After Ten Millennia in Hell

"You wicked filth!" Reynald exclaimed in frustration.

'But why?' Oh Kang-Woo wondered.

He had won fair and square. It was true that he’d shouted a fake technique name to confuse the opponent, but that had only worked because Reynald was stupid.

'So, what's wicked and filthy about me?'

The five of them were the ones who were truly wicked considering they had ganged up on Kang-Woo.

'Is this how demon kings in comics feel after losing to the hero's party?'

Kang-Woo now understood the frustration of a demon king losing to the hero's party. He thought there wasn't anything more to consider and was about to use the Authority of Explosions on Reynald's party.

Then he said, "Oh, right."

“What are you..."

"C-Could it be...?"

Kang-Woo was about to finish them off, but he suddenly stopped. The demonic energy sphere disappeared from his hand, instilling hope into Reina and Reynald.

"It would be a shame if your equipment was damaged," Kang-Woo remarked.

Even at a glance, it was obvious that Reynald's equipment was worth quite a lot of money. Kang-Woo didn't want to use any of the equipment because they were too extravagant, but he thought he'd be able to sell them to Cha Yeon-Joo for a considerable sum of money.

'Especially that golden sword.'

There was a chance that Reynald's sword, which was capable of shooting sword energy that exploded like a bomb, was Legendary-grade.

'How much money could I get for something like that?'

Kang-Woo gulped while looking at Reynald's items.

"Kuh! Y-You evil—!" Reynald trembled in anger upon finding out that Kang-Woo was willing to rip equipment off his corpse.

Of course, Kang-Woo didn't care about how Reynald felt about that, so he went ahead and created a long spear using the Authority of Dark Spears.

'It should be enough to use this to pierce his neck.'

Kang-Woo was approaching Reynald while thinking that when suddenly…

Riiing.

[Other beings besides the summoned beast have crossed the Gate.]

[Casting out the otherworldly beings through the Gaia System.]

"Huh?!" Kang-Woo uttered in shock.

Reynald and his party members turned opaque just as those messages appeared before Kang-Woo. He quickly tried to pierce Reynald with the spear, but it just passed through Reynald's opaque head and pierced the ground.

"Fuck!" Kang-Woo cursed.

He frowned while looking at the blue message window.

'Why now?!'

It had initially said that the connection to another world couldn't be obstructed due to the impairment of the Gaia System. Yet, the system was suddenly casting Reynald's party out now.

Kang-Woo smashed the ground in anger, but in the end, he could only watch helplessly as Reynald’s party disappeared.

Riiing.

[The Gaia System has successfully cast out the otherworldly beings.]

"Haaa..." Kang-Woo sighed.

'Wait.'

Kang-Woo anxiously turned to where Echidna was. He realized that she might have been cast out as well because she was also an otherworldly entity.

"Phew." Kang-Woo let out a sigh of relief after seeing that Echidna was still on the ground staring at him.

Thankfully, Echidna hadn't returned to her original world.

'Just what in the world is the Gaia System?'

Kang-Woo thought of the words Gaia System, which he’d first seen when he initially appeared on Earth.

'Is it some sort of protective barrier... that defends against otherworldly invasions?'

Perhaps the Gaia System was something like the Earth's atmosphere, which prevents asteroids from falling on Earth. That was his best conclusion with the information he had currently.

'It said that the Gaia System was impaired.'

When the Gate that led to the continent of Aernor opened earlier, it said that a connection to another world had failed to be obstructed due to the impairment of the Gaia System’s functions.

'Does it have something to do with why demonic beasts have been appearing?’

Demonic beasts—or variant monsters, which was what the people of Earth called them—had begun to appear only recently. In terms of the time frame...

"Hm?”

At that moment, a thought crossed Kang-Woo's mind.

'The time when the demonic beasts started to appear is similar to when I returned to Earth.'

It was highly likely that the demonic beasts began appearing due to the impairment of the Gaia System.

"That means…" Kang-Woo laughed in disbelief. "Am I the one who damaged the Gaia System?"

It made sense, considering the timeline of when the demonic beasts started to appear.

"Hah..." Kang-Woo put his hand on his head with a conflicted expression.

He felt troubled once he realized that he was the reason why demonic beasts of Hell had begun appearing on Earth.

'Is there a way to restore the Gaia System?'

The best thing he could do in this situation was to restore the impaired Gaia System. However, he didn't know exactly what and where the Gaia System was, much less how to find a way to restore it.

'The only thing I can do at this moment is hunt as many demonic beasts as possible.'

It was like pouring water into a bottomless jar, but there was nothing else he could do about it at present. He concluded this train of thought thinking that he should ask Yeon-Joo about the Gaia System.

Then he walked over to Echidna.

"Stay down for a bit. I'll finish treating you," Kang-Woo said.

What he had done previously was just first aid. For Echidna to be able to move again freely, he needed to treat her for a bit longer.

Kang-Woo cut the palm of his hand again and let his blood drip into Echidna's largest wound.

Echidna struggled to turn her head toward Kang-Woo.

[I didn't do anything,] she said. [I didn't cause droughts or spread plagues.]

"I see."

Tears flowed down Echidna's gigantic eyes.

[I told them it wasn’t me. I told them I didn’t do it, but... no one believed me.]

"…"

[Do you believe me?] Echidna's voice trembled anxiously.

She had the eyes of a child who had been abandoned by her parents and was just asking to be loved.

Kang-Woo knew those eyes.

'I was also like that.'

He had been abandoned by his parents when he was a kid. From the moment he was able to form thoughts, he’d already been living in an orphanage, and that's where he grew up.

Kang-Woo had never thought that he would like to meet his birth parents or be embraced by them. However, he did want to receive someone's love. He wanted to be protected and acknowledged for his existence.

Seeing Echidna reminded him of his past self.

'"Save the pity show for TV, dickheads," my ass.'

Kang-Woo smiled bitterly with a tingling heart. The harsh words that he had said to Reynald had returned to stab him. He couldn’t be more of a hypocrite.

'Well, my answer is already set in stone.'

Echidna was Kang-Woo's important summoned beast, and they would be together from now on. No, even if it wasn't because of that, his answer had already been decided from the start.

"I believe you."

[...]

"Even if the rest of the world condemns you, I will believe in you."

Just like how one had to be resolved to die when entering a battle, being a master also had its corresponding responsibilities. Kang-Woo had no intention of dodging or ignoring those responsibilities. He wasn't planning on using his summoned beast as a disposable tool.

[You...] Echidna looked at Kang-Woo with a wavering gaze.

A heavy silence fell between them.

In the meantime, Kang-Woo kept treating Echidna. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

'Maybe I overdid it a bit today.'

He had summoned a demonic beast and been in a battle, and now he was even treating someone. Kang-Woo had obtained quite a lot of demonic energy after getting his Fifth Awakening, but he had performed several taxing tasks in succession.

'I want to go home and rest.'

It was the first time he’d wanted to rest so badly.

"That aside..."

Kang-Woo looked at Echidna, who was over twenty meters long.

'How am I supposed to take her out of here?'

If he took her out in this state, it would cause mass panic. In the worst-case scenario, the Hwarang Corps could attack her.

'It doesn't seem like something that could be resolved with an explanation either.'

If Echidna were only as big as a person, Kang-Woo would be able to walk out with her just by saying she was his summoned beast.

'I’ve heard of Players that use summoned beasts.'

Even still, Echidna was far too big. There was no way the Hwarang Corps would let her be unless they were insane.

"Echidna, can you modify your body size?"

[Modify?]

"Yeah, as small as possible."

Dragons in fantasy stories usually had a polymorph ability. Kang-Woo looked at her expectantly.

[I can.]

'Nice!'

Kang-Woo smiled, satisfied at her answer.

"Then become as small as possible right now."

[Okay.]

Echidna was almost fully healed, so she nodded in agreement and chanted in a language that Kang-Woo couldn't understand.

Whish!

A bright light covered Echidna, and she shrank.

"Whoa."

Kang-Woo's eyes shone while looking at Echidna, who was now only thirty centimeters long.

'Cute.'

The dragon hatchling appeared cute now that its giant dragon body had shrunk to about 30 centimeters. Rather than a summoned beast, Echidna seemed like a pet.

'I wonder if she can transform into a human?'

Kang-Woo, who had actually hoped for her to transform into a human, felt slightly disappointed. Nevertheless, he lifted her and held her in his arms.

[It's okay. I can fly.]

"Stay still. Your wounds still haven't fully healed."

After saying that, Kang-Woo turned to the Gate's exit while carrying Echidna.

[...] Echidna stared at Kang-Woo silently for a moment. Then she said cautiously, [You.]

"Hmm?"

[Name. Tell me your name.]

"Oh, right. I haven’t told you my name yet."

It was then that Kang-Woo realized that he hadn't introduced himself yet.

"Oh Kang-Woo. My name is Oh Kang-Woo."

[Oh Kang-Woo...] Echidna, who was in Kang-Woo's arms, kept mumbling his name. [I'll remember it.]

"Hmm?"

[Your name. I swear I’ll never forget it,] Echidna stated in a determined voice.

Kang-Woo nodded with a smile.