How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 1

by Yukiya Murasaki

  Shortly after—

  The clouded mirror cleared, distinctly showing Shera’s face in its reflection.

  The receptionist was astonished.

  “Wow, that’s amazing! It looks so clear! U-Um, let’s see here... If it’s clear enough to be able to count the number of eyelashes on your face, then that counts as ‘Up to the chest’ on the scale. So your level is...30!”

  “Thirty!? No way...”

  Shera’s voice was tinged with disappointment.

  From what he had heard so far, being level 30 was quite a favorable assessment.

  —But Shera’s goal was to be above Rem, huh.

  Rem stuck out her small chest.

  “...You were foolish to think of surpassing me.”

  “But, it’s because I haven’t even been on an adventure yet! I’m gonna pass you in no time flat!”

  “...That won’t happen. You will have to look up to me for your whole life.”

  Quietly, Rem let out a sigh of relief.

  Though she wasn’t letting it show on her face, it seemed she had been worrying on the inside that Shera might have been judged a higher level than her.

  †

  It was Diablo’s turn next.

  —What should I do to “send magic” into it?

  He was able to use magic. But he didn’t have any idea about what to do to send it out.

  Rem and Shera had already showed their true power, and he did feel that he wanted his level to be higher than theirs.

  —What am I gonna do if they say I’m level 1? Try and play it off by saying, “Hmph, looks like the Guild can’t judge me...” or something?

  Feigning calmness, he reached out toward the mirror, his heart pounding.

  The clouded glass turned to thick darkness. It looked like he had opened a hole that led directly into the depths of Hades itself.

  A black aura started to seep from the mirror.

  —Hm? It seems like, maybe...this isn’t right?

  Rem raised her voice in shock.

  “...What’s happening!?”

  “What!? What is this!? It’s kind of freaking me out!”

  Even Shera’s voice was laced with panic.

  Not just Bleu, but the other receptionists in yellow and red let out screams as well.

  —This might be dangerous.

  Diablo quickly took his hand off the mirror. As soon as he did, the black aura faded, and the mirror returned to normal.

  He went to ask Bleu: “What kind of judgment would you give this?”

  “...U-Uh, um... This is the first time, I have seen something like this... Uhmm?”

  It seemed she had no knowledge about what just happened, and was at a loss for what to do.

  “What was that just now!?”

  From behind the counter, a door flew open, and out jumped a small girl.

  She was a Grasswalker who had ears and a tail like that of a rabbit. Though she looked like a child, it was said that this race would never change in appearance, no matter how old they got.

  Her outfit was severely lacking in material.

  Though she had some cloth covering her chest, her shoulders and stomach were bare. The thin cloth that dangled from her waist couldn’t even be called a skirt, with almost all of her slender thighs exposed for the world to see.

  Her hair was short and red.

  She fixed her large, innocent eyes on Diablo.

  Bleu began to give a flustered explanation.

  “GM! Um, wh-when this person went to determine his level, the mirror...”

  The GM, otherwise known as the Guildmaster, was the leader of the Adventurer’s Guild, and was the most important person to be found there.

  She was sizing up both Diablo and the mirror.

  A smile crossed her face.

  “Hi there. Did you do that just now?”

  “So it seems.”

  “I want to have a little chat with you in the back, would that be all right?”

  When faced with that childlike smile, he felt like he would let his guard down at any time.

  —But I’m talking with a Grasswalker, who also happens to be the leader of the Adventurer’s Guild of Faltra. I have to keep focused.

  Diablo nodded.

  “Very well.”

  “...I will come as well.”

  Rem stood on his right side.

  Shera, in a slight panic, went to stand at his left.

  “I-I’m coming too! If you want to talk with Diablo, you’re going to have to let me come too!”

  “All right, then you two can come along, too. Could you follow me this way, then?”

  The GM spun on her heel as she turned around. Bleu gave a small bow.

  “U-Um, then please, go on in... Oh, come in through here...!!”

  She lifted up a part of the counter and removed it.

  It wasn’t a particularly amazing feature, but Diablo caught himself enjoying finding out about another detail of this world that was never mentioned in the game.

  Diablo went through to the other side of the counter.

  —There was never a moment in the game where you would go to the Guildmaster’s room. I’m kinda looking forward to this.

  Passing by desks with paperwork stacked on top of them, they headed toward the back.

  †

  The Guildmaster’s office was about ten square meters big.

  Just like everywhere else, the interior design of the room was all made of wood.

  It was clean, as if she were expecting visitors at any time.

  Diablo sat himself in one of the wooden chairs near the low wooden table for guests. Rem and Shera were on either side of him.

  The GM was sitting behind a thick work desk that was a bit far away from Diablo and the others.

  The chair seemed to be a bit tall for her, as she had to jump to get up on it.

  “Hello, and thanks for taking the trouble to come here. I’m the Guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild of Faltra, Sylvie. Over there is the Summoner Rem, and...?”

  Shera leaned forward.

  “I’m Shera! And that’s my Summon, Diablo!”

  Using her tail, Rem smacked Shera on the butt. It made a whapping sound as she did so.

  “...Diablo has said that he is not a Summon... Also, you are not the one who had summoned him. You really are a dumb Elf who doesn’t listen to what other people say.”

  “I’ll say it as many times as I have to! Diablo is a super amazing Summon that I called because I’m a genius!”

  “Heh... A level 30 genius...” Rem snickered, covering her mouth with her hand.

  Shera’s face turned bright red.

  “That mirror just didn’t judge my actual talent, all right!”

  “...I at least have to respect you for your self-confidence.”

  “Yay! She respects me!”

  Sylvie stared at them.

  “Looks like you have some complicated history together, huh?”

  “Don’t pay much attention to them. Besides, you have something you want to tell me, don’t you?”

  Diablo went to move on to the main point.

  Rem and Shera shut their mouths, and turned to look at Sylvie.

  “I’m going to get right to the point. I don’t think we can take you in, Diablo.”

  She looked fairly cheerful as she said that.

  Diablo tilted his head to one side.

  “I assume you’re going to give me a reason?”

  “I don’t know if it’ll be enough to satisfy you, but yes. Not just here, but Adventurers who register at any Adventurer’s Guild are given a level which the Guild uses to determine what kinds of quests to give them... In your case, we don’t know your level.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “It’s the first time the mirror has ever done that. I’m fairly certain that you’re a high level, but I just don’t know how high that is. I can’t figure out what kind of quests I can trust you with.”

  “I’m certain I can clear a
ll the quests that have been posted publicly so far.”

  “You sure sound confident! Nonetheless, you’re outside the norm by evaluation standards. It’s a bit of a tough call for a Guildmaster like myself.”

  “Outside the norm, you say?”

  That was disappointing for him to hear, since Diablo wanted to know what his level was in this world.

  But as he thought about it, maybe that’s just how it was.

  The town of Faltra marked the end of the beginning parts of the game. After you entered the domain of the Fallen to the west, that’s when the MMORPG Cross Reverie really got started.

  Using the town as a foothold, you would slowly take control over Fallen territory and prevent the resurrection of the Demon Lord.

  In order to do so, you would need to be level 80 or above, near the level cap for the various races of the game.

  By completing an extra quest, “Surpass the Limits of Your Race,” you could raise your maximum level to 100.

  —I’m not certain, but it might be because I’m already past the level cap so they can’t measure my level.

  It was good and all to be a high level, but now it was a problem because he wasn’t able to get any work. He had no way to earn money.

  —Maybe I’ll make potions and sell them.

  Cross Reverie had something called “sub-classes” in it.

  There was everything from Baker to Blacksmith, and even someone like Diablo wasn’t able to remember them all. That’s just how many there were. Everything known about sub-classes was posted on the strategy wiki, but there was still an enormous amount of information about them left unknown.

  Diablo had chosen 《Combiner》 as his sub-class. As long as he had the materials, he could make items such as health potions.

  Because of the effects of the Demon’s Lord Ring, he had no choice but to depend on healing items, which is why he settled on that particular sub-class.

  The best healing items in the game could only be made by players. Because of this, buying them off of other people was expensive, and it wasn’t like they were available to buy whenever you wanted.

  He might be able to make use of his Combiner skills and sell the potions he made... However.

  Last night, he had made a promise to Rem to destroy the soul of the Demon Lord Krebskulm.

  As of now, he was their greatest enemy.

  Potion-makers had a lot on their plate, and if he wasn’t fighting, then his focus on and sense for battle would only weaken.

  Not only that, but it was true that he really wanted to be an Adventurer for a living.

  Diablo asked her: “So you’re saying that you’re not going to accept me as an Adventurer, is that it?”

  Sylvie shook her head.

  “I would be happy to have you here at the Faltra Adventurer’s Guild. I was more worried that you’d be the one who wouldn’t be satisfied staying here.”

  “As long as there are quests to do and rewards for doing them, then I have no complaints.”

  “That so? I’m probably a lot weaker than you. Are you going to be okay taking orders from me? Or are you thinking about switching places with me and becoming the new Guildmaster?”

  He had never even thought of it.

  In the game, the Adventurer’s Guild was a mediator that would offer quests for the players to do. Even if the Guildmaster was weak, it was impossible to even consider refusing to do quests.

  In actuality, the head of the Adventurer’s Guild was said to be seeking to become the strongest there was.

  —They do have a lot of rough-looking types here, after all.

  Diablo thought back to the fight he saw on the first floor. Seemed like you would have to be strong if you wanted to keep people like that in line.

  “I have no interest in the organization itself. You should be the one to take care of such trifling matters.”

  “Ahaha, you sure are an interesting one. Then just one more thing: we don’t have much in the way of quests that match up to your true power.”

  It was Faltra, so of course that would be the case.

  After all, this was the town where you would finish the last of the Beginner quests to unlock the Advanced ones.

  When you entered the domain of the Fallen, the Beginner’s quests would disappear and be replaced by 《EX 》 quests.

  And since the story quests were only there to advance the plot, you would generally be suffering from a lack of money around here. In exchange, you were able to do things like advance to the next area or raise your level cap...

  Diablo looked at Rem.

  —But even now, it looks like I’m in the middle of taking on a story quest.

  “There’s no need to worry about the level of the mission. I would assume that there are no quests in this area that would even be a challenge to me anymore.”

  “Really? Well then... Looking forward to working with you!”

  Sylvie ran up to him and stuck out her right hand.

  He took her small hand in his.

  “Hm.”

  While he was still keeping up his arrogant attitude, on the inside he felt relieved.

  —I didn’t know what was gonna happen after the mirror turned black, but I’m glad we seem to have gotten that all squared away.

  With this, he was now an Adventurer!

  †

  “Hey, let’s go on a quest right away!”

  Shera was getting all worked up, and Diablo felt the same way.

  —I wonder how strong the monsters are around here?

  He could barely contain his excitement.

  Diablo and the others had returned to the counter to find a quest to accept.

  Taking a casual glance back down at the first floor, Diablo saw a familiar figure.

  —Is that Small Fry over there?

  It was the guy from the Mage’s Association who had picked a fight with him last night: Galluk.

  He was just leaving the Adventurer’s Guild, sending out stares of contempt at the Adventurers around him.

  Galluk was not an Adventurer, so he probably wasn’t here to take on a quest.

  —If that’s the case, maybe he was making a request.

  The Mage’s Association from the game would frequently give quests to players.

  For the most part, they would turn out to be fetch quests. For example, a good part of the quests would be something like: “I need you to hunt some 《Demonic Ligers》 and pick up three 《Dark Fangs》 from them for an experiment I’m doing.”

  —Well, I guess it’s nothing for me to worry about.

  Rem and Shera were already talking with the receptionist, Bleu.

  “These are the current quests we have available.”

  “...Since this is your first time accepting one, a Beginner level quest would probably be good.”

  “Fine by me, but isn’t the pay really cheap!?”

  The receptionist in red was discussing something with Sylvie. Seeming to have wrapped up their conversation, Sylvie called out to them.

  “Heya, Diablo. I have a quest I want you to do for me right away.”

  She produced a piece of paper and laid it on the counter.

  —Still can’t read.

  Diablo motioned for Rem to read it.

  “...This is a quest to hunt a 《Madara Snake》 in the Man-Eating Forest. Is there anyone who would even think of asking someone to do this?”

  Diablo tilted his head.

  “Isn’t hunting monsters normal for quests?”

  “...The monsters around that area are not the kind you can defeat with just a few Adventurers. Normally, you would hunt monsters around the Bridge of Ulug or Starfall Tower.”

  “It’s because they keep doing that that their levels won’t go up.” Diablo shrugged his shoulders.

  Not letting any emotion show on her face, Rem continued to talk in an indifferent tone of voice.

  “...That’s just how it is. Nobody is as strong as you, after all. There will be nothing to show for if you die
after challenging a powerful monster.”

  “I see.”

  “...Normally, nobody would take a quest like this... But if someone has requested it, then there may be a good reason for it.”

  “U-Uh... There’s a bunch of strong monsters in the Man-Eating Forest, right?”

  Shera’s voice was shaking.

  Sylvie spoke: “It looks like the requester is the Mage’s Association. Seems like they need the eye from a Madara Snake for some kind of experiment they’re doing. The deadline is pretty short, and I don’t have the time to gather a bunch of strong people for it, so how about it? I won’t force you to take it...but what do you say, Mister Diablo? Wanna give it a shot?”

  Diablo thought to himself, The Man-Eating Forest is set to be about level 60, so monsters around that level should show up there.

  Supposing he was level 150, then this wouldn’t even count as a warm-up for him.

  —The problem’s gonna be my MP.

  He had to be cautious about what kind of effect shooting off consecutive magics would have on him.This would be a good chance for me to test it out.

  If the monsters were level 60, then he would be able to deal with them all bare-handed.

  If anything, rejecting this quest would put a dent on his Demon Lord act. He did not want them to think he was scared.

  “Very well, I shall be the one to head out there.”

  “Thanks! But be careful, OK? I feel like there’s something...fishy about this quest.”

  “...Fishy?”

  “Every once in a while, we get these quests that seem like they’re made to trap our Adventurers in some way. Of course, we usually don’t accept any suspicious requests, but I think that since the requester is the Mage’s Association, we should be able to trust it... But it still kinda bugs me a little.”

  “Worry not. No matter what the plans of some insect may be, they will not be able to harm me in the slightest.”

  “Ahaha... You sure are reliable.”

  Putting aside his Demon Lord roleplay for a second—

  —This does seem like a strange request. Gotta make sure to be careful.

  After hearing what Sylvie had to say, the thought of Galluk leaving the Guild earlier crossed Diablo’s mind. He probably hated Diablo’s guts, even if it was unjustified.