World Destruction (6)
"How's it feel in there?"
-I can't put it into words. I've lived my whole life on a black screen, so I've never experienced the world you live in.
"Yeah?" Frame said, sprawling out on the screen.
-If I had to describe it... comfy? I can do whatever I want, so it's nice.
"You can do whatever you want?"
With a flick of her wrist, the background shifted to a photo of a luxurious room. Frame wandered around inside it before flopping onto the bed.
"Comfy?"
-Much better.
It looked like she could freely manipulate the computer's environment. If that was the case...
"Can you gather info too?"
-Info gathering?
I quickly explained it to her.
"The Association controls info, so monster-related stuff doesn't stay up on the internet long. I'd like you to scrape deleted posts or anything that pops up as fast as possible."
That was why I'd set up instant teleport points all over the place. Scour the net like a maniac, grab monster info before the Association wipes it—especially stuff like cultist terror plots or downtown shootouts. Then zip there via teleport and wipe 'em out. Repeat. Way better than combing for low-victim monsters to kill one by one.
-Association? Monsters?
She tilted her head. I gave her a quick rundown on the Association and monsters.
-Got it. So I just find info on those weird phenomena online and report it to you?
"Yeah, exactly."
-Not sure if I can bypass that Association's controls, but I'll give it a shot.
She wiggled her fingers in the air.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh.
Innumerable browser windows popped up and vanished in a frenzy. Even I could barely track the speed with my eyes.
Spark!
The computer spat sparks and shut down from the overload.
"Whoa."
Wait, what about Frame?
-I'm right here!
My phone spoke up as I panicked. Frame was waving from inside the screen.
-I didn't think it'd actually shut down from overload...
"A regular computer lasting even a few seconds at that speed is a miracle."
Insane search speed.
-Anyway, here's what I found in those few seconds.
She swiped, and my phone filled with screens.
-I grabbed only the super fresh ones for now.
"Whoa..."
I gaped at the flood of info filling my screen.
"Summarize the ones with location clues I can track..."
-Why hunt for clues? Hacking for locations is easy peasy.
She flicked her fingers again, and text popped up next to each: the post's origin location.
"...Whoa."
I stood there with my mouth open at her beyond-expectations competence.
"Where'd you learn this shit?"
-Once I became a demon, I could just do it all.
What the hell had I created? I turned the computer back on and said,
"Focus on the big incidents this time."
Screeech.
I stumbled out of the bathroom. The black demonic energy cloaking my body vanished into thin air.
"...I'm fucking exhausted."
Using Frame's intel, I'd teleported to major incident sites, handled them, and bailed. Repeatedly. Wrapping myself in visible demonic energy for constant fights... no human could handle this shit.
That was why I'd planned to lay low, but with emergency alerts popping up left and right, I couldn't ignore them.
Is the world really about to end or something?
Every group committing mass murder spouted the same keyword: world destruction. They weren't monsters, but these human cults always mentioned it.
That 'Great Legacy' thing?
Honestly, I thought highly of the Association. Just the Korean branch had 250,000 members, and the talent level I'd seen infiltrating was top-tier. At full strength, they could probably erase even the Underground Kingdom Great Enemy without breaking a sweat.
That's why we were allies. They were competent, and they enabled my current lifestyle.
Do other groups not know about the Association?
Nah. They probably knew better than me. The Association graded and monitored groups like that.
To evade them, you'd need to know them inside out. And yet they still preached world destruction.
Were the monsters the Association was facing really that strong?
Great Legacy? Was that even the right name...
The cults said it was about to awaken, but I had no clue if that's what the Association was prepping for.
I know jack shit, and it's killing me.
Power's useless without knowledge. In that sense, demonizing Frame was a win—it patched my info weakness.
Should I ramp up demonizations?
In the original story, the Demon King's raw power was one thing, but what got her to final boss status? Her loyal demons. They popped up every arc to fuck over the hero's party. She had subordinates.
I'm top-tier in power now, sure. But I only have two underlings. One's barely hours old.
Time to crank out more demons?
But good-natured monsters are rare as fuck...
So far, only Yoo Hwa and Frame had inherently good natures. Yoo Hwa nearly died when she lunged at me first. Frame was the first to come out docile.
I might've killed good ones before they could show it.
"Sigh..."
I shook my head with a groan, mind a mess.
Just demonize humans? Morally iffy. Monsters attack humans and get shunned by the Association anyway—turning demon suits them. But humans? Forcing normal folks into my spawn? Nah.
Tough, but I gotta start screening for good monsters.
No more mob rushes, but singles? Verify first. Yoo Hwa would've died without tanking my hit. Now that I knew demons' value, it was worth it.
"Yoo Hwa, time to go."
"Already this late..."
Yoo Hwa muttered regretfully amid stacks of bowls. The monitor, flanked by dish walls, proudly displayed a victory screen.
Why's her rank so high?
She'd gamed and eaten till morning, looking satisfied. All wins—her tier was way above mine. Bruised my ego hard.
Click.
She shut down the PC, stretched, and stood.
"Frame, can you gather info from my phone?"
-I can, but... it might physically explode. For real.
Frame gestured dramatically on-screen.
-Want me to throttle it so the phone survives? Slower, but doable.
"Yeah, do that."
-Sweet!
I pocketed the phone as she flailed wildly.
"Yoo Hwa, we've got a ton to do. Grocery run for everything, then hunt all-day chaos."
"Haa... but we rested, so back to work."
Come to think of it, today was... day 4? One more day and the contract's done.
"Let's roll."
-Checkout complete!
"Don't—keep it down."
"...?"
The cashier gave me a weird look as Frame cheered from my phone, but shrugged it off.
Thud, thud.
"Told you no sudden yells."
-Sorry... wanted to try it.
Frame moped on-screen. Unlike human-looking Yoo Hwa, she was app-bound. Hard to chat publicly.
That's why I bought these. I pulled earbuds from the bag and plugged them in.
-!! !!!
Her voice vanished from the speaker. As expected—she could route to earbuds.
Shh.
I popped them in and whispered,
"Frame, say something..."
-Can't hear me, right?! Idiot, moron...
...She was trash-talking?
"What was that?"
-Oh, uh, just testing if it worked.
"..."
Frame turned away, pretending nothing happened. As expected—she's got so much mischief it overrides any killer instinct toward humans.
"Sigh... let's go. Spill all the intel."
In the alley, Yoo Hwa and I unpacked our buys.
-First off, chaos in XX right now.
"On it."
Mask for the face, cloak for the build. Ridiculous getup, but effective.
"Let's move."
I grabbed Yoo Hwa's arm and snapped my fingers.