After Ten Millennia in Hell

[You have reached Level 20 and have achieved your Third Awakening.]

[Your Third Awakening Trait has been unlocked.]

"I guess I was on the verge of leveling up."

Oh Kang-Woo smirked upon seeing that he had leveled up after killing only three Lizardmen. If he had known that things would turn out like this, he would have just hunted a bit more the previous day.

'Too bad there's no way to know how many experience points are required to level up.'

In any case, it was good that he had achieved his goal sooner than expected.

Before checking his new Trait, Kang-Woo closed his eyes and circulated the demonic energy inside him. It was time to check whether his hypothesis was right or not.

Whir!

The demonic energy that lashed through his body was completely different from before.

Kang-Woo extended his hand and produced hellfire with Andras's Authority.

Fwoosh!

A black flame the size of a human being appeared on top of his hand. The hellfire, which yearned hungrily for life force, twisted about greedily.

Kang-Woo smiled while looking at the fire that was almost two meters tall.

"I knew it."

His hypothesis had been correct.

After he achieved his Third Awakening, the seal of his Ten Thousand Demon Core was weakened, and demonic energy seeped out and flowed throughout his body.

The sensation he felt now was incomparable to what he'd felt when his demonic energy stat rose from 25 to 30.

"Nice."

For Kang-Woo, who possessed more Authorities than any other demon, this rise in demonic energy felt as if he was being freed from chains restricting him from using the Authorities.

'Although, it's still nowhere near enough.'

Even though he had achieved his Third Awakening, he still had far more Authorities that he couldn't use than those that he could. However, he felt much more liberated now compared to when he first arrived on Earth.

'If I keep leveling up at this pace, I'll soon be able to break the seal on the Ten Thousand Demon Core completely.'

Of course, leveling up would get harder as time passed by. Nevertheless, he was satisfied with knowing that there was a way to recover his old level of power.

"Urgh, I wouldn't need to do things like this if Gates hadn't appeared on Earth."

If there weren't things like Gates, monsters, and Players, then Kang-Woo wouldn't have to recover his old level of power. After all, what he wanted wasn't something like world domination; he just wanted to live a comfortable life on Earth while enjoying the things that he hadn't been able to.

Yet, after learning about Earth's situation, his thoughts changed.

'I need more power.'

Power was necessary for him to be able to enjoy everything he wanted without having to worry about anything. He had learned over the last ten millennia that the rights of the weak were always trampled on and that the only thing they were left with was pain.

Kang-Woo probably wouldn't need to aim to become an absolute being as he had been in Hell, but he needed power as a safeguard.

"All right, I'll check my new Trait next."

He had already confirmed that the seal of the Ten Thousand Demon Core weakened each time he awakened. So, it was now time to see the new Trait he had acquired.

Kang-Woo opened his status window to check.

[Third Awakening Trait: Mana-Hungry Demon (Rank: A)]

[Effect: The Player can convert the mana within mana stones into demonic energy and absorb it.]

"Interesting."

Kang-Woo's eyes lit up after reading about his new Trait.

He had gained yet another way to accumulate demonic energy besides Predation and leveling up.

'Mana stones, huh?'

Mana stones were like the cores of monsters. On Earth, those mana stones were used for energy by numerous industries, so Players were able to earn a lot of money by selling the mana stones that they obtained from monsters to the government.

"Let's test it out."

Kang-Woo took the mana stones out of the Lizardmen that he had just killed and used the power of his new Trait. He could feel the mana inside the stone convert into demonic energy and then flow into his body.

'Not bad.'

Converting the mana within a D-rank mana stone into demonic energy gave him as much demonic energy as what he'd received from using the Authority of Predation on one Lizardman. The addition of this new Trait meant Kang-Woo could get double the amount of demonic energy in total. The new Trait, Mana-Hungry Demon, had a far better effect than Insatiable Hunger, the Trait that he'd acquired with his Second Awakening.

'The only problem is that I won't be able to earn money.'

If he absorbed all the mana inside the mana stones, he wouldn't be able to sell them.

'I guess it'll be fine as long as I don't absorb all of them.'

Compared to a normal person, the amount of money that Players earned was a lot. Furthermore, mana stones sold for higher prices as they increased in rank, so Kang-Woo would probably be able to live comfortably just by selling a few of them.

'After all, I earned ninety million won in the last three days.'

Even if this lowered his profits, it was worth it if he could get twice the amount of demonic energy.

'I guess I won't be going to the Mana Stone Exchange Center today.'

After absorbing the three Lizardman corpses and their mana stones, Kang-Woo moved in search of his next target. He had some extra time left because his hunt had ended far too early.

Since he had obtained a new Trait, Kang-Woo began searching for a place where he could horde-hunt Lizardmen for the last time.

"Now that I think about it, I've never seen a Lizardman boss monster."

He had gotten a C-rank mana stone from hunting a Hobgoblin in an E-rank Gate, so he was expecting to get a higher-ranking mana stone from hunting the boss monster of a D-rank Gate.

Kang-Woo used the Authority of the Sky to fly up into the sky.

His demonic energy had increased after achieving his Third Awakening, so he was now able to use the Authority of the Sky to some extent.

'I can't see very well from up top because of the vines.'

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue after he failed to find the boss monster from the sky.

'I might have been able to find it if I were able to use the Authority of the Beholder.'

The Authority of the Beholder, which belonged to the demon Astaroth, was the best Authority that Kang-Woo had for conducting searches. However, he wouldn't be able to search through such a big swamp with the amount of demonic energy that he had currently.

Disappointed, Kang-Woo slowly descended toward the ground.

Clash! Clang!

"What's the meaning of this, misters?!"

Kang-Woo suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Tae-Soo?" he realized.

It was the voice of Kang Tae-Soo, whom Kang-Woo had last seen in front of the Gate trying to gather party members. There was a sense of urgency and anger in his voice.

'What's going on?' Kang-Woo wondered inwardly.

He would've ignored it if it were the voice of a stranger, but since it was someone he knew, his curiosity surged.

Kang-Woo landed on the ground and went to where the screams were coming from.

Bam!

"Kurgh!!"

"Sigh, this muscle pig is so damn solid."

"Urgh, why…"

Kang-Woo saw two people wielding a sword and an axe against Tae-Soo. Beside Tae-Soo was the young rogue that Kang-Woo had seen earlier at the Gate entrance with Tae-Soo. The rogue had fainted and was losing blood.

"Why are you attacking your own party members?!" Tae-Soo yelled.

"You're so damn loud. What if you end up drawing the attention of Lizardmen?"

"Just answer the question!" Tae-Soo shouted angrily while raising a shield that was the size of his whole body.

'Was he betrayed by his party members?' Kang-Woo frowned.

Just hearing the short conversation between the three people was enough for Kang-Woo to figure out what had happened. They were from the same party, but two members had suddenly turned against Tae-Soo and the rogue.

'Are they Chaos Players?'

Chaos Players were malicious Players who killed fellow Players instead of monsters and took their belongings, taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't unusual for people to die inside Gates. The government actively took action to stop Chaos Players due to their atrocious deeds.

"Shut up and stay still."

Clang!

"Kurgh!"

After being hit by the axe wielder, Tae-Soo was pushed back. Even so, he didn't let his shield go and glared at them.

"Sigh, you're tenacious. I'll give you that."

"Is he seriously only at his Second Awakening? Why is he so sturdy?"

The two men looked at Tae-Soo in disbelief.

Tae-Soo gritted his teeth and strengthened his grip on his shield, which then glowed blue.

"Just like you said, I won't go down easily," Tae-Soo said.

"Well… it looks like you've unlocked a fairly high-ranking Trait."

"Even so, someone who hasn't even gone through their Third Awakening won't be able to defeat us."

The two men approached Tae-Soo with wicked smiles.

Tae-Soo had put up a commendable fight so far, but the two men were Players whose levels were in the thirties and had already achieved their Fourth Awakening. The great difference between their levels and Tae-Soo's level could not be overcome by just having a higher-ranked Trait.

"Let's wrap this up."

"You know that we need them alive, right?"

"Of course."

The two men smirked and raised their weapons.

Kang-Woo, who was hidden behind some vines, frowned a bit after hearing what the two men said.

'They need them alive?'

The two men's conversation didn't match what he'd read about Chaos Players.

Kang-Woo looked at the shield-wielding Tae-Soo, who wore a nervous expression.

'Should I help him?'

Kang-Woo would've ignored the situation if he had never exchanged any words with the man in the past. He really didn't like getting involved in bothersome things. However, even though they'd only exchanged a few words, Tae-Soo had been kind to him. So, Kang-Woo felt bad ignoring him in such a situation.

Whiiir.

"Hold on to your shield tight, muscle pig. This is going to hurt a lot," the man wielding the axe said with a voice full of confidence.

Then he began gathering strength, and black energy covered his axe.

"…!" Kang-Woo's eyes widened.

'Demonic energy?'

The energy coming out from the man was undoubtedly demonic energy, which was fundamentally different from mana. Furthermore, it was an energy that an ordinary human being shouldn't have.

Frowning, Kang-Woo walked out from behind the vines.

It was no longer about whether he should help Tae-Soo.

'Who are these guys?'

Kang-Woo had to know more about the humans who possessed demonic energy.