For me, the world was hard to live in.
Until I met him.
When I was young, my parents only fed me once every three days—because I only had one horn.
My little brother, who had two horns, got to eat twice a day.
In our clan's village, I was always the outcast. The other children would beat me, and sometimes even the adults would hit me—then blame me when their hands got hurt from it.
I was always hungry. I always just took it.
Looking back, I'm honestly surprised I survived—I was beaten that much, that often.
As I grew older, I learned why I was being tormented.
And I learned that there was nothing I could do to fix it.
A scrawny, pathetic one-horned ogre. Among ogres, who worshipped strength above all else, I had every reason to be cast out. The fact that I could accept that probably meant I was still an ogre at heart, didn't it?
Before long, I left the village.
No one came to see me off.
I had no intention of ever coming back. I never wanted to see my parents or my brother again. So this was for the best.
And yet, for some reason, tears fell from my eyes.
After that, I traveled across the Demon Continent.
The best part about traveling was that I could finally eat as much as I wanted.
In the forests, monsters were everywhere—but I could also find wild fruits and vegetables growing naturally.
My body finally grew to about the size of an average ogre.
Some demons I met along the way treated me kindly. But still, having only one horn made me a target of contempt more often than not.
At one point, I learned that a Demon Lord was staying in the town I was passing through. I decided to go see him.
I thought that even if I was weak for an ogre, I was still stronger than most other demons—I could be useful.
The Demon Lord took one look at me and said:
"I heard an ogre wanted to join my ranks, so I came all this way—and it's a one-horned one of all things. I have demons far above ogres already in my service. I'm not so desperate that I need to take in a one-horned wretch."
He laughed at me.
Insults like that were nothing new to me—just another day in my life. So I turned and left immediately.
But still, the tears came.
Was I truly an unwanted presence in this world?
I'd asked myself that question many times since childhood. Each time, I forced myself not to think about it.
But...
For me, the world was hard to live in.
I set my next destination as the "Blood Tears of the Demon Lord."
It was a coastal land where a handful of goblins and orcs lived a poor life. There wasn't much else living there.
Perhaps because it was so cold, plants didn't grow well either. The land was covered in red soil.
Why had I even come to a place like this?
I was probably feeling hopeless. I'd brought enough food to last a few days, but if I stayed here, I'd run out soon enough.
Maybe I should just swallow my pride and beg the goblins or orcs to let me stay with them. But they barely had enough food for themselves—they wouldn't welcome me with open arms.
And I was a one-horn. They wouldn't welcome me—they'd only scorn me.
Suddenly, a pack of Redcaps appeared before me. Redcaps were monsters with bright crimson manes.
Some humans confuse demons with monsters, but that's a big mistake. Demons are born from parents and bear children—but monsters spontaneously arise from places called mana pools, where magical energy builds up. They have no reason, no intelligence—only the instinct to attack any living thing they see. A truly troublesome existence.
Redcaps walk on two legs, but they're mindless, savage, and cruel. Individually, they aren't that strong. But if a large pack attacks, they can wipe out an entire village.
And this pack—over twenty of them.
I gripped the wooden club I'd made myself.
The pack before me wasn't that large. But if they attacked the goblin or orc villages, the damage would be considerable.
For their sake, I decided to fight.
Maybe—just maybe—if they learned what I'd done, they'd welcome me warmly.
That selfish thought crossed my mind too.
Still, the orc village was already destroyed.
The Redcaps I'd seen earlier were apparently only part of a larger pack. Countless Redcaps had overrun the village.
Orcs fled in panic.
And I—I couldn't bring myself to help them.
There were too many Redcaps.
This clearly wasn't a natural population for the "Blood Tears of the Demon Lord." They'd probably lost the competition for territory in nearby forests or mountains and been driven here.
I could only stand there, frozen, and watch.
Then—as if by fate, as if heaven itself had blessed the moment—a mana storm of impossible magnitude erupted.
Mana storms are magical disasters where wild mana whips through the air like a hurricane. While one's happening, it becomes impossible to control magic properly. Worse, after a mana disaster, many new monsters are born. Most people avoid them.
But this time, it was a blessing.
The ones who suffer most from a mana disaster aren't living creatures—they're actually the monsters themselves.
Mana storms are wild torrents of raw magical energy.
For naturally born demons, they feel like strong wind pressure at worst. But for monsters—creatures born of mana itself—it's a fatal blow. Those beings, born from magic, have their very existence destabilized by the storm.
After a fierce mana storm that lasted dozens of minutes, all that remained were the corpses of Redcaps and orcs.
I just stood there, dumbfounded.
No—I had stood by and let countless orcs die.
How could I possibly face the goblins now? What right did I have to ask them for anything?
Now I truly had nowhere left to go.
I didn't want to go back to the Demon Continent. And if I went to the True Continent, I wouldn't survive—at best, I'd end up as a slave. What should I do?
Ah... it hurts...
Why... Why were tears still falling?
Was I truly unwanted by everyone? Did no one truly care about me?
I'm so lonely.
I wasn't going to claim I'd traveled the whole world—but my world had always been small, suffocating, and painful.
I'm so lonely.
Was that why? Was that why I'd come here—to die?
I'm so lonely.
Lonely. Lonely.
Lonely. Lonely. Lonely.
Lonely. Lonely. Lonely. Lonely—lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely...
It all came flooding out.
Ah... I can't... I can't hold it back anymore.
Tears streamed from my eyes. Sobs escaped my lips.
I want someone to need me. I want someone to be my friend. I want someone to love me. I want someone to praise me—tell me I did well, that I was good, that they were grateful.
Someone—
Please—
Smile at me.
One thought after another surfaced, only to fade away.
I knew it was pointless.
For me—
"—!?"
Suddenly, the world changed.
The biting chill against my skin vanished in an instant.
I felt something—like being wrapped in warmth. Neither too hot nor too cold. Comfortable, even.
What was happening? Had I brushed against some hallucinogenic plant? Or was this another monster attack?
I looked around, and a vortex of light erupted at my feet and swallowed me.
When the light faded, I was in a pure white room.
Before me stood a strange man, his face hidden behind his hands.
He looked more frail than any demon I'd ever seen—more fragile than any living creature I'd ever encountered.
"Hey—sorry for calling you so suddenly," he said. "I'm a Demon Lord. Name's Amduskias."
When he lowered his hands,
The man—
Smiled at me.
From that moment on, the world became a gentle, warm, and joyful place.
Summary:
A one-horned ogre outcast from her clan endures a lifetime of starvation, beatings, and scorn before leaving to wander the Demon Continent, finding only rejection and loneliness. She arrives at the desolate "Blood Tears of the Demon Lord" hoping to die, but after a mana storm wipes out a Redcap pack and the orc village she intended to protect, she is left with nothing. At her lowest, a man named Amduskias appears and smiles at her, changing everything.
Trivia:
The protagonist's single horn caused her parents to starve her.
Her brother received double the food for having two horns.
Ogre society worships strength above all else.
The protagonist leaves home with no intention of returning.
Tears fall from her eyes when leaving, despite not wanting to return.
She travels the Demon Continent and finally grows to average ogre size.
Some demons treat her kindly, but one-horned status invites scorn.
A Demon Lord refuses her request to join, mocking her one horn.
She cannot control her tears even after years of abuse.
She sets her destination to "Blood Tears of the Demon Lord."
The region has red soil, cold climate, and sparse vegetation.
Redcaps are monsters with crimson manes, walk on two legs, and are mindless and cruel.
Monsters spontaneously arise from "mana pools" where mana accumulates.
Demons are born from parents and bear children, unlike monsters.
A pack of over twenty Redcaps appears before the protagonist.
She decides to fight to protect the goblins and orcs.
The orc village is already destroyed when she arrives.
The Redcaps she saw were only part of a larger horde.
A mana storm erupts, killing the Redcaps and orcs.
Mana storms are magical disasters that make magic unusable.
Monsters suffer most from mana storms since they are born of mana.
The protagonist blames herself for letting the orcs die.
She has nowhere left to go and fears enslavement on the True Continent.
She experiences a mental breakdown with repeated "lonely" statements.
A strange man appears in a pure white room after a vortex of light.
The man is named Amduskias and calls himself a Demon Lord.
Amduskias smiles at her, the first smile anyone has given her.
The world becomes gentle, warm, and joyful from that moment.
Notes:
• Amduskias - A frail-looking Demon Lord and Dungeon Master appearing in a pure white room. He wears a gakuran and sneakers, wielding the Mana Spring, Divine Protection, and summoning abilities. Pragmatic, self-aware, and easily distracted, this modern isekai figure values sincerity over tradition. Formerly guided by God, he is now newly reborn, seeking allies and warmly welcoming the protagonist.