“Are you kidding me right now? Why is there a system error at a time like this?! Explain it!!”
The system recognizes User “Jeong Daon”.
User “Jeong Daon” has used a chant spell inappropriate for their level.
The system has detected “Destroyer of Worlds”.
“…”
The system prioritizes the protection of the user above all else.
“Destroyer of Worlds” has not met the conditions for manifestation.
The system is resolving the error.
Estimated time required: unknown…….
I let out a deep sigh. No matter how the system tried to explain this, I honestly didn’t think I’d be satisfied with it…
…No, actually, this makes sense.
Looking at the sequence of messages the system displayed, the cause of this ridiculous error was clear. In other words… half of this was my fault. I’d used a chant spell that a “normal user,” as recognized by the system, should never have been able to use.
Right now, the system recognized me as both “Jeong Daon” and the “Destroyer of Worlds”.
And in that situation, I’d used knowledge that only someone who was the Destroyer of Worlds should have… so when the system tried to eject the “human” from the dungeon, an error occurred.
Because if I were a former Demon Lord, then I wouldn’t be a user the system was supposed to protect!
“Ah… ha. Ha. Ha.”
All I could do was laugh. Not that I felt amused in the slightest.
“Has this thing seriously lost its mind…? Hey, you stupid hive-minded intelligence. So what are you going to do about this?”
The problem wasn’t that this was partly my fault for recklessly using a chant spell, nor that the system seemed intent on fixing the error. The real problem was that the time required was unknown!
“So what am I supposed to do in the meantime?!”
To make matters worse, as the three-minute grace period ended, the shield that had been protecting me began to fade. Of course it would. In the system’s logic, an error had occurred: I was no longer a user it needed to protect!
Outside the disintegrating shield, ant monsters were glaring at me, murderous intent pouring out of them.
“Avenge the queen’s enemy!”
“Revenge! Revenge!”
Thud! Thud!
The ants began hurling themselves at the shield like mad. The semi-transparent barrier was soon covered in their glossy black carapaces, making it feel as though I’d been submerged in darkness.
Pressing a hand to my throbbing head, I spoke. “…Fine. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that this error is my soul’s fault. Then at least temporarily lift my stat restrictions.”
“Destroyer of Worlds” has not met the conditions for manifestation.
If synchronization of the "Destroyer of Worlds”’ stats is executed, the system will reject the "Destroyer of Worlds”.
“Ah, seriously, this unbelievably stupid—” I cut myself off before finishing the insult. No matter how much I cursed at the system, nothing would change.
Right now, due to a system error, I was stranded alone inside the dungeon, standing defenseless before ant monsters enraged by the queen’s death. So what was I supposed to do in this situation?
First… if I can just hold out a bit longer, a rescue team should arrive.
I didn’t have a watch, so I couldn’t be sure, but at least two hours had passed since the first Dungeon Break occurred. It was a sudden Dungeon Break, so the Hunter Management Agency’s response might have been delayed, but that was still more than enough time to dispatch a rescue team. Besides, since everyone except me had already exited the dungeon, the fact that I’d been left behind would quickly become known. So if I could just endure a little longer, there was a way for “Jeong Daon” to survive.
The problem was that I didn’t have the capacity to endure even a little longer. Because I’d used a chant spell utterly unsuited to my level to kill the queen ant, my insides were completely wrecked. My mana circuits, paths that circulate mana through the body, had been overloaded and were effectively fried.
In other words, I couldn’t use magic, my one and only weapon!
And since the chant spell itself was the cause of this error, I couldn’t use another one anyway. Which meant that I was, truly and completely, defenseless!
“You’re telling me I’m about to get killed by a bunch of damn ants? Me?!”
Even as I raged, time kept slipping away. The ants, having lost their queen and gone berserk, began slamming their antennae against the shield like lunatics.
Crack! The shield finally shattered.
…At this point, there was no other choice.
Without looking back, I started running. Not that I thought someone as weak as a composite level 12 could actually escape the pursuit of D-rank monsters…
Splat!
As rain poured down, I rolled my body across the ground, which had turned into a muddy mire. Of course, it was intentional.
“Where did it go? Where did it go?”
“Smell it! Smell it!”
Ants are practically blind and identify targets by scent. It was a stopgap measure.
Damn it.
For a demon, honor and dignity are life itself. And yet here I was, crawling through the mud to avoid a bunch of ants! And this was only a way to buy time. I couldn’t just stay hidden in the mud forever. With their sheer numbers, no matter how much I masked my scent, it was only a matter of time before they found me.
What do I do?
Honestly, there was no answer. To be precise, there was no answer as Jeong Daon.
If I were to become the Demon Lord again here…
This place was a dimensional rift where the system could do nothing beyond protecting users. It was the invaders’ domain. If I awakened here as the “Destroyer of Worlds”, the system wouldn’t be able to touch me. This was, to begin with, a monsters’ space.
And I would become the new boss monster of this dungeon.
Well, it’s true that I hadn’t met Earth’s conditions for manifestation, so the dungeon entrance wouldn’t connect back to Earth… but survival wouldn’t be an issue. In fact, this was the simplest solution.
Ah… should I just give up? Staring at my hand, blackened and filthy in the foul-smelling mud, I seriously considered it. Honestly, between the system’s behavior and the fact that I’d been dragged into a Dungeon Break like this…
Even if I escaped this dungeon, it was obvious that a hard road lay ahead. The system would continue to see Jeong Daon as a thorn in its side, and on top of that, some unknown party was already after my life.
It’s not like I’m some pilgrim walking a path of penance, why should I choose that kind of hardship? I could end it all just by abandoning the name “Jeong Daon”. If I became the Demon Lord again, I wouldn’t have to crawl around in mud just to survive against measly D-rank monsters, and I wouldn’t need to make a humiliating contract with a stupid hive-minded intelligence to protect humans, either.
"..."
It would only take a single word.
My body had changed, but my soul was the same. A demon’s soul, perfectly suited to this muddy mire. And yet… despite such a simple solution, I hesitated.
Once I chose that path, I would never be able to return to being Jeong Daon because the “Destroyer of Worlds” couldn’t live as a human on Earth.
The phone in my school uniform pocket wasn’t connected right now, but if it were, it would probably be flooded with messages from my blood relative, and he would spend the rest of his life waiting for someone who would never reply.
“…Haaah.” I let out a long, deep sigh.
Right. If I had to choose between the two, there was nothing to think about. A hollow Demon Lord, crowned in disgrace with nothing left but duty… or a filthy human, unbearably troublesome but still holding something in their hands.
I poured the small amount of mana left into my one functioning hand, and then… Snap! I brought it down with force on the leg of an ant crawling madly toward me. The thin limb bent with a dull crack.
As the ant’s body wobbled, unable to overcome its own momentum, I immediately split the space between its head and torso.
Splat! Green bodily fluid splashed all over me.
“It’s an enemy! An enemy!”
“Where is it? Where is it?”
The ants grew agitated upon sensing an enemy, but with my body smeared in mud and drenched in a fellow ant’s fluids, they couldn’t find me. Seizing that opening, I ran with everything I had.
“Damn it, this useless body of mine!”
Rolling through mud, running, scrambling—
Fine. This will do. I’d survive somehow.
The real fight for survival had begun.