At Night


    After a long training session, Alice was returning from the training ground. She was lost in thought, wondering how she could grow stronger faster so that she would never feel helpless again.


    Suddenly, she saw someone lying on a chair in front of her. It was none other than Aniket, who was reading a book at night while wearing black sunglasses, with a campfire burning in front of him.


    As her attention shifted to the campfire, her jaw dropped in shock. Hanging above the campfire was James. His hands and legs were tied, and he was suspended over a bamboo stick, with the campfire blazing beneath him.


    Nearby, Aniket sat calmly, sipping tea—even at night.


    Tears welled up in James''s eyes. He wanted to scream, but his mouth was stuffed with a cloth.


    Alice slowly approached Aniket, ready to say something, but Aniket spoke first, "Look, I''m done with my patience, so I''m just relaxing. And as for why that guy is hanging there, well, he blew up my entire room."


    Then he added nonchalantly, "And this guy is still in perfect condition. I mean, I could…"


    Alice, shocked, interrupted, "But isn''t this too much? I mean, this kind of treatment…"


    Aniket cut her off, saying, "Once, this guy gave me a bottle of mana water that was supposedly full. But guess what? He had already drunk half of it. So, can you imagine what he filled the rest with?"


    Alice, bewildered, replied, "I can''t even imagine. Wait, water?"


    Aniket, with an expression of fury, responded, "His freshly passed urine."


    Alice, horrified, exclaimed, "And you drank it?!" She burst out laughing hysterically.


    Aniket, however, remained completely silent, because the so-called mana water hadn''t been drunk by him—it had been given to Alice as a repayment. He knew that if he revealed this to her, not even God could save him.


    Aniket silently watched Alice laughing at him and then glared at James, saying, "Serves you right, you scoundrel."


    Drawing Alice''s attention back to him, he said, "Alright, enough now. By the way, I''ve got some stuff in your room, so take care of it for me. My room''s completely destroyed. It''s strange how your room is completely untouched."


    Alice replied, "That''s because I reinforced the walls a bit while practicing my ability."


    After a moment of thought, she asked, "Do you have any amazing weapons…?"


    Aniket interrupted her, saying, "There''s a book in your room, along with the other stuff, that has the designs of some incredible mana guns. With them, we could crush a hundred Demon Queens like her. But for now, I don''t have enough mana to create their parts."


    Behind them, James was desperately begging to be released from his cruel predicament.


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    Meanwhile, Avinash opened his eyes, focused on his gaming window, and spun the wheel again. This time, he got a three-star rating for completing the first three missions in his ninja game.


    Two things became clear to him: first, he would only receive skill upgrades after completing missions in the game, and second, each mission could earn him a star depending on how well he met the requirements. This new update was quite impressive, as he couldn''t spend days completing a game just to gain a single skill.


    However, this time, the wheel rewarded him with Raiden''s sword, a rather lousy reward. Disheartened, Avinash pouted and cursed his terrible luck. After all his efforts, this was all he got. Thankfully, he still had two chances left.


    He spun the wheel again, hoping to win a decent skill this time, but he got yet another Raiden sword.


    Avinash was now on the verge of depression. If he didn''t get something worthwhile this time…


    He spun the wheel one last time. This time, luck seemed to be on his side as the arrow hovered over a skill he had been longing for: the Final Boss''s Sword Skills. But then, the wheel ticked a little further, and he ended up with another substitute skill.


    Completely devastated, Avinash felt like the universe was mocking him. There was nothing more he could do.


    A Notification on the Window


    A notification popped up on the screen:


    "Generating all rewards. Skill generation successful.


    First item generation: 1%...15%...24%...36%...47%...67%...89%...99%...100%.


    Second item generation: 1%...15%...24%...36%...47%...67%...89%...99%...100%."


    Two swords dropped in front of Avinash. Ignoring them, he was about to search for a new game on his system when he noticed something shocking: his mana, which had been at 159, was now down to just 25.


    Avinash couldn''t believe it. So much mana wasted on generating two worthless swords?


    The Demon Queen, who often appeared different from her masculine counterparts, now stood as a strikingly beautiful and flawless woman.


    "All of them are weak," she said, "but dangerous nonetheless."


    Shrinkaate materialized before her, bowing apologetically. "Forgive me, my Queen, for not providing you with complete information."


    The Demon Queen waved it off. "No matter. When you informed me, I came alone here as quickly as I could. But there''s something strange about the bloodline inheritor of the Demon King.


    "He neither utilized his demon bloodline nor did it trigger on its own. That is odd."


    She paused, her tone turning sharp. "And why does Vincent Griffin want me to eliminate those children with my own hands? He deliberately refrained from intervening himself. It seems this kingdom is already engulfed in the flames of rebellion. His intent is clear—he wants the prodigies and talented children from prominent families wiped out."


    Shrinkaate lowered her head again. "I apologize once more for failing to provide the full truth. Those children are neither royal heirs nor from any noble families. They are, in fact, heroes summoned from another world."


    The Demon Queen''s eyes narrowed. "Heroes?"


    Shrinkaate continued, "You were misinformed. You were told they were promising students from the academy, but that was a blatant lie. There are 100 heroes summon here."


    The Demon Queen was stunned. "What?!"


    But the real shock was yet to come.


    Shrinkaate continued, "And the one who has inherited the Demon Bloodline is also a hero, someone whose potential can be Nameless."


    The Demon Queen''s emotions were a mix of fear and excitement. She was anxious because 100 heroes gathered together were no trivial matter. Yet, she was overjoyed because the most powerful and exceptional hero would become the next Demon King.


    The Nameless potential had resurfaced after 2,000 years.


    Who would have thought that among the heroes—those known as the slayers of the Demon King—one would rise to become the Demon King himself?


    Elsewhere, Vincent Griffin bellowed, "How dare you interfere, Victoria!"


    Victoria, bowing apologetically, said, "Forgive me, but you were about to make the biggest mistake of your life. You were going to sacrifice the Nameless potential hero."


    "It''s a good thing I intervened."


    Vincent Griffin, calming his rage, said, "Fine. I shouldn''t have acted so impulsively without thinking it through."


    Victoria replied with urgency, "This is no time to calm down, Your Majesty. The Princess''s condition is worsening, and on top of that, the Demon Queen wants you to host a tournament among the academy''s ''promising students,'' or rather, the heroes, purely for her entertainment."


    "There''s still no information about the Demon King''s inheritors, nor have either of the two thieves been caught. Worse, it seems the Demon Queen has figured out the truth—that these so-called students are actually heroes."


    "If this truth comes to light, all species will undoubtedly wage war against humanity. They''ll aim to destroy humanity before it can rise again."


    "And I fear the day is near when your brother will reveal his bitterness toward the family to the world. If that happens, humanity''s backbone will be shattered."


    "And to make matters worse, I don''t believe the heroes are ready yet. Nor is your trump card."


    A knock at the door interrupted the conversation. As the door opened, someone said from behind, "Here''s the root of all the trouble. Because of him, we nearly died!"


    Akira, startled, saw several people standing in front of him. Among them, Min-Jun grabbed his collar and growled, "You almost got us all killed!"


    Before Akira could respond, a fist landed on his face. The group began beating him mercilessly, venting their anger before leaving him humiliated and battered.


    Left alone, Akira''s eyes filled with tears, his body bruised, and his heart pierced with despair. He muttered to himself, "I''ll make you all pay for this."


    But deep down, he knew nothing would change.


    Nothing had changed in his previous life, and nothing would change in this world either.


    I was weak, is weak, and will always remain weak.