Returned as the Demon King
A refined woman’s voice reached my ears.
“...Your Majesty!”
“Urrgh...!”
The headache felt like my skull was being torn apart. A low groan escaped me, and the same voice spoke again.
“Demon King! Lord Tyrat! Please regain your senses!”
She even prodded my body. By the way, Demon King… Lord Tyrat? I had my own name—what was all this about Tyrat?
As that thought crossed my mind, I suddenly remembered that the final boss of Beast Slayer was named Tyrat.
‘.....’
My head went blank for a moment. Then—
“Uwaaaak!”
I let out a dying scream and bolted upright. I looked around in a panic. The entire room was purple. Beside the bed, which looked like something from over-technology, stood a demon in a lab coat with long fangs jutting from its mouth.
I knew exactly who this demon was.
“You… you’re Marcela, aren’t you?”
How could I not recognize her? The bitch who constantly modified every kind of monster to assault the heroines. Whenever a difficult monster appeared, clearing the stage became a nightmare. In the later parts she would get torn apart by a Beast Slayer’s ultimate and hand me a refreshing dose of catharsis.
“Yes, it is Marcela, Your Majesty.”
“Demon King…?”
I muttered in a daze. Marcela’s expression grew serious.
“Oh dear… Biological responses are normal, yet there appears to be a mental issue. Well, it makes sense. You did take Celine’s strike directly to the head.”
‘Celine… if it’s her…’
Beast Slayer Celine—before transformation, her name was Adeline. A slayer from another world and the heroine of Volume 5.
I decided to assess the situation first. I quietly scanned my surroundings. The room layout felt familiar. I rose from the bed, avoiding Marcela, and examined everything carefully. A laboratory filled with bizarre devices, a command center with five massive monitors…
‘Familiar… this is all so familiar…’
Once I calmed my chaotic thoughts, I realized where I was. This was the base from which Tyrat, the invader who sought to conquer Earth, had plotted his schemes. In other words, his secret headquarters in Antarctica.
They say humans are creatures of adaptation. After some time passed, my mind cooled. The sensation of being pulled into the monitor had been real. This was no dream.
For whatever reason, it seemed I had entered the world of Beast Slayer.
‘Then… have I become Tyrat?’
Tyrat was the supreme ruler of the demon realm from the other world called Erandel. Coveting Earth’s resources, he led his forces in repeated invasions, tormenting the Beast Slayers until the end, when he was annihilated without a single cell remaining. Yet he always revived through some mysterious method and stubbornly appeared in every title from Volume 1 to 5. He had been scheduled to appear in Volume 6 as well.
Unlike typical magical-girl villains, Tyrat possessed a relatively human appearance. It was the developers’ deliberate design to heighten players’ immersion in corruption routes.
But I had killed that same Tyrat dozens—hundreds—of times. And now I had become him. The very Tyrat who had to humiliate the heroines, corrupt them, and drag them into the abyss.
This… this…
‘This… is fucking awesome?’
It really was.
Yeah, honestly… fuck. It wasn’t once or twice that I had felt frustrated with the passive protagonist whose only role was to serve as the heroines’ cum tank. I also hated how he would forget the previous heroine’s affection and immediately start flirting with a new one in the next episode. Of course, the source of a Beast Slayer’s power was sexual desire, so those choices were supposedly unavoidable if he wanted to protect Earth. Still, whenever the story reached the ending where they confirmed their deep love after a long, pure romance, my heart would melt.
But now I was Tyrat—the supreme ruler of the demon realm who had to mobilize every technological resource to corrupt or kill the heroines.
In other words, I was the protagonist. The one players were supposed to empathize with. Since I had become that protagonist, I needed to act the part, didn’t I?
At present, I had just been defeated by Celine, the Volume 5 heroine, and Marcela had used transcendent technology to rewind time. The point we had returned to was the moment just before Volume 1 began—right when I, having newly arrived on Earth, was supposed to release monsters and plunge the world into chaos.
Only two people knew about this regression: myself and Marcela. It appeared this was the true starting point of Volume 6.
“But isn’t this a bit too overpowered?”
The advantage was overwhelmingly in Tyrat’s favor. The Tyrat of Volume 1 had been nothing more than a fantasy-style demon king without any over-technology. Yet now, carrying the accumulated experience of Volumes 1 through 5 and returned to the beginning, even my base was state-of-the-art.
Retaining memories while regressing to the past… Those developer bastards must have decided the corruption route was the true route and built the game this way. When I get back, I’m going to give them a piece of my mind.
‘No, wait. Why would I complain?’
This was something to be grateful for. I knew every story from Volumes 1 to 5. Depending on my choices, the branching would change, but the existence of clear guidelines made this an incredible cheat.
“Your Majesty…? What do you mean?”
Beside me, Marcela—silver hair swaying—tilted her head with the expression of a kitten.
She was pretty enough, but her appearance was exactly that of a succubus in clothing, which wasn’t my preference. I liked humans.
“It is nothing.”
I was now the supreme ruler of Erandel. I needed to display fitting dignity. Fortunately, I had seen Tyrat’s manner of speech plenty of times in the game, so imitation wasn’t difficult. Adapting to it, however, was another matter.
I continued.
“Is the preparation of Amducias complete?”
My monsters gained power by devouring or violating humans. The first boss of Volume 1 was a beast-type monster with the upper body of a horse and an enormous phallus. It was a disposable warm-up boss used to trigger the heroine’s awakening before being killed.
“Yes. However… I apologize for repeating myself, but would it not be wiser to deploy Amon? Or perhaps eliminate Dr. Jennifer Cash…”
Amon was a mid-boss who appeared near the end of Volume 5, a large humanoid that specialized in hypnosis. Marcela wanted to send a powerful boss to nip the entire Beast Slayer project in the bud.
Dr. Jennifer Cash was the genius scientist central to Volumes 1 through 5 and the creator of the transformation devices. It was no exaggeration to say the legend of the Beast Slayers began with her.
If the goal was to resolve things easily, Marcela’s suggestion made sense. But I had no intention of doing so. If I couldn’t fuck the heroines after they became magical girls, why the hell had I played this erotic game in the first place?
“No. We will use Amducias. Do not modify it. Simply place it on standby for deployment. You will remain here and wait obediently.”
For now, I would follow the established guidelines step by step. I would simply insert a small setting that allowed me to slip among the heroines.
“Understood.”
I listened to my strategist Marcela’s reply with a satisfied expression.
“What of my false identity?”
“It is prepared. Enter the reactor and alter only your outward appearance. Everything will then be perfect.”
“Good. I shall disguise myself at once.”
The heroine of Volume 1 was a Korean freshman at Hankuk University named Lee Sehwa. She was the childhood friend of the ‘original protagonist’ Yu Seunghyeon and, at present, still an ordinary college student.
Time to begin.
“I still cannot comprehend Your Majesty’s intentions…”
“I will explain later.”
Opening day at Hankuk University.
“Excuse me.”
My voice carried clear confidence. A female student walking across campus turned around.
Soft waves in her brown hair that fell just past her shoulders. Bright, sparkling brown eyes. A straight nose and captivating lips. Delicate, perfectly arranged features on a small face. Light makeup.
‘She’s no joke…’
Disguised as a human, I couldn’t help but admire her. Seeing her in the flesh, right in front of me, after only ever viewing her through a screen, made it feel as if the whole world had brightened.
The girl before me was Lee Sehwa.
Also known as ‘Beast Slayer Leona.’ Of course, not yet.
“Yes?”
Even her voice was like a nightingale. To think a girl like this was Yu Seunghyeon’s girlfriend! Anger flared inside me. Calm down. Stay calm. For now, follow the plan. Stick to the disguised identity.
“Whoa… I mean, sorry.”
When I gaped in exaggerated surprise, Sehwa let out a small “Pfft!” and laughed. It seemed she was used to that reaction. I scratched my head.
“I’m a freshman and I’m supposed to take Understanding of Science and Technology, but I don’t know where the classroom is… Do you happen to know?”
“Understanding of Science and Technology? I’m actually heading there right now. Want to go together?”
“Is that really okay?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
I gave an awkward smile, thanked her, and began walking beside Sehwa.
Aah… She smelled wonderful. Sehwa used a fragrant shampoo… Fuck, this made me sound like a pervert. Well, I was a pervert.
First, introduce myself.
“My name is Song Jihyeok. First-year in the Future Science department.”
Sehwa’s eyes widened. Naturally—she wouldn’t have seen me at the freshman welcome party.
“I’m Lee Sehwa. I’m also first-year in Future Science… How come I don’t remember seeing you at the welcome party?”
“I was hospitalized at the time. I heard it’s hard to get close to classmates if you miss the welcome event… Looks like I’m destined to be a loner. I couldn’t even join the group chat.”
“I see… But a loner? You seem like you’d fit in quickly.”
“Huh?”
“Your face… um… it’s nice.”
Although I currently possessed a sickly body, my face was exceptionally handsome. The kind of look that made people want to protect me. Since even Sehwa complimented it, Marcela’s preparations had clearly been effective.
“Wow… saying it to my face… Still, thank you.”
“Are you twenty?”
“Yes.”
“Same here, so let’s drop the formalities. We’ll be seeing each other a lot in required classes anyway… I’ll speak casually first, okay?”
As expected, Sehwa was extremely sociable. That was why she was so popular at Hankuk University. I nodded with a smile.
“Sure. You’re really friendly.”
“I do talk a lot. But… you look a bit unwell.”
“After spending several months in the hospital, I couldn’t put on any weight.”
“Several months?”
“Yeah. I was in a car accident. Someone rear-ended me.”
I subtly changed my expression—still smiling, but now carrying a faint trace of sadness. Sehwa looked flustered.
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”
“So where do you live?”
Look at her changing the subject. She really was kind.
“I rent a studio in the one-room village in front of campus. You?”
“I live alone too. Not right in front of school, but it’s only two subway stops away. Ah, we’re here. This is the building.”
I looked up. A magnificent structure rose before us. As expected of the top prestigious university in Beast Slayer, where money had clearly been poured in.
Now things were truly beginning. When I looked at her with expectant eyes, Sehwa spoke.
“Since this is fate, I’ll introduce you to my friends and invite you to the group chat. So don’t worry too much.”
“Thank you. I really mean it.”
“It’s nothing… Shall we go in?”
“Just so you know, I don’t even understand the building layout. You’ll have to guide me.”
“Of course. Just trust me.”
I didn’t offer to buy her a meal or anything. For now, slowly building closeness came first.
Just wait, Sehwa. I’ll save you from the grasp of that idiot Yu Seunghyeon—that fucking dickhead who treats women like toys. At least until I make you transform.