Midterm Exam (16): Demon King of Sloth
My eyes fluttered open amid a hazy mind.
And the first thing I felt alongside it was the cold.
The chill rain snapped my foggy consciousness wide awake in an instant.
"...I'm not dead."
That thought crossed my mind, and naturally, my hands began groping my body.
It was pristine.
The heart riddled with holes, limbs soaked in blood.
The abdomen scarred like it had been sliced by a blade.
My body, which hadn't had a single unscathed spot, was now free of any injuries.
It was absurd.
It felt like the battle I'd just endured was all a dream.
At the same time, a vague sense of frustration welled up.
Why did I feel that way? I had no idea.
"...Ha."
I looked up at the sky.
Gray storm clouds blanketed it entirely, with no sign of the rain letting up.
"Transfer... this is the second time."
The first transfer had landed me in a village thick with the stench of burning.
This place was the polar opposite.
The acrid reek of blood hung heavy, and homes and structures lay utterly demolished—just like before.
But there was no sweltering heat that could cook you alive.
No heaps of corpses piled up.
No ashes carrying the scent of char drifting everywhere.
Still, my impression of both places... felt the same.
"...It's a tragedy."
I wondered how much time had passed since this place fell into ruin.
There were no traces left of anyone having lived here.
Even the sticky bloodstains smeared everywhere had darkened to a blackish red.
And yet, the smell was so thick.
Thick enough that even the rain couldn't wash it away... It made me think.
Of course, I didn't feel any particular pity for this village.
If it had ended up this wretched, there had to be a reason.
Cause and effect... something like that.
Normally, I wouldn't have paid this village any more mind.
But looking at it stirred a strange sense of familiarity.
The same sensation as last time.
Which meant this near-ruin of a village was connected to my past life, too.
"...What the hell was I doing in my past life?"
Every place I'd seen that tied back to my past life had been in a state like this.
"...Don't tell me it was me?"
It was a pretty plausible theory.
For starters... I was the Demon King in my past life.
Obviously, I'd killed plenty of people.
Smashing up a village or two would've been routine.
"...Might as well look around."
Thinking it was linked to my past life sparked a peculiar curiosity.
That curiosity propelled my feet as I wandered the village.
Houses with collapsed roofs.
A church with one wall completely crumbled away.
Fountains cracked in places.
Statues mangled beyond recognition.
"...Strike out again, huh."
No matter how much I roamed, no clues to my memories surfaced.
Just that faint familiarity lingering.
Not that I'd expected much.
Honestly, I had almost no lingering attachment to my lost memories.
The past is the past; I had to live in the now.
And since I'd been through this once before, any regret was mild.
Just enough to brush off.
With that mindset, my interest in the village waned sharply.
And as my interest faded, I could focus on my current situation.
"This dungeon's... way different from last time."
Last time, the clear conditions had popped up the moment I entered.
Nothing yet this time.
Some special conditions maybe?
"...No clue."
Pondering alone wouldn't yield answers anyway.
Best to familiarize myself with this place as much as possible.
That way, whatever the clear conditions were, I could react fast.
That thought set my feet moving again.
A bit more thoroughly this time.
A bit more diligently, I scoured the village.
Of course, nothing new turned up.
I just got a better lay of the land.
That was enough.
That had been the goal in circling it again, after all.
By the time I'd looped around and grown fairly familiar with the village...
A small squelching sound—like stepping in mud—came from behind.
I whipped my head around to check.
There stood a woman.
Long scarlet hair evoking the sun.
Skin as white as snow, contrasting the gray storm clouds.
Lustrous emerald eyes peeking through wet strands.
"...Sellin?"
Sellin El Soladion...
No, not Sellin El Soladion—just Sellin.
Yeah, the woman from my memories.
...Why?
Why the hell was Sellin here?
Past-life Sellin, no less.
My mind blanked at the incomprehensible situation.
But the dungeon gave me no time for such thoughts.
Demon King Subjugation (0/1)
📍 Success: Acquire ‘[REDACTED]’s [UNKNOWN] Million’
📍 Failure: Death
The dungeon, silent until moments ago, finally spoke.
It wanted the Demon King's death.
And the reward... what the hell even was that?
Quests, dungeons... hiding it all like this—why should I bother?
I wanted to say.
But with failure meaning death, no choice.
Anyway, right now, dungeon clear took a backseat—something else came first.
"Sellin."
I called out casually.
The Sellin from my memories had seemed pretty close to me.
No idea why she'd suddenly gutted my heart, though.
Whatever—that was Sellin El Soladion's story, not this Sellin's.
That was my thinking when I spoke.
But Sellin didn't reply, didn't even react.
...Talk about a chilling vibe.
Was it the ruined backdrop?
Or the lack of light in those lustrous emerald eyes?
Or maybe the bloodstains and black soot on her clothes?
Didn't matter what the cause was right now.
Just that the Sellin staring at me blankly exuded a brutally menacing aura.
That was all I felt.
...Gotta fight?
Well, even if I did...
No reluctance or unease.
She wasn't a real person anyway.
Future tale or not, she'd already carved out my heart once.
No reason not to kill her.
That wasn't the issue.
The dungeon wanted the Demon King dead.
That condition appeared the moment Sellin showed up.
And her vibe was anything but normal.
She could snap and do anything at any second...
Bloodstains on her clothes, hands blackened with soot.
Anyone could see she reeked of black-hearted villainy.
"Ha..."
I stepped forward.
One foot at a time toward Sellin.
She showed no reaction.
No retreat, no threat.
I kept advancing on her.
It didn't take long to reach her.
"Sellin."
Close enough to touch if I reached out.
At that distance, I called her name one last time.
"...Tch."
Still no reaction.
My right hand instinctively went to my waist.
Soon, my right hand gripped a sword hilt.
...Sword?
Why did I have a sword...?
"Ugh..."
A splitting headache hit me.
As if telling me not to question it here.
A forceful compulsion on my thoughts.
I decided to go along with it for now.
Not like it mattered much.
I gripped the perfectly fitting hilt and assumed position.
To sever Sellin's neck.
I raised the sword high.
"Suck in... exhale..."
Deep breath.
And swung down.
Target: Sellin's neck.
The blade sliced through raindrops, hurtling toward her throat.
No obstacles, so unhindered.
Fast.
And then.
"...This is insane."
When the sword tip touched Sellin's neck...
I stopped.
My own will.
In that brief swing...
Two doubts flashed in my mind.
One: Could the dungeon really be this easy?
Two: Was Sellin really the Demon King?
The first... sure, possible.
Not all dungeons were high difficulty.
But the second? No.
Demon King.
To me, that word meant my past life.
And the scant traces my past life left me.
Those traces clearly stated: Sellin El Soladion was part of the hero's party.
One who stood against me.
The dungeon wanted the Demon King dead.
My past life was the Demon King.
Sellin was the hero.
"...This is insane."
Was cutting her down like this really right?
Or...
I didn't know.
My head throbbed like hell.
Thoughts raced.
What was rational?
What was the answer?
My conclusion in that split second.
"Hoo... fuck..."
The withdrawn blade tip turned toward my own neck.
And.
Stab.
"Cough."
Blood spewed from my mouth, pooling.
This was a gamble.
My slight bias that a hero couldn't be the Demon King.
And my other bias that the dungeon couldn't be this easy.
A gamble born of those two prejudices.
And.
You have cleared the dungeon.
I was pretty damn lucky.