Deep underground, where even the surface of the sun would be considered cold, a kingdom floats inside a giant bubble.

  Within it, orcs, humans, and goblins live together in harmony—not out of goodwill, but simply to survive in a rotting world.

  They live off the corpses of long dead heroes, denying those heroes rest because their own worthless selves cannot survive without the sacrifice of others, even dead ones.

  Stone houses scattered throughout the kingdom, forming a giant spell circle that made it possible to regenerate mana without eating for months.

  Because of this, the majority of the houses were empty. Not because people can’t live in them, but because there aren't enough people to fill them.

  Most of the adults wear masks and clothing that cover their entire bodies, leaving no chance for even air to touch them. Not for practical reasons; they were just… afraid.

  Afraid of turning into a monster, afraid that other people can see how close they are to becoming one.

  The bubble protects anything inside it from all harmful effects from outside, but reason alone is never enough to stop fear.

  Inside one of those empty houses, a woman so thin that you could mistake her for a corpse was talking to what seems like empty air.

  “My little brother is here, can we continue this another time?”

  A voice came out of nowhere while also seemingly coming from every direction.

  Kae was currently invisible—like he always is—and talking with Rina, the head strategist.

  He didn’t hate Rina, he also wasn’t exactly close to her. Kae respected her, if anything, but right now he just wanted to leave.

  If Rina didn’t force him, he would be at The Teleportation Station waiting for his little brother. But alas, the information Rina was telling him was crucial to know if he wanted to continue protecting Luk.

  “Sure, we could discuss it later. Just be careful, okay? The world couldn’t afford to lose him.”

  Kae just snorted at that. Even if protecting Luk was detrimental for the world, he would still protect him with everything he had.

  [The Bubble of a Faster World] disappeared, and suddenly they were in an empty alley.

  Without missing a beat, Rina walked away without saying another word or even acknowledging his existence.

  Kae’s gaze lingered on Rina’s retreating figure for a few seconds before he walked in a different direction and headed toward The Teleportation Station.

  It would be a lie if he said her theory didn’t raise an alarm bell inside his head. Yet, for some reason, he wasn’t exactly afraid either.

  Rina had discovered something strange about some of the people in the kingdom. Nothing too concerning, just weird behavior here and there. But if you take a step back and look at all the strange occurrences across many years, you would find something unusual.

  For instance, certain people are strangely absent for one reason or another when a fire—caused by an “accident”—spreads throughout an entire district. In another case, some would suddenly buy food in bulk days before a supply of food was destroyed by an unfortunate accident.

  The lucky coincidences weren’t exactly common, but the accident always led to something bigger.

  You can easily chalk it up to someone being lucky if it were not for the fact that it was always the same few families that it happened to.

  Of course, this in itself didn’t make them suspicious, maybe they had a higher luck stat because of their blood or something.

  No, what made these families really suspicious was that they were always connected and present when the ‘accident’ happened.

  Digging deeper, Rina found out that these ‘accidents’ never affected these few families negatively. They were also the most vocal in spreading negativity and rumors right after.

  Rina could arrest and interrogate the family—she was the head strategist after all—but she held back because she wanted to know everyone involved in this strange ‘coincidence.’

  She theorized that there were a lot more of these ‘families’ that she hadn’t found yet. It was a good guess considering how long these families had been staying in the kingdom.

  It was not yet clear what they were or what their purpose was, but it certainly wasn’t good.

  The reason Rina was talking to him about it was because he was the big brother of the luckiest being in the whole world.

  She wanted to ask him how luck worked, but the only thing that he could confidently tell her was that luck was subjective.

  Before Kae could ruminate further, he saw his little brother in the distance running towards him, smiling.

  It didn’t matter if Kae was currently invisible. Their bond made it possible for them to know where the other was at all times. Even the Artifact that he wore wouldn’t hide him if his little brother was close to him.

  The distance between them was getting smaller quickly, and even though Kae had the superior stats, he was moving much slower than his little brother.

  The street had a lot of people, and he couldn’t exactly brute force his way through them. But the same couldn’t be said for his little brother.

  Even though his little brother was running through a crowd, not a single person was blocking his way. It was like the crowd was coordinating to make way for him.

  When the distance between them shrank to a few meters, his little brother’s face turned even brighter, and from the way he was moving, it was obvious what he was trying to do.

  So Kae spread his arms before Luk flew to hug him.

  The hug was a bit too aggressive; his little brother was practically trying to strangle him, and his leg was wrapping around Kae’s back a little too hard.

  It made him worry something bad had happened. So he gave Luk a pat in the head to calm him down.

  Kae knew that his little brother didn’t just wake the troll. He had been doing something else at the end of The Harvest.

  [Check Status] showed him his little brother’s condition at all times.

  Even though Luk’s soul energy reserves were draining quickly, he was not at all injured.

  So he thought his little brother was okay. That was obviously not the case.

  While Kae wants to comfort his little brother right away, doing it here might be a bad idea.

  “Let’s get home first, okay?”

  Kae pulled out a rectangular device from his dimensional bag and pressed the big red button on it.

  Five seconds later, they suddenly appeared at the training ground in front of their houses.

  Luk showed no sign of releasing the hug, and Kae didn’t do something stupid like telling his little brother to let go. Luk needed him, and that’s that.

  “We’re home.”

  Silence was the only answer. Kae didn’t comment on it and just walked to their home.

  The invisibility on him disappeared, revealing a tall man with an owl mask and tight leather armor covering every single part of his body.

  Tapping the side of the mask, it disappeared, revealing a young man with curly brown hair that looked to be in his early twenties.

  The leather armor soon followed, replaced by a white pajamas with a picture of a cute bear scattered throughout them.

  The right side of Kae’s face looks normal: a soft brown eye, copper skin, and a soft smile made Kae look gentle and approachable. While the left side of his face was covered entirely in burn marks. Red skin, unmoving lips, and an eye that was permanently closed marked the left side of his face. But no one ever thought that his face was scary.

  Maybe it was Kae's gentle demeanor; maybe it was his expression that was filled with love. Nevertheless, anyone looking at him would think of… home. Like a parent’s hug when you wake up from a nightmare, or a good meal and bed after a hard day.

  Meanwhile, his body was a bit thin if you compared it to the average person before the apocalypse. But for this era, he was considered really muscular.

  When Kae opened the door to their home and entered the dining room, Luk finally spoke.

  “Hungry.”

  Luk was quiet, too quiet.

  “Okay, but we'll talk after you eat, okay?”

  Luk didn’t answer, and Kae didn’t push it.

  Sometimes you’ve got to push someone to make them better, but timing and how you do it is important. Pushing too much could harm rather than help them.

  Dealing with someone who is in a bad mental state was a delicate thing, and Luk was… special.

  That is to say, Luk was different from other kids. His emotion, his thoughts, his fears, and any other things were different.

  Not that he wanted Luk to be anything but himself; it just made it harder to help him.

  Reading and learning from others definitely help, but learning about Luk from Luk himself was definitely the biggest help. So Kae just walked into the kitchen and started cooking.

  When his little brother was upset, Kae learned that silence calmed him down.

  That doesn’t mean that his little brother liked to be left alone, no, that is a completely different thing. Kae thought that once, and it was a mistake that he would never repeat again.

  Because when Luk was upset, he liked the silence, but he needed company. So Kae entered the kitchen and cooked without saying a word.

  It was a little bit difficult, with his little brother still hugging him and whatnot. But Kae was used to it, and it didn't even slow him down all that much.

  Fifteen minutes passed without anyone speaking a word.

  The sounds of chopping and something being boiled filled the air, but they were overpowered by the stench that came out of the meat.

  Monster meat smells awful when you cook it. Though after you finish preparing it, it smells… alright. Not great, but it wouldn’t cause you to throw up.

  The stench was not even a physical thing, so you couldn’t even block it. But even with that, Luk still did not release the hug, which made Kae worry.

  Luk always ran every time he smelled the stench that came out of Kae’s cooking. The fact that Luk stayed, meant that he really needed comfort.

  Though, when the smell disappeared, Luk breathed a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Kae did not even have a change in his expression the entire time.

  Someone looking from afar would think that Kae was cooking a normal dish, judging by how unbothered he looked. Cooking using monster ingredients three times a day for years would do that to you.

  Not that Kae ever complained, even when it was his first time doing it. He didn’t want to make his little brother worry or put an unnecessary burden on him.

  Thirty seconds after the stench disappeared, he quickly put it on a plate, grabbed the other finished food, and practically sprinted to the dining room.

  The meal contained monster meat from a flaming cow with a touch of maple syrup, two scrambled eggs, a bowl of banana soup, and camel’s milk.

  It was simple, but very expensive.

  Kae usually only uses monster ingredients except for once a week, and this was that special occasion.

  After putting the meal on the table, Kae quickly sat on the carpet with Luk still hugging him.

  The table was one of the short ones where you have to sit on the carpet to use it. The reason for that was because Luk liked eating without a chair.

  “Luk, food’s ready.”

  A couple of seconds passed by with no sign of Luk releasing the hug. Kae took the initiative by prying him off.

  There was some resistance, but it was half-hearted. So it didn’t take much effort on his part.

  Kae then put Luk on his lap facing the meal on the table.

  Luk just stared at the food, not doing anything. Then Luk picked up the spoon that was in the banana soup and started to stir it.

  This goes on for around a minute before Kae gently pries the spoon off his hand and just spoon feeds him the soup.

  Luk didn’t protest and let his brother feed him. First the soup, then the meat, and even the camel’s milk. Kae also cleans Luk’s mouth with a napkin every so often.

  After all the food on the table was gone, Luk leaned back into his big brother and started to yawn.

  “Do you want to tell me what happened?"

  It was in the middle of the night and his little brother looked like he was sleepy. If Luk refused, Kae wouldn’t pursue that line of questioning at least until Luk got a good night's sleep.

  But to his surprise, Luk agreed.

  “Okay.”

  The voice that came out of Luk's mouth was quiet, but determined. Like it takes all of his willpower just to say those simple words.

  Kae instinctively hugged Luk from behind when he heard his voice. A second after that, Luk’s hands grabbed his big brother's hands.

  So Luk tells the story again in the same position as when he was telling it the first time.

  But this time, it was much harder. If Luk hadn’t already told the story, he probably wouldn’t have the courage to tell his big brother what happened.

  Luk didn’t think his big brother was scary, he knew that his big brother really loved him.

  Of course Luk felt the same way, his brother was his favorite person in the whole world after all. But that’s also the reason why Luk was so scared.

  Luk was afraid the person he loved the most was disappointed in him.

  When Luk finished the story, his big brother was wiping Luk’s face with a napkin. At first, Luk didn’t realize what his brother was doing, that is, until he touched his own face and realized that he was crying.

  Kae let his little brother cry into his shoulder while patting his head. His clothes were now covered in tears and snot, but he wasn’t paying attention to it.

  Even if his little brother was cursing and kicking him until he was on the verge of death, Kae would find it reasonable. The burden that was put on Luk’s shoulders was simply too much.

  Kae immediately understood the main reason behind his brother’s tears.

  It was not because his brother was very close to death, it was not because of the horrific things that he saw, and it was not because he failed to save them.

  All of these things affect Luk, yes, but they are not the main reason behind his tears.

  No, the main reason was, he finally understood the fate of people living in this world.

  What was on his little brother’s mind was not regret, but helplessness.

  Even now, there are so many people whose fate was worse than death. This very second someone was crying for help, hoping for someone to save them, to kill them.

  Some of them long for death for hundreds of years, maybe more, but it was never given to them.

  It was easy to dismiss these thoughts, and a large majority of people do. It was simply too much, and their brains would find a reason not to think about it. Because if not, they will break.

  But his little brother was one of the greatest heroes, and Kae understands what it means more than most people.

  His little brother was too strong, and that means he would never let himself forget it.

  “I am here.”

  Kae was looking at his baby brother with a soft smile.

  “You don’t have to carry all the burden on your shoulder.”

  Kae’s hugs on Luk tightened ever so slightly, and his voice wobbled a bit.

  “We are not omnipotent or omniscient. We can't always succeed, and always have what we want.”

  Kae looked down to see Luk in the eyes, and the wobble in his voice disappeared like there was no doubt that what he was saying was correct.

  “We can only try our best with what we have. It’s frustrating, I know. But you have to understand that we have limits on what we can do. I am not saying you have to stop trying, just don’t blame yourself for something you can’t control.”

  Luk’s tears stopped and he looked into his big brother’s eyes.

  “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t failed the first time, none of this would be happening.”

  “No, none of this was your fault. The only ones at fault were the things that caused all this suffering. The people who turned themselves into demons, and the things that caused the end of the world. Not the people that try their best to make this world a better place.”

  Luk couldn’t argue with that. Because if he did, he would not only blame himself.

  “I am one of the strongest.”

  It was the only thing that Luk could say, and Kae immediately flicked his forehead at that statement.

  “So what? That doesn't mean you have to bear the burden yourself. I am still here. You are a kid and my baby brother, you can rely on me for everything. ”

  Kae smiled and ruffled Luk’s hair.

  “You are not the only one who wants to create a better world. I will always support you and a lot of people also have the same wishes as you. If you feel too overwhelmed by it all, it’s okay to let me handle it, okay?”

  “I always rely on you for everything.”

  Luk mumbled, and Kae smiled softly at that.

  “That is only natural, you silly goose. You’re a kid. Besides, If you want to blame someone, blame adults like me, who are too weak to do more. You are already stronger than most people five times your age, you have already done more than enough. Don’t be ashamed of that.”

  “It’s still frustrating."

  “And I will always be proud of you.”

  The burden on Luk’s heart was lighter. The pain was still there, but he didn’t feel so hopeless anymore.

  Luk starts to yawn, suddenly feeling really sleepy.

  Even though he slept a lot in The Harvest, it doesn’t really count as resting.

  “Sleeping after eating a big meal like that will make you fat.”

  “I don’t... mind.”

  Though Kae says that, he didn’t intend on waking his baby brother. Kae could tell that Luk was asleep right after he finished his sentence.

  Looking at his little brother's peaceful face, Kae couldn’t help but smile and kiss Luk’s forehead. It caused Luk to stir around, but he thankfully did not wake up.

  They stayed like that for a minute, with Kae holding Luk in his arms.

  Kae then looks up, lips trembling, and gets up while carrying Luk in his arms.

  He carries his little brother to his room and just stands at the doorway.

  Inside, against the far right corner, sat a bed shaped like an orange car, facing the door. A wardrobe sat in the other corner, while a carpet laid out in the middle of the room with a lamp floating in the center of it—touching the ceiling.

  There was a chair and a table in front of the bed, and a wooden box beside it that looked like a safe.

  Paper filled with drawings were covering the wall in Luk’s bedroom. Most were his little brother's creations, but some of it was Kae.

  They were not the greatest of drawing; their Class did not help them in that regard and both of them never really learned how to draw properly. But, it was fun, and his little brother enjoyed it.

  Most of the drawings were drawings of Kae in various circumstances. From defeating monsters or even just playing volleyball.

  It was… messy. His little brother insisted that there is a pattern to it. Kae believed him, but he never quite understood what the pattern was.

  Looking at the various drawings on the wall, Kae’s heart aches a bit. He knew his little brother really admired him, but he wasn't sure he could live up to his little brother's expectations. He would definitely try his best to live up to them, though.

  After looking at Luk’s room for a second, Kae placed him into his bed and tucked him in with a blanket.

  The bed probably looked rather ‘basic’ to the average person, with no magic that could be felt from it and only large enough to support two adult men.

  In the bed, there was only one blanket, a pillow, and a bolster. All of it was the color of orange.

  The bed at least has the decency to have different variations of the color orange on it and had a pretty good design, but it was also just orange.

  It was an offense to his eyes, but for some reason, his little brother really liked it. Kae only tolerated it because it was an Artifact.

  The bed was an Artifact that grants whoever sleeps on it [Better Rest], [Alert Danger], and [Preserve Memory]. The blanket has [Minor Regeneration] and [Lesser Ailment Resistance]. The pillow has [Preserve Muscle Memory] and the bolster has [Faster Rest].

  There was no way that his little brother would have a regular object in his room; Kae would make sure he always got the best.

  The wardrobe, the chair, the table, everything including the wall and floor was an Artifact.

  There was no magic to be found in their homes, inside and outside their house. Not all of it was an Artifact, but there was a lot.

  Abyss, even their spoon had [Detected Poison] on it. An ignorant person would say that they were living in luxury and waste. Luxury would be right, but waste? No, definitely not.

  They didn’t have a single magical thing in their home because their opponent's mana detection was far superior to any defense he could come up with.

  Sure, Greed knew which kingdom they were staying at, but definitely not where their home was located.

  But even with all of these protection, all of these Artifacts, it was still not enough.

  Kae couldn’t protect him, not fully. His strength was not enough to take the burden that his little brother carried with him.

  Looking at his little brother's tear stained face, he was ashamed of himself. The one who was too weak was not his little brother, but him.

  Kae was a Level 46 [Lucks’s Big Brother]. A high Level in any time period, and he was only 23 years old. A feat like that would make him a prodigy even among legendary figures in history, but it was still far from enough.

  “You forgot to change into your pajamas, silly.”

  Kae poked Luk’s cheek a few times and got out of the room.

  He didn’t bother to turn off the light; the brightness in Luk’s room was different for each person depending on their need.

  While Kae knew that the best course of action was probably to sleep next to his little brother after what happened to him, Kae still had something to do.

  So Kae left the room and started washing the dishes. They don’t have anything that could automatically clean their plates, he also couldn’t use spells in their home. But they do have unlimited water and soap—provided there was enough soul energy.

  Luk was usually the one who filled the ‘battery’ that would power all of these things. Sure, Kae could hold a lot more soul energy, but Luk soul energy regeneration was much higher.

  His little brother eats three times a day after all.

  After Kae finished washing the dishes, he started cleaning their clothes. Once that was done, he moved on to cleaning their houses and even their training yard.

  He didn’t have to do it right now, but there was a lot on his mind at the moment, and he found doing these repetitive tasks relaxing.

  About fifteen minutes later, he’d run out of chores to do.

  Before going back to his little brother's room, Kae entered his own room to do the one thing that was actually important.

  His room was soundproof, so whatever noise that he made in there, he was certain that his little brother wouldn’t hear a thing.

  Kae sat down in a fetal position, touching the wall, and started to cry.

  ———

  Luk wakes up with a stretch and immediately starts to scan his room.

  Nothing was out of place and everything was as he remembered. He even closed his eyes and tried to guess where everything was—including all his drawings—and got everything right.

  He got up and checked the clock to find that it was 04:30 AM. Not surprising, considering the clock had [Wake Up On Time!]. He had never changed the setting to wake him up at 04:30 AM ever since he got it from his big brother.

  Luk felt… not awesome, but fine. He always sleeps for around four hours, and it always feels great whenever he wakes up. But the excitement from the day before probably made him more tired than normal.

  Luk checked his body for anything weird, did a couple of stretches, and even did a cartwheel around the room.

  The result was as he expected, nothing was out of place.

  Exiting his room to enter the dining room, Luk found that the house was quiet. Not a single sound could be heard, not even his footsteps or breath. But that was because he hadn't removed the Artifact he was using for The Harvest.

  It was also quite dark.

  His big brother would always turn the dining room light on whenever he wakes up. Coupled with the silence, it could mean his big brother hadn’t woken up yet.

  But that was quite a far-fetched theory. His big brother always set his alarm one hour before him.

  While it was possible that he changed it to get more sleep, Luk really doubts the possibility.

  The other thing that he noticed was the uncleaned bowl and plate from his previous meal. They were in the same position as he left them in.

  Luk checked the scratch on the wall and floor from the time he carelessly tested out his Artifact in the house, and it was where it should be.

  Everything seemed normal. Nothing was out of place.

  So he braced his heart and opened the door to his big brother’s room.

  The room was dark and messy. Beds were torn to shreds, while the floor and wall had deep cuts that looked like it came from a claw.

  In the center of the room, his big brother lay on the ground, head and limbs missing. He looked like a husk, no signs of blood anywhere—not on his body, nor anywhere else in the room. There were also two holes in his chest.

  What he was seeing was his big brother’s dead body; that much was obvious.

  Luk slightly recoils at seeing it, but he was otherwise not surprised.

  Ever since Luk woke up, his [Gut Feeling] had been screaming at him that something was wrong. That’s why he checked his surroundings to get a clue about what it was.

  Luk kind of expected something like this to happen. But it’s still sickening to watch your loved ones in a state like that.

  “Hello, why don’t you join me for a meal?”

  Luk turns around to see a wrinkled old man sitting at his dinner table. He had yellow eyes and an unibrow. A top hat sat on his head, but Luk could still see that he was balding with only just a few strands of hair left.

  Other than the hat, the old man did not wear anything else—he was completely butt naked.

  The old man was currently eating what Luk assumed were the legs and arms of his big brother.

  Luk just stared at the old man, expression blank.

  “Your big brother is dead, you know.”

  “No, he’s not.”

  The old man laughed. Its voice and laughter sounded like a knife scraping against a glass bottle—which was really unpleasant.

  “I guess this head belongs to someone else then.”

  The old man takes off its hat, and pulls out a head from it that looks like it belongs to his big brother.

  Then the old man starts to smile; its mouth stretches impossibly wide until it reaches its eyes.

  Luk's expression never changed, because why would he?

  “I already know that this is the dream realm.”

  Silence was the only answer, and Luk could see that the old man's movement suddenly stopped.

  It was kinda obvious.

  [Gut Feeling] definitely helped, but the biggest giveaway was that everything was exactly where he remembered it. Even though it was his own room, there was no way he remembered exactly where each of his drawings was located.

  “Your objective was probably to figure out where my home is and maybe kill me. You probably recreated all of this from my own memory, but I doubt you can look at it. It's probably more like creating stuff based on my thoughts now. That’s why I try not to look outside, so I wouldn’t give you a hint.”

  The old man was silent and was staring at him.

  Without any warning, the old man suddenly disappeared, only to appear near the window with a THUMP.

  It looked like the old man was trying to escape but didn't realize that there was a window there.

  A pistol suddenly appeared in both of his hands, and Luk immediately tried to shoot the demon in the chest.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  The old man vanished, only to be replaced by a fly wearing a top hat.

  It was getting closer to him, fast.

  Luk dismissed his pistol and pulled out five hundred needles in each of his hands.

  Soul energy enveloped them, before they shot forward like a shotgun blast.

  Most missed, hitting the wall and floor in front of him, but two of them hit the fly—pinning it to the wall.

  Luk already pulled out a wand, focusing on the connection granted by the [Aether String] to the needle that hit the fly, and unleashes a spell through it.

  “[Lightning Strike].”

  It hit the fly, leaving only ash in its place.

  He wasn’t fooled by that though. The needle that hit it was nowhere to be seen, making him think the demon turned invisible.

  Not wasting any time, Luk dismissed the wand and pulled out a shield larger than him that blocked out his vision entirely.

  “[Weapon Hold].”

  A fraction of a second later, he felt a thump that rattled his bones through the shield, but the attack failed to move him.

  The Skill on the shield makes it so that the user can’t be moved at all while the Skill is activated, and it makes any ‘weapon’ that connects with it unable to be separated from the shield.

  The attack came from a punch; that meant the demon was stuck.

  “[Recall Weapon].”

  All the needles came flying towards his hand, but they struck the back of the demon instead.

  Luk immediately dismissed his shield, revealing a bear with a top hat stumbling backward.

  A spear was summoned into his right hand, and he lunged at the demon.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  The spear hit the demon right in the stomach, making it crash into the wall.

  “[Rupture].”

  The demon’s stomach turned into a blender, turning everything inside into liquid.

  The spear disappeared and Luk took a step back.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  It’s over—

  The hole was already closing, and the demon's eyes moved to stare at him.

  Its regeneration was even faster than the troll that I saw, but I am getting stronger every second I am in the dream realm.

  Luk summoned a rapier, took a proper fencing position, and lunged at the demon.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  The rapier penetrated its head from below, hitting the center of its brain until it suddenly stopped.

  “[Lock].”

  The weapon Skill locks all damage caused by the rapier for one minute, regardless of anything.

  The demon's eyes glazed over, and it fell to the floor like a pupper that had its strings cut.

  But that wouldn’t kill the demon.

  He was pretty sure that the ‘body’ that he had been attacking was not even its real one. [Misfortune Strike] didn’t activate even a single time.

  His best guess was that its real body was the top hat.

  Not wasting any time, Luk pulled a huge hammer out of his inventory; it was his most destructive weapon that he could reliably use right now.

  Luk took a deep breath, took the proper stance to swing a hammer, and used the hammer Skill.

  "[10.000-Ton Hammer Swing].”

  A downward swing using a heavy hammer that will not harm the user in any way.

  Simple, deadly, and most of the time, useless.

  He could only do an overhead swing with it, and the cost of using the Skill was his maximum mana, stamina, and soul energy. It didn’t matter if he was Level 1 or Level 75, it would still cost him every energy that he had.

  In the real world, potions were required to use the Skill; no way that he could stay topped off otherwise. But in the dream world, all of his energy was always full.

  The air screamed like it was announcing the destruction that was about to come, space compressed around the hammer, and time briefly slowed down right before an explosion descended upon his dining room, flinging him across the room.

  No dust was created by the explosion, but his dining room was suddenly bereft of any object. Though the wall, floor, and windows didn’t seem to suffer any damage, they were just simply too sturdy.

  The bear was nowhere to be seen, but the hat was still standing there, not a single bit of damage or even a wrinkle could be seen on it.

  It failed to kill the demon, his strongest attack was unable to even scratch the demon's true body.

  Luk was sure that the demon hadn’t reached Level 75, a bit over Level 50 was his best guess. No way the demon was that durable without having a huge weakness.

  The hammer used mana and soul energy, so the type of energy to use wasn’t the answer. Maybe it had to be hit by a mundane attack?

  Luk’s thoughts were cut short as he saw the demon's insane regeneration. Only three seconds had passed, and half of its body was already finished regenerating.

  A knife that his brother had given him appeared in his right hand, while a knife from [Produce Knife] appeared on his left.

  Not wasting any time, he immediately lunged at the demon, intending to stab the hat without any Skill or mana. But before he could even get close to the demon, it was already too late.

  The demon already turned into the old man again, not a single injury or scratch can be seen on its body.

  Luk realized too late that the demon was purposely slowing down its regeneration to make him recklessly attack it.

  Both of the demon’s hands turned into scorpion tails in an instant, and they stretched to try to stab him.

  It was impossible to dodge or defend against the attack, so Luk let it hit him.

  As the stinger pierced through Luk’s body, he used the change in momentum to throw two of his knives at the demon, and without meaning to, activated his most used Skill.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  He couldn’t exactly afford to aim where the knives would strike, but it doesn’t matter, [Lucky Strike] activated.

  The blade sank deep into the demon’s eyes, surprising him. He thought the knives would hit the top hat, because what would hitting its eyes even accomplish? But then he realized [Misfortune Strike] finally worked.

  Luk was really in trouble if that attack did nothing, the stinger injected poison into him, paralyzing his entire body. Even trying to move his mana proved to be impossible.

  Before Luk did something reckless—like summoning a nuke—the stinger impaling his body suddenly disappears.

  The poison inside his body also felt weaker, and a second later, he could move again.

  Looking at the demon, he saw it was in its old man form, standing still while blood flowed from its eyes, caused by the knives stuck in it.

  “I am free.”

  The demon starts moving its arms about, and even jumping in place for seemingly no reason.

  Luk could attack the demon while it was seemingly distracted, but he decided not to.

  “I am really free.”

  Then it started to laugh, and Luk finally realized the demon was crying.

  The blood made it impossible to see the tears coming out of its eyes, but the laugh revealed what the blood covered up.

  What’s going on?

  [Gut Feeling] was silent, but he hadn’t got a clue on why.

  Whatever, if it’s over then it’s over, the answer will reveal itself eventually.

  Luk let the demon have its moment and took out a small marble to recover from his injury.

  The marble was an Artifact that had the Active Skill [Heal].

  It felt good, like relaxing after a hard training session.

  Hmmm, a workout here would probably be a good idea.

  Before he started, Luk summoned his workout equipment to help him exercise. He had a lot of options, but he chose a bandana that makes it easier to break past his limit, a belt that helped him regenerate his muscles, a headband that boosts his gain, and a leather vest that made his entire body really heavy.

  There were a lot more Artifacts that would help him exercise, but his soul can only take so much.

  Sure he could take off his other Artifact to lessen the burden on his soul, but he didn’t want to.

  His cape looks freaking cool and the glove takes forever to put back on.

  I guess I can take off my other equipment.

  The reason he was exercising right now was because Book had told him that his soul energy reserves were basically infinite inside the dream realm, and he assumed that his body was also stronger from simple deduction.

  You can’t enter the dream realm with your physical body, only your soul. It was obvious, then, that if his soul was stronger, then everything was stronger.

  The assumption was proven correct because he felt a lot stronger right now. But it happened gradually, making him think his mind was holding him back.

  Thinking you can go beyond your current limit was easier than thinking you were suddenly one hundred times more powerful from just a second ago.

  Though, if I go back into the dream realm, I am confident I can instantly go back into my strongest form and continue getting stronger. I remember how it feels after all.

  A couple of minutes passed and Luk already felt way stronger than when he started exercising.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Exercising.”

  Luk was currently in the eleventh set of his HIIT, short for high intensity interval training. The set of exercises was created by his big brother and was pretty demanding on the body.

  Usually he was out of breath right around now, but he didn’t even feel tired at all, which was pretty neat.

  “Aren’t you afraid that I would attack you?”

  “No, and if you do attack me, I don’t think it would be dangerous.”

  Sitting down on the floor, the demon clutches its top hat tightly in his hands.

  “You are either stupid or have one abyss of a Skill.”

  “Am I wrong?”

  “No Skill is invincible.”

  It was kinda rude to jump around while talking to someone, so Luk stopped his exercise.

  “Not with that mindset.”

  “Belief is important, but it could also lead to overconfidence."

  It was good advice, though a useless one. He already heard it way too many times, so he just shrugged, not wanting to argue.

  “Why do you stop attacking me, anyway? It’s kinda weird.”

  “You don’t know anything, but you still trust that you are in no danger. Must be a Fate Skill that detects danger then.”

  The longer the demon talked, the more obvious that it didn’t like him. Considering they were trying to kill each other a second ago, it was kinda understandable.

  “When you destroy my eyes, you also destroy the curse that made me a prisoner in my own body. It has been many millennia since I could move with my own free will.”

  It was a believable statement, but there is something that had been bothering him ever since he saw the demon. It was not because it was a demon and was trying to kill him. No, what was bothering him was that there was something that he could see other than its physical form.

  Now, it finally clicked.

  What he was seeing was the demon’s soul, and it was ‘telling’ him that the demon was lying.

  “I have suffered for far too long. I am begging you, please kill me.”

  The demon prostrated in front of Luk, its head bleeding from how hard its head pressed to the floor.

  It was the truth too.

  Though Luk was hesitant to kill it, no, maybe kill him?

  “I am not exactly alive, so don’t feel bad about killing me. I was already dead a really long time ago, I don’t even remember my own name. My past self thought it was a good idea to sell my soul to a warlock, and here I am, still wandering around even though the warlock is long dead.”

  “Could you tell me how it happened? It’s alright if you don’t want to.”

  “It’s a boring story. When I was alive, I liked to gamble, even making one of my Classes around it. But a gambler Class, or any Class really, cannot increase a person’s luck, but the opposite is not true.”

  The old man sighs, regret evident in his voice.

  “I had a Skill that brought misfortune to my opponent only when we were gambling, that means my opponent probably had it too. It would be fine if that were the case, but those fucker Skill did not only affect me when I am gambling, but it also seeped into every other part of my life. It made my life miserable, but I realized it far too late.”

  The old man then laughed as if it were the funniest thing in the world. Your own tragedy could be so funny if you already accept it.

  “Lost my wife, lost my kids, my parents pretended I didn’t exist, I cut off all of my good friends to hang out with trash, my money was all gone, I lost everything because of gambling. I always told myself, ‘Just one more Level and I will get rich’ or ‘I will Level Up more in the face of adversities.’ But it never happened, I sacrificed everything, including my soul, and here I am.”

  “Why did you continue to gamble then?”

  “Because it’s fun! The rush when you finally win the big buck. If those fucker played fair and don’t use a disgusting Skill on me, then gambling is fine, evil people just ruined it.”

  No emotion could be seen on Luk’s face. Not a hint of pity, sadness, anger, nothing.

  The old man realized it, and anger started bubbling up inside him. He didn’t need pity, but the look on the one he deduced was one of the Four Heroes was infuriating.

  “At first, I was really angry at them, you know. They left me when I was at my worst and I thought that those fucker would probably come back like a little bitch when I finally got my big win. I thought because it’s my own money, that meant it was my choice how to use it. But now, I am more angry that they don’t leave me sooner. They suffer a lot because of me, you know.”

  Still nothing.

  Between the Four Heroes, the Boy Wonder was his favourite hero, but meeting him right now, admiration turns to hate.

  How dare he look at me like that?

  The luckiest person in history didn’t have the right to judge him.

  “I have been stuck in my own head for so long. Not having any control of what I am doing, but still conscious throughout it all. I can still watch, smell, hope, and feel pain, you know.”

  Still the same look.

  It was as if what he was saying didn’t affect the hero at all.

  You priveleged fucker. Kind my ass, I know those stories are fake, you are just a strong person on the side of ‘good.’ You are no different from the rest of us.

  “Do you know how it feels to have an immortal body that can still feel pain and have a sadistic bitch as a master? Burning until you have only bones left, have your entire body…”

  As Luk conversed with the soul of the demon, the words coming out of its mouth started to fade into the background.

  Maybe the reason he got attacked in his dream was because he wanted to know how someone could become a demon, and the reason behind their action.

  His theory was that they had to do a really bad thing to turn into a demon.

  Looking at the old man in front of him, the theory had a good chance of being right.

  Conversing with the soul did not at all involve talking, it was more like sharing memory and emotion.

  What the demon soul shared with him was the demon’s sins. Blackmail, murder, selling dangerous drugs, rape, human trafficking, and so much more.

  The old man's story was completely different from what Luk was seeing in the old man’s soul.

  Hitting its wife and kids was a daily occurrence to it, and they ‘left’ the old man because it sold them to bad people.

  One of the kids was as young as three years old.

  All of his friends also shared the same fate.

  “If it were possible to free you, would you help me take down who did this to you?”

  Luk cut off whatever the demon was saying. He didn’t really pay much attention to what it was saying, his best guess was that the demon was still talking about its suffering.

  “No!!!”

  The demon's whole body was shaking, its arm was clutching the back of its head while tears made of blood painted its cheeks red.

  “If you live, you can do good things, you know? Help other people who are still suffering even right now.”

  “Shut up!! I don’t care you fucking selfish bitch. You're the hero, it’s your fucking job, not mine. All of it is your fucking fault for failing to save the world, go fix it yourself, don't bring me into this shit, don’t I already suffer enough?”

  A lie.

  He could only feel pity for the demon in front of him.

  The strange thing was that only a small part of it was because of the demon’s suffering, while the rest was because the demon didn’t want to atone for his sins, and would rather choose death.

  Luk wasn’t sure what the reason behind his feelings was, but he trusted it nonetheless. Yet, he will still respect the demon’s wishes. You can’t force someone to become something else.

  “Okay, how do I kill you then?”

  “Finally, why can’t you do that from the start?”

  The shaking, the tears, the frightened posture, all of it suddenly stopped like it was a lie.

  “It’s simple, really, my Skill only prevents damage from attacks with the intention of killing me. Anything other than that is fair game.”

  Half-truth.

  “Hmmm, I can’t think of a way to kill you then.”

  “In the dream world, you can use skills from your past life if you know the full details of it. I am sure you have something that can kill me.”

  The truth.

  He did have a Skill that would do the job from his past life. Maybe that’s the reason why in his past life he left records of all his Skills.

  The Skill was [Armageddon].

  It was his past life Level 75 Skill.

  [Armageddon] is what you would call a suicidal Skill. The Skill teleports you and anyone in a 1 km radius that has done really terrible things three times in their life to a dangerous made-up world.

  They also had to have the intention of killing him.

  The made-up world can be the deepest part of the ocean filled with leviathan, the surface of the sun that drains all of your energies every second, or even a dying planet.

  The only way to escape is by killing him, or if everyone else is dead.

  Then the survivor will have to wait 10 seconds in the made-up world before they go back to the real world.

  The Skill always contains something that will kill everyone inside it, except the owner of the Skill.

  It is a good but dangerous Skill. He probably died inside of it in his past life.

  “[Armageddon].”

  Luk and the demon suddenly find themselves free-falling while being surrounded by a clear blue sky as far as the eye could see.

  There was nothing around them, no clouds, no stars, and he couldn’t even see the ground.

  After three seconds of falling, Luk felt that he was falling quicker and quicker every second. There was also pressure pressing down on him that grew alongside it.

  If this keeps up, the pressure will definitely kill him.

  Shoes that had little wings on either side appeared in his hands.

  Left.

  Right.

  "[Fly].”

  The pressure suddenly disappeared, and looking around, he couldn’t find the demon anywhere.

  Binoculars appeared in his hands and he pictured the demon in his head while using it.

  “[Track].”

  The binocular moved on its own, and Luk saw the demon way below him.

  The demon was in a repeated cycle of having its body separated from its hat before it regenerated a new one and repeating it again and again.

  I guess the reason [Gut Feeling] wasn’t acting up was not because the demon had no intention of killing me, it was because its powers are gone. It can’t even turn into something like a bird to save itself. If I had to guess, the demon probably needs negative emotions to replenish its power, like fear and anger.

  Twenty seconds passed before the demon was gone from his vision.

  It was a painful death, but he couldn’t find it in himself to feel bad about it.

  Is he a bad person for it?

  Luk hated torture, even if the one who experienced it was the worse person in the whole world.

  He will not, ever, torture anyone or anything no matter the circumstances.

  Yet, why doesn't he feel bad about the way he kills the demon?

  I guess it is because this is the only way to kill it. But why is my emotions strangely muted ever since I talked with the demon's soul? No, maybe ever since I entered the dream realm?

  Luk was confused; there was a lot of things that were on his mind.

  But would he immediately try to activate [Armageddon] every time he woke up? Yes, absolutely.

  The risk to his big brother would be too much if his enemy finds out where they live.

  Thinking about it, his past self must have been pretty violent and brutal to have a Capstone Skill like this. Because after three minutes of waiting, Luk was still here, the old man was still alive.

  After waiting a few minutes more, he felt—

  ———

  —that the old man was dead.

  Luk woke up to someone hugging him. It was dark, but he wouldn’t mistake his big brother’s presence.

  “Armageddon.”

  Nothing happened. It even feels like he was just saying words rather than saying a Skill.

  Luk woke up immediately after the old man died, he didn’t need to wait ten seconds. That meant that when somebody who attacked him in his dreams died, he would immediately wake up, regardless if he had any Skill that counteracted it.

  It had only happened once, so he could be wrong, but it made him more convinced that using [Armageddon] after he woke up was the right choice.

  “Luk? What’s wrong? It’s only… 1:48 a.m.”

  His big brother said groggily, while looking at his watch.

  “Nothing, just had a bad dream.”

  “Hmmm… want me to hug you?”

  Rather than answering, Luk just hugged his big brother, who immediately returned it.

  Luk didn’t immediately fall asleep. He was still thinking about what had just happened.

  After meeting the old man, Luk still didn’t know the reason why people can do terrible things, it just doesn’t make sense to him. He just can’t imagine himself doing something like that.

  The old man and even the doctor felt alien to him. The way they thought was completely different from him.

  Maybe that was the case. He was just different from them. But it felt wrong.

  It was like saying that some people were just born bad and some people were just born good. It felt wrong.

  He would ask his big brother about it in the morning, about demons and other stuff. It was foolish to conclude something with so little information. Well, except for things that required you to think fast, like in combat.

  The situation didn’t require Luk to do that though, so he would sleep and make it future Luk’s problem. Thinking without doing anything else wouldn’t help him find the answers anyways.

  ———

  A few minutes earlier, before the old man entered Luk’s dream. A humanoid creature so thin that you could even see every bone in its body was hovering in the sky, bored.

  The creature was butt naked, with no features that would tell if it were a man or a woman.

  From head to toe the creature was as white as a cow’s milk with no other color on its body. It had eight arms that looked like even a strong wind could break. Its two legs were even thinner, and it seemed like it couldn’t do anything except sway around.

  The creature's entire body was covered in eyes, even inside it.

  If you could look inside its body you would still see hundreds of white eyes that never blink.

  The creature didn’t have any organs like other sapients beings, rather it had eyeballs that had the same function and more. Only its brain hadn’t turned into eyeballs, but it was getting close. All of the eyes were also painted full white like the rest of its body.

  It was currently looking at its latest creation with disappointment.

  Planning and creating it had been rather fun, but when it was finished, it was rather… meh.

  Its latest creation was called Gob, short for goblin. It was a goblin’s name, simple and pretty straightforward.

  The creature wondered what went wrong in creating Gob. It kind of thought that using a million hobgoblins for ingredients would make something big. It knew that Gob would not be as big as a mountain, but it didn’t expect it to be this small.

  Gob was still big, but it knew a troll that was bigger than it. Abyss, some robots are even bigger than Gob.

  No, not robots. I think they were called mecha? Whatever, doesn't matter.

  At least Gob looks good. Even though it was obvious that Gob was created by fusing a lot of hobgoblins, Gob was still handsome. Because it was no amateur, who would just bundle a lot of hobgoblins together in the shape of a hobgoblin and called it a day.

  Gob inside even looked exactly like how a hobgoblin’s inside would look, Gob even had something resembling hair.

  It didn’t even use necromancy to make its latest creation. All one million hobgoblins were still alive.

  Though this was more because of its Geas rather than anything else. It has a Restriction that does not allow it to create something by using dead things, like needles. It had to be using material that was still alive.

  The creature had high standards, it was not some run-off-the-mill demon. Its name was Claude, but people usually remember it as one of The Seven Servants of Greed. One of the most powerful demons, second only to The Seven Deadly Sins.

  Having said that, it was kind of the weakest member of The Servants of Greed right now. Because one of its Geas did not allow it to use anything except sapient beings.

  In the past, it was not a problem, but now? It’s hard to acquire a lot of material for its creation.

  The farm did produce a lot of humans, goblins, and orcs. But it was still not enough.

  Looking at its latest creation, Claude couldn’t help but resent Greed's cowardice for not allowing sapient beings to reach above a certain population.

  Wasn’t killing anyone who reached Level 50 enough? It's not like anyone below it was a threat to them.

  Sure, there existed some people that were above Level 50, but it was obviously the work of some powerful Artifact. There is no way people in this era could ever evade its eyes otherwise.

  But noooo, the population can only be increased after the Emperor died.

  Their Emperor is below Level 75, so what is there to be afraid of? He was weak and the only reason he was still alive was because of his Artifact and magical items.

  Besides, If there existed an item that could threaten them, there is no way it wasn’t used in the Final War. The Emperor probably only has items that hide people.

  One billion people under Level 25 would not be a threat to a being that already reached Level 75, except for the Four Heroes, but they were all permanently dead. No being could even come close to being as powerful as them, so Greed was just being a coward.

  What rotten luck.

  The most powerful demon that ruled the world was a craven.

  The sounds of Gob groaning made Claude's anger intensify.

  It created Gob just to show off. Like a dragon stacking gold on top of each other to brag about their massive horde.

  Gob was only created to do one single job, to be big, and it can’t even do that.

  What use was Gob when it couldn’t even fulfill what its parent wanted it to be?

  When a kid turns out to be a complete failure it's not the fault of the parent.

  Claude tried his best in creating Gob and it was only a single request, so why is Gob not doing what it was created to.

  Did Gob not realize how much effort it takes on creating it? Or was it so audacious that it doesn’t care what sacrifice Claude makes in creating it?

  It was worthless, worthless, worthless, WORTHLESS, WORTHLESS, WORTHLESS, WORTHLESS, WORTHLESS, WORTHLESS.

  Gob was useless, pathetic, a stain on its reputation.

  Gob deserved to die.

  Gob deserved to suffer.

  A single flame created from a tier 0 spell [Spark] was on the tip of Claude’s finger. If you look at it from a certain view, it looks like Gob was engulfed in flame.

  “[What I See Is Reality].”

  Flame engulfed Gob and the entire mountain that was behind it.

  It screamed and screamed, begging to die. But Claude’s Skill [Eternal Suffering] didn’t allow a single hobgoblin to die.

  Flesh was constantly turned to ash before it quickly regenerated.

  This happened over and over again until Gob’s scream reached a wandering swordsman.

  The scream was so pitiful that the swordsman couldn’t help but check on what was causing it.

  It was a foolish thing to do. Out here, without the protection of the barrier, high Level monsters and demons were a common sight.

  She was usually careful when she was outside the barrier even though she was perhaps wearing the best set of Artifacts, second only to the Emperor’s.

  But for some reason, she was way more reckless than usual. Like there was something pushing her to check the source of the scream.

  After travelling a few thousand kilometers in a few seconds, she saw a burning mountain in the distance, and a beat after that, she saw the source of the scream.

  It was a giant hobgoblin, created by stitching together countless other hobgoblins.

  It was beautiful.

  Looking at it made her want to be a part of it. To be a part of something like that was surely a blessing, right?

  She walked closer—mesmerized—before intense pain made her snap out of whatever it was that had been affecting her.

  “Hello, what have we had here?”

  Claude was looking at her from above. The glee that it was feeling can be heard from the tone of its voice.

  “Well, well, well, a Level 66 [Swordsmaster]. You must be the Emperor's greatest weapon that I had been hearing about.”

  She froze, fear evident in her body language. But Claude was not a fool who would fall for tricks like that.

  Before she could do anything, one of Claude’s eyes was looking at her.

  “[Prison of Vision], [Narrow Vision].”

  The Skill [Prison of Vision] ensures that anyone caught in it could not escape Claude's field of vision. It can be all of its eyes combined vision or it can limit it to only one of its eyes. Of course, Claude always chose the latter.

  Combined with [Narrow Vision], it made it possible for Claude to fling her around in a circle. Claude could also narrow its vision more until she was in the shape of a ball and made her crash against everything.

  With [Appraisal], Claude knew that she didn’t have anything to stop its Skill, so it could afford to mess around with her.

  She doesn’t have any Skills after all. She probably sacrificed her Skills to have better stats. The Artifact that she wears also couldn’t stop Claude’s Skill.

  “This is the strongest the ‘good’ guy had to offer? What a joke.”

  Greed really was just being a coward. The strongest weapon the good guys had was reduced into a ball of flesh without even having a chance to fight back.

  They were fools to not have any countermaster against it. Were they underestimating it? Because they thought it was weak?

  Then they were a fool. Claude was the eyes, the best at monitoring these farm animals. But that didn’t mean it was weak.

  Their strongest warrior wasn’t even a threat to it. Their Artifacts were all useless even in front of one of its weakest attacks…

  The one that Claude itself admitted was pretty easy to counter…

  Their strongest warrior being killed by the attack was… strange.

  Shit—

  The illusion broke as soon as Claude realized it was under one.

  In less than a fraction of a second, Claude took in its surroundings.

  Gob was cut to pieces on the ground—dead. Felt the creature that it created to protect it gone, and saw the [Swordsmaster] flying in front of it, currently slicing it apart.

  Claude’s regeneration made the [Swordsmaster] attack feel meaningless, but its resources were not unlimited.

  “[Overclocked Cognition], [Weaken Flesh], [Memontery Motor Reset], [Transfer Pain], [Total Sensory Loss], [What I See Is Reality].”

  The [Swordsmaster]’s movement stopped and she fell to the ground.

  It was as good a time as any to attack the now defenseless [Swordsmaster], but Claude didn’t want to risk it.

  Claude's vision changed to one of its floating eyes that was far away from its current location. With [What I See Is Reality] still active, Claude basically teleports out of there.

  Not taking any chance, Claude lit itself on fire.

  “[Flames of Greed].”

  Blue flame covered Claude's entire body and through some mental gymnastics you could say from its perspective, it looks like the one that was on fire was not Claude, but everything that it saw. But that was good enough for the Skill, so reality follows.

  Everything within a few hundred kilometers around it was set ablaze. The air, the ground, sound, mana, everything. Including monsters and demons that were in the area. They tried to run and some even tried to attack Claude but they fell without being able to do anything.

  Anything the flames burned would have its desire and power stolen from them. Gravity loses its desire, monsters don't even leave behind ashes, demons lose their will to move, and even dirt gives up on becoming a solid object.

  Claude wasn’t satisfied with that and sent out many of its eyes on its body to watch its surroundings for any signs of anything. It then summoned all of its children that it could to its location.

  If their strongest weapon was suddenly in front of it, that meant they had something to deal with it. There is no way that illusion was the only trick in her arsenal.

  Thinking about it, Claude realized it could just use [What I See Is Reality] to make the illusion into reality, but the illusion broke by just Claude realizing it was under one. That… was probably intentional.

  Claude made sure it couldn’t feel pain, which was likely the reason the [Swordsmaster] managed to attack it without breaking the illusion.

  Running away was the correct choice if something was prepared and confident they could kill it. It was better to just run away. It was not cowardice, it was wisdom.

  Claude could think of a number of ways its Skills could be turned against it. Claude was the Servant of Greed, not the Servant of Pride. It was the reason Claude survived the Final War, while more powerful demons than it died like fools.

  Its own life was its greatest treasure, there is no way Claude would risk losing it because of something like pride.

  Besides, its resources were already down by 3%. Regeneration didn’t come out of nothing.

  Even if I absorb the flame after they steal everything, and I made all the demons around me mine. It still won't give me back the resource that I lost. Especially my supplies of sapiens. What a shitty day.

  Before Claude could ruminate further, it felt one of its children suddenly died.

  At first, Claude was in a bit of a panic, but after realizing that it was not the children around it who had died, it relaxed.

  It was one of its children that Claude used to monitor the dream realm.

  When Claude was in the middle of seeing the memory leading up to its children's death, it paused.

  Using [Appraisal], Claude saw something that was impossible. The hobgoblin in its children's memory had a Skill that boosted luck.

  Only the Boy Wonder, one of the Four Heroes, can increase his luck. But he was supposed to be dead, unable to reincarnate to this world anymore.

  So how is this possible?

  Did Greed lie?

  That’s… possible, but why?

  Ten minutes passed, and Claude got a decent theory on what was happening.

  The first and the most unlikely possibility is that the Boy Wonder luck transfers to a new person. It sounds absurd, you can’t transfer the properties of your soul to another. But who knows what’s possible with those four.

  The second possibility is way more likely, Greed simply lies to them. The reason behind it is obvious if you think about it.

  If it got out that the Four Heroes still exist in this world, then all the demons in the world can’t help themselves to try and kill them.

  That in itself is not bad. All demons without exception want to kill those four. It was literally encoded into the very soul of every demon.

  But what would be the consequence of that?

  In the worst scenario, all the farms will be gone, killing all the demons in the world, including Greed.

  Is that the reason one of the farms is gone? Was it not because Greed wants to send the Emperor a warning? It's very possible.

  Thinking about it, destroying one of the farms is really out of character for Greed, and it did that just to send a warning?

  I can’t believe I even fell for that. The statement must be backed by some kind of Skill. Because there is no way anyone who knows Greed would believe it. But destroying one of the farms to try and kill at least one of the Four Heroes? Then it starts to make sense.

  Claude grinned, between the Four Heroes, Claude hated the Boy Wonder the most. Its whole life was shit, full of misfortune.

  Isn’t it fitting for the unluckiest being in the world to kill the luckiest being in history?

  Killing him would make me become the strongest demon besides Greed, Sloth, and Lust.

  Claude couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.

  No, maybe I can even surpass them.

  Even if killing the Boy Wonder didn’t make Claude stronger, it will still gladly kill him. His very existence repulsed it.

  Claude was after all a Level 83 [The One Who Forbid All Happiness but Their Own]. Its Class was closer to the domain of envy rather than greed, but Envy was dead and so was its domain.

  Of course Claude was not so foolish to go there by itself or try to fight a hero in the dream realm, even a low Level one.

  Claude would just give the information to its fellow servants, and when it got the chance, betrayed them and killed the hero. No need to danger itself or waste resources trying to kill the hero, that would be foolish and a waste. Let the others handle it.

  But first, Claude continued seeing the memory. To see how one of its kids fares against a hero and to collect information.

  Going back before its kid entered the dream realm of the hero, Claude found out that finding the Boy Wonder’s dream realm was purely luck. Claude’s kids were just hopping from one dream to another collecting information, before it accidentally found the Boy Wonder’s dream realm.

  Claude watched as its kid tried to scare the Boy Wonder to absorb his energy. Which to no one's surprise, failed miserably.

  The scare tactic was not bad, definitely not good though.

  Claude cringed watching the memory, especially after its kid turned into an old man to try and scare the Boy Wonder.

  The part that made Claude cringe was not because the plan was horrible, somebody would probably find that kind of stuff scary.

  No, what made Claude cringe was the desperation and foolishness. It was obvious even at a glance that the Boy Wonder was not at all scared. But rather than back off, collect information, and make a new plan, the fool did the most idiotic thing. It revealed itself.

  It was too much for Claude, so Claude was grateful when the Boy Wonder’s knives sank deep into the fool’s eyes, cutting Claude off for whatever happened next.

  What Claude was doing was not absorbing or transferring information. It was closer to watching the past through the fool’s eyes.

  That distinction was important, because Claude was essentially time traveling.

  The only rule Claude had to follow was that It could not change anything in the past, but it could still use a Skill if Claude did not break that rule.

  Going back for a few seconds, Claude made the fool's eyes its own and activated its Skill.

  “[All-Seeing Eyes], [Soul Glimpse].”

  In the real world, this combination of Skills allow Claude to essentially identify someone regardless of what forms they take.

  It was useful to differentiate its kids from one another. Their form did not always stay the same after all.

  But in the dream realm, this combination of Skills could discern the true name of whoever Claude sees. It would be easy then to kill the Boy Wonder.

  The Boy Wonder’s name was Luk.

  Claude was overjoyed, but when it tried to curse ‘Luk,’ it failed.

  Of course he had protection from someone trying to find out his real name.

  It was not surprising, but it was still annoying.

  Claude quickly moved on, not wanting to think about its failure anymore. It had another Skill that it could use, the Skill was [Random Important Fact].

  The information Claude got didn’t have to be true, the target just had to believe it.

  The Skill gave information like, “Nick believed that his friends loved him.” Or something like that.

  What counted as “important” was determined by the target, not Claude, so something like somebody's favourite color could still count as important.

  Claude could only use the Skill once per day, but the Skill could be used on the same person without limit.

  Even an idiot would know how it would be useless against the luckiest being that ever and probably will ever live.

  It's not costing me anything anyways. It wouldn't hurt to try. Maybe after using the Skill for a year, it could tell me something useful. Though, knowing incomplete information could harm rather than help.

  After thinking for a moment, Claude decided to just do it. It could just tell other demons about the information that it collected maybe after a year. No sense in putting yourself in danger when you could make someone else do it.

  “[Random Important Fact].”

  Claude didn’t think the Skill would harm it, because why would it?

  In any other circumstances, that statement was true. But there are three things that Claude fails to consider.

  The first was that [Random Important Fact] works differently in the dream realm.

  In the dream realm, the Skill gives information from all of the target’s reincarnations because, in the dream realm, the past, present, and future happen at the same time.

  It was also true in the real world, but just like one infinity can be bigger than another infinity, an instant can be faster than another instant.

  The second, is that [Misfortune Strike] had hit the eyes that Claude possessed.

  The third, is that Luk’s luck was way more powerful than normal when he activated [Misfortune Strike].

  The result of these three things resulted in [Random Important Fact] giving Claude the worst knowledge that it could ever receive.

  But can knowledge be dangerous?

  Can it harm people?

  Can the tongue be sharper than the sword?

  The answer is yes.

  Claude would disagree, even if Claude was the prime example of this quote.

  Something that happened thousands of years ago still cuts deep to this day. Making Claude never truly be… content or satisfied.

  Claude could still be happy, sure. But it would never be happy. Not only because of what happened, but also because of its action throughout its life.

  [Random Important Fact] reveals to Claude what its soul was begging for Claude to know, to understand. Something that it ignores again and again, because living in ignorance is more comfortable.

  The knowledge that Claude received isn’t something that anything in this reality should know, but every soul knows. Not because it is too complicated—it was actually quite simple—but because of a limitation of a wish.

  Claude's life flashes before its eyes. Every single thing that Claude did—whether it was small or big—it scrutinized with a fervor that put anything it did before to shame.

  But no matter how many times Claude looks at its life, the conclusion remains the same.

  Fear engulfed it, before panic slapped Claude out of it.

  Only nine seconds had passed since Claude used [Random Important Fact]. It was nine seconds too long that it wasted doing nothing.

  Claude knew that this knowledge would soon be erased from its mind and it would act like it did before.

  The knowledge that this world—

  No, this reality is actually a ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇.

  If it were true then—

  NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOO

  It had to—

  If it forgets then it would go back to living its life.

  No, that would be unacceptable.

  Then what can Claude do?

  Write the knowledge? No way it wouldn't be erased.

  Claude's soul made its decision for it—death.

  It tried to “leave” the body on its own, but its effort was doomed to fail from the start.

  Pain one hundred times worse than Claude ever felt in its whole life assaulted it. Before growing worse each second that passed.

  It was unbearable, but it was much better than the alternative.

  After a few seconds something gave.

  At first its Skill went haywire. Its flame that Claude used to protect it was burning it alive. All of Claude was constantly turning to ash before regenerating again.

  Claude threw out all of its Artifact from its pocket dimension and summoned all of its creation to try and destroy all of them.

  Relief was flowing through it, despite all of the pain and loss.

  But despite its struggle, Claude still failed.

  It forgot.

  The wish to die soon followed, before pain from trying to kill itself also disappeared. What replaced it was fear. Not fear from before, but fear for its life.

  Though Claude could not feel pain, it was still afraid of dying by its own fire. But even its fear was slowly consumed by the flame like its own flesh.

  All of the things that made Claude who it was were slowly stripped away from it.

  No matter what Claude tried to do, the flame would not follow its command. Like [Flames of Greed] was not its Skill anymore.

  Claude tried to teleport to escape the flame, but it was hard to use [What I See Is Reality]. Like trying to move a limb that had all of its bones broken.

  All of the Skill that it had was unusable. It was there, but because an arm was still connected to the body, doesn’t mean that you can use it.

  All of the connection to its Artifact was gone, either because the link was severed for whatever reason or that all of it was destroyed.

  Claude tried to get out of the rings of flames by walking out of there, but it forgot how to use its legs or any part of its body.

  The only things that were still usable were the eyes that it stitched all over its body.

  Soon it would also be gone.

  The thought made Claude’s fear be replaced by anger. The eyes were its family and friends, if it was gone then Claude would be alone.

  Its family and friends would then leave him in this curse world. Then they would not suffer anymore.

  But even that emotion was slowly being taken away from it.

  Claude was going to die, it was sure of it.

  As soon as the certainty of its demise planted itself in its mind, Claude was teleported to a tunnel, with the flames on its body gone.

  It didn’t know what saved it.

  All of its Artifact was gone and it was definitely not its Skill.

  Then what saved it? No, maybe who?

  Greed’s face in the sky crossed its mind and the relief that it felt from being saved was gone.

  There was no way that Greed’s rescue was without price, and Greed was the worst creature to have a debt on. But even its connection to Greed was gone.

  Claude was entirely alone without anything to its name.

  No Skill, no Artifact, no kids that would follow every one of its commands, nothing.

  Rage was boiling in its veins and the only thing on its mind was revenge to whoever did this to it.

  Claude's latest memory was of running away from a [Swordsmaster], teleporting far away from her, using everything it had to protect itself—and then suddenly dying.

  Her!!! It was all her fucking fault that I am in this pathetic state! I will fucking kill her even if it cost me my life!

  Claude laughed without a mouth. Its eyes are all quivering with delight for hope that they will finally find rest.

  Deep in the tunnel, in one of the forgotten kingdoms, a demon was planning its own doom without even realizing it. For its soul was hoping to die.