/
It was possible since the degree of freedom in the game was high and the worldbuilding was vast. Even before she got recommended, various media used to send out advertisements every day through numerous channels.
‘It’s just the beginning anyway, so all the abilities will have to start back with the basics.’
As she tried to turn off the window that was without much result, she suddenly found a menu that actually stood out from the initial screen.
▷STATUS
PROGRESS
▷SKILL
▷ITEM (items)
▷SETTING
‘Progress……?’
Julia immediately stopped. When she first started the game, only the PROGRESS button had been shining particularly brightly, as if it was urging her to follow the tutorial.
She instantly chose it as if she was possessed. A simple window that was quite different from her memory had appeared in her mind.
[▷SYSTEM
Story progress 1%]
[The first monarch to unify the Demon Realm, the Great Demon Bael]
‘Bael—why?’
In the actual game, if she were to select PROGRESS, a series of capturable characters were listed as the story eventually progressed.
But currently, despite the fact that only the prologue had just ended, Bael’s name was the one that appeared right away. On the other hand, those two brothers, Agares, whom she just met for the first time in the Demon Realm, and even the human warrior whom she had encountered several times since four years ago were all blocked by a set of achromatic colors in such a way that she wouldn’t be able to choose.
‘It’s like I can only aim for Bael instead……’
Julia, who had been so immersed in her own thoughts, stopped moving all of a sudden.
As expected, it was just strange right from the beginning. The dialogue windows of other characters had been displayed properly, but only Bael’s was covered up. Plus, even when the three demons had fallen helplessly under the rampaging magic, she definitely felt afraid of the intimidation that he exuded before, but she did not feel any pain.
‘From where you stand right now to where the hallway ends, my shield has already been set up. But the moment you cross the last pillar, you’ll encounter a mighty force that you might have never experienced before.’
‘Since I’m with you, you won’t die. But it could get a little painful though.’
Julia left the window and opened STATUS instead.
There were several reasons why the target difficulty of Demon King Bael was called the worst of the worst, but the biggest factor was the fact that he had been a character who was deeply intertwined with the main story of the game itself, ‘Key of the Magic Stone’. In order to approach the Magic Stone safely, some relevant stats had to be accumulated to a fairly high level first.
‘After seeing that Magic Stone in person, why didn’t I doubt it at all?’
And amongst them, the magic resistance, which had supposedly been the most difficult to raise, was……
[▷REP : ∞]
actually marked with an infinity symbol instead. Feeling rather surprised, Julia intended to look at the other stats as well.
“Ugh, kuhk…”
Right at the sudden occurrence, she quickly shut the screen down and raised her head. Fortunately, no one turned up. However, a painful gleam had spread across Bael’s face as he leaned against the sofa while having a rather brief sleep.
She approached him as carefully as possible in order to not alert him at all.
‘It looks extremely painful.’
Thick veins had popped on the back of his hand as he clutched on the sofa. Cold sweat was already beading all over his bloodless forehead.
It was the price of striking against the Magic Stone immensely in order to become a Demon God. The massive magical power that was sleeping inside Bael could not withstand the wave of the Magic Stone and thus, it went berserk while propelling him into excruciating pain.
As she watched everything, her heart soon became heavy. It hadn’t just been beyond the screen, but someone who actually existed was suffering so much in front of her. He was enduring the torment that surged like a wave all by himself.
Julia eventually saw herself in him.
Before she died, after she had died and even when she was dragged into the game. She had no one to take care of her during the time she was sick. She always had to put a blanket on herself while alleviating all her pain. Days became weeks, up till she looked just fine on the outside—until she could finally say it was okay.
‘If I had been Bael, I would even be satisfied enough right now. He was already so strong, so why does he keep on craving for the power of the Demon God?’
Julia wiped his cold sweat away as she unconsciously reached out her hand. However, right at the moment she had touched his skin, for some reason, a tingling sensation began spreading out just like a stream of electricity from the periphery.
Startled, she immediately tried pulling back her hand, but the sleeping Bael’s head was so much quicker to follow after her naturally. He then wrapped around Julia’s waist and snatched her into his own arms before he squeezed her close towards his body as if he was hugging a pillow.
For some reason, a satisfied hint of breath had tickled the ears. On the other hand, a look of embarrassment was fused all over Julia’s face.
‘What do we do—this kind of position……’
She had been cuddled by him while being on his hard thighs. Due to their height difference, her feet did not touch the ground, which made it rather difficult for her to descend by herself. Still, she did not give up as she tried moving ever so gently. Nevertheless, at each time, Bael would wrinkle his brow as he pulled her even closer.
She could not even rouse him from his sleep, on top of the fact that she could not move, so Julia could only look down towards him instead.
How much time had passed that Bael’s breathing sound eventually became more stable than before? Convinced that he was already in deep sleep, Julia muttered inwardly while loosening her stiff shoulders that had been rather tensed up.
‘I don’t really know what it is, but I’m just glad that he finally feels comfortable……’
If she had known that things would actually turn out like this, she thought that she wouldn’t have to give up since it was already so difficult. Therefore, she would then target Bael’s own route as well. Maybe he had been the clue to all of this.
Julia sighed softly and began lowering her eyes. At the end of the veil of darkness, the red moon had dipped below the horizon.