“You’re going to kill that thing?” Anaheim asked. She was standing before the gate of a massive entrance with Luke by her side. The gates were wide open, revealing a circular room with dozens of torches lining the wall, flickering with purple fire. At the center of the room, a gorilla with sharp blades on its elbows and knees was squatting, eating a banana while staring at them. It was seven meters tall and just as wide. A thin layer of mist covered the entrance, separating it from the duo. “By yourself?”

“Do you doubt me?” Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” Anaheim said, narrowing her eyes. “I’m just wondering if you’re really the demon lord or not.” After logging into the game after her death, she had respawned in a temple located on Swift’s Peak. Luke had greeted her, expecting to find Khrx too, but that unreliable lizard didn’t show up. Fufu missed dinner that night.

“Didn’t I say it was roleplay?” Luke asked with a sigh. “The demon lord died a really long time ago before most countries were even formed.” He smiled. “But you’re supposed to be the hero’s descendent, right? Can you kill it by yourself?” He gestured towards the gorilla which had pulled out another banana. The floor was littered with yellow and brown peels.

Anaheim pursed her lips. “If we were in reality, I could,” she said. “But the game took away my strength and constitution saying I wasn’t allowed to use mana during the test. And then it limited the amount of mana I had because my constitution was too low. I can’t even use a simple healing spell. I feel like I’m six again.”

Luke raised an eyebrow. “But your mana in game depends on your intelligence.” His constitution was lowered by the system as well, but there was nothing wrong with his mana. Just how low was this woman’s intelligence? “…Can I see your status?”

“No!” Anaheim’s face flushed as she averted her eyes. There was no way she was going to show him her intelligence! It was high for never having learned math, alright? As the hero’s descendent, her magic was innate and magic formulas weren’t necessary, much like a certain dragon.

Luke cleared his throat. “I thought you were supposed to be strong? That’s why I took you along.”

“I’m leeching levels,” Anaheim said with a nod. “That’s how games work, right?”

“That’s how some games work,” Luke said, his expression blank. “But not this one. There are no levels. You’ve been following me for over a week now, and you didn’t realize?”

Anaheim’s face flushed even more. So it wasn’t just a penalty in experience gained due to level differences? Then how the hell was Luke so strong!? Was he just as strong in reality? She hadn’t heard of any mages of his caliber. Unless he was the demon lord. She narrowed her eyes at him again, fixing her expression. “It’ll take a while for you to beat the boss, right? I’m going to check on Khrx.”

Luke stared as her body slumped to the ground. Apparently, Khrx screwed something up and became stuck somewhere. But Khrx would figure it out. He always did. Didn’t he stop the end of the world multiple times? Luke nodded to himself and stepped through the mist. He pointed at the gorilla, and a massive thunderbolt flooded the room, destroying the walls as it crashed down. The boss didn’t even have a chance to scream before it was vaporized.

[Quest complete!]

[You’ve slain the blade gorilla taking up residence in the abandoned warehouse. This is a perfect place to store food to tide the coming winter!]

[Rewards: 100 Achievement Points.]

Luke shook his hand, dismissing the screen. He stood over Anaheim and scratched his head. What was he going to do with this hero’s descendent? It was definitely Khrx getting back at him for stealing Fufu. Seriously, what the hell was that about them being lovers? Wasn’t Khrx’s body that of a child’s? Well, even if Khrx provided one useless piece of baggage, it’s not like he didn’t contribute at all. There was that fallen angel companion of his. That crazy, sadistic, batshit insane fallen angel….

***

Khrx sneezed. He sat up and looked around, but the sight was the same. He was still in the giant cat’s mouth, but there was a rectangle floating in front of him. In the bottom-right corner of the page, there was a red 1,000+.

[Lorin has slain CantMelt. Gained 132 Achievement Points.]

[Lorin has slain WildHunterxXx. Gained 94 Achievement Points.]

[Lorin has slain PleaseDontKillMe. Gained 432 Achievement Points.]

…

[Your companion, Lorin, has become the Champion of the Sun God.]

[Champion of the Sun God]

[During the day, all guild members and affiliated NPCs strength, constitution, and dexterity increase by 15. A guild may only have three champions at any given time.]

…

[Skill acquired: Blissful Rest]

[Rarity: Mythic]

[Passive: You sleep through anything and everything. Injuries recover 1000x faster while asleep.]

…

[Lorin has slain Mr_Rich. Gained 893 Achievement Points.]

By the time Khrx finished browsing through the messages…, nothing had changed. He was still waiting in Rhea’s mouth. How long had he been asleep for Lorin to have reentered the game and slaughtered this many people? She had already repeated the sacrificial quest for the Sun God thirteen times and became his champion. He had even gained a skill.

A thunderous voice reverberated around him. “We’re here!”

***

Theda was lying down, resting on her reclining throne. Her skin was a pale-blue, almost gray color. Her jet-black hair barely reached past her neck. She was wearing a loose, black silk robe. She wasn’t moving or breathing, her body completely still like a corpse. But there was a wrinkle on her forehead.

“Meow!”

Theda’s eyes flashed open, and the wrinkle on her forehead smoothed. Her light-blue eyes stared at the three-headed cat lying next to the throne. “Triffy? Aren’t you supposed to guard the gate? What are you doing here?”

The three-headed cat made a hacking sound.

Theda stared with a blank expression as the cat’s right head coughed out a hairball. “Um…”

Trifelus nudged the hairball towards her and meowed.

Theda’s expression fell, but she forced a smile onto her face. “It’s very nice. Thank you.”

Trifelus meowed again before turning to leave.

What the hell? Did the guardian of the underworld come just to show her a hairball? Wasn’t this worse than bringing her chewed up dead people? At least the dead people could be reanimated and clean up after themselves. How was she supposed to clean a child-sized hairball? Her trashcans weren’t that big! The hairball twitched and groaned, causing Theda to flinch.

“…It’s alive?” A living hairball? She blinked as the hairball uncurled, revealing a child with cat ears and a cat tail, dressed in the skin of a dead penguin. Her eyes widened as she shot to her feet. “So…, so cute!”

***

Awakening Cycle 1,072,362: Day Unknown.

Dear Diary,

Today I met a weirdo.

Love,

Khrx