Demon-Hunting Genius Mage

[Translator - Vanilla]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]

Chapter 1

"I'm going to delete my character."

Thud.

My friend dropped the chicken leg he was gnawing on.

"Wait, you mean... Demon Fantasy?"

"Yeah, my warrior character."

We were talking about [Demon Fantasy], a game I'd been playing for over a decade.

"Are you crazy? Why would you delete it?"

He asked incredulously. He had played the game for about three years, so he knew exactly what I meant.

"Why all of a sudden? Didn't you just get a mythic-tier trait?"

"That was a year ago."

"What’s your rank now?"

"First place."

"Huh…?"

My friend chuckled and took a swig of beer.

"So you're finally quitting that shitty game. Why don't you just sell the account? You could buy an exotic car with the money you'd get."

He was right. If I sold my account, I could probably make at least as much as an average office worker earns in a year.

Or maybe even more. The value of a [Demon Fantasy] account wasn't just determined by the character's stats.

My reputation, achievements, relationships with major NPCs—it all had value.

And if one added the title of rank 1 to that...

‘I could probably live comfortably for several years…’

Even though [Demon Fantasy] wasn't as popular as it used to be, it was entirely possible.

There was definitely someone out there who would recognize the value of my character.

They'd probably jump at the chance to buy it.

But I'd already made up my mind about that.

"No, I'm going to delete it."

"Why?"

"I'm not quitting the game."

When I was stuck at the final boss, I really wanted to quit.

But I couldn't. I'd been playing this game for over ten years.

I had invested too much in it.

That's when I came to a conclusion.

"I'm going to start over. This time, as a mage."

"Are you insane? You're going to go through all that again?"

I understood his reaction.

Starting a character from scratch in [Demon Fantasy] was no easy feat.

And if that character was a 'Mage,' it was even more difficult.

But what could I do? My character was already fucked, and I could only create one character.

To create a new character in [Demon Fantasy], I had to delete my existing one.

I could start a new account, but then I wouldn't get any special benefits.

Since my character was so high level, the special benefits I would receive would be enormous.

It was a shame, but deletion was the only option.

"You're doing this to beat that guy, right?"

"Yeah, I've already planned out my build. It took me a year."

"Well, if you're sure... I won't stop you. But... do you think you can actually beat him?"

The 'guy' my friend was referring to was [Baal], the final boss of [Demon Fantasy] and the commander of the Demon Army.

And it was Baal who had stopped me in my tracks.

Even though I had reached the maximum level and obtained mythic-tier traits, I couldn't defeat him.

It would be the same for him, I suppose.

‘Immortal Warrior.’

My warrior character had obtained this mythic-tier trait, [Immortal Warrior], which exponentially increased my resistance and regeneration stats.

Physical resistance, magical resistance, natural regeneration, elemental resistance, and so on.

As a result, an invincible zombie warrior was born.

Even Baal, the final boss, couldn't kill my character.

But then.

‘It was a bit… disappointing of a trait.’

[Immortal Warrior] was a totally defence-focused trait so I couldn't penetrate Baal's defences.

We were locked in a strange stalemate, unable to kill each other.

A complete unsatisfactory result for a player.

Because of this, I have decided to create a new character and spent a considerable amount of time researching builds.

A ‘Mage’ build— highly specialized in offense.

A year had passed since then.

Now, I could confidently say,

“I'll definitely defeat him.”

***

Later at night.

As soon as I got home, I immediately opened the character deletion window.

[Would you like to delete the character?]

[Yes/No]

"..."

I had clearly made up my mind, and the alcohol had also helped, but…

I wasn't able to press the button easily.

It was only natural, as that single click would erase five years of investment in this character.

But it was something that had to be done.

"...Thank you, it was fun while it lasted."

Click!

[Character deleted.]

The levels I had painstakingly raised, the reputation I had built, the relationships I had nurtured, the achievements I had, the equipment I had worn, the rank 1 title…

Everything was gone. With just a single click.

A deep sense of loss and emptiness mixed in together.

"...I did it once. I can do it again.”

When times like this, doing what you have to do is the best.

I shook my head and quickly pressed the character creation button.

[A special reward will be given for creating a new character.]

[※Special rewards vary depending on the achievements of the previous character.]

Special rewards were a rare consideration in the unkind [Demon Fantasy].

A reward was given when you delete a character to promote the rapid growth of your next character.

For example, traits, equipment, or skills.

Among these, what I wanted the most was, without a doubt, traits.

Traits were notoriously difficult to acquire. They were incomparable to the others in terms of rarity.

From the Heroic-tier and upward, their value was immeasurable.

‘I hope I get something useful.’

However, there was no way of knowing what I’d receive from the bonus.

Information about these rewards was incredibly scarce.

And for good reason.

In a game where your character is permanently lost when you die, how many players would willingly delete their character just to gamble on some bonus rewards?

Especially when the rewards weren't guaranteed to be that great.

[Calculating achievements…]

“Hm.”

While waiting for the calculation, I opened the notebook in front of me.

A worn notebook with tattered pages. Inside was the culmination of a year’s worth of research into my new build.

Flip, flip!

I carefully reviewed the pages, one by one.

No issues. It was all committed to memory by now.

“If I stick to this plan...”

I could defeat Baal.

That’s the conclusion I’d come to.

Ding!

The calculation results appeared.

[Achievement Calculation Results]

- Level: 100 (Max)

- Rank: 1st

- Quest Completion: 99%

- Achievements Completed: 162/172

- Titles Acquired: 101/144

- Demons Defeated: 665/666

- Traits Owned: Immortal Warrior (Mythic), Aura (Legendary), Weapon Master (Heroic), Absolute Focus (Heroic)

A system window appeared, summarizing my character’s achievements and stats.

It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but even I had to acknowledge how impressive it was.

Especially the number of demons I’d slain.

Out of the 666 types of demons, I had hunted down every last one—except for Baal.

That was nothing short of an incredible accomplishment.

But…

"…That’s what makes it even more frustrating."

Just one left. Not being able to defeat that one had left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Knowing that it was impossible to beat him with my zombie swordsman character only made it worse.

“This time, things will be different.”

[Bonus rewards will now be distributed.]

Thump! Thump! Thump…!

My heart raced with excitement and anticipation.

I deleted the character that I raised for five years. Now it is time to receive special bonuses.

Pandora's box, the one with complete unpredictable rewards, had finally opened.

[A new spirit is being engraved into the soul of your character.]

[Engraved Spirit: Former Master of Swordsmanship]

[‘Trait Selection Ticket (Mythic)’ has been awarded.]

[‘Call of Destiny (Unknown)’ has been awarded.]

The rewards from the special bonuses were three in total.

The spirit engraving was expected. It’s a guaranteed reward when you delete a character that ranks within the top 100.

Out of those, [Former Master of Swordsmanship] is the highest-grade spirit engraving you can get when deleting a swordsman character.

With this, one of the mage’s main weaknesses—close combat—was at least partially resolved.

But the next reward was the real kicker.

“A trait selection ticket?”

The trait selection ticket.

This was an extremely rare reward, only given out occasionally after defeating one of the Demon Army Commanders.

It allowed you to select any trait within the ticket’s tier.

Naturally, it was an incredibly valuable item.

But then…

“…A Mythic-tier trait selection ticket?”

A Mythic-tier trait selection ticket was something I had never seen before.

I hadn’t come across it in the trading market or even heard about it in the community.

I was stunned.

“So… that means I can pick any Mythic-tier trait I want?”

Starting off with a Mythic-tier trait that perfectly matched my build was an enormous advantage.

And if it was paired with an explosively powerful mage build...

If that mage also had a spirit engraving to solve the problem of close combat...

What kind of monster character would that even create?

I couldn’t help but smile.

“A Mythic-tier trait selection ticket as a bonus reward… If people found out about this, it would cause chaos.”

I was certain. There would definitely be a surge of rerolling fever in [Demon Fantasy].

It was an item with that kind of value.

“Let’s calm down.”

I tried to steady myself, cooling my excitement.

As good as it was, nothing good would come from getting too worked up. In situations like this, staying calm was crucial.

I immediately turned my attention to the next reward.

“‘Call of Destiny’. What’s this?”

The trait selection ticket was self-explanatory since the only difference was the grade. But this was completely new.

In fact, I’d never even seen the ‘Unknown’ tier before.

Even though I’d played this game for over 10 years, there were still things I didn’t know?

“From the name alone, it’s hard to tell.”

Is it the key to unlocking a hidden quest? Or maybe a levelling item that aids in growth?

Who knows, honestly.

“I’ll figure it out in time.”

Thinking it couldn’t possibly be an ordinary item, I skimmed through the reward list again.

Spirit engraving, trait selection ticket, and an unknown-tier item.

Honestly, I didn’t expect much. Special bonuses in this game had always been notoriously inefficient.

But this? This was more than acceptable. In fact, it was as good as it gets.

“I guess I didn’t waste those five years.”

I wasn’t exactly ecstatic, though. The rewards were compensation for five years of time and effort I’d poured into a single character.

They were rewards good enough to help skip over the hardest parts of the early grind, but the value of my time and effort wasn’t something that could be measured so cheaply.

“Hah…”

And now, it was time to see the fruit of those five years of time and labor.

To finally kill Baal, the boss I could never defeat, and bring the main quest to its conclusion.

“Let’s go.”

Click!

As I pressed the start game button, the familiar intro screen appeared after so long.

[Welcome to Demon Fantasy.]

The text was in a haunting font on a blood-red backdrop, setting a chilling atmosphere.

Thump, thump, thump…!

Even after more than 10 years, this moment still made my heart race.

Just as I was feeling that rush of excitement—

[The condition to use 'Call of Destiny' has been met.]

['Call of Destiny' is activating.]

“Huh?”

A strange notification popped up, something I had never seen before.

[Oh God!]

Suddenly, a deep, powerful voice pierced through my mind.

And that was it.

My entire vision spun 180 degrees before plunging into darkness. My consciousness began to drift away, further and further into oblivion.

When I finally opened my eyes again…

“...Where am I?”

I realized I was inside the game.

No, I was in the world where 666 kinds of demons roamed freely.

[Translator - Vanilla]

[Proofreader - Kawaii]