There’s a Demon King Inside the Hero

Chapter 6: Practice Run (1)

It had been a little over a month since Suhyeon started his magic training with the Demon King in the mountains.

He had come to visit his uncle at Daeho Group, and they were currently seated in a restaurant, waiting for their food to arrive.

Once the two bowls of soup were served, Hyunho, clearly hungry, dug in heartily, while Suhyeon, for no reason, nervously glanced at his uncle and barely touched his spoon.

“Hey, hey, Suhyeon, eat up! A man’s gotta eat properly, you know.”

“Oh… yes.”

The truth was, Suhyeon had a different reason for meeting Hyunho.

To become a hunter, he absolutely needed a hunter’s license.

He had asked the Demon King whether it might be a good idea to take the hunter license exam once he mastered third-class magic.

[How exactly is the hunter’s license exam conducted?]

‘Well… I’m not really sure.’

[What?]

The Demon King grew a bit frustrated with Suhyeon’s vague response.

[Are you toying with me?]

‘No, I really don’t know!’

Originally, the hunter’s license exam was held at union branches in each country and was only open to awakened individuals who had completed the curriculum at hunter training schools.

This was because the magic awakening process was typically limited to youths under the age of fifteen.

The hunter training school’s curriculum was thus designed for these awakened individuals aspiring to become hunters.

However, Suhyeon, now in a twenty-four-year-old body, had awakened his magical powers and reached a state similar to that of the awakened, something unprecedented in this world.

‘I guess I’ll have to go to the union branch in the capital region and ask how to proceed.’

[This is becoming quite the hassle.]

‘Well, what can I do? Complaining won’t change anything.’

[Still, wouldn’t it be better to have a practice run against monsters at least once? You’ve learned magic, but if you can’t use it properly in combat, you might as well not have learned it at all.]

It was a valid point.

However, Suhyeon wasn’t a hunter yet.

To enter a dungeon, he’d need the help of someone with connections to a dungeon.

As far as he knew, the only person who fit that description was his uncle, who worked at Daeho group.

He needed to bring it up.

But having already asked for help with the magic stone, he found it hard to speak.

“Ah, that was good.”

By the time Suhyeon had eaten half his meal, Hyunho had finished his bowl and let out a hearty burp.

They stood up to leave the restaurant, and once outside, Hyunho pulled out a cigarette and lit it, offering one to Suhyeon.

“Sorry, I don’t smoke.”

“Huh, you’ve quit smoking too? I remember you used to smoke pretty often.”

When Suhyeon had cleaned his house, he had found plenty of empty cigarette packs lying around. It seemed the old Suhyeon had been quite the smoker.

“You didn’t even pick up smoking in the army, but after your parents passed, you smoked constantly, saying it was tough.”

“……”

“But now that you’ve quit, it looks like you’re trying to turn things around. Good to see.”

Hyunho patted Suhyeon’s back, a satisfied smile on his face.

“……”

“……”

The two stood side by side in silence for a while.

“Phew…”

Only the smoke from Hyunho’s cigarette rose into the clear blue sky.

“…Do you want to become a hunter?”

Without warning, Hyunho asked the question.

Suhyeon’s eyes widened in surprise.

He hadn’t said anything yet.

“…How did you know?”

Suhyeon, stunned, looked at his uncle as Hyunho smiled knowingly.

“Come on, man, I’ve known you since you were a baby. I can read you like a book, even with my eyes closed.”

Hyunho said he had started to suspect it when he saw Suhyeon fighting monsters on TV.

For the past year, since his parents’ death, Suhyeon had seemed lifeless. But when he saw him moving so desperately, something clicked.

Plus, considering how hard he had been pushing himself…

What could have driven him to do that?

And then, when Suhyeon personally asked him to see the magic stone, the look in his eyes—clear of the darkness that had haunted him for so long—confirmed it.

Ah, this kid… he wants to become a hunter and eliminate monsters.

[He can read you like a book, and he doesn’t even need mind-reading magic.]

‘He’s a lot more reliable than someone who keeps digging up my embarrassing past.’

[What did you say?]

“But Suhyeon, it’s better if you give up that idea.”

Hyunho looked at Suhyeon with a mix of concern and pity.

“You’re not awakened, are you?”

Suhyeon’s movements in the video were impressive for a regular person.

But to become a hunter, one had to be awakened.

No matter how skilled, there was a clear physical difference between awakened and non-awakened individuals.

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Suhyeon handed Hyunho the magic power diagnosis report he had just received from the hospital.

The paper was filled with various charts and figures, but Hyunho’s eyes were immediately drawn to the ranking at the top.

“Huh? Wh-what?”

‘Am I seeing things?’

Hyunho’s expression tightened as he examined the diagnosis.

It was marked as 1-star, indicating Suhyeon’s awakening level.

In this world, the ranking indicated the amount of magic power within a person.

For awakened individuals, the ranking was directly linked to their physical capabilities.

The reason was simple. Most hunters in this world used their magic power primarily to enhance their physical abilities.

Their bodies were naturally attuned to use magic in this way, so the higher their ranking, the stronger their physical abilities became.

While Suhyeon’s rank of 1-star wasn’t particularly surprising—most awakened individuals, excluding those with extraordinary talent, were initially ranked at 1-star—it wasn’t the ranking itself that was the issue.

What mattered was that Suhyeon had awakened at the age of 24, well past the supposed cut-off age of 15 for magic awakening.

“Normally, people don’t awaken after 15. When did you awaken?”

“Uh… after that truck accident and the fight with the monster.”

“Huh, that’s really something. If the Union finds out about this, they’ll be pretty shocked.”

“I was planning to go to the Union tomorrow to ask them how I can become a hunter.”

Since his desire to become a hunter had already been exposed, there was no need to hesitate any longer.

Suhyeon asked Hyunho if he could help him enter a dungeon.

Hearing this, Hyunho quietly contemplated, cigarette still in his mouth.

“…Suhyeon, I think of you like a son. Honestly, I want to stop you. If you become a hunter, you’ll no doubt get involved in dangerous situations. You’ll face death more than once.”

As he threw the cigarette butt into the trash, Hyunho looked at Suhyeon with concern.

“But hearing you say that after a year of doing nothing, you’ve finally found something you want to do… I’m wavering too.”

After his parents’ funeral, Suhyeon’s personality had noticeably darkened. Living only because he had to, always wrapped in a sense of helplessness.

But the Suhyeon standing in front of him now was different.

He was shaking off the heavy weight of guilt and moving toward his goal once more.

‘He used to be so emotional…’

Now, he seemed calm, even mature.

Since the truck accident, it was as if he had become an entirely different person.

What had caused this sudden change? While it was still puzzling, how could he possibly blame someone who was trying to get back on their feet?

“Your father in heaven is probably cursing me out right now, but I want to respect your decision.”

“Does that mean…?”

“Yeah, I’ll pull some strings and introduce you to a dungeon.”

Suhyeon’s face lit up, and he bowed deeply.

“Thank you!”

***

The dungeon entry was set for two days later, in the afternoon.

Hyunho had arranged for Suhyeon to enter the entrance of an F-rank dungeon that appeared around that time.

With his entry into the dungeon secured, Suhyeon sat cross-legged at home, meditating.

He was trying to master Memorize, the magic control technique the Demon King had taught him.

He had already mastered up to third-class magic within the past month, and for the past week, he had focused solely on practicing Memorize, but he just couldn’t seem to get the hang of it.

[Use your magic to draw in the surrounding mana and read its memories.]

‘It’s easy to say… but I’ve never worked with mana before, only magic.’

[Think of yourself as an incubus. Imagine mana as a woman and try to charm her.]

‘What kind of nonsense are you spouting now, you madman!’

[You were quite popular with succubi in Altera because of your high magic levels. Man, I was actually a bit jealous when ten dream demons nearly pounced on you in your sleep.]

‘Let’s not even go there.’

With a personality like that, it’s no wonder he switched from being a promising mage to the Demon King.

The Demon King had mentioned that not just in this world, but also in Altera, high-level magic spells cast by mages were embedded within the mana’s memories.

So, he had suggested that Suhyeon try to read those memories from the mana and cast the spells himself.

However, whenever Suhyeon tried to connect with the surrounding mana to access its memories…

Bzzt!

“Argh!”

A flood of memories from his own past rushed through his mind simultaneously, leaving him dizzy.

Instead of reading memories from the mana, his past memories were becoming more vivid every time he tried.

[Another failure, huh?]

‘…Yeah.’

[Haah…]

‘Haah…’

[What exactly is the problem?]

The Demon King had assumed that Suhyeon, being a warrior with an unusual talent for controlling magic, would be able to learn how to operate mana simply by reading its memories. But not only could he not read the memories, he couldn’t even connect with the mana.

Why?

The Demon King couldn’t understand.

Glimpsing the Akashic Record through mana wasn’t supposed to be that difficult.

The challenge lay in locating the specific memories the caster needed from the vast sea of memories stored within the mana.

But Suhyeon wasn’t even able to establish a connection with the mana—he kept getting bounced back.

It was like a computer that refused to turn on. Something was preventing it from booting up, but without a display, there was no way to identify the issue or figure out how to fix it.

After a week of trying, he hadn’t made any progress.

Suhyeon furrowed his brows and massaged his temples.

“I just can’t seem to get a feel for it.”

{That guy’s memories are interesting, aren’t they?}

{Yeah, yeah, I keep wanting to sneak a peek.}

Huh?

A strange voice echoed in his mind. Unlike the Demon King’s voice, it was the voice of innocent children.

He looked around, but there was nothing in sight other than the mana floating in the air.

“Are you messing with your voice now?”

[…What kind of goblin nonsense are you talking about out of nowhere?]

Suhyeon tilted his head in confusion.

Maybe not? Well, it didn’t seem like something the Demon King would do.

Was the stress making him hear things?

Taking a deep breath, he focused his mind once more.

“Alright, let’s try again.”

He focused his attention on the surrounding mana and circulated the magic within his body, but despite his efforts, Memorize refused to make any progress.

“Why isn’t it working…?”

[How many times have I told you? Think of mana as a woman. Imagine you’re hitting on her—just pull her in like you’re trying to seduce her. You’ve been a hero, and you even got confessed to by an elf village chief. Why are you acting like an amateur?]

“You bastard! I told you to stop peeking into my memories!”