Chapter 8
The place Roakin led me to was the deck.
It must have been dinner time, because the delicious smell lay thick in the air.
I looked around curiously before stopping at one spot.
Is the sea of the Demon Realm originally like this?
The dark murky seawater looked less like water and more like sticky mucus.
It was deeply ominous.
It looked as though all unpleasant and dead things had been gathered and thrown into it.
The foam that should have raced refreshingly across the surface only seemed like thousands of writhing snakes tangled together.
While I stood there absentmindedly, Roakin stopped in front of a cabin attached to the kitchen.
“Go in first.”
I quickly turned my head.
“What? Where are you going?”
“I’ll just check the ship’s course and come right back.”
“No, but how can I be alone—!”
As I hesitated, he pushed me inside without mercy and left.
It annoyed me that just because we had grown a little familiar, I felt like grabbing the hem of his departing clothes.
But I was a dignified adult.
Life is originally a cycle of crises and social maneuvering.
Left alone, I cautiously scanned the cabin.
Around a long table, about a dozen demons were seated in a circle enjoying their meal.
Fortunately, before the cold sweat soaking the back of my neck worsened, one demon approached me first as if she knew me.
“It’s hectic, right?”
It was a voice I had heard earlier while running away.
The female demon who had been with the horned demon.
She introduced herself as Irene and guided me to an empty seat.
“Please sit here. Peligan will bring the food soon.”
Just as she said that, the inner door connected to the kitchen burst open and the horned demon appeared.
He walked skillfully, holding plates in both hands and even balancing one on each horn.
The plate he lowered with a bow landed softly in Irene’s hands before being placed in front of me.
“Eat. You need to fatten up so you can run away well again.”
“That—”
“You have to run well so we can catch you again and enjoy cooking you.”
“What do you think you’re about to eat right now?”
“It’s a joke. Human meat is surprisingly tough and not very good.”
When I dropped my fork, Irene raised her eyes slyly and laughed softly.
What exactly was the joke?
That they had no intention of cooking me?
That the plate did not contain some woman from another world?
Or all of it?
Probably all of it.
Because a pretty person was teasing me, it felt awkward to tremble, so I stayed silent.
She tilted a wine bottle to fill my glass and continued her kindness.
“If you’re curious about anything, you can ask. If it’s something I can answer, I will.”
If it’s something she can answer.
Unlike her gentle tone, the boundary was clear.
Even if I ask, they’re probably all on the Demon King’s side anyway.
It seemed better to steer toward smaller curiosities.
I gestured toward the window.
“Is the sea in the Demon Realm always this color?”
The answer came not from Irene on my right, but from my left.
“Since you don’t seem to have any aversion to demons, I thought you were born in Midcity, but you’re a greenhouse flower raised in a completely pure zone.”
Peligan, the horned demon, spoke with a faintly mocking snort.
“After the Holy-Demon War broke out, both the Human Realm and the Demon Realm ended up like this. If the land is rotting, would the sea be safe? Be grateful you have the chance to learn about the world now. I hope you’ve also learned that if you’re ignorant, it’s wise to at least keep your mouth shut.”
His tone was sharply biting.
I was not particularly hurt, but Irene intervened to soothe me.
“I understand. He’s exhausted from constantly cleaning up after Demon King Roakin. There have been quite a few troublesome brats lately.”
“I’m not—”
“You’re taking it out on Ms. Lamia just because she’s human.”
“Humans try to kill us just because we’re demons. So I’m not allowed to?”
“Does that scarecrow with nothing but chicken breast to eat look like she’s trying to kill us right now?”
Irene pointed at me as she asked.
I spread both hands and shook my head to show my innocence.
Peligan, meeting my wide eyes, cleared his throat.
“Ahem.”
Whether it was because of Irene’s fierce glare, a faint sense of guilt, or simply whim, Peligan reached for a freshly baked cake sheet and began to explain in detail.
“Five years ago, the eastern Demon Realm was nearly collapsed. The Human Realm used that gap as a stepping stone to start the Holy-Demon War. With several Demon Kings absent, including the one in the east, the Demon Realm was quickly consumed.”
He spread thick white cream from the edge of the cake.
The cream, as if symbolizing the Human Realm’s forces, pushed past half of the cake.
“In less than two years, the Human Realm conquered almost all of the Demon Realm’s territory. The destruction of the Demon Realm was right before our eyes. We thought everything was over. The ancient war. Our existence.”
The cream covered the cake entirely.
Peligan paused briefly as if recalling that time.
Irene, who had been listening quietly, handed him a mug of thick hot chocolate.
Saying it was exactly what he needed, Peligan poured it boldly over the cream-covered sheet.
“But at that very moment, our Demon King appeared. As soon as he regained his strength, he just swept through everything—”
This time, dark chocolate spread across the white cream like a stain.
Looking at it proudly as though it were a masterpiece, Peligan spoke.
“If it weren’t for Demon King Roakin, the Demon Realm would have been completely annihilated back then. I don’t know what he’s thinking half the time, but either way, he is the benefactor of demonkind. No one of the Demon Realm can deny that we owe him a great debt.”
So is the Demon King the same one from five years ago or not?
It was a moving story, but something else mattered more to me.
“Then did the former Demon King Roakin die and a new Roakin succeed him?”
“You could say that, or you could say not.”
“Then did he almost die five years ago but recover his strength?”
“You could say that, or you could say not.”
“Was it some kind of resurrection?”
“Hmm?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
He only smiled innocently and continued.
“Anyway, under our Demon King’s overwhelming power, the tide turned. After that, with races mixed during the war each pursuing their own interests, the continent split into four major forces.”
He cut the cake into three vertical sections.
The ends covered purely in chocolate and cream became the Demon Realm and the Human Realm.
The messy mixed center became the Middle Realm.
The space between the separated pieces was called the Sea Region.
Just as kings ruled the Demon Realm and Human Realm, rulers also existed in the Middle Realm and Sea Region.
Peligan then rummaged through a fruit basket and pulled out a dragon fruit.
“And then the number of Errors began to explode. They opened indiscriminately in both the Human Realm and the Demon Realm.”
“What’s an Error?”
“Think of it as a kind of gate that spits out Bugs.”
“Then what are Bugs?”
He crushed the dragon fruit flesh and scattered it across the cake.
As the speckled flesh fell like insects, he answered.
“Bugs are monster-type entities. At first humans called them demonic beasts or beings from another world, but now everyone just calls them Bugs. They slowly destroy the world, like insects gnawing at leaves. Slowly, bit by bit, and someday they’ll devour it all.”
Peligan stabbed the cake with a fork and took a big bite.
With his mouth full, Irene continued.
“But the biggest problem is the Errors. The poison flowing out of them polluted the land and sea.”
“Polluted? Is that why the sea looks rotten?”
“Yes. To seize the remaining intact territories, wars became even fiercer. The land grew desolate without rest. It’s no longer just the destruction of the Demon Realm. The end of the entire world is approaching.”
In short, like a virus corrupting software and ruining a computer, Errors and Bugs were devouring the world.
Come to think of it, it was like that in the game too.
<Ending World> frequently had service disruptions due to various Errors.
If Bugs and Errors were system malfunctions that harmed reality, then other elements might be similar.
For example, server types…
Wait.
Only one possibility came to mind.
Does that mean I’m trapped in the Desired World right now?
