Chapter 58
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/ Congratulations, you have defeated the Demon King Mazefaker /
/ You receive the King attribute /
/ You receive: Crown of the Damned /
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I stared at the headgear—a wreath of twisted demon horns that materialized in the air after Kanye’s head exploded into chunks from high voltage.
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/ Crown of the Damned /
/ Artifact properties: /
/ Grants the wearer the ability to summon succubi /
/ Inflicts the wearer with the curse of impotence /
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- Yeah… It’s the Crown of the Damned, not the Blessed.
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/ The Crown of the Damned was yeeted to fuck. /
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I’m done getting pissed at life. Let’s be real—it hates me.
I checked my status. Just like that dickhead said, the “slave” specialty didn’t budge. A weight crashed onto my shoulders, so heavy I could barely stand. All for nothing… My whole fight’s pointless. Should’ve died a couple years back. But what’s the use now? No point crying. Fine, time to check out that stone keeping all the demons here. Maybe I can do something with it.
Before leaving, I took Tolik off those disgusting hooks. Mob or not… who cares? Looks human, acts human, thinks human… so what is he? It’s less about reality and more about perception. Most people try to be good in games—do quests, help NPCs, kill evil monsters. They want to feel like good people. But play long enough, and it gets old. Characters stop feeling alive, and morals slip away. New rules set new norms. Fifty years ago, it was fine to split buses by race in the US. It’s all about society’s perception. Like the Stanford experiment—students split into prisoners and guards, their morals shifted. Some say it’s human nature, but I call bullshit. That’s the nature of the weak and lazy. It’s easy to justify being a piece of shit. I believe a person should stay human, no matter what. At least try… I glanced at the red-hot rod I’d used to fuck up the demon for a good hour and realized I still hadn’t sorted out my stance.
I sank back into thought. Something about that idiot’s words didn’t add up. My family wasn’t rich. No way they could afford the kind of tech that rapper mentioned. But something’s nagging at me… Something’s clawing at my brain so hard I can’t sit still. As an IT guy, I get what quantum tech could do for gaming. But there’s still the big problem with all games—AI. I can’t believe everyone, even demons, I’ve met is run by AI. They’re too real. Too alive… No way a smart machine can mimic that level of dumbassery.
Kanye said something about memory loss. Of course… It makes sense. Why bother with perfect AI when you can use real people as NPCs? This game’s for the elite. They don’t need to know they’re not the only humans here. It’d ruin the immersion. How many people are in comas worldwide? Enough to populate this fantasy world? Nah. Unless someone’s putting up billboards of naked chicks over highways. But… I’ve got a theory: people slotted in as mobs are templates for neural networks to mimic. A few thousand real humans could make NPCs act more realistically. There’s something to that…
Tolik curled up in my arms like a cat. He’d long lost his mind. Maybe he never had one. But I didn’t want to leave him here. God willing, he’ll get lucky, and unlike me, his next life’ll give him something good. Or his program’ll glitch so bad it spawns a super maniac. Peak maniac shit.
Without thinking, I drove my dagger into his temple. Wonder how long it takes to trigger a restart. Not much, if I recall. Tolik’s body went limp. His arms dropped. His eyes glazed over. I kept the blade in his head for about a minute. Should be enough. When I pulled it out, the wound closed by inertia, but life had left him. Instead of that constant, creepy fear, his face showed peace. Like he was grateful. Don’t… I did what I had to. For a second, my own burden felt a fraction less unbearable.
I was about to leave Tolik when he snapped his eyes open.
- Yo, long time no see. – He spoke. – How’s it hangin’? Looks like you threw a bloodbath here. Well… we’re in a bath, and it’s full of blood, get it?
- Wilson?
- Who else? Tadaaa! Look, you’re a cool guy, but I’m not ready for this kind of closeness.
I jumped back from ex-Tolik and scrambled to my feet.
- Man, this body’s weird. Feels totally off. What’s this… something in my nose. It’s… strange… Can’t put it into words. Like everything’s in new colors. And… this feeling all over my body. On my skin. Cool, sure, but I’m not comfy. Yo, is this that thing everyone calls pain? Could you hit m—
- WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
- Wait!
- WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
- Wai—
- WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
- Sto—
- WHAM! WHAM! What’d you say? A hundred hits? Alright…
- No, I said sto—
- WHAM! Fine, fine… No trouble.
I worked my right hook for a while till I got tired. Needed to blow off steam. Living things make it work better somehow. Wilson lay in a daze post-beating. Pain’s no fun if you’re chasing new sensations. His wounds had healed, but it didn’t help him snap out of shock.
- Why so glum? – I asked.
- It’s awful…
- This? Nah, dude… You don’t know awful. This is just flowers.
- It’s unbearable. Why’d you do this to me? – Wilson looked ready to cry.
- Just felt like it. That’s usually the only reason.
- You’re all bastards… Fucking bastards!
- Wow… Not hypocritical at all. Weren’t you alive once? Don’t remember what pain’s like?
- Nobody ever hurt me like that…
- Boo-hoo, I’m gonna cry.
- You prick… I thought you were my friend.
- And I thought you were the most annoying thing in existence. If you’re so offended, hop into another body.
- Can’t.
- What?
- I can’t leave this fucking body!
- Hahaha. Congrats, you’re the Lord of Pain now.
- Is it true? I’m human. In a hell full of demons. I’m fucked…
- Welcome to the club, buddy.
- Kill me.
- No way. Hands are itching, but you’re gonna take me to that stone of yours.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
- If they see me in this body, I’m screwed.
- Don’t piss yourself. I’ll protect you. (Till we get there.) Then we’ll figure something out with your body. Cool?
- I don’t trust you.
- We’re friends! Friends trust each other.
- I wasn’t born yesterday. Your obvious bullshit lines won’t sway me.
- Fine, how’s this: I’m the only one in Hell who doesn’t want to eat you and’ll send you to the afterlife painlessly.
- I’ll kill myself.
- You’re the Lord of Pain. Don’t forget. For example…
I slit Wilson’s throat. Blood sprayed like a red fountain, but seconds later, it stopped.
- You’d make a great blood donor.
Wilson clutched his neck, gasping. His shocked face went white as snow.
- Think anyone’ll believe a demon general’s stuck in this body? Even if they do, won’t stop ‘em from biting off some of your painful flesh.
- You can be real convincing sometimes…
- Always am. Just now you’re the one in deep shit, not me. By the way, gotta add throat-slitting to my list of top debate winners.
We set off through a maze of long corridors, passing dozens of doors. The castle didn’t have many demons. I took them out one by one. Some were tough, took a bit of wrestling, but most were just servants. On the way, I even ran into two guys carrying a beer barrel. I offed them quick but didn’t want to repeat past mistakes. Well, I wanted to, but I held back.
We reached a spiral staircase leading deep down. Turns out this dungeon’s got its own dungeon. Wouldn’t be shocked if that dungeon had another, and so on, till you hit absolute rock bottom where Manchester United’s playing Arsenal for a Conference League spot. We descended slowly, floor after floor, until we hit a single door, glowing with the same dark red spiral.
- We’re here. – Wilson said.
I studied the door. Great. This one should open inward. I carefully kicked it open with a running start. A soft, mysterious blue light greeted me, streaming from hundreds of crystals above. It wrapped a space the size of an airplane hangar. But instead of some hellish Boeing, there was just a pack of alarmed demons. They were heatedly discussing something in a circle at the center. Spotting me, their eyes blazed with rage.
- What? Humans?
- How’d humans get here?
- Is this tied to us not getting mana from the Lord?
- Let’s catch ‘em and torture ‘em for answers.
- I wouldn’t mind a snack.
Hearing that, Wilson slammed the door from the other side and bolted up the stairs. I swear I caught a faint whiff of shit from him. Whatever… I was alone. The demons didn’t blindly attack, showing some brains. But stats don’t reflect real smarts. If they were smart, they’d be groveling already. Instead, they started casting their dumb magic. Which, to be fair, gave me a lot of trouble.
A hail of stones from the front. Stone walls on both sides. Dozens of sharp stone spikes from the ceiling and floor. Stone boulders, stone hands, stone golems, trap pits popping up underfoot. Streams of mud and lava, clouds of dust and sand—it turned the space into a total chaos arena. For five minutes, I dodged their attacks while zapping demons with lightning. (Felt like hours.) Long story short, they pissed me off good. And looks like it’s only earth mages here. Makes sense. That stone’s special, but it’s still a stone. Logical to use earth magic to destroy it. My method’s gotta be way more effective.
The last living demon cowered in a corner, eyes wide with disbelief. Getting to him was a pain since their earth magic turned the neat dungeon floor into a gravel yard. I didn’t think long—paralyzed him and asked the question burning in my mind.
- Where’s the stone?
- Go to hell.
- Hmm… Witty. Really witty, but you probably don’t get why. Shame. Where’s the stone?
- Don’t know.
- Don’t make me use my Jewish accent. Wheeeere’s the stoooone?
- Somewhere here. Find it yourself if you’re so desperate.
- You idiots turned this place into Armageddon. You ever think with your fucking heads?
-……
The demon just glared silently. I looked around. Fuck… I’d be digging here for months. I’m so tired of this shit.
- Fine… – I sighed. – What’s it look like?
- Normal.
- Meaning?
- Looks like a regular stone, you dumb human.
- How do you tell it apart?
- Only Lord Shard can. His eyes can see all info.
- Uh… The blue-eyed guy?
- Yeah. He found that stone years ago. No one else can.
Fuck… Total fuck… Absolute fucking fuck… How… Why… This is unbearable. What did I do? No crime deserves this punishment. Was I Hitler in a past life? Now what? Lord Shard’s the Obi-Wan Kenobi cosplayer. Fucking idiot. Now I’m stuck sorting pebbles for life, and I might not even find the right one.
- AAAAAAA!!! – All my rage tore out of my lungs. I dropped to my knees like a Hollywood action hero. The last demon stared with yellow eyes. No idea who he was. Mob or another poor bastard like me. Still dangerous. I’ll kill him anyway. My morals retired long ago. What morals here anyway? None. With a heavy heart, I drove my dagger into his chest.
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/ Congratulations, your title has been updated! /
/ Demon Hunter -> Demon Destroyer /
/ Demon Destroyer /
/ Conditions met: Kill 100,000 demons /
/ Title bonus: +50 to all attributes /
/ Title penalty: All members of the race (demons) sense your location /
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Hold on… Gimme a sec… Need to think… Urgent, critical question… Gotta focus… Forget everything and focus on this… Should I start thinking? Wait… Calm down… Sort thoughts, then think… Fuck… Don’t need more paradoxes… Focus! Okay… I’m ready… Question… So… What’s this mean? I’ve got a hostility penalty making every bastard want to kill me. Now I’ve got a penalty letting them know where I am. Add the first to the second, and we get… we get…
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--- A few months later ---
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Loud, menacing footsteps echoed across the plain before Hell’s capital. Cerberus’s massive feet sank deep into the thin ash layer covering the ground, leaving a trail of prints. Thousands of demon bodies littered the landscape as far as the eye could see. Arms, legs, heads, torsos… Traces of a brutal battle, unmatched in history. The demon’s three heads growled through clenched teeth. Three pairs of eyes burned with hatred. He gazed at the mountain of bodies towering in the city’s center, nearly as tall as the Lord’s castle. A lone silhouette stood at its peak. Humiliating… Something pricked Cerberus’s heart. He was the last demon. The last one left. The one to end this insolent fucker whose grim smirk stabbed his soul with arrogance.
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/ Race --- Half-Demon /
/ Level --- 185 /
/ Specialty --- Slave (experience 1%) /
/ Strength --- 187 (+176) Endurance --- 247 (+181) Agility --- 402 (+181) Magic Power --- 325 (+181) Mana --- 304 (+198) Defense --- 82 (+150) Resistance --- 69 (+200) /
/ Skills: /
/ Provocation (active) --- 689 (+170) Concentration --- 391 (+145) Sensitivity --- 387 (+145) Mana Control --- 386 (+145) Elemental Affinity (Lightning) --- 586% Thinking --- 286 (+145) Weapon Mastery (Knives, Daggers) --- 216 (+150) Battle Frenzy --- 189 (+150) Resilience --- 104 (+154) Lethal Strike --- 1% /
/ Element --- Lightning /
/ Titles --- Martyr, Demon Bane, Child Killer /
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/ Demon Bane /
/ Conditions met: Kill 1,000,000 demons /
/ Title bonus: +100 to all attributes /
/ Title penalty: Damage received from race (demons) increased 100x /
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- RRRAAAAA!!! – A roar rolled like an avalanche, reaching every corner of Hell. Like thousands of jets firing up, shaking the earth. Vibrations cracked every stone, toppling what few structures still stood. Unrestrained flames burst from three maws like jet engines. The demon’s massive body swelled. Muscles bulged like bread on yeast. Veins pumped molten blood under his skin like fire hoses. Two giant wings tore from his back, blotting out half the sky. A true monster, the embodiment of despair for anyone facing him. A merciless, unstoppable force the size of a nine-story building. Each step caused quakes. Each breath sparked storms. His touch melted iron. His eyes—three pairs of molten stars—locked onto the lone figure atop the body pile. They no longer looked down…
- Now that’s a final boss… – The silhouette whispered. A thick, lonely shadow against black clouds. Covered in crusted blood, no clean spots left. Only his eyes sparked blue.
- Finally…
A wing flap, and a hurricane scattered hundreds of corpses from under him. The giant demon soared, kicking up a dust cloud. The mountain of flesh, of hatred and rage, rushed toward the mound’s peak where its enemy awaited judgment. Massive hands with five-meter claws reached to end this humiliation forever. Just a bit more, and death would swallow him. Erase him from memory and bury him among thousands of dead demons. One moment, and…
Time stopped. For a single instant before the monster struck, an imperceptible wave rolled out, and then… A flash. Blinding light pierced everything. In total darkness, a human silhouette with two short horn stubs glowed like providence. Dozens of demon corpses floated like asteroids in space. Thousands of thin, jagged lightning lines stretched slowly from him to Cerberus. Against them, everything turned to shadow. The world ceased to exist, only streams of energy tore through space toward their target. A moment. A flash. The end. Cerberus vanished. His giant body became a searing blood rain, burning skin. A thick red mist blanketed the ground. That’s it… The spiral ended.
Finally… Finally… Finally, I can sleep. I’m so fucking tired. Tears poured from my eyes. So tired… No one’s left. Cerberus was the furthest from the center. The last one. No one else. Not even anyone to kill. I’m alone. Forever alone here. I just want to sleep. Lie down and not wake up till death. I looked at my hands. Not even red anymore. This crusted black blood’ll probably never wash off. So quiet… Blood everywhere. Fresh red drops coated my skin in a new layer. Everything’s red. Rivers, bodies, buildings… A red notification window blinked nervously before me:
/ Error! /
/ Error! /
/ Error! /
/ Location “Hell”: race (demons) - not found. /
/ Location “Hell”: object “demon” - not found. /
/ System failure. /
/ Critical error! – Code: 02354668879 /
/ Location “Hell”: Location requirement absent. /
/ To free operational memory, location “Hell” will be terminated. /
/ Location “Hell” will be terminated in 1 minute. /
/ Location “Hell”: Foreign objects detected. Quantity – 3. /
/ Foreign objects will be relocated to other locations. /
/ Location “Hell” will be terminated in… /
/ 3 /
/ 2 /
/ 1 /
A bright light enveloped me. So soft and blue. I reflexively shielded my eyes. What’s this? I feel coolness. Instead of constant heat, a cold breeze brushed my skin. I feel weightless. I’m flying! I opened my eyes, and… Sky! I see the sky! Not dark, heavy clouds, but a true, boundless blue sky with fluffy white clouds. And the sun! Warm, glorious sun warmed my tears. Is this the day? Is it real? Not a dream? I’m finally free! Free like a bird in the sky, a fish in the ocean! A lightness wrapped my body. This is true happiness! True joy! I looked down and saw the sea. A vast blue sea, paralyzing with its majesty. From horizon to horizon, it consumed my gaze. Endless blue, not a speck of land. And me, high above, spraying tears of joy, hurtling toward it at breakneck speed.
/ Congratulations, your title has been updated! /
/ Demon Bane -> Oblivion /
/ Oblivion /
/ Conditions met: Kill 1,000,000 members of one race; kill the last member of that race /
/ Title bonus: Experience gained doubled. /
/ Title penalty: Upon death, your soul will be destroyed /
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- Uh… What?
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/ Race --- Half-Demon /
/ Level --- 185 /
/ Specialty --- Slave (experience 2%) /
