◈ Everyone Else is a Regressor (14)

Chapter 3. Partying with the Demon Lord (4)

The glass box was quickly filled with light, but due to the magic circle engraved on the box, the light did not spread outside but was reflected and expanded mercilessly within.

Obviously, from the outside, it was impossible to tell what was happening inside the box. Whether the time had come for a racial grade to emerge or whether a perfectly roasted serpentine squid would pop out was unknown—a Schrödinger's cat-like state where both possibilities of becoming a better Hero and becoming a roasted squid coexisted.

"That hero, I don't think he knew the proper way to handle magic until now."

The Demon Lord, who had been looking at the box with satisfaction, heard the fairy's voice.

The Demon Lord nodded and replied, "He's not without sense. He just didn't have the know-how. But considering that he was surrounded by Earthlings, who could have taught him properly?"

"But do you think he'll succeed? There were so many sunlight ores. Did you push them in with the purpose to kill him? As if to say, if he can't pass even this level, he won't need any more care."

"What are you talking about? I just said he's not senseless. And now he's got the know-how too."

The Demon Lord chuckled at the fairy's mischievous voice.

"The hero is much more of a genius than you think, and incomparably more than he thinks. He was born in a world where his talent went unrecognized, and he was just a bit oppressed, which made him more disheartened than necessary. Potential doesn't just disappear."

"Well, it didn't seem like he lacked potential. I'm saying this because that bug is not here, but he was very respected."

The fairy nodded emphatically, remembering how the hero had received much attention throughout the tutorial.

"He had the talent to console those around him, and he was kind and friendly—everyone liked him. Moreover, always fair in his words and actions, no one dared to underestimate him... Maybe if there were a few more heroes like him, the tutorial could have ended in one go."

"All that praise, and yet, why has the evaluation been so harsh until now?"

"Because he lacked a backbone. He never tried to stand at the forefront. Such a person can't lead a group and ultimately, doesn’t survive or become strong."

The fairy's sharp critique made the Demon Lord smile bitterly and nod.

"The hero is now standing up for himself."

"So, the hero is now... Are you saying his respectability was all just watching others and acting accordingly?"

"Not all, but maybe most? Now that there's no one left to watch, he's finally showing his true nature. I've stimulated that part too."

"He doesn't seem to be watching you, though?"

"He is very cautious. Since the day we met, he's been cooking for me."

Could anyone, even if aware that the Demon Lord was on their side, cook meat for someone who had killed their comrades just moments before?

If you're ordinary, your emotions, not your reason, would reject it.

"That's not something you do without being very cautious," the Demon Lord chuckled.

The fairy looked at her and clicked her tongue as if to say, "It seems too late for her…"

"But now, I'm rooting for his independence. So, he had no choice but to face himself, whom he had hidden away."

"Ah, I see."

"And now that his nature has come out, I don't need to intervene anymore. Just a few more times of adding logs to the fire will do. He will surely become the strongest."

"Hero..."

Just as the fairy was about to retort with a click of her tongue, the light that filled the box began to converge into a single point in the center.

The inside of the box became gradually visible.

The Demon Lord widened her eyes and watched KiJun breathe, then squinted his eyes with pleasure and turned to the fairy.

"See?"

"You boasting about your son who got a hundred on the elementary school test is annoying like an obnoxious parent."

"I don't understand what you're saying, but I feel insulted."

As the offended Demon Lord chased the fairy away, KiJun inside the box slowly opened his eyes, feeling all the light pouring into him.

No longer was the light dazzling to his eyes.

He felt confident that he could handle this as part of himself.

–--Still one step short, but the contractor has definitely moved forward!

"Thank you, Lucy."

His understanding of light improved, and Lucy looked clearer to him than before.

He met eyes with the girl who had golden hair and golden eyes that shined brighter than light, which could only be described as beautiful.

The girl asked with a smile.

—Do you feel the change in your magic power?

"I've heard that attribute magic is really rare..."

KiJun concentrated his own magical power in his palm as he had learned from the Demon Lord.

Not the spirit power, not the light that raised Lucy's brightness, but the pure magical power of KiJun himself.

It was imbued with a bright golden light like the warm sunshine of spring.

As he confirmed his pure Light Magic, KiJun felt ecstatic. At that moment, several messages appeared before him as if they had been waiting.

–-You have transcended the limits of your race and become the Uncommon grade [Degraded Light Person]! You have successfully converted your magic power into light, but you're not quite the real light yet. Your Status Mana Power (Uc) has changed to Light Magic (Uc)!

—You have reached level 1. All statuses increase by 5, and Light Magic (Uc), Charisma (Uc), and Spirit Power (R) increase by an additional 5!

—The level of your Light Spirit Magic skill has risen by 10 to level 69!

—The level of your Steelization skill has risen by 3, and Rapid Regeneration skill by 2.

[KiJun]

[Titles – Discoverer of the Hidden Dungeon (Legendary) +6]

[Degraded Light Person (Uc) Lv1]

[Strength (Uc) – 26]

[Dexterity (Uc) – 44]

[Endurance (Uc) – 51]

[Light Magic (Uc) – 27]

[Charisma (Uc) – 41]

[Spirit Power (R) – 69]

[Skills/Spells]

[Common]

[Butchery Lv98]

[Uncommon]

[Cooking Lv5, Shield Mastery Lv88, Dual Wielding Lv97, Boomerang Throw Lv90]

[Rare]

[Wholehearted Taunt Lv14, Light Spirit Magic Lv69]

[Unique]

[Rapid Regeneration Lv21, Steelization Lv14, No Rest for the Wicked Lv8]

[Legendary]

[Unbreakable Internal Clock Lv—]

KiJun closed his eyes and thought hard.

What's with this new race name?

I get the combination of light and person to become a Light Person, but those hearing it for the first time might think I'm a madman certified by the system.

Having been troubled by his name all his life, KiJun resented the other world that had yet again imposed the yoke of a racial name on him, though there was no going back since the rank-up was complete and beyond complaint considering the upgrade's effects.

The fact that all his statuses had significantly increased, not to mention his spirit magic skill leveling up by 10!

He spent the next few days determined to wreak havoc on the Lesser Demons that had been tormenting him and tried hard to forget his racial name.

—Let's go out, contractor.

"Alright."

Lucy, who had clearly grown in size compared to before KiJun's racial grade increase, urged him to move on.

With her on his shoulder, he walked past the crumbled sunlight ores on the floor and out of the box, where only the Demon Lord remained.

"Congratulations, hero. I can kind of guess, but I'll ask. What race have you become?"

His brief escape had ended at the speed of light.

“Degraded Light Person.”

“Pfft.”

The Demon Lord couldn't help but burst into laughter, despite expecting the topic. KiJun wanted to ask her about her own race name out of sheer curiosity, but he decided against it, knowing that any name would surely be cooler than "Degraded Light Person."

“You got Light Magic as well?”

“Yes. I heard that attribute magic power is extremely rare…”

“It is rare. Light magic is even rarer among them. But what you need to remember is, all attribute magic powers start at a minimum of rare grade. Light magic was originally... probably at the unique grade.”

―Right. The contractor's Light Magic is in a quite degraded state now. But it's still quite beautiful!

KiJun, who had been guessing as much, didn’t feel too disappointed and nodded his head.

“A clear path has revealed itself. Just have to run straight ahead now.”

“Good, that’s the confident look I wanted to see.”

The Demon Lord, with a hit of satisfaction, laughed and stored the magnifying glass-attached box entirely somewhere.

It seemed that her words about using it again when challenging the rare grade were sincere.

“How about we eat and have a sparring match to celebrate the advancement?”

“Yeah. Even if I go back into the dungeon, it’s better to understand my physical condition precisely before entering.”

―Contractor, I want to eat noodles today!

“Lucy, you always want noodles.”

“No― today is the day for meat. It’s a meat-eating day. It’s a party!”

“You always want meat too, Demon Lord…”

But it indeed was a day for a party.

Wasn’t it the day he completed an unknown racial advancement?

KiJun started preparing the party meal the Demon Lord wanted, praying that his colleagues advancing their second runs by now, and further, the Earth’s heroes would realize the importance of racial and status advancements and actively take on that challenge.

What's indispensable for a party? Balloons? Fireworks? Champagne? Cake?

Wrong. The indispensable thing at a party is meat.

A party without meat doesn’t get the mood to the highest HIGH.

“Okay, today we finish off the meat of the Minotaur Assault Captain.”

“Shank meat? That was delicious.”

“That was just a ‘tasty when grilled’ part. Today, we are going for the king of grills.”

The Demon Lord fixed her gaze on his hand, filled with anticipation from his words.

What KiJun took out of his inventory was the rib meat of the Minotaur Assault Captain, which was hard to come by even from them.

Unlike the shank meat, which was almost given away for free, this part was a precious share claimed rightfully for his contributions in the raid!

It was too precious to eat right away, so he had decided to save it for a celebration party if he ever successfully raided the Demon Lord…

Now, it seemed like it was all for a good cause.

‘Among the party, I was the only one who knew how to cook. I wonder if they have been eating properly without me.’

While reminiscing about his party members for a moment, KiJun noticed the Demon Lord and Lucy swallowing their saliva as they eyed the rib meat in his hands and chuckled.

The marbling on the rib meat was so appealing, it seemed worthy of the term 'art,' and he felt it deserved to be treated with reverence.

While boiling the pasta and noodles, he took out the prepared cream sauce and added spices, including hot peppers, to fry.

While the Demon Lord watched with great expectation, what he took out was a well-polished shield, reserved for cooking.

Ignoring the Demon Lord’s nonsensical banter about not using the shield today, he oiled the shield and placed the rib meat on it.

―Sizzle――!

“Meat... I’ve had a lot of meat, but this is strange.”

―It's the heart. It looks delicious because it's filled with the contractor's heart!

The Demon Lord and the spirit stared intently at the sizzling rib meat on the shield, making excuses.

Meanwhile, he took out the well-boiled noodles and stir-fried them with the sauce.

He generously cut the well-grilled rib meat, added it to the pasta, and served it.

The spicy rib meat cream pasta was complete.

“Let’s just grill the remaining ribs. I’ve prepared salt and wasabi sauce for dipping.”

After wrapping a bite of pasta around the meat, the Demon Lord took a bite, then checked the meat grilling on the shield, squinted her eyes, and exclaimed.

“Today... I’ll accept my defeat in the sparring!”

His cooking skill level had risen, of course, and so had his Shield Mastery level before the sparring even started.

Of course, he was thoroughly trounced by the Demon Lord in the sparring that followed the meal, but he smiled with a sense of achievement, feeling the distinctly improved skill in his hands.

He was confident he could now take down the Lesser Demons within an hour.

* * *

“The meat doesn't taste good.”

YeMin said with a stern face.

Having heard the complaint several times, EunShin smiled faintly and responded.

“Just hold on a little longer until we meet KiJun, noona.”

“But that makes it seem like I only think of KiJun as our party's meal ticket! What would he think of me if I ask him to grill meat as soon as we meet?”

“Then you should practice cooking.”

Today's cook, JiHye, spoke in a prickly voice as she put down the book she was holding.

The identity of the book was a Magic Tome, a reward from the ruins they had conquered together, said to grant a unique-grade Mana Circuit.

Depending on the reader's talent and personality, it would form the most suitable mana circuit, which, unfortunately during the first run, ended up in the hands of someone without magical talent, producing an effect even worse than a rare skill.

The man who had acquired the Magic Tome with the help of a large guild didn't live to see the final battlefield, so it was somewhat fortunate that the Tome was now in JiHye's hands for the overall goal of the hero group.

“Stop fussing about food and try cooking yourself.”

“I am trying. But it just doesn't taste good…”

Right before a needless argument could start.

EunShin, the youngest of the party, stepped in to calm the two down.

“Now, now, JiHye. YeMin isn't trying to complain to you. She's just missing KiJun. YeMin, JiHye is concentrating on deciphering the Magic Tome, so let’s talk quietly, okay?”

“Grrr... Alright.”

“...Sorry, I was a bit sensitive because it’s a difficult section. Just wait until I obtain a mana circuit from finishing this book. I miss KiJun's cooking just as much as you do.”

“So KiJun is our party's meal ticket…”

Meal ticket... That was true.

But it was more than that.

He always took care of what the party needed, anticipated and solved their discomforts, handled preliminary negotiations with other parties, and even took charge of everything when they lodged.

It wasn't like that from the beginning, but at some point, they naturally came to rely on him for everything.

YeMin didn't want to burden him alone, but he found it more comfortable to take charge and ignored her protests, and eventually, she got used to it too.

In other words, they had grown complacent with the comfort he provided.

The only exception might have been Uncle Soo, who had been more of an adult than any of them since being dragged to this other world.

Without him, KiJun would've collapsed from overwork.

“I'm really no good.”

“Not at all. It’s just that... He was a lot more mature.”

EunShin consoled a downcast YeMin.

He himself had been nothing more than a greenhorn early on in the first round.

He only knew how to frolic with his natural abilities.

Without the robust force of YeMin, the sharp yet kind advice from JiHye, and the care that KiJun always provided, he would have been in trouble long ago.

“But now we’ve grown, too. Let’s work hard so KiJun doesn't have to shoulder everything alone.”

“You’re right, EunShin.”

Firmly nodding her head, YeMin took out an unused shield from her inventory.

“I’ll start practicing cooking from now on. When I meet KiJun again, I’ll grill the meat for him.”

“Hmm. That’s a good idea, noona. But to grill meat, I think you need an iron shield, not a wooden one.”

“Oh.”

As YeMin sighed at her own silliness for rushing ahead with the intention to emulate KiJun, JiHye suddenly lifted her head.

“Target a higher magic stat to aim for racial grade advancement? What in the world is this talking about?”

“Ah.”

“Racial grade... advancement?”

YeMin made a clearly regretful expression, and EunShin tilted his head in confusion.

JiHye, sensing the subtle difference, poured her gaze onto YeMin.

She belatedly started to tell her companions about the status grades she knew of.

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