Chapter 72: Demon King Highlight!

At this instant, the entire world hectically began searching for "Demon King Highlights"— or at least the ones that cared about the new Infinite game. 

All the players from New Leaf village were so goddamn excited about this. This was the first dungeon ever completed in the game and would pave the way to a glorious future. 

Naturally, Pancakes had capitalized on this fact: 

< Infinite: 1st Dungeon Clear…Done Solo?! "Demon King" OP! First Gameplay Footage Ever!> 

Even with how little promotion the game had done, there was still a bit of interest in it. At this moment, all kinds of people were now furiously clicking on the video: 

- Infinite players 

- PVE players from other games 

- Analyst and content creators, this was the first footage ever! 

- Hell, even fucking variety streamers. "Demon King," what was the story behind this? 

Even then, most launched the video while scoffing to themselves: 

"Who the heck is that fatty? Mighty Infinite Pancakes? Never heard of him!" 

"First dungeon solo? This ought to be a tutorial dungeon or something, right?" 

"Demon King? What kind of megalomaniac uses such a username? Edgyness over 9000…." 

"First footage ever….What kind of low-budget game is this? Let's watch and make fun of them, lol!" 

They expected an amateurish production, a shitty dungeon, a shitty game, and some chuuni wannabe dumbass. But what they got was way fucking different! 

The intro lasted 10 seconds, yet the so-called Mighty Infinite Pancake didn't even appear in it. 

It was an explosion of action! Every fucking frame was made to wow the viewer yet leave them wanting more. After these 10 seconds, a slightly smiling, wise-looking fatty appeared on the screen. 

He was wearing an old-school scholar outfit that made him look highly refined— if it wasn't for the silly posters in the background. Lusty Argonnian Maid, Beware of Chickens, I want you!… In my guild, Tis but a Scratch, I play it for the PLOT, etc. 

Yet, the focus remained on the man who sighed before giving a sorrowful look toward the camera. 

"Hello everyone, it is I, the Mighty Infinite Pancakes. Ever since I was four years and 20 months old, I wanted nothing more than to reach enlightenment. I have toiled all my life to achieve peace, serenity, to keep my purity, and stay away from all excitement." 

He then sighed exaggeratedly. 

"But then I heard the Infinite Demon King's tale, and I suddenly gave in to mortal temptation. It sent my blood boiling so fast that I forgot all my previous aspirations."

He finally looked at the camera with a solid gaze: 

"This is a PSA, do NOT watch this video if your goal in life is to become a forever virgin monk. You WILL want to play Infinite!" 

That's when the video suddenly changed to a man crawling in a forest. One couldn't see the surroundings at all, but it was clear that he was in enemy territory. A small wolf was wriggling its butt as it crawled next to him. 

Then it slowly progressed until they reached a group of 4 foxes. At this point, the music gradually increased in intensity with a zoom on the creature's maws. It was clear that those foxes were dangerous. 

Then it slowly panned toward Jack, making a plunge attack and fighting them. Every block was accompanied by a weighty — thud — sound and a bit of panting. It made it look like he could falter at any moment. 

Then he won, was shown butchering one fox, but the others were skipped. He slowly progressed to the village, now covered by some mist, giving it an eerie and scary look. 

That's when the NPC appeared out of nowhere! So suddenly and looking so damn frightening! But then, a second later, the "creature" began talking?! 

The story was initially very touching but dragged on. Luckily it all began to speed up, with the only caption being Bla-Bla-Bla—Bla. What kind of cheeky editing was this?! 

A few seconds later, it changed to the scene of Jack leaving the NPC to die to giant rats. A single line appeared on the screen— This is what happens when you talk too much…

Yet it was made so that the viewers quickly realized that there had to be more to the story. They didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This lack of explanation only fueled their curiosity. (The whole ingredient gathering process had been skipped) 

There was some more of Jack and wolf progressing, then fighting foxes once more. The music intensity slowly crescendoed until it reached a peak. It was clear that something was about to happen, but what? 

That's when Jack suddenly turned around, blocking an attack. What?! A monster had tried to sneak-attack him?! How had he known?! But that's when the camera panned to the little wolf howling. Ah, had he been warned by the pet?! (Totally an edit) 

Jack somehow finished all the foxes at once and fought what was evidently a boss. Any single mistake would cause his demise for sure. People were at the edge of their seats. As he won, they couldn't help but cheer. 

But this was only the mid-boss. As they reached the boss, it roared powerfully. It was so damn intimidating! But mid roar, the screen suddenly froze. Many couldn't help but check their connection, deploring: why now?! 

But then they realized it was part of the video. A red line appeared, then an amateurish scribble. It was as if a kid had hijacked the video to draw on it. But a second later, they didn't mind anymore. 

It slowly circled the level of the boss. That's when they realized that the thing was level 20 while the player was only level 5. Was such a level gap normal? But then there appeared many screenshots. 

- Level 4 chickens are OP, please nerf! 

- Level 5 fox destroys party!

- Raid vs. Level 8 Fox Progenitor: Complete Wipe! 

- Level 8 wolves? Death incarnate! 

- Level 10 Wolf Boss? Invincible?! 

- Monsters in Infinite aren't chumps! 

It started with a few, but the amount increased so fast that it soon covered the entire screen. It kept filling it until it seemed to cause a blue screen of death. Then a loading screen appeared as it panned back to the frozen boss frame. 

Level 5 Demon King Versus Level 20 Protector of the Fox Grove. This was madness! Even then, Jack courageously fought it. 

At first, they were expecting him to die instantly, but then he dodged or blocked the attacks?! Was that even possible?! It felt like watching an ant block a blow from a Titan. Even crazier…it seemed like the ant had a chance! 

That's when the wolf pup entered the action. The human and his pet slowly cooperated in taking down this incredibly powerful enemy.

When the fur began floating akin to a living creature, many sucked in a cold breath. This was now a 2 v 2?! Even then, the human and wolf didn't despair at all. 

Finally, the action reached its peak when magical AoE attacks began spawning everywhere. The small wolf was yelping in fright as it kept barely dodging. But then they saw Jack and couldn't help but rub their eyes. How?! 

He seemed as casual as one would be on a night walk. He was slowly sipping on potions while…walking?! He wasn't even running. He was just walking to safety! Hell, he'd move to avoid the attacks even before the prompt. Was this guy hacking or something?! 

They were still flabbergasted when the fight ended. As the human and wolf celebrated, they only had one comment: WTF!?! 

The Mighty Infinite Pancakes guy slowly appeared on the screen.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Demon King of Infinite. He has killed the chicken Overlord, Slain the Fox Progenitor, tamed a deadly wolf, won 1 v 50 versus the Mighty Dragons and Solo Cleared the Fox Grove— all by day 2!" 

"I am Mighty Infinite Pancakes. If you want to see more, hit the follow and like button. Either we reach 10k follows this month, or I'm leaving content creation to work at the family business. Later all o/." 

He left the stunned viewers. But just as they thought this was over, a line appeared on the screen. 

< If you don't follow, the cursed Slender Foxman will come for you….> 

That's when there was a replay of the fox-looking NPC with the creepiest music dashing toward them madly. Then there was the famous: 

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━━━ YOU DIED! ━━━

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It ended just like that…. 

As for the comment section, it was already a party! 

- Pancakes, what the hell is that PSA?! You kidding me bro, I've been trying to get rid of my virginity, not keep it! 

- Better follow this guy: he needs to make more! 

- 4 years and 20 months old….I see what you did there. This is like the "maiden" saying they are 18 and 400 months old or something?! 

- This is the first dungeon?! Why is it so….intense?! 

- Demon King? I came to laugh at the chuuni wannabe…now I'm a fan. How did that happen so quickly?! 

- I'm totally not addicted to that wolf's cuteness, but… where can I buy Infinite?! 

- Slender Foxman?! I'll wear diapers the next time I watch one of your videos! 

- Why did he kill the NPC? Why were there rats? Where's the rest?! 

- All of the infinite player base: enemies level 4-8 are impossible to kill. Demon King: casually kills a level 20 (?!) boss. 

- Guys, apparently, there's plenty of bickering as to whether the Demon King is fake or not. Hehehe, time to stir some drama! I'm sending this link to all the haters! 

- Is this video fake?! I need a captain to fact-check it! 

- This is 100% fake. There is no way anyone can kill a level 20 Boss! LOL 

- There is clearly editing that has been done, but it should be easy to verify. Just send players in the dungeon. It should be easy to find since it's the first one! 

Then the haters came, and it became pandemonium. Insults came flying, both against Jack and the man who had "obviously" sold his soul to faking a video for him. They all used the analysis of the "experts" to prove their point. 

But they all agreed: someone had to check the dungeon out real quick! Then they would know for sure… 

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Back in Infinite, a lone man was sighing.

On the one hand, Jack was pleased that they had all freaking logged out to watch his highlight. But on the other hand, when were they going to log back in?! 

He wanted them to grind to pay for their D.L membership! How else was he going to get rich?! 

For now, he resolved himself to sell the pelts that he had accumulated in the Fox dungeon at Steven's place, then visited the old lady. Jack slammed all his silvers on the counter like a huge baller. 

She raised a brow at him: 

"Oh, you're here? What do you want?" 

"Potions, all of them!" He uttered confidently. 

"By all, you mean 15, right? Except if you have more silvers…Anyway, here you go." 

Jack happily grabbed them, grinning as he looked forward to griding the Fox Grove. But that's when her wrinkly hands lightly brushed his. 

She looked him dead in the eyes before winking: 

"If you want to woo me, you need to buy way more than 15 potions. Keep working hard."

"Sure…." 

Jack left for the Fox Grove once again. This time he would farm the shit out of it. Hopefully, his new "minions" would conveniently bring him plenty of silver once he was out of potions….

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[A/N] Any idea for memes related to this? ^_^v 

Also, was this petition for D.L real or a joke? xD 

Creator's Thought

The decision to hide the creation and use of the Fox Repellent was pretty good. It meant that players would be left wondering. Just how had he killed the level 20 Fox?! They would try it themselves only to get stomped. It was bound to be lots of fun...