"Ho ho ho ho! They're here, they're here! Heroes from another world, hurry and help me defeat the Demon King to claim a massive bounty... Huh? Why are there so many of you?" The familiar laughter, the familiar way of speaking—only now, her words contained some incomprehensible new elements.
Demon King?
Massive bounty?
Compared to the former, the latter seemed more like the main point... Wait, what was with that tone like you didn't know us? Were you playing this game again?
Jiu Ming opened his eyes.
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm! You woke up the fastest. Looks like you're the best-quality one among this batch of heroes!"
Ah...
Jiu Ming lowered his head and looked at the long-haired, black-haired girl bouncing around before him, dressed in the sort of women's leather armor that probably only existed in RPG games. He pressed one hand on her head, then casually inspected the rope in his other hand. The rope was intact, none of the people tied up were missing, and nobody was missing any parts either.
"Enough... What are you trying to play this time?" Jiu Ming asked, looking around. The sky was an ominous dark red, the clouds predominantly dark as well, as though a rain of blood might fall at any moment. The air was thick with a suffocating sense of oppression. Judging from the surroundings, this appeared to be an abandoned village. "Play? This is a very serious Demon King subjugation!" The girl slapped Jiu Ming's hand away and put an armband around her arm. The two gleaming golden characters for "Subjugation" nearly blinded him.
No... they really did blind him. The instant that armband came out, it burst forth with an intense golden radiance, shrouding the entire village. The curse-like aura blanketing the village was swept clean away in an