Chapter 283 - [17th Round] Registration
“Cowardly husband, what kind of life did you live for ten years for it to result in almost all of your combat skills reaching SSS-rank?” asked Ssosia, hiding behind the throne in “stealth mode,” like a GM in an MMO game.
I couldn’t help but laugh at her query. “What a stupid question!”
I diligently upgraded my skills’ ranks.
While my companions increased the power of their love and friendship, celebrating the fact that there were more widows in the world all night long, I constantly trained, highlighting low-ranked skills and pondering how to improve their proficiency in the shortest possible time.
My goal was to upgrade all of my skills to SSS rank.
Because, as I had learned over time, MAX-rank and SSS-rank skills had the same effects.
Z-rank was out of the question.
I needed to become stronger than my companions.
And not just stronger than one of them. I improved my skills so much that even if they united and attacked me together, they wouldn’t be able to win.
“Is that even possible?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
Heroes had a 5x experience boost perk.
Hence, it only took me about four years to catch up and overtake even those companions who had improved their skills and level since childhood.
The Sword Princess, for example.
She learned how to use the sword from a really young age. Calculating the numbers, she had been training for 25 years already.
Under the same conditions, it would take me about five years to do what the Sword Princess did.
But I didn’t really need that much time.
“Because of your talent for murder?”
“No.”
Where would an awkward high school student, who couldn’t even hurt insects, gain such a talent?
“Oh, I see! So you were a high school student who killed monsters because bugs didn’t give you experience!”
The First Spirit began spouting nonsense after listening to me silently.
“You’re out of your mind. There are no monsters on Earth.”
“Lying is bad, Drug Demon Lord. It is impossible to deceive the noblest and wisest First Spirit.”
“If you don’t believe me, ask my mother through a smartphone… No, it’s better if you don’t. You won’t hear anything good from her anyway.”
“Let’s do it! I’ll make sure to ask! Heeheehee!”
“Shut up!”
In any case, before her adventures with the Hero, the Sword Princess did more than just train during those 25 years.
She ate, went to the toilet, slept, had fun…
She had 25 years of experience, but she was lazy and slow, resulting in her spending even less time on her training.
If the Hero actively used their job features, they’d be able to catch up with the Sword Princess in 2 years.
Considering it would take another year to surpass her, the total time needed to defeat her would be three years.
“Only that long?”
“Well, in theory. It actually took a lot longer for me since my companions kept hindering my development.”
There were times when they refused to let me turn criminals into experience points and instead let them go.
They also took away my trophies, which I collected despite the difficulty, and gave them away to robbers that claimed they were the real owners of my possessions.
That wasn’t all!
I always had to clean up after my companions.
I had no choice but to do so.
Those insane psychopaths just dropped everything and left with happy faces after quenching their thirst for blood, saying that today was a good day.
“That’s because they only look forward and do not regret the past.”
“That’s just empty and worthless sophistry.”
The locals often simply exclaimed, “Thank you for saving us! Thanks to you, we can be happy!”
It was all because they feared mass murderers that killed people with smiles on their faces.
“Aren’t those all just your delusions?”
“Are you saying I’m scary too?”
“…”
“Imagine how the weak residents would feel if they heard you.”
My goal was to improve my mastery of martial skills.
But since my companions interfered, even skills that I had no use for increased.
Politics, Economics, Engineering, Hygiene, Beautification, Religion, Art, Education…
Almost all skills, except production, reached at least SS-rank.
In the end, since it took a lot of time to clean up after my party members, Not only my combat skills improved.
“Crazy.”
“How can you call your MAX-Class husband crazy?”
“No matter how hard I think about it, it still sounds insane.”
Having said this, Ssosia suddenly pressed her chest against my back and threw her arms around me.
Then she rested her head on my shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
“Can’t you feel your damaged soul healing?”
“No. My soul is absolutely healthy.”
“He’s just pretending to be strong. Heehee.”
“You should just shut up forever!”
? Appearance: I agree that cadet Kang Han Soo is insane.
‘Agh! Trainee Teacher broke my very heart!’
I felt so sad that I probably needed a heating pad to comfort me tonight.
? Surprise: I meant that you are too immersed in your work! You may not like the students, but you’re not the Hero anymore. You’re the Demon Lord. Do not overwork yourself and rest. Even if the others are against it, I give you permission to do so.
Trainee Teacher promised that she would take responsibility for my life.
I was touched!
I needed to write this day down as our engagement anniversary.
? Confusion: You seem to have misunderstood me! Engagement, huh… Gosh. A beautiful and wise girl like Ssosia suits you better. Someone like me will never be able to compete with her.
‘Don’t be so shy!’
“Cowardly husband, if you want to seduce the innocent Trainee Teacher and make her as unhappy as I am, then you better give up. I will not let you-”
“My niece is even more adorable when she’s jealous~”
“Auntie, can’t you see the look on my face right now? I’m more serious than ever.”
“You’re even cuter when you try to deny everything to hide your feelings~”
“Agh! Damn it!”
“Heeheehee!”
Since my companions prevented me from getting stronger, it took me ten whole years to accomplish my goals.
But I was lucky.
If the Saintess and the Sword King didn’t die due to an “accident,” I wouldn’t even have dared.
Looking around, the corpses of the Z-ranked Hero and her companions were lying on the cold hard floor.
How pathetic.
Overall, their combat ability was higher than my party’s in the 1st round, but the combat power they could utilize left a lot to be desired.
As expected, after the death of the Hero, Fantasy began to collapse.
I had lost track of how many times this had happened now.
“I’m tired… of everything.”
I was a civilized person who loved the world and smartphones.
However, the endless stream of heroes kept destroying my peace.
I knew the reason behind it all too well, too.
Grand Duke B, the middle boss I used to “filter” out the weak, was too weak himself.
I needed to deal with this problem quickly.
“Demon Lord Parmamon! I am the Hero of the Light… Huh?!”
“Become one with the light, then.”
Now I didn’t even listen to the heroes’ greetings. The outcome remained the same anyway.
As soon as they entered the throne room, they were immediately greeted by my skills.
If the opponent survived by some miracle, they’d have earned themselves an additional 0.1 seconds to live.
“They tried their best to get here, cowardly hubby. Don’t you think it’s too disrespectful to kill them right on your doorstep?” Ssosia reproached me, who had been sitting quietly before because she had lost against her aunt in a verbal skirmish.
“Nonsense! Was there ever a hero that came to me who complained about anything at all?”
If my memory served me right, there were none. That meant they were perfectly okay with it!
“You killed them before they could say anything!”
“Not my problem.”
If the Hero, as Ssosia said, was dissatisfied with something, they needed to tell me before they died. They only had themselves to blame if they couldn’t even do that.
“You’ll most likely die without being able to say any final words to your mother.”
“What…?”
“Check your smartphone. You haven’t picked it up for such a long time that you’re not even aware that your mom’s angry.”
“Give that to me!”
Since I was distracted, the Hero threw his spear at me, but it didn’t bother me much.
Why was mother angry?
Many different reasons came to mind, so it was hard to say.
⤷Mother: My son, so dearly beloved by the princess, where have you gone? (8:42)
⤷Mother: It looks like you’re in no rush to answer this time. (7:52)
⤷Mother: Did something happen to you? (15:06)
Damn it! I made her worry.
Once the opportunity presented itself, I had to tell her that even the whole planet combined was weaker than me.
⤷Mother: My daughter-in-law checked your smartphone history. (9:32)
Hmm?
⤷Mother: So romance novels are more important to you than your own mother? (9:34)
Romance novels?
⤷Mother: Hmph. Do whatever you want. (10:14)
⤷Mother: My second son is now more important to me. (10:14)
A photo was attached in the last post.
In it, she was kissing the cheek of an ugly two-year-old child.
“Ssosia, I’m waiting for an explanation!”
“I think there was a daughter-in-law involved. She’s certainly no ordinary person.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. Romance novels. Explain. Now.”
“Since I can’t confirm my age, it’s impossible to read them, so I used your account instead… Wait! I also have something to say!”
“Speak.”
She should worry about her body.
“Mother won’t stop being angry at you even if you vent your anger out on me.”
“But I will stop being angry.”
I hugged Ssosia’s waist to keep her from moving.
I wondered if she was ready.
I hoped so.
“I admit, I did not expect that the daughter-in-law your mother praises so much is so powerful that she can easily access other people’s personal data. However, isn’t there a more important problem to solve right now?”
“…”
She was right, but what could I do?
While I was digging through my smartphone, three more copies of mine fell.
No matter how powerful the skills one had, such abilities would be of no use if they didn’t move.
I couldn’t delay any longer.
A graduate might appear this way.
And if at least one student graduated from the 5th educational program, they would be able to return to Earth to talk about how they defeated the “Demon Lord Parmamon.”
That fact itself wasn’t the problem.
The problem would arise if they found out that the Demon Lord was called “Kang Han Soo.”
At that point, my family on Earth might be put in harm’s way.
Therefore, I had to prevent them from getting past me.
It was necessary to make sure that there wouldn’t be a single graduate.
? Whisper: The students you mentioned failed to graduate. Their Reputation and Achievement scores were too low. You don’t have to worry too much about them.
‘Those weren’t the only reasons, were they?’
? Shrugging: You’re right, cadet Kang Han Soo. They can’t graduate if their body is badly damaged. Hence, even if they win, they’d still be the defeated ones in the end.
I had a lot of advantages regarding that due to my long list of skills, some of which had a “beneficial effect” that activated in any situation.
I had a skill that made my body explode after death and another that put me in a ‘berserk’ state when critically injured. Those weren’t all.
The list was long.
I didn’t even need to control my copies. My skills alone killed the heroes.
However, there was a limit to how many times they would work.
“We need to hurry.”
I wouldn’t be surprised if a graduate soon appeared after successfully defeating the MAX-Class Demon Lord.
We urgently needed to come up with a solution.
“Let me go and listen calmly to my idea, cowardly husband. I can’t concentrate in this position.”
“I’ll listen first, and if I like your idea, I’ll let you go.”
“Let go of me first.”
“Later.”
“Now.”
“Later.”
“You- Ouch! Okay okay! I’ll speak first! I’ll replace the current middle boss with an even stronger one!”
Any passing slime could say such words.
“Is that your whole plan, Ssosia?”
If so, then I was extremely disappointed…
“That’s just the beginning of my explanation. Previously, this was not possible, but now that I have taken over a significant part of the system, I can add your subjects to the textbook.”
“Ah…”
Human Spirits.
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