Cut off my way home? You'll sacrifice the entire other world in return!

The brain's storage site ( )

Your Majesty requests that the military tally be stored here ( ).

Li Fan shifted his position, rubbing his buttocks against the obsidian throne a couple of times, trying to find a slightly softer spot.

But this thing was as hard as his high school homeroom teacher's heart; no matter how he sat on it, it hurt his bones.

"Who designed this lousy chair? Is it ergonomic? If I sit on it for too long, will it cause a herniated disc and be considered a work-related injury?"

Li Fan's complaints echoed in the empty hall.

No one responded.

Only a few eerie green will-o'-the-wisps floated pitifully on the pillar, occasionally crackling and popping to relieve the deathly silence.

Li Fan sighed deeply, his body going limp like a salted fish that had lost its dreams, hanging listlessly on the Demon King's throne, which symbolized supreme power.

Through.

It's been ten years.

A full ten years!

Do you know how I've spent the last ten years?

There was no cell phone, no WiFi, no iced cola, no air conditioning, and not even a flush toilet!

This is another world, a magical continent that countless chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) teenagers dream of.

But in Li Fan's eyes, this place was an uncivilized, primitive rural village, the kind with extremely poor public security and murderous maniacs everywhere.

"I want to go home..."

Li Fan buried his face in his hands, his voice muffled with a barely perceptible tremor.

Ten years ago, he was just a corporate slave living a life of idleness and waiting to die on Earth.

Although his salary is low, although he can't afford a house, and although the goddess doesn't pay much attention to him, he has loving parents!

That night, he had just finished working overtime and was thinking of going home to eat his mother's braised pork when everything went black. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in this godforsaken place, and inexplicably inherited a dilapidated castle, becoming a demon king that everyone hated.

At that moment, instead of excitedly shouting "My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens!" like the protagonist in a novel, he was so frightened that he almost wet his pants.

In this dog-eat-dog world, human life is worth less than grass.

He didn't want to dominate the world, he didn't want to build a harem, he just wanted to go home.

He missed his father's stern face, which always seemed to be secretly slipping him money; he missed his mother's nagging voice telling him to wear long underwear; and he missed the bed, which was only 1.5 meters wide but covered with soft cotton padding.

Fortunately, the sky is endless.

Just when he was so desperate that he was about to hang himself from a crooked tree at the castle gate, the system arrived.

But this damn system doesn't have a newbie gift pack, nor any invincible artifacts; it only has one line of instructions.

[World Rule: Collecting enough Resentment Points and converting them into Spacetime Energy can open the Gate to Return Home. Note: Heroes can also use Resentment Points to open the Spacetime Gate.]

Resentment is like the fare to go home.

The system's solution was simple and brutal: kill! Slaughter everyone in this world; their resentment would be enough to blast open the gates of Earth a hundred times over.

Li Fan's hands were shaking when he looked at the proposal.

He has killed fish, chickens, and even tens of thousands of monsters in games, but he has never killed a person.

He's a person, a modern person who has received nine years of compulsory education and has normal values.

Would he really go so far as to slaughter an entire world's inhabitants just to go home?

He can't.

"I'm going crazy wanting to go home, but I don't want to go crazy," Li Fan said to himself.

Therefore, he rejected the shortcut of world destruction and chose a path that no demon king had ever taken before: a path of sustainable development.

As long as people are alive, they will constantly generate resentment.

Anger, resentment, jealousy, and fear are all forms of negative emotions that can generate energy.

If you just arrest people and torture them instead of killing them, won't that generate resentment?

This job lasted for ten years.

"Your Majesty."

A voice came from below the steps.

Li Fan snapped out of his reverie and lifted his eyelids.

The speaker was a goblin, a green-skinned, big-nosed man wearing an ill-fitting butler's uniform, trembling as he held a crystal ball.

"Speak." Li Fan adjusted his posture, trying to appear more authoritative.

"Um... today's resentment report is out." The goblin butler held up the crystal ball, trembling.

Li Fan pointed his finger at the crystal ball, projecting a beam of light.

[35000 new resentment points added today]

[Source Analysis]

[20000 points in the Mortal Labor Camp, mainly from forced overtime work, slightly extra salt in the cafeteria food, and two hours of forced moral education by the Demon King before bedtime]

[15000 points in the Hero's Dungeon, mainly obtained by confiscating their equipment, eating roast chicken in front of them while only giving them thin porridge, and telling them that their princess didn't actually want to be rescued; she thought the food here was quite good.]

Looking at these data, Li Fan's lips twitched.

Is this still the Demon King?

But he had no choice.

I'll bear this infamy just to go home.

"How's that Holy Knights Order in the west doing?" Li Fan asked casually.

The goblin steward quickly flipped open a small notebook. "Your Majesty, that adventure group has been wandering around the third level of the labyrinth for three days now. As you instructed, we didn't set any lethal traps. They're all... uh, all disgusting people."

"for example?"

"For example, the illusionary trap where you suddenly fall into a cesspool while walking; the treasure chest containing not gold coins but a parchment that says 'Thank you for your patronage'; and that succubus, following your instructions, didn't absorb their life force but instead spent the whole night explaining the advanced mathematics problems you taught them..."

Li Fan nodded, a satisfied look on his face. "Not bad, that paladin captain's resentment level should be off the charts, right?"

"It exploded! It exploded!" the goblin exclaimed excitedly, gesturing wildly. "That captain was so engrossed in advanced mathematics that he was foaming at the mouth, constantly yelling 'Demon King, kill me!' His resentment level instantly increased by over a thousand!"

"very good."

Li Fan waved his hand. "Let them go when they've almost completely broken down mentally."

The goblin was taken aback. Although this order had been carried out countless times, he couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, are you really not going to kill them? They're shouting that they'll cut off your head and use it as a football!"

Li Fan chuckled, his eyes filled with a mixture of indifference, mockery, and nonchalance.

"kill?"

"If I kill them, who will provide me with resentment? Killing them is a one-off deal. If I let them go back, they will feel ashamed of their failure and angry at being mocked. They will work hard to improve their skills and then bring more people to seek revenge on me."

Li Fan stood up, his black cloak rustling behind him.

"Chives should be harvested once and then left to grow fat before being harvested again, so they will be more fragrant."

The goblin exclaimed with adoration, "Your Majesty is wise! Your Majesty is far-sighted! Your Majesty... well, I don't understand what leeks are, but they sound amazing!"

Li Fan waved his hand, signaling the goblins to retreat.

The hall fell silent once more.

He sat back on the throne and opened the system panel, which only he could see.

A progress bar was slowly creeping in the center of my field of vision.

[Homecoming progress: 98.7%]

Upon seeing that number, Li Fan's originally cold gaze instantly melted.

almost.

It's really coming soon.

Ten years of enduring hardship and biding one's time, ten years of feigning divine intervention.

If we send another big wave of high-quality heroes to let him reap the resentment, the progress bar will be full!

"Dad, Mom..."

Li Fan pulled a crumpled photograph out of his pocket.

That was a family photo tucked in the pocket of the clothes he wore on the day he traveled through time.

Although the photo was preserved very well by magic, the edges have been damaged.

In the photo, Dad is smiling happily, Mom is making a peace sign, and he's standing in the middle, looking impatient, as if he's in a hurry to play video games.

He was so immature back then.

He used to find it annoying and nagging, but now he would trade even his earth-shattering magic for just one minute of listening to the lecture.

A tear fell onto the back of my hand without warning.

Li Fan hurriedly wiped it away, as if afraid that someone would see this vulnerable side of him.

He is the Demon King.

He is the Lord of Despair, who strikes fear into the hearts of the entire continent.

Although this "demon king" is actually just a larger version of a kindergarten principal and a labor camp leader.

Over the past decade, he has been portrayed as a legendary figure by outsiders.

A madman who eats children's hearts raw, bathes in virgin blood every night, and intends to destroy the world.

Heaven and earth conscience!

After transmigrating to this place, he has never even killed a chicken with his own hands!

To avoid causing bloodshed, he ordered his men to knock them unconscious, take them away, and disarm them without killing them.

He cleared hundreds of acres of wasteland behind the castle for the captured mortals to grow potatoes and build houses.

It's a bit tiring, but meals are provided!

Moreover, they don't have the "996 blessing" (working 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week) and only work ten hours a day. In this other world, this is practically a conscientious company, right?

Some slum refugees, after being captured, refused to leave, crying and begging to stay and become honorary employees of the Demon King's army's logistics department.

As for those brave warriors...

Li Fan was extremely worried.

He doesn't give experience or drop equipment; he's just trying to disgust people.

If you defeat them, lock them in the dungeon for ten days or half a month. They won't starve to death, but they won't survive either. Make them listen to grand principles every day to destroy their will and harvest their resentment.

Once all the resentment has been drained, find a reason to let them go.

For example, the Demon King might say, "Get out of here," or "You're too ugly, and I'm afraid you'll ruin the castle's appearance, so get out of here quickly."

This way, when these heroes return, they will hate him even more and desperately spread his evil deeds to attract even more people.

It's practically a perfect closed loop!

"Just hang in there a little longer..."

"Once I've gathered enough energy, I'll open the door and go home. I don't care who this damn world is. Let whoever wants to be the demon king be it. I'm not putting up with this anymore."

He had it all planned out. The first thing he would do when he got home was to hug his mom and cry, then turn the air conditioner to 16 degrees Celsius, wrap himself in a blanket and eat watermelon, get scolded by his mom for half an hour, and then order takeout, even if it was a terrible meal kit, he would accept it.

"boom!!!"

Just as Li Fan was envisioning a bright future, a loud bang shook the entire castle.

Dust fell from the ceiling of the main hall, covering Li Fan's head.

"What happened? Was there an earthquake?" Li Fan jumped up, brushing the dust off his hair. "Was this dilapidated castle also a shoddy construction project?"

The goblin butler tumbled in, his hat askew, his face a mixture of terror and excitement.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! A huge deal! A huge deal has arrived!"

"Speak like a human!" Li Fan roared impatiently.

"It's the hero! The strongest hero has arrived!" the goblin shouted. "It's Eric, the one known as the hope of humanity, the Child of Light! He's leading the most elite crusade alliance on the entire continent!"

Li Fan was stunned for a moment, then became happy.

Eric?

That legendary man who has gathered all the buffs of justice, blessed by the gods, and hailed as the most likely person in the last hundred years to kill the Demon King?

OK!

Very good!

How intense must the resentment be for these leeks at this level?

If you arrest him, humiliate him, and then lock him up, the resulting resentment will be immense...

Li Fan quickly did some mental calculations.

As long as you take down Eric, the remaining 1.3% progress bar will definitely be filled in one go!

It can even overflow!

"Where is he?" Li Fan's voice trembled with excitement.

"They've broken through the outer defenses and are charging towards the main hall! Our traps are useless against them; they're too strong!" the goblin shouted.

"No traps needed!"

With a wave of his sleeve, Li Fan's aura suddenly changed.

The previously listless, corporate slave vibe vanished instantly, replaced by the terrifying pressure of a demon king.

Dark magic surged around him as if it were a tangible substance, and his eyes turned a deep purple.

Since this is the last ticket home, it deserves the highest level of hospitality.

"Pass down the order: the Demon King's army is to retreat completely. Open the gates and let him in!"

Li Fan walked up the steps and sat back down on the uncomfortable throne, a wicked and arrogant smile (though it was feigned) curling at the corner of his mouth.

"I will personally give a proper welcome to this benefactor who sent me home."

As long as we can secure this vote.

Tonight I'll be able to sit at the dining table at home and have dinner!

Li Fan looked expectantly at the tightly closed doors of the main hall, and could already see the warm, dim streetlight at the entrance of his residential compound.