After Ten Millennia in Hell

Oh Kang-Woo heard a succession of distinct bell chimes, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

He felt that the seal on his Ten Thousand Demon Core had gotten even weaker after he achieved his Sixth Awakening. An explosive amount of demonic energy was now raging inside his body.

'I think I could win against Cha Yeon-Joo now.'

This thought was far too arrogant for a Level 54 Player who had only just gotten his Sixth Awakening to have. Cha Yeon-Joo had surpassed the wall of Level 59, which was considered the Limit of Effort, and had even managed to achieve her Ninth Awakening. She wasn't someone that a Sixth Awakening Player could face, especially considering that a Player got more bonus points the higher they advanced in level.

'But...'

Kang-Woo looked at Yeon-Joo.

He had never gone all out in a fight against her. However, after watching her fight against Kim Jae-Hyun and Oriax, Kang-Woo became sure of one thing—he was already stronger than her.

'Although I still wouldn't be able to completely destroy her.'

Nevertheless, Kang-Woo's growth speed was amazingly fast, especially considering that it hadn't been long since he had returned to Earth.

'The problem is going to be from now on.'

Kang-Woo frowned while looking at his level.

He had to pass the first gateway, which Players called the 'Limit of Effort,' at Level 59. At that level, most Players could only keep accumulating experience points, as it wasn't possible to level up simply by hunting monsters.

'I heard that the way to overcome it varies from person to person.'

Some Players had suddenly achieved enlightenment and unlocked the next level, just like what happened to practitioners in martial arts novels. Others had unlocked it after defeating a very powerful monster, and some others had managed to do it when they had been on the verge of death. Some Players had even managed to unlock it while they had been asleep.

'I heard that talented Players overcome it faster...'

If a Player had high-ranking Traits or was talented enough, it was easier for them to overcome the limitation. That was why people called it the 'Limit of Effort.'

'Well, I won't know until I reach that point.'

Talented Players had a high probability of overcoming the limit, but it did not mean that the process of overcoming it would be an easy one. Yeon-Joo was an example of that. Despite unlocking an S-rank Trait with her First Awakening, she had been stuck on Level 59 for quite a long time before finally overcoming the Limit of Effort.

'I'll think about it later.'

Kang-Woo looked away.

He wanted to check the new Trait that he had unlocked, but there was something else he needed to do first.

'Authority of Predation.'

Kang-Woo moved back one of his hands. He made sure that no one could see it and then used the Authority of Predation. Black smoke emerged from his hand and covered Oriax's body.

"Huh?!"

"Wh-What the…!"

Goo Hyun-Mo and the other Hwarang Corps members exclaimed in surprise.

Kang-Woo had modified the Authority of Predation so it wouldn't make its signature devouring noise. Because of that, it looked as if the body of the demon was just disappearing into black smoke.

"Do the corpses of demons disappear after dying?" Hyun-Mo wondered while tilting his head.

There were hardly any records about demons, so there was no way for them to confirm the information.

Riiing.

[Demonic Energy has risen by 3.]

'Only 3?'

Kang-Woo frowned.

His stat had risen by far fewer points than he had hoped.

'Is it because my Demonic Energy stat is already way too high?'

His current Demonic Energy stat was at 83. It was a stat high enough to be comparable to the main stat of a Player who had reached Level 80 and achieved their Ninth Awakening.

Considering that a Player's stat became more difficult to increase the higher it got, maybe raising it by 3 points was already incredible.

'Still, as hard as it is to raise, the result is amazing.'

In terms of the absolute amount, the demonic energy he had access to had risen more with this stat increase than in the past when his Demonic Energy stat had risen by 20 points during the Andras Guild's ritual.

'There's nothing to be disappointed about.'

The important thing wasn't the number value by which the Demonic Energy stat had increased but the increase in the amount and quality of his available demonic energy. The Demonic Energy stat had only increased by 3 points, but he could feel a clear difference in power.

Kang-Woo smiled in satisfaction and turned his head to Yoo Tae-Shik, who was restrained by Yeon-Joo's chains.

"Kurgh!" Tae-Shik uttered.

"Hwa-Yeon, is this the man in the red demon mask?" Hyun-Mo asked while playfully poking Tae-Shik's cheeks.

"No, that's his subordinate," Baek Hwa-Yeon answered.

"Ngh. I guess he wouldn't show himself that easily. I just wish we could get rid of crazy guys like this as fast as we can," Hyun-Mo expressed, slapping Tae-Shik in disappointment.

Hyun-Mo might look extremely carefree. However, he was still the captain of Hwarang's 2nd Squadron, so he knew just how dangerous the Demon Cult was.

"First, let's take him to the investigation room and interrogate him. Oh! Our branch office outside of Seoul is less strict on procedures, so we'll be able to interrogate him properly there," Hyun-Mo said with a smile. He looked down at Tae-Shik while wiggling his fingers. "Look forward to it, you piece of crap. I'll show you the seventy-two interrogation techniques I've perfected through the—"

"Cough! Cough!"

"Eh? What's wrong with him? I haven't even started yet."

Tae-Shik suddenly started to vomit black blood.

Kang-Woo quickly approached Tae-Shik and suddenly sensed powerful demonic energy from him.

'This is...'

Kang-Woo's eyes narrowed. He had seen this phenomenon many times before. It was when demonic energy that had been sealed inside a person was released.

Then just like he thought…

“Guuurrgghhh! Cough! Urgh!”

Crack! Crack!

"Wh-What's happening?!"

"Get away from him right now, Captain!"

Hyun-Mo and Hwa-Yeon moved away.

Crunch!

Tae-Shik increased in size, two horns grew out of his forehead, and a set of wings sprouted from his back. However, it didn't seem like he was turning into a demon.

His skin melted down, and his face crumpled horrifyingly. The tattoos covering his face were nowhere to be seen. Each of his arms split in two, and now he had four arms in total. His teeth became sharp and extended all the way down to the base of his jaw.

In the end, Tae-Shik failed to restrain his desires and turned into trash that couldn't become a demon.

"Damn," Kang-Woo uttered with a frown.

Once a human changed into a demonic beast, there was no way to turn them back into a human.

'I guess we won't be able to find out the masked man's identity this time either.'

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Considering the personality of the man in the red demon mask, the possibility of Tae-Shik knowing his identity was low. Nevertheless, Kang-Woo was annoyed that they had lost the chance to get other useful information out of Tae-Shik.

"GRAARRGGHH!" Tae-Shik, who had turned into a demonic beast, growled and charged at them.

For Players who could even defeat a demon that belonged to the Seventh Hell, beating up Tae-Shik, who had turned into a demonic beast, was a simple task.

Yeon-Joo waved her hand aggressively, and chains enveloped Tae-Shik's body.

"Damn it! We won't be able to interrogate him!" Yeon-Joo shouted angrily and then pinned Tae-Shik to the wall.

Crack!

"GRAAAARRGGGHHH!"

"Calm down, Yeon-Joo. It isn't like we don't have any clues at all," Hwa-Yeon said.

"...Haaa.” Yeon-Joo let out a sigh.

As if she was venting her anger, she slammed him down onto the ground several times.

Yeon-Joo put her hand on her forehead in frustration and concluded, "I guess all that's left is to investigate which guild among the Hanul, Onnuri, and Angel Wings Guilds are with the Demon Cult."

"We'll have to make some preparations too. After what happened today, they won't be able to make any reckless moves," Hwa-Yeon added.

"That's true."

Disappointed, Yeon-Joo looked down at Tae-Shik's corpse. She felt angry and frustrated that she hadn't been able to wipe out the Demon Cult yet.

Hwa-Yeon shifted her attention from Yeon-Joo to Kang-Woo and said, "Oh, right. Kang-Woo, the government will be rewarding you for your service."

"Hmm?" Kang-Woo uttered with bright eyes.

Hwa-Yeon laughed and explained, "You caught the Mir Guild in the act, neutralized Kim Jae-Hyun with no casualties, and aided in the interrogation. You even helped us to get to Pohang as fast as possible. I would lose face if you weren't rewarded for all of this."

Kang-Woo had a huge role in this incident. If it hadn't been for him, they probably wouldn't have even known that a demon had been summoned.

In any case, this was good news to Kang-Woo.

"I hope it's not some useless award certificate," he remarked.

If it were something like that, he would refuse it.

"Hahaha. I'm not that stupid. I will give you the details next time. Give me your number on our way back."

"If possible, I'd like to be rewarded without anyone mentioning me publicly."

"Hmm? Are you the kind of person to avoid fame?"

"I don't like drawing useless attention to myself."

"Hmm. I can reward you unofficially, but you'll have to make do with the inevitable spreading of rumors."

In other words, those with knowledge of this incident would eventually find out Kang-Woo's name. He was going to get more attention than before when he'd just been known as the rookie that the Red Rose Guild was supporting.

"I'll decide after hearing what the reward is," Kang-Woo replied.

There was no need for him to agree immediately. He would accept the reward if he concluded that it was worth drawing attention to himself.

'There's no need to refuse a reward just because I don't want to draw attention to myself.'

It was inevitable that more people would find out about him over time anyway. He was so out of the norm that he was bound to draw attention.

"Haha, you can look forward to it," Hwa-Yeon said confidently.

Kang-Woo's eyes shone. Hwa-Yeon wasn't someone who would exaggerate. If she said something like that, it meant the reward was something that he could truly look forward to.

"Yeon-Joo, your guild will also be rewarded. Thank you for your cooperation," Hwa-Yeon told Yeon-Joo.

"Well... I had a good reason to do it," Yeon-Joo said with a heavy voice. "Let's all go home now. I... want to rest."

They had fought against Jae-Hyun and then a demon right after. It was natural that they were exhausted.

Kang-Woo looked at Yeon-Joo, who had a bitter expression on her face.

'It doesn't seem to be just exhaustion,' he thought.

Yeon-Joo was probably thinking about her guild members who had died at the hands of the Demon Cult.

'She's probably blaming herself.'

They had ultimately failed to uncover the identity of the man in the red demon mask, who could be said to be the cause of everything that had happened. So, Yeon-Joo was probably feeling disappointed and regretful.

As Kang-Woo turned toward the cave's exit, he told her, "You're doing great."

"What..?"

"I'm talking about your revenge."

"..."

"I won't say that you've done enough, but you don't need to blame yourself. You don't need to feel impatient. There will be more chances in the future. All we need to do is to wipe them out when that time comes."

"..."

"Don't worry. I'll help you."

"Hng. You arrogant prick. Who are you to say you'll help me?" Yeon-Joo scoffed and turned away from Kang-Woo.

Despite her rebuke, she seemed more relaxed now. There was a slight smile on her face.

'It would be a problem if you made a mistake out of impatience,' Kang-Woo thought.

Impatience bred mistakes. It would be an issue for Kang-Woo if he were to lose Yeon-Joo because of some stupid error, and it wasn't just because he'd lose the support of the Red Rose Guild.

'I've grown attached to her to an extent.'

While thinking that, Kang-Woo opened his status window.

'Right then, let's check my Sixth Awakening Trait.'

He had been waiting for this. Most Players probably had the same feeling of anticipation when they unlocked a new Trait.

Like a child opening a gift, Kang-Woo carefully checked his status window. He wondered what Trait he'd gotten and how much stronger he would become.

“... What the hell?"

He frowned after checking out the details of his new Trait.

[Sixth Awakening Trait: ??? (Rank: ???)]

[The Trait will unlock fully after the Ultimate Demonic Body has been achieved.]

'More question marks?'

Question marks had first appeared with the Authority of Predation and then the Ultimate Demonic Body. Now, it was happening again with his Sixth Awakening Trait. He was starting to get tired of it.

'For fuck's sake. I don't even know the conditions to achieve the Ultimate Demonic Body. Isn't it unfair for the Trait to only be unlocked after I achieve it?'

Shouldn't they tell him the conditions so that he could actually put effort into fulfilling them?

Kang-Woo was starting to think that someone had created the Traits like this on purpose just to annoy him. No, he was hoping for that to be the case.

'So I can twist their head into a question mark if I ever meet them in the future.'

Kang-Woo frowned while staring at his status window, which was full of question marks.