The Slacker Demon King Is Coveted by the Heroes

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Forty-five years after the frail, sickly Demon King Fei En was killed, he has come back to life yet again.

The newly resurrected, lazy Demon King opens his eyes... only to discover that, in this life, he has somehow been bound to the Hero's exclusive System.

Fei En: ...Did something bug out during reincarnation?

System: Wait, why are you the Demon King?!

The System's main quest instructs its bound user to follow its guidance and complete a series of quests to defeat the Demon King.

Fei En: ? I'm supposed to kill myself?

Even worse, failing any single quest will cause the bound user to die immediately and lose the chance to reincarnate forever.

Fei En: ...I'm screwed!

Fortunately, this ridiculous predicament isn't without a solution. The kind System points Fei En in the right direction:

The Hero System can be rebound once, but only if the new person it binds to is truly the Hero of this life.

So the Demon King decides to take the alias Feiluo and pose as an ordinary human mage. He'll recruit a party, find the real Hero among them, rebind the unlucky System to him, then return to his lair and lie flat as a shut-in Demon King.

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But later, Fei En realizes... every one of the four teammates he recruited seems more suspicious than the last.

At first, he only wanted to avoid wasting his one chance to rebind the System. He figured he'd get on good terms with them during their travels, just to find out whether any of them was the real Hero of this life.

So he tried making them delicious, secret Demon Clan recipes. Whenever they arrived in a new city and had free time, he'd pick out gifts for them at the market. And whenever they ran into danger, he'd pretend to save them by sheer coincidence.

But a few months later...

The assassin, a cold and tsundere half-elf, pins him against the wall, gripping his slender shoulders as he murmurs reproachfully:

"Hmph, the Hero? I don't need to be one. You had a fever. Why didn't you come sleep with me last night?"

The berserker, a hot-tempered, untamed dragon ruler, grips his pointed chin and leans close, his breath scorching:

"Who cares about being a savior? I don't get it! But you, your breathing's so unsteady. Is your stomach hurting again?"

The knight, a sunny, energetic human genius, buries his face against Feiluo's slender neck with an innocent look:

"I'm so weak. How could I possibly be the Hero? Big Brother Feiluo, is your headache any better? Let me give you a massage."

The priest, a suave, wicked merman cleric, smiles as he takes Feiluo's wrist and brings his snow-white fingertips to his lips:

"Oh? You suspect I'm the Hero? That's an interesting theory. If you make an effort to put on a little more weight, I'll tell you."

The lazy Demon King, a white-haired, blue-eyed human youth who looks like a pretty, sickly mage, is utterly baffled:

Is this world really going crazy?

[Reader's Guide]

1. You can't tell from the blurb, but this really is a 1v1 romance. Any more would be a spoiler! (Not really.)

2. The sickly aspect won't be too intense. The protagonist is a poor Demon King with a very weak constitution. Fighting is exhausting for him because of his poor health, so he chooses to lie flat. He's still strong, though. (Nods.)

3. The plot and romance move forward together, though the plot should make up most of it. Probably.

4. I'll add more if I think of anything!

Blurb written on 2024.12.10, revised on 2024.12.26, and archived.

Theme: A tribute to a world of swords and magic