Even Today, the Ranker Dreams of Retirement

‘That Demon God somehow resembles Hyun Habin.’

Between Hyun Siwoo and Chae Jise, Kang Taeseo cast a suspicious glance.

At that moment.

-Geeeng! (That scary woman has appeared again!)

A small, black monster hiding behind Taeseo’s cloak trembled upon seeing Habin.

At first glance, it looked like a fist-sized black lump, a shadow monster. It tilted its head.

-Gee… Geee? (Is it really the Demon God…? It suits her!)

The monster recalled Habin’s past deeds, effortlessly taking down even Demon Kings.

-Geeng. (It was terrifying swordsmanship.)

Perhaps it should have recognized her from the moment she easily subdued a Demon King.

As the monster kept poking its face out of the cloak and whimpering, Taeseo’s expression hardened.

‘I told you not to come out.’

-Geng geng! Geeng! Kieeng! (But! It’s that woman! The one who swept away the Demon King!)

‘Why is it suddenly acting like this?’

Taeseo looked back and forth between the Demon God and the monster.

Thinking back, the black monster had been shivering and crying out ever since the Demon God appeared.

‘Is it scared?’

That was the logical conclusion one could draw.

But.

-Geek! Geeek! (Frustrating! Human! Dumb as dirt!)

The monster pounded its chest, expressing its frustration.

“…!”

The monster’s cry was louder than expected. Taeseo quickly checked the reactions of nearby hunters and demons.

Fortunately, everyone seemed too preoccupied with the Demon God to notice the monster. Taeseo used his skill ‘Shadow Storage’ and gestured to the monster.

‘If you’re scared, get in here. It’s safer than the cloak.’

-Geng! Geng geng! (Stupid! You! Head! Useless!)

‘…It’s not getting through.’

-Kkeok! Kkeek! (That’s! My line!)

“No choice then.”

Grrk.

Taeseo firmly pressed the monster’s mouth and shoved it into the shadow.

-Geeng! Geeeng! Eck! (Let go, stupid human! Let go of this right now!)

Finally, the monster disappeared into the shadow, flailing about.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Um, Demon God! Do you perhaps remember me? When I was a baby last time…!”

“Move aside! Demon God, do you remember me? I, in the past……”

Demons swarmed around Habin like a cloud.

Of course, these were all strangers to Habin. Demons introducing their children, demons asking for a dance, demons making all sorts of requests.

All manner of flattery and greedy looks. Habin responded nonchalantly.

“Well, it’s been five thousand years since I last came, so I don’t remember anything. Sorry.”

“Ah… Yes. That could happen… Yes……”

‘Wow, Hyun Habin is insane! Best excuse ever!’

‘Ah Chae-ssi, be quiet. I can’t concentrate.’

[The Hyun Habin I’ve observed has always been one with excuses at the ready! Haven’t you noticed her brilliant history of playing hooky?]

‘Is that a compliment or an insult?’

-Pii, pi!

Libe, tearing into some meat nearby, flapped its wings excitedly. It seemed to quite enjoy the banquet food.

The meat Libe was chomping on was dripping with juices, and the nearby grapes glistened appetizingly.

Seeing this, somehow…

‘I’m getting hungry? Maybe I’ll just have a bite.’

As Habin, feeling hungry too, reached for something that looked like a canapé nearby…

“Demon God!”

“Demon God! It’s terribly presumptuous of me, but… I heard from our previous family head that you made a promise to our family 10,000 years ago, do you perhaps remember?”

“Well……”

The surrounding demons wouldn’t leave her alone for a moment. Habin shook her head.

“I’m not sure? I don’t remember. It was 10,000 years ago, do you really think I’d remember that?”

‘10,000 years ago, just how long ago was that?’

When were dinosaurs around again?

Habin pondered deeply.

“We-We’re sorry. Then perhaps from now on, if you get to know us…!”

The demons persisted, not giving up. Habin became curious about their behavior.

‘Aren’t they afraid of me?’

She carefully scanned the demons crowding around her. Judging by how they flinched at her every gesture, their eyes were indeed full of awe and fear.

But despite that, they still went on about their stories.

‘Are they fearless, or just that desperate?’

Or maybe.

Habin turned her gaze back to the distance. The seven Demon Kings who had already arrived at the castle were keeping their distance, each with their own entourage.

Unlike how they approached Habin, the demons were trembling before the Demon Kings, barely able to make eye contact.

‘Even though the Demon God is a higher position, am I less scary than the Demon Kings?’

What a peculiar situation.

Looking closely, each Demon King’s temperament seemed quite extraordinary.

“Bring more food! Now! Is this all? Is this your best effort? Should I cut off the chef’s head?”

The Demon King of Greed, causing a ruckus demanding more food.

“What more do you want to bring? This is all a waste! Who’s going to take responsibility if the Demon King’s castle budget is depleted? Who’s going to be responsible! Put out those candles right now! What a waste of wax! If you don’t put them out, your lives will be snuffed out first!”

The Demon King of Avarice, making a fuss next to him.

“Tsk tsk, those fools. As expected, the other Demon Kings are beneath me. I should just kill them all and ascend to the Demon God’s position.”

The Demon King of Pride, Kriksha, wearing a vile smile.

…Kriksha?

‘Oh, it’s Kriksha!’

The Demon King who was the boss of the 26th floor before.

Habin’s face lit up a bit, seeing his face after a long time.

‘Hmm, since I’ve come this far, should I say hello?’

As Habin tilted her head with an amused smile for the first time in a while.

“Um, Demon God.”

Ipsine, who was beside her, carefully tugged at Habin’s sleeve.

‘Ah, right. Ipsine was here.’

She had momentarily forgotten with so many demons crowding around. Habin spoke to the surrounding demons as if suddenly remembering.

“Alright, everyone, attention for a moment.”

As Habin clapped her hands, the surrounding demons fell silent.

With all eyes on her and a sudden silence falling, Habin gestured towards Ipsine and spoke.

“This child is dear to me, so everyone be friendly with her, okay?”

It sounded like something a kindergarten teacher might say, but that must be my imagination.

A casually thrown remark. But the ripples it caused were significant.

“The-The Demon God has become a guardian for this demon! She will change the future landscape of the Demon Realm!”

…Is that so?

“Lady Ipsine, how did you meet the Demon God!”

“Lady Ipsine, would you dance with me!”

“Move aside, I was first!”

The attention that had been pouring onto Habin suddenly shifted to Ipsine.

Faced with the rush of dance invitations and interest, Ipsine stepped back in surprise, then quickly blushed.

She whispered softly to Habin.

“…Thank you, Demon God. I didn’t expect you to help me this much.”

You really are kind after all.

The last words she added were in a calm tone, but somehow tinged with sadness.

Ipsine gave a final curtsy, lifting her skirt slightly, before taking someone’s hand and stepping into the center of the ballroom. Her dress bloomed like a flower as she gracefully began to dance.

While everyone’s attention was focused on that sight.

‘Now’s my chance! I’m going. Chae-ssi, please watch my back with Libe!’

‘What? Where are you going? Hey! Hyun Habin!’

What am I supposed to do?!

Leaving behind a bewildered Chae Jiseok, Habin quietly slipped away.

◆◇◆◇◆

Kriksha was enjoying his time at the Demon King’s castle today as well, looking proud as ever.

‘The Demon God has appeared?’

So what?

The Demon King of Pride. Living up to that name, Kriksha scoffed.

‘Whether the Demon God comes or not, whether those other foolish Demon Kings act stupidly or not, I should just focus on getting that ring.’

And in the end, the ring would become Kriksha’s, his alone.

‘Because I’m the smartest and greatest one here!’

Above all others in heaven and earth. Kriksha always had an excessive amount of confidence in himself.

He had the immense magical power and skill to back up that pride, which had been preserved until now.

In his life, he had only bowed to someone once.

That was on the 26th floor.

The humiliating past where he was knocked out pathetically by a human named Hyun Habin, then begged pitifully for his life.

“Tsk, I don’t even want to think about it. That crazy human back then… Was she even human?”

Kriksha’s face scrunched up as if he didn’t want to remember.

“Hmph, anyway, I won’t see her again.”

Although at the time, that human said she could reach the 50th floor. But Kriksha had a plan.

“Haha, that’s because she doesn’t know any better. How vast is the Demon Realm? I just need to avoid her well. Do you think someone as great as me can’t manage that much?”

That crazy human woman was mistaken. No matter how strong she is, it won’t be easy to find him!

Kriksha swirled the drink in his hand with a leisurely motion. The sloshing of the refreshing drink lifted his mood even more.

“Besides, that woman probably won’t come here too soon, right? She seemed like the type to find everything bothersome, why would she come here?”

The Hyun Habin that Kriksha remembered was someone who sat on a sofa with an expression that said everything in the world was a bother, staring at a rectangular LCD screen.

With a disappointed expression saying, ‘The data’s not working!’

“Right. Data seemed very important to that human, but there’s nothing like that here, so she probably won’t want to come?”

He should be safe for at least a few years. Kriksha nodded with a satisfied expression.

“Let’s see… This is delicious. Is there any more?”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Kriksha checked his empty glass and looked around.

“Ahem. You there! Why are you just standing there? Bring me more of this drink! If you don’t move quickly, it’s the death penalty, death penalty.”

‘Skip the binding and go straight to execution!’ was still his motto.

“……”

But there was a problem.

Normally, the demon singled out would have known Kriksha’s nature and moved swiftly.

However, the demon Kriksha happened to point at this time was-

“…Yes.”

Not a demon, but Kang Taeseo disguised as one.

Kang Taeseo responded with a deadpan “Yes” and checked the drink glass. His attitude was proper but indifferent.

“What? This bastard, what kind of response is that?”

That rubbed Kriksha the wrong way.

Until now, all the demons attending to Kriksha had been either servile or full of fear.

‘Heukk, understood. I’ll bring it right away, do you need anything else?’

‘It’s an honor to serve Your Majesty.’

‘Yes, I’ll follow your orders!’

‘Leave it to me!’

Compared to that, Kang Taeseo didn’t seem scared, nor was he trembling in fear.

Especially those cold eyes, as if he thought he was equal to Kriksha, were quite arrogant. Kriksha found this extremely unpleasant.

‘Have the subordinates these days become so lax?’

Should I make an example of this one?

Kriksha infused his hand with magical power. An ominous black energy swirled around him. Just as he was about to attack the back of Kang Taeseo’s head.

“Kriksha!”

“…?”

A cheerful voice called out to him. And it came from very close by, right next to him.

Kriksha immediately turned towards it. A woman wearing a pitch-black mask had somehow approached right up to his face.

It was the legendary ‘Demon God’ who had supposedly appeared after a very long time.