“I Did Warn You.”
That chilling single phrase sent chills racing up my spine, my hair standing on end. A sudden cold gripped me, stiffening the nape of my neck. My heart plummeted.
In that instant, a flood of thoughts crashed over me. The recent events flashed before my eyes like a montage.
I was trudging up the rickety stairs of my rundown villa. Beep-beep-beep—ding-dong. “I’m hooome…”
The moment I stepped inside, I collapsed face-first onto the floor with a thud. Dust and stray hairs scattered across the ground caught my eye.
“Ah… when am I supposed to clean?”
Shaking off the urge to just pass out right there, I dragged myself up with a groan. I slumped at the table—or what passed for one, a tiny foldable stool really.
My appetite nonexistent, I forced down a half-hearted early dinner. Cleaning was out of the question, so before blacking out, I stumbled to the bathroom and washed off the day’s sweat.
Freshly clean, I finally hurled myself onto the bed. Flop. “Ugh… so sleepy…”
My eyes were drifting shut. Just before sleep claimed me, my gaze landed on the Dream Gear sitting on the nightstand beside the bed.
“……”
The 24-hour login restriction should’ve lifted by now. Screw sleep login or whatever—I closed my eyes to crash hard.
But with a sigh, I picked up the Dream Gear instead. The image of Beda, Baek Bal Baek Jung, and my sister battling Cheon-gong was still fresh in my mind.
They’d fought for me. If I didn’t log in now, even if Sis wouldn’t worry, those two definitely would.
Shaking off the sleep demons, I logged in—and this is what I get?
Respawn in a nearby village, my ass. Why the hell am I here?
Why is Cheon-gong’s terrifying voice coming from right behind me all of a sudden?
His words echoed in my head: “This is a warning—and a threat. Don’t set foot here until the time is right.”
A warning from no less than Rank 1 Cheon-gong himself.
“Hura. Every time you come near the Demon King’s Castle, I’ll kill you. Every single time. Without fail.”
“……”
But I’m innocent! I swear I am. I had zero intention of coming anywhere near this place.
For real, Cheon-gong, you bastard!
Arming myself with every excuse and the most wronged expression I could muster, I turned slowly.
“No, see, it’s like—”
But when I looked back, Cheon-gong was gone. In his place stood some old geezer.
“……?”
His hair and beard were stark white, sticking out in wild tufts, spiking every which way like he’d been electrocuted. Frizzy and chaotic.
He looked like a mad scientist.
“…Gramps?”
It’d been ages since I last saw him, so the sight felt strangely unfamiliar.
Gramps approached with a blank expression, his steps deliberate.
Caught off guard by this unexpected figure, words tumbled from my mouth in stutters.
“Wha? Wait, no. Huh? This is the Demon King’s Castle. So… why are you here, Gramps?”
Thud-thud.
“More importantly, didn’t you see Cheon-gong just now?”
Thud-thud.
“Guy with hair white as clouds. I swear I heard his voice.”
Gramps kept walking without a word.
“Um, Gramps. You good at impressions or something?”
His face twisted into a scowl as he closed the distance.
“Huh? Wh-what? Why the face?”
“You idiot!”
Smack!
“Ow!”
I clutched my head and dropped to my knees.
“I told you to train hard, and you come to the Demon King’s Castle? Huh?”
Gramps stomped on me as I knelt there.
“Ack! Ack! That hurts!”
“Have you lost your damn mind? Do you even know where this is, you dimwit?!”
But I had my own comeback. Springing up, I yelled back defiantly.
“B-but! You never showed up!”
“You little—?”
Smack!
“Urk.”
My skull throbbed. It was a strike sharp enough to bring tears to my eyes. I crumpled again, hands cradling my head.
“What makes you think you can sass back?”
This old fart hits dirty and hits again? Instead of another kick, a fierce scolding rained down.
“I’d have come when the time was right! Got it?!”
“Tch… Stuck waiting in Shin-dong Village, no wonder I got antsy!”
“Who said stay cooped up there? I told you to get around!”
Still nursing my head, I blinked up at him blankly.
“Huh? That’s what you meant? Not stay put in Shin-dong Village?”
Gramps looked down with pity, tsk-tsking his tongue.
“Tsk-tsk. Wonder why Gordon picked a blockhead like you.”
“Huh?”
“What’re you blabbering about?!”
“……”
I shot him a wounded glance as he bellowed. Was just asking a question a crime now?
Grumble grumble. “Think I’d bow my head to that green kid because of a punk like you?”
“…Pardon?”
“Yeah! That cloud-headed punk. I asked him a favor.”
“…A favor? What kind?”
“What kind? To keep you away from the Demon King’s Castle, you moron!”
Thwack— I snatched his staff mid-swing toward my head.
“Ow, enough already! My brain’s gonna turn to mush.”
“Oh? Room for it to get more mushy?”
“Yes. Shockingly, it’s possible. So put the staff down, Gramps.”
“Tsk.”
He retracted it with a click of his tongue. Rubbing the lump on my head, I stood.
“So that voice earlier?”
“Some trick that punk left behind.”
“…A trick?”
“Yeah, a trick.”
“He a magician?”
The guy cleaved a floating fortress in half with a sword the size of a castle wall. A magician?
“Not mage. Magician.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Doesn’t matter. Point is…”
Gramps eyed me appraisingly and nodded.
“Not bad. You’ve grown some. Probably slapped a couple stars on your cooking by now.”
“Huh? How’d you know?”
“Anyway. Good enough. Time for your next task.”
“Ooh, for real? Where to this time?”
He gave me a sour look.
“No skill, all impatience. Hmph.”
Grumbling, he issued the next quest.
“Head to Nimal Village at the continent’s northwest extremity. Find the clue left by the Demonic Chef, Sulis.”
Hidden Job Quest - Demonic Chef
📍 Objective: Become the Demonic Chef who enchants the entire world!
📍 Description: Travel the continent following his footsteps and collect clues about the Demonic Chef.
🎁 Clues Acquired:‘Dark Chef’, ‘Demon King’s Revival’
📍 Next Clue: In the lonely oasis of Nimal Village, surrounded by sand and rocks, find the traces of the Demonic Chef.
“Order’s a bit shuffled, but knocking it out while you’re here ain’t bad.”
Gramps tapped his shoulder with his staff.
“Uh, hold up. Northwest extremity?”
“Yep.”
“Sounds close—tell me exactly where—”
“Nope.”
He stopped me as I pulled out a map.
“No time for that.”
“Huh?”
“My intervention window’s short.”
“Intervention?”
“The world’s laws.”
“What does that—”
I stared at him, baffled. But Gramps gazed calmly at the sky.
“And right on cue, he’s coming.”
I whipped my head up to follow his gaze. Something tore through the clouds, hurtling toward us at terrifying speed.
Straight here. My hand instinctively touched the spot between my brows where an arrow had once pierced. Cold sweat beaded. My heart pounded.
“Gr-Gramps! We gotta r-run—”
As I frantically called to him, Gramps turned to me.
“Tsk-tsk. Some successor, scaredy-cat.”
“That’s not—”
“Farewell. Sulis’s heir, Hura.”
He snapped his fingers. Snap!
And suddenly, I was somewhere else entirely.
“Huh?”
Like waking from a dream.
“…Was it all a dream?”
I mulled over Gramps’s words. He’d said he intervened with the world’s laws.
Looking around, I saw buildings and people milling about. This must be the “nearby village” I was supposed to respawn in normally.
An NPC messing with the game system? What the hell kinda old coot is he?
“Anyway.”
I scanned my surroundings again. Blazing sun. Low buildings under an open sky. Distant ochre rock mountains in the backdrop. Everything in sight was that dusty yellow-brown.
A dry wind shoved a mouthful of sand my way like a welcome gift.
“Ptoo-ptoo.”
Barren landscape everywhere. Like I’d dropped into a Western flick.
“…Where the hell is this…”
* * *
BOOM!
This was the continent’s northwest, the desert’s edge at the map’s extreme.
BOOM!
Nimal Village—the settlement closest to the Demon King’s Castle.
BOOM!
But extremity doesn’t mean danger everywhere. Just the playable area’s fringe.
BOOM!
Nimal Village was manageable for mid-level players and up. Of course, only true mids could trek the brutal path from the continent’s heart.
BOOM!
The journey’s hardship far outweighed the weak local monsters or meager rewards. The trip itself was the real grind—and the real prize.
In short: effort in, little out. A nothingburger village.
BOOM!
Slightly tougher than Shin-dong Village. Not a hot spot.
BOOM!
A bit outside Nimal Village, a massive rock mountain shuddered with a crash like something shattering.
BOOM!
The culprit: a tiny figure pounding the colossal mountain.
BOOM!
Ant-sized compared to the rock face. A burly, fierce-looking man: Beda, relentlessly slamming his fists.
BOOM!
Anyone’d think the mountain slew his master.
After endless punches, Beda withdrew his fists and flattened himself on the jagged ground.
“Hup.”
Smooth push-ups followed. Sandbags drenched in sweat hung from his body, dripping like rain.
But his form was odd—not standard push-ups. The speed: glacially slow. One rep per minute.
Beda’s unique method, far more effective than normal—though brutally harder.
Growth slows at the peak. Standard training stalled, so he innovated: same moves, dozens of times slower.
Push-ups done, he moved to sit-ups, squats.
But the toughest remained. He hefted his greatsword—sandbags bound to it.
Raised high, then slammed down with full force.
Whoosh— The heavy blade cleaved air, fierce enough to split earth.
Halfway down, Beda braked with everything he had—reversing against the momentum.
“Hnnngh!”
True self-mastery. Force conquering force.
Veins bulged on his forearms; arms quivered. Ground cracked beneath his feet.
The plummeting sword slowed… to a feather-light touch.
“Hoo.”
One rep. He repeated it dozens of times without pause.
“…Damn, he’s a monster.”
Baek Bal Baek Jung muttered from atop the opposite peak, lounging with ice cream, spectating.
“He should be here by now, though.”
Peering through a telescope at the village, his body stiffened.
“Huh?”
He bolted up, eyes glued to the scope, calling out.
“Beda hyung!”
Beda didn’t turn, just kept training. “What?!”
“…Hura-nim’s here.”
“What?”
KABOOM!!
The greatsword cratered the earth like tofu, spawning a crevasse dozens of meters long. It snaked forward, toppling a rock mountain.
Crack—rumble!Rumble!
Thunderous chaos, but Beda leaped unperturbed to the opposite peak beside Baek Bal Baek Jung.
Snatching the telescope, he peered at the village.
“…He’s really back.”
Beda smiled faintly.