Chapter 147 ….

The moment I saw the blue status window, I was seized by a feeling of utter bewilderment.

Why do these damned novel status windows always leave mysterious ■ symbols like this and drive people crazy?

‘Eight■fifty■ hours? Is that the time it takes to find the key that will stop the regression in the hidden space?!’

Because of the “fifty” in the back, the minimum probably isn’t eighty…
Then does it mean eight hundred fifty-something hours?

Or eight thousand fifty-something hours?

Or maybe eighty thousand… no, eighty million fifty hours?!

Because of those perfectly placed ■ symbols hiding the number, my head became a mess.

‘At the very least… at the very least it’s about eight hundred fifty hours, right?’

In truth, even eight hundred hours is an incredibly long time.
Even if I searched for the key all day long, it would still take over a month.

But what if it’s eight thousand hours?
What if it’s eight hundred million hours?

…Wouldn’t I come back as an old woman?

Well, I probably wouldn’t age since I’m not exactly human anymore.

I honestly don’t know what state of mind I was in when I came from the presidential residence all the way to the dungeon entrance.

“Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

At Han Hyunjin’s question, I quietly shook my head and stepped out of the limousine.

Ahn Baekho, who got out with us, bowed politely.

“Take care, Han Hyunjin-nim. Demon King.”

After dropping us off at the dungeon entrance beneath the bridge, Ahn Baekho drove away in the limousine.

Fortunately, this entire area had temporarily been sealed off after being recognized as an independent territory. Aside from soldiers, there were no civilians around, making movement easy.

Still feeling gloomy, I started to squeeze myself into the dungeon entrance when I suddenly turned back to Han Hyunjin.

“Han Hyunjin, what do you think you would do?”

“Hm?”

“If you were the only person who could protect not just this world, but the next one and the one after that…”

But when I actually looked at Han Hyunjin’s face, I slowly shook my head.

“No… what am I even saying? You’re that weird guy who’d obviously burn himself out to save the world anyway. You’re no help as a reference.”

“?”

Even if Han Hyunjin is my companion human—my boyfriend now—there are things you should take as examples and things you shouldn’t.

Damn lawful-good signboard protagonist-type character. Totally useless as a reference!

“Hey, who lives like you do?! People like you are the ones raising the average moral standards of humanity! Why are all the protagonists in fantasy novels like this?!”

“…Why are you suddenly getting angry? I don’t understand.”

Unfortunately, Han Hyunjin is the type who would sacrifice himself for humanity whether it took eight hundred hours or eight hundred million hours.

Which means he’s absolutely useless as a comparison.

There’s an old saying: don’t try to follow a white heron when you’re just a crow.

But after hanging around a white-heron-like guy such as Han Hyunjin, I felt like I was starting to turn white too.

After all, I had been naturally assuming that I should sacrifice those ■ hours and go.

Ugh!

Seeing how irritable I had become, Han Hyunjin rummaged through his pocket.

“Looks like your blood sugar dropped. I brought something.”

…And he pulled out a packaged dried persimmon.
It was one of the ones from the table at the presidential residence.

He was treating me like the kind of girlfriend who gets cranky when her blood sugar drops.

“Hmph, that’s not it!”

Even as I grumbled, I stuffed the dried persimmon deep into my pocket. After all, since it was a gift given to the president, it tasted pretty good.

Ignoring Han Hyunjin’s puzzled look, I stepped into the dungeon entrance.

When I opened my eyes again, a lush green field and a familiar, beautiful landscape spread before me.

And then—

“It’s the Demon King!”

A huge crowd rushed toward me.

“Hey there, have you all been well?”

Hundreds of monsters gathered around me noisily.

“Just as you ordered, Demon King, we split the groups and went to a place called Seoul! We hunted monsters and even helped clean the roads! The other teams are harvesting Mafit Eyes and packaging them. You said we’d sell them to those Seoul guys at a high price!”

“Good, good. Well done. Nothing unusual happened, right?”

“Of course not! We’re also monitoring that human called Baek Junhyuk every day.”

“Good work on that too.”

I patted the shiny skull of a skeleton monster.

I had been incredibly busy these past few days because of everything happening on Earth, but I still had the system window and the drag function.

Since I had a contract with Shin Seolheon, I had been sending monsters to Seoul in batches of hundreds to clean the city, preparing Mafit Eye packaging, and pushing forward with new product development.

Just selling Mafit Eyes and Mafit Eye jam didn’t feel like enough as products.

“Oh my, Demon King!”

I also spotted the familiar puppet troupe couple.

Just then, I noticed their aprons were faintly stained red.

For a moment I thought blood had blown through my dungeon, since their clothes were covered in red stains—but that wasn’t the case.

Judging from the sweet fruity smell coming from them, they were clearly hard at work developing new products.

I happily hugged the couple tightly.

Honestly, I had missed them so much!
This land! These people! Even the puppet shows!

“Have you both been well?”

“Of course. What problem would we have?”

“What?! I had such a hard time! My time on Earth felt like millions of years. I missed you! Looks like I’m the only one who meant it!”

“Oh my.”

“Oh dear, you must have really struggled if you’re acting so spoiled.”

The couple chuckled warmly. As I clung to them and pouted, the woman asked soothingly,

“Ah, you’ve come after such a long time. Would you like to try the new product we made? We’ve actually been waiting for you.”

“Sure.”

As soon as I nodded, monsters in the distance began dragging over a huge oak barrel.

That’s right.

The F/W new product from the Demon King’s dungeon.

The scent of fruit liquor fermented in an oak barrel filled the air.

Its name—

Mafit Eye Wine.

A perfect new product for a day like today, when I’m exhausted and can’t stop thinking.

“Bring a glass to my bedroom. One glass of Mafit Eye wine. Don’t stir it—shake it…”

It was the perfect drink for a lonely night like this.

* * *

The dark red liquid sloshed in the glass like blood.

Late at night, I sat by the bedroom window, looking down at my dungeon immersed in darkness—like a wealthy tycoon gazing out at the Han River view.

Yes.

My dungeon.

The dungeon and people I must protect.

I swallowed a sip.

Instead of the bitter burn of alcohol like an adult drink, the sweet flavor of fruit wine spread through my mouth first.

Well, it was made by fermenting fruit. The alcohol content was practically nothing. I was basically drinking it just for the vibe.

“Ahh, nice.”

It tasted like something that would sell really well as a premium gift set during Lunar New Year or Chuseok.

Mafit Eyes, Mafit Eye jam, Mafit Eye liquor…
I should sell them all on Earth and become filthy rich.

But unlike my hopeful thoughts, the inside of my mouth felt bitter.

Mission 2: The key to stop Baek Junhyuk’s regression.
And those ■fifty■ hours.

The truth is…

I had already made up my mind.

“I’ll go. What else can I do?”

The reason was simple.

First, I hardly age, so a long time wouldn’t matter much.

Second, I’m extremely strong, so wandering around wouldn’t easily get me killed.

And most importantly—

“Because it’s the last thing Mom left for me.”

If Mom left the hidden space to me personally and told me about the key, it meant she wanted me to solve it myself.

I’m not human, I’m the Demon King, and Mom wanted me to be loved by people for a long time.

If I think of it as Mom’s wish, it’s easier to accept.

I may not be as kind and righteous as she was, but something that only I can do… I can’t push that onto someone else.

And if I told the dungeon residents, they’d only worry.

“I’ll sneak out early tomorrow morning…”

Now I understand why they say great power comes with great responsibility.

And I also understand why heroes who do great things end up becoming lonely.

Tonight, I felt like I could finally understand Han Hyunjin’s feelings a little.

While sipping the wine the lady made, I slowly felt my consciousness grow hazy.

Then it felt like someone entered my room…

Huh? Who is it?

Well… maybe because of the alcohol, I couldn’t quite remember their face.

* * *

“…Hey.”

“…Kim Ana.”

“Kim Ana, wake up.”

Mmm… huh?

Light poured beneath my tightly shut eyelids.

I stirred and slowly opened my eyes at the voice waking me.

“Han… Hyunjin?”

Still dazed, I looked around.

It was definitely my bedroom, and it was still early morning—but Han Hyunjin was standing there confidently inside my room.

What’s going on?

“No, I mean… just because we’ve kissed doesn’t mean you can barge into my bedroom like this…”

“What?”

As I grumbled and sat on the bed, I finally noticed something strange about him.

He was wearing his usual all-black activity outfit…

But he had two enormous backpacks slung over his shoulders.

As if he were about to go somewhere far away.

“Where are you going? Leaving me behind?”

Han Hyunjin looked at me like I was ridiculous.

“You don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

What is he suddenly talking about?

“Last night. You said we should go into the hidden space together and find the key to stop Baek Junhyuk’s regression.”

“…? I… I said that?”

I had planned to secretly go alone like some responsible protagonist carrying the burden by myself…

And I told him everything?

While drunk?!

Seeing my shocked face, Han Hyunjin looked even more surprised.

“Did you black out from drinking? If that’s the case, then last night we…”

“? We?”

“……”

“W-what about us? Say it.”

An awkward silence filled the bedroom.

A drunk man and woman (well… not exactly human), and the phrase “You don’t remember last night?”

Gulp.

Flustered, I swallowed nervously. Blushing shyly, I instinctively lifted my arms to cover myself when Han Hyunjin hesitated before speaking.

“Last night we…”

“W-we…?”

My heart pounded. Honestly… I was kind of expecting something.

But then Han Hyunjin shook his head and sighed.

“No. If you don’t remember… then forget it.”

Crack.

“HEY! You better tell me right now!”

And with that, I had no choice but to rush forward and grab Han Hyunjin by the collar.