The Demon King’s Cake Obsession and the Tower’s Harsh Reality
I asked her what she liked.
“Other pretty clothes are everywhere. Why pick this one in particular!”
“Ah… this one’s a bit… like it’s from an internet show.”
“Shut up! Wear whatever you’re given!”
“Just buying a ten-thousand-won t-shirt and dressing them like normal kids is already a miracle.”
“Better clothes? I’ll buy them when I earn more money.”
“Didn’t you loot the hunters earlier and make a ton?”
“Where did all that money go? Did you eat it all alone?”
“Shh! Be quiet! Are you advertising that you’re stealing?”
I quickly clapped my hand over the little brats’ mouths.
Big trouble if they started yelling.
“Wubwubwub!”
“Wubwub!”
“I’ve got so much work to do!
I need gear for the tower and rent to pay!”
I’d wanted to dump every won into savings, but to climb higher as a hunter I had to invest in equipment.
‘Especially the Hero and Demon King. Those two come first.
I didn’t bring armor, so armor first.’
I had no idea what my thoughts were doing to them.
“Shameless!”
“Cheapskate!”
“Who are these brats?”
…Maybe I should just save money.
*****
For my first time on Earth I’d brought the pork-belly house as a souvenir.
But the one who was actually super excited was Nabi.
Even before we stepped inside the shop she wagged her tail nonstop.
“Arrrrr!! Jjapjjap!!”
“Don’t snatch it! Eat slowly!”
The moment the meat appeared she shoved her face in and started devouring.
‘Anyone watching would think we’d starved her for three days.’
“Wow, the dog is eating like crazy!”
The shop owner stared at Nabi in pure amazement.
Whether she noticed or not, Nabi kept chewing with total glee.
“Drink! Jjapjjapjjap!”
“Ah… yeah hahaha…”
Just by rough calculation she was easily at 100,000 won already. Would she keep going?
“More! More! Jjapjjapjjap!”
Go on, eat it all.
“Ten pork-belly portions, please?”
“Yes~ ten pork-belly portions~”
The owner smiled and hurried into the kitchen.
Today’s pork belly might actually be gone before we left.
But while Nabi was going all out like a maniac, the other two brats gave lukewarm responses.
Even as they looked at the perfectly roasted meat.
“What, it seems edible?”
“My taste is not particularly impressed.”
The two kids were being nonchalant.
‘Not what I expected at all.’
Not as enthusiastic as Nabi shoving her face in.
‘When I first tried meat back in the orphanage I was crying my eyes out.’
Still, I figured they’d eat it with delight.
What is this reaction?
It’s pork belly, right?
“Isn’t this delicious?”
“Full of fat meat, how could anything be tasty? Meat is life felt through its gentle aroma.”
The Demon King scrunched up her face like she couldn’t even bring the fork to her lips.
“Haa… I miss the Minotaur steak from the Demon Realm.”
“R-really?”
It was clear the Demon King’s taste was extremely high-class.
After all, she’d been royalty and had eaten all sorts of delicacies.
“Hero, don’t you think it’s average?”
“The taste is good, but too much fat makes it hard to swallow.”
“Ah, I see.”
“To build muscle you need lean meat.”
“Eh?”
“There’s chicken breast from Coctus that’s tough as nails.”
“Ah…”
“That’s better.”
It seemed the Hero preferred protein-heavy meat.
Hahaha. Both of them had strong personalities.
My head was already starting to ache.
*****
“See you next time!”
“Yes~ thank you for the meal.”
This brat Nabi ate 400,000 won worth by herself?!
“Full!”
“Nabi… if you ate that much it’s normal.”
Behind Nabi’s belly sticking out like a balloon we walked along the street.
The Hero and Demon King still stuck right behind, eyes darting around as they checked everything out.
‘Are they still scared?’
“Wow, what is that? A car is flying on its own?”
“Magic? Is it magic? I don’t sense mana?”
“Science is that awesome magic.”
It wasn’t scary.
Every time something caught their eyes they asked, “What is that? What’s over there?”
‘They really are just kids.’
I felt like I’d suddenly gained two children out of nowhere.
“Ah? What is that?”
‘Like the bottle, these kids were asking about everything in sight.’
The Demon King pointed while tugging my shirt.
It was a bakery we’d usually ignore because it was too expensive.
“That?”
Especially the display case full of hall cakes.
“Ah, it’s chocolate cake?”
“I like ones with pretty shapes.”
What? This was the first time she showed interest in food?
She let go of my shirt and walked straight toward the bakery like she was in a trance.
“Is this kind of thing tasty? Level.”
“Shut up!”
The place was filled with all kinds of cakes on display.
“Oh… what is that on top?”
“Chocolate?”
“That… that too, can you eat it?”
“Yeah? It’s sweet and delicious.”
“Really…”
With a face like she was about to melt, the Demon King stared at the cake.
……Of course she was hungry after not eating the pork belly earlier.
“I’ll buy you one.”
“Really?! C-cough.
If you really want it, then sure.”
The brat was about to burst.
“One chocolate cake, please?”
*****
I finally made it back to my tiny one-room apartment with the packaged cake.
Ugh, it’s always cramped and stuffy no matter how many times I see it!
“Bring all the cutlery right now.”
The Demon King ripped the packaging off the cake the second she stepped inside like she owned the place.
“Here.”
She snatched the fork with a whoosh.
“Slurp!”
She sliced the cake neatly, then carefully brought a piece to her mouth.
“Real Demon King, huh.”
Something noble seemed to fill the simple act of cutting and eating.
“Ah, wait! What is this taste?!”
The Demon King’s eyes lit up like lightning had struck her head.
“Intense sweetness on the tongue… and this soft thing that wraps even that intensity…!”
Munch, crunch!
An overwhelming praise from the Demon King.
“What, what?”
“Yeah…”
…How delicious could it possibly be?
I was getting curious too.
“At this level it could even be served at the Demon King’s banquet.”
At this level?
Without a care, the Demon King grabbed another piece and popped it in.
“Delicious~~~”
******
“Why did she suddenly go like that?”
“Right? It was that good?”
Now the Demon King had completely abandoned me for the chocolate cake.
After asking for just one bite because I was curious, she answered…
“…………”
“…Yes, enjoy your time.”
She didn’t say a word and just glared at me. My knees actually buckled.
Strange? I hadn’t even given her a buff.
It felt like electricity was shooting from her eyes…
So I just let her and the cake have their cozy moment.
After all, she wasn’t touching the food.
The Hero followed me with a dumbfounded look, shaking his head.
“Is that really that good?”
“I didn’t know either. Want me to buy you one later?”
“I’m good.”
As he said that the Hero flopped onto the bed.
“Then it’s good.”
Aww, money secured~
“Rest separately.”
“Got it.”
So I lay down right next to the Hero.
“What, what?”
“This is my bed? If you don’t like it go sleep by the Demon King.”
“Ah… that’s a bit…”
“Then let’s share.”
“Got it.”
Because it was a single bed it was actually narrow.
Even lying down had to be skin-to-skin.
Well, nothing I could do.
“Huu, let me check YouTube for a bit.”
We’d made a lot of money.
I’d taken care of the kin’s stomachs too.
‘Maybe I should heal a little.’
Magic Ranger is completely broken.
Chipi chipi chapa chapa dubi dubi~
“Classic. Shorts heal everything.”
While I was scrolling shorts for a while an unfamiliar presence came from the side.
“Why, got something to say?”
The Hero who’d come closer just peeked over without a word and stared at the regenerating shorts.
“What is that?”
“Ah, this? Just YouTube.”
“Can I watch too?”
The Hero’s eyes were exactly like the Demon King’s when she saw the cake.
Even without a buff he looked completely overwhelmed.
“…Sure.”
I handed him the phone.
“Idol kkeul.”
The Hero snatched it and started flipping videos with clumsy hands.
Chipi chipi chapa chapa..
Dongguri-o tado ttemoe..
Between the fast-scrolling shorts.
“What is this?”
Magic Ranger Red is completely broken.
He kept his eyes locked on the popular TV series shorts and spoke.
“Ah… that? They said it’s trending these days. Want to watch?”
“You can watch just this?”
“Of course.”
The second I turned on the Magic Ranger video the Hero snatched it away again.
“Whoa this red guy is awesome! I haven’t seen a justice-driven one in forever!” he said.
“He uses magic really well too.”
He kept muttering like that while staring non-stop.
“Hey, hey, the phone is getting sucked in.”
But the Hero had already left everything and entered the world of Magic Ranger.
“Sigh.”
He lay back down on the bed in a daze.
Even though I took his phone, strangely I didn’t feel bad.
Not long ago my tiny one-room had only echoed empty YouTube sounds.
“This is heavenly taste!”
“Wow, this episode is insane…”
There was a faint scent of human life.
I felt at peace with that strange feeling and let my eyes close.
…
“Huu, I slept so well.”
I, who always checked my phone until 2 or 3 a.m., slept a deep sleep.
“What time is it? The sun! 11 o’clock?”
Did I really sleep ten hours?
I felt so refreshed…
Magic~magic~Magic Ranger~
While I stretched a song came from the side.
“Eh?”
When I turned my head, on the floor under the bed the Demon King was sleeping with cake cream on her lips.
And the Hero, with dark circles all the way down, was blankly staring at the phone.
“Ah, did you wake up?”
His voice was as tired as if he’d been torn apart.
This kid…
“You didn’t stay up all night, did you?”
The Hero nodded silently at my question.
Thud.
He rolled over backward.
“Hey! You okay?!”
I rushed over in surprise.
“ZzzzZZZZzzzZZZZ”
“What…”
The Hero had passed out like he was dead.
Haa, this brat.
“Time to set a phone limit.”
It was a day that faintly reminded me of a parent’s heart.
*****
“How much is this?”
“Ah, the short sword is a low-grade mana stone product and is priced around 2 million won.”
The item shop I visited as soon as the sun rose.
The price of equipment was cruel as expected.
“This staff?”
“It’s the same price.”
Hmm, two pieces for 400? Could I even carry it?
I steeled myself and pointed at the equipment with trembling hands.
“Both, please.”
“Yes~”
Crying, 400 at once was a huge expense.
But it was necessary.
At first I’d wanted to buy armor…
“Hey? The staff isn’t holding mana?”
“Me neither. I can’t even hold a sword. It’s weird?”
Even with the [Kin Reinforcement] buff my original weapons didn’t work.
I didn’t know why yet, but I decided to buy weapons first.
“No matter what, can I just spend money like that?”
“Right. If you have money buy the Demon King a cake.”
“Shut up, you brats.”
I had to buy equipment somehow, but I didn’t expect it to cost this much.
‘It’s fine. I’ll earn it back by clearing the tower again.’
This was a special income, but basically equipment and mana stones drop in the Beginner’s Tower.
‘Plus there’s tower clear gold.’
I’ll just grind the tower until it’s full!
And head to the next tower.
This is an investment for the foundation.
“Since I bought equipment I have to grind the tower hard. Got it?”
“Eh? What? I have to watch Magic Ranger!”
“No. Why does the Demon King have to do that! Just bring the cake!”
“You don’t want to go back to your original form?!”
It might… work?