5 – 1 – Living with the Demon King – 4

The next day, Gi-jun woke up like clockwork at six in the morning, exercised, washed up, and prepared breakfast.

Today’s breakfast menu was golden fried rice, made by frying only eggs stolen from the nest of the monstrous bird Thunderbird, rice, oil, and finely chopped green onions.

The Demon King, who had tried to discipline her junior by saying the appearance looked completely pathetic, ended up shedding tears of emotion while chewing the grains of rice that captured the essence of Chinese fried rice.

In fact, although the dominant theory was that golden fried rice originated in Japan, not China, the Demon King wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between Korea, China, and Japan anyway, so Gi-jun decided to bluff that golden fried rice was also a part of the great Korean culinary culture since things had turned out this way.

“Demon King.”

“Give me another bowl. Why?”

“Do stats rise just like that?”

The Demon King, who had calmly received a refill of the golden fried rice despite criticizing it before eating that it would taste bad because it looked unappealing, looked at him with an expression of looking at a pitiful person at Gi-jun’s casual question.

“Did I hit you too much yesterday?”

“But my Charm actually went up.”

“Hero, I wasn’t going to go as far as to say this, but you aren’t very handsome.”

“I know that! I’m just saying my Charm rose by 1 while I was sleeping yesterday, so it became 51!”

“Pfft.”

The Demon King could no longer hold back and burst into laughter.

“Ch-Charm isn’t even uncommon, but common grade, and only 50… If you reached level 96, you should have received a presence adjustment, but it’s still 50, pfft, kuhuk…”

“I really want to hit you. And I said it rose to 51.”

The stat known as Charm was universally acknowledged to be the most useless stat, while also being one that easily incited conflict among heroes.

For example, it would provide the cause for provoking the opponent by mockingly pointing out that their boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s Charm was only 10, or demanding that they open their status window to prove their base stats, competing with each other’s Charm values and eventually escalating into a brawl.

However, if Charm had been merely a rude value that ranked people by their faces and bodies, there was no way it would have occupied a place in the status column alongside other stats.

Charm was also a composite value of the influence and charisma that a person exerted on other existences.

If Charm was high, there were many benefits, such as easily gaining favor with NPCs and proceeding with quests more smoothly.

In addition, it also greatly affected one’s presence, so a person with high Charm was more likely to attract attention than one with low Charm.

To put it extremely, an existence like the Demon King, who inspired awe in everyone, could not help but have high Charm.

And as Charm increased, one’s appearance also became handsome and beautiful, completing an unfair existence that was strong yet possessed a perfect appearance.

…Just like the Demon King right in front of him.

“For your information, my Charm is legendary grade.”

“What?! A stat can even go up to legendary grade?!”

Gi-jun wanted to shout at her to open her status window and prove her base stats right this second, but he firmly held back.

Being beaten by the Demon King was enough during training.

She smirked, as if she knew his mind, and spoke.

“Originally, Charm grows the more you exert a great influence on other people. That’s why some people even called Charm an achievement reward. Because it rises the more active you are.”

“That makes sense.”

“But since there are only the two of us, you and me, now, saying that Charm rose while sleeping at night is truly nonsensical talk—”

The mouth of the Demon King, who had been speaking eloquently to embarrass Gi-jun, snapped shut at some point.

Her pupils could be seen shaking violently.

“What’s wrong?”

“No!”

When he looked at her with a puzzled expression and asked, she suddenly shouted out loud.

“Of course! Charm can indeed grow. You are facing a powerful existence like me, so even if you influenced me by a hair’s breadth, it’s natural for a common grade Charm to shoot up rapidly!”

Although he could not understand why she was shouting, the rise of Charm itself was a good thing for Gi-jun, so he nodded with satisfaction.

Although he had never told anyone, it was because he harbored a slight inferiority complex about his rather unremarkable appearance.

No, actually, quite a bit.

To the point where it influenced his way of life.

“Well, it’s a bit awkward to say this after teasing you this much.”

Perhaps having read Gi-jun’s mind, the Demon King, who was reading his expression with a slightly subdued attitude, spoke.

“Your Charm will increase. Because you will exert a great influence on countless people in the future. It will reach at least unique grade. You will undergo a complete transformation.”

“Thanks for thinking highly of me. …So, is that from your own experience?”

“Hmph, my Charm was unique grade ever since I got my status window, you know?”

The Demon King spat out words that sounded like a lie anyway, and added while frowning ever so slightly.

“Actually, it wasn’t that good. Because that high Charm made me a hero representing a single civilization. That was a huge flow that I couldn’t reject. It was too fierce, and too fast…”

“…Demon King.”

When he trailed off, not knowing how to react to her words which clearly began as a boast but ended in a lament, the Demon King wrapped up her words by shrugging as if it were no big deal.

“It’s fine, since I have accepted it all now. Perhaps the stat called Charm is something created by polishing the word ‘destiny’ to make it a bit less burdensome.”

“Destiny.”

“There might have been someone on Earth as well, Hero.”

When Gi-jun asked what she meant by merely twitching his eyebrow, the Demon King also twitched her eyebrow in the same manner and spoke.

“I mean a hero who naturally possessed a high-grade Charm from birth and carried a heavy destiny.”

“That’s impossible. I told you, Earthlings didn’t even know that stats had grades.”

“That’s why—I’m saying they might have been pretending not to know. Though destiny isn’t something you can avoid by pretending not to know.”

The Demon King, who had cleared even her second bowl of fried rice, set down the bowl and stood up vigorously as she spoke.

“But let’s put Charm aside for now, and today we will train your Dual Shield Mastery.”

“I am ready, senior.”

His Endurance, which had just grown to uncommon grade yesterday, finally reached 5 after being put through the wringer for the entire day.

His Dexterity and Mana also rose by 1 each.

His uncommon grade Shield Mastery and Dual Blunt Weapon Mastery grew solidly, and the same went for his rare grade skills.

And.

—Flowers bloom for the person who looks at them. You are the same. Charm has increased by 1, becoming 52.

…That night, his Charm also rose without fail.

* * *

[Ye-min]

[Title — Chosen Hope (Unique)]

[Human Lv. 1]

[Strength — 8+10]

[Dexterity — 11+10]

[Endurance — 9+10]

[Mana — 12+10]

[Charm (U) — 27+20]

[Ye-min]

[Title — Chosen Hope (Unique)]

[Human Lv. 1]

[Strength — 8+10]

[Dexterity — 11+10]

[Endurance — 9+10]

[Mana — 12+10]

[Charm (U) — 27+20]

‘Ah.’

The hero, Ye-min, closed her eyes gently after looking at the contents of the status window she had opened just in case.

It was the same.

It was identical to when she had first been dragged to the other world, without a single change.

“Now, all of you understand what happened, right? You have regressed! That means you received a second chance!”

The only difference was the moth who was being cheeky in front of the people, throwing around the word ‘regression’ without hesitation.

At first, she had doubted if it was a hallucination seen right before death, and next, she had wondered if she had returned to the past alone.

But that was not the case.

“Surely, there isn’t any trash of a human who is trying to monopolize all the treasures and opportunities of this world, thinking, ‘I returned to the past alone! I won’t be fooled like an idiot again, from now on I will only live for myself!’ right? In terms of common sense, there’s no way they would give a special privilege to only one person! Pfft, the opportunity is the same, and the competition is the same! Go ahead and fight until you bleed!”

The moth let out an unpleasant laugh while provoking all the regressed heroes, but Ye-min snorted upon hearing the moth’s words.

Monopolizing all the treasures and opportunities just because she regressed? There was no need to do that.

She knew very well that the greatest opportunity lay within herself, and that as long as she nurtured it well, she could become the strongest no matter what.

‘But this time, I will stop stepping forward unnecessarily in front of others.’

Before the regression… that was, when the ‘first round’ began.

She had known well that her stats were special, even without having to compare them with others.

While others found it difficult to obtain even a single uncommon grade title, she had possessed a unique grade title from the moment she entered the other world, and while others did not even know that grades existed for stats, her Charm had been unique grade from the start.

Confirming that her stats were inflated, she had stepped forward with a hundredfold courage and stood at the center of the crowd ever since.

Although she did not go out of her way to mention her specialness, those around her still put her on a pedestal on their own.

Perhaps that was why she had been mistaken.

The person who truly deserved to be put on a pedestal, the person who should have been called hope, was not herself.

‘Jun-i oppa…’

Recalling her final moment, Ye-min clenched her fists with all her might.

Every time she recalled the face of that stubbornly loyal man, who had sacrificed and yielded every time because of the pathetic and weak heroes including herself, and had received wounds he didn’t need to suffer while trying to protect her to the end, her heart felt as if it were breaking.

How much pain must he have been in, and how much more must he have suffered, left behind alone after I died…!

‘Still, a lot will be different this time, Oppa. I will find you as quickly as possible and make sure to put you in the place you deserve…!’

If there was anything she regretted to this day, it was that she had failed to make Gi-jun take up a weapon sooner, and that she had failed to inform him of the fact that stats also had grades.

The former was because no one had wanted to step forward with a shield, so she had turned a blind eye to his sacrifice despite knowing his true talent.

The latter was…

‘Half of it was the fear that Oppa would hate me if he realized how excessively special I was.’

And the other half was the fear of Gi-jun getting hurt while doing something reckless to raise his Endurance grade.

But she shouldn’t have done that.

To win against the Demon King, they should have tried anything and everything they could.

At least to Gi-jun, she should have confessed everything without hiding anything, discussed it with him, and worked together to raise their combat power by any means.

Believing like an idiot that she was the only chosen one, believing that Oppa Gi-jun was someone she had to lead, gritting her teeth and ignoring his brilliantly shining talent, and only wishing for him to rely on her—

‘I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have done that. I really shouldn’t have done that…!’

She had regretted it to death, believing there was no way to turn back.

It was fine for her to receive divine punishment for deceiving his heart, but it was simply bitter and deeply painful that he had to die with her.

But it was not the end.

She, and Gi-jun too!

Had returned to the starting line.

They had obtained the chance to set everything right!

“Then, we will begin the tutorial mission now! You all remember, right? You can do better, right? Then, shall we double the target amount? Fufu, just kidding ♥”

Ye-min turned away from the crowd while covering her face by pulling up her hood.

Now, there was no longer any time to mingle with others.

Her mind was busy thinking about how to help him after joining up with Gi-jun.

‘The unique skill Oppa yielded to me, I will make sure Oppa learns it this time. Not only that, but also all the secret quest rewards I alone obtained thanks to my high Charm…!’

She had the ability, but had failed once.

Therefore, this time, she would not become a king herself but a kingmaker.

She intended to make Gi-jun, who was more suited to be a king than anyone else, into the strongest, invincible king.

‘Jun-i oppa, I’m coming to meet you now.’

Filled with determination, Ye-min’s eyes gleamed coldly.

That Gi-jun would not be in this world.

Without even dreaming of it for now.