The moment I opened my eyes, I saw the sky.
Then, I felt the sharp scent of grass tickling my nose, the hard texture of stone beneath me, and the breeze brushing past my entire body.
It was so refreshing, I almost felt as though I weren’t wearing anything.
Of course, that couldn’t actually be the case.
Elian stared blankly at the sky for a while.
“This isn’t the Demon King’s castle… I’ve been resurrected.”
The blue sky was undeniable proof of her resurrection.
After all, where had she last been?
The Mirror Demon King’s castle.
The sky there had been pitch-black and oppressive, filling the air with unease.
Naturally, Elian’s thoughts turned back to that castle.
The grueling battle with the Mirror Demon King.
The sprawling, labyrinthine maze that was both vast and disorienting.
And finally, her shattered shield and her body, battered beyond repair.
Each memory was horrific.
And yet, Elian could have escaped anytime she wanted.
Why?
Because she was the strongest knight.
At the same time, she was the greatest magician.
Not to mention, she even had a return scroll.
Despite all this, Elian hadn’t chosen to escape for one simple reason.
Bertram.
To stop him, she had to die.
Originally, Bertram had planned to swiftly accuse Elian and move to have her expelled.
But even that simple paperwork had been delayed—because of her death.
The delays caused Bertram’s plans to drag on, and in the end, he had encountered an unexpected obstacle: Irene.
As a result, Bertram had fallen completely.
Elian’s decision had been the right one.
Not that the current Elian had any way of knowing this.
“How much time has passed?”
Her thoughts lingered on her last memory.
She recalled the Mirror Demon King walking toward her as she lay dying.
Oddly enough, she hadn’t felt fear.
Maybe it was because the Demon King looked like an ordinary woman.
The Mirror Demon King had looked down at Elian and said,
“Elian, you’re truly strong. If you return stronger, you’ll become a significant threat.”
With a wave of her hand, several magic circles formed around Elian’s fallen body.
“Hah… Are you going to turn me into a zombie?”
“I know more about your kind than you think. Including how your resurrection works.”
The moment she heard those words, a chill ran down Elian’s spine.
And shortly after, she felt it.
An immense amount of magic was being poured into her broken body.
Startled, Elian’s eyes widened, and the Demon King smiled wickedly.
“In your current state, it would take 60% of divine power to resurrect you. But if that threshold were doubled, who could bring you back?”
No one.
The answer was painfully obvious.
The Mirror Demon King had deliberately strengthened Elian’s body, ensuring her resurrection would be nearly impossible.
It was then that Elian realized—
She might remain dead forever.
Or, even if she were resurrected, it would only be after countless years had passed.
Her spirit had lingered in that broken body.
Now, it had finally settled into a newly reconstructed vessel.
Elian slowly rose to her feet.
When she turned her head, she froze.
Irene was standing there.
She looked exactly the same as Elian remembered.
Irene.
She was Elian’s savior, a reminder that not much time had passed.
Tears welled up in Elian’s eyes and fell freely down her cheeks.
“It’s been so long, Irene…”
Irene replied nonchalantly,
“Good to see you, Elian.”
Elian knew then that not much time had passed.
Seeing herself resurrected in one piece confirmed it.
Irene must have gone to great lengths to bring her back and even resolved the issue with Bertram in the process.
To Elian, Irene was no longer just a familiar ally.
She was her savior.
Elian looked down at her hands, murmuring,
“I’ve missed this so… wait. Where are my clothes?!”
It wasn’t just a feeling of being exposed.
She was actually naked.
Completely naked.
Moreover, this was immediately after her resurrection.
Predictably, her childhood friend El was standing nearby with a neutral expression.
It was an awkward situation, to say the least.
“Wait. Do you lose your clothes during resurrection?”
El replied calmly,
“Not usually. I’d normally conjure a suitable outfit, but…”
Her voice came from lower than expected.
When Elian looked down, she saw El lying on the ground.
“…As you can see, I’m in no condition to do that. Please understand. We’re all women here, after all.”
“W-What does that even mean?!”
Elian started to protest but stopped herself, instead staring at Irene.
With a snap of her fingers, Elian found herself clothed in the exact outfit she was familiar with.
Still, she couldn’t stop staring at Irene.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Irene asked.
“I was debating whether I could just hug you right now.”
“Go ahead. It’s fine.”
Without hesitation, Elian pulled Irene into a tight embrace.
Her body shook as she sobbed into Irene’s shoulder.
“I was so scared… I thought it’d take decades to come back… but you saved me. It was you, wasn’t it?”
“Well, I only helped. The Saintess did most of the work.”
Elian turned to look at El with an expression like she’d just discovered a new toy.
El quickly waved her hands defensively, saying,
“N-No, it wasn’t me! If it weren’t for Irene, the resurrection wouldn’t have been possible. Hug her some more!”
Elian, taking the hint, hugged Irene even tighter.
“You’ve done so much for me. You’ve been on my streams, fought at the Demon King’s castle, exposed Hero Guild corruption, and even brought me back to life. Stop calling yourself a villain—no one will believe you anymore.”
“Ugh. What are you even saying? There’s no villain more wicked than me.”
“Then how do you explain saving me?”
“That was… to build goodwill with the Hero Guild’s top ranker so you wouldn’t raid our castle later.”
Elian chuckled at the absurdity of her excuse.
She could tell Irene was trying hard to play the villain, but it only made her seem more endearing.
Elian smiled brightly. “Well, I owe you now, Irene. Ask for anything—I’ll grant it.”
“Anything?”
Elian nodded earnestly.
Even if Irene asked her to leave the Hero Guild and join the Demon King’s forces, she was willing to consider it.
“Stream again. I’ve become a fan after watching your replays.”
[Elian’s Broadcast]
The chat exploded with excitement:
“She’s back!”
“Cry after you talk, we can’t understand you!”
“Bertram is the worst!”
Thirty minutes into her comeback stream, Elian had already received over 5 million gold in donations.
By the end, the chat had one clear demand:
“Tell us what happened!”
Elian teased the audience with hints, waiting until enough people had gathered.
Then she finally spoke:
“Alright, here’s the short version: I’m going to worship Irene from now on.”
The chat descended into chaos.
The chat went wild.
“Worship Irene? Did I hear that right?”
“Wait, the number one Hero Guild ranker is worshiping a Demon King’s officer?!”
“This is madness! Hero Guild, what are you even doing?!”
“Service termination confirmed. Hero Guild is over.”
“FACT: Irene is both adorable and lovable. Change my mind.”
“Damn it, why is it always Irene?!”
“All hail Irene! Worship her! Worship her!”
The chat overflowed with chaos, memes, and bewildered reactions, but Elian remained unfazed.
Suddenly, a notification popped up in the chat.
[Irene1 has donated 100,000G to Elian!]
Message: “I heard you’d be sharing a story, so I came.”
The donation only added fuel to the fire.
“What the heck?! 100,000G?! Just for a story?!”
“That’s Irene! She’s a well-known Elian fan now!”
“Forget the story—this is turning into the Irene show again!”
Elian let out a laugh and raised her hands to calm the chat.
“Wow, this is my first time experiencing something like this while streaming. Don’t worry, I’ll react to the donation after I finish the story.”
Elian cleared her throat, preparing for what was clearly going to be a long tale.
She drained a small bottle of water in one go, signaling to the audience that it was going to take a while.
Over the next hour, Elian recounted the events leading up to her resurrection.
She didn’t share everything, of course.
There were too many sensitive topics—Hero Guild secrets, the Savior Saintess, and other potentially dangerous details.
Instead, she focused on Irene.
And as the story unfolded, the audience gradually realized something.
The tale, intended as an explanation, had turned into an impromptu “Worship Irene” session.
“Oh, come on, Irene again?!”
“Was this a humblebrag all along?!”
“Step 1: Worship Irene. Step 2: Profit.”
“Damn it, stop making me love Irene more!”
“Listen, I’ve been here since the early days when Elian only had 7 viewers. I donated back then. I chatted every day. Why is it always Irene?!”
[User Ruiqo has been forcibly removed from the chat.]
The overwhelming emotion in the chat was simple: jealousy.
Irene hadn’t streamed even once since creating her account.
She hadn’t posted a picture or even written a single sentence.
The Irene fan community, desperate for content, had long been suffering from severe Irene deprivation.
And here was Elian, casually recounting her time spent with Irene as if it were nothing special.
Many in the chat wanted to spam their frustration and let out their inner chaos, but the Irene fan community quickly banded together to strategize.
“If we can’t bring Irene out ourselves…”
“We’ll make Elian do it!”
[A mission has been added by Irene1!]
[“Collab with Irene” – Reward: 300,000G]
The chat exploded again.
“300,000G for a collab with Irene?! Are you serious?!”
“There’s no way Irene would agree to this. She’s so stubborn!”
“Let’s add to the pot! We need this to happen!”
One by one, viewers began contributing to the mission reward.
[Irene123 has added 15,000G to the reward.]
[Irene73 has added 10,000G to the reward.]
[Lagare has added 300,000G to the reward.]
Elian, watching the rapidly growing mission reward, feigned exaggerated indecision for comedic effect.
“Do you think she’ll actually agree? You all know Irene’s personality. She wouldn’t…”
[“Collab with Irene” – Reward: 4,108,000G]
The amount had skyrocketed to over 4 million gold. Including other donations, the total reward had surpassed 10 million gold.
It was an offer too massive to ignore.
Elian knew it.
The viewers knew it. And Irene herself, who was likely watching, definitely knew it.
Still, Elian couldn’t agree to the mission without Irene’s explicit consent.
So, she discreetly sent a private message to Irene.
[Elian: Irene, can you join my stream? Things are kind of going crazy here.]
[Irene: Is it because of the 4 million gold mission for a collab with me?]
[Elian: Wait… you’re watching?]
[Irene: Of course. I even contributed 30,000G to the reward.]
[Elian: …??]
Elian blinked in surprise.
Irene had not only been watching but had also actively participated in the chaos.
After taking a moment to process, Elian realized this was entirely in character for Irene.
[Elian: So… I’m really sorry, but would you be willing to…?]
[Irene: Fine. Let’s do it.]
[Elian: Wait, really?! Even for a large-scale collab?]
[Irene: Sure. It’s not like anyone would actually invite me to something like that.]
Elian was momentarily stunned by Irene’s sudden change of heart.
This was the same Irene who had adamantly refused to debut, who had steadfastly called herself a villain.
But now, she was agreeing to a broadcast?
A sly grin spread across Elian’s face.
“This is it,”
she thought.
“I’ll turn her into a full-fledged streamer.”
For too long, Elian had felt sorry for Irene.
Irene was like an unpolished diamond who insisted on calling herself a lump of coal.
Now, Elian finally had the perfect opportunity to showcase Irene’s brilliance.
[Elian: Perfect timing! There’s an open spot in the ‘Grand Hero Battle Royale.’ I’ll make sure you’re in!]
[Irene: Wait, the what now?]
Elian, deciding to let actions speak louder than words, turned off her messages.
Not only had she secured Irene’s participation, but she’d also filled the vacancy left by Luna, who was currently on break.
It was a win-win situation.
With an almost mischievous smile, Elian announced to the chat,
“Guess what, everyone? Irene’s joining the stream!”
The chat erupted once more.
“This is happening?!”
“Elian is officially the best streamer in history. Write it on the Helios Empire’s murals!”
“The Elian-Irene combo is finally back!”
“This is legendary!”
[Mission Complete!]
[“Collab with Irene” – Reward: 4,753,000G]
And just like that, Irene’s first large-scale stream collaboration was set in motion.