Reborn drew from the lore of Solomon's 72 demons, making it your main quest to slay and purify all of them. Every monster encounter came loaded with verbose scripts, which got old fast for a repeat player like me. All I wanted was a quick resolution.
—Kukuku, what a foolish creature.
"No time. Make it quick."
—Wretched human, steeped in greed, forgetting your place...
"Hand it all over."
—......
"Everything you've got. Now."
I'm in a shitty mood today. Time to vent on this bastard.
* * *
Rapha Blue Dorm freshman cafeteria. Freshly enrolled Clarice Academy students buzzed with excitement and anticipation. They'd just wrapped up two months of training, and tomorrow loomed Positioning—the academy's first real hurdle. With youths from every region crammed together, the cafeteria was always packed and noisy.
Aria Bluebell and Melissa Prominence shared that puffed-up anticipation.
"But Ria, why'd you lie for him...?"
At Melissa's cautious question, Aria set down her fork for a moment.
"Ah, well..."
Truth be told, she had no reason to defend Lev Denek. She'd been manhandled roughly, and physical contact outside sparring was a clear rules violation.
"Something..."
"Something?"
"About it."
But something felt off. Lev Denek's actions seemed impulsive, like he'd snapped after losing his first bout to Edwin. Yet behind the dorm, he'd acted utterly wronged, as if his memory had been wiped. Sure, that didn't excuse his behavior—it was still wrong and disgusting—but...
'He must've been pushed to the brink mentally.'
Rubbing more salt in could drive him to a truly bad choice. In short, her intervention was pure pity.
With her thoughts sorted, Aria gave Melissa a faint smile.
"No big deal. I just worried he might do something extreme."
"He brought it on himself anyway. Didn't know you had such a soft spot, Ria."
"Tomorrow's Positioning. Don't wanna get distracted."
Melissa dropped the probing at Aria's reply and focused on her meal.
"Edwin's not skipping meals to practice still, is he...?"
"If you're worried, go check..."
"That's not it!"
Melissa flushed a bit, embarrassed at her own wandering thoughts. 'No, wait. Why him?'
Edwin Gwynz—unlike her, who never slipped from top rank, he lingered in the lower tiers, yet outworked everyone. Probably grinding alone in the closed training hall right now. The guy never got tired.
He never denied his poor entrance exam results, just stuck to his convictions. Even when she unintentionally bruised his pride with snide remarks, he'd brush it off with that creepy grin. Annoyingly resilient—like the reed that bends but doesn't break. He'd endured plenty from scum like Lev Denek over his background and overcome it on his own.
'That part was kinda admirable...'
As Melissa quietly reevaluated him in her mind—
—Kuuung!
"?!"
In the peaceful cafeteria, only Melissa sensed the ominous mana pulse. Her mana sensitivity ranked top-tier in the academy. Something was happening in the dorms.
* * *
A contract with a demon. They grant power in exchange for a human soul as collateral... When the recipient's greed reaches its peak via demonic talent, the vessel shatters, and the soul gets sucked into Pandemonium.
The mana granted varies by the soul's quality. 63rd demon, Andras—demon of hatred and destruction. Not ranked 63rd in hierarchy, mind you. But explaining that to this ignorant weakling human was beyond his capacity. To him, humans were less than insects.
Yet humans were greedier, craftier, more selfish than any other race. Easy to manipulate—like bugs, nothing more, nothing less.
But this one had crossed a line. Unlike past contractors. Through Andras's demonic eyes, his greed burned beyond mere rage, laced with insane bravado. Pure self-interest. And demanding everything? Rare for a human.
Not total bluff, though. His vessel was pathetic, but his soul was extraordinary—almost alien. Not born here, but from another worldline. He could handle Andras's power.
Problem: handle it barely. No mana aptitude beyond his soul. Borrow all of Andras's power at once? He'd lose control in milliseconds, turn Main, body fail in nanoseconds, soul reclaimed instantly.
But that's not the end. Contracts with the 72 demons demand heavy prices. Even post-absorption, thirty—no, forty million years of hellfire torment. Connections dragged down too, doomed to demonic harassment lifelong. No true death, no soul rest, no comfort—eternal agony.
Andras found this boldly demanding insect hilariously pathetic.
—Kuhahahahaha!
Laughter was all that came. As Andras bellowed heartily for the first time in ages, the fool spat something weird.
"Scared?"
—What?
"You chickening out?"
—...
Andras didn't reply.
—Jjeeuuuuueeeek.
Just grinned ear-to-ear, grotesquely terrifying. Plenty of time for answers later.
[Golden Chain - Andras]
[Subject - Lev Denek]
—Srrrrrrrrr...
And so, all of Andras's mana began flowing into him. At breakneck speed.
—Srrrrrrrr...
—Drop.
The contract sealed. Easier than expected.
And milliseconds passed.
—?
No? Five seconds ticked by. The nameless human just stood there, grinning.
—What...
Even Andras, versed in worldly knowledge, had underestimated human greed? His next words were incomprehensible, even in death.
"Oops. Turns out Mainhwa isn't supported in close beta."