The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage

When Michael saw the post and, looking quite flustered, asked Lowell about it—

Lowell said,

“Check the comments too.”

At Lowell’s words, Michael, flustered yet quick, read through the comments.

There were some pretty substantial deductions coming out.

[Dotless : ???????? Watching the video, it looks real, doesn’t it?]

└[NoMana (author) : Looks that way to me too, yeah.]

[NoSkill : lol The nick up there looks like the author’s—this isn’t fabricated, right?]

└[NoMana (author) : Nah, just similar. Watch the video and leave a comment.]

└[NoSkill : ???????? Huh? It’s for real???? It’s really similar......]

[FloorTrap : I thought “skills looking similar is a dime a dozen,” so I watched to nitpick, but if the power at that level and the grade of the effect are the same, then this has to be it, right???]

└[NoMana (author) : Yep, I think so too. Given the potential Yuseong showed, it’s at least Legendary-grade, but judging by the Demon King’s vassal’s power and skills, it’s at least Almighty potential. If he doesn’t want people to know what he looks like when he’s hiding as Yuseong now, then he’s probably making it look like Legendary.]

[GiveMeDPS : Wow, OP’s eye for detail is insane.]

[ItemHog : Wait, so that handsome Yuseong is actually the Demon King???? Shit, I’m going to go drink.]

└[NoMana (author) : I’ll drink with you.]

There were a lot of comments, but boiled down, that was the gist.

After reading everything, Michael looked at Lowell, dumbfounded.

And then—

“Isn’t it kind of weird that the Demon King’s backup team has two days off and Yuseong also rests on those same days?”

“I—I thought the same thing.”

“......”

When Lowell and Noir said it at the same time—

Michael had already thought as much himself, so he couldn’t help but agree.

This was pretty much additional proof that Yuseong was Seong.

He even saw comments noticing that the two days Yuseong was resting matched the two days the backup team was resting, so it was becoming practically a foregone conclusion.

Seeing all that, Michael’s party swallowed hard with fairly serious faces.

It wasn’t like they didn’t understand hiding one’s identity.

He was blatantly concealing his nickname, after all.

But the Demon King of Rapid? Seriously?

They had never imagined he’d be this big a deal.

“W-what do we do?”

“Hmmmm, but does it really matter that much?”

“W-what do you mean?”

When Noir asked back at Lowell’s words—

Lowell blinked and answered,

“I mean, it’s not like we approached him. Yuseong came to us and accepted, right?”

“Huh?”

“Since Yuseong personally joined, there’s no problem for us. The problem is......”

“......that now that his identity is out, he might say he can’t run with us anymore.”

Michael cut in on Lowell’s words.

And at that, Lowell and Noir both nodded.

Indeed, this could mean the party member they barely secured might leave.

The mood turned serious again.

But Michael spoke up to calm them for the moment.

“We’ve only seen Yuseong—no, Seong—for like two days, but still, can’t you tell his personality by now?”

“That’s true.”

“He’s straightforward.”

“So let’s just wait and see. If he apologizes and bows out, there’s nothing we can do.”

At Michael’s words, everyone nodded in agreement.

In the end, they believed the decision had been in Seong’s hands from start to finish.

They were going to see him tomorrow anyway.

They could just confirm it tomorrow, right?

Everyone said they’d wait for tomorrow to come.

But in truth, their faces were rigid, like they were all on edge.

If Seong said he was leaving, they’d have to put the deep-floor push on hold again.

And that would be a real problem for them.

So Michael’s party was awash in worries.

Just then—

[???? : This is Yuseong. I’ll be logging in this evening—could we talk at the hideout?]

A message came from Seong.

0.

At the same time—

Seong’s group was looking at the post as well.

Their identities, exposed in the end.

But the mood was quite different from Michael’s party.

“Whew, the tail was long, huh.”

“It just so happened the vassal skill that showed up a lot in clips got us caught.”

“Exactly.”

“Should’ve brought something other than Serpina’s skill.”

Seong spoke with a hint of self-reproach.

But An Yu-jin pierced the heart of it.

“Doesn’t matter. If you’d brought a different vassal’s power, it would’ve looked like a dark mage anyway, and the only skill that looked most mage-like was that vassal’s. And even if you got caught—so what? You were planning to say it anyway, right?”

As expected of a guild master running a major guild—clear-eyed judgment.

Seong agreed, but—

That didn’t mean there were no issues.

“True. But hearing it from someone else instead of from me directly might feel a bit off, you know?”

“Yeah, that’s fair.”

“It could rub them the wrong way.”

“Hmmmm, people would feel a bit sore about that.”

Everyone voiced similar opinions at Seong’s remark.

Sure, if you thought you were close to someone and then heard their true colors from someone else—nothing stings quite like that.

But Yu-jin, driving, countered what she heard.

“That’s not it.”

“Why?”

“Think about it: Michael’s party will be more on pins and needles. If Seong’s identity is out in the open and he quits the party, they’ll have to get off the bus. Even if that doesn’t happen, I remember they posted looking for a usable wizard. If Seong leaves now? That’d be a huge loss for them.”

“Huh?”

“If anything, they’ll want Seong to brush it off and stay.”

“Oh-ho.”

Used to managing people, her insight impressed Seong and the rest.

That did make a lot of sense.

They hadn’t been able to attempt the deep floors for quite a while, and that break had been long, hadn’t it?

They’d be extremely anxious; and since they couldn’t just take anyone, they were stuck in limbo—Seong had heard as much.

Yu-jin’s words had a lot of weight.

Plus—

“Luna—no, Yu-bin’s party cleared thirty floors in a single day. They’re probably even more anxious, wondering if Seong might jump over there.”

“Ah, there’s that too.”

“Hmmm, our party doesn’t care about the rivalry—we just want to reach the deep floors fast to help Seong.”

At An Yu-bin’s words, Seong smirked.

Anyway, it didn’t seem like a big problem, so he felt a bit relieved.

He had worried they might feel hurt—

But according to Yu-jin, they’d be more worried about Seong leaving.

And—

“Like I said yesterday, if anything, doing a linked live with Rapid Guild would be a huge boon to Michael, so they won’t even think that far ahead.”

“Didn’t you say the content angle would be Demon King’s backup party versus the party with the Demon King alone? That sounds fun.”

“Yeah, I’m actually looking forward to that.”

“Our party also said that sounded fun.”

With everyone speaking so positively—

Seong couldn’t help but nod.

He admitted that, with his sense for streaming still underdeveloped, their judgment was likely much better than his.

Anyway, after hearing them out, Seong nodded.

“Got it. Then we should kick off the content starting tomorrow.”

Just as everyone was about to let that pass with a “sure”—

Yu-jin, the big-picture planner, spoke with a strange smile.

“Hmm, tomorrow? How about this instead?”

As she laid out the content idea, Seong nodded, intrigued, and Yu-bin’s eyes went wide.

Going this route would definitely be fun; he nodded.

After hearing everything, Seong nodded again.

“In that case, I should head home later and talk it over with the party.”

As if it were already decided, Seong messaged Michael’s party.

And everyone murmured with anticipation.

“If it really goes the way Yu-jin says, this’ll be fun.”

“I’m kind of excited too.”

“I’ll handle the live video direction. Looks like Michael’s party is running it on auto; if I set the framing, it’ll be way better.”

“Nice. Geon-dong’s skills are the real deal.”

As everyone eagerly pitched in for Seong’s sake, he looked around at them all and said,

“Thanks, everyone.”

Hearing Seong say it with all his heart, everyone nodded with satisfaction.

And so, chatting away, they sped down the highway without boredom.

They even stopped by a rest area along the way—making the two-day, one-night scouting trip perfectly worthwhile.

1.

Meanwhile, that evening—

The trio of Michael’s party, who’d received the message, waited at the party hideout with rather tense faces.

It seemed Seong had seen the post too, so they couldn’t help being nervous.

The three didn’t say much—

But they were unmistakably wearing worried looks.

Then, in the hideout where only the sound of breathing could be heard, the door opened and Seong arrived.

“Sorry I’m late.”

At Seong’s words, they all waved their hands at once.

“Oh no, not at all.”

“We were supposed to rest today anyway~”

“R-right.”

They couldn’t [N O V E L I G H T] answer as casually as usual; they were too wound up.

After apologizing, Seong came over and sat at their table.

Everyone watched him, tense.

Seeing Seong’s unreadable expression, the tension spiked another notch—

Seong spoke.

“I figured you all saw the post, so I’ll just say it. I’m sorry for deceiving you.”

In other words, Seong was acknowledging he was the Demon King.

They looked at him with faces that said, “We figured.”

And then anxiety crept over them.

So, was he really going to leave now? Just as that thought hit—Seong said,

“I hid it because I thought you might feel burdened if my identity got out, and since you also stream.”

“Th-that makes sense.”

“Y-yeah.”

“I-it’s fine.”

Hearing them say that, Seong answered with an easy smile.

“On that note, I have a proposal.”

“......?”

“......?”

“??????”

At Seong’s words, they all looked at him, puzzled.

And Seong told them,

“I’ve got a content idea—what do you think?”

“By content, you mean......?”

“Since we’ve been hiding it anyway, we keep it hidden from the viewers, and once my backup team arrives nearby, we kick off content as a showdown between Michael-hyung’s party—which I’m in—and the backup teams. Until then we hide it thoroughly while sprinkling little teasers, and when we’re all on the same starting line, that’s when we do a linked live with the Rapid Guild.”

“What!?”

“A l-linked live!?”

“Puhaaak!!”

All three looked utterly shocked.

Watching them, Seong still wore a faint smile as he asked,

“Wouldn’t that be fun?”

When Seong asked like that—

Michael, eyes wide, said,

“There’s no way this isn’t fun.”

“So you’re in?”

Really, it should’ve been Michael begging Seong to do it, but Seong reached out first.

Michael nodded, truly delighted, and said,

“Of course—obviously!”