Chapter 54: The Demon King is Fake!

After defeating the not so Mighty Dragons, Jack turned toward their remaining leader, the friendliest smile on his face. 

"How about buying peace now?" Jack "amicably" offered. 

The bystanders were shellshocked. After brutalizing his enemies, he was now switching to post-war reparations?! Why did it seem like it wasn't his first time doing so? 

"Let's say ten gold," Jack stated. 

The bystanders almost doubted their hearing for an instant: 

"Cough, 10 G?!"

"This is insanity!" 

"Does the entire village even own ten gold?"

But, they all perceived the veiled threat in his words. If they didn't buy this peace, he would make their lives a living hell. Eventually, they'd probably be forced to create new accounts and hope not to spawn in New Leaf village. 

This was such a hard decision! The leader had to consider every aspect of it seriously. What if they ended up deleting their account only to spawn back here again? They would have lost two days of progress for absolutely no reason. 

He shook his head: 

"I'll have to think about it and—"

But he didn't even have time to finish his sentence that a bloodthirsty predator appeared out of nowhere, pouncing at him! 

"Growl!" 

The little wolf ruthlessly bit him, sending blood gushing everywhere…in a 1 cm radius from the tiny wound. 

-1 

After dealing that insanely high damage of 1, it began howling, clamoring its victory. Afterward, the dragon guy's face began twisting in agony...as Jack's Cluckinator penetrated his brain. He had used the distraction to approach sneakily. 

"Take all the time you need. We'll discuss buying peace for 15 G the next time we meet." Jack said to the disappearing player. Ah, messing with people sure was fun!

The bystanders couldn't help but gulp loudly seeing this scene. 

"He already increased it?" 

"Is 15 G even repayable?" 

"He truly can control wolves."

"Guys, I've just realized something: the pet was hiding." 

"So what if it can hide? It only does one damage anyway." 

"He knew this was a trap, or he would have brought the pet with him. He was toying with them from the start!" 

They suddenly began feeling uncomfortable. They had been on the edge of their seat, considering the 1 v 50 an impossible feat all this time. Yet, he knew from the beginning?! This was madness! 

"Alright, let's get to business, shall we." Jack happily took his butcher knife out. 

On the ground were 14 corpses, all the other ones gone already. Hopefully, this would do. Then again, there were still some live players at the scene…

As the spectators saw his knife and gaze, they ran away! There was no hesitation, only their survival instinct kicking in as they darted toward the safe zone. 

Seriously?! Talk about cowardly! He had only thought about butchering them. He wouldn't do it now that they were behaving. 

The human and wolf looked at them flee while shrugging. 

Jack couldn't help but chuckle. What kind of rumor would they start now? Would he level up from Demon King to Great Demon King? Naw, there was no way. 

Anyway, it was time to gather some meat…

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The news spread akin to a wildfire at an oil plant: it freaking exploded!

"Hey, did you hear? The Mighty Dragons got wiped out!" 

"Did they try to fight the wolf boss or something?"

"Worse, they challenged the Demon King!" 

"What exactly happened to —"

"You all! The Demon King just 1 v 50 and won!" 

"Oy, are you kidding me?! Is that even possible?"

"I saw it with my own eyes! There's no mistaking it!"

The entire beginner village was going wild. It didn't feel believable, but there were too many witness testimonies. That is how the rumors about it became increasingly popular and exaggerated. 

"I heard he killed 10 of them at once!" 

"I heard he murdered 60 of them at once!"

"I heard he annihilated 100 of them at once!" 

"Guys, there are only 50 Mighty Dragons…-_-" 

"I heard that he hungrily devoured their hearts!" 

"Why the hell would he do that? Now, this one is obviously fake."

"They say he has a legendary class and becomes stronger the more human souls he absorbs." 

Whether this was true or not, they all drew cold breathes as they pictured him gnawing on their flesh and organs as one would delicacies. They then shuddered as a thought came to them. 

Actually, was it really impossible? After all, they had already witnessed many unbelievable events: Chicken uprising, wolf invasion, human butchering, wolf taming…

"He truly is the Demon King."

"The one and only Demon King."

"The hidden Boss of Infinite: the Demon King." 

They all agreed on this title. The ones who had found it tacky began to think it fitted the man perfectly. The ones that had used it jokingly before were now serious. 

The New Leaf players were eager to share this story, and it just happened that there were countless dignified keyboard warriors in their midst. For a few minutes, Infinite + Demon King became a trending topic on social media. 

It all started with a casual post from a renowned pro-player: 

- One Inch Deity: Hello everyone! One Inch Deity here, aka the thrusting god. Now, I've stumbled upon a post about a man called the Demon King. It sounds scary, doesn't it! So, real or fake? (see link)

Many pro-players hailing from other MMOs rose to the occasion. They all came forward to debunk the myth, followed by their countless fans: 

- Lightbringer: Fake. 1 v 50 is currently impossible. This whole thing is a complete farce and this so-called Demon King a sham. 

- SSS-Hunting: Fake. It's just not possible. I've been grinding since launch, and I'm only level 5. The difference in stats isn't that massive either.

- Glacial Epoch: Fake. I don't think 1 v 50 is actually impossible. If one is facing Noobs and uses terrain accordingly, victory is possible. But, one-shoting 10+ players in one attack is 100% propaganda. 

- Thundering Lion: Half-Fake. I don't think the whole thing is true either, but I'd still like to meet the guy. The base may be authentic, but the rumors were exaggerated. 

- Rumbling Overlord: Fake. Demon King, you better hide! Don't let me see you, or I'll crush you until nothing remain of your bragging ass! 

- Demonic Destructoid: Fake. Hehe, I can totally defeat 50 players. But such an unknown guy? No way! 

- The Professor: Fake. I've analyzed this story, and it's click-bait. There are way too many flaws in it. Don't be fooled, people, and remain critical! 

Every expert seemed to agree that it was all BS. The last one was even a professional analyst. Perhaps the pro-players were just doing this casually for fun, but this guy had incredible credibility! 

As such, any post spreading the Demon King's legacy was quickly downvoted to oblivion. The commotion died down in a flurry of insults. The New Leaf Players were called: Naive, dumb, sellouts, a glorious water army, fanboys, etc., until they dropped the topic. 

Thus ended this small episode, leaving the players in New Leaf village disgruntled. Why wouldn't anyone believe them? They could only sigh as they returned to what they were doing. 

But, without anyone truly realizing it, New Leaf village was already changing. 

Players began to diligently explore and complete quests no matter how bad the rewards initially seemed. They would complete whatever chain quest gave them the Demon King's armor set! 

Some began to research various life skills. If goddamn human butchering was allowed, then there was no way that the most ordinary life skills wouldn't be available. They just had to find out how to get started. 

Others began to do their best to learn taming. They could be seen on the plain, dodging the attacks of chickens while trying to make them obey them. They looked ridiculous, but no one was laughing. 

They were all trying, one way or another, to follow in the Demon King's footsteps... 

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As for the demon of the hour? He was blissfully oblivious of all that he had indirectly caused…

[+ Butchering Proficiency!]

[Butchering skill obtained, F Rank!]

"Oh? This is nice! Good news, little one. From now on, the meat will taste at least 1% better!" The human announced.

"Woo!" (Happy) What did % mean? Who cared? The meat would be even better! The wolf was already salivating. 

"But even then, we will still need some proper equipment if we want to cook. Only then will we eat truly delicious meat." 

"Woo!" (Resolute) They had a mission! 

Jack had human butchering to thank for his fast progress. Good things came to people who weren't wasteful! Sadly, this activity would soon become slightly harder to practice with the Karma system and all. He had to stock up while he still could. 

But suddenly came a surprise. 

— Ding!— 

[Gained Reputation Amidst the Braves!]

[Acquired Title: Demon King! + Fear (local)]

[Caution! Demon King is an Evolving Title!]

For a second, Jack couldn't help but be speechless. What the fuck was this?! No, he knew what it was but how?! 

This meant that a vast majority not only knew of him, referred to him by this title, but actually believed in it. How was the AI even determining such a thing as belief? It used psychology to read and interpret the players' microexpressions. 

Had his latest show of strength been too much for them? 

- Bubblegum: Teacher, I heard about your fight, how you annihilated the 50 of them. Is it true that you defeated 10 of them with one skill? Rumors are going crazy, and people on the Internet are all convinced it never happened. 

- Jack'O: We did fight. Anyway, what are you doing right now?

- Bubblegum: I'm trying to learn an AGI-based technique with Steven. Teacher, how did you manage to win?! I'm super curious! 

- Jack'O: Secret! (^ц^ )v

- Bubblegum: Pretty please?

- Jack'O: Alright, I know a trick to defeat any number of enemies, no matter who they are…Can I trust you with such transcendent insights?

- Bubblegum: I, Seraphine, swear on my own name to bring this divine knowledge to my grave! 

- Jack'O: The trick is…to reduce their HP to 0! 

- Bubblegum: -_- 

- Bubblegum: (－ლ)

- Bubblegum: (ಠ_ಠ)┌∩┐

- Jack'O: Ah, the heavenly wisdom rendered another one mad! Oh, the atrocity! 

- Bubblegum: Can you give me a hint? 

- Jack'O: Maybe once you're level 10. You'd 100% screw up your account otherwise. Anyway, later.

Jack muted his notifications for now, completely ignoring her. After all, she made a decent helper. It would be a shame if he had to find a new one. 

They were all wondering how he had done it, but the fight could be analyzed easily: 

1. He had better gear and a skill. 

2. He had way more experience in Infinite 

A. The Cluckinator gave more attack speed the more he attacked. The Cluck every hit wasn't just for show. 

B. The Clucking Aegis applied a Vengeful Chicken Mark on every bashed enemy. Every mark would increase the damage dealt by any skill that could resonate with the spirit of the Chicken Overlord. 

He just so happened to have the perfect skill for the job: 

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Bloody Cleave 

Rank F 

Level 5

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[Cost] 10 Mana

[Damage] 200% 

[Scaling] Weapon

[Range] Melee AoE

[Element] Bloody

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It was great overall, but not as OP as most believed. 

1. The steep mana cost made it so it could only be used once by a level 4 player. 

2. It was possible to dodge it by stepping backward. (As they had done during the Chicken Onslaught) 

3. The damage was significant, but only if considering the AoE. For a single target, it was easier to attack twice instead. 

The Mighty Dragons had died because they hadn't realized that he was using an ability and because they hadn't noticed the subtle red glow that stuck to their body every time his Aegis hit them. (Disappearing over time) 

But, Jack would let the world remain baffled. After all, the more trump cards he had, the better. 

He decisively headed deeper into the forest, followed by a happy pup. It was time to defeat foxes….

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[A/N] Couldn't cut the chapter without it being awkward, so it's a pretty long chap haha.

Creator's Thought

It was one thing to tell people what would soon become common knowledge and another to teach them about more in-depth secrets. For instance, the advanced method to gain skill is worth its weight in gold...actually, more!