Devil 1
It had been four days since I began researching the Defensive Matrix applied to the Irradiate Edit—better known as the Plasma Mana Shield.
From Thursday straight through Sunday, I had poured every waking moment into the project without pause.
“Done!”
And just like that, I had completed the technology in a mere four days.
The credit went to my full use of every available ability combined with the tremendous support I received from Fix.
“Fix! Thanks for all your hard work!”
“Wuuung~!”
Fix—the versatile robotic arm I had gained as a sub-skill the moment my Hand Technique reached Level 3.
Thanks to this multi-talented assistant, my work efficiency had skyrocketed to absurd levels. It continued the research even while I was away, and during hands-on development it provided flawless support. The result was productivity several times higher than before.
Without Fix, finishing the Plasma Mana Shield in four days would have remained nothing more than a wild dream.
I gave the robot arm a couple of grateful pats on the head, then shifted my gaze between the suit and the newly completed plasma shield.
It was time to transplant the new technology into the suit itself.
“First…”
I inserted the three mana stones I had calibrated to maintain a precise 1:3.45:6.74 ratio—the Plasma Generation Mana Stone, the Emission Formula Mana Stone, and the Shape Preservation Formula Mana Stone—into the black steel case I had prepared in advance.
Then I slotted the entire case into the groove carved into the upper section of the suit.
Click.
A satisfying snap rang out as the suit and case fused into one.
Next came the optical fiber that would supply power to the steel case.
“The optical fiber…”
“Wuuuung~”
As I glanced around, Fix lifted the fiber from the table and held it out to me. I stroked the clever little guy’s head once, then connected one end to the steel case and the other to the suit’s power core.
Setup complete.
“All right. Time for a test run.”
With the suit and case now linked, it was time to see whether the system would actually activate. I slipped into the latex-based suit with its partial alloy plating. Unlike my gauntlet, this version lacked any form-conversion function, so I had to put it on manually.
It was still deep in development, so features like auto-equipping could wait.
“Hmm…”
I stood before the mirror and examined myself. The latex suit was still translucent, unpainted, so patches of my skin showed through. Fortunately the gray alloy covered roughly seventy percent of the surface, preventing any truly mortifying exposure, but the overall look was still visually awkward.
The plain gray alloy didn’t help; the whole thing felt dull. I had been so focused on pure function that I had completely neglected aesthetics and color.
“Hmm… What color should I go with?”
I began to ponder. The first colors that came to mind were red and gold—the classic male fantasy of Iron Man.
But I wasn’t trying to become a hero like Tony Stark. The reason I needed this suit was to protect this world from the catastrophes that lay ahead.
So the motif that suddenly rose in my mind was Batman. He was a man who had chosen to defend Gotham City from the criminals that infested it.
Bruce Wayne wanted to become an incarnation of fear that criminals would dread. That’s why he decided to become the bat he himself feared.
Batman carried a deep fear of bats. It stemmed from the day he fell into a cave while playing with a friend and was swarmed by the creatures—the same day his parents were murdered on their way home from a theater performance. From then on, bats became a symbol of trauma for Bruce Wayne, a trigger for painful memories.
But Bruce Wayne overcame that trauma. He became Batman, the symbol of the bat, and was reborn as the hero who protected Gotham City.
Whenever he saw a bat, Bruce Wayne would be dragged back to his childhood and tormented by self-loathing. Yet by accepting that fear, he transformed into the Dark Knight who guarded Gotham, ultimately becoming the hero who saved the city. The very symbol of his trauma had become the emblem of salvation.
My fear…
I turned the question on myself. Having drawn inspiration from Bruce Wayne’s story, what did I fear, and what did I want to overcome?
The answer was painfully obvious.
“The destruction of this world.”
What I feared was the ending of this game that, no matter how many times I restarted, always concluded in apocalypse. And the primordial demons who delivered that ending to me every single time.
…I was terrified of them.
The way the people around me and the heroines fell one by one into corruption, the world crumbling beneath their hands. The unfathomable power and terror that split empires, corrupted kingdoms, and ultimately drove all of humanity to extinction—I feared the entire process with every fiber of my being.
Even now the memory remained vivid: pouring everything I had into the fight, only to let out a hollow sigh and stare blankly at the monitor in utter defeat.
“……”
Anyone listening to this internal monologue would probably ask why I was so immersed in a mere game that I had grown genuinely afraid. After all, wasn’t this world nothing more than fiction inside a game?
“…”
Yes, that was undeniably true. I had simply played through a fictional world crafted by scenario writers and programmers. I might have been nothing more than a gamer who couldn’t let go of his lingering attachment to an unreachable ending.
But this place had become my reality.
James, once merely an academy blacksmith NPC, was now a father who worked his hardest for his son so he would never feel the absence of his deceased wife. Enya was not just a stereotypical tsundere but a shy girl who would open her heart to anyone who truly acknowledged her. The same went for Elena, Isabella, the princess, Claire, Lucas, and even the many extras I had never paid attention to before—along with Waeyong-i.
They all possessed sides I had never known, and they were living, breathing people in the world where I now existed. They had become precious pieces of the daily life that Edga Fix desperately wanted to protect.
“……Devil.”
Therefore, I decided to become the very thing I feared. I would become one of the primordial evils that all humans would dread in the near future.
But the devil I aspired to be would be different from the rest. The devil I aimed for would not be a symbol of terror to humanity—
“A devil who slays devils.”
I would become a devil even more terrible than the devils themselves and serve as the symbol that punishes evil. It was the primordial evils’ turn to learn exactly how terrifying a human armed with power and technology could become when he harbored malice.
“Devil.”
So I named the suit Devil. I wanted to show the enemy the sincerity behind the vulgar nickname humans would eventually give it. To them, I would reign as absolute evil.
“Devil 1.”
This suit marked the first step. It was still an incomplete prototype with only the Plasma Mana Shield function, but from this moment on its name would be Devil One.
“……”
However, the current visual—with patches of skin still showing through—was far too embarrassing to call it Devil One. I immediately removed the suit and began spraying it with a special coating.
I painted the entire thing black, the symbolic color of demons.
“Hmm… This should do for now.”
I decided to leave the sections where the mana stones were embedded, glowing with blue light, untouched. The contrast gave it a much better atmosphere than solid black.
Once I put the suit back on, I stood before the mirror again.
“…Yeah. Not bad.”
It wasn’t a completely satisfying design yet, but it would suffice for the time being. Right now, adding more functions was far more important than perfecting the look.
“Now… all that’s left is the three-dimensional maneuver system, huh?”
I did have a propulsion unit, but it only allowed vertical flight. True free-flight capability hadn’t been implemented yet. That meant I still needed a proper three-dimensional mobility device.
The idea was to fire wires from the suit to latch onto terrain, then reel them in to pull my body forward. With the propulsion unit’s assistance, I could also manage low-altitude flight.
“The problem is…”
The wires themselves were too unreliable. Sometimes the tip would come loose from the terrain at the worst moment. Other times it would embed itself so deeply that the wire wouldn’t retract at all. As a result, instead of smooth maneuvering I would either crash to the ground when the line gave way or find myself stuck mid-air when the wire refused to release.
What I needed was something like Spider-Man’s webs—exceptional adhesion yet freely controllable. Where could I find material like that…?
“…Wait a second.”
Spider-Man? Why hadn’t I thought of it sooner? This world had super spiders that functioned exactly like that. The Ungoliant—a giant spider capable of shooting webs with both incredible tensile strength and adhesive power.
The gauntlet repairs were mostly finished anyway, and I could test the suit’s performance at the same time. Harvesting some Ungoliant webs seemed like the perfect next step. If I could replicate their properties in my own wires, I would finally achieve the perfect three-dimensional maneuver system I had envisioned.
“I still have time.”
There was no reason to delay. I stood up at once, stored the suit and gauntlet in my inventory, and left the academy. To reach the Ungoliants I would need to head to the 3rd Danger Zone, which meant first stopping at the Imperial Exchange Office about thirty minutes’ walk from the academy grounds.
“May I have your name, sir?”
The Imperial Exchange Office stood at the empire’s heart, a hub filled with teleportation magic orbs that could send travelers anywhere across the land. From noble territories to fortresses and even monster-infested danger zones, one could reach them instantly through the orbs housed here.
It was also how Enya, Isabella, and the other nobles had commuted before the academy dormitories were activated—by using these very teleport orbs to travel from their family estates.
“Edga Fix.”
The guard’s face crumpled the instant he heard my name. This was a restricted space reserved exclusively for high-ranking nobles.
I calmly produced the nameplate Elena had issued me. The imperial crest was engraved upon it.
The guard’s icy expression melted instantly.
“F-For Her Highness the Princess’s…! Where would you like to go?”
“The 3rd Danger Zone.”
“Right this way!”
Following the guard inside the grand exchange hall, I was greeted by a pretty receptionist. She bowed politely, wearing the practiced service smile of a department-store information clerk.
“A hero setting forth on a journey to the treacherous 3rd Danger Zone. How admirable.”
Upon hearing my destination she flashed a bright smile and began showering me with flattery. Every line was carefully crafted to elevate a high-ranking noble. Her compliments about my appearance were especially enthusiastic; no matter how many times you hear that you’re handsome, it never loses its thrill.
After listening to her praise for a while, I finally arrived before the magic orb that led to the 3rd Danger Zone.
“Though our meeting was brief, it was an honor. I wish you a safe return, young master. Activating the 3rd Danger Zone orb now.”
She began channeling mana into the orb. As I watched the blue light, I recalled a short note I had once read in a setting book about the receptionists who worked here. They were essentially “mana shuttles” chosen to attend high nobles, yet because they served a public imperial institution their salaries were excellent. Occasionally their attractive features caught a noble’s eye and they would become concubines.
While I was lost in such pointless thoughts, the teleport orb finished activating. It was now ready for use.
“The teleport magic orb is active. May you have a peaceful journey, young master.”
Young master. The title made me feel like I ought to act more aristocratic, but I simply gave an indifferent nod and placed my hand on the orb.
A pure white light enveloped me. In the blink of an eye the scenery changed.
I had arrived at the teleport exchange station of the 3rd Danger Zone.
“……”
The atmosphere was one hundred and eighty degrees different from the capital branch. Located on the outskirts in a danger zone, the facility was heavily damaged and staffed only by two men. Monster corpses lay scattered across the floor.
One of the men, seated in a worn chair and chewing gum, spoke up.
“Look, if you’re here to play at being some half-baked hero, I suggest you turn around and go home. I’ve nearly ruined my life trying to rescue young nobles like you more times than I can count.”
The moment he saw my face, the receptionist—who looked far more like a veteran hunter—gave me a weary glance and muttered with a sigh. He was clearly no ordinary clerk; he carried himself like a seasoned veteran inspector.
“Hahaha, Jennen! What kind of rude remark is that to a guest from the capital? Hahaha! I-I’m terribly sorry. Not long ago a noble’s son came through here, drew a monster horde while fleeing, and caused quite a few casualties…”
“……”
“Haha, his words are a bit rough, but he only says it out of concern for your safety, young master. Please don’t take offense.”
The other staff member, clearly conscious of his colleague’s bluntness, smiled awkwardly and tried to smooth things over.
In answer, I simply took the gauntlet out of my inventory.
Crackle!
“No need to worry. I won’t be sending any rescue signals.”
Click-click. Clatter…
As I equipped the bracelet, the gauntlet wrapped around my right hand. Both the gladiator-like veteran and the old man with glasses stared at me with wide eyes.
“I came fully prepared. I’m not planning to hunt any particularly strong monsters, either.”
With those words I pulled the suit from my inventory. It landed on the floor with a heavy thud.
“……”
After a brief pause, I began removing my pants. To wear the suit I first had to take off what I was wearing. But the two men staring openly at me in my underwear made me uncomfortable, so I tossed out a casual remark.
“I’m going to change clothes now.”
“…Ah, yes.”
They cleared their throats and quickly turned away.
I really needed to add an auto-equip function as soon as possible. After all, a suit’s true life was in its style.