Chapter 9: Kidnappers Around the Demon King’s Castle

After sorting out breakfast, I hooked up to the virtual interface device. 

Instead of diving straight into the game, I lingered on the forums for a bit. 

When I spotted posts discussing the new Dark Bat grinding spot near Soma Town, I felt a wave of relief. 

The chatter confirmed my efforts weren’t in vain—no awkward scenario where my carefully designed monsters went ignored.

Still, the details were murky, so I logged in, planning to head straight to the control room. 

But first, a system notification popped up.

System: Task [Dark Bat Feast (Part 1)] Completed.

From accepting the task to now, roughly twelve hours had passed—about 7,000 bats spawned. 

More than enough to clear the objective. 

A flash of light enveloped me as the task’s experience reward kicked in, boosting me from level 0 to level 2. 

From a pathetic combat rating of 5 to a slightly less pathetic 6. 

Not bad for a Demon King. 

The leveling speed was leagues ahead of regular players.

System: New Task Unlocked [Dark Bat Feast (Part 2)]

Task: Dark Bat Feast (Part 2)

Description: The terror of the Dark Bats lingers, a second lesson from the Demon King to the bright faction.

Objectives: Spawn Dark Bats (7,840/60,000), Dark Bats deal cumulative damage (214,648/1,000,000)

Rewards: 150 Energy, 8,000 EXP, 4,000 Dark Element Units, Random Monster Nest Blueprint (Level 0-5) ×3

A long-term task, clearly. I set it aside and made my way to the control room.

Syl was already there, as if she’d anticipated my arrival, with a fresh pot of tea ready. 

If not for my pink hair and demon horns, I’d swear I was some pampered noble visiting the castle for a vacation.

“Syl, how’s it going?”

“Your Majesty, the results are exceptionally promising. You should review the details yourself,” she replied.

As she said, “exceptionally promising” was an understatement. In just half a day, we’d gained around 50 energy. 

Some came from the bats’ recycling loop, but the bulk? 

My devious design had clearly made players suffer. 

Combined with the task rewards and my remaining reserves, I had about 120 energy to play with.

In a farming sim like this, hoarding resources was a rookie mistake. 

Like any good investment, timing was everything—hesitate, and you’d lose big. 

So, I didn’t flinch. 

I spent 10 energy to expand the Dark Bat Nest’s capacity by 2,000, then used 30 energy and 600 dark elements to spawn an extra 600 bats, teleporting them to the forest ruins to bolster the grinding spot.

The Heart of Herentis projected visuals of the ruins, and the place was buzzing. 

Despite the danger, the juicy EXP and clear efficiency kept players hooked. 

With Soma Town’s level 5 and below zones overcrowded, desperate players wouldn’t skip any grinding spot unless the mobs were absurdly tough. 

My past life’s time in Soma Town gave me an edge—I knew its dynamics like the back of my hand.

Expanding the Dark Bat zone was critical. 

A larger domain meant more monsters, which meant more players grinding, feeding both energy loops: recycling and player damage. 

But capacity alone wasn’t enough; spawn speed was the bottleneck.

I was about to dump 20 energy into increasing sprite production when something caught my eye.

“Syl, why are we down five sprites?” I frowned, checking the Eternal Tree’s sprite count. 

Those little guys weren’t cheap, and for my broke Demon King self, any loss stung—especially a freebie like this.

Syl glanced at the map displayed by the Heart. 

“Your Majesty, the dark element resource point you assigned the sprites to is near a skeleton warrior mob cluster. Three sprites were likely captured by them.”

“Captured? They dare kidnap my minions?” I blinked, incredulous.

“Low-level monsters lack much intelligence and may not recognize Your Majesty’s authority,” Syl said, her gaze flicking to my pink hair and horns. “And, if I may, you’re currently a Demon King in name only.”

“…Even so, no one messes with my dignity!” 

It sounded like a childish tantrum, but my mind was racing. 

The map showed that while dark element points were common around Herentis, the closest ones were near those skeleton warriors. 

If I didn’t deal with this, more sprites would get snatched. 

Plus, I was curious about these dark faction mobs.

Syl paused, considering. 

“If you insist, please proceed with caution. Low-level skeletons don’t typically act against instinct, so there’s likely a creature with some intelligence among them.”

“Or another high-intelligence being,” I added.

“Don’t worry, Syl. How smart could they be? And don’t you know how awesome your Demon King is?” I puffed out my chest confidently.

Syl didn’t respond, her eyes drifting to my glaringly pink hair before giving a slight nod.

Don’t be so obvious about it!