After Ten Millennia in Hell

"Kiieekk…"

The horde of Lizardmen covered in hellfire collapsed to the ground. Already tired from fighting against Jeong Ho-Jun's party, the Lizardmen died from Oh Kang-Woo's attack without being able to put up a fight.

"I guess that pretty much takes care of them," Kang-Woo murmured while looking at the swamp that had become a valley of death.

The scene would make anyone vomit, but Kang-Woo calmly walked across the swamp.

Back when he was in Hell, he had seen many grotesque scenes of corpses lying in pools of blood. The everyday scenes in Hell were more horrifying than this one of a swamp littered with corpses. This level of gore was too mild to shake Kang-Woo.

"Now, let's begin."

Rather, to Kang-Woo, the hundred or so corpses of Lizardmen looked like a feast.

'Although I got almost no experience points…'

Most of the Lizardmen had been killed by Ho-Jun's party, so Kang-Woo had gotten almost no experience points. If he were an average Player, he would feel a bit disappointed, but Kang-Woo had another way to get stronger besides leveling up.

Kang-Woo walked toward the corpses of the Lizardmen. Black smoke emerged from his body and covered the corpses.

Crunch! Crunch!

As the horrible sounds of flesh being munched rang out, the demonic energy inside the Lizardmen's souls was absorbed by Kang-Woo.

Ring!

[Demonic Energy has risen by 1.]

'Good.'

Many Lizardmen had died in this battle, so Kang-Woo managed to absorb a considerable amount of demonic energy.

He continued using the Authority of Predation, and the approximately one hundred Lizardmen corpses quickly disappeared.

Riiing.

[Authority of Predation cannot be used on subjects under the Gaia System's protection.]

"Hmm?"

A message window with a new message Kang-Woo had never seen before appeared in front of him.

Kang-Woo tilted his head while looking at it.

'Gaia System?'

He had heard these words when he first arrived on Earth, but he didn't know what they meant.

Kang-Woo frowned at the unexpected message.

"Ah."

It was at this moment that Kang-Woo remembered Ho-Jun's party.

"Now that I think about it, they're here too."

Among the mountain of Lizardman corpses, Kang-Woo found Ho-Jun, who had been killed by a spear piercing through his chest.

It seemed like the Authority of Predation had tried to devour Ho-Jun and his party members by mistake.

'Subjects under the Gaia System's protection… Is it referring to Players?'

Kang-Woo wasn't sure what the Gaia System was. Nevertheless, considering that he had never seen this kind of message window while using the Authority of Predation on monsters, there was a high chance the subjects mentioned in the message were Players.

'Then this means that I can't use Predation on Players' corpses.'

The first time Kang-Woo had heard about the Traits of Players, he'd naturally thought about whether he could absorb their Traits with his Authority of Predation. Since he could absorb the Authorities of demons, he'd thought that he should be able to obtain the Traits of other Players.

'Well, I guess it doesn't matter.'

Kang-Woo turned away from Ho-Jun's corpse without a hint of disappointment.

The Traits of other Players meant nothing to him. After all, he already had 666 Authorities that practically made him omnipotent.

'The important thing isn't the Traits but the amount of demonic energy.'

The most crucial thing to him was getting enough demonic energy so that he could freely use his 666 Authorities.

Crunch!

Kang-Woo finished absorbing all of the Lizardman corpses with his Predation.

Riiing.

[Demonic Energy has risen by 2.]

[Demonic Energy has reached 30.]

"Sigh."

Kang-Woo let out a short sigh after feeling the demonic energy spread throughout his body.

After absorbing the corpses of hundreds of Lizardmen during this hunt, he certainly felt that quite a considerable amount of demonic energy had accumulated in his body.

'The stat rose by five at once.'

It wasn't a bad result. The fact that he had been able to obtain so much demonic energy without doing much was an incredible achievement.

'I guess its quality also increases with the number.'

After reaching a stat number of 30, his demonic energy became much denser.

Kang-Woo used Andras's Authority as a test.

Black flames the size of a person's head blazed in his hand. The energy flowing out of the hellfire now was more ferocious than before, when it had only been the size of his palm.

'Good.'

He could feel a bigger difference with his demonic energy stat rising from 25 to 30 than when it went from 10 to 20.

'Now, I just need to level up.'

Kang-Woo nodded to himself while collecting the mana stones on the ground.

All he had to do now was level up and achieve his Third Awakening. Then, he would finally be able to confirm if the seal of the Ten Thousand Demon Core would weaken with each Awakening.

'I guess I'll hunt a bit more.'

He slowly walked away while leaving behind the cold corpses of Ho-Jun's party.

* * *

Three days after the incident with Ho-Jun's party, Kang-Woo continued to level up at an incredible pace while horde-hunting Lizardmen. It took most people about two months to achieve their Third Awakening, but Kang-Woo was already Level 19. If someone were to find out about the speed at which he was leveling up, they would be shocked beyond belief.

"I'll probably achieve my Third Awakening today," Kang-Woo mumbled to himself after having breakfast with Han Seol-Ah.

'Once I reach it, I'll go to a higher-ranking Gate.'

Players needed to be promoted to C-rank to be qualified to enter a C-rank Gate. To do that, not only did they require mana stone exchange statements, but they also needed a Level Certificate that proved that they had achieved their Third Awakening.

It was a safety measure put in place for C-rank Gates and above because the monsters inside them were incomparable to those in D-rank Gates. The monsters in C-rank Gates were so strong that many Players stayed in D-rank Gates even after achieving their Third Awakening. Those people usually earned a living by operating a carry service. Ho-Jun's party members had been like them.

'Additionally, the inspections are apparently far stricter for C-rank Gates and up…'

The soldiers manning the D-rank and E-rank Gates barely looked at Player licenses; it was as if they were doing age checks in a bar. However, this was very different for C-rank and above Gates. The soldiers thoroughly inspected every single personal detail required to ensure the Player had permission to access the Gate.

Kang-Woo wasn't sure if he would be able to enter by using just his Authority of Blindness.

'Since I already have enough mana stones to reach the quota, I just need to level up.'

In just three days, Kang-Woo had earned ninety-two million won. A D-rank mana stone from a Lizardman sold for two hundred and thirty thousand won, and he had hunted over four hundred Lizardmen. It had been a while back since he had already surpassed the number of mana stones necessary for the exchange to raise his Player rank.

"Kang-Woo, will you be hunting at the Gate today as well?" Seol-Ah asked.

"Yes, I'll probably be back by dinner."

"Aren't you pushing yourself too hard? You haven't taken a day off in the past few days…"

"I'm fine," Kang-Woo said calmly.

He really wasn't tired at all.

Hunting Lizardmen had become easier for him after his Demonic Energy stat surpassed 30. Kang-Woo was stronger than two to three carrying parties combined, so there was no way he would be tired.

"Mm, understood."

"How much longer will your basic training last, Seol-Ah?"

"Just a few more days. We'll start Goblin hunting today to level up."

"I see."

"I'm not sure if I'll get a good Trait, but… I want to get my Second Awakening as soon as possible."

"You'll reach it soon."

After having a short conversation with Seol-Ah, Kang-Woo went to the D-rank Gate.

Just like always, many people were gathered in front of the Gate to find party members.

'I've gotten used to this scenery,' Kang-Woo thought.

It had been six days since he returned to Earth. Now he'd become used to seeing people wandering around instead of demons.

'I should take a break after getting my Third Awakening.'

Becoming stronger and earning money to enjoy life on Earth was fine, but he hadn't been able to do any of the things he'd been craving.

Kang-Woo walked toward the Gate while thinking that once he had completed his Third Awakening, he would go enjoy all kinds of entertainment with the money he'd earned by selling mana stones.

"Hey, mister. Are you really struggling that much to find a party?"

"Yes. No one wants a rogue…"

"Haha! Then why don't you join us?"

"Whoa! R-Really?"

While Kang-Woo was walking toward the Gate, he heard a familiar voice.

"Hmm?" Kang-Woo turned toward the voice.

'He must've gotten his Second Awakening.'

It was Kang Tae-Soo, the young man whom Kang-Woo had met while Goblin hunting. Tae-Soo's party already had a few members, but he was still talking to a rogue with whom no one wanted to form a team.

'He's the same as before.'

Kang-Woo smirked at the sight before entering the Gate.

'I should say hi to him later.'

It was said that even a slight brush of sleeves could draw a line of destiny between people. Since Kang-Woo didn't hate people like Tae-Soo, he thought that they should at least exchange greetings.

'But leveling up comes first.'

While staring at his level, which had been stuck at 19 for a while, Kang-Woo quickly searched for a group of Lizardmen. He had something much more important to do than greeting Tae-Soo.

'Found them.'

After finding a group of three Lizardmen, Kang-Woo threw a ball of hellfire the size of his head toward them.

"Kiieekk!!"

The three Lizardmen screamed desperately before burning up and dying instantly.

"Good. Next up…"

Kang-Woo was about to search for his next targets when he heard a familiar sound.

Riiing.

[You have successfully defeated the D-rank monster Lizardman.]

[Your level has risen by 1.]

"Huh?"

Kang-Woo stared bewilderedly at the message window in front of him.