I Became the Primordial Demon

I let out a groan. “Ugh… I’m gonna die.”

I was on my way home after finishing my night shift at the convenience store. I’d already pulled a double earlier at a barbecue joint, so the exhaustion was no joke. All I wanted was to heat up some of the expired food I’d grabbed from the store and collapse into bed.

With the sun lazily rising behind me to the east, I trudged back toward my apartment.

Ever since the Tower appeared and Gates started opening across the world, the job of hunter had become the ultimate dream career. Naturally, the Hunter Gallery was one of the most active boards around.

Of course, it was just a game, not real life. These days even pulling an S-rank in a gacha didn’t excite me anymore.

When the hell am I gonna awaken and turn my life around?

If I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could at least hit B-rank, I could coast through Gates and live the easy life. Most of the posts were like this—news about hunters from Korea or abroad, or people whining about when they’d awaken. I fell firmly into the second category.

Even a B-rank, or hell, even a C-rank would let me live comfortably. “Haa…”

Jobs were hard to come by. The decent ones were all tied to the hunter industry, but those positions were rarer than stars in the sky. After spending way too long as an unemployed youth, I’d finally decided I had to do something and started scraping by with part-time gigs.

While awakeners raked in money and grew richer by the day, people like me—without a single awakening or related credential—only sank deeper into poverty. The ones who already had it kept getting more, so sometimes I couldn’t help but curse how unfair the world was.

“Sigh…”

I didn’t even know how many times I’d sighed by now. Complaining wouldn’t make me awaken. I got home, scarfed down some food, and worked on another cover letter. I’d lost count of how many I’d written, but I couldn’t just stop.

It’d be nice if I could at least make it to a final interview this time. The job market was brutal. I needed to study for certifications after a quick nap… Gate Administrator Level 1, wasn’t it? They said you needed that to get into a public enterprise…

“Zzz…”

While scrolling through more job info, I dozed off right there in my chair.

“Ugh… what time is it…”

I forced my heavy eyelids open. Since I hadn’t closed the blackout curtains, the afternoon sunlight slapped me right in the face. I was still slumped in the chair. I must have passed out from exhaustion.

“Ugh, it’s so bright…”

I reached out to pull the curtain shut. That’s when I noticed something was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wrong. Normally I could reach the curtain without even getting up from the chair, but no matter how far I stretched, my arm wouldn’t reach.

“Huh…?”

Only then did I realize the arm in my field of vision looked completely off. And it wasn’t just that—my voice was wrong too. The rough, gravelly tone I was used to had been replaced by a clear, enchanting voice that sounded like it had never even been near secondhand smoke.

“W-what the hell is this?!”

I yelped in shock and shot up from the chair. The chair felt higher than usual—no, my legs had gotten shorter—so my feet didn’t reach the floor. I lost my balance, stumbled, and fell flat on my face.

“Ow, ow, ow… huh?”

When I looked up, I saw a mirror right beside where I’d fallen and froze. The reflection staring back wasn’t my familiar face. Instead, there was an adorable little girl.

Jet-black hair dark as the abyss. Blood-red eyes. Snow-white skin and a wicked little smirk. She looked exactly like one of those mischievous demons you’d see in a cartoon.

“No way…”

A single thought flashed through my mind. There was only one explanation for something this impossible happening.

Awakening.

I’d heard that some classes could even change your appearance. People on the Hunter Gallery said that if you wanted to check whether you’d awakened, you just had to shout for your status window. I’d tried it countless times before and nothing ever appeared, but…

“S-status window.”

The status window really appeared. The dopamine hit me like a truck the moment I realized I had finally awakened.

“Kyaaa—kyah!”

I squealed with joy, then immediately flinched at the sound of my own voice. Awakening was great, but my body was going to take some serious getting used to.

“More importantly…”

What really caught my attention was my class. 0th Demon. It was listed as EX-rank. In games, EX was higher than S-rank, but in reality, the highest known rank was S.

Did that mean I was the world’s first-ever top-tier awakener?

…But if that was true, my stats were absolutely pathetic.

Strength, agility, and stamina combined only totaled three. My stats were tragic. They definitely hadn’t been this bad before; it had to be because my body had changed. At least my intelligence was 10. The average for normal people was around 7–8, so that was pretty decent.

Yeah. I’ve always been pretty sharp. Companies are sleeping on talent like me.

“Hmm…”

But what good was 10 intelligence when my physical stats added up to three? At this rate I wouldn’t even be able to handle a first-floor monster.

That’s when I noticed the skill list on one side of the status window.

Three unique skills. Most people only started with one when they awakened, so three was definitely a lot.

I examined each one carefully.

I had no idea what it meant, but it sounded insanely cool. Pioneer of Hell? I didn’t remember doing anything like that. Still, I figured it was just part of the class setting and moved on.

Next skill.

What the heck was this one supposed to be? It sounded cool too, at least. I set it aside and looked at the last skill.

This one was far more specific than the other two. It was also the only E-rank skill; the others were both EX. I wondered if there was a typo in the status window, but it didn’t seem like it. Maybe the number of demons I could summon increased as the skill ranked up?

“This is the only one I can use right now…”

Unlike the other two, Demon Summon was usable. Plus it had a whole month of cooldown. The sensible thing was to use a skill like this every time the cooldown ended.

But…

“It says a demon’s gonna come out…?”

According to the description, some terrifying demon from Hell would appear. A demon from Hell? I had no idea who might show up, but it sounded scary!

Still, I had to try. I’d finally awakened—I couldn’t let this chance to turn my life around slip away. With physical stats that added up to three, skills were the only thing I could rely on.

And I did have one thing to put my faith in.

The first unique skill said that the people of Hell would respect me. So they probably wouldn’t attack me out of nowhere. I took a deep breath and shouted the skill name.

“D-demon summon…!”

Giiiiing—

An eerie sound suddenly echoed from every direction. Strange light rose from the floor of my studio apartment and began drawing a sinister magic circle.

“H-holy crap!”

The circle glowed a bloody crimson, so I jumped back in fright. It just felt like something I shouldn’t step on.

The red light from the magic circle instantly flooded the entire room. An overwhelming pressure radiated from it. Without thinking, I grabbed a pillow and scrambled into the corner of my bed.

The circle gradually transformed into a sticky, red liquid. The crimson fluid rose from the floor like boiling blood, slowly gathering and taking shape.

Glup—glorp—slosh—

It looked like half-congealed blood dancing. I stared at the bizarre sight in a daze.

After the grotesque dance of the blood clots ended, what finally appeared was a woman.

“Haa~? What the hell is this all of a sudden…”

The woman looked around with an irritated expression. Her outfit was blatantly seductive, like a succubus. Two curved horns rose from her head. And those two enormous melons that made mine look like nothing. A bewitchingly beautiful demon had been summoned right in the middle of my room.

The message popped up the moment the summoning finished. Asmodeus?

There were seventy-two demons, so being 32nd probably meant she was the thirty-second strongest. Rank aside, she looked insanely powerful at first glance. And that dissatisfied expression—she clearly had no idea why she’d been summoned. Did this skill just yank random demons over without warning?

“…Oh my. Little one. Were you the one who called me?”

“Y-yes… I think so, at least…”

“I was in the middle of a very enjoyable time. How dare you… eh, hngh, y-you are…?”

“…?”

Asmodeus approached while licking her sharp nails, then suddenly froze when she stared straight at me.

“O great and exalted First Demon! I beg your forgiveness for failing to recognize you!”

She immediately dropped into a perfect dogeza, pressing her forehead to the floor.

“…Huh?”

I was startled by the sudden change in attitude, but I quickly remembered the first skill. It said the beings of Hell would recognize my achievements.

I cleared my throat and asked, “Ahem. Do you know who I am?”

“Of course, O great demon. The one who pioneered Hell, the very first demon. How could I possibly fail to recognize Lady Lucy? Please forgive this one’s rudeness.”

My name really was Lucy Kim, which was a bit unusual for a Korean. So the 0th Demon’s name was Lucy too. I wasn’t sure if that was the System’s doing or if it had always been that way.

“Please speak to me without honorifics, O primordial one. Scold this lowly girl with your exalted authority!”

“…What?”

“I am merely the 32nd ranked demon. Someone as great as the 0th Demon should not use polite speech toward me. Please scold me! I beg you!”

Asmodeus was practically pleading to be scolded. I wasn’t sure if there was anything to scold her for, but more than that, I was confused about how I was supposed to scold a terrifying demon like her in the first place.

That’s when the second skill came to mind.

It said words infused with authority would overwhelm the target. But how was I supposed to put authority into my words? The skill wouldn’t activate when I tried to use it manually, so it seemed like some kind of passive… Maybe it was about my tone?

“I… I shall scold you.”

“There is no need to be so respectful! Please treat this girl more harshly!”

…Was this the normal reaction?

Asmodeus sounded completely sincere. Her dogeza was flawless too. Maybe I needed to speak more forcefully.

No, it said to infuse it with authority, so…

“Shut your mouth.”

Whoa.

The moment I put some dignity into both my wording and tone, my voice rang out with a powerful echo. It was still clear and beautiful, but it now carried an overwhelming pressure.

So Great Word activated depending on how I spoke. Even I got chills hearing it. I wondered if it had worked on Asmodeus.

“Hngh, haaaaaah! P-please scold this girl more, O First Demon!! Haaaaah—!”

“……”

Um… it seemed like the skill had worked, but…

“Haaaaah—! Please scold this girl more, O great Lady Luuuuucy—!”

“…”

…Awakening really isn’t as easy as it looks.