Chapter 1

1

On a weekend afternoon, with nothing to do, I was browsing the internet.

My only hobby in this boring life was gaming, but now I didn't even have a game to play.

‘No game to play.’

I thought this might be the male version of women saying they have no clothes to wear, but still, if you don't have it, you don't have it.

I had only played simulation games, and well-made simulation games are hard to come by, so it wasn't easy to enjoy my hobby.

And a while ago, I had conquered the game that boasted the worst difficulty, so I really had no game to play.

While aimlessly browsing various sites and killing time by reading silly humor posts, one post caught my eye.

The accompanying photo showed a pigeon with an egg in the poster's hand and a mother bird.

It seemed the pigeon had built its nest on an air conditioner outdoor unit.

Already, several comments were posted.

"Break the egg," "Destroy the nest," "Just return it," "Fry and eat it," "You're crazy," and over ten other comments were there.

No one seemed to be naively hoping for a chicken gift card.

Perhaps because I was so bored, I thought about leaving a comment myself.

What should I do? After a moment's thought, I started typing.

I thought that even a liar would be impressed and send me a chicken gift card.

Sure enough, the reaction was热烈.

The people who were just talking about destroying the nest were now all admiring me.

But I thought, shouldn't the guy who suggested frying and eating the pigeon egg in front of the mother bird have no right to say anything to me?

The comments quickly surpassed fifty, but after my comment, they were mostly about my comment rather than the original post.

In the end.

HSG was a nickname using the initials of my name.

But could they really give me a chicken gift card?

Of course, believing it for a moment made me a fool.

After all, the guy who took the egg and told me to go to hell was definitely a crazy person.

I laughed bitterly and absentmindedly clicked on a non-existent web page address.

I thought it would just say the page couldn't be found, but I froze when I saw the screen on the monitor.

What?

I thought it was just nonsense, but at that moment, my consciousness was cut off.

My 21-year life ended so pointlessly.

* * *

Floating in endless darkness, I thought.

If I had many regrets, it was a life with many regrets; if I had none, it was a life without regrets.

I had no desire to continue living, but I also had no desire to die.

It was just a boring life.

I had no regrets because I had no lingering attachments, and it was regrettable that I couldn't create a single attachment in 21 years.

I wanted to live as I pleased, but living as I pleased in a rule-of-law country would probably be impossible, so it was hard to be satisfied with life.

I had such a strong, raw heart that I couldn't give up what I loved, I would destroy what I hated, and I was ready to abandon moral principles to get what I wanted, so I had to hide it within the boundaries of law and morality.

So I abandoned that heart and those desires, followed the law, and lived honestly.

I feared the risks that would come to me if I broke the law.

I hated being constrained by someone more than death, and I chose to give up my desires rather than go to prison.

But if I was going to die so pointlessly after living for just over 20 years, I thought it might have been better to live as I pleased.

"Then why don't you live that way?"

A voice suddenly came from the empty space, and it was disgustingly sweet.

The voice, which seemed to violate my ears and sense of hearing, felt like it was made by melting a luscious fruit.

-Who are you?

Since I had no physical body here, my words didn't come out as sound.

But it seemed I successfully conveyed my intention to the other party.

"I am the one who brought you here."

As proof that my words were conveyed, a silly wordplay came back.

-That's not what I meant.

"Ha ha ha. You're right. But it's a bit awkward to have a conversation without seeing each other's faces."

When the man's voice violated my nonexistent ears again, I was startled by a sudden sensation.

I could feel the air and heat around me, and a faint smell of sulfur irritated my nose.

My dry mouth and throat felt thirsty, and I could feel the rough texture of the ground on my cheeks and skin.

"Wh-what...!"

I barely regained my senses, but the sudden movement made me dizzy.

"Finally, you've come to your senses?"

It was the same voice I had just heard.

Lifting my head, I could see the owner of the voice.

His black hair and eyes seemed to absorb all light, and his skin was abnormally pale in stark contrast. He was dressed in a clean white suit, and he was dangerously handsome.

He was sitting in a chair that looked expensive, looking down at me.

"What is this...?"

My confused voice made the man's eyes curve into an attractive smile.

"Well, now that we're face to face, it's proper to introduce ourselves. Of course, if we consider our status, it would be natural for you to introduce yourself first, but since I know who you are, I'll just introduce myself to be efficient."

His speech was anything but efficient.

"My name is Lucifer, the demon lord of pride and arrogance, Lucifer. You must have heard of me at least once in the world you lived in."

Nonsense.

If someone had told me the same thing, I would have dismissed it as nonsense.

But this time, even without considering the dream-like phenomena I had experienced, I could feel that the man in front of me, who claimed to be a demon, was the real deal.

No human could possess such evil beauty.

"If you're the demon lord, then this must be hell. I thought I lived a decent life..."

I endured everything and still ended up in hell, which is quite unfair.

Well, thinking about it, I didn't commit any sins, but I didn't live that decently.

"Yes, but there's no need to be so tense. If you had simply died and come to hell, you wouldn't have met me, let alone the other lords."

Other lords? I looked around, feeling cold sweat on my back.

There was something beyond the space I could see, something beyond my perception.

"It's not a good idea to keep your gaze there. Unlike me, they are not considerate enough to have a good nature."

Lucifer's voice turned my head forcefully.

"Wh-what...!"

I thought I was acting calmly, but the moment my gaze was drawn to that something, my composure was completely lost.

"Okay, Han Se-gi, let's have a more constructive conversation."

The moment Lucifer said my name, I felt something tighten around me.

At the same time, Lucifer raised his hand, and a naked woman flew out of the darkness and fell in front of me.

She fell with a thud, as if she had fallen from a high building.

The woman, who was covered in torture tools designed to inflict pain, struggled to her feet and handed me a piece of paper.

The smell of flesh and blood came from her.

The moment I took the paper, she was dragged back into the darkness.

She couldn't scream because of the gag in her mouth, but her desperate struggle to avoid being dragged away was more heart-wrenching than any scream.

Is this what a demon does? The performance to hand over a piece of paper was over the top.

"Read it."

The paper was written in a language I had never seen before, but I could still understand the content.

To summarize:

"That's the condition for you to live again. I don't think it's a bad deal."

I looked at Lucifer, having read the paper.

I didn't need to ask what the negative meant.

Lucifer and the other demons behind the curtain, who were watching me, lived off of it.

If Lucifer symbolized pride, the others would symbolize other vices, and they could earn the title of top employee by diligently accumulating what they symbolized.

"Did you kill me for this?"

"You can see it that way."

Lucifer admitted it with a chuckle, and I felt so helpless that I couldn't even be angry.

"You didn't really want to live longer, did you?"

That's true, but I didn't want to die either.

"Even if I didn't ask, what if I told you to die for a better life?"

Lucifer asked as if he could read my mind.

"Being a puppet of a demon can't be considered a better life."

Lucifer's lips curved into a smile at my answer.

It was charming, but the deeper the smile, the more dangerous and spine-chilling it became.

At the same time, it was also annoying.

"Puppet... The term doesn't sound right. How about a partner?"

As Lucifer said this, a black piece of paper appeared in his hand.

The paper fluttered and flew into my palm.

"What is this...?"

The paper was blank.

I looked at Lucifer with a puzzled expression, but he didn't answer and continued.

"I promise not to interfere forcibly once you accept my offer and start a new life. The new life will be entirely yours, and the choices you make within it will be entirely yours, I guarantee."

Lucifer's words were being inscribed on the black paper in real time.

"I know what you hate the most. Being constrained. That's why I guarantee you complete freedom. You don't have to collect negatives. You can live a normal life and die of old age if you want. If that's possible, that is."

"..."

The more he spoke, the more madness appeared in Lucifer's eyes.

Despite the serious situation, I couldn't help but laugh.

"What makes you so confident? What if I do nothing?"

Lucifer pointed at me with a chuckling smile.

"What makes me confident? Of course, I believe in you. Do you think I would go through all this trouble to pick just anyone?"

Lucifer leaned back in his chair and continued.

"You can't just be evil. If that were the case, I could have picked a murderer, a robber, a rapist... There are plenty of candidates. You need to be smart and patient. I can't give tasks to people who ruined their lives by living according to their desires. You need to know how to endure and keep to a minimum standard."

At some point, Lucifer was standing next to me, his hand on my shoulder.

"You have ambition, and you're ready to cross the line for it, and you have a sharp mind."

Ah, this is what a demon's whispering is like.

"Wow. I never got caught."

"Finally, you have a look I like. I didn't like the fake mask you wore even in front of me."

I touched my lips and realized I was smiling.

Even though someone had completely seen through me, I felt strangely cheerful.

"Then what was the point of that comment?"

"Even I need to filter and examine. I wanted to focus on people who show creativity in such places."

"What if I refuse your offer?"

"I hope that doesn't happen, but if it does, I'll either send you back to your original body or find a place for you in hell."

The latter was obviously out of the question, and the idea of returning to my body, is that even possible?

"Can you send me back to my original body?"

"Of course. Well, if you go back now, you might become a vegetable if you're lucky. How about it?"

Was he joking just now?

Lucifer was smiling in a way that suited a lunatic.

He must have been delighted by my shocked expression.

"Want to come with me? I really like this kid."

Another voice suddenly joined the conversation, which had only been between Lucifer and me.

It was disgustingly sticky, like someone had injected a truckload of aphrodisiac, and my instinct made me turn to see a woman with radiant red hair and ivory skin, so beautiful it was blinding.

She was more beautiful than all the beautiful women I had ever seen combined.

And her chest was at least H-cup... Ahem, this isn't the time, but my gaze kept being drawn to her.

"Ah... Asmodeus, wasn't the condition to just observe? Suddenly interfering like this goes against the agreement."

Lucifer ran his hand through his hair, annoyed.

Asmodeus, I remember that's a demon's name, but I couldn't think about it now.

The smell of flesh from her made my breathing rough.

"You can always find a new candidate. It's too pitiful for this kid to have so few choices, so I want to help."

Asmodeus walked over to me.

"How about it? A human. If you refuse Lucifer's offer, you can stay with me. I can show you a heaven that's better than the real one."

As I struggled to keep my consciousness from fading, Lucifer's aura separated Asmodeus and me.

"Asmodeus, even you can't break the agreement and interfere with me."

"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■"

"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■"

They spoke in a language I couldn't understand in the serious atmosphere.

"Fine. If you refuse, I'll hand you over to her. But no more interference, and it's a condition for you to leave."

"Alright. In return, I'll help you find a new candidate."

Their conversation ended, and they spoke in a language I could understand again.

"Choose wisely. I'll show you a much stickier heaven than just struggling to live."

Asmodeus left with a sticky gesture and a wink.

"Ah... She always wants to get her hands on what she likes, which is a headache."

If I refuse, I'll end up with that lady.

That might be a happier life than my previous one in its own way.

"I want to explain more, but there are too many eyes watching, so I can't break the rules. One thing, since Asmodeus interfered, I'll warn you about her. Asmodeus is famous for keeping her slaves in constant sexual pleasure. Male slaves become fools who only know how to ejaculate after a week. Well, living forever like that could be considered happiness in a way."

"..."

Lucifer said it casually, but it was something I couldn't ignore.

I must have been crazy for a moment.

No matter how beautiful she is, she's still a demon lord.

If that's called happiness, then drug addicts living in a drug-induced state are the happiest people.

"I accept your offer. Since there's no real choice, it's just like you demons to pretend to give me one."

Hearing my words, Lucifer smiled proudly.

"That's why I'm the king of demons."

"Hey! Lucifer, how dare you slander me...! ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■"

As I accepted Lucifer's offer, a voice came from the direction Asmodeus had disappeared, but both Lucifer and I ignored it completely.

Lucifer came closer and patted my shoulder.

"You'll wake up in a new world, but don't worry too much. I'll give you basic knowledge and common sense about the world. And you'll be given a power that suits you best to collect negatives, so I won't need to interfere."

Lucifer seemed to remember something and continued.

"Oh, I almost forgot..."

Lucifer opened his mouth to add something. And then...

Pierce.

"Wh-what...?"

Lucifer's hand was piercing through where my heart should be.

It hurts like hell.

"Humans are distracted when they get injections, right? I tried to be considerate, but it still looks quite painful. Still, don't look at me like that. In hell, there are only those who wish to die and live forever."

How is this an injection, you lunatic...

"Cough..."

In extreme pain and fading consciousness, I faced my second death.