Demon Lord, Retry! (魔王様、リトライ!)

Fifteen years, huh?

Talk about a long time.

We had a good run, Hakuto Kunai.

Dark Leader of the Great Empire

and the developer of Infinity Game.

I clearly wasn't expecting

to spend these final moments with you.

Why do you seem so unhappy?

You're both the demon lord and final boss,

but one thing you can't beat is reality.

Once the clock strikes midnight,

it'll be time to shut down this game for good.

This world'll be completely gone.

All right.

Big day tomorrow, so feel free to keep playing

by your lonesome.

As for me, I'm beat. So, yeah.

Goodnight, Kunai.

And goodbye forever.

What is this?

Am I dreaming?

This forest is freakin' huge.

And way too green for me.

This feels too realistic to be a dream.

The lake is really blue, as well.

Huh.

What the hell are these?

Wait. This outfit.

Don't tell me!

- What? -

I've become the Demon Lord!

Say...

How can you even walk in this dump?

Man. Just get over here, will ya?

As long as I've got my PC and my bed,

nothing else really matters.

Bunch of trash bags, empty beer cans,

and loose change.

What is this,

-a collection for hoarders? -

Oh, Akira, you're such a silly goose.

I'm the silly one when your apartment looks like this.

Come on!

Hey! Don't throw that away, it's really important!

I doubt that, seeing as this important thing

is on the floor next to a bunch of empty beer cans.

Wow.

My room feels a lot more spacious now.

Why am I cleaning up after you

when I'm on vacation?

Stop complaining.

You get to stay here for free, right?

And to think I was gonna use the money I saved

to buy you booze.

Well, , never mind.

Monster! Devil! Demon Lord!

Oh, come on. I'm just joking with you.

I take it all back.

You're an angel, Akira.

You're still a devil, so more like a fallen angel.

So, are you gonna force me to sleep in trash

after I came all this way to Tokyo?

Wait a minute. Are you trying to get in bed with me?

Because if you are, then I foresee

a morning-after scene coming up.

-All right, give it back. -Nope.

You should know by now, your beer is my beer.

Funny enough, my beer is also my beer.

You're a few beers shy of singing in an empty lot.

Ah!

I still can't believe how popular

your Infinity Game has become.

You should be proud.

I was just trying to build

a world of my own, ya know?

I put all of my desires into this MMO game.

Unfortunately, I had to use everything I had

from my inheritance to do that.

But you're going to make bank, right?

That foreign game publisher's buying it off you.

We're meeting tomorrow to finalize it all.

This is what Mikity said.

"Mr. Akira Oono, would you be at all interested

in running Infinity Game as an MMO with our company?"

At first, I thought he was some online game addict,

but he was actually 42-OMG's chief director.

Talk about Free and Easy.

What if the sale isn't finalized?

I guess there's a reason it was a hobby in the first place.

Wait. Yikes.

That means you would've eaten through

all your inheritance for nothing.

Just shut up, .

The NEET shouldn't talk!

Hm, still hasn't tried to play

Infinity Game yet, huh?

Probably holds a grudge against you, that .

Orient City had to put an end to its services.

That game was simply behind the times.

But had potential.

...loved Orient City like it was home.

It wasn't bad.

Yeah, but Infinity Game is on a whole other level.

And if tried it out,

it would be obvious. You agree, ?

You have so much confidence, Akira.

Do you mind loaning me some so I can go to Hello Work?

How about you stop drinking and go right now.

Being here requires way more guts

than going to Hello Work.

Next: 60th floor

Mikity, my foot.

MMO game, my ass.

I'll consider it if they're willing to pay me

100 million yen for the rights.

What in the hell?

What's going on?

Did I really drink that much?

What the heck was that?

A panic attack?

Mr. Oono. Welcome.

Uh...

Please, right this way.

Hey. It's a pleasure to finally meet you!

Uh, right. I'm supposed to be meeting with Mikity today.

Well, take a seat and let's begin.

-Huh? -Mikimoto,

or Mikity, at your service.

I'm gone for one day, and you manage to undo

all of my cleaning.

Uh, I only used the bare necessities,

and it caused a mess.

Caused a mess, huh? Your life is what's a mess.

Wow! That's rude.

How can you say such a thing?

You poly bucket! Polyester!

That's not an insult.

You're just naming a random material.

So, spill it. How'd the talks go?

Sounds like they're serious about expanding the scale.

They're talking about assembling a team

to promote Infinity Game globally.

When you're rich, make sure you buy me lots of things.

Or you can get a job.

And let the system win? No thanks.

I don't have any intentions on being a loser in life.

But you're a NEET, which means you already are.

I wish someone would drop a missile on Harajuku.

If you had a job, you could buy your own missile.

Better yet, maybe Tokyo Tower could fall.

Then work. And buy a chainsaw.

And cut it down? Yelling "timber?"

All right, I think it's time to call the cops.

What is this proposal?

No, not this crap again.

In the end, I turned down the offer made by 42-OMG.

I wanted to make my own game.

Build the world that I envision.

Taking orders from others was never my strong suit.

But then, we suddenly entered the new age

revolving around social media.

Infinity Game's popularity tanked

and the player base sunk little by little.

After becoming completely broke,

I had no choice but to join this small-time gaming company

and make a bunch of random games

just to make ends meet.

- -

Go work, you deadbeat.

Unbelievable. Right off the bat, huh?

No. What's unbelievable is you calling me

in the middle of my workday, . Goodbye.

Wait. I'm playing one of your games

and I need your help.

For some reason, my cows aren't producing milk.

Don't ask me. Ask your cows.

But why, when I can call up the creator?

And since you're responsible for them, I wanted to ask you.

I got taken off that game,

so not my problem. Well, not anymore.

Those cold, heartless bastards.

They always take you off games as soon as you complete them.

Just shut it.

Oh, yeah. When are you gonna update Infinity Game?

I logged on the other day and didn't see anything new.

It's pretty clear that Infinity Game's dead.

People nowadays only play these abandoned intense death games

for their social media dopamine highs,

online harassment, and shallow friendships.

Come on, Akira.

You're not suited to doing work you don't care about.