[Eleanor! I heard you injured some boys from your school, AGAIN!]

 

In a room that serves as a home office, a dandy middle aged man, who seems to be balding and graying hair probably due to stress rather than age, is scolding his daughter Elle, short for Eleanor, a harmless looking beautiful girl fifteen years of age. There's a third person at the side, a maid slightly older than the girl quietly watching the exchange.

 

It was a Friday noon. Obviously, the father-daughter pair shouldn't be at home during office and school hours, yet here they are.

 

[I couldn't help it, father, they're harassing me. Besides, they're known delinquents in the school.]

 

Replied the girl with a straight face as if it’s someone else's problem.

 

[That's not the point. With you and your violent tendencies, the injuries you caused were too much!]

[I don't have violent tendencies]

 

The middle aged man, Elle's father, Mr Demobraun, sighs as if giving up and calms down.

 

[Right, your tendencies for cruelty. What of the VR equipment I got for you? I was hoping you'd use that as an outlet instead of the people around you.]

 

What Mr Demobraun was referring to was a headband-like gear connected to a computer.

When worn, one can full-dive into a virtual world with all their senses during their sleep.

 

[I have grown bored of it. The reactions of AI are still slightly different from actual people. I now only use it occasionally to simulate fights against professionals and multiple people.]

 

(So this girl knows how real people would react to her cruelties? And she's not even denying her tendencies for cruelty..)

 

Mr Demobraun as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

 

[Here I am using VR for random recreation only. Fighting professionals? Anyway, it seems you haven't heard of the new online features released recently. You should be able to meet other people in the virtual world now. If you're looking for genuine reactions, look there instead of causing trouble in your school, I'm begging you.]

[I'll check it out then. Is there anything else?]

[No, you may go. Oh by the way, you're suspended from your school for a week for excessive "self defense". Be thankful, it would've been a month if the victims' mothers weren't charmed by me.]

 

Elle finally broke her straight face. She looked at her father with a questioning look when she’s about to leave.

 

[I was the victim, though? And who's gonna be charmed by that receding hairline?]

[Shut up! Whose fault do you think it is that I'm balding from stress? Just go already. Beatrice, take her to her room.]

 

Mr Demobraun orders Beatrice, the maid who's been quiet until now.

 

[Yes sir. Let's go, Elle.]

[Okay, Betty. Now, explain to me about the new online features on our way.]

 

Elle hugs Betty's arms as they chat on their way out. They seem close enough with such skinship and nicknames.

 

The evening that day, Elle was getting ready for bed as she set up the VR equipment.

(Betty said the new online functions will let me interact with actual people, like playing sports, social events like partying, and some games. The most interesting one is that MMORPG in a fantasy setting. Dream World Online, was it? I might be able to relive my Demon Lord life there.)

Elle thought as she slowly fell asleep.

 

---

 

Ten years ago, Elle suddenly became bedridden for a week with high fever and blurry consciousness. That was when she started remembering her past life as a Demon Lord. Before that, she was just a regular five year old that was doted on by her well-off father who became a widower as his wife died during childbirth.

 

(What the hell is this, I became a regular human! And this world..it has no magic!)

 

Elle thought as she went in and out of consciousness.

 

(The last thing I remember..damn, the hero killed me! I would've won if my sister didn't betray me. I knew she had the hots for the hero, but I never thought that level-headed girl would act on those feelings.)

 

In that world where Elle ruled as the Demon Lord, she was truly evil as a Demon Lord would be.

She conquered lands and enslaved its residents for fun. The prosperity of the demons was just something extra. In fact, she enjoyed the wars more when both sides suffered great damage, though she still tried to avoid such results since it's not sustainable. Most of the time, at least.

 

Majority of the demons had similar nature and hailed Elle's actions, except her sister and a few high ranking demons who always opposed her cruel ways.

 

(Now that I think about it, she and her faction have been against me being the Demon Lord even before meeting the hero. Ahh whatever, I'm no longer in that world anyway, and this world's technological level is quite interesting.)

 

---

 

After Elle's recovery, the people around her thought she changed. In her free time, she'd ask to go to the library and read difficult books, mostly about history, law, and ethics. If she couldn't go to the library, she would play around, but unlike before, the contents of her play time was different.

 

(Looks like I have to behave at a certain level in this world. The society here is heavily controlled and monitored. These insects will do for now.)

 

She thought as she tortured and killed insects and small animals, and sometimes severely bullied other kids emotionally and psychologically. Those that tried to fight her were beaten badly.

 

She couldn't be corrected by the servants and her father. This was the start of her father's frequent stress, and caused him to start balding too early for his age.

Elle was diagnosed with sociopathy.