Kill the Goddess.
I, who was once a player.
Changyeom, who was exiled to this Hell-Underworld by that Goddess.
Both of us have aligned interests.
Therefore, we need to cooperate with each other, and we can be of help to one another.
Even if all my memories as a player have been stripped away.
Regardless of what my soul is like, my burned body is that of ‘Regif Habsderk’ in the Middle World.
This is not because Regif is a special being, but because it is the body born and raised in the Middle World.
“I’ll get straight to the point. Only I can cross over to the Middle World.”
“…”
“You won’t deny that, will you?”
I lightly tapped my head with my finger, and Changyeom sighed deeply and nodded.
“You might already know this, but let me make it clear. Even if I have my memories and even if I have found a way to the surface from the Underworld, can you go to the surface alone, Master?”
“No. I can’t.”
Changyeom simply denied it.
“This place is sealed from above, and the barrier prevents any Underworld beings from passing through.”
Changyeom lightly tapped the floor.
“Underworld beings cannot leave the Underworld.”
At the moment Changyeom tapped the barrier, four sealed guardians’ eyes widened and began to react slowly.
“Even if there is a passage, crossing over from the Underworld is impossible. That’s because…”
“It’s one-way.”
I pointed at the barrier below, and Changyeom snapped her fingers.
Hwoosh.
With a flicker, she passed through the barrier. This is possible because the actual barrier isn’t in this place; this space is a sort of virtual simulation created by Changyeom.
“Once you enter the Underworld, you can’t get back to where you came from. It’s a kind of… trap.”
“Like a trap to catch a bird.”
“Yes. It was made so that no one can escape the Underworld. The Goddess and the four guardians who received her help.”
Although there are holes in both directions, the barrier created by the four guardians prevents anyone from rising up from the Underworld.
‘Impossible to return. In-game, it’s a system warning stating [Once you enter the Underworld, you can never return to the surface].’
Anyone who enters the Underworld of their own volition cannot return to the Middle World.
“Except for one case.”
“…That would be difficult.”
Changyeom shook her head.
“Even if I cooperate, do you think you could easily obtain the essences of the other six ‘Dukes’?”
There is one way.
“And after obtaining those essences, you need to ascend as the ‘Demon King’.”
The Demon King’s descent.
Gathering the essences of the seven ukes of Hell—the ‘Divine Core’—into one, becoming the king of both the Demon World, the Underworld, and rising to the surface.
Using the method of the Demon King, who was the only being to break through this passage and rise to the surface in the original work.
“I don’t think it’s impossible.”
“If you intend to use my power to become the Demon King, that is nonsensical. Are you thinking of turning the Underworld into Hell?”
“Isn’t it already Hell?”
“I mean in the sense of a great war.”
Changyeom firmly rejected my proposal.
“Which Duke would willingly give up their Divine Core? It is their essence, heart, and symbol.”
Changyeom pointed to her chest.
For a moment, as if X-raying, I could see inside Changyeom’s body, and a blue flame was blazing vigorously within her heart, forming a sphere.
Like a small sun.
“Depending on what you do, I might be able to give this up, but even if I give mine up, the other six Dukes are a different story.”
“About them—”
“You’ve already reached a conclusion, haven’t you?”
Changyeom tapped her head.
“They would not cooperate even if they were to learn that this world is a ‘game’ or that you are a ‘player’. You know why, …right?”
“Of course.”
Talking about the game’s story to beings within the game feels like touching the fourth wall.
“Among the Seven Dukes of Hell, only Changyeom could be recruited as a companion.”
“That’s right.”
In the original work, the other six Dukes could not be recruited as ‘companion characters’.
“Using my power to defeat the other Dukes? Do you think they will fight one-on-one? Well, maybe one of them will fight purely one-on-one, but….”
“You’d have to face the ‘Duke’s Essence’.”
Can Changyeom’s power alone handle all the other Dukes and their subordinates?
“Of course, I am significantly stronger as the ‘Archduke’ of Hell compared to the other Dukes, but taking on the entire Demon World by myself… let’s just say it’s a bit of a stretch.”
It is indeed possible.
However, there’s a problem with the aftermath.
“If you exert your full power against the inhabitants of the Demon World, you will eventually have no allies left when you fight the Goddess’s apostles.”
“That’s right. They may seem like enemies now, but they could become allies in the long run.”
So-called.
“The Great War of Heaven and Hell…?”
Ultimately, after escaping the Demon World and reaching the Middle World, the final confrontation with the Goddess would take place.
“What good is it to pave the way for that final battle? If you annihilate all the demons and burn all the enslaved human souls, and then take the Demon King’s seat and rise to the surface alone.”
The many nobles and common demons of Hell, as well as the demon contractors enslaved by them, will eventually become our strength in the distant future.
“The Seven Dukes of Hell. To borrow the term used by humans, though they are called Archdukes, they are essentially the kings of the seven divided realms of Hell. Each has their own domain and subjects.”
Changyeom shrugged with her arms outstretched.
“I’m unfortunately a one-person kingdom.”
“Isn’t there one subject, Your Majesty?”
“Oh, you’re referring to yourself? Hehehe.”
Changyeom giggled and traced the mark on my neck with her hand.
“Alright, my only subject. As you know, I have never had any being under my command. Well, precisely, no subordinates, followers, or organization.”
Changyeom can be described as a sort of ‘one-person army’.
There are many adverse conditions.
“That’s fine.”
Despite knowing these adverse conditions, I came here.
“Alone it’s impossible, but together we can manage.”
“Heh.”
“First, I’ll apologize.”
“Hmm?”
I stepped back from Changyeom and bowed at a 90-degree angle towards her.
“Because I ended up giving you the red pill.”
“…”
The red pill.
Whether one knows about the YouTuber industry or the original meaning of the term, the meaning of the red pill now is the same.
“Why? Because you found out that this world is actually a game, and I am a character in that game?”
Had Changyeom only taken Regif Habsderk’s soul, it would have meant she had gone through all the memories of human A, but she had taken the soul of the transmigrated me.
“Well, it’s definitely shocking.”
So she saw.
“When you were sitting in front of a computer, using the protagonist to become my ally and fight alongside me, it was like, ‘What is this?’ But…”
A version of herself that she could never even imagine.
“Still, I think it’s fortunate that it didn’t spread anywhere.”
“Hmm?”
“At least you only recited the synopsis and dialogues created by the game developers, unlike other heroines or supporting characters….”
“Let’s stop that.”
I covered Changyeom’s mouth.
“Let’s avoid unnecessary talk….”
Lick.
“…”
“Hehe.”
Changyeom licked my hand and stepped back.
“Was the Changyeom you played in the thousandth playthrough like this?”
“…That’s from another heroine’s episode.”
“Well, so what. It just makes things clearer.”
Changyeom playfully shrugged her shoulders.
“Whether you encountered this world as a game or not, you already perceive yourself as ‘a person of this world’ rather than a ‘player’. Perhaps that’s because….”
“There’s no status window or anything like that.”
Flicker.
“…Huh?”
“Oh my. Isn’t that the status window just now?”
“…”
In front of my eyes, a status window that is all too familiar to me appears.
It is an interface of the menu screen I saw many times in the game—
“Where did this welcome come from?”
“Ah-ya.”
I swatted at the holographic status window shimmering in blue and then pinched Changyeom’s cheek.
“Do you think such tricks will work on me?”
“Ugh, is this such an impudent act against your Master?”
“Isn’t it acceptable to be impudent when the Master is doubting the loyalty of a slave?”
This status window.
“Do you think that just because a status window suddenly appeared, it means this world is a game?”
Changyeom was subtly testing me.
“Even if such a thing exists, you’d probably think it’s just the Goddess’s trick.”
“…Or perhaps the tyranny of the developers who sent you here?”
“Either way, they are the same lot.”
I stated it plainly.
“When there were external events in the game, it was the Goddess who hosted various events.”
In external events, not in-game, the one who would grab the microphone and shout ‘Players!’ was the Goddess.
More precisely, it was someone in a Goddess costume. Or a VTuber using a 3D model avatar of the Goddess.
Regardless.
“The Goddess is the spearhead of the developers. If you think of it that way, whether this is reality or a game, it leads to the conclusion that I must first deal with the Goddess.”
After dealing with the Goddess, I can decide on the course of action.
“Whether to escape this world or remain here forever.”
“…”
“It’s also my responsibility for giving you the red pill of this world.”
Changyeom smiled lightly.
“…Then, first, I need to learn how to use ‘power’.”
Flicker.
“How to handle mana. And if I were to use my power, how to handle it properly. At least the basics….”
Blue flames wrapped around Changyeom, who was dressed in the academy uniform, and soon she appeared with a completely different demeanor, smiling.
“First, I guess we need to learn how to make clothes out of mana?”
“…”
“Even if you are from a different dimension… Hehe.”
Changyeom pointed below me.
“Your self is perceived as that body, not the ‘clothing’, including underwear.”
“Well.”
To be clear.
“There’s no need to be particularly embarrassed.”
Typically, spirits are not clothed, as is the norm for souls.
“Is there a reason to be embarrassed? Or are you the one feeling embarrassed?”
“Phehe.”
Changyeom grinned, flicking the flames around her body with her fingers and scattering them.
“Can you really not feel embarrassed after seeing this?”
“What…!”
“Knowing that I have all your memories means I know all your preferences as well.”
The Changyeom who appeared before me.
“Heh.”
“Now, wait.”
“Even if you are a spirit, if you perceive ‘that side’ of yourself as your own body, it shows potential, even if not rational. Hehehe.”
She smiled at me with a look I had never seen in the original work.
“So, you like this sort of thing~”
“Isn’t your taste a bit too niche?”
“…”
“Oh, standing.”
“…Master.”
“Yes, slave?”
“I wish you would teach me how to make clothes with magic.”
