Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Genius Demon-Hunting Mage
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“I’m deleting my character.”
Thud.
At my words, my friend dropped the chicken leg he’d been gnawing on.
“...Wait, no way. Devil Fantasy?”
“Yeah, that’s right. My swordsman character.”
[Devil Fantasy].
It was about the game I’d been playing for over ten years.
“Dude, are you insane? Why delete that?”
My friend pressed me, sounding accusatory. He’d played for about three years too, so he knew exactly what my words meant.
“Why all of a sudden? Didn’t you just get a Mythic trait last time?”
“That was... over a year ago already.”
“What’s your ranking now?”
“Number one.”
“Huh...?”
My friend let out a hollow laugh, chugged his beer, and continued.
“Looks like you’re finally done with that crap game. Just sell the account instead. You’d make a fortune—enough for a foreign sports car, easy.”
He had a point. Selling the account would net me at least as much as a regular office worker’s annual salary.
No, probably more. [Devil Fantasy] accounts weren’t priced just on character specs.
All the accumulated fame, cleared achievements, affinity with key NPCs—everything had value.
And with the number one ranking title on top...
‘...I could live comfortably for years.’
Even if [Devil Fantasy] wasn’t as prestigious as it used to be, the potential was there.
Someone would recognize my character’s true worth for sure.
They’d snap it up the moment they saw it.
But I’d already made up my mind on that front.
“Nah, I’m deleting it.”
“Come on, why?”
“I’m not quitting.”
I’d definitely wanted to quit when I hit the wall at the final boss.
But after over ten years of playing, for better or worse? I couldn’t just walk away.
Not with all the attachment I’d built up.
So the conclusion I’d reached was this.
“I’m gonna level up a new one. This time, a mage.”
“...You lunatic. You’re gonna go through all that grind again?”
I got why he’d react like that.
In [Devil Fantasy], starting a character from scratch wasn’t a walk in the park.
Especially if it was a ‘mage.’ No need to explain that one.
But what could I do? My character was already ruined, and you only got one character slot.
To raise a new character in [Devil Fantasy], you had to delete the old one.
You could start a fresh account, but then you’d miss out on the perks.
With my high-spec character, the perks I’d get were bound to be massive.
Deleting it was the only way, as regrettable as that was.
“You’re remaking to take down that guy, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve already got the build planned out. Took a whole year just to put it together.”
“...Alright, you seem dead set on it, so I won’t try to stop you. But... is catching him even possible?”
The ‘guy’ my friend meant was [Devil Fantasy]’s final boss and Demon Legion Commander, ‘Baal.’
And that was exactly the one who’d made me feel like I’d hit a wall.
I’d maxed out my level, grabbed a Mythic trait, but I couldn’t kill this bastard no matter what.
Probably the same from his side.
‘Immortal Warrior.’
The Mythic trait my swordsman character had gotten boosted resistance and regeneration stats exponentially.
Physical resistance, magic resistance, natural regeneration, elemental resistance—the works.
The result? A zombie swordsman who absolutely refused to die in any situation.
Even the final boss Baal couldn’t kill my character.
But...
‘It was a bit of a letdown trait.’
That was all.
With a defense-focused [Immortal Warrior] trait, I couldn’t pierce Baal’s hide.
We ended up in this weird stalemate where neither could kill the other.
Unacceptable for any player.
That’s why I decided to remake my character and spent plenty of time researching a build.
An attack-specialized ‘mage’ build.
And just like that, a year had passed.
Now I could answer with full confidence.
“Definitely catching him.”
***
Late into the night.
The moment I got home, I pulled up the character deletion screen.
[Delete character?]
[Yes / No]
“...”
I’d steeled my resolve, even borrowed some liquid courage...
But I couldn’t bring myself to click.
One click, and five years invested in this character would vanish. No wonder.
Still, it had to be done.
“...Thanks, and it was fun.”
Click!
[Character deleted.]
The levels I’d grinded so hard for, the fame, affinity, cleared achievements, equipped gear, number one ranking title—everything...
Gone. In a single click.
A thick sense of loss mixed with emptiness washed over me.
“...I’ll just do it again. I can do it.”
Best thing in times like this was to get to work.
I shook my head to clear it, then quickly hit the character creation button.
[Perks awarded for new character creation.]
[*Perk rewards are granted differentially based on previous character’s achievements.]
Perks were one of the few veteran-friendly systems in the unforgiving [Devil Fantasy].
Delete your character, and you’d get rewards scaled to its value to speed up your next one’s growth.
Traits, gear, skills—whatever.
What I wanted most? Traits, hands down.
They were notoriously hard to get compared to anything else.
Heroic-grade and up? Worth whatever you named.
‘Hope I get something useful.’
Thing was, you never knew what perks would give. Info on them was scarce.
Made sense.
In a game where dying once wiped your character, how many players would delete theirs on purpose for perks?
Especially when the rewards weren’t even that great.
[Calculating achievements...]
“Hm.”
While waiting for the calculation, I flipped open the notebook sitting in front of me.
Beat-up from how much I’d scribbled in it. It held every bit of the build I’d obsessively researched over the past year.
Rustle, rustle!
I carefully reviewed each page.
No issues. It was all memorized in my head anyway.
“If I follow this to the letter...”
I can take down Baal.
That’s when it hit.
Ding!
The calculation results popped up.
[Achievement Calculation Results]
-Level: 100 (Max)
-Ranking: 1st
-Quest Progress: 99%
-Achievements Completed: 162/172
-Titles Acquired: 101/144
-Demons Slain: 665/666
-Traits Possessed: Immortal Warrior (Mythic), Aura (Legendary), Weapon Master (Heroic), One-Point Focus (Heroic)
A system window compressing my character’s stats and substance. Embarrassing to say it myself, but it was impressive.
Especially the demons slain.
Hunting every single one of the 666 demon types except Baal? A truly awe-inspiring record.
But...
“...That’s why it stings more.”
Just one. Couldn’t catch that last one, and it gnawed at me.
Especially knowing my zombie swordsman couldn’t do it no matter what.
“This time’ll be different.”
[Rewards granted.]
Thump! Thump! Thump...!
My heart pounded with overwhelming anticipation.
A character I’d raised for five whole years. Perks for deleting it.
Pandora’s box, whose contents were a mystery, finally cracked open.
[A new soul imprints on the character’s soul.]
[Imprinted Soul: Former Owner of Sword Saint]
[Trait Selection Ticket (Mythic) granted.]
[Call of Destiny (Unknown) granted.]
Three perks in total.
The soul imprint was as expected. You got one fixed if your deleted character was top 100 ranked.
Among them, [Former Owner of Sword Saint] was top-tier for deleting a swordsman character.
It’d cover one of a mage’s weaknesses: close combat, more or less.
The real question was what came next.
“Trait Selection Ticket?”
Trait Selection Ticket.
A rare reward that sometimes dropped from beating a Demon Legion Commander.
Pick any trait matching the ticket’s grade.
An ultra-valuable item, obviously.
But...
“...Mythic grade?”
I’d never even seen a Mythic-grade Trait Selection Ticket. Not on the auction house, not in communities.
I was dumbfounded.
“So... I can grab any Mythic trait I want?”
Starting with a Mythic trait perfectly suited to my build? Massive advantage.
Especially for an explosive-power mage build.
A mage with a soul imprint fixing close combat issues too... What kind of monster character would that make?
My lips curled up involuntarily.
“A Mythic Trait Selection Ticket from perks... If word gets out, it’ll cause a storm.”
I was certain. [Devil Fantasy] forums would explode.
It was worth that much.
“Calm down.”
I steadied my racing thoughts.
Great and all, but getting hyped wouldn’t help. Stay cool, especially now.
I checked the next reward right away.
“Call of Destiny. What’s this?”
Trait tickets were just grade variants, fine. But this? Brand-new item.
No, ‘Unknown grade’ itself was new to me.
Over ten years in this game, and still unknowns? Wild.
“Name doesn’t give much away.”
Key to a hidden quest? Growth booster item?
Eh, no clue.
“I’ll figure it out step by step.”
Definitely not some basic item. I scanned the reward list again.
Soul imprint, Trait Selection Ticket, Unknown-grade item.
Honestly, no huge expectations. Perks were infamous for being inefficient.
But this? Solid compensation. No, perfect.
“Didn’t waste those five years after all.”
I wasn’t just thrilled, though. Five years and effort into one character—fair reward for that.
Great perks to skip early grind pains, but my time wasn’t cheap either.
“Whew...”
Now it was time to reap the rewards of that time and effort.
By killing the unkillable Baal and finishing the main quest.
“Let’s go.”
Click!
Hit the start button, and the familiar intro message appeared after ages.
[Welcome to Devil Fantasy.]
Chilling red text in a spooky font.
Thump! Thump! Thump...!
Over ten years in, and it still gave me butterflies.
That’s when it happened.
[Call of Destiny usage conditions met.]
[Call of Destiny activates.]
“Huh?”
An unfamiliar message that shouldn’t have appeared, and then...
[O God!]
A deep, intense voice pierced straight through my mind.
That was it.
My vision, which had spun 180 degrees, went pitch black in an instant. My consciousness faded...
Far, far away.
And when I opened my eyes again...
“...Where’s this?”
I was inside the game.
No—in the world teeming with all 666 kinds of demons.