Chapter 1: Disqualified as Human, Passes as Demon(1)

The sensation on my skin felt like I’d sweated buckets. It was nasty. I woke up groaning in frustration.

My head throbbed, and my whole body ached. I fumbled to wipe the sweat with the blanket, then jolted upright, like someone had smashed a hammer into my skull.

“What the hell is this?!”

I was somewhere completely unfamiliar.

Wildflowers and grass bloomed together along the glassy, calm lakeside. Tall trees cast shade, forming a forest around the water.

The sun blazed high, its light bouncing off the lake’s mirror-like ripples. Everything reflected on the water sparkled and swayed, glowing in every direction.

The wide-open space, with the whistling wind, should’ve felt refreshing.

“Ugh—Ughhh!”

If only I wasn’t coated in blood.

My throat burned, and my stomach acid churned.

Corpses littered the ground. Some were half-sunk in the lake, bloated and swollen. Others were torn in half at the waist, guts spilling out. Some had broken necks or ripped-open stomachs. The stench of death was suffocating.

A sharp pain stabbed my esophagus. I tried to pound my chest, but I couldn’t.

“Ugh, ugh… ugh!”

My hands were caked in blood. It had hardened, squishy like pudding. Clumps of flesh, who-knows-from-what, stuck between my fingernails and toes.

I couldn’t stand it. Staggering a few steps, I threw myself into the lake.

Only after splashing wildly, washing off the blood and flesh, did I come to my senses.

What the fck is happening?

I should’ve fallen asleep in my studio apartment.

Where the hell am I? What are those corpses?

Then I saw my reflection on the water’s surface. It had nothing to do with the thirty-something part-timer.

No, this face—this was the one I saw before bed— “—Aura?”

It was unmistakably Aura.

Her radiant, orchid-colored lavender hair was thick and heavy. A slender horn curved gently between it. Under neatly trimmed eyelashes, her gray-white eyes brimmed with confusion.

Her skin, now clean of blood, was smooth and delicate. Her figure, not crude, had a sensual curve. But unlike the anime’s Aura, this body was lean, fragile, almost childlike.

I couldn’t believe it. I touched her face. It was soft. Pinching her cheek hurt.

This wasn’t a dream. This was really Aura.

I had become Aura!

The realization blanked my mind. Tears welled up.

I let my body sink into the lake. My small frame floated. The water was cold. My heart was colder. Tears kept coming. It was inevitable.

Frieren’s voice echoed: “Aura, kill yourself.”

Aura’s death—her decapitation—played over and over. I was terrified.

Humans, elves, demons. My demonic body meant Frieren would hunt me. Even without Frieren, humans would turn on me. Death by beheading, magic, sword, or axe—it’d be natural.

Like leaves falling in rain and wind, no one would mourn me.

I didn’t want to die.

I wanted to live.

I wanted to cling to this new life I’d been given.

‘It’s better to run.’

If I hid, I might be safe. If I tucked myself away in some remote place, causing no trouble, suppressing my demon instincts, maybe I wouldn’t die.

I’d once thought retiring to the countryside for a slow life sounded nice. Isn’t this a decent option?

I sighed inwardly. The future felt grim, but at least I had a plan. That’s something, right?

As I swam to the lakeside and dried off, a whoosh cut the air.

Crunch. Mud splattered at my feet. A thick arrow lodged a hand’s length from my big toe.

“Huh…?”

A chill shot down my spine. Someone shouted from across the lake.

“There it is! There’s that demon brat!”

Even though it wasn’t Korean, I understood it instantly. The voice was aimed at me. Goosebumps prickled my skin. Someone cursed again.

“Damn it, look at those corpses. What a vicious btch!”

“The first group’s all dead. Hey, Rosen! Shoot more arrows! Aim for her skull!”

Three burly men, gripping a bow, sword, and spear, charged toward me from afar. The archer, Rosen, had fierce eyes. He looked like an adventurer straight out of a fantasy world. A demon slayer.

If I raised my hands and yelled, “I’m human!” I’d only get arrows in return. My only option was clear.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh! Save me…!”

The thirty-six strategies: run like hell.

I stretched my frail, muscle-less legs and bolted, zigzagging to dodge arrows.

But my pathetic luck ran dry fast.

An arrow screamed through the air, piercing my thigh with a sickening crunch. Blood sprayed like a fountain from the torn flesh.

“Ah! Ah! Huaaaah! Kaaah!”

My body buckled, crashing to the ground. My face kissed the dirt. Blood oozed from my split lip.

The arrow wound was bad. Blood gushed through the holes, bone and flesh mangled, drowning in red. My body shook uncontrollably.

“Ugh, it hurts! Don’t shoot! Please, stop, aaah!”

It hurts.

I feel like I’m going to die.

I clawed at the ground, crawling. My nails cracked, pain surging, but it was nothing compared to my thigh. The ground trembled as the trio closed in.

“See, Johan? I broke her legs!”

“Just luck. I’m the one slitting her throat!”

‘You idiots!’ My curses mixed with sobs. These crazy adventurers—more like bandits—were set on toying with me until I was dead!

I turned, barely a hundred meters between us. The archer, Rosen, swapped his bow for a dagger. I could see it clearly.

I racked my brain, desperate. I knew no magic. My demonic strength was useless. Biting my tongue to die before worse happened seemed like my best bet.

Am I really going to die?

A new life, just to be murdered by adventurers?

“No. No… I want to live!”

I thought hard. How could I survive this sh*tty situation? I knew nothing about manga, only the anime up to Aura’s death. How could I make it?

The pain sharpened my mind, like my thinking was ten times stronger. When the adventurers got within fifty meters, it hit me.

I did know something about magic.

One spell.

A spell that could kill those damned bastards.

A spell that could kill.

I raised a trembling arm, pointing my index finger and thumb like a gun.

I had to succeed. With desperation, with a heart ready to bleed, with everything I had poured into this one spell.

I felt the magic coursing through me, from my heart to my fingertip, condensing like a message from my whole being—

—I screamed for the world to vanish.

“Zoltrak…!!”

A dazzling beam of light ripped through the air.