6 – It Seems Only I Can See – 1

He had a nightmare.

A dream in which the last heroes, including himself, were annihilated by the Demon King, and everything ended just like that.

Because somewhere in his heart he had thought it natural for things to turn out this way, it was a dream that felt needlessly more realistic.

No…

In truth, those terrible hardships,

the days of risking their lives to struggle together with everyone,

perhaps he simply hated that they were dismissed with the mere word “tutorial.”

It was a foolish thought.

No matter how valuable the experience had been, it could not be traded for life,

and the opportunity the heroes, including him, had obtained would surely bring a better future.

Perhaps it was human nature to deny it, letting emotions get ahead even while knowing the obvious truth.

“You really are cute…”

At those words, Gi-jun snapped his eyes open and sat up.

The time he checked out of habit was six in the morning, his usual wake-up time.

What differed from usual was his body drenched in sweat due to the nightmare, and the presence of the Demon King quietly looking down at him.

She was placing a hand over her mouth, her eyes slightly wide.

She seemed worried that Gi-jun might have heard what she had said.

He must have misheard anyway; there was no way the Demon King would call him cute.

Gi-jun shook his head to clear the sleep from his mind and spoke.

“Why are you here?”

“Well, the entire Demon King’s Castle shook from the sound of your groaning in a nightmare. That’s why I came to see.”

Speaking what was clearly a lie, she turned her head away to avoid Gi-jun’s gaze.

Glancing at the ground unconsciously, Gi-jun saw that the spot where the Demon King had been was pressed down, and he realized she might have stayed in the tent for longer than he thought.

But so what?

Whatever the truth, it was an undeniable fact that she had worried about Gi-jun as he had a nightmare.

“Thank you.”

“What is there to be thankful for? You ruined my morning sleep, so I want to eat something more delicious for breakfast today.”

“Sure, I’ll prepare a grand feast.”

“You promised? Yaaawn—”

The Demon King left the tent, stretching awkwardly along with an unnatural yawn.

Come to think of it, there should have been a barrier on the tent, so how did she bypass it? As Gi-jun thought this, he was dumbfounded to find that there was nothing wrong with the barrier.

Against the Demon King, a barrier of this level was no different from an automatic door.

Well, if she had wanted to harm him, she would have done so long ago, so it did not matter what happened to the tent’s barrier now.

More than anything, there was a matter far more serious than a mere barrier.

—When a favorite flower withers, one cannot help but fret. Having received plenty of worry and attention, the flower blooms beautifully once again. Charm has increased by 3 to become 60.

—When a favorite flower withers, one cannot help but fret. Having received plenty of worry and attention, the flower blooms beautifully once again. Charm has increased by 3 to become 60.

“Now I really don’t know what on earth is happening to my charm…”

A week had passed since he began living with the Demon King in a world where the first tutorial had ended.

Although there had been many changes during that time, Gi-jun believed without a doubt that none were as significant as his charm shooting up from 50 to 60.

Perhaps because of that, whenever he washed his face and looked at his reflection in the stream, he seemed to look handsomer than before.

When he said as much, the Demon King scolded him, saying that even if a common-grade charm stat rose slightly, one’s appearance hardly changed, but wasn’t Gi-jun’s state of mind what truly mattered?

‘Even if I do this, it will be reset once the main game starts… but she did say that if the grade itself rises, it can be inherited. If possible, I’d like it to grow to uncommon-grade before then. But considering I don’t even know the principle behind its growth, is thinking about that just a delusion?’

While harboring such cute thoughts, Gi-jun finished washing his face, set the rice to cook as always, and placed a stew pot on the fire.

In a pot filled with high-grade butter and olive oil—which could only be obtained by clearing a tedious quest on the Dairy Cow Farm map—he slowly sautéed onions and minced garlic, then threw in the beef shank of the Minotaur Charge Captain that he had been saving until now.

‘I’m finally using this.’

Thinking about how he had been given the beef shank for free during the distribution of spoils—thanks to the foreign heroes who did not know that such a brilliant, beautiful, and delicious cut existed in a cow’s leg—only brought a laugh to his lips.

“Wow, what is this? Why does it smell so delicious!”

As the Demon King, having caught the scent of the meat, suddenly appeared and approached with sparkling eyes, Gi-jun firmly raised his palm to block her.

“It’s not ready yet, wait.”

“No, from what I see, the cooking is all done.”

“I told you to wait.”

“Just one piece, just one piece.”

In truth, unless it was a completely lean shank, a marbled beef shank sliced thin and grilled would taste heavenly on its own…

After pondering for a moment, Gi-jun picked up a thin slice of the beef shank and popped it into the Demon King’s mouth.

Although the Demon King usually tried not to react too dramatically to his cooking, she stomped her feet and her eyes sparkled the moment she tasted the chewy yet tender meat.

“Isn’t this a Minotaur leg? But why is it so delicious!”

“The taste of meat originally depends on how it is butchered.”

“Right, you have a butchering skill too, Hero… I should look into ways to grow that as well.”

The Demon King seemed ready to slaughter the rest of the beef shank meant for the stew then and there, but Gi-jun quickly poured wine into the pot.

For reference, this wine was also something that could not be obtained without carrying out a quest that could only be received at the Wine Farm.

Throwing in vegetables like tomatoes and potatoes, along with spices, simmering it thoroughly, and then adjusting the seasoning was all it took to complete.

“Then I’ll go work out while this simmers. It will probably need to simmer for about an hour.”

“You’re lying, right? You want me to just stare at something smelling this good for a whole hour…?”

Leaving the pale-faced Demon King behind, Gi-jun went for his run. Upon his return, he pretended not to see the tomato sauce smeared around her mouth as he opened the pot lid to season it.

“Let’s eat now. It’ll taste even better than before.”

“Before? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure, just take your rice bowl.”

In truth, Gi-jun also knew that bread went well with Western-style beef stew.

However, he had to adhere to the creed that Koreans must eat rice for breakfast, so there was no helping it.

“Lately, you see, I think you’ve been under a misconception.”

The Demon King, who had emptied her rice bowl topped with stew in an instant and asked for a refill, spoke with a grain of rice stuck near her lips.

“If you’re thinking you might be able to tame me with food, I’d like to tell you to wake up from that dream.”

“Remove the rice grain first before you speak.”

Tossing the removed rice grain into her mouth, the Demon King continued.

“This is like a rightful reward I receive in exchange for teaching and helping you. So don’t go making impudent assumptions like I’m dependent on your cooking, or that I open my eyes every morning looking forward to it… Got it?”

“I’m just grateful that you enjoy the food.”

“It’s unpleasant because you seem to treat me like a glutton… Ah, give me another bowl.”

After eating three bowls of the stew filled with sincerity and meat, the Demon King, who was now in a good mood, acted quite kindly in the sparring session that followed.

Meaning that whereas he usually felt like he would collapse from a single clean hit, today he could somehow hold out for up to two.

—Just before falling for the enemy’s advanced trick, he realized it and counterattacked. Dexterity has increased by 1 to become 99.

—The Dexterity stat has reached its limit!

—Just before falling for the enemy’s advanced trick, he realized it and counterattacked. Dexterity has increased by 1 to become 99.

—The Dexterity stat has reached its limit!

It was after a round of sparring that Gi-jun realized his Dexterity had finally reached 99.

“Strange.”

Unlike Gi-jun, who was completely exhausted and sprawled on the ground, the Demon King tilted her head without a single drop of sweat, even though they had sparred for a good two hours.

“Even for a common-grade, growth speed is supposed to slow down when approaching the maximum limit. To think it rose by 4 in just a week.”

“My uncommon-grade Endurance is already 17, though?”

“Even if it’s uncommon, the value is low. Originally, when a limit is expanded, the growth margin is large for a while… Still, even that is very fast.”

The Demon King blinked as she looked at Gi-jun, pondered for a moment, and eventually nodded.

“It must be because I am so amazing, right?”

“Of course, Senior. I am always grateful to you.”

“Good, then wait here. I’ll think of a way to upgrade your Dexterity.”

Gi-jun wondered if his Dexterity would grow just by repeating practical sparring like this, but the Demon King, perhaps possessing a firm educational philosophy, suddenly entered the Demon King’s Castle.

Left alone, Gi-jun habitually opened his status window and skill window, only to be surprised.

Although he had already known about the remarkable growth of his stats, there had also been a major change in his skills.

[Skills/Spells]

[Common]

[Cooking Lv90, Butchering Lv85]

[Uncommon]

[Shield Mastery Lv24, Dual Blunt Weapon Mastery Lv82, Strong Taunt Lv99, Returning Throw Lv87]

[Rare]

[Persistent Regeneration Lv99, Metallization Lv96, Enjoying Without Tiring Lv83]

[Skills/Spells]

[Common]

[Cooking Lv90, Butchering Lv85]

[Uncommon]

[Shield Mastery Lv24, Dual Blunt Weapon Mastery Lv82, Strong Taunt Lv99, Returning Throw Lv87]

[Rare]

[Persistent Regeneration Lv99, Metallization Lv96, Enjoying Without Tiring Lv83]

“Persistent Regeneration… I didn’t think this would reach max level already.”

Persistent Regeneration was what Gi-jun had obtained by growing the uncommon-grade ‘Faint Regeneration.’

When a skill upgraded in grade, there were cases where only the grade rose while the name remained the same like Shield Mastery, and there were also cases where the name changed along with the grade, such as ‘Taunt’ becoming ‘Strong Taunt’ or ‘Throw’ becoming ‘Returning Throw.’

Usually, the latter—cases where the name also changed—had a larger growth margin and often came with new traits, and the same was true for Persistent Regeneration.

Originally, Faint Regeneration only raised natural recovery slightly, but perhaps because Gi-jun’s persistence in holding out tenaciously until the brink of collapse on any battlefield had been applied, ever since it grew into Persistent Regeneration, the regeneration effect doubled as his health dropped, sublimating him into an even more leech-like tanker.

‘But for it to be max level again.’

He found it absurd to think about how roughly he must have rolled for a regeneration skill to reach max level twice, yet his heart also fluttered at the thought of what would happen if it grew further.

Of course, although he had heard that there were many cases where skills were blocked and did not rise in grade, he felt certain that Persistent Regeneration would not end here.

‘I should… ask the Demon King, right?’

What other way would there be to raise the grade of a regeneration skill besides receiving a strong impact and recovering from it, just like when he had upgraded the grade of his Endurance stat?

Gi-jun once again realized that having the Demon King—who could execute an exquisitely strong attack without killing him—help him upgrade his grade was a tremendous stroke of good fortune.

“Found it—!”

The moment he was thinking of the Demon King, her voice resounded ringingly, causing Gi-jun to flinch and look back, only to see her running out of the Demon King’s Castle excitedly, holding something high in one hand like the Statue of Liberty.

In Gi-jun’s eyes, it looked like a Rubik’s Cube.

“Don’t tell me you want me to solve that?”

“A rampaging spirit of light is sealed inside this. It was originally one of the traps installed in the Demon King’s Castle.”

“Why are you bringing such a bomb? Senior, you don’t like me, do you?”

Spirits were a high-level concept that he had not even known existed during his days as a novice hero.

They were pure mana lifeforms originating from nature, and even the smallest spirit was said to possess great power…

Upon encountering such information, the heroes slowly began to think like this:

The spirit summoner route has opened—!

However, to state the conclusion first, it was all a pipe dream.

The occasion for most heroes to encounter a spirit was through quests like ‘A rampaging spirit has destroyed the village, so please lay this spirit to rest’ or ‘Waves have risen due to the spirit’s wrath, preventing the ship from setting sail. Please bring an offering to soothe the spirit’s wrath.’

Indeed.

These bastards called spirits were all either rampaging or enraged, leaving them in no state to even bring up the word ‘contract.’

“Isn’t that obvious? Why would a normal spirit show itself in front of humans? They’re busy enough living leisurely on their own.”

“Humans didn’t know that! In the games and novels we know, it was standard to contract with a strong and beautiful spirit and sweep everything away.”

“Aren’t you taking spirit summoners too lightly? To become a spirit summoner, one needs diverse talents, including the spiritual sensitivity to see natural spirits and hear their voices, a pure mind beloved by spirits, and the sociability to commune with and soothe them.”

And it wasn’t even an ability that could be trained; it all had to be innate.

Cleanly folding away the dream of becoming a spirit summoner that he had still harbored in a corner of his chest, Gi-jun took the Rubik’s Cube and questioned the Demon King as he handled it.

“So? What am I supposed to do with this Rubik’s Cube containing the sealed rampaging spirit? Let me tell you in advance, I don’t have thief skills like trap disarming.”

“You don’t even need trap disarming. Look closely.”

The Demon King gently pushed one side of the cube in Gi-jun’s hand.

—Ah, ah…

At that moment, Gi-jun was startled to see the cube shaking violently as a faint, gloomy voice leaked out along with light.

“How is it?”

“It looks like it’s going to explode at any second.”

“Exactly. Now you just need to solve the Rubik’s Cube while being careful of impacts so that it doesn’t explode.”

“Then what happens?”

“A closed door will open.”

“Where is that door?”

“Inside the Demon King’s Castle.”

In other words, she had brought over a trap that served no purpose even if solved, after detaching only the detonator.

Honestly, Gi-jun, who had expected at least the rampaging spirit of light’s wrath to be resolved so she could return to the spirit world, placed the cube down in disappointment, only to hastily restore it to its original position upon feeling the cube shake from just that action.

—Don’t… bully me…

“What do I do? It’s even scary to take my hands off it!”

“So you have to solve it well without taking your hands off it, right? I guarantee that if you succeed in doing that, your Dexterity grade will definitely rise.”

“Gosh, seriously…”

She really was the Demon King.

To casually set a death trap in the Hero’s hands!

—Don’t be angry…

“Okay, sorry. I’ll do my best.”

“…Huh?”

As his emotions flared, the spirit sealed inside the Rubik’s Cube also reacted sensitively.

He tried to soothe the spirit, frightened by the thought that it would blow up if he let his guard down even slightly, while the Demon King stared at Gi-jun with a dumbfounded look.

He spoke with a puzzled expression.

“Why?”

“Who did you just apologize to?”

“To the rampaging spirit of light.”

“Huh?”

The Demon King glared at him with disbelief, glared at the Rubik’s Cube, and then closed and opened her eyes tightly.

And she asked him to confirm.

“So, you’re saying you can hear the spirit’s voice right now?”