Chapter 25 : The Demon King Is So Bad At Cooking.

“This… is more embarrassing than I thought.”

Irene wobbled on her feet.

The Demon King’s castle had been completely destroyed, leading to an automatic subjugation ruling.

[Congratulations, Elian! You have defeated the Nameless Demon King’s Castle.]

[The designated amount will be paid by the Hero Guild.]

Her terminal chimed with an alert.

Irene dropped to her knees, a gloomy expression on her face.

Everyone could easily guess the outcome of the battle.

Irene had lost.

There was no magic in her hands, no sword either.

As the staggering Irene collapsed, Elian spoke.

“I won! And I even managed to neutralize her without hurting her!”

With a bright expression, she held out her palm.

As always, Pris naturally clapped her hand against Elian’s in a high five.

She really won this?

LOL

Dalian! Dalian! Dalian! Dalian! Dalian! Dalian! Dalian! Dalian! Dalian! Dalian! Dalian! Dalian!

Rank 1 really is different, huh.

Elian’s magic was this strong?

Of course, she resurrected and got double the magic power.

(Elian emoji with her chest puffed out, looking proud)

We acknowledge Irene’s squad’s defeat.

We acknowledge Irene’s squad’s defeat.

We acknowledge Irene’s squad’s defeat.

We acknowledge Irene’s squad’s defeat.

I refuse to accept this!!!

I’m in Irene’s squad, are they intentionally doing this to be mean?

LOL I saw it all.

I’m Irene, and yeah, I lost after fighting with everything I had.

For this moment, even Elian’s sworn enemies and the audience became one in celebration.

Not out of hatred for Irene, but purely to celebrate Elian’s achievement.

[Kania has given Elian 100,000G!]

[Goodbye, Irene. You were just born in the wrong era, an ordinary person in my absence.]

At the same time, Elian’s fans, the Gold Rush Gang, cheered.

Finally, Elian had reclaimed her position as Rank 1!

But Elian herself had something else on her mind.

‘That emotionless girl… acting cutesy…!’

At this moment, even she was a little wicked.

The thought of Irene thanking her in a cute voice made her go insane.

She was happy, yet somehow, she couldn’t quite predict what would happen next.

‘Once I get my reward… I won’t have to worry for a month… Hehehe…’

Meanwhile, Pris, who had never cared about Irene in the first place, was only thinking about gambling.

Hunting?

Subjugation?

She had only come to make money for gambling.

‘I wish I could high-five like that…! I’m jealous.’

Luna just wanted to high-five.

More precisely, she envied the closeness that made such a high-five possible.

Watching from far behind Irene, Luminil thought to herself.

“Did she… just put up a shield for me?”

She must have been worried that the hidden Luminil might get caught up in the fight.

Until the very moment she collapsed, Irene cast a protective shield over her.

At the same time, a doubt crept into Luminil’s mind.

There was no way Irene’s magic was so weak that it couldn’t even block an attack meant to protect someone else.

And Luminil was right.

Irene had not lost.

From the beginning, this wasn’t a neutralization—her shield didn’t even have a single crack.

Her collapse was nothing but an act.

Irene wasn’t particularly good at acting, but since she naturally lacked emotional ups and downs,

Everyone here fell for it without a second thought.

‘Idiot Elian. What the hell are you scheming?’

Ironically, the person most curious about the situation was none other than Irene herself.

She had lost on purpose since Elian clearly wanted to do something.

But now what?

What was she planning next?

Irene started running through possibilities in her head.

‘Beheading me is obviously ridiculous, and she wouldn’t be after Luminil either…’

She was still lost in thought when Elian suddenly stepped right up to her face.

And then, a horrifying possibility crossed Irene’s mind.

‘No way…’

She instinctively tried to get up.

But Elian was faster—she shut off the broadcast before she could react.

“Alright! Everyone, I’m exhausted, so I’m gonna go rest now. The Nameless Demon King’s Castle Subjugation is officially over! Bye-bye!”

?

Don’t lie

???????

(confused Elian emoji) (confused Elian emoji) (confused Elian emoji) (confused Elian emoji) (confused Elian emoji) (confused Elian emoji)

Wait, this was supposed to be a revenge battle!! What kind of revenge is this?!

???

Stop lying

“If you wanna end the stream, you’ll have to kill me first! If you wanna end the stream, you’ll have to kill me first! If you wanna end the stream, you’ll have to kill me first! If you wanna end the stream, you’ll have to kill me first!”

“This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream.”

Does a streamer who cuts the broadcast at the climax actually exist?

“LOL, come on, we all know this is a joke. LOL, come on, we all know this is a joke. LOL, come on, we all know this is a joke. LOL, come on, we all know this is a joke.”

[The broadcast has ended.]

Elian didn’t care how much chaos erupted in chat.

She simply shut off the stream.

After all, this was her plan from the beginning.

Her goal was already accomplished.

“Hmmm…”

Elian’s group silently stared down at Irene.

Standing in front of her collapsed form, Elian spoke.

“I turned off the stream. You can get up now.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Huh?”

Irene blinked at Elian’s sudden statement.

Everyone except her was shocked.

They knew Elian had called for the subjugation ruling to save Irene.

But telling her to get up?

Luna was about to ask something, but at that very moment, Irene slowly rose to her feet.

“Faking the Demon King’s death to make them think the subjugation was complete and excluding me from the hunt… Elian, that was quite clever of you.”

As Irene stood up as if nothing had happened, Luna gasped and stepped back in shock.

“W-Weren’t you unconscious?”

Irene was about to respond to Luna, but surprisingly, Elian spoke first.

“Of course not. There’s no way Irene would collapse from something like this. You figured out my intention, huh?”

“…You know, there’s this simple and convenient thing called messaging.”

“Sorry, sorry. You never know, right?”

Yeah, right.

Like hell that was the reason.

It was obvious she just wanted to see Irene flustered.

That much was clear, but instead of saying it, Irene just squinted at her with half-lidded eyes.

Elian, rather than being bothered by the glare, just laughed.

“This time, I’m your savior, so you should be grateful!”

“Who’s calling themselves a savior? I could’ve handled the hunt just fine.”

Irene wasn’t wrong in the slightest.

Maybe if she had been sleep-deprived as usual from taking care of and teasing Luminil, it would’ve been different.

But lately, she had been preparing for the subjugation, so her mind was sharper than ever.

As for heroes?

They were all the same to her—just another generic Hero No.1.

“Still, I guess you did help. Thanks.”

Of course, being able to handle it and actually having it easy were two different things.

Thanks to Elian, she barely had to lift a finger.

She had been under a lot of stress preparing for the hunt, so this was a huge relief.

Irene gave her thanks and was about to leave, but—

Elian suddenly blocked her path.

“But about this fight… I did win, right?”

Ah, so that’s what this was about.

Elian did care about winning and losing.

But this much she could let slide.

Irene gave a small nod.

“Yeah. Whether I lost on purpose or not, a loss is a loss. You won, Elian.”

“Reeeally?”

Elian grinned wickedly.

At that moment, Irene felt an ominous chill.

“Then I get to make a wish, right?”

“A… wish?”

Irene blinked in confusion.

Wait, when did they ever make a bet?

She was about to argue, but—

At the mention of a bet, Irene recalled the past.

There was a bet.

It was from the first time she met Elian.

With a look of disbelief, Irene asked,

“You mean the bet from when we first met?”

“Of course.”

“But that has already ended.”

“Did I ever say it was over?”

This damn menace…!

Irene clenched her tiny fist.

Elian’s in-game personality was nothing like this!

Not that she could openly complain.

Why had Elian turned into such a devil?

The answer was obvious.

But Irene wasn’t the type to just sit back and take it.

“Back then, I said I’d do an interview.”

As if waiting for this moment, Elian pulled out the streaming interface.

The second Irene admitted her loss, she had already fallen into Elian’s hands.

“Then should I start the stream?”

“What kind of… cutesy act do you want?”

“Cutesy act from Irene…?”

This was humiliating.

Not just Elian, but also Luminil, Luna, and even some unknown elf would be watching!

But doing an interview in front of ten thousand people?

That was even worse.

She didn’t even know what kinds of questions Elian would throw at her.

If she had to suffer either way, it was better to make a private embarrassment than a public one.

While Irene braced herself, Elian huddled with the others for a quick strategy meeting.

Not long after, she clapped her hands, as if struck by the perfect idea.

“You made me do that ‘Heart Chu-Chu’ thing last time, right? So now, just say ‘I love you’ to me!”

…She should’ve just taken the interview in front of ten thousand people.

Irene cursed herself for making the wrong choice.

Still, if she had to do it, she should finish it quickly.

Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself.

She had never been this nervous before.

But maybe all the times she forced others into doing cute things had turned her into a veteran of this situation.

Despite everything, she executed her act with flawless precision—almost professional.

“Elian unnie! You know Irene always loves you, right…?”

“Awww, of course, Irene! So sweet~”

Elian responded smoothly, as if nothing was wrong.

Luna, on the other hand, tried desperately to hold back laughter but ultimately failed, letting out a giggle.

“Ughh… I swear, Elian, I’ll get you back three times over for this…”

Even as Elian turned to leave, Irene kept her eyes locked on her.

She made a vow.

She would get revenge for this.

On Elian.

And on—

‘My favorite who’s watching this right now!’

Originally, this week was supposed to be focused on defending against the subjugation wave…

Since the subjugation ruling had already concluded everything, they decided to do something else instead.

“Irene… I’m really curious about something, can I ask?”

“Of course, Luminil.”

“Why am I the one streaming?!”

A broadcast.

Well, technically, it was a recorded video.

But that didn’t make it any less embarrassing.

Luminil covered her face with both hands, overwhelmed with embarrassment.

Of course, just covering her face didn’t do anything to hide her stunning figure.

Luminil, blushing and flustered—this moment had just become the most satisfying experience of Irene’s life.

“Didn’t I tell you before? I said I’d make you famous.”

“And what does that have to do with recording me cooking?!”

Even while complaining, Luminil was diligently grilling the meat.

Well, of course she was.

It was expensive meat that Irene had bought on a trip outside.

There was no way Luminil would dare waste it by burning or ruining it.

That’s precisely why Irene gave it to her.

“Luminil’s cooking stream! It’s going to be a massive hit. I watched all the Hero Guild streams, and weirdly enough, no one does cooking broadcasts.”

There was an obvious reason for that.

…This was a game world.

Why would the developers make NPCs do cooking broadcasts?

That’s why even after Irene had been summoned, no one had ever attempted a cooking stream.

But she was about to change that.

How could anyone resist watching an adorable, big-breasted girl cook?

At the very least, Irene would watch it a thousand times, so a thousand views were guaranteed.

“…Fine, I’ll keep going.”

“Fighting!”

And despite all her shy and embarrassed reactions—

“Hello, everyone! Today, I’ll be cooking this juicy steak. My goal is to make it so delicious that Irene collapses from how good it is!”

She was already talking like a professional streamer.

This was why Irene liked Luminil.

She always acted hesitant, but when push came to shove, she delivered.

And while she made it look smooth and effortless—

“Ahh! Oil splatter!”

“Don’t you have a shield?”

“Using magic will mess with the taste!”

She also had just the right amount of adorable clumsiness.

This was guaranteed to go viral.

Irene recorded the video with absolute confidence.

As of today, Luminil was officially an idol.

Congrats on your first performance at the Demon King’s Castle, Luminil.

∗∗Video Uploaded!∗∗**Video uploaded!**∗∗Video Uploaded!∗∗

[Would anyone like to watch ‘The World’s Strongest Dumbest Idiotic Useless Demon King Cooks Meat’?] — Irene.