Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!
Chapter 403: Some people die at 8 and aren’t buried until 80.

Chapter 403: Chapter 403: Some people die at 8 and aren’t buried until 80.

"You kneeling like this isn’t a solution."

Yang Yu approached with a smile and reached out his hand to Iyas,

"First, straighten your back."

Finally regaining Yang Yu’s recognition, Iyas looked at his extended hand, her eyes brimming with tears, and placed her hand in his.

"Iyas, people often say that some die at eight and are only buried at eighty. Today, I won’t bother you with such morbid thoughts."

Yang Yu gently pulled, ushering Iyas to stand up again.

"What I want to tell you is that some have lived for a long time but only actually lived into their teens. Most of their time is spent reminiscing about their youth, living in the shadows of their past repeatedly.

They become unwilling to accept others’ opinions, unwilling to progress with society, only believing in what they themselves believe, eventually becoming like frogs at the bottom of a well.

In the past, I saw no difference between you and those people; despite being over seventy, both outwardly and inwardly, you remained a stubborn teenager, each day repeating your past.

But now, you are different."

Releasing her hand, Yang Yu patted Iyas’ shoulder,

"You’ve taken a step forward, willing to not live in the shadow of your past, but to live in the present.

Today, your decision is proof of your growth.

However, this is far from enough, the world is much crueler than you imagine.

When you made this choice, did you feel as if something was severed?

If I were you, I could surpass the hints I gave you and make better choices."

Iyas nodded indubitably.

She too had made many resolutions to arrive at her answers, but as she spoke, there was a feeling of being torn inside her.

"Iyas, whether or not you wish to continue growing doesn’t depend on me, but on you. I don’t ask much of you, but please listen carefully," he said while soothing Iyas and himself, slowly stating his demands.

First, he would not demean Iyas’ value as an Elf Warrior, nor stop her from fighting as one when Healing wasn’t needed.

However, for the sake of the team and future strategies, she must learn to become a qualified Priest.

Second, during significant decisions, Iyas could make suggestions and raise doubts, but she had to be mindful of the timing, never allowing him to be exposed in public.

If Iyas wanted to know his plans, he was willing to share, but only in a safe place.

Third, prioritize the team’s interests, get along well with others, and avoid disputes within the team. If there were unresolved conflicts, he would intervene.

Fourth, cherish her life and enjoy this world.

Additionally, Yang Yu had many details to convey to Iyas, but some could be discussed on the road and need not be reiterated here.

Iyas didn’t refuse; she agreed to everything, and just then, a new task popped up on Yang Yu’s task panel.

[Task: [Iyas’ Request]

Task Requirements: Rescue Iyas’ brother Hake

Task Rewards: Iyas]

A very brief task item, which hadn’t appeared during their previous exchange of interests.

Now it had appeared, and though Yang Yu didn’t know the significance, he chose to accept the task.

"Since you’ve caused quite a bit of trouble for us, from this moment, you will officially work as my partner. In simple terms, I am advancing you the reward, asking you to become our partner early.

As the client, what will you do?"

Logically stating his demands, Iyas had not hesitated this time and had agreed to advance the reward to Yang Yu.

In exchange for only acquiring half the usual experience points before completing the Task, Yang Yu had received the reward in advance. On the team interface, he could now freely assign the free attribute points he had found under Iyas’s profile.

Just as Yang Yu was considering how to allocate Iyas’s free attribute points and wondering how to wrap things up, the system suddenly pinged several times. The long-missed system notification sound rang in Yang Yu’s ears.

[System Notification: Congratulations! The player has gained the complete trust of "blessed by Holy Light (LV.MAX)," unless you jeopardize it yourself, your relationship with her will permanently solidify at trust or above.

Congratulations, the player has triggered the hidden Task "Elf and Goddess."]

Huh?

A hidden Task triggered?

Yang Yu quickly opened the panel to confirm:

[Hidden Task: "Elf and Goddess"

Task Requirement: Discover the true relationship between the elf and the goddess.

Task Reward: Hidden Task "Stars Reflected in Eyes," Fragment of "Sky Lock," one Legendary lottery draw.

]

The reward for the hidden Task is another hidden Task.

Why not simply make it a ring-running task? Isn’t that more appealing?

Is this to prevent players from guessing the content of the Task too early?

Stars Reflected in Eyes...

For some reason, no, due to the keen instincts of a player, Yang Yu was reminded of Sena from Red Blood Rose—the girl with eyes that bore star patterns. Perhaps "Stars Reflected in Eyes" referred to that.

As for the fragment of "Sky Lock," the item’s details couldn’t be examined in the task; he had to actually obtain it to evaluate it.

Fortunately, upon completing this Task, he would get a chance at a Legendary-level lottery draw.

For Yang Yu, who had terrible luck, obtaining anything Legendary seemed almost impossible; this Task was like a blessing for "Africans."

Before he grew too excited about this Task, Yang Yu’s Task panel popped up another Task, starkly different from any he had handled before.

It was a collapsible interface, with no Task description, no requirements, and no reward; it only displayed a chart-like list.

Out of twenty individual entries, the fifteenth entry clearly read [No.15 "Elf and Goddess"], marked in a dull gray font, indicating it was incomplete.

Seeing what was shown on the entries, Yang Yu instantly realized that to launch the real Task, he would need to complete twenty preliminary Tasks.

Drawing a sharp breath, Yang Yu couldn’t help but tremble inwardly.

This could be a massive main storyline, possibly even intended for the second game round.

In many games, the first round is just an appetizer; reaching the true end of the story requires completing a second round.

In this Demon King Brave game, defeating the Demon King is undoubtedly the main storyline’s path to the first round’s ending.

But to uncover this world’s truth, to reveal its real face, he must complete twenty preliminary Tasks and unlock the final Task.

Luckily, these Tasks seemed to form a closed loop; triggering one would allow him to progress step by step.

The remaining question was the difficulty of these preliminary Tasks.

If it was purely errand-running and decryption, Yang Yu felt confident handling the Demon King’s strategy while also working through the second round’s storyline.

But then, never mind.

After all, this was the plot for the second round; he could tackle it in the second round without any issue.