2.

Around the time Seong was handling dinner and drinks with Lee Geon-dong at the hof bar—

The internet was exploding with heated reactions.

Separate from the simple event where monsters and bosses enhanced by the aura of despair were getting taken down—

These reactions were happening because Seong’s live broadcast had been that big of a hit.

When it comes to the Demon King, most people instinctively expect something overwhelming.

So this live couldn’t help but get an insane response.

[Title—Anyone who didn’t watch this Demon King live?]

[Author—SteppedOnFlooring]

『Honestly, I feel bad for you ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

This live wasn’t just “legendary”—it was straight-up legend-tier.

No, should I call it Almighty-tier?

Anyway, it was insane.

And I never imagined that vassal, Helena, would be that strong;;;

She was actually cracked.』

[TankerQuit : Who is this guy, why’s he overreacting this hard?]

└[SteppedOnFlooring(Author) : Nah, you’re the one I feel bad for;;; You missed it.]

└[TankerQuit : ????? So who the hell is Helena?]

└[SteppedOnFlooring(Author) : Demon King’s vassal, and Helena’s solo contribution points were higher than the backup team’s total as a party unit;]

└[TankerQuit : Huh? How is that even possible??? They not uploading the video?]

└[EnhancementRuined : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Yeah, should’ve watched. He did it live for free and you still didn’t show up ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

└[TankerQuit : My mom told me to go to bed ㅠㅠㅠ]

As Helena’s true worth got revealed, people started running their mouths about it.

Praise for the backup team kept pouring in too—

But the biggest thing was that people’s curiosity about Helena finally got answered.

They were shocked that someone could have an individual vassal that powerful.

More than anything—

[Title—Demon King’s firepower;;]

[Author—NoCooldownUsed]

『Is the Demon King allowed to be this strong?

Like, how does it make sense that one vassal is stronger than a four-man party where everyone’s Legendary, including an Almighty, too;;;;

How strong are the other vassals supposed to be?

Honestly, from someone who watched the video, Luna’s team, Kyou’s party, and Embris’s party all felt totally out of reach strong—and then there’s Helena, above even that......

This is disgusting.

Isn’t the Demon King basically a major guild all by himself?』

[PretendingToBeANewbie : That’s absolutely not true, how can one person be guild-tier ㅋㅋㅋ]

└[GearCarry : This dumbass doesn’t even know what “Demon King” means??????]

└[NoHealsForYou : Username checks out so hard ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[SoloPlayMaster : Leaving that aside, isn’t the backup team insane too?]

└[BossLurker : ㅇㅇ The backup team feels like they could scrap with double rankers.]

[Title—So are all the Demon King’s vassals as strong as Helena?]

[Author—DPSObsessed]

『No way, right?

That would be way too broken—how would that even make sense?

Even the fact the Demon King can use multiple lords’ powers already looked like pure cheating???

I asked support and they said it’s power a player ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) got through “normal play.”

So I’m just a useless idiot who can’t even do “normal play”? ㅠㅠㅠㅠ』

[AutoFarmer : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ That last line is killing me. Wait? Why are there tears......]

[GearFlexer : There’s probably no vassal stronger than the backup team, right? The game told him to only summon one, so he summoned the strongest. Under Helena, they probably won’t be that strong.]

└[PartyBomber : But then again, the vassals have been showing some ridiculous presence this whole time...... I honestly don’t know.]

[NewbieSlayer : So if the backup team fights the Demon King’s vassals minus Helena, who wins?]

└[Whale : Please, Rapid Guild, you’ve been so based—do this for us ㅠㅠㅠ Don’t fight each other, go beat the Demon King’s vassals!!!]

└[ThoughtIWasGood : It’s the National Vassal Championship ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

└[TrashMobHunter : Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ this is hilarious]

People’s curiosity started shooting through the roof.

They knew Seong’s vassals were strong.

But were they actually Almighty-tier?

Or were they below that?

If you compared them to the backup team, who came out on top?

As those questions started sprouting and growing—

Someone began leaving a few posts full of worries.

From their perspective, it was only natural.

[Title—Is it just me, or does this feel ominous?]

[Author—RaidTroll]

『I’m a real Demon King fan.

I was a Rapid fan even before the Demon King showed up.

After he showed up, I’ve basically watched every single Demon King video.

I’ve been watching since the Mihael broadcast—back then I was like, “Wait, what’s this?” and I stuck around.

But I’m kinda worried—are we sure it’s okay like this?

They’re saying he’s moving to the tenth region, and from there it’s rankers’ territory......

I’m worried other rankers might try to keep him in check......

I’m even more worried because Eclipse Order and Tempest Wing have actually tried to check him before.』

[Title—Are the rankers going to move?]

[Author—GearVanished]

『Honestly, even if I were him, Seong’s growth curve would annoy me?????

Rankers have brutal competition, and a new catfish jumps in—do you really think they’ll just sit still?

And the Demon King’s older sister Yumina fought the rankers before, like it was basically a war.

I feel like there are a lot of rankers who might jump him over that grudge?

I really don’t know.』

[LegendRumorFactory : Nah, rankers aren’t idiots. Would they really fight? They’ve got too much to lose.]

└[GearVanished(Author) : I think so too, but if people only ran on logic, America never would’ve gained independence ㅇㅇ]

└[OperatorShill : That’s kinda true too...... we’ll have to watch.]

[MaxLevelAddict : Well, whatever happens, we’ll have fun, right?]

└[DiesWhileDPSing : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ That’s it.]

Some people did express concern—

But the overwhelming majority reacted like, even if the rankers move, it’ll just be more fun.

There were even posts egging them on to move.

Because, for the public, that was more entertaining.

Could the Demon King really fight the ranker class?

If they fought, who would win?

Would it end in Seong’s victory, like the war Seong’s older sister Yumina fought in the past?

Or would Seong—still low-leveled and inexperienced—lose?

To them, it was nothing more than another piece of entertainment.

Without thinking at all about what kind of aftermath it might bring—

They only wanted to fill their dopamine fast, so it didn’t take long for opinions to converge.

3.

Alongside the public reactions, a few rankers began gathering in secret.

A meeting where everything—rank, face, even nicknames—was hidden, leaving only silhouettes.

There were over thirty rankers gathered there.

And—

-We can’t just stand by any longer.

-If we leave this alone, we’ll get a second “Yuna incident.”

-But the Demon King is Yuna’s younger brother. There’s a chance Yuna could join in.

-......All the more reason we need to think calmly.

-We’re not chaff. Don’t we need to weigh this carefully?

Some of them trembled in fear as they thought of Yumina.

They couldn’t help it.

The memories of getting absolutely wrecked back when Yumina was climbing the ranks and her stock was soaring were still vivid for them.

They couldn’t let it happen again—but the fear from back then still lingered.

However—

This time, things were different.

-Do you really think the Demon King is coming up alone?

-...Huh? If he isn’t, then?

-This isn’t like Yuna’s time.

-Think carefully. Back then, Rapid didn’t have anyone with talent comparable to Yuna, so Yuna fought alone.

-And even then, we lost. But this time, there’s Luna, Kyou, and Embris—called Yuna-level talent—and then the Demon King, who’s called a monster.

-If they come up, our rankings drop by at least four steps.

-Can you accept that?

When the ones in the very top tier among those thirty spoke—

Everyone started murmuring.

It really wasn’t like Yuna’s time, where it was just one person.

At minimum, there were three more attached, and if you included their party members behind them—

That meant a total of twelve people, including the Demon King and the backup team.

Depending how you looked at it—

-You’re saying there could be a tectonic shift in both the single and double rankings.

-So the more it’s like this, the more we have a duty to lock arms and block them.

-I’ve said this much—does anyone still not understand?

-If you have another opinion, raise your hand.

When the top four said that—

No one argued back.

Deep down, they’d all been thinking the same thing.

So the top four added more, to reassure them.

-If Yuna joins, we have our own moves too.

-So don’t worry too much.

-More than anything, we plan to expand the other gathering members who will keep the Demon King in check.

-Get it so we can gather more people as well.

At those words, every silhouette in the meeting nodded.

It had been a gathering that had kept itself secret for a long time—

But this time, they had no choice but to increase their numbers.

The Demon King wasn’t an opponent you could take lightly.

Like people were saying, double rankers probably wouldn’t be enough.

So they thought it through in their own way.

-That’s why we want to see the Demon King’s new content this time and gauge his strength.

-Unlike us, he foolishly reveals his hand.

-That gives us better odds.

-Prepare for that moment.

The four voices rang out like that, and the silhouettes disappeared.

The others also vanished as their silhouettes faded, leaving the meeting.

And one of those silhouettes, disconnecting as well, grinned and said,

“Idiots.”

It was none other than Kim Jinwoo—known in Rapid Guild as first squad (excluding Yuna), and a name on the double ranker list—standing up from his seat.

Then he headed for the guildmaster’s office to report.

He already knew their plan in detail.

And there was no one better than Rapid at staying close without getting dragged in, while thinking up ways to make those bastards choke on it.

With that, Kim Jinwoo brought the new information back to Rapid and reported it.