Chapter 69: Destination: Demon Realm

Ostensibly, Hiro kept a low profile for the coming days while the Paranormal Society was in riot.

Other than applying for an early graduation certificate from school and waiting for the specified exams, most of his time was spent on improving Sitri's character in the most recent game.

After all, he decided to shift his operations from this world to the Demon Realm for the next few years.

In order to do that, Hiro doubled back on his suspicions from early on—the possibility of purchasing an awakening potion from the system shop.

There was indeed such a possibility, but the potion was rather expensive—200 gems per potion, and he would only awaken as a Tier-9, even if the demonic energy was the purest kind.

With the 80% voucher, Hiro only needed to pay 40 gems, which was affordable at the moment.

However, since raising his strength in real life was much more difficult than doing it in-game, he decided to increase Sitri's strength as much as possible before his departure.

With him gone, even if some people had suspicions about his relationship with Babylon, they couldn't do anything about it.

As days passed, it was soon the eve of his graduation exams. That night, Arabella went into the mansion unnoticed, and followed Hiro through the portal into his private dimension.

…

As the two of them stepped into the pocket dimension, what greeted them was an expanse of large trees—of particular notice were the tree houses high in the canopies.

After such a long time, the population of the magical beasts—their current identity after undergoing reincarnation after reincarnation through the dimension's core—had increased significantly.

Furthermore, their high intelligence and subservience to Juvia led them down the path of transforming into human forms, despite their identity as magical beasts.

Worthy of note was that many of the new generation magical beasts had innate abilities related to transforming and time manipulation, which Hiro inferred to be a result of Juvia's presence near the dimension's core during its maturation period.

Given a few more years, the innate ability of these magical beasts would probably catch up with the potential of humans and demons, only if the stream of faith energy continued on.

Hiro wasn't worried about that, as the Seekers Legend had many patch updates waiting in line, and once the game was milked dry, he planned to introduce the "Return of the Demon Ancestor" as an expansion pack into the lore.

The return of Sitri, the Demon Ancestor, would unlock a new map in the game.

Of course, Sitri would become the new antagonist after the main storyline was completed and the servers announced the crowning of the Celestial Emperor.

One of the lucky guilds will enjoy the favoritism of this NPC—correspondingly, they would enjoy the aggro from Sitri and his followers.

The more Hiro thought about it, the more he liked the idea. With these thoughts in mind, he was in a hurry to return to the study and continue his marathon toward the endgame.

He looks at Arabella who was waiting there patiently with a respectful expression on her face.

She was already used to her Master spacing out like this. Thus, she knew all she had to do was wait.

Hiro sighed. "I promised you a reward for your hard work all this time; I'm here to fulfill my promise."

Hiro stretched out his hand, and in his palm, a condensed ball of pure demonic energy appeared.

As the Lord of this pocket dimension, it was easy for Hiro to suppress the demonic energy from spreading—not to forget about his innate gluttony physique at play.

Although Arabella had high expectations for her reward, she was still shocked when she saw the ball of demonic energy.

Her body shook uncontrollably as her blood boiled in her veins. At the moment, she was just an ordinary demon, but she could tell that this was her ticket to evolution—her ticket to becoming a Great Demon, or even a Supreme Demon.

Purple light flashed in her eyes as she lost control over her telekinetic powers for a split second, grinding a few pebbles on the ground into dust—her breathing growing hitched.

"M-master… this…" Arabella opened her mouth, but she couldn't find it in her to refuse such a generous reward.

The bits of jealousy, envy, and resentment in her heart for not receiving her Master's attention for such a long time disappeared.

Connected to Hiro's soul through the contract, she knew that he had gotten himself another servant.

Yes, she didn't know the other party's identity, and even if they stood face to face, neither of them would recognize the other. However, both of them were aware of the other's existence.

Thus, it was only natural for Arabella's dark thoughts to wander about. It couldn't be helped, she was also a sentient, highly intelligent, living being.

She also had the seven emotions and six desires.

She also longed for recognition from her Master, and this reward was undoubtedly a form of recognition.

While she was in a daze, Hiro was impatient.

He flicked the ball of demonic energy into her forehead without hesitation. Continue your journey with m.vl-em,py-r

"Gasp!" Arabella's body shook. Then, tendrils of pure demonic energy encased her figure, like a violet cacoon.

With a thought, Hiro twisted the laws of this region, concealing it from the perception of all creatures in the pocket dimension.

Then, he left a portal open next to Arabella while he returned to his study. His next goal was simple: complete the game.

Days passed, and in the blink of an eye, an entire week slipped by.

On this day, Hiro finally finished the Return of the Demon Ancestor, and his Demon character was at Level 70, just like his Arcana Lord.

Also on this day, Hiro received a notice from the system.

[Notice: Your servant Arabella has successfully evolved to a Great Demon.]

[Notice: Your servant Arabella has failed in her ecology to a Supreme Demon; her strength doesn't meet the stipulated requirements.]

[Arabella]:

Race: Great Demons

Level: 40

Skills: Telekinesis, Beguiling Hypnosis, Transformation, Business Acumen VI, Illusory Domain.

…

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar character sheet, Hiro had a thought, and his data was displayed.

[Hiro]:

Name: Hiro Sciatis.

Class: Sorcerer.

Level: 40.

XP: 92%

Spells: Sorcerer's Guide to the Five Elements, Infinite Sword Matrix.

AP: 2,540.

Gems: 140.

Skills: Immersive Reading, Professional Calligraphy, Analytical Mind, Professional Combat, Professional Soccer, Espionage I, Telepathy.

Inventory: 80% Discount Voucher (2), Lvl. 1 Mass Enlightenment Scroll, Game Voucher (2).

…

Looking at his current level, Hiro suddenly remembered that his servants couldn't grow stronger than him—the real him, excluding his synchronized state.

In a sense, Arabella's failed evolution was primarily his fault, not hers.

Hiro frowned and mumbled, "How troublesome, I miscalculated! That's 10,000 points down the drain…"

Hiro's heart ached, and he could feel the bittersweet taste of regret. However, when the portal by his side flashed and Arabella walked out, her face gleaming with borderline worship as she looked at him, some of his regrets melted away.

Whatever, Hiro thought to himself. I can't change it now. At the very least, now I know that I can't neglect my real strength with the illusion of the synchronization feature.

As Hiro's thoughts reached this point, he smiled at Arabella. "Congratulations!"

Thud! Arabella dropped to one knee without hesitation and lowered her head, her enthusiasm sending her telekinetic powers out of control—the pressure was intense, even for Hiro.

Now, he realized why he can't allow his servants to become stronger than himself.

Coughing, Hiro said, "Calm down!"

Arabella snapped out from her state of feverish zeal, quickly controlling her power as she looked up. "Thank you for your blessings, Master! If you have any orders for me, I'm listening!"

Hiro's back was soaked in sweat as he put on a calm expression.

He sighed, "I wanted to give you a vacation to relax, but…"

"It's okay, Master! I'm willing to do your bidding and have no need for rest," Arabella saw through his hesitation and slapped her chest.

Her purple eyes shone in earnest, and her heart was pumping furiously. She was too excited, and she needed something to expend her energy. Sёarch* The Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Okay," Hiro nodded. "Then, your mission in the long term is to penetrate the overseas gaming market, while your short-term mission is to coordinate with the research and gaming facilities, companies, and involved parties to advertise the upcoming expansion pack in our game.

"If you want, you can promote this expansion pack as an independent closed-beta project and promise the mainstream players that once the main quest line is completed in the Seekers Legend, there will be a great merger between the main game and the closed-beta, opening a wide PvP event."

Arabella's mind spun and she said, "Should we allow players from overseas into the closed beta and use the clash between gamers from either country as a large-scale PvP event?"

Hiro's eyes shone brilliantly as he clapped his hands. "Great plan! Rouse the sense of patriotism in the hearts of our players, you can make the announcement and the arrangements as you please; I already uploaded the files to the cloud network!"

Hiro was satisfied, and so was Arabella.

The two talked for a while, and later that night, Arabella left in high spirits.

After sorting out some long-term plans for Juvia as well, Hiro sat in his leather chair and entered the system shop.

Soon, a dark purple bottle appeared in his hand as his gaze shifted—Demon Awakening Potion.