[18th Round] Who Are You?
The suspicious message wasn’t a text sent in real-time by a human but a preset greeting.
The proof of it was how it addressed me.
“Vice President Kang Han Soo?”
Nobody would call me that, considering I had never held such a title in my life.
“But you made a good tyrant and emperor, didn’t you, cowardly hubby?”
“Do not distract me with your nonsense.”
I was annoyed.
Vice President, not President.
This meant that there was a president out there that was standing above me and could tell me what to do.
Why was I ranked second highest?
Did my cowardly wife infect me with her curse?
“Hey! That’s borderline paranoia. A curse isn’t transmissible like a disease.”
“What is it, then?”
I looked at my smartphone again.
[Downloading…]
[Locked functions activated.]
[Auxiliary system activated.]
[Auxiliary battery activated.]
[Auxiliary antenna activated.]
…
The tiny smartphone had a lot of suspicious features that the owner might not even be aware of.
The most noticeable change was its level of communication.
Instead of one strip, three appeared.
What followed surprised me even more.
[Hello, Kang Han Soo.]
A message appeared on the screen. It seemed to be sent by a human.
“Who are you?” I asked mechanically.
Normally, it would be necessary to type in my reply, but I answered by voice because there was no window for entering text like in messengers.
[I am Victoria.]
[If you have questions, ask them one at a time.]
[The auxiliary battery lasts about 3 hours. That should be plenty enough time.]
Was this what they called voice recognition software?
Something similar already existed when I was an exemplary citizen on Earth, but it couldn’t work perfectly yet.
It gave me permission to ask a question.
So I did.
“Who are you?”
How could I understand anything when all it gave me was an unfamiliar name?
***
[You haven’t changed at all.]
[I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, though…]
If she had introduced herself as Factoria from the very beginning, this misunderstanding wouldn’t have arisen.
How could I recognize her with the name that she initially gave me?
“Do all new smartphones have such hidden features?”
[Only the most recent models.]
[This project was only launched when I found out you established a connection with the Earth.]
[How did you do that?]
I didn’t answer.
Even three hours wouldn’t be enough to tell such a heartbreaking story.
“Why did you call me ‘Vice President’?”
[You really haven’t changed…]
[It’s my own fault for expecting an explanation.]
[Anyway, Earth is still under the alien invasion.]
[Due to it, the military industry has evolved a lot.]
[The Factoria Heavy Industries I run is a company whose trade turnover is more than half of Earth’s total trade turnover.]
[And it’s all thanks to the analysis of the Android Hero I received from you.]
Based on the new heroes’ words, I managed to roughly imagine the situation on Earth, but the First Hero still didn’t seem to have any intention of giving up his attempt to conquer my home planet and put it under his control.
“You mean that tin can?”
In pursuit of my dream, I ordered a super-robot from Sage and Dummy A, and those old virgins created a beautiful android girl…
I remembered giving her to Factoria because she was useless in battles, who then rejoiced, saying that it helped her a lot.
[Tin Can is a collection of complex technologies that magnificently combines science and magic.]
[Thanks to this technological advantage, my company quickly achieved success.]
[I am its founder and biggest shareholder, and its only investor, and my spouse, Kang Han Soo, is its Vice President.]
Now everything was clear.
Combining Fantasy’s magic with sophisticated science, Factoria cowardly pushed forward.
Technological monopoly!
My condolences to the man who would marry such an insidious woman…
“Wait. Spouse?”
Was that the word I was familiar with? Or was there some kind of error in her program?
[Right. Kang Han Soo is my spouse.]
[Don’t worry, everything is legal.]
[Both parents gave their consent.]
“So it was you!”
Factoria was the “daughter-in-law” that my mother praised so much.
With what bribes did she win my mother’s heart?
[I met her by chance.]
That sneaky bitch! She should apologize to all the coincidences in the world!
[I gave her a tennis racket, and she loved it.]
Oh! Oh my god…
[Every weekend, we played tennis together and even participated in tournaments.]
[At some point, by chance, we got into a conversation where she asked if I was married.]
[I said no, and she invited me to marry her missing son so that we could get closer.]
[I agreed, which made your mother very happy.]
[It was only later that I found out that her son was Kang Han Soo.]
Who would believe such an absurd, obviously forged story?
“And my father?”
My innocent, tennis-addicted mother could be fooled, but my cold-blooded father wasn’t as easy of a target.
What happened to him?
I wouldn’t forgive Factoria if she kidnapped or killed him!
[He is a wonderful person who is madly in love with your mother.]
[He said that he completely adheres to your mother’s decision.]
[I gave him a protein supplement, and he immediately looked as happy as a child.]
Tsk! She planned everything!
“Factoria, I’m sorry, but your dastardly ambitions were already meaningless from the very beginning. I’m already married.”
This wasn’t the marriage I wanted, but no man knew Ssosia’s buttocks as well as I did.
“My aunt will probably tease me and accuse me of jealousy again, but I think marriage really cannot be without such intimacy.”
“My niece…”
“Don’t say anything!”
“Jealous~”
“I already predicted what you’re going to do, but you pushed through with it anyway…”
“You are so shameless~”
“Enough!”
This time, I thought Ssosia had nothing to worry about.
I didn’t sign the contract, but two intergalactic notaries certified our marriage.
That was more credible than a piece of paper signed without my permission.
[Don’t get me wrong.]
[It all happened completely by accident.]
[I have a more important question.]
“Try me.”
I still wouldn’t answer her.
[A group is trying to kidnap your parents.]
[Do you have any idea who it might be?]
“Wait…”
A flame of anger flared up in my heart.
Was someone targeting my parents?
As soon as I heard about it, my mind went dark.
“Drug Demon Lord, calm down! Children! Please, help!”
The Spirit Kings who lived in my armpits and groin began to harass me more sexually than ever.
In particular, the Soul Spirit King gave the most effort.
As soon as it embraced my “holy sword” and caressed it, I immediately gained peace of mind.
“Hmm…”
[Have you calmed down?]
[Some graduates are targeting your parents.]
[I tried to catch them, but I couldn’t identify them..]
[Do you have any idea who might be behind this?]
Well… I had a few suspicions.
During the Festival of Heroes, some of the alumni I defeated might harbor resentment against me.
The faculty shouldn’t be ruled out either, as they were already using alumni to take revenge on the First Hero.
“This better not be some game that you started, Factoria.”
Perhaps she was just doing this so she could pretend to protect my parents, thereby earning my favor.
[That is a well-founded assumption.]
[But what’s the point in asking?]
[Even if I say it isn’t, you still won’t trust me completely.]
[Am I wrong?]
She wasn’t.
No matter how much Factoria’s words were justified, she wouldn’t be able to completely dispel my doubts.
“If you have any questions, ask away.”
I initially had no intention of answering.
But the situation had changed a bit, considering this wily woman was now protecting my parents.
[Please tell us about your current situation and your progress.]
[I know you were transferred to secondary education.]
[When will you be back?]
When would I be back?
“Around the time the Fantasy dimension is destroyed.”
For the Demon Lord Parmamon, this was the only way to get to Earth.
***
[The situation is very grim.]
That was the first thing Factoria said when she heard that I had become the Demon Lord, along with a brief explanation of the situation.
[I think I should work less and invest more in skincare.]
I didn’t know what skincare had to do with anything, but I agreed that the situation was dire.
“It’ll be easier for you to just wait until my brother grows up and marry him instead of waiting for my return.”
I wasn’t joking.
More and more heroes were giving up on their journey, choosing a peaceful life in the world of Fantasy, but it would take a really long time before they could get married and have children.
I didn’t have to wait for just one or two heroes.
The plan would only work when the vast majority of heroes had supported the Demon Lord.
Besides, many worthless individuals among the heroes abandoned their duty and lived only to satisfy their physiological needs.
[I understood your plan.]
[And I realized something.]
[Because the Earth was deprived of reinforcements in the form of graduates, the alien invaders are beginning to push us back.]
[Something needs to be done about that.]
“Huh?”
It was as if I had been hit on the back of my head.
Only now did I realize that I came up with a plan that didn’t take into account the situation on Earth.
I was trapped in this barbaric world with no time to care for the earthlings.
But everything was different now.
If the First Hero took over Earth, my parents’ safety would be at risk.
“Step aside, cowardly hubby. I think I’d better talk to her.”
“You?”
Ssosia decided to intervene.
What did she want to do?
“Niece!”
“Stop teasing me, auntie!”
“That’s so cute~”
“Ugh… I just want to discuss the technicalities with her. As I watched from the sidelines, it occurred to me that this conniving woman has a lot of power and influence on Earth despite pretending to be your mother’s daughter-in-law.”
Ssosia took my smartphone away from me after that.
“Well, go ahead.”
It wasn’t a bad combination.
Ssosia was the developer of Fantasy, and Factoria dominated the entire tech industry on Earth.
I decided to see what would come out of it.
“The Wi-Fi connection between Earth and Fantasy is established through superimposing and merging space using the Mollanbius structure according to the calculations of the Mollantagos formula proposed by an honorary graduate of the academy… Hmm? Miss Victoria, you still can’t understand its concept even after all the explanations? The Mollantagos Formula calculates volume by dividing three-dimensional space by time. (Omitted) The Mollantagos Formula is the foundation of space science. You don’t seem very smart… Hmm? Kang Han-soo’s mother’s date of birth? I don’t know. Ha! A real daughter-in-law should know that? Your logic is flawed and stupid!”
“Mollan…”
Even Master Mollan, who always hid in Ssosia’s cowardly chest, jumped towards me as if evacuating from a war zone.
“They’re hard to bear even with your wisdom and grace, huh, master?”
“Mollan.”
Master Mollan sat on my shoulder.
How much time had passed?
Ssosiya, having detached from the smartphone, came up to me with a very serious expression on her face.
“Cowardly husband.”
The tone with which she said it and her mood didn’t inspire confidence.
“Have you and Factoria come to any conclusion?”
Did they track the director’s office through Wi-Fi?
“Give me a charger.”
“What?”
“Give me a charger! The battery died just as I was about to counter-argue with a proper mockery of that redneck’s logic! Hmph!”
“How would that help?”
Personally, I didn’t think it was worth giving her a charger.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of everything. Play with your juniors for now.”
“…”
‘Inhabitants of Fantasy! Hear the Demon Lord! This married woman, this person who doesn’t want to lose in a pointless squabble, is your creator!’
“Mollan…”
