After Ten Millennia in Hell

"Arrogant prick!" the young man covered in acne, Jeong Ho-Jun, said while frowning.

"Ho-Jun oppa, just ignore him. You know there are many arrogant people among the newbie Players."

"Sigh. That fucking newbie..." Ho-Jun cursed after listening to Seo Ye-Ri, who was trying to calm him down.

Ho-Jun had managed to achieve his Third Awakening after going through numerous near-death situations. However, after achieving it, he realized that he was a talentless Player.

The Trait he had unlocked with his Third Awakening was C-rank. His previous Trait ranks were E and D. Since his Traits were of a low rank, he couldn't join parties to enter higher-ranking Gates, and that's why he’d ended up staying at a D-rank Gate.

Ho-Jun had reached a point where he couldn't get any more experience points from monsters of D-rank Gates. So, he gave up on his dream of going to higher-ranking Gates and set up a carrying service instead. The Players that engaged his services were people with low or average-ranking Traits who couldn't move on to higher-ranking Gates.

'I'm not sure how good you are, but...'

Ho-Jun clenched his fists while biting his lip in anger.

When a newbie Player with no armor or weapons was that arrogant, it could only mean one thing. He had been lucky and unlocked a high-ranking Trait.

'I'll take this opportunity to teach him a lesson.'

Ho-Jun’s eyes burned with envy as he looked at the Gate entrance.

Although Trait rank was important, one couldn't ignore the difference in level. A Player who had just achieved his Second Awakening should only have a B-rank Trait at most, even if he'd been really lucky. In that case, a difference of one Trait rank wasn't enough to compensate for the gap between their levels.

"Ye-Ri, it's the first time you've seen that guy. Right?"

"Yes. We've been here all the time lately, but I've never seen his face."

"Then he's definitely someone who just achieved his Second Awakening."

There was no reason for a high-level Player to come to a low-ranking Gate. Because of the difference in level, one wouldn't be able to gain experience points. Furthermore, there was a huge difference in the mana stone prices.

Some high-level Players went to low-ranking Gates from time to time to help a newbie member from the same guild level up. However, that guy had been alone, so that probably wasn't the case.

"Among the people who have completed basic training, there wasn't anyone who had obtained an A-rank Trait or higher, right?"

"Yeah. There was none, at least during the past month."

"Good."

Now that Ho-Jun knew that the opponent was someone who had average talent and was an arrogant newbie, there was nothing for him to be afraid of.

"The carrying service is closed for today."

"Oppa, you’re not thinking of..."

"Let's teach that snot-nosed brat a lesson."

The rest of the party members smiled at Ho-Jun's words.

Ye-Ri laughed with her hands covering her mouth and then nodded.

“Sounds good. Finally, some fun."

"Come to think of it. It’s been a while since we’ve had fun."

"I’m in too, hyung-nim."

The rest of the party members were in a similar situation to Ho-Jun. Because of their low-ranking Traits, they couldn't enter a higher-ranking Gate. Their envy of lucky Players was just as bad or worse than Ho-Jun's. They also had past experiences of teaching arrogant newbie Players a lesson.

"Okay, shall we?" Ho-Jun entered the Gate while smiling.

* * *

"What do you want?" Oh Kang-Woo asked Ho-Jun, who had called out to him.

It wasn't the first time he'd seen Ho-Jun’s face.

'It's the guy from before.'

Ho-Jun was the guy who had offered to carry Kang-Woo at the Gate entrance. He was looking at Kang-Woo somewhat mockingly.

"As someone more experienced than you, I was worried about whether your hunting was going well," Ho-Jun said with a shady smile.

Kang-Woo smirked at Ho-Jun’s attempt to mock him.

'Cute.'

It wasn't hard for Kang-Woo to understand the situation. He could tell just from looking at their expressions why they had decided to approach him.

'Are they trying to play a prank on me?'

Trampling on the weak was a basic desire that all living things had, as it made them feel better about themselves.

'But…'

This group was wrong about something.

'I'm not weak.'

Kang-Woo wasn't a weak person who couldn't do anything by himself. He was the demon of demons, the predator of predators.

His lips curled up, and he opened his mouth with deep, sunken eyes.

He said, "As you can see, hunting is going well."

"Hmm." Ho-Jun looked around the area. "But there isn't even a single corpse."

Kang-Woo had said that hunting was going well, but there weren't any Lizardman corpses around him.

Kang-Woo shrugged and replied calmly, "I was just taking a break."

"Really? Hmm. But aren't you being too rude toward your sunbae?"

"That's because your meddlesome attitude is annoying, sunbae."

Ho-Jun frowned after seeing that Kang-Woo wasn't discouraged by the harsh atmosphere.

"Damn prick..."

He wasn't sure what rank Kang-Woo’s Trait was, but Kang-Woo's attitude ground his gears.

'I’m sure his Trait is B-rank at most.'

If a Player managed to get a B-rank Trait in their Second Awakening, they were considered a talented Player. If that happened, they would receive lots of calls from different guilds and parties. Of course, there was a chance that they wouldn't be able to unlock a higher-ranking Trait in the future, but many people stayed arrogant until they found that out.

"Are you here to pick a fight or what?" Kang-Woo asked Ho-Jun with his arms crossed.

Even the other party members, who had been watching silently, picked up their weapons while frowning.

"Hah."

"For God’s sake, this bastard..."

However, Ho-Jun extended his hand to gesture to his party members. "Stop."

"But Ho-Jun..."

"Don't worry. We’re definitely going to teach this brat a lesson," Ho-Jun said with a smirk.

There was no need for them to get their hands dirty.

'There's a better way,' Ho-Jun thought.

After all, the scariest thing for newbie Players wasn't other Players. It was monsters.

"Hehe, I'll make you regret being so arrogant," Ho-Jun stated.

"You’re getting my hopes up,” Kang-Woo said.

"Hmph, let's see how long you can keep that attitude up."

Ho-Jun took out his shortsword. He smiled and extended his arms, which were covered with wrist guards.

It seemed like Ho-Jun’s party members knew what Ho-Jun planned to do, and they looked at him expectantly.

"Did you know that Lizardmen are extremely sensitive to sound?" Ho-Jun asked.

"…" Kang-Woo didn’t reply.

Nevertheless, that was information he already knew.

'I see what he’s up to,' Kang-Woo thought.

When Kang-Woo realized what Ho-Jun was trying to do, he smirked.

Considering how Ho-Jun had brought his shortsword close to his wrist guard and mentioned Lizardmen being sensitive to sound, there was only one possible course of action that Ho-Jun could possibly take.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Ho-Jun used his shortsword to hit his wrist guard, producing a metallic sound that echoed throughout the swamp.

'I knew it.' Kang-Woo smiled at Ho-Jun's petty and predictable behavior.

Rush!

"Kiieekk!!"

Kang-Woo could hear the screams of the approaching Lizardmen.

Ho-Jun said with a smirk, "The best way to teach a rude newbie a lesson is by using monsters."

After leveling up and getting used to fighting against monsters, most Players became more afraid of other Players. That was because monsters only tried to kill them, but other Players often inflicted pain worse than death.

However, newbie Players who weren't used to fighting monsters were usually more afraid of monsters than Players. After all, monsters were obvious enemies, a threat to humanity. They were creatures that tore apart the skin of humans and drank their blood. So, it was normal that newbie Players who had never experienced a real battle in their lives were scared of them.

"So, that’s your play, huh?" Kang-Woo said.

"Why? Are you scared now?" Ho-Jun asked while laughing. "At least ten Lizardmen are going to rush over here. I don’t know how amazing your Trait is, but will you be able to face all ten of them at once?"

"…"

"Haha. You don't need to worry. We’ll help you if you're about to die. Although… you may get severely injured, and maybe you won't be able to use some parts of your body again. But it's a cheap price if you think of this as a life lesson."

Upon seeing that Kang-Woo was silent, Ho-Jun hit his shortsword against his wrist guard with a wider swing.

Clang!

A more distinct metallic sound spread throughout their surroundings.

Yet, Kang-Woo remained silent while watching Ho-Jun's actions. In Ho-Jun's eyes, Kang-Woo looked afraid.

"Why? Why aren’t you acting as cheeky as you did before? Huh?" Ho-Jun mocked.

"…"

"Hahaha! You’ve frozen now that monsters are actually coming!" Ho-Jun laughed excitedly.

Kang-Woo smirked. "Are you sure?"

"Huh?"

"Are you sure you’re fine with just that?"

"What the hell are you talki—"

"If you're gonna do that, you might as well go all the way."

Kang-Woo extended his hands and clapped with all of his strength while looking at the confused Ho-Jun.

Boom!!!

His hands produced an explosive sound.

‘Authority of Sonority.’

It was an Authority that used demonic energy to make sounds loud enough to rupture eardrums.

"Gasp!"

"Wh-What have you done?!"

The faces of Ho-Jun and his party members turned pale.

Lizardmen were sensitive to sound. Making a loud sound like that in their territory was suicide.

Rush!!

"Kiieekk!!"

The sounds of Lizardmen rang out all around as the Lizardmen approached the source of the loud noise.

"Y-You crazy—"

Boom!

Boooooooooom!

Yet, Kang-Woo didn't stop at just one clap. He used the Authority of Sonority multiple times. Loud sounds similar to dozens of bombs exploding echoed throughout their surroundings.

"Hahaha! Yeah! This is more like it!" Kang-Woo exclaimed excitedly.

"Crazy son of a bitch!!" Ho-Jun's scream rang out along with the explosions of sound.

It was then that he realized that he had picked a fight with a lunatic.