The sky was stained a deep crimson, as if it were about to vomit blood.
The earth had long since turned into colorless ash, scorched so black it could no longer even scream.
In the center of this desolate world, rendered in harsh, jagged brushstrokes, stood a man.
Friedrich Maximilian von Beelzebub de Hermann Erzsebet von Heisenberg III.
The absolute monarch of the Underworld, who once commanded tens of thousands of demonic legions from the pinnacle of Hell.
He was clad in pitch-black Gothic armor that radiated an overwhelming pressure, a presence so suffocating it felt like a physical weight.
As he lifted his massive double-edged axe and slammed it into the earth, the ground shrieked and shattered under an explosive shockwave.
"The throne is a much colder seat than I expected."
His low murmur was laced with a chillingly deep cynicism.
'Every day, the stench of blood. My subordinates, pretending to be loyal while looking for any chance to put a blade to my throat. I'm done. I'm sick of this noise pollution and the bloody political games.'
The man unfurled his massive wings. Then, he cast away that brilliant, heavy crown by his own hand.
And so, he ran away from home. To the most pathetic, peaceful, and damp place he could find.
* * *
Bzzt—
The ear-splitting screams and the clashing of sharp steel cut out abruptly, like an old film snapping.
In their place came only the sticky humidity clinging to his neck and the rattling, weary hum of an old electric fan.
Nakwon Villa, Unit 302.
Instead of a throne, he now occupied a tattered sofa so worn that its inner stuffing peeked through the fabric.
The dignified, towering figure—once over seven feet tall—was nowhere to be seen. In his place lay a hollow-eyed man in his early forties, slumping over in a crooked posture.
His sharp features were hidden behind dark circles and a scruffy beard. Instead of Gothic armor, he wore a stretched-out red tracksuit. Comic books of unknown origin were scattered messily over his stomach, and a smudge of yesterday's cup ramen broth stained the tip of his nose.
"Ah… I'm hungry…"
Ma Do-sik let out a massive yawn, his half-closed eyes blinking lazily.
At that moment, a sharp, irritated voice flew in from beyond the front door.
"Hey! Ma Do-sik! You dead yet? I brought the expired stock! Here!"
Thud! The door swung open, and a man in a purple 'GU' vest—Noh Ru-sik—roughly tossed a plastic bag inside.
He was a part-time convenience store worker with three years of experience as an assistant manager—and formerly, the fallen angel Lucifer, the head of the High Heavens.
"Hey, Noh Ru-sik. You were a ruler of the Underworld, and now you live your life obsessing over the expiration dates of tuna-mayo rice balls? Have some dignity, will you?"
Do-sik grumbled, rummaging through the bag without even fully opening his eyes.
Lucifer tapped the name tag on his chest that read 'Part-timer: Noh Ru-sik' and let out a scoff.
"Dignity? My foot. I sold my soul for ten bucks an hour a long time ago. You, Mr. Ex-Demon King, just make sure you don't fall behind on your rent. Oh, and stop throwing those candy wrappers everywhere!"
As Ru-sik trudged back to work, Do-sik lazily peeled the plastic off a triangle rice ball.
Fitting for his alias, Ma Do-sik—A Horse (馬) that eats (食) on the road (道)—he buried himself back into the damp sofa and took a bite of his pathetic meal.
The taste of artificial seasoning and dry rice filled his mouth.
This salty flavor was certainly more satisfying than the metallic stench of blood back in Hell.
It was the most peaceful, most pathetic noon of his life.
*
Though the empty wrappers and plastic bags from his meal were rolling around the sofa, Do-sik had no intention of cleaning them up. He was ready to sink back into the swamp of total lethargy.
Just as his eyelids grew heavy as lead, a visitor's sound broke the silence.
Knock, knock.
A small, cautious knocking came from the front door.
Instead of answering, Do-sik pulled a comic book over his face.
The only humans who visited at this hour were either the landlord demanding rent or a door-to-door salesman. Neither was worth sacrificing a sweet nap for.
"…Mister? I know the Lion Mister is in there."
It was a child's voice. The kid from Unit 301 next door.
'Was her name Lee Ji-yoo? Whatever. Too much work!'
Do-sik squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath.
By a Demon King's intuition, a child knocking on the door was the herald of a disaster that would end his absolute peace.
He began to play dead perfectly. But the voice outside refused to give up.
"Mister, the Telephone Pole Grandpa told me… a bad man buried something scary in the flowerbed. He said the flowers are hurting and can't sleep."
'Telephone Pole Grandpa? Flowers?'
Do-sik snorted behind the comic book.
'Kid's got a creative imagination for auditory hallucinations,' he thought, choosing to ignore her.
The gravity of the sofa was too strong to play along with a child's innocent fantasies.
Crinkle—
At that moment, the old, unlocked front door creaked open just a crack under Ji-yoo's small hand.
Through the gap, a crumpled plastic bag was slid inside.
Inside the bag on the entryway floor was a hoard of colorful strawberry candies.
"I'll give you these. If I give you candy, can you go scold the bad man for me?"
Do-sik's eyes snapped open beneath the comic book.
His gaze drifted toward the bag of candy on the floor.
Since his self-imposed exile to the human world, it was the only thing he had become addicted to.
The temptation of sugar was more intense than any forbidden drug in Hell.
"...Sigh."
Do-sik groaned as he sat up, his eyes still fixed on the candy.
As if possessed, he slid off the sofa and walked to the door.
He picked up the bag and pulled out the reddest, most translucent candy.
The moment he peeled the wrapper and popped it into his mouth—
The artificial sweetness of strawberries hit the tip of his tongue.
Simultaneously, Do-sik's pupils slit vertically like a cat's.
Purple mana sparked through his widened irises.
"No way…! What is this? This insane level of sweetness?!"
His pupils dilated as a tremor ran through him. This wasn't the flavor of ordinary sugar he had experienced so far.
It was a high-grade essence, mixed with a child's pure desperation—something that could be traded for anything in the Demon Realm.
In that instant, ancient demonic scripts he had forgotten flickered into his mind in golden light.
[Contract Established. Offering Accepted.][Request: Remove the source of evil in the flowerbed.]
Do-sik scratched the back of his head aggressively.
The sweetness on his tongue was far too seductive, and the weight of the contract etched into his soul was annoyingly heavy.
"Damn it… I took the bait."
The former Demon King let out a desperate sigh, realizing he was now hooked by a single bag of candy.
Now, like it or not, he had to go out to the flowerbed to fulfill this ridiculous contract.
* * *
The crimson glow of sunset stretched long shadows across the old walls of Nakwon Villa.
Do-sik trudged out to the flowerbed, dragging his cheap three-striped slippers.
Despite his lethargic gait, Ji-yoo, who followed beside him, had eyes as bright as if the stars themselves were embedded in them.
"Hey, Lee Ji-yoo. The Telephone Pole Grandpa told you? You better be careful, kid. Hearing things at your age is a bad sign."
"It's true! The flowers said it's pitch black under there, and they're crying because they're scared!"
Ji-yoo pointed her tiny finger at a mound of dirt in the corner of the flowerbed.
Do-sik snorted and began to lazily kick at the dirt with the tip of his slipper.
Thinking it was just a child's imagination, he brushed away the soil until his foot hit something blunt and foreign.
Revealed beneath the dirt was a worn, black leather bag.
"Huh? What's this?"
The bag was slightly open. Through the gap, he could see a wristwatch stained with dried blood and a metal plate engraved with a bizarrely twisted emblem.
The moment he saw it, Do-sik's lazy eyes sharpened like a blade.
A chilling silence hung in the air for a moment.
'Hmm… this is a demonic seal.'
This wasn't an ordinary human criminal's stash. It was a clear trace of the Demon Realm, faintly reeking of the stench of Hell.
It was then. A shadow lunged from behind him along with a terrifying chill.
An unknown assailant had been hiding in the darkness, waiting for an opportunity.
Radiating a bloody murderous intent, he approached silently and swung a cold blade toward the back of Do-sik's neck.
Shhh—
Even as the blade was a hair's breadth from his neck, Do-sik didn't flinch. Instead, he bit down on the strawberry candy in his mouth with a loud crunch.
In that instant, the very weight of the air changed.
As if a massive, invisible weight had dropped from the sky, the surrounding gravity warped, and the Demon King's pressure exploded.
Do-sik, in his cheap slippers, tapped the ground—very, very lightly.
BOOM—!
The gravity within a five-meter radius amplified dozens of times. The assailant couldn't even scream before being slammed flat against the ground.
The dust of the flowerbed was compressed as if stepped on by a giant invisible foot, and the solid curb stones surrounding the area shrieked as they cracked like a spiderweb under the overwhelming load.
Do-sik slowly placed his foot over the head of the pinned man.
"Hey. Are you the one who buried this filthy trash in my sanctuary?"
The man couldn't move a finger, his eyes blinking white with pure terror.
The aura radiating from the man before him was not human. It was the Abyss itself.
"Go back and tell your master. The Lord of this district is currently a jobless slacker, and his personality is extremely… shitty. If I catch you throwing trash here again, I'll personally ship you back to Hell."
As soon as Do-sik lifted his foot, the gravitational pressure vanished.
The assailant scrambled away, leading his staggering body into the darkness in a panic.
"Whoa! Mister, you're really strong! You're like our neighborhood guardian deity!"
Ji-yoo ran over and grabbed Do-sik's large hand.
Do-sik immediately returned to his face of a lazy, middle-aged slacker and shook the remaining bag of candy.
"Guardian deity, my ass. This is just for the candy, squirt. Anyway, forget it. Let's go, I'm hungry."
The shadows of the two faded as they climbed the villa stairs.
From a distance, a black sedan watched the scene. In the darkness of the backseat, a man's eyes followed Do-sik.
The flame of a cigarette lighter briefly illuminated his face before disappearing. In that split second, a red glint in his eyes flickered chillingly.
"Found you, my King."
It was a cold voice, announcing the start of a true hunt.