I had chosen her on a whim. That day, after I consolidated my resolve, she was the first person to greet me when I first stepped into the building. Her reserved, but energetic "Good morning," was pleasant to the ear...I wouldn't mind hearing it more often.

Plus, I had decided that I needed a secretary, or a helper of some sort, to do all the boring stuff. Of course, if such a person had an interest in anime and manga, that would help a lot. It'd be much easier to explain my vision if we shared interests. Naturally, I called Ms. Kang into my office on some pretext, to test her a little.

Little did I know, as she walked in calmly and sat down, crossing her legs in an unintentionally s.e.xy manner, what the following conversation would bring forth.

We ended up talking a lot. I had gotten the impression that Ms. Kang was quite the fan of manga. It was probably the only time her expression ever softened, especially when talking about her favorite manga.

It was Death No*e, apparently.

We talked until the sun was setting, when I told her to come back tomorrow with all her things. Once she left, I did a little research into her, following her home. Magically, of course. No need to be caught and labeled a creep.

What I found surprised me.

She lived in an apartment, which was quite normal. However, the entire apartment was a shrine to modern otaku culture. A big poster of Light from Death No*e greeted you as you entered the apartment, and it was all more anime from there.

She was an avid collector of figures, manga, DVD's, drama CD's, video games...every surface that could be decorated, was decorated with manga and anime. She had shelves upon shelves of the stuff, some encased in gla.s.s cases above her bed, others neatly stacked near her TV. I briefly wondered if she had Naru*o brand toilet paper.

No, that seemed too "mainstream" for her.

Then again, Death No*e was her favorite manga.

I also found that she was a grandmaster healer main in O*erwatch, which she streamed occasionally. No face, no voice, just gameplay.

It was the streaming that made me decide to take a chance on her. On her Streams, she showed her gameplay, but hid her face. It showed that she wanted to be recognized for her talents, but didn't necessarily want to be publically known, or to be trapped in the prison of fame. Furthermore, it also showed that she didn't want coast by on her looks. After all, Ms. Kang had quite an attractive face. Then again, I had developed a taste for bespectacled women, so I suppose my tastes weren't indicative of every male.

In any case, if she wanted her talents to s.h.i.+ne, but her image to be hidden, I could be the perfect pillar for her to hide behind.

I stroked my chin as I looked off into the abyss. The only source of light was the road below us, casting strange shadows on our faces. Ms. Kang's normally blank expression looked particularly fierce in this light.

"I got the idea from a manga you have here," I started. "From a little series called F*llmetal Alchemist?"

I saw her eyes widen slightly as she thought about what I was saying. I nodded.

"I want to create a h.o.m.onculus," I clarified.

"Oh," she said. I didn't know if that was in relief, or disappointment.

"The idea is to create bodies strong enough to support the souls of my friends," I went on to explain. "As I mentioned, magic is abundant here, but the people here have no capacity to feel it. I need bodies that can sense and control magic. For that we need research, and labs."

I laid out my plans to open labs and have scientists perform experiments on animals and people to first create chimeras, then h.o.m.onculi. Since none of the scientists could use magic, we would be using magical tech that I created myself to help the scientists perform their experiments.

Of course, all of this was complete and utter bull. I had no friends in my old world, and I did not have a way to bring them over. All of this was just to establish a good backstory for me, this world's first Demon Lord, as well as to create villains for the heroes to fight against.

The idea was that I would create these labs that would be using actual magical items to try and create chimeras, and eventually h.o.m.onculi. Once they got there, I could just imbue some sort of artificial personality onto it; probably copy some human's brain and add in some memories about being in another world. It would probably take some time, but it wasn't like I had anything better to do.

The important thing would be seeing if these people could actually do it though. These people had managed to do so much without magic, I was curious to see if they could do it with some magical items. After all, anyone could use magical items, even non-mages. Maybe some would even learn to sense and control magic themselves.

In any case, I wanted to open labs for humans to do experiments in. Very non-humane experiments. The sort that people would get mad about.

And I wanted to get Alice to help with that.

Of course, if Alice knew all this, she could probably help me better. So why am I lying to her?

Simple. It would be more fun. Plus, there was a chance that she would betray me, and that kind of development would be brilliant for any story. Just imagine it, Ms. Kang hair rippling in the wind as she levels a huge, magical weapon of some sort at me, speaking softly:

"I'm sorry Mr. Rupert (because we're on first name basis now, due to our familiarity) but I cannot abide by your machinations! I must take a stand against your evil plan!!"

And then I would reply with:

"Alice...after all this time...you still know nothing about me! You complete and utter FOOL!"

And then I would laugh maniacally...ah...what a scene...

Ahem. I'm getting ahead of myself.

Of course, if she didn't end up betraying me that would be fine too. Actually it would probably make things smoother, but whatever.

Besides, a Demon Lord would never tell his mere henchman everything. Not even his most loyal and closest subject.

I watched her as I spoke, gauging her reaction. So far, nothing. She was completely impa.s.sive to everything I said.

Impressive.

"And what happens once you've made the perfect vessels?" Alice asked, once I finished my explanation.

"Simple. I bring over my friends, and we destroy this world," I said.

"Everything?"

"Everything."

"Even manga?"

I paused at that.

"Ah," I said. I had not thought about that point.

"You also mentioned that you wanted to become a Demon Lord," she went on. "Does that mean there will be a hero to come and stop you? If no one here can use magic, how would that happen?"

"Oh, because I'll create them," I answered. "It's no fun if there's no challenge. I mean, I'm sure there will be logistical challenges and all, but if there is no one out there trying to stop me, trying to uncover and expose me, well..."

"It's just not as fun," said Alice, nodding slowly. I saw the shadows on her face s.h.i.+ft slightly, changing her expression. I couldn't read it, but somehow, I knew she understood. Someone who's favorite manga was Death No*e would definitely understand.

"Exactly," I said, snapping my fingers. "And if I win, well, I guess this world wasn't meant to exist. I'll take all the fun I can, then move onto the next world. I have the power of reincarnation, after all."

That was probably the more in-character thing to say. If it really came to it though, and the heroes couldn't stop me, then I would probably end up just destroying everything, saying it was all some accident, then do it all again. In fact, that would probably be the most likely outcome, now that I think of it.

Oh well. Endings are usually pretty bad for stories anyway. The beginning and middle parts are usually the best, and at the very least, I'll get lots of those.

It'd be pretty funny if the ending turned out good. I think I'd like to see that.

I noticed absently that Alice simply watched as I stared into the distance. She seemed to be thinking about something.

"How will you make the heroes?" Alice asked, snapping me out of my reverie. Ah, right.

"I'll give them a bit of my power," I answered. "Just a bit of magic, and just enough for them to overcome their trials. I've done it before, in my old world."

Pa.s.sing on magical power in the form of "special abilities" was a surefire way of getting loyalty back in my old world. Give a guy the power to throw fireb.a.l.l.s or freeze their enemies in time, and they end up giving their entire lives to you.

"And how many heroes will you make?" she asked. I blinked. How many?

I never thought of that. I supposed that I would do one at a time.

"Also, how do you expect them to find out about your plan? What sort of genre are you going for? Shonen battle? Mystery thriller?"

All the questions I had been stuck on for two days now. I grinned as we began our discussion.

About an hour later, we returned back to my office.

"I will go over the plans we discussed, and draw up a timeline immediately," she said, bowing slightly. "Please give me one day to make the proper arrangements."

"Very good," I said, nodding. "Then we will meet again tomorrow, here in my office, at noon."

I checked my watch; it was time for lunch.

"Your office is on the floor below mine," I said, pointing towards the elevator. "Feel free to ask for anything you may need from the relevant departments."

"Thank you."

And with another polite bow, she was gone.

I sat in my seat for a moment, mulling over how that went.

Very well. Exceedingly well. Too well to believe was real.

Alice wasn't normal. She was calm, rational, and completely devoid of any empathy for her fellow human beings. She had some questions, sure, but it didn't seem like she was really concerned with them. In fact, the only thing she really seemed worried about was that anime and manga may end.

This wasn't even considering her absolutely brilliant performance today. It was almost as if she was born for this, as if she was born to be the a.s.sistant to the world's first Demon Lord.

For the first time since I got into this world, I felt as if I was finally doing what I was meant to.