The girls I thought I had abandoned and left behind.
The heroines I believed to be gone are actually within me.
I just didn’t know.
They had always been with me.
As I realized this, warmth spread through my chest.
I was not alone.
All along, the heroines had been watching over me.
Until now, I thought the path I’d walked was just a series of losses.
In reality, it had been a road where I continuously built upon what was inside me.
“Ugh······.”
My eyes snapped open.
I feel my body and Mi Jeong’s hand.
It’s a bit dark, but my line of sight is definitely clear.
I can breathe······
“Cough?! Cough······!”
|Oh dear. It seems he can breathe, just like in the current world. Someone please get that guy some demonic energy out of his lungs.|
|I’ll do it.|
The moment I took a deep breath, an enormous amount of demonic energy filled my lungs.
The demonic energy instantly tore through my insides, bringing with it tremendous pain and blood spewed forth.
Just as I thought I was about to die upon waking.
Someone’s touch pierced my body, and the pain that stabbed at my lungs vanished completely.
“Thank you······ thank you······. Cough, cough.”
|No need to thank me. Handsome guys like him help for free.|
|What do you mean······!|
“······.”
For a moment, the playful banter lightened the tension a bit.
I stiffened as I guessed the identities of the voices.
The air was filled with demonic energy, and if I wasn’t careful, I might get consumed and die in an instant.
Every breath I took brought forth demonic energy that echoed as those beings noisily chatted before me.
I had seen such beings before.
The Great Demon Belphegor.
They felt just like him.
Not lifting my head, I squeezed Mi Jeong’s hand tightly, who was gripping my hand beside me.
“You all······.”
|Looks like you finally have some leisure to look around. Is breathing uncomfortable? You’re the first living human to make it this far, so I couldn’t teach you how to breathe······. But it seems like you’re doing well; what a relief.|
“You’re demons. We’re in the Demon World.”
|Correct, human!|
I move my heavy body forward.
At the end of the dark cave.
Beyond where light seeps in, I see a waterfall flowing with bubbling lava.
And beside me, two figures with swirling black demonic energy.
They look vaguely similar to the Great Demon Belphegor, but as I stared at them, a sense of danger crept in, making me lower my head.
|First, let’s hear your names.|
“I’m Yoo Jin. And this girl is Mi Jeong.”
|Yoo Jin······. And Mi Jeong, huh······.|
‘They’re on a completely different level than Belphegor.’
They could easily make Belphegor look trivial.
Defying them or offending their moods here would be suicide.
Perhaps I would endure even worse pain than death.
For now, they seemed to show me favor, so I had no choice but to humbly accept that······.
At least until I fully grasped the situation I was in.
“So, is this the Underworld?”
|Hmm. It’s both right and wrong, isn’t it? The Demon World is one of the four realms that make up the Underworld.|
“Then I’d like to meet the God of Underworld. Please, if you would.”
|The God of Underworld······? Cough! Hahaha!|
“······?”
Did I say something that funny?
As I tilted my head in confusion, the two demons suddenly burst into loud laughter.
After a long while, once their laughter subsided, they took a breath and leaned their faces close to me.
|Aren’t you already meeting the God of Underworld right now?|
“Excuse me?”
|The Underworld is the very being you call the God of Underworld.|
“I know that. So, does the God of Underworld hear my voice even now?”
|You could say that. But the God of Underworld isn’t your friend and wouldn’t just respond to your call—|
“······Come out, Yap. God of Underworld.”
Rumble!
The moment Mi Jeong whispered to the ground.
The entire Demon World shook with a great earthquake.
It was a quick tremor, so nothing major occurred, but the two demons wore surprised expressions.
|Just now······|
|That was indeed the King of Hell speaking. Saying he can’t intervene, so to figure it out on your own······|
|······|
|······|
The two demons fumbled about on the ground, discussing something amongst themselves.
Then their gazes suddenly locked onto Mi Jeong and me.
As their unsettling gazes approached, I took a slight step back, and in the blink of an eye, the two demons grabbed me and Mi Jeong.
|You, what on earth are you? What’s your connection to the Underworld?|
|What kind of being are you for the ‘Will of the Underworld’ to answer a mere human’s call?!|
“······!”
The black pupils that seemed like they would suck me in were right before me.
I couldn’t turn my head as they came so close.
Feeling trapped, I was unable to budge, held tight by their iron-like arms.
|Fascinating······ so fascinating······ so many things are fascinating······|
“Ugh?!”
“······Ugh.”
The two demons couldn’t restrain their demonic energy from seeping into me.
It infiltrated me as if they wanted to dissect my body piece by piece and examine it closely.
But there was no way my body could withstand it, and my heartbeat steadily slowed.
‘Shit. I’m going to die.’
Even after surviving all sorts of adversities.
To meet my end from curiosity without malice was absurd.
Breathing hard as if boiling, just as I prepared to make one last struggle.
|That’s enough. If you keep this up, you’ll end up killing our precious guest.|
|Ah······|
|W-What have I done······? I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you! I truly apologize. Cute human and······. Um, corpse girl? I’m really sorry.|
As the lava that had been pouring down like a waterfall cleared, a passage appeared.
Through it, another black figure entered.
The pressure that had been pressing down on me lifted.
But just his arrival left my pupils wandering in confusion, and a headache began to pulse in my mind.
|Hmm. Having a bit of a hard time?|
“No, I’m······.”
Even with the trait of mental strength enhancement, it’s this intense.
This is the strongest impact I’ve felt since talking to the God of Underworld!
I quickly covered Mi Jeong’s eyes and closed my own.
|You’re quite quick on your feet.|
“I guess it comes from having met one like you more than once.”
|That’s a delightful thing to hear. I had even considered whether I should communicate through someone else, but this allows for direct conversation. By the way, have you heard these children’s names yet?|
“Not yet.”
|These children······. Tsk. I apologize. Since they are all driven by their own curious interests, they have been a bit, no, quite lacking in consideration. It was just bad luck that you awakened while they were watching. My name is Wrath. Another way to say it would be Satan.|
“······.”
As I heard that name, I felt my body tremble.
Satan.
The name of the being planned to be set as the final boss of the sequel scenario during the game development.
|What have you two done after awakening this one to trouble him?!|
|It’s unfair! We were only planning to explain things to him slowly, but suddenly he summons the God of Underworld!|
|Exactly. It’s not our fault for giving off such a delicious scent!|
|It would be better to trust the Mana Stone to the Fire Dragon. The very reason I sat you down here is the cause of all this······|
Satan kneels the two demons and shakes his head.
While I was currently treated as a VIP,
It felt right for me to kneel with Mi Jeong and listen humbly.
Even though I didn’t understand why the main villain of the sequel was being so kind to me.
Still, I gratefully received explanations from Satan.
First of all, this place is the Demon World.
One of the four realms that make up the Underworld, located in the north.
It seems this realm corresponds to the northern pillar embedded in the formation I envisioned when summoning the God of Underworld.
While it is indeed part of the Underworld, I have no way to contact the God of Underworld again.
The last time I contacted the God of Underworld, it had been possible due to a special situation.
It was merely a cooperative effort to capture a fugitive beyond his sight, rather than him having any special interest or goodwill towards me.
Of course, my falling into the Demon World while being alive is also not a common situation······.
From the perspective of the deity that governs justice, aiding me is impossible.
Therefore, he simply told me to escape on my own once and hasn’t responded since.
|I’ll ask you once more. What method did you use to wander through the dimensional rift and reach this place······?|
“If a sentient being has its own world inside, wouldn’t that be the case?”
|That’s correct. In the Demon World, it is called a microcosm.|
“I unwittingly expanded that world. It kept expanding through the dimension’s rift until it connected to another world.”
|······?|
A moment of silence fell.
Satan stared at me intently, then seemed to remember that I would struggle to calm my nerves under pressure, slightly turning his head away.
It seemed he was sorting through his thoughts.
|So······. You’re saying you didn’t wander here through a dimensional rift? You didn’t receive the blessings of the great one, but just did it alone?|
“Yes······.”
|That’s hard to understand······. I’ve heard of those who possess the ability to manipulate their inner worlds, but it’s the first time I’ve encountered someone who has stretched that wildly to pass through a dimensional rift······.|
“Just got lucky.”
Satan rubbed his temples, likely due to a headache.
He seemed to praise me, treating me like I was something amazing, but in reality, that wasn’t the case.
I was just fortunate.
The dimensional rift connected by Longinus’ Spear had happened to be close to the Demon World.
Had it been any further away, no matter how much I expanded my inner world, I would have been unable to reach another world and would have simply perished.
‘I can’t return this way.’
Thus, it was impossible to go back to the current world using the same method.
I’m not dead yet, so I’m not receiving attraction from the Underworld.
However, even so, the distance between the Underworld and the current world is far too great; no matter how much I expand my inner world, I won’t reach it.
In order to bridge the gap, I would have to saturate my inner world with all the void, but······.
At that point, would I be a god or a human?
|To say you not only take in another person within that world but also saturate it completely with void—I’m sorry to say this, but it must be stated. You are utterly insane.|
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
|Well then, since it seems fate has brought you all the way to the Demon World, I shall ensure you won’t be uncomfortable during your stay. It’s said that demons often react with hostility to the living, as they’ve never seen a living being before. So, I will take the time to educate all demons on how to treat the living without killing them.|
“I greatly appreciate your grace.”
What a remarkable stroke of luck.
There was really no other way to describe the situation.
Here I was, having fallen into the Demon World, and the leader treated me with such goodwill.
This way, I could slowly adapt to the Demon World while trying to figure out a way back to the current world.
But then······.
“Then, perhaps in researching a way to return to the current world, could you offer some support—”
|How about we even hold a marriage ceremony while we’re at it? Some demons might feel averse towards the living and react aggressively, but if you were to marry my bloodline, that wouldn’t happen at all. Even if it’s just for show, how does that sound?|
“······.”
What the hell is this guy.
It seems he has no intention of letting me go.
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