After Ten Millennia in Hell

"Huh?" The axe wielder turned his head toward the rustling sound. "Who the hell are you?"

"A passerby?" the other man uttered.

Both men glared at Oh Kang-Woo.

The sword wielder clicked his tongue and continued, "You're out of luck. Since you've seen us, don't even think about getting back home safe."

"What a bother," the axe wielder said.

They pointed their weapons toward Kang-Woo while making shady smiles.

The axe wielder then said at a low volume to the sword wielder, "But… we don't need to take this guy alive, right?"

"Yeah, I guess not. We already have enough with these two."

"Hehehe. I see."

The axe wielder had a chilling grin as he approached Kang-Woo. The demonic energy around the edge of his axe quivered drearily.

While taking a closer look at Kang-Woo, the axe wielder licked his lips and said, "His looks aren't bad… and he has a nice body. Kekekeke. It'll be fun to chop him into pieces."

The axe wielder stared at Kang-Woo intensely. It was clear from his heavy breaths that he held disgusting intentions toward Kang-Woo.

"Haa, haa! Come on. Lemme see your back!" the axe wielder shouted in between heavy breaths.

"…" Kang-Woo frowned.

'The fuck's with him?'

He wasn't sure what the axe wielder meant by wanting to see his back, but it felt extremely unpleasant.

"Kekeke! Scream! If you do, maybe I'll forgive you!"

Stomp!

While laughing unpleasantly, the axe wielder stomped on the ground and then rushed toward Kang-Woo, aiming for his neck.

Kang-Woo took a step forward and simply raised his hand. He didn't need to use an Authority or an intricate battle strategy against someone like this.

Slap!

"Kurgh!"

The axe wielder was slapped in the face and sent rolling to the ground. He staggered to his feet with a confused expression on his face.

"Wh-What? What are you doing? Something isn't right—"

Kang-Woo approached the man and slapped him violently on the face again.

Slap!

"Kurgh!"

After Kang-Woo achieved his Third Awakening, his physical abilities were drastically enhanced by the explosive rise in his demonic energy.

Whack! Slam! Wham!

"Cough! Agh! W-Wait!"

Kang-Woo had once used just his ten millennia of combat experience to overwhelm an opponent who had achieved his Third Awakening. So, it didn't matter if his opponent had achieved his Fourth Awakening. His opponent was no match for Kang-Woo, especially since his demonic energy stat now far surpassed what other Players would have after their Fourth Awakening.

"Son of a bitch!" the sword wielder cursed.

Upon seeing his partner getting beaten up, he charged toward Kang-Woo. The man's sword was enveloped in demonic energy as well.

Kang-Woo lightly twirled his hand in the air while staring at the sword. He activated the Authority of Shattering Air, and a bullet made of compressed air flew toward the sword wielder.

After being hit with an air bullet that could even shatter boulders, the man tumbled to the floor with blood pouring out of his mouth.

"Cough… Wh-What the…" the sword wielder uttered in disbelief.

"There's something I want to ask you," Kang-Woo said.

He slowly walked toward the axe wielder, whose face was now covered with blood.

Kang-Woo crouched down in front of the fallen axe wielder and asked in a low voice, "Where did you get demonic energy?"

It was unlikely that the two men had Traits that allowed them to convert mana into demonic energy—let alone the power of Predation, which allowed one to absorb demonic energy from the souls of monsters.

"You…" the axe wielder began to say with a stiff expression. He asked dispiritedly, "How do you know about demonic ener—"

Slam!

Kang-Woo slapped the axe wielder, almost breaking his neck.

"I'm the one asking the questions. You just need to answer them," Kang-Woo stated.

"Ugh! Cough! Cough!"

"I'll ask you again. Where did you get demonic energy?"

"Urgh…" The axe wielder trembled in fear upon feeling the bloodlust that Kang-Woo exuded.

Kang-Woo stared at the axe wielder and used the Authority of Fear. He couldn't make the axe wielder his puppet yet because he wasn't scared enough. However, the Authority of Fear had other uses, like deepening the fear that the target felt toward the user of the Authority.

"A-Ahhhh…" The axe wielder peed his pants.

From his point of view, Kang-Woo looked like a horrible monster rather than a human being.

The axe wielder slowly opened his mouth and said, "G-Guildmaster…"

"Seo Tae-Ho! What the hell are you saying?! Are you insane?!" the sword wielder cried out and tried to get up.

Kang-Woo turned toward him. "Don't move."

"Eek!" the sword wielder shrieked.

Overwhelmed by the immense demonic energy emerging from Kang-Woo, the sword wielder fell to the ground in shock. He looked up at Kang-Woo as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

"H-How do you have demonic energy?!" he exclaimed.

"I told you not to move," Kang-Woo said.

Bash!

Kang-Woo fired another air bullet at the sword wielder, sending him tumbling to the ground unconscious.

Kang-Woo looked at Seo Tae-Ho. "Guildmaster?"

"Y-Yes!" Tae-Ho replied.

"What's the name of your guild?"

"A-Andras! We're from the Andras Guild!"

"…"

The Andras Guild had formed by taking the name of one of the seventy-two demons of Solomon. This was the mid-sized guild that Han Tae-Hyun was a member of. Many shady rumors were circulating about them.

"Our guild master bestowed us this power through a ritual!"

"Ritual?" Kang-Woo frowned after hearing that word. "What's this ritual?"

"Umm…" Tae-Ho's eyes shook; he couldn't hide his fear.

Kang-Woo increased the effect of the Authority of Fear, and Tae-Ho began frothing at the mouth while his whole body trembled.

"Tell me," Kang-Woo said.

"The r-ritual. Ritual… Ritu— AARRGG!!"

The veins all over Tae-Ho's body suddenly became very distinct. He writhed in agony as if something had taken root within his body. Then he vomited black blood and died without Kang-Woo being able to do anything about it.

Kang-Woo looked at the corpse and frowned.

'They must have planted something inside him so that he wouldn't spill anything about the ritual.' This was the only explanation Kang-Woo could think of.

Kang-Woo turned away from Tae-Ho's body, stood up, and walked toward Kang Tae-Soo.

"I-Is that you, K-Kang-Woo hyung?" Tae-Soo asked.

"Yeah."

"H-How did you… all by yourself…"

It had only been a few days before when he'd encountered Kang-Woo in an E-rank Gate, yet Kang-Woo had just defeated two Players who had already achieved their Fourth Awakening.

Kang-Woo shrugged his shoulders and calmly replied, "I was in the E-rank Gate that day because I had something to take care of there."

"Whoa! I see! So, you weren't a newbie in the first place?"

"Right," Kang-Woo lied.

He did so very naturally, even though he had just become a Player recently.

"Ha. I understand now what you meant back then. Anyway, thank you so much. If it weren't for you, I would've died at the hands of those two," Tae-Soo said.

"Th-Thank you for saving us." The other young man, the rogue who was losing blood, bowed to Kang-Woo with gratitude. "My name's Kim Tae-Hyun."

"I'm Oh Kang-Woo."

"Haha! I guess this is why they say that you should try to know as many people as possible! I would've never imagined that you were a high-level Player, Kang-Woo hyung-nim!" Tae-Soo burst into laughter while making a big fuss.

Kang-Woo looked at Tae-Soo with a smile.

"I'll definitely pay you back for today, hyung-nim!" Tae-Soo declared.

"Sure."

"That aside, I knew that the Andras Guild had a bad reputation, but to think that they would do something like this…" Tae-Soo frowned while looking at the two men who had attacked him.

Despite the Andras Guild's bad reputation, Tae-Soo never expected that there would be Chaos Players among their members.

Tae-Soo added, "I'll report today's incident to the Hwarang Corps[1]!"

"Hwarang Corps?"

"They're a group of Players under the government's direct control. If I put in a report that the Andras Guild is employing Chaos Players, the Hwarang Corps will begin investigating immediately."

"Hmm…" Kang-Woo remained silent for a little while and thought about it. Then he said, "Don't report today's incident."

"Hmm? What do you mean, Kang-Woo hyung-nim?"

"I'm going to deal with the Andras Guild personally."

Kang-Woo had to investigate the ritual that was being used to bestow demonic energy onto humans. If the government got involved, he probably wouldn't be able to conduct a proper investigation of his own.

"Hmm… Understood." Tae-Soo nodded with a heavy expression.

Kang-Woo was surprised by Tae-Soo's response.

'He's more quick-witted than I'd thought.'

Tae-Soo had such rough features that one could be suspicious about whether he was a monster or a person, but it seemed like he'd quickly figured out Kang-Woo's intentions.

'That'll make things quick, then.'

Kang-Woo thought that he would be able to investigate the Andras Guild comfortably now.

He said, "Okay. Then forget about what happened he—"

Stomp!

"I, Kang Tae-Soo, will come with you to punish the Andras Guild bastards with my iron fist of justice!"

"What?"

"Aren't you trying to take justice into your own hands? Just like in martial arts novels?!"

'Not really.'

"I love martial arts novels!"

'Who asked?'

"I, Kang Tae-Soo, am moved by your burning desire for justice! Since I owe you my life, I want to use it by helping your cause!" Tae-Soo knelt on one knee and looked up at Kang-Woo with sparkling eyes.

Right then, Kang-Woo saw someone else's figure overlap with Tae-Soo's.

Kang-Woo put his hand on his forehead as if he had a headache.

'Why does he resemble Balrog so much?'

1. Hwarang, which means "Flowering Knights", were an elite group of male warriors in Silla, an ancient kingdom of the Korean Peninsula that lasted until the 10th century. ☜