The blinding radiance that had filled the cramped apartment began to recede, pulling back into the center of the room like a dying star.

As the spots cleared from Yechan’s vision, he saw her.

She was standing amidst the wreckage of his coffee table, her presence so overwhelming that the air itself seemed to vibrate.

Her skin was a pale, almost translucent porcelain, and her hair flowed like liquid ink, cascading down a back that was currently bare.

The woman looked around the room, her eyes narrowing with intense confusion and a hint of ancient malice.

If described in the manner the stars do, then she looked like a concept given flesh.

"Where... is this?"

She whispered, her voice echoing with a resonance that made the windowpanes rattle.

Her gaze snapped to Yechan, who was currently huddled against his radiator, trembling.

"You. Little creature. Are you the new demon candidate?"

Yechan’s heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird.

He stared at her, his mouth hanging open.

"What? Demon candidate? What are you talking about? Who are you?"

The woman stepped over a broken leg of the table, her movements fluid and predatory.

She looked down at him as if he were an insect she couldn’t decide whether to crush or study.

"I am Libra."

She stated, her voice regaining its regal edge.

"I was the 9th Demon King.

And you..."

She gestured toward his hand, where the Rebirth Stone had disappeared moments ago.

"You have consumed the Demon King Rebirth Stone.

It has recognized your soul. Whether you intended to or not, you are now a demon candidate."

Yechan felt a cold sweat break out across his brow.

"Demon candidate? What does that even mean?"

Libra tilted her head, a cruel smirk playing on her lips.

"It means you have entered the Great Game.

The seat of the Demon King is vacant, and you are one of the chosen contestants.

But do not think it is a prize.

It means the Stars...those haughty Constellations who watch from abovenwill hunt you down.

They will send their champions, their avatars, and their ’Heroes’ to extinguish your life before you can ascend.

And you should know... candidates are more than one.

Your rivals will seek to devour your stone to strengthen their own."

Yechan’s mind raced.

Even though he was an awakened player, he had spent most of his time as a bottom-tier porter.

He didn’t have much knowledge on the deep mechanics of the Tower.

The news had only recently started whispering about the existence of Demon Kings and Constellations as actual entities rather than just flavor text for skills.

He felt a wave of vertigo.

What was he supposed to do with this?

He thought of his brother, Kim Jin.

Jin was everything Yechan wasn’t.

Jin was a rising star, a high-ranker who cleared floors with ease and walked with the confidence of a king.

Jin had always been the one to bail Yechan out of trouble.

Just last month before the 11th floor expedition, Jin had sat him down and pleaded with him to stop the porter work.

"Yechan, just stop."

Jin had said, his eyes full of a pity that burned Yechan more than any monster’s claw.

"I’ll cover your bills. All of them. I’ve bought a place in the Upper District for you. You’ll never have to pay for a thing in your life. You don’t have to risk your life for mana shards anymore."

Jin had meant it as protection. He loved his brother.

But to Yechan, it felt like a death sentence.

It made him feel so small...a burden that needed to be managed and tucked away in a golden cage.

He felt weak every time he looked at his brother’s successful back.

’If Jin had found this stone...’

Yechan thought, his eyes hardening as he looked at Libra.

’If Jin had become a candidate, the Stars would be hunting him.

He already has so much on his shoulders.

He’s the hope of his guild, the provider for me and him... He’s the one everyone relies on.’

A strange sense of calm settled over Yechan.

For the first time in his life, he didn’t feel like the burden. He felt like a shield.

If the Stars were going to hunt someone, let them hunt him.

If there was a terrifying weight to be carried, he would bear it so that Jin wouldn’t have to.

It didn’t matter if he was weak...he would become the target so his brother could remain the hero.

It was the only way he could truly repay the years of being protected.

It wasn’t stupidity...it was the only way he could finally stand on his own two feet by standing in front of the one who had always stood in front of him.

"It’s okay."

Yechan whispered to himself.

"It’s better this way."

Libra, meanwhile, was staring at her own hands, her expression shifting from arrogance to absolute horror.

She began to curse, words in a tongue that sounded like grinding stones and screaming winds.

"How?!"

She shrieked, her amethyst eyes flashing with rage.

"How is this possible? A contract? Forcefully entered?!

With a brat like this?!"

She stepped toward Yechan, her presence crushing him into the floor.

"Your aptitude... it shouldn’t be possible. Your soul has a hidden affinity for contracts... something so deep it dragged a Monarch into a binding agreement!

I am bound to you! I, Libra, the 9th!"

She let out a string of cusses that made the air turn cold.

She looked like she wanted to rip Yechan’s throat out, but every time she raised a hand, a faint maroon glow pulsed around her wrists and neck stopping her.

Suddenly, her gaze shifted.

The television in the corner of the room was still on, though the screen was cracked.

A news report was showing a close-up of an item.

At the center of the trophy was a maroon emblem.

Libra froze.

Her eyes widened, and her inner thoughts raced with a predatory hunger.

’That emblem... that is an Abyss Cursed Relic.

It’s a fragment of the Old World.’

She knew that if she could get her hands on that relic, she could use its chaotic energy to overwrite the contract.

She could break the chains binding her to this weak human, kill him, and then set her sights on the Stars who had cast her down.

She masked her expression, turning back to Yechan with a fake, chillingly sharp smile.

"Fine."

Se said, her voice dropping to a silk-wrapped blade.

"I will agree to this contract... for now.

I will make you stronger.

You will need it if you wish to survive the first wave of the hunt.

But for me to regain my full power and remove the suppression the Stars have placed on me... I need that."

She pointed a long, slender finger at the television screen.

Yechan looked at the cracked screen.

The maroon emblem was glowing under the studio lights.

"That? That’s the grand prize for the Player Battle Royale.

It’s happening in a week’s time.

It’s a huge event... only the best are invited."

He looked back at the Demon King standing in his living room.

A surge of adrenaline hit him.

He had always felt like he was nothing, but now, he had a Demon King under contract.

He had a hidden aptitude that even she couldn’t explain.

’I knew it!’

Yechan thought, a delirious grin spreading across his face.

’I knew I always had talent.

Everyone thought I was just a porter, but the Stars...are finally looking at me.

This is it. This is my time to shine. I won’t be in Jin’s shadow anymore!’

He stood up, brushing the dust off his pants, trying to regain some semblance of dignity.

He looked Libra up and down.

She was still completely naked, her dark hair the only thing covering her.

"We should probably get you some clothes,"

Yechan said, coughing awkwardly.

"Or... can’t you turn into something that doesn’t involve you being naked in my apartment?

If my landlord comes by...or even my younger brother...this will look bad."

A vein throbbed in Libra’s temple.

She looked at him with a look of such pure insolence that Yechan almost retreated back to the radiator.

"You miserable worm!"

"I am a Demon King of War! I do not clothe myself in the rags of mortals!"

She paused, her eyes glowing with a dark, metallic light.

"And as per what the contract suggests... I am your weapon.

I am the tool of your ambition until I find my release."

Her body began to glow again.

It was a harsh, blinding silver.

Yechan shielded his eyes as the light condensed.

The light faded as the room went silent.

In front of Yechan, floating inches above the floor, was a beautifully crafted sword.

The hilt was wrapped in dark, scaled leather, and the crossguard was shaped like the wings of a fallen angel, cast in a deep, matte black.

The blade itself was a shimmering obsidian, etched with maroon runes.

Yechan stared.

"...No way."

He stepped forward slowly.

Yechan reached out, his hand trembling.

As his fingers closed around the hilt, a jolt of power shot up his arm, settling in his chest.

His eyes lit up.

"...This is insane."