Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

”Yang Yu, Yang Yu!”

In a daze, Yang Yu heard Bai Jin’s voice.

Opening his eyes, he saw a dim ceiling, with Bai Jin standing right in front of him.

What’s going on? Wasn’t I just considering how to defeat the former Demon King? How did this...

Yang Yu tried to move his body and found himself lying in a large mass of cloud-like purple ”cotton.”

Bai Jin reached out to Yang Yu, and Yang Yu took her hand.

Yang Yu was pulled out of the purple cotton by Bai Jin.

His groggy head instantly cleared up, and when Yang Yu looked back, he saw that besides him, Iyas and the others were also lying in the purple cotton, each waking up in turn.

Was it all a dream just now?

Yang Yu immediately asked Bai Jin: ”Bai Jin, do you remember what happened before? Not the events before we went through the Teleportation Gate, but the events after we went through the gate...”

”If you’re talking about experiencing Hero Lox’s adventure, successfully defeating the Goblin God of War and the Centipede Queen, I remember all of it,” Bai Jin affirmed.

”It seems that what we experienced wasn’t just my personal illusion.” Yang Yu looked again at the purple cotton that had enveloped him and muttered, ”Is this virtual reality then...”

”We’ve been through something similar in Courage’s Maze. This event seems like a replica of our previous trial,” Lotcar emerged from the purple cotton, instinctively shaking his body despite not getting a bit of purple cotton on him, ”Yang Yu, you haven’t experienced it, but everything that appeared there, just like now, completely simulated reality.

However, at that time, we fought individually and had opportunities to find flaws; now all our consciousnesses are linked together, making it nearly impossible to find flaws.”

”The setup is both similar and different...

If I recall correctly, the illusion of the Hall of Courage is fabricated based on memories.

This means the world we just experienced was built upon Hero Lox’s memories...

Although this seems inaccurate, we’ve been to places Hero Lox has never been.

Perhaps Hero Lox supplemented that world with other people’s memories.

We’re still unclear about why we were kicked out of Hero Lox’s adventure; we’ll investigate the surroundings once everyone wakes up.”

Yang Yu spoke while checking on the conditions of Iyas, Qiuye, and He Meng.

Although they didn’t immediately grasp the situation, they were otherwise unhurt, and their memories ended precisely at the defeat of the Centipede Queen.

The purple cotton was merely a gateway into virtual reality with no side effects.

Iyas raised her hand, creating a shining Light Sphere in her palm to illuminate the path for Yang Yu and the others.

Bai Jin also used magic to create a light platform above their heads, illuminating the surroundings, ensuring they could quickly react if any monsters attacked.

However, in the dim underground, Yang Yu did not encounter any monsters and instead saw a massive stone tablet standing in the center of the dark space.

As Yang Yu and the others approached, the stone tablet emitted light, slightly illuminating the surroundings, revealing golden text:

”Defeat Demon King Four Heavenly Kings 2 Average time 18 minutes 12 seconds Pass rate +20%

Defeat Demon King Staff 24 Average time 4 minutes 02 seconds Pass rate +12%

Defeat Demon Clan Elite 576......

Defeat Demon Soldier....”

The stone tablet displayed a statistics sheet that listed all of Yang Yu and the others’ actions within the illusion.

Not only did it show how many enemies Yang Yu and the others defeated, but also how many people they rescued. In addition, there were various other items, such as ”World Population Satisfaction,” ”National Satisfaction with Heroes,” ”Ecological Damage Level,” among others.

Not all items were marked with golden text; several were marked in white, like ”Defeat Demon King, Incomplete, Pass Rate +0%.”

Moreover, some items were marked in very conspicuous red.

Such as...”Massacre Count.”

Yang Yu recalled never having acted against civilians, but somehow there was an excess of over a hundred killings, which reduced the pass rate by several percentage points.

Upon careful reflection, this could be related to them wiping out the Demon King Army’s forces completely.

After all, no one can be 100% sure that everyone in the Demon King Army is bad.

Some within the Demon Clan might have been driven to enlist due to life circumstances, only wishing to live peacefully; others might have retained their conscience, choosing to become human undercover against the Demon King...

Perhaps, the stone tablet counted those individuals too.

Unaware, Yang Yu categorized them all as one group, exterminating them completely.

Each item includes a pass rate, and as they add and subtract, they total up to 100%.

The stone tablet continued to display text:

”Congratulations to all for successfully passing the test.

According to your actions in the consciousness world, this stone tablet preliminarily identifies that you possess the qualification to wield the Holy Sword.

It is not only heroes who can own the Holy Sword, but rather those who wield the Holy Sword and defeat the Demon King are called heroes.

However, whether you can ultimately acquire the Holy Sword depends on your performance henceforth.

You will undergo layer upon layer of trials and eventually reach the place where the Holy Sword is kept.

Please make various preparations.

Once the test begins, unless someone pulls out the Holy Sword, you will remain within the maze.”

It seems the pass rate is the key to clearing the illusion.

As long as it reaches 100%, even if the Demon King isn’t defeated, the test can conclude early.

If it doesn’t reach 100%, even if the Demon King is defeated, indiscriminate killing will render one a global enemy, preventing passage.

And all these actions are meant to choose the owner of the Holy Sword.

From the words on the stone tablet, the Holy Sword isn’t exclusive to heroes.

Anyone who passes the subsequent tests can receive the Holy Sword and gain the strength to defeat the Demon King?

If the Holy Sword can be used as a weapon, it can also avoid the hassle of upgrading Sword Blades, allowing the Holy Sword to be used to the fullest.

This seems like an excellent choice...

While Yang Yu continued pondering, the stone tablet displayed more text:

”If you are fully prepared, please place your hand on the stone tablet, ready to accept the true test.”

Yang Yu stepped forward but stopped after only a few steps.

His mind flashed with various people and things associated with Hero Lox.

Everything so far indicates Hero Lox is a true hero with the world in his heart, even after death, establishing various mazes to distribute what he gained, enhancing this world’s overall strength...

No matter how he looked, he couldn’t find any flaws.

But is he truly an outstanding, idealized hero?