The young man with the bizarre prank—the very one that had thrown Dusk into this bad situation—was now leisurely sitting under a tree, pondering how he might seek out his next bit of fun.
Of course, he had no idea that the gift’s recipient had been Dusk, not Lysandra. Then again, it hardly mattered who opened the gift, for whoever it was would be granted the sa delight, all thanks to a single word: "Surprise!"
Suddenly, his eyes lost focus, as if his consciousness had been ripped away in an instant.
His body lost its balance, slumping gently against the tree trunk.
Within a strange space—perhaps the realm of consciousness, or maybe sothing even stranger—he found himself standing alone in an undefined void.
"This is weird... Where am I, exactly? Did I pass out from exhaustion and start dreaming?"
He muttered question after question into the void, but none received an answer.
Scratching his head in confusion, he tried to sense his surroundings.
"Strange. Why do my senses still feel so sharp? Could this be... so kind of ultra-realistic dream?"
Suddenly, sothing in that dark space shifted. From within the veil of shadows, a pair of eyes and a bright red mouth erged.
Judging by the expression, whoever owned those eyes and that mouth was smiling widely—perhaps even joyfully.
"Hahaha! Greetings, my dear friend—Jasko rrigrin. I am one of the Primal Demons, the Demon of Joy!"
Jasko froze for a mont. The being knew his na... and called itself the Demon of Joy? Could this possibly be real?
Though he was fond of jokes, he wasn’t a fool. Given the current situation, this was no ordinary dream.
Would you believe it if a demon asked to et with you privately? Chances are, most people wouldn’t.
"You know who I am?" Jasko asked warily.
"Haha, of course I do! Naturally, I do! We’re going to be the best of friends," the Demon of Joy replied with an uproarious laugh.
Had it been any other Primal Demon, they might never have deigned to speak so freely with a lowly mortal—but this one was... sothing else entirely.
He was Joy—an existence embodying pure delight. He had no interest in rigid things like hierarchy or order.
"And why do you think we’ll beco good friends? Don’t tell you’re also soone who enjoys fun and mischief like I do." Jasko asked.
Yet even as he posed the question, he already had a feeling about the answer. The demon’s very na made it clear—this being truly delighted in joy and amusent.
"Of course! I’ve seen your joy firsthand—the kind that’s wild and unrestrained, free from all limits and rules. You’re fascinating, Jasko. I just know we’ll get along splendidly," the Demon of Joy replied with enthusiasm.
Hearing that, Jasko felt a flicker of interest. After all, it was rare to et soone—or sothing—that shared his unusual sense of enjoynt.
"So tell then, how exactly can I ’play’ with you? I’m guessing there are... conditions, right?" He asked with a raised brow.
"Beco my avatar," the demon said gleefully. "I’ll grant you power—true power—and together we’ll craft the most hilarious pranks this world has ever seen. We’ll spread joy across the whole world! Hahahaha!"
His joy was so imnse and constant that he found everything amusing—even the thought of death couldn’t wipe the grin from his face.
Yet Jasko didn’t seem particularly swayed by the offer. After all, he barely even understood what a "demon" truly was, let alone the idea of becoming an "avatar." It was a completely foreign concept—sothing he had never once heard of in his entire life.
Noticing the hesitation in Jasko’s eyes, the Demon of Joy didn’t bother explaining in detail. Instead, he simply transmitted a complete stream of knowledge directly into Jasko’s consciousness.
Jasko froze, stunned by the sudden rush of information—but quickly focused his mind and began absorbing the knowledge.
As the understanding of the demon’s powers unfolded before him, Jasko’s curiosity ignited into full-blown excitent. Compared to this, even playing with explosives seed ta.
"Hahahaha! Brilliant—this is absolutely brilliant! With your powers, I can make everyone truly enjoy our pranks. I’ll make this whole world burst into joy!"
He threw his head back and laughed like he never had before—like a child discovering chaos and wonder for the first ti.
The Demon of Joy was thoroughly pleased. He knew he hadn’t chosen wrong.
"Well? Tempting, isn’t it? Hahaha! I told you—we’re going to be the best of friends!"
And just like that, a pair of cheerful "friends" who wished to bring joy to the entire world was born.
...
anwhile, Dusk was only just beginning to stir from the overwhelming dizziness. But the mont he ca to, he froze—sothing felt very wrong.
’What the hell? My eyes are clearly open, so why can’t I see anything?’
He tried again. And again. But the result didn’t change.
He still couldn’t see a damn thing.
’Son of a bitch... I’m blind?! Who the hell thought it’d be funny to use explosives as a prank? First that lunatic almost beat to death, and now another madman makes go blind? What the hell did I ever do to deserve this?!’
Dusk was furious—beyond furious. Why was he always the unlucky one? One misfortune after another, all landing squarely on his head.
He’d been swearing so much lately he felt exhausted. Just in the past few days, he’d probably cursed more than he had in an entire year.
Then, without warning, his consciousness trembled violently—he was pulled once again into a bizarre, otherworldly space.
The atmosphere in this place made his skin crawl. Sothing was off. Deeply off.
"Wait... I can see?" He blinked, glancing around. "No, this isn’t reality. This is... a consciousness space?"
Quickly, he darted his eyes left and right, trying to make sense of where he was and what clues might be hidden around him.
Suddenly, from the void, a pair of glowing red eyes and a wide crimson mouth appeared.
"Little brat. I like you. Want to beco my avatar?"
Dusk froze on the spot. That offer—it could only an one thing. A high-tier demon was inviting him to beco its chosen host.
But would he accept? Becoming an avatar wasn’t much different from becoming a servant. While Dusk didn’t particularly mind working under soone, this situation raised a far more important concern.
Even demons themselves weren’t necessarily immortal—so how could their underlings be?
As long as you’re not an idiot, the answer is no.
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