These Demons Do it for Free

Chapter 1

Demon.

A higher-dimensional, intellectual being possessing unfathomable power.

Demon summoner.

One who borrows a fragment of that power in exchange for some form of payment to the demon.@@@@

Today, I summon a demon.

Today, I will become a demon summoner.

§

Three years.

That’s how much time has passed since I fell into this unfamiliar world.

Every day, I deeply felt the truth behind the words of the brilliant human mind, Professor Einstein: time is relative. As he said, these three years felt longer than the entirety of my life before.

At first, it was good. I was just a clueless high school student, dreaming and filled with hope, imagining myself as the protagonist of some otherworld fantasy like in the stories I had once read.

That dream shattered in just one week.

It was like a bubble popping.

In a world where I couldn’t understand the language, where I had no protector—thinking I could somehow be special was the moment my fate was sealed.

I fell into slavery.

Still, perhaps luck wasn’t completely absent. The cruel reality that pushed me to rock bottom ironically opened a door for survival. It only took one week in this world before I became a slave, but among the slaves, I was a rather valuable one.

No matter how different this world was, mathematical proof remained a universal truth that transcended dimensions. In this primitive world, my knowledge—just basic middle school math—was more than useful.

The one who bought me was the head of a merchant guild, and I became a calculation slave for over two years. After that, I bought myself back.

I became a freed slave.

I thought, for the first time since coming to this world, that maybe I had been lucky, thanks to having such a fair master.

But that was just the starting line.

Status. Appearance. Money. Power... I had none of these. I was still at the very bottom of society. Had I stayed in the guild, things might have been different, but after shedding my slave status and stepping out into the world, my path became even harsher.

My appearance and skin color marked me as a foreigner to them. Even as a freed slave, the stigma of being a former slave clung to me.

I tried to learn magic as my last hope, but it was pointless.

Some said I had no talent.

Others said I was too old to even start learning.

Three years may be a small fraction of my life—just a little over ten percent—but those last three years have been the most intense, changing me more than any other time.

And I realized.

There was nowhere lower for my life to sink.

"I have no other choice..."

If I wanted to change this miserable existence, I had to do anything.

No, I had to be willing to do anything.

It took me a long time to reach that determination.

With trembling eyes, I looked at the drawing on the ground.

A circular boundary with geometric patterns and symbols drawn inside it.

A demon’s summoning circle.

Even those who have hit rock bottom fear making a contract with a demon.

But that was the path I chose.

"I summon you."

I began, dropping a blood drop from my already injured fingertip.

Though I had no magic power to speak of, the power in my voice connected with the summoning circle, producing a screech like nails on a chalkboard.

The circle I had drawn would summon a random demon.

It’s a common, easily obtainable summoning circle.

If I was lucky, I’d summon a powerful and kind demon.

If unlucky, I’d get a weak or violent demon.

Or maybe the circle would fail to protect me, and the demon would devour me on the spot.

'Well, if that happens, I guess that’ll be the end for me.'

There’s no further to fall. No more hope to cling to.

This is my last chance. The dead-end of my life.

Either I break through, or I stop right here.

Squinting into the light pouring out of the summoning circle, I chanted the final incantation.

And then immediately after—

I felt a cold sweat trickling down my spine.

'Wait, did I... did I use Korean instead of the language of this world?'

“I need to cancel this...!”

The light of the summoning circle dimmed.

In the fading glow, the figure appeared.

But just as my heart clung to the idea of returning to Earth, the demon crushed that hope with a single word.

"It's impossible."

“Why...?"

"Because you're not ready yet."

What did she mean?

I was prepared to give everything.

Even if it meant mortgaging my soul and handing it over to the demon after death, I would seriously consider it—and, in the end, I’d probably agree.

When a summoner calls upon a demon's power, they must pay in three main ways:

Devotion sent to the demon.Offerings prepared to summon the demon.Price paid for borrowing the demon's power.

I was ready to accept all of these: the devotion, the offering, and the price.

But the demon shook her head.

“The power of a demon is far too vast for an ordinary human to contain. You need to grow, become stronger. Expand your capacity, raise your status. That’s why you came here, isn’t it?”

As she said that, her once lifeless, jewel-like eyes flashed with something alive for the first time.

It was a gaze that erased any doubts I had about whether or not she was truly a demon.

She extended her hand.

She offered a lifeline.

"You don't need to be discouraged. I'll give you the strength you need to keep moving forward."

As if mesmerized, I took her hand.

"...A contract."

At my words, the demon smiled.

Then, she slowly raised her hand, a bead of red blood forming at her fingertip.

"He who hears my name shall become my contractor."

With her voice, the droplet of blood fell from her fingertip.

It landed on the summoning circle I had drawn.

Her blood mixed with my own, which I had already spilled on the circle.

"My name is Seir, the one who grants wishes of courtesy."

The demon accepted my desire, took my offering, and asked for no price in return.

§

It felt like a dream.

A time as fleeting and surreal as a midsummer night’s dream.

Is this what people mean when they say they’ve been enchanted by a demon?

‘She said she’d be watching.’

If I wanted to summon her again, all I needed to do was remember her true name.

As I sat alone in the now-empty room where Seir had disappeared, I repeated her words over and over in my mind.

Then suddenly, I realized that I was no longer the same.

'This... this is magic.'

A strange sensation, impossible to describe, came from my back.

It was the contract mark—a symbol of my bond with the demon. Through it, I could feel Seir’s magic coursing through me.

I sharpened my focus, carefully and calmly trying to control the flow of magic.

Like thick, viscous tar, the black magic responded to my will, bubbling up inside me.

There it was.

The magic I had longed for.

For now, it wasn’t much.

The magic trickling through the contract mark was just a small cupful compared to the vast ocean of power on the other side—the limitless magic of Seir.

When Seir mentioned "capacity," she must have been referring to the ability to draw up that entire ocean at once.

But that’s still a long way off.

Still...

"Finally."

I had reached the starting line.

I had grabbed hold of a lifeline while standing on the edge of a cliff.

What I had to do now was learn how to handle this power and increase my capacity.

And I knew the way.

Just as Seir had mentioned, I had come here to seek that answer.

The source of mystery.

Wealth, fame, the unknown—the answers to everything.

In the Abyss.

I stood at the starting line. I had the power to run. I could see the goal.

Now, it was time to start running.