(What the...?)
Akira Ono fell speechless gazing upon the expansive, overgrown forest in front of him. He couldn’t help but chuckle at such a sight. Sure, his hobby of fifteen years was coming to an end, and he had been drinking a little, but not enough to hallucinate being thrown into the Great Forest. More importantly, he had to go to work the next day.
“The Great Forest is really... well, green.”
Recently, he had been circling his office, home, and XX. The brilliant, verdant forest almost stung his eyes. He would have been grateful to be reminded of the majesty of nature in the midst of his day-to-day life, but he had tomorrow to worry about. If he were to sleep through the night in front of the PC monitor again, he would undoubtedly be sore and miserable the next day.
“Such a vivid dream, though. It almost seems real...”
Closing his eyes, he could feel the rays of sunshine and hear the dragonflies and cicadas flying around him. Looking in the distance, he could even spot a glimmering lake. Akira cracked a grin, remembering that he had somewhere heard the phrase “dreams are reflections of desires.” Perhaps his subconscious mind was craving a leisurely walk in the woods, away from all of the stress.
As he took a step forward in the direction of the lake, a drop of cold sweat trickled down his back.
“What are on my feet...?”
A pair of expensive leather shoes without so much as a crease. Above them, black slacks ran up his legs, complimented by a black suit. He was even wearing a long, black coat that draped down to his ankles despite the oppressive heat of summer. If a bystander were to take a guess, they probably would have thought Akira was some kind of mafia don.
(It can’t be...)
For some time now, his heart had been pounding nervously. When he sprinted toward the lake, he crossed the forest in a flash. Fast as a bullet train. The incredible speed made Akira only more nervous. As soon as he looked down at the water to see himself... his fear was confirmed.
“Why are you...!”
Through the reflection in the lake, the familiar final boss was looking back at Akira. The Demon Lord of the Empire, who sentenced countless players to their despair. The very character Akira had created within the game. Akira saw a smile on the face in the reflection, as if he found it amusing.
“What the hell...!? How am I... this old man!?”
Akira himself wasn’t too much younger than the inferred age of the face he saw, but he was counting on at least another decade or two until he saw this much age in his reflection. Moreover, his other senses were not helping in convincing Akira that this was all a dream. Everything was too real. What crossed his mind was that he had been transported to another world, just like the popular anime nowadays.
The only other theory he could muster up was that he was already dead from a heart attack or something, and he was in the afterlife. Even that theory, however, didn’t quite explain why he looked like the Demon Lord.
“H-Hold on... Calm down. It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
Akira frantically smacked his cheeks and head to no avail. Every time he breathed, he could feel his very lungs expand, just as they did in real life... to his disappointment. Finally beginning to realize the predicament he was in, Akira screamed internally:
(Nooo! I didn’t even get a chance to wipe my hard drive!)
Not a very noble reaction, to say the least, but painfully sincere. If push came to shove, he could accept being sent to another world. But he had never expected to be sent dressed like a member of the yakuza. If he had been at least young and good-looking, or filthy rich, there would have been a silver lining. Akira’s face was shaded with a little too much of distinguished senectitude for his taste.
(First I need more information... What’s around here...?)
He tried walking around for a while, but it didn’t seem like he was waking up anytime soon. On the contrary, his body seemed to settle with every step. By this point, Akira almost felt natural in this body. From time to time, the breath of the forest shook him, as if to prove that the world around him was as real as his own.
(What is this world...? What is this forest...? Give me a hint. Something.)
He rummaged through his pockets, but nothing helpful emerged. There were only numerous knives (the Demon Lord’s weapon of choice) laced inside the long coat, along with the cigarettes he always used.
Akira had finally decided the embarrassment was worth it, and to shout the word. Mashive, who used to be one of the players, had spoken of this word. A magic word that was critical information in case one was transported to another world. After a deep breath, Akira shouted this word towards the sky...!
“S-Status!”
...Silence filled the forest, followed by the cry of a single crow. Akira waited a while after shouting this alone in the forest, but nothing happened.
“Come on!”
He was hoping for some sort of screen or numbers, but nothing. In fact, the leaves rustling in the wind seemed like they were laughing at him. Catching a second wind, Akira decided to shout a different magic word. He figured that because he was the Demon Lord, because he was Akira Ono, there was another word better suited for him.
“Administrator.”
(Bingo!)
Akira couldn’t help but shake his fists in the air. A black panel and keyboard had appeared mid-air, showing a screen prompting a password.
“Yes, yes! Who’s a good boy...? Enter... password... Huh?”
Mumbling like a dog trainer, Akira cheerfully typed in the password. The instant it was accepted, however, numerous command screens popped up, all blacked out, preventing him from reading any of it. In front of it, the screen read ‘Not all conditions are fulfilled.’ His knees faltered, and Akira slumped against the large tree next to him.
“Conditions my ass... What could you possibly want...?”
Without a thought, he had taken out a cigarette and lit it. He proceeded to blow out the familiar smoke, but the comforting sensation further shoved the truth into Akira’s face. In what dream could he taste a cigarette so clearly? He smoked through a couple more, but he couldn’t wrap his head around this situation. In fact, he was even starting to get a headache.
“What am I supposed to do...? Maybe I should have read more light novels while I had the chance...”
Unable to collect his thoughts, Akira was getting agitated. The loud footsteps he had been hearing for a while had been putting him on edge to begin with. The footsteps were coming from the deep end of the forest.
(Hold on... There has to be someone making those footsteps.)
The rushed footsteps, as if they were fleeing from something, continued to approach Akira until the culprit finally emerged.
(A kid...? A filthy one, at that.)
He almost spoke to the child, before wondering if the child would understand Japanese. Perhaps from tripping and falling somewhere along the way, the child’s face and clothes were covered in dirt. So much so, that Akira couldn’t even make out if the child was a boy or a girl. The child had blond hair and red eyes. Akira doubted that they could converse in Japanese, but his best shot was to start asking this kid some questions.
(Right. Kunai was always all showboat-y and sarcastic.)
For the time being, as he didn’t know what was going on, Akira figured it would be best to act like Kunai. Recalling Kunai’s character from the depths of his memory, he tried speaking to the child.
“Well, uh, let’s see. Can you understand me?”
“Run!”
“Huh?”
Behind the child, there was a monster with wings formed of bare bones. In a dingy grey, the creature resembled a typical Gargoyle from fantasy worlds. The sinister silhouette dazed Akira, and he couldn’t help but laugh, again. Now, it was undeniable that he had found his way into an unreal world.
(Wait... Maybe I’m just crazy.)
There was no way that a creature like this could exist anywhere in Japan, or on Earth, for that matter. ‘You’re not real!’ Akira wanted to shout.
“How to put this... Is that not-so-adorable monster your pet? You should really train it better, you know.”
“Run! Quick! It’s a devil!”
Akira groaned internally.
(Devil... A devil, huh?)
He had no clue if he should laugh, run, or maybe beg for his life. What sick joke was he a part of?
“...Puny human, offer your flesh to me.”
“Yikes!”
Akira jumped, dropping his cigarette. The sight of this monster with beet-red eyes coming at him like how a predator would approach prey was a horror-show, to say the least. Terrifying, actually. All Akira wanted to do was run away screaming.
As he lunged to run for his life, the monster swung its large arm, slamming its talons into Akira’s face with powerful force. A dull pain throbbed in Akira’s forehead, and his eyesight flashed red and white.
“Agh...!”
In the midst of confusion and pain, he could feel flaming rage roar out of his gut.
“...What do you think you’re doing?”
A low growl came out of his mouth in a completely different tone than his usual voice. The moment he spotted the confused monster, his right hand reached inside his coat with blinding speed.
——Automatic Retaliation!
(Woah, I can’t control my body...!)
In disregard of Akira’s intentions, his body moved on its own. In a flawless motion, as fast as lightning, a knife was thrown!
Retaliation Initiated!
“Revenge” — Success! Increased Retaliation Damage!
“One-Shot Kill” — Success! Critical Rate increased by 30%!
Critical Hit!
Lethal Damage — Greole, King of Devils was destroyed!
—Skill Level over 5000!
“Break Through” “Expert Chain Attacks” — Fail! The target is already defeated!
—Combat Skills activated!
“Overlord” — Fail! The target is already defeated!
“Mind’s Eye” — Fail! The target is already defeated!
—Survival Skills activated!
“Meditate” — Success! Kunai regained some health.
The ‘Combat Results’ flooded Akira’s brain, making him dizzy.
(This is just like the game!)
He looked up, and the monster was blown to bits, perhaps from the impact of the knife. Akira couldn’t help but wonder who the real monster was. Neither Akira nor the child spoke another word, as painful silence fell on the forest.
Gulping down a lump of saliva, Akira timidly spoke.
“A-Ah, um, well... It’s... self-defense. That’s what that was. That was not my fault.”
The child’s gaze felt like daggers to Akira. Those innocent eyes were filled with evident terror and fear. The polar opposite of how a child would look at a hero.
“M-Master Demon Lord... Please don’t eat me! I-I won’t taste good at all!”
“What the hell!? What kind of monster do you think I am!?”
And so, a Demon Lord fell into a strange world full of the unknown. At this point, no one knew how he, an ordinary man from Japan trapped inside a Demon Lord’s body, would survive this cruel fantasy world...