There was a gambling scene and I had MTL'ed my way to it. It, was absolutely amazing! The writing seemed simple and well, it was actually but the way the scene was painted is just chefs kiss. I got the same adrenaline from gambling despite just reading about it. I don't know why, maybe the author managed to put some spiritual energy into the writing haha however, it was just wow!

The Devil (ML), born from malice, is interested by the darkness of human nature. He loves making trouble in the horror instances in order to reveal the hypocrisy, selfishness, and cruelty of the players. On the other hand, the Magician (MC) spends the latter arcs helping other trainees. He sees the suffering of people as unnecessary, so he's irritated when others suffer unfairly. He's not motivated by kindness or a sense of justice, but rather by a selfish desire to stop feeling bad because the people he promised to save end up dying.

The ending highlights this. The ML, who can never bear to be on the losing side, actually gave up during the last instance. He was able to complete his task during the first day they entered that world, but he refused to accept his victory. Instead, he spent an entire year with the MC. When the MC finally cleared his task, the ML chose to gave him his victory so that the MC could win the Universal Wish Ticket.

Through this ticket, the MC could wish for anything as long as it's within the system's power. The ML knew that if the MC wished for the Infinite Loop to be destroyed, he would be destroyed along with it. Yet, he still chose to trust the MC and give the MC power over his life and death.

Meanwhile, the MC, who also can never bear to lose, actually chose to stay with the ML. His wish was for everyone in the Infinite Loop, including those who have died, to be given the option to leave. They CP turned the Infinite Loop into a game to give past players a chance to regain their memories if they so wished. Through this game, those who have died in the Infinite Loop could gather enough energy to return to the real world. Through all of this, the MC stayed with the ML. He even married him! He dragged the ML through instances, even sometimes returning to the real world so they could travel around, because he genuinely loved the ML and wanted to have interesting experiences with him. He won't say words of love since he's not that kind of person, but his actions more than reveal the deep love he holds for ML!

The ML was originally raised to be sacrifice who saves humanity by absorbing the malice of the world. His caretaker tried to save him, but eventually gave him up since the Church threatened to kill the 20+ other children she took care of. There was a problems during the ceremony: only fire could kill malice, so the Church set the ML on fire after he absorbed the malice of the world. However, the ML was born with two powers: 1) The ability to absorb malice; and 2) Resistance to fire. Since he couldn't be burned, the malice stayed in his body. He was eventually reborn into a new being, someone made purely of the world's malice. He ended up destroying his world and coming to the Infinite Loop.

Meanwhile, the MC was an orphan. He was born without emotions and didn't understand why people acted the way they did. He was raised by a kind nun, who advised him that since he couldn't understand social rules, he should just observe how others acted and emulate them. I won't comment on whether this is good advice or not, but because of this, the MC chose to reign himself in. He set rules for himself, such as never doing harm by children (this comes to play during one of the last arcs, where the ML reverted to his 6-year-old self. The MC had many opportunities to kill him but chose not to, partly because of his personal rule and partly because he was starting to like the ML).

The MC found interest in magic, but due to a car accident, his hands were ruined. He genuinely liked being in the Infinite Loop since it allowed him to heal his hands and he found the horror instances interesting.

The Devil

He was born from all the pure malice of his original world so I would find it stranger if we wasn't twisted?