Hello there, my name is Rivaal, and I'm a demon.
Take it that this tale starts from an exclusive perspectiveāwhere the truth is, I'm only barging. A one-time only narration, whence I was bored to death, like usual, but unlike the usual, was when fortune crept into my longing. And say, it actually began with the phrase, "I'm boredā¦!"
This wasn't the first time I'd groan about being bored.
Actually, maybe I've been doing the same thing everyday and for years or decades, I've lost count of it. It's not that I'll have any merits counting my streak of saying "I'm bored" each day. If merit has something to do with all these, I'd rather have that as the competition I've happened to participate in twice in my life already.
The inauguration of Hell's next ruler.
I've been waiting for so long. I've been wishing an announcement would happen day by day. I'd always station myself in front of 's largest news monitor, where they always make daily announcements of anything, hoping for the current ruler of hell to fail in health and announce retirement. Or die off from an assassination attempt for all I care. Death from diarrhea would even be an option. As long as he dies and we're all initiated again to find the next Highest Hell's ruler.
"Yo, Rivaal! Slacking again today as usual! Ta'haha!"
While I was eagerly waiting anyway, my old friend Mephistopheles appeared from behind me. The tap coming from the back was heavy. I nearly stumbled myself but I chose to ignore his reckless friendship ploy.
I'm annoyed myself but keeping my cool was some kind of a mantra.
I had the tip of my toes stop me from falling, and faced his annoyingly perplexed visage. "You shut the fuck up, Mephisto. It's not like you're doing it any better."
He was holding a bottle of demon ale again. It's a wonder, everyday I see him with the same kind of bottle at hand. I don't see him work his ass off, yet he's still affording to drink demon ale. To complement, it was a top-grade ale from a famous manufacturer, and is raving hot reviews in review boards up to date from a thousand years ago.
"That's the thought of it! I'm too bored to even do anything. Every job in hell is insignificant anyway. I want to raise my own ruler again, just like seven decades agoā¦or was it eight decades? Maybe ten, I can't really remember!"
What he said was something I haven't said for too long.
Where in hell do I get the chance to raise my own ruler now?
"I'm older than you, how could you forget about stuff?" I told to seal his ego off.
But my effort to do so hath been reversed back to me:
"Even though you're older than me, all you do is slack off. Your brain is well-preserved, you could say!"
Perhaps, I've been wording my arcanum quite normally. Close enough to being human-like, and simply reeks of etiquette. Is this a product of my particular hobby to slip into the human world every now and then?
I guess it is.
Normally, which could be from a hundred years ago, Mephisto wouldn't stand a chance against me when it comes to sarcasm.
'Before really trying to get a ruler to raise, should I first fix myself now?'
My thoughts got into a spiral while I was watching the old geezer demon in front, laughing hard and feasting voraciously on his ale.
I wanted to punch him.
I just didn't for ease of living.
Sure though, my daily life is boring as heck, I need some entertainment to alleviate the tingling nerves in my head.
"The sky, it's turning dark," Mephisto announced and made me look up seeking confirmation over what he said.
Under my observation, a large quantity of Gargoyles filled the aerial space. Circling as if a festival was bound to happen. The sky has really turned dark, the place looked eclipsedāor it could be more viable to call it the false coming of twilight.
"Calling all higher demons of Lowest Hell, please attend to the center of the plaza for a flash announcement. I repeat, all higher demons of Lowest Hell, please attend to the center of the plaza for a flash announcement."
"What now, what's going to happen?" I asked Mephisto about it and he just gave me the 'I don't know' face.
Now what could this flash event be signifying?
Higher demons of Lowest Hell.
I am one of them, and I doubt my position could ever be stripped from me. Regarding the fact that we'd be gathered in the plaza, there wasn't much to do because I was at the plaza ever since I woke up in the morning. I readied myself of what was to come. If this was a war call, I wouldn't hesitate to participate all in the glory of Hell, I thought.
My intuition was quite adequate when once and for all, Hell's administrator descended down from the skies and had himself glorified by the mighty Gargoyle race.
Then he came up with the announcement:
"Rise up, demons of the Lowest Hell! You all have elite statuses with you, and I know you've been waiting for too long for the next game. Fret not and wait no more."
No way, is what I'm hearing real?!
All the higher demons in the space were put in a high tension and drums started to roll crazy. My ears were muffled, and I stood there unbelieving what I just heard. For one thing, I could feel my head tingle with excitement like any other higher demons gathered in the plaza.
The Administrator's next words held onto my excitement more.
"The ruler of Highest Hell had died fighting off an incurable curse. The next game will be starting soon! Find your candidates in the overworld and taint their hearts once again! Until then, we will formally open the 1031st Demon Festival and select us as the next ruler of Highest Hell!"
* * * *
Do you wanna know how excited I was?
This is a short version for the long orientation given to all participating Raisersāwhich ultimately included me, the unrivaled demon of games, Rivaal.
As a meteorite, I descended on Earth and quickly rushed before a college student living solo in an apartment equipped with a high-end computer.
"Mr. Aurelius Gray, hello! I've got good news for you! You've been chosen to be the third user of the WEIRD WORLD SYSTEM."
Anyone would be surprised over my appearance over the offer I gave him, all he could reply was, "Huh? Excuse me, wh-what was that!?"