Hey guys, sorry for the lack of activity but man this chapter took way too long to write, but hope you guys enjoyed it.

Quote:“The longest-lived and the shortest-lived man, when they come to die, lose one and same thing,” – Marcus Aurelius

Near the outskirts of the capital city of Estad, where the royal castle that Shin and his group resided in was located, a dense forest surrounded the city with only clear road that led to the entrance gate. The forest is a common spot for monsters to spawn, though knights occasionally conduct routine purges to control the population of monster, people called adventurers are often commissioned by the Adventurer’s Guild, ventures into the forest for monster subjugations or material collection. However there was one spot that neither high-ranking adventurers nor knights would approach, the Dead Zone, as it is often called, a spot in the forest where monsters steered clear of and light couldn’t penetrate through the thick canopy. Several courageous young knights and fame-seeking adventurers approached the Dead Zone, most didn’t comeback at all, the ones that did were broken beyond repair. Inside the Dead Zone, resides a dark cave where a throne sat, on the throne was a body that appeared human. However, if described the body gave off the aura of perfection that humans can never attain, the face of the body was extremely handsome but the pale skin gave it a deathly glow. A peaceful expression can be seen on the body, the body was covered by a dark robe with several pieces of jewellery that gave off a demonic feeling. A child-like feminine voice resounded throughout the cave: “Soon we’ll be together again Shin,” and was accompanied by a small giggle. The body on the throne was the past Demon King.

Back at the castle, it has been a week since the group was transported to the new world. Shin had decided to withhold telling anyone about his corrupted status, and decided to tell people that he, too, was a swordsman. The week was filled with training for their future as heroes, Shin and Jason trained together as they were swordsmen, and they had the Royal Knight Captain, Marcus, as their tutor. Steven and Lori were trained separately and by personal tutors due their differing class. Steven was taught by the S-ranked archery-specialised adventurer, Joseph, commissioned by the Adventurer’s Guild. While, Lori was taught by the Court Magician, Martha, a middle-aged woman who was extremely kind and had a motherly feeling around her.

Steven and Shin were busy swinging swords at dummies, while Marcus watched; occasionally the Royal Knight Captain will give tips and correct their stances. Behind the trio were the knights and soldiers busy doing their own training with occasional glances will be directed to the heroes. After watching for a while Marcus told them to stop and switch their steel swords with wooden ones. Panting, Shin and Steven picked up the wooden swords beside them.

“Now, I want to see how far you both has progressed, so you two are going to a match,” Marcus declared, the announcement piqued the interest of the nearby soldiers and several formed a group to watch the match.

Shin looked at the wooden sword, though it won’t kill, it’ll still hurt if hit by it. During training, Shin saw the remarkable progress Jason has made, even Marcus was impressed. On the other hand, Shin who didn’t possess the swordsmen qualities was at best average, though this did caused doubts among the knights and the council; however it was dismissed as his anxiety of being in a different world.

“The rules are as followed: No serious injuries, and the one who gets hit first, loses,” Marcus explained the rules as the two are stretching.

“Please go easy on me, Jason,” Shin pleaded jokingly with a playful smile on his face.

“Just try to hold out,” Jason responded, also with smile.

As Marcus signalled the beginning of the match with a wave, Jason lunged forward with the tip of the sword aimed at Shin’s chest. Shin parried the strike and countered with a horizontal slash at Jason’s abdomen. Jason jumped backed and avoided the attack. The duel between the two continued for a minute, with Shin starting to visibly tire, however Jason haven’t finished.

“Disarm!” Jason shouted as he activated the E-rank sword skill [Disarm], in a blur, Shin’s sword flew away from Shin’s hand and the duel ended with Jason’s sword pointed at Shin’s throat. In this world, there were techniques called skills, much like in RPG games a skill allows the user to execute a technique that normally one wouldn’t be able to do. The [Disarm] skill was one of the first skills taught by Marcus, it was one of the most basic skills that all knights know. Jason quickly picked up the skill on the day it was taught; however Shin only was able acquire after 5 days, the average time required to master the skill. However the skill is only effective in low level battles, the probability of disarmament drastically reduces when fighting higher levelled opponents.

“Aw man, I got trashed,” Shin sighed as he sat down.

“Nah, I was having trouble to even hit you,” Jason denied, however it was only a polite gesture, even the soldiers could see that Jason wasn’t even bothered the slightest.

Shin’s heart wasn’t in training, though that didn’t affect his training progress, every time he has time to spare he will go into the royal library and study the world and potential methods of returning, alas, there were no other known methods of returning, but Shin has learnt a lot about the world and its common sense. It was discovered that the beast-men are heavily discriminated against as being an abomination that’s neither human nor beast, and are often kidnapped and sold as slaves. Elves, fairies and sprites are extremely exclusive and live in dense forests on small continents dotted between the demon and beast-men realm. One could be considered blessed if they were approached willingly by such beings, however such occasions rarely happened. “Just like an RPG,” was the only thought Shin had as he read through book after book.

As training was concluded they were informed by Marcus that they will be heading to the Adventurer’s Guild next day to receive their guild cards and to undertake a subjugation quest. As the sun was setting, Shin and Jason headed to the cafeteria where Lori and Steven were waiting for them. Shin once again assumed his “character” and cheerfully ate the food along with three as they discussed their training and what will happen tomorrow. As they were full they each went to bed and slept.

In the morning, Shin and the other three met up in the training yard and were shown around the city. Being a large city, it possessed a slum district where thieves, murderers, rapists and shady organisations occupied. Though security was high, due to the lack of evidence such organisations were able to continue as it is. As the four walked, they saw many stores, many sold food, but there were occasionally weapon shops and magic shops. But what was the most surprising for the three was the slaves. Shin had already understood that slavery is a common practice in this world; the other three were still ignorant and possessed their otherworldly values. When they asked Marcus, he replied that most of the human slaves were either criminals or those that where homeless and penniless. However no answers were given towards the beast-men slaves, thus showing the deep rooted discrimination against the beast-men. As they passed a slave sale, many beast-women were set for sale; all of them possessed features such as the animal ears and tails. The purpose for purchasing such women is better left unsaid.

Finally they approached a grand building that had a symbol of a man running between trees, the Adventurer’s Guild. Inside the guild were several men and women, wearing armoured and holding weapons, the magicians wore robes with either wands or staffs. Shin was wearing a leather vest with steel arm and shin guards with sword hanging by his side, while Jason wore full steel armour that protected his whole body apart from the head, as the helmet visor limited visibility. Steven wore light leather armour that was easy to move in, with a bow and quiver on his back. Lori wore a small blue robe and wizard hat with a short staff in her hand, Lori began to go red shrank from the curious gazes.

The four led by Marcus approached the reception where a beautiful lady stood.

“Yo, Sarah, can I have these four register as adventurers,” Marcus asked.

“These four? Don’t they seem to be too young?” Sarah had a puzzled expression.

“Though they don’t look like much, but they are heroes summoned by the King!” Marcus laughed as he saw the wide-eyed looks from spectators as they heard that the four children in front of them they were heroes.

“Really!” Sarah was equally surprised to see four children to be the heroes that’ll bring salvation against the demon-kind, “If that’s the case just put your hands on this crystal ball here.”

Jason stepped forward and placed his hand on the ball, the ball shined for a moment and a plate was taken out.

StatusName:JasonAdventurer Rank:C-rankLevel:1Class:SwordsmanRace:HumanGender:MaleHealth:1500/1500Mana:800/800Strength:100Agility:60Vitality:80Magic:60Defence:80Magic Resistance:60

Sarah looked at the stats on the plate and began rubbing her eyes.

“100 points in Strengths! Are you sure you are level 1?” Sarah exclaimed, as she stood with a dropped jaw looking at the figures on the Status Plate. The shriek drew the attention of everyone and words began to spread.

“Oi oi, seriously, that kid has 100 strength despite being a level 1!”

“What a monster, aren’t level 1s supposed to only have 10 strength?”

“I guess that’s Heroes for you, if they aren’t at least this powerful how could they fight the demon lord?”

As Steven and Lori stepped forward one at a time, the commotion got bigger.

StatusName:StevenAdventurer Rank:C-rankLevel:1Class:ArcherRace:HumanGender:MaleHealth:1000/1000Mana:500/500Strength:60Agility:100Vitality:70Magic:50Defence:50Magic Resistance:40

StatusName:LoriAdventurer Rank:C-rankLevel:1Class:MageRace:HumanGender:FemaleHealth:1000/1000Mana:1500/1500Strength:40Agility:50Vitality:50Magic:120Defence:40Magic Resistance:90

“What the hell, are they cheating somehow?!”

“Are they even human?”

Such comments were heard as the three received their status plates. As Shin went up to the ball, an air of suspense and expectation filled the room. What are his stats? Is he also a monster like those three? Such thoughts could be seen on the faces of the spectators. As the crystal ball stopped shining and Sarah tenderly took out the plate, a face of confusion could be seen.

StatusName:ShinAdventurer Rank:F-rankLevel:1Class:SwordsmenRace:HumanGender:MaleHealth:200/200Mana:100/100Strength:10Agility:10Vitality:10Magic:10Defence:10Magic Resistance:10

The adventurers went into an uproar.

“What the hell, is this kid even a hero?”

“You sure he’s the correct person?”

Such questions were shouted out as they looked Shin’s low stats compared to the other three. Confused, Shin checked his status in his mind, contrary to the Status Plate; the numbers were unreadable and couldn’t be determined. After the initial uproar, Shin was quickly ignored as a large group formed around the other three as merchants and adventurers alike attempted to curry favour. Pushing past the crowd to a wall where pieces of paper were pinned and displayed each quest. Monster subjugation, merchant escorts, material collection and there was even lost pet search requests posted on the wall. Each quest was graded with a difficulty that ranked as followed F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS, adventurers are also ranked similarly. Most of those that register in guild begin as F ranks, but if they paid extra to have their true strengths analysed, they will receive a more fitting rank. Jason, Steven and Lori all got a C-rank which is unprecedented for beginners, while Shin received the F-rank. SSS rankers are considered to be monster-level, the world has only seen one SSS rank which was the hero that subdued the Demon Lord, 500 years ago. However there are 5 SS ranks which makeup the Adventurer’s Council that govern the guild, with the Guild Master being one of them. There are Adventurer’s Guilds in every large town, with the main guild building being at main capital of the human realm where most of the S and SS rankers reside. However for the group Marcus decided on a D-ranked monster subjugation of 20 Dark Wolves near the centre of the forest, there was a rule on quests where you can only undertake quests which are only one rank higher or lower than your rank to prevent deaths and monopolization. Shin was an exception as the party was mostly comprised of C-rankers with Marcus being an A-rank himself.

The group took the paper of the board and handed it to Sarah at the reception and was briefed that the reward for quest will be 3 silvers. The currency of the world is the same where 100 coppers make 1 silver and 100 silvers make 1 gold, and 10 gold makes 1 dragon gold coin. The quest reward was pretty high as a normal family could live comfortably on one silver for a week, but the Dark Wolves were especially dangerous due to their teamwork as a pack and their ability to blend in the shadows. The party set out to forest, during their trek through the forest they encountered many animals, a boar even tried to ram them as they got close but Steven quickly shot its heart with a bow. The accuracy would make an Olympic archery team cry. As they ventured deeper they started to encounter low-ranked monsters such as goblins, the goblins were the size of children with green skin and a grotesque face that only a mother could love. The goblins were the weakest of monsters due to their small physique and low intelligence, in a fight an average goblin could even lose to slimes. The only thing that prevented them from dying out was their reproductive abilities. Even the goblins posed no threat to Shin as he cut them apart. When they reached a small clearing they saw a pack of Dark Wolves that feasted on the remains of a group of goblins. The Dark Wolves had dark fur and sharp eyes; each wolf was almost the size of an adult. When the party approached them, the Dark Wolves’ nose twitched as they picked up the scent of the party. The pack turned to their direction and beared their fangs. Jason readied his sword with an intense look in his eyes; Steven nocked his bow and aimed at the largest Dark Wolf, the pack leader. Lori was panicking but began to calm down to chant her magic.

The Dark Wolves pounced in an attempt to stop Lori from chanting as they sensed danger emanating from the girl. However before the wolf could touch Lori, Steven shot an arrow at it. But it quickly dodged and quickly disappeared into the shadows, the rest of the pack followed suit. The party tensed up as they readied themselves for the incoming attacks. As expected a barrage of attacks quickly followed, the wolves would jump out the shadow to try and attack an opening before disappearing again. Steven managed to shoot and immobilized a couple with [Ice Arrow] before Jason dealt the finishing blow. Lori casted support magic to boost the party’s defence and stamina, and occasionally fired [Ice Spears] and [Fireball] at any wolves that appeared. The three worked amazingly as a party, where Shin realized he was just a weak link that was having trouble to just protect himself. Marcus frowned at Shin’s performance as he cut down any wolves that would land a vital hit on the party. As the fight dragged on Jason activated the martial skill [Acceleration] where his speed and perception doubled and made short work of the wolves. As support, Lori casted light magic to illuminate the area to render the Dark Wolves’ strategy useless. When the wolves eliminated the party high-fived each other at their victory, though his expression was a smile, Shin cursed himself for being weak and realised he wouldn’t be able to survive in this world if he continues being a hero.

Just as the party was about to leave a sudden rumble was heard throughout forest, all nearby animals scurried away. The party once again was on high-alert, the rumble continued and gradually got closer. Suddenly through the forage a giant 5 metre tall humanoid walked out, however instead of skin or fur the giant was made of water.

“Shit! What is an A-rank doing here?” Marcus cursed as he confronted the A-ranked [Water Golem].

Though Marcus might be able to defeat the golem, it was too soon for the Jason and the others. The [Water Golem] was completely immune to physical attacks and was able to utilize medium-grade water magic [Water Blade] and [Water Bomb]. Just as Marcus was about to order a retreat another golem revealed itself, instead of being made of water, it was composed of fire, [Fire Golem]. Such a situation is tough even for Marcus who was an A-rank. The party quickly made a run for it with Steven leading as he nimbly dodged the blades of water and torrents of flame. Marcus stayed back to buy some time, however the golems ignored him and continued to advance towards the hero party. The [Water Golem] unleashed several spheres of water which each exploded and blew the party away. The [Fire Golem] created a massive wall of flame to stop Marcus who was running to their aid. Jason got up and tried to cut the golem but the blade only passed through the water. Steven’s arrow also had no effect. Lori was firing magic at it, though it seemed to have an effect, the golem continued to move forward to where Shin was.

Shin realized he was the target and quickly made a run for it away from the party and back into the forest.

“I’ll divert its attention, you guys quickly escape. We’ll meet up at the guild!” Shin shouted before the rest of the party could react.

To die without my character broken, pretty impressive, was the only thought Shin had as he ran. The golems quickly followed and chased relentlessly. As Shin ran deeper, the sun light quickly disappeared to reveal pitch darkness. As it was silent, Shin sat against a tree to regain his breathing, just as he was about to get up a massive water hand engulfed him. Shin couldn’t breathe as he was lifted with ease by the [Water Golem], as he struggled against the golem, Shin’s vision began to darken. “Will I meet Nana again?” was the thought that floated in his mind as his mind was engulfed in darkness.

Shin opened his eyes and saw on pitch black, he couldn’t move, he merely floated in the emptiness. “Am I dead?” Shin asked himself, as if in reply a girl’s voice rang out: “Shh, no more questions Shin. We finally meet again.” Shin woke up and saw that he was lying on the floor of a cave. Water was dripping down onto his face, or was it tears? The girl’s voice brought back memories that Shin didn’t want to recall. I must be hallucinating to hear her voice here, Shin reasoned. As Shin got up, he was greeted by a man on a throne. The man enveloped in a robe was unmoving and had a deathly glow to his pale skin. Shin moved forward to better inspect the man, as Shin was about to touch the man , a voice called out: “Welcome to my lair, dear Shin.” Startled by the voice, Shin turned around and was greeted by a black haired girl in a high school uniform. Shocked by the person in front of him, Shin was silent.

“Na-Nana?” Shin choked on his words.

“Yes, Shin?” the girl replied with a smile.

“Why are you here and how are you here?” were questions that Shin wanted to ask but couldn’t. Shin moved his hand to touch Nana’s face, but his hand merely passed through her. Extremely confused, Shin took back his hand, but Nana grabbed onto his hand and embraced him. He couldn’t touch her, but she could touch him. Shin couldn’t suppress his tears as it flowed down his face as he accepted her embrace.

“Wh-wh-why are you here? Are you alive?” Shin voice trembled.

“I am a fragment of your desire, awakened by the past Demon Lord. Though I am not alive, I soon will be, if you help,” Nana replied.

“What is it?” Shin asked cautiously when he heard about the Demon Lord.

“No need to be so cautious, I am the Nana you knew, am I not? When you were summoned, I was awakened by the residue energy of the past Demon Lord that was suppressed here. I possess all his memories and experience, poor thing; he wanted to unite the world for peace but was martyred by the world,”

“What do you mean,” Shin recollected his composure and had a serious look on his face.

“Every time a hero is summoned a Demon Lord will be created, you can say that Demon Lords are caused by Heroes, each Demon Lord is selected with a deep hidden desire. The past Demon Lords desired equality, peace, revenge, you name it, and thus they’re guided by their desire which eventually led to their downfall, one way or another. You were selected and so here I am. Not many Demon Lord have actually achieved their desire, many have perished trying. But those that have all did one thing in common: eliminate the heroes. I have commanded the golems to bring you here to hear you answer. Will you become the Demon Lord, for me?” Nana asked.

Shin was silent as he pondered, shall he become this world’s enemy for the girl he loved? Does he have anything to fear? No, the answer is clear. A devilish smile appeared on Shin’s face.

“I shall become the Demon Lord,” Shin replied simply. Just as the words exited his mouth a burning sensation was felt around his neck as runes appeared on his skin. Shin dropped to one knee as he felt the runes.

“Congratulations Shin! The mark of the demon lord has manifested, you have become the new Demon Lord. I don’t have a lot time as the residue energy is running out but I’ll visit you every night to train you, and slowly release your limiter. I’m sure you have noticed that your status could not be read, that is the limiter, there are no normal means that can be used to read your status thus your status plate. Becoming the Demon Lord comes with its perks you know! I’ll advise you to stay in this cave until you’re strong enough to exit the forest unharmed,” Nana exclaimed gleefully as she faded away.

Shin sat down as he processed the information – he became the Demon Lord, there is a way to be by Nana’s side again. Looking at his status, Shin smiled. And thus, a Demon Lord has been created.

StatusName:ShinAdventurer Rank:F-rankLevel:1Class:Demon LordRace:HumanGender:MaleHealth:¨àµà´¨Mana:´¾à´ªStrength:´¯àµà´Agility:ªà´¿à´Vitality:¨àµà´¨Magic:´¯àµà´Defence:െàMagic Resistance:´¯àµà´