I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake. Chapter 1

Hi guys, “ChibiGiant” here, the translator of “The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road“, I picked up this novel cause it is a fun one with lots of action and comedy. Hope you enjoy reading it.

I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.

Chapter 1

[Congratulations on seeing all the endings of the Valent Saga.]

[From now on, you can select the hidden origin ‘Demon Race’.]

Seo-han unconsciously muttered.

“…Crazy.”

Seo-han thought his voice was louder than expected, but the subway passengers didn’t even look at him and only stared at their smartphones.

Seo-han focused again on his handheld game console.

The Valent Saga is a kind of RPG game.

It’s a game where you choose the character’s origin and characteristics, then grow the character according to a predetermined story.

‘But was there such a hidden piece?’

A hidden piece that unlocks after seeing all the endings.

If there was such a hidden piece, Seo-han wouldn’t have missed it.

Seo-han thought about taking out his smartphone to search, but…

-The next station is Sillim. Sillim Station.

Seo-han put the game console in his bag and left the subway.

If Seo-han had to pick the biggest reason he was fascinated by the Valent Saga, it was the well-structured storyline.

Even if reaching the same ending, the perspective each origin viewed it from was different.

What seemed like a happy ending from a knight’s perspective could be a bad ending from a businessman’s perspective.

What might be a bad ending from a general’s standpoint could be a normal ending from an adventurer’s view.

It’s heavier than typical games, but drawn by the fun of seeing the story, he ended up seeing all the endings.

Seo-han bought beer and snacks at a nearby convenience store and headed home.

Then, sitting on a small sofa, he took a sip of beer and started searching in earnest about the demon race’s origin.

‘This is strange.’

Even after searching for over ten minutes, there wasn’t a single strategy guide about the demon race origin.

‘Could I be the first in the game?’

That can’t be.

Although the game structure is ordinary, many YouTubers enjoyed this game because of its good story.

In fact, Seo-han had been raising characters referring to the strategies uploaded by YouTubers.

But there’s not a single mention about the demon race origin.

Just in case, he searched in English, but information about the demon race origin was virtually non-existent.

‘This means I don’t know the strategy.’

Seo-han was a light user who followed already known strategy guides rather than finding his own strategy.

If he had to see the demon race origin’s ending without a strategy…

‘How many times will I die?’

The difficulty of the Valent Saga is honestly not easy.

As much as the well-structured story, the relationships between each character are complex like a spider web, so if you make the wrong choice and raise characters incorrectly, you can helplessly reach a bad ending.

Seo-han moved his fingers to post on the community.

Pause-

‘Let’s just try it once.’

No matter how much he searched the internet, strategy guides weren’t visible, and he didn’t think the community guys would know anything either.

And decisively, he was lazy.

A game is just a game.

It’s just a kind of entertainment to melt away the stress received during work life.

If it’s not good after trying once, he can just find another game.

Seo-han turned on the handheld game console again.

[Are you sure you want to select “Demon Race” as your origin?]

[YES] [NO]

And Seo-han’s light fingertip carelessly moved towards [YES].

***

That’s how Seo-han fell into the world of the Valent Saga.

And a whole 3 years passed.

At first, he was bewildered, unable to adapt to the fact that he had entered the world inside the game.

But as they say time heals all wounds, he adapted after a day or two.

The problem was that Seo-han wasn’t born as a ‘human’ in the Valent Saga, but as a ‘doppelganger’ belonging to the Demon King’s army.

The bigger problem was that the damn humans invaded the demon realm and entered the ‘Demon Realm War Scenario’, killing vampires, greenskins, succubi, and beast-people indiscriminately.

There was no declaration of war.

Declaration of war is something humans who believe in the four goddesses do among themselves.

They didn’t even show such basic courtesy to nonbelievers who don’t believe in gods.

Here’s the question.

Born as a doppelganger and in the middle of a war, what do you think the Demon King would make Seo-han do?

Of course, be a ‘spy’.

Seo-han really didn’t want to do such a dangerous job, but he had no choice but to do it under the Demon King’s threat to kill him if he didn’t.

The beginning of Seo-han’s heart-pounding spy life was as an unnamed allied forces soldier1.

Being at the bottom of the bottom, he couldn’t even dream of scraping together useful military information to send to the Demon King’s army.

Instead, he had to do anything for survival.

“You, you’re definitely a doppelgan…”

“Die!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Phew…

I almost got caught because of this damn vampire bastard.

If you blurt out such things without reading the room, do you think I wouldn’t shoot?

Still, I didn’t drive a stake through his heart, so as long as he is not caught, he should recover and survive on his own.

As he diligently worked as a spy like that, an opportunity for social advancement arose.

Seo-han looked at a knight dying alone in a deserted place.

“He, help…”

“Hmm…”

It was already too late to save him.

A long skewer was stuck in his right lung.

What’s needed at times like this isn’t medicine, but a gun.

“I’ll help you.”

“Thank y…”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

That’s how Seo-han became a member of the Emperor’s direct knight order, the ‘Sky Knight Order’.

It wasn’t too difficult to adapt as it was a knight order that mainly threw spears from afar riding Pegasus or performed reconnaissance missions rather than close combat.

Seo-han earnestly sent useful military information to the Demon King’s army and solidified his position.

The Demon King even sent various elixirs and secret medicines via black pigeons to help him spy well.

“You, you’re definitely a doppelganger…”

“Die!”

Phew…

I almost got caught again.

Damn demon race bastards.

Why do they always say I’m a doppelganger whenever they see me without reading the room?

Then I have no choice but to kill them.

After putting holes all over the wings of succubi flying around carelessly like flies, they even gave me the title ‘Prince of the Sky’.

I don’t know what it means, but it pissed me off.

Not long after, Seo-han looked at a barbarian who had become a cold corpse.

This bastard is definitely the hero’s companion, right?

Why is he dead now?

I’m sure that according to the story, he’s supposed to survive together until reaching the Demon King.

Did the story change because of me?

I’ve never seen a scenario where he dies even once.

Hmm…

There’s no one around and he’s dead.

“This could be useful.”

That’s how I became barbarian knight Barre, the hero’s companion .

Surviving as a barbarian was easier than I thought.

Whether human bastards or demon race bastards, they all thought of barbarians as just flesh-colored orcs with only brute strength.

Thanks to that, I wouldn’t be suspected if I just swung an axe while shouting all day long.

Even if I said something stupid, they’d let it slide, and occasionally when I said something insightful, they’d just go “Oh, you can say things like that too?”

It couldn’t be better for spying, but being disrespected didn’t feel good.

But what could I do just because I felt bad?

I spent my days secretly sending military information to the Demon King’s army at night and cracking demon race skulls during the day.

“You, you’re definitely a doppelganger…”

Crack!

“We’re the same dem…”

Crack!

Oh, right.

Some people might think I’m a bad guy for cracking ally skulls, but it’s the fault of those who attack me even knowing I’m a doppelganger.

I really didn’t kill anyone unless they attacked me first.

Really.

Anyway, how many demon race skulls did I crack?

Around the time I was spying with all my heart and soul to the point where I couldn’t distinguish whether I was a demon race or a barbarian…

“Y-you, what exactly are… Gak!”

Crack?

I ended up blowing away even the Demon King’s head.

Huh?

This isn’t right.

***

Hero Yan sliced the Demon King’s neck in one stroke as he fell from Barre’s thrown axe.

Thud-

Roll-

“Huff… Huff…”

The battle with the Demon King was beyond difficult to describe.

Yan nearly died several times, and in a moment of carelessness, his three other companions almost crossed the Jordan River.

Yan checked on his companions.

Raven Gale, the adopted daughter of Archmage Gale and called the next Archmage.

Mitchell Redfield, the youngest son of the Viscount Redfield family and with sword skills almost comparable to Yan’s.

Lastly, the barbarian knight who always stood at the vanguard and didn’t hesitate to take on the most dangerous and dirty work… Barre.

“Barre! Nice!”

If Barre hadn’t planted his axe in the Demon King’s head, they could have been in big trouble.

As expected of a Demon King with doppelganger origins, he was about to transform, and just when Yan and Mitchell were thrown far away, someone had to step up…

He always came through whenever the team was in crisis.

“Barre?”

But Barre’s expression didn’t look good.

He seemed to be contemplating something while looking at the Demon King’s severed head.

Since he’s not usually such a quiet guy, it’s a bit strange for him to suddenly become quiet.

Raven, worried, carefully approached Barre.

“Barre, are you okay?”

“Woohoo!”

Raven and the companions were startled by Barre’s shout.

“B-Barre? What’s wrong?”

“I’ve completed my family’s revenge! I’m going home now!”

Barre pulled out the axe stuck in the Demon King’s head and left the room.

His companions could only stare blankly at this absurd sight, unable to stop him.

***

It’s fucked.

It’s really fucked.

To think I blew away the Demon King’s head with my own hands.

What should I do now?

‘How do I explain this to the others?’

Seo-han received an excessive amount of support just because he was closest to Hero Yan.

From the rare Millennium Snow Ginseng to the Golden Chicken’s liver and the Black Lion’s heart.

The amount of magic herbs Barre’s body consumed was uncountable.

Thanks to that, Seo-han was able to become a barbarian knight who could fight alongside Hero Yan at the frontlines.

But to use that powerful strength to blow away the Demon King’s head.

‘My companions will come running from all directions to kill me.’

I’ll abandon this body.

It’s heartbreaking to think of the cost of elixirs and secret medicines that went into this body, but I have no choice.

No matter how sturdy and strong the body is, it can’t be strong 24 hours a day.

It can’t be strong when taking a dump or sleeping.

So let’s change into a different body and live quietly for a while.

Barre whistled.

Wheeet-!

Then a black pigeon that was wandering in the sky flew down and perched on Barre’s arm.

“His Majesty the Demon King has passed away. Survive on your own.”

The black pigeon nodded its head and then flew off into the sky.

Following that, the black pigeon split into dozens of bodies and spread out in all directions.

Those black pigeons will fly to the hidden doppelgangers and tribal chiefs in various places to deliver the message.

Barre dusted off his hands.

“I guess that’s all I needed to do.”

Now there’s only one thing left for Barre to do.

‘Shall I raid the warehouse?’

The dead are dead.

The living must live on.

Barre headed towards the underground warehouse in the Demon King’s castle.

As expected, greedy knights and officials with stars on their shoulders were already there.

“Oh, oh… Sir Barbarian Knight, if you touch this…”

“These are offerings to comfort the souls of our parents and siblings.”

“But this is supposed to be presented to His Majesty the Emperor…”

“We are…”

“I won’t say it twice. Move aside!.” When Barre shouted, the weak old men fainted and the knights staggered, covering their ears.

Who dares to block the path of the Demon King Slayer, Barbarian Knight Barre? Oh

Even if the Emperor, no, the dead Emperor’s father appeared now, he couldn’t stop him.

It was this very body that blew away the Demon King’s head.

Because he’s Barre.

Barre focused on gathering the shiny things from the warehouse.

The key was things that didn’t seem related to the Demon King, like gold coins, silver coins, gold bars, and jewels.

‘Oh, these would be good too.’

This Demon King bastard, he still had so many good elixirs stashed away?

Barre gathered everything from yellow magic grass to honey from the large-horned bees only found in the demon realm, and even black twin-headed snakes.

“Ah… That elixir is supposed to be presented to His Majesty the Emperor…”

“The Emperor would prefer it entering my mouth.”

Seo-han packed all the useful elixirs, gold items, jewels, and sculptures into his bag.

‘This bag is strange.’

He picked up a random bag from the warehouse and started stuffing it, but it seemed to hold more than its volume suggested.

The weight also seemed to have decreased a bit, and even though he put things in randomly, the weight balance was perfectly maintained.

Could this be a bag with space distortion magic?

That’s awesome.

Next, Seo-han went to the weapons warehouse.

Since many people recognized the weapon ‘Wilderness’ that Barre used, he had to use a different weapon for a while.

‘Not bad.’

There was a set of one-handed axes that looked good enough to use, though not particularly special.

They looked like they were made to be held one in each hand.

A dual-wielding axe barbarian.

How romantic.

Let’s take them.

“Distribute the rest as you see fit.”

“…Yes.”

Don’t make such a sad face.

Anyone looking would think I’ve done something terribly wrong.

If I blew away the Demon King’s head, isn’t it okay to take this much?

Barre came up with the now heavier bag.

As he reached the first floor, Raven Gale was waiting with arms crossed.

“Where are you going?”

Green eyes, long black hair like silk, and snow-white skin.

A face as pretty as a doll that never gets tiresome to look at.

Though she’s short and flat-chested, so not my type.

“I’m going home.”

“You don’t have a home.”

Listen to how she talks.

She painfully reminds me that my barbarian village was destroyed by demons and I have no home.

I want to scold her a bit… But I’ll let it slide because her face is cute.

It’s not my home anyway.

“The wilderness is my home.”

She thought for a moment before speaking. “…How about coming to the Gale Magic Tower with me instead? I’ll give you a place to stay for a while and help you find out where your family is. How about it?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I found true freedom by blowing away the Demon King’s head. Now I’ll roam the wilderness freely and gather my scattered family.”

Barre held out his fist to Raven. “So you don’t need to cry. Little girl.”

“I wasn’t crying, and I’m 27 years old.”

“If you’re short, you’re a little girl. Do you want to be called a virgin with that body?”

“Aah! Stop! Stop!” Raven bumped her fist against Barre’s.

It felt as soft as touching a cotton ball, so small and delicate.

“Goodbye, friend. If you ever need help, send a letter.”

“I don’t know how to write.”

“That’s why I keep telling you to learn, you idiot!”

Actually, I know how, but I pretended not to because it seems natural for a barbarian not to know.

Barre used his special ability ‘Psychometry’.

Through their connected fists, he could hear Raven’s inner thoughts.

-…I don’t want to let him go.

-He’s probably going to get lost stupidly again…

-Should I just go with him?

-As training… But the Tower Master will definitely forbid it…

This one has a warm heart despite her grumbling exterior.

Mitchell is the same, outwardly different from the inside, but he’s just lecherous.

As for that bastard Yan… Let’s not even talk about how frustrating he is.

To be frank, I’m not sure about those two idiots, but I have some affection for this one.

“Then just stay for tonight. You like eating like a glutton, right? There might be something delicious for dinner tonight…”

“No. There’s a barbarian saying that the shorter the farewell, the better.”

“Sometimes you say things that don’t seem to suit you.”

“That’s my charm.” Barre pulled his fist away. “I’ll be going now. I want to find my scattered family soon.”

“Alright… How could I stop you.” Raven said with an awkward smile. “Goodbye, friend.”

“Wrong!”

“Aah! You scared me! What is it?!”

Barre said with a big laugh. “See you later, friend!”

Raven stomped her feet. “I really hate this…”

As Barre brushed past Raven.

Raven said in a small voice. “…See you later.”

Now, there is no more Barbarian Knight Barre.

Now, he returns to being Seo-han again.