Gambler

A stark white square room with walls on all sides.

The barren space contained only a white desk and two white chairs as furniture.

Yuseong sat in one of them, while a black-skinned demon woman sat across from him.

The demon woman rummaged through a stack of documents on the desk before pulling out one sheet.

“Name Marcus, biological sex male, age 35, a mage from World 1711, gained the epithet White Mage after distinguishing himself in the Battle of Kanhel City 8 years ago. Is this correct?”

“I don’t know anything about World 1711 or White Mage, but I am Marcus.”

“After the war ended, you fled with the leadership, carried out a terrorist attack on a power station near Tigros City a month ago, and then committed indiscriminate terrorism in various locations before surrendering. Is this correct?”

“Yes.”

Swoosh.

“According to others’ testimonies, you’re not Marcus himself but rather a being from another world possessing his body. An existence commonly called a user. Is this true?”

“You seem well-informed. It is.”

“Haah.”

The demon woman let out a long sigh and massaged her temples as if she had a headache.

“Should I believe this or not. So what should I call you? Marcus? User? Or do you have another name?”

“Just call me Marcus.”

“Fine. Marcus. Whether you’re Marcus himself or a being from another world doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve caused astronomical casualties and property damage.”

Thud.

Inside the folder the demon woman tossed were records of facilities and equipment Yuseong had destroyed since starting the quest, along with the numbers of soldiers and mercenaries killed by date.

Yuseong let out a light whistle at the astronomical figures written in the documents.

“This isn’t wartime, it’s peacetime. What you’ve done can never be forgiv-”

“Let’s skip the roundabout talk and get straight to the point.”

“What do you mean all of a sudden?”

“You didn’t come here to talk about responsibility or damages, did you?”

If they were still in the midst of war, he might have had value as a hostage, but now these humans were nothing more than defeated soldiers and terrorists.

Although the demon realm’s civilization level was high, it certainly wasn’t a world merciful enough to provide someone like a lawyer to leisurely chat with a terrorist.

After a long silence, the demon woman asked in a notably lower voice.

“Fine. Let’s get straight to the point. Why did you surrender?”

The human who suddenly betrayed all his companions and surrendered after causing a terrible series of terrorist attacks.

When footage of him smiling while surrendering was broadcast worldwide through mercenaries’ personal streams, Yuseong became the biggest issue among demons.

Countless speculations emerged – that he was simply insane, that he had some sinister ulterior motive, that he was seeking leniency, and so on. Unable to contain their curiosity, the demons decided to ask the person himself.

“I surrendered to negotiate.”

“Negotiate?”

Yuseong looked at the demon woman tilting her head and gave a meaningful smile.

“Please send all the humans captured this time, including myself, back to our original world – that is, World 1711.”

“Are you… serious right now?”

“Of course. Did it sound like I was joking?”

The demon woman barely swallowed back the “yes” that had risen to her throat.

“Negotiations only work when both sides benefit. What benefit would we get from accepting your proposal?”

“There’s no benefit. But you can eliminate potential damage.”

“Damage? What damage are you talking about?”

“The damage that would result from me attacking this world.”

Yuseong spoke with his eyes half-open, still smiling.

“The past month’s terrorism was a kind of promotion. It was a self-introduction to show you what kind of abilities I have and how dangerous I can be.”

“What a grand self-introduction.”

“I knew you wouldn’t listen if I just talked. Anyway, as your colleagues heard, I’m not Marcus but a being from another world temporarily occupying his body. As you can tell just from hearing that much, I have the ability to cross dimensions and enter other people’s bodies. What do you think would happen if I actively used my abilities to attack this world like I did for the past month?”

“Isn’t that blackmail rather than negotiation?”

“That depends on how you look at it.”

“…Alright. I’ll pass this up to my superiors for now.”

“Wait, I’m curious about something – could I ask just one question?”

The demon woman who had gathered up the stack of documents and was about to leave turned around.

“What is it?”

“Could you tell me where exactly I am right now?”

“You’re in a special criminal detention facility in the center of Black Citadel. Don’t even dream about escaping – it’s impossible.”

The demon woman left Yuseong behind and exited the room.

After passing through two doors, she emerged into a room bustling with holograms and demons wearing white coats.

All the holograms displayed images of the recently captured humans and related information.

“How was it?”

“It’s all true. At the very least, that human believes what he said is the truth.”

The demon woman wasn’t convinced by the researcher’s answer and began checking the holograms containing information about the human she’d just spoken with.

The conclusion was the same.

Brain waves, physical indicators, magic for detecting lies, artifacts that react to truth – everything proved that what Yuseong said was true.

“This is quite troublesome.”

When the humans talked about users and beings from other worlds and betrayal, they thought they were just trying to mock them.

However, when they kept saying the same things even after being given truth serum and every other method was tried, they had no choice but to believe that another world’s being really did reside within that human.

A being that could freely cross dimensions, enter others’ bodies, and not die even when killed.

One who could use various abilities like martial arts and magic and even bring items from other worlds.

“Will the higher-ups accept that human’s proposal?”

Was it because the human’s threat worked?

The researcher asked the demon woman who was lost in thought with an anxious expression.

The demon woman answered without a moment’s hesitation, smiling.

“No.”

While the researcher wore a dumbfounded expression, Yuseong, left alone in the room, let out a sigh of relief.

‘Seems they bought it well enough.’

Stop committing terrorism in exchange for sending people back to their original world?

Even America refuses to negotiate with terrorist groups.

Would a dimensional-scale colonial empire that freely crosses dimensions and plunders resources from a thousand worlds yield to the threats of just one person?

Such a thing would never happen.

Yuseong had another reason for making a proposal that he knew would never be accepted.

He needed some kind of reason to eliminate the awkwardness of his sudden surrender.

‘This quest cannot be cleared through normal methods.’

This was the conclusion he reached after thoroughly searching through the demon realm’s networks and careful consideration.

Black Citadel.

A den of demons where ten million demons lived and a bridgehead for invading other worlds.

To send people back to their original world, they needed to use the gate there, but that was realistically impossible.

They couldn’t even dare to enter an ordinary small city and could only cause disturbances nearby at best – approach Black Citadel and they’d immediately be reduced to ashes.

The demons’ numbers, strength, and level of security were all on a different dimension.

So Yuseong thought of a reverse strategy.

“Instead of trying to enter Black Citadel directly, why not make the demons let us in?”

The demons possessed a higher level of civilization than any world seen so far and their society was relatively mild in nature.

Taking into account the demon realm’s characteristics, the survivors hiding throughout the demon realm, the demons’ security, Black Citadel’s location, and numerous variables, Yuseong devised one plan.

If they caused damage through terrorism and crimes, the demons would try to capture the humans.

In the process, not just themselves but other humans would also become targets.

They wouldn’t just kill enemies unconditionally but would also attempt capture.

No matter how heinous the criminal, they wouldn’t kill someone openly surrendering while being broadcast worldwide.

Special criminal detention facilities only exist in some major cities.

If captured near Black Citadel, they wouldn’t bother taking them to a city over three times further away, but would imprison them in Black Citadel’s special criminal detention facility right next door.

‘In truth, it’s closer to gambling than a plan.’

A fragile scheme that would collapse if even slightly misaligned.

But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t think of any other way for over twenty people to safely enter a city of over ten million demons.

‘Well, somehow managed to succeed this far but…’

Yuseong closed his eyes and focused his consciousness inward.

He could sense the circle seated in his heart and the magic power spread throughout his body, but they wouldn’t budge even slightly.

The problem wasn’t just with the circle and magic power.

The internal energy accumulated over a month of using Infinite Origin Force and Crimson Blood Divine Art, passive skills that enhanced physical abilities, subspace, even Eye of Truth – none of them could be used in this room.

“Impressive. Do they fix all energy flow?”

Yuseong clicked his tongue.

Though he didn’t know what principle made this possible, even Marcus with his wisdom stat in the mid-thousands couldn’t move a single grain of magic power with all his might.

‘The name special criminal detention facility isn’t just for show.’

Yuseong gave up trying to move magic power and lay down in the corner of the room.

He had only tried just in case, but he had fully expected his abilities would be sealed.

All he could do now was wait.

Yuseong closed his eyes and stopped thinking.

* * *

“Wow!”

A girl in a black dress kept exclaiming in admiration as she looked around.

Walls and buildings decorated with gold, jewels, and all sorts of rare metals.

Countless people walking the streets wearing unique outfits never seen anywhere else.

Buildings floating in the air and so many flying vehicles the sky couldn’t be seen.

Not a single thing wasn’t shocking.

“Don’t block the road, move!”

“Did you come up from some countryside? Stop looking so provincial.”

“S-sorry!”

Belatedly realizing she was drawing attention, the girl quickly apologized and dove into the crowd.

The girl who was soon forgotten by the demons, Alice, walked while looking at a hologram map.