Isekai Online Game Developer

Current 4th in the Demon Race hierarchy. Baaljeb.

He appeared like a comet as the new Demon King and is currently a rising star among the Demon Race.

With the replacement of Demon Kings came a new era.

As one of the leading figures, he was following Lumia and steering the Demon Race into a new direction.

Unlike the previously violent Demon World, which is currently transforming under Lumia’s leadership.

Baaljeb did not dislike this changing Demon World and vowed to create the greatest Demon Race in history by following Lumia.

However, even he had grievances regarding some of Lumia’s decisions.

“This is a ‘game’ made by humans! We will impose a tax increase because we will supply one game for each Demon!”

This was an announcement to supply games created by humans to the Demon World.

He had heard that humans were currently crazy about games.

But even so, it was absurd for the Demon Race to follow human trends.

“This is… the absolute fun! Not participating would be a loss in Demon Life!”

Yet, the Demon King Lumia relentlessly pushed for it.

As a result, taxes rose, and there was less time to fight, filling the Demon Race with complaints.

It was Lumia who first introduced the human institution of taxes to the Demon Race.

Of course, they weren’t collecting human money but rather with jewels and such.

Baaljeb was fine with that part, but he absolutely could not tolerate following humans.

That was until he played COL.

“This, this is…?!!”

Baaljeb, who played COL first, recognized its charm in just the first round.

Being a high-ranking Demon who typically fought with large greatswords and blood.

Playing the champion Artlux, whose battle style was similar, allowed him to execute all the attacks he had imagined.

The absurdly flexible movements that are different from reality’s constraints.

More powerful strength and dazzling illusions that are unfelt in reality.

Once he tasted that thrill, it naturally led him to seek his next game.

“Uooooooh!!! The power is overflowing!!”

Originally, his tension wasn’t that high.

Having climbed to the 4th position through extreme training, he was used to maintaining poise.

However, the overwhelming power in COL excited even him.

Moreover, there were many champions in COL besides Artlux.

Champions with battle styles mostly different from Baaljeb’s.

Still, Baaljeb thought he wouldn’t find enjoyment from those champions.

But his assumption was completely off-base.

Rather, the pleasure derived from forms of combat and movements he could never attempt in usual circumstances was exponentially stronger.

“Oh… I can watch this stream.”

Before he knew it, he was searching for ‘Twatch’ broadcasts from master users of each champion.

“Hmm. It’s Baaljeb. I see your name is Baaljeb.”

This happened while Baaljeb was deep into Mai.

He naturally began watching the stream of Galleard, the master of Mai.

“You’re here to learn Mai. Good attitude. Pay close attention and learn well.”

Galleard, unaware that Baaljeb was a demon, communicated by reading Baaljeb’s chat.

Anyway, Baaljeb was learning Mai.

Baaljeb gradually fell under the charm of Mai.

Before long, he found himself playing only as Mai.

Every day he swung around only great swords, and the delight of Mai’s fast attacks was something he couldn’t let go.

Then one day.

“But… watching this, I’m a bit disappointed…”

Suddenly, Baaljeb thought that Galleard’s Mai was lacking.

Of course, Galleard’s original swordsmanship was undoubtedly the best among humans.

But the way humans wield swords was vastly different from that of Demons.

Though the motions available in the game are limited.

He thought that if he added his swordsmanship, he could play even better than Galleard.

Also, unlike Galleard, who focused on attack speed, he thought he could show a completely different feel for Mai with a new build.

From that moment, Baaljeb cut off Galleard’s stream and began researching his own version of Mai.

How long had passed like this?

“This is it…”

The new build Baaljeb discovered. A new Mai.

It was not the existing Galleard’s Mai, but a new Mai combining the explosive power and might of a Demon’s sword.

“Hero Galleard… Acknowledging humans is a blow to my pride as a Demon. But until now, I have acknowledged you. Since you were the authority on Mai. But now it’s different. My Mai is greater…”

Until now, he had bent his pride regarding Mai and learned from humans.

He was unaware of COL until now.

But now, Baaljeb was ready to show strength beyond humans.

He was prepared to prove he had a Mai stronger than the former hero.

But the problem was there was no way to demonstrate that to the world.

It would be impossible to show it in a game like Galleard’s.

No game can have two of the same champion at once.

Then.

“I’ll start my own stream.”

In conclusion, Baaljeb decided to start his own broadcast.

If he went live, he could show the world just how strong his Mai was.

And he planned to draw in more viewers than Galleard, no, to absorb all of his viewers, to become the strongest Mai master and streamer.

That’s the Demon Race. A species that determines supremacy by strength.

Baaljeb went live.

“[Baaljeb, Ranked #2 for Mai. Guardian Mai of the Room.]”

Now ranked #2 in the artisan rankings, trailing Galleard.

But this ranking would soon be overturned.

A new Mai master had emerged like a comet, previously the only artisan in Galleard’s domain.

COL users began to take an interest in him.

Thanks to that, Baaljeb’s viewership started to increase rapidly for a debut.

“But this isn’t enough.”

What Baaljeb could do was showcase a strong Mai.

As the full-scale play began as he thought, the viewers’ reactions began to ignite.

– MaiIsTrash: Wait, is this Mai’s build correct? No attack speed increase?
– SorrySorry: I do focus on attack speed, but mainly go for penetration items?
– TheWorldTreeIsJustABigTree: Penetration Mai? What kind of guy is this?

It started with suspicion.

The play completely shattered the framework Galleard had established for Mai.

But as the game progressed, the response changed.

– MaiIsTrash: Wait, what’s with that alpha damage?! Mai can play like this??!!
– SaintMaidensTheft: I heard a rumor and came here, but why does Mai’s normal attack deal so much damage?
– TheWorldTreeIsJustABigTree: Galleard is gonna be nervous, lol.

With every powerful blow from the penetration Mai, the viewership began to soar.

A new contender had entered the previously dull Mai scene.

– MaiIsTrash: Wow, it’s that guy! The one who used to ask questions every day on Galleard’s stream. He kept asking and then suddenly became a master, huh, lol.
– SaintMaidensTheft: From the nickname, seems like he’s a Demon, right?
– SorrySorry: Whoa. But can we still keep watching? What if it’s just too awesome?

“Hello everyone. It’s me.”

Thus, Baaljeb became a popular streamer in no time.

“The viewers have decreased a lot lately. What? You say a new Mai master named Baaljeb has appeared?”

And eventually, Galleard too heard of the news.

Something was about to happen between the two Mai masters.

Meanwhile, other Demons were completely absorbed in games.

Various games according to each of their interests.

Among them, the Demons who loved fighting naturally favored “Maple Leaf Story” and COL.

Although their inclinations were slightly different, there was one commonality among these Demons.

That was their “nickname.”

To topple stronger opponents and place their names above.

For the Demons, proving their strength while leaving their names was a natural course of action.

< Demon King Sama >, < It’s Baaljeb >, < The Greatest Demon Lord Lirisia > and so on.

Demons had no intention of hiding their names.

And humans sensed this fact as well.

For some reason, their nicknames revealed their names.

That meant they were all Demon users.

[Demon users’ gameplay. Is it really okay? An interview with developer Riot regarding this.]

[They can’t influence the game at all. The only ones who can manage the system are a select few Illusion Mages, including myself. Just think of us as ordinary users.]

[A recent happening with the Demons. The results are now revealed.]

[The reason they had to export games to the Demons. And Riot.]

[The hype of competition with the Demons. “Never lose to a Demon.”]

[Are Demons starting to be accepted as users? The Demon users have gradually become part of the game.]

There were various reactions.

Of course, many still hesitated regarding Demons.

But they were merely users after all. Everyone quickly realized they wouldn’t have any significant influence.

From then on, the way they interacted with Demons in the game began to change gradually.

-DemonHunter: Yep, Demon cut. Can’t do shit against a human brat.
-SuccubusJustWannaMeet: Yep, Demons can’t play well, but are you a succubus?
-DemonSisHeuWung: HeuWung, Demon King Sama.

It had been announced that it wasn’t the time for Demons to invade.

Gradually, humans began to take down their fears and started playing games with the Demons.

After all, the number of Demon users was minuscule compared to the overall user base.

And most importantly, they were truly only interested in the game’s outcomes.

Even if defeated, they didn’t throw insults like the vile users of the human realm.

As such, perceptions toward Demons began to change gradually.

Joking remarks like, “Tsk tsk, it seems the Demons might actually have better character than you,” began to pop up occasionally.

In fact, compared to vile users, the gameplay of the Demons was clean.

One media outlet even published results from a survey on reporting ratios per race, revealing that the Elf race ranked first, while the Demons ranked last.

In such circumstances, statements like, “As expected, better than the filthy humans,” began to spread like a trend.

Especially in recent times, the generation that grew up and became adults had not experienced the human-demon wars.

Unlike the previous generations such as Galleard and the Emperor, they had no direct fear of Demons.

Perhaps due to this, the perspective toward Demons became increasingly lenient.

Of course, there were some tensions between generations.

But nonetheless, it was a fact that the Demons played cleanly.

And so several months passed.

The Demons sent a letter to the Empire.

Its content was, “We, the Demons, wish to participate in the next Empire-hosted gaming tournament.”