1 – Even Though She’s a Demon King, She Likes to Slack Off

"Seriously, can't you change your approach?"

In a McDonald's restaurant, two boys, who looked like high school students, were arguing over something while spreading out a test paper on the table.

The black-haired boy, who looked somewhat undernourished and thin, was nibbling on a French fry while pointing at the paper of his companion, a silver-haired boy.

The black-haired boy was named Hui Lu, and the silver-haired one was You Xi. Although they weren’t exactly close friends, their relationship was pretty good.

"Change your way of thinking, change your approach. Do you get it? You're the top student in school, don’t embarrass yourself like this!"

With a resigned expression, Hui Lu rested his chin on his hand, still holding the French fry in his mouth.

"Forget it... I'll do it myself" Unable to bear it any longer, he snatched the pen from the other person and quickly wrote down the solution on a sheet of paper.

"Okay" After finishing, he slid the paper and the test back to the other person. Then, he grabbed his single-strap backpack and stood up.

"I have to go to work. I can't waste time with you. Goodbye!" Making a farewell gesture with his fist, he shot out of the restaurant, leaving You Xi in a state of confusion.

"Damn it, Lu! You still haven’t paid!" They had agreed to split the bill, but that guy had taken off without paying.

Resigned to covering the bill, he glanced in the direction Hui Lu had run off, but the other had already disappeared.

He had known Hui Lu for three years… and he still struggled to understand the way he acted.

Sometimes he was cunning and loved getting into trouble; other times he seemed lost in his own world. But in critical moments, he was always someone you could rely on.

You Xi often envied Hui Lu because he lived freely, without restraints or pressure.

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Meanwhile, Hui Lu, who had already escaped, didn’t head to the tea shop where he usually worked. Instead, he ran straight toward his home.

The reason for his hurried escape had nothing to do with work. It was because he had spotted several schoolmates nearby…

Even though they weren’t in the same class, both Hui Lu and You Xi had attended the same school from middle school to high school.

As the top student of the year, You Xi was always under the watchful eyes of parents and teachers, who disapproved of his friendship with Hui Lu.

After all, Hui Lu was someone who avoided trouble at all costs. If those gossiping classmates saw him and decided to inform the teachers…

He would be in for yet another lecture about 'not leading good students down the wrong path', 'his bad influence', 'his problematic behavior'… And he was sick of hearing the same thing over and over again.

Whatever happened to You Xi wasn’t his concern. After all, he was the star of the school. No one would dare mess with him.

That's right! I, Hui Lu, am the number one troublemaker of Huanghai High School No. 7! I skip classes constantly and have left behind a bunch of strange legends among students and teachers.

That I'm the leader of the local gang… That I've been involved in multiple group fights… That I extort my classmates and charge them for 'protection'…

To be honest, most of the time when I ditch class. I just go up to the rooftop to nap under the sun or wander around. I had no idea where all those ridiculous stories came from.

His grades had always been among the worst, so both teachers and parents had already given up on him. As long as he didn’t cause a serious scandal, they wouldn’t even bother giving him a lecture.

High School No. 7 had a bad reputation in the city. The environment wasn’t the best, and there were plenty of delinquents around. Compared to other schools like No. 5 or No. 6, its academic level was far lower.

Although there were elite classes with students like You Xi, who stood out even at the level of the best schools. In fact, the top students of No. 7 could easily compete with those from the prestigious High School No. 1.

The school's strategy was simple: invest all resources in the outstanding students, maintain a minimum level of control over the mid-level students to ensure a basic university admission rate…

And as for the rest, they were simply left to their own devices. After all, if they don’t contribute anything to the school, as long as they don’t kill anyone or do anything illegal, they could do whatever they wanted.

They even set up two special classes to group all the problem students together. And I, Hui Lu, am one of the most notorious. At this point, they don’t even bother stopping me when I escape by jumping over the fence.

Hui Lu’s house was quite far from High School No. 7, and the school wasn’t willing to let a troublemaker like him live in the dormitories. So, he had no choice but to rent a small room outside and live there.

Hui Lu had a younger sister, Hui Ya, who had just entered middle school. Unlike him, Hui Ya was a model student and an exemplary child, recognized as one of the top students at her school.

Their parents allowed Hui Lu to live alone mainly because they feared his bad influence might affect his sister.

They paid his rent, but they didn’t give him any money for daily expenses. They said that, as a man, it wasn’t bad for him to go through some hardships and that only by experiencing how tough life was would he learn to appreciate his studies.

That’s why Hui Lu worked part-time at a bubble tea shop, and with the little money he earned, he could barely cover his monthly expenses.

"Hey, grandpa! Good afternoon!" Upon arriving at the building where he lived, he saw the elderly landlord watering the plants not far from the entrance, so he greeted him with a wave.

The old man didn’t even acknowledge him. With the reputation of a 'problem student' that he had, it would be strange for anyone to treat him kindly.

In fact, just getting this place to live had been a problem. His parents had to persuade the landlord for a long time before he finally agreed to let him stay.

Hui Lu smiled somewhat awkwardly, climbed the stairs to the seventh floor, and reached the door of his rented apartment...

He unlocked the door, revealing the entire scene inside. A simple one-bedroom, one-living-room apartamento. A small space but equipped with the essentials.

The ventilation wasn’t great, and the lighting wasn’t much better, but for a first-year high school student, it was more than enough...

He stepped inside, locked the door behind him, and tossed his backpack onto the small sofa in the living room. Then, he stretched his arms lazily.

Suddenly, a blue light began spreading from his back, enveloping his entire body. In an instant, the light dissipated. And the black-haired teenager had vanished. In his place, now stood an adorable girl with a high ponytail, dressed in a school uniform, stretching her arms.

She approached the full-length mirror by the door and, after observing herself for a moment, raised her hands in resignation and put on a helpless expression.

The current Hui Lu was barely one meter forty-something tall. Her long silver hair cascaded down to her waist, tied up in a lively ponytail. Her sapphire-blue eyes shimmered with white reflections, giving her a mischievous and energetic look.

But if anyone saw her at this moment, they would probably be completely stunned by her extra features.

Atop her head, a pair of bluish-violet horns rose. On her back, a set of bifurcated, purple demonic wings fluttered gently. And behind her, a long, slender blue tail swayed, its tip forming a complex, hollowed-out triangular design.

The tip of her tail had a spiked ring floating around it, never touching, held in place by some unknown force.

Hui Lu’s current appearance was exactly like that of a legendary demon, though without the characteristic malice of such beings.

"I’ve been like this for two years now, and I’ve completely gotten used to living as a girl... Well, whatever, it’s not that big of a deal"

That’s right, Hui Lu used to be an ordinary boy. But one day, during his second year of middle school, without knowing how, he ended up taking this form.

What was strange was that she recognized this body’s identity perfectly. It was the character from a little-known online game, an adorable and charismatic Demon King.

However, it wasn’t an exact copy. Ever since she had taken on this appearance, her mind had also been filled with information about this body.

For starters, her hair was an even more intense shade of silver than the character in the game. Also, her voice wasn’t exactly the same...

But then again, in the game, the voice was performed by a professional voice actress, while in her case, this was her real voice, as a non-human being. And, after all, they weren’t the same person...

What was true, however, was that she was now a Demon King. Though, unlike the character in the game, she didn’t have abilities like summoning a demon god or manipulating souls.

The only ability she possessed was the power to generate an energy called 'magic'. After several experiments, she discovered that it was surprisingly versatile.

She could enhance her body, increase her strength and speed, and even coat the surface of his skin to improve the resistance of her otherwise fragile body.

She could generate a light blue force field to block external attacks or use magic directly to attack. She could even employ small amounts as a medium to manipulate other forms of energy, like electricity or wind.

At first, she thought her inhuman appearance would severely affect her daily life. However, she discovered that she could temporarily take on her former male appearance by continuously expending magic.

This allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief. Thanks to that ability, her life hadn’t changed too much over the past two years.

Even so, her available magic was limited, and there weren’t many ways to replenish it. Sleeping helped recover a bit, but only a minimal amount.

Food, on the other hand, turned out to be a considerable source of magic, making it the primary method of recovery.

Fortunately, her sense of taste hadn’t changed. While her personality and habits had undergone some modifications, they weren’t too drastic, except for two aspects: she had developed a strong preference for sweets and adorable things.

The problem was that her capacity to eat was quite limited, making it difficult to replenish the magic consumed to maintain her male appearance.

Luckily, she could absorb other forms of energy and, after a filtering and conversion process, transform them into magic to restore what was lost.

At one point, she even considered using electricity as an energy source. But after taking one look at the power bill, she immediately discarded the idea.

However, Hui Lu had always had the habit of sunbathing, and thanks to her ability to absorb and convert solar energy, she finally solved her magic supply problem… This truly was a legendary Demon King powered by solar energy!

Hui Lu, who was no longer human, had a very different bodily structure. If her magic was depleted beyond a certain point, it directly affected her mental state.

If she ever reached an extreme state of magic depletion, she would involuntarily fall into a deep sleep, and her body would violently siphon the surrounding energy to convert it into magic.

However, the magic obtained this way didn’t go through any filtering process, and the impurities in the stolen energy would cause severe damage to her body.

At first, when she was testing her abilities, she recklessly wasted magic. As a result, she ended up fainting in an alley and lay there for more than half a day.

Since then, she had started managing her magic with extreme care, just like she did with her meager salary.

How pitiful you are, Your Majesty the Demon King…

To save as much magic as possible, Hui Lu usually stayed in her original childlike form when no one was around.

Lying on the sofa, she hugged a cushion and hummed a tune while her thin legs swung lazily in the air.

After two years, she had completely gotten used to the changes in her body. At first, she rejected them, but over time, she came to accept how her behavior and mannerisms gradually aligned with her childish appearance.

"Ah… The bubble tea shop is closed today, how nice. I wish I could laze around like this every day~"

Sprawled on the sofa, her tail swayed from side to side. Using her sweet voice, Her Majesty the Demon King spoke the most unambitious words imaginable.