After that day, Kim ShiHoon decided to return to train with Cheon MooJin.
In the first place, the reason why he'd returned from Shangai was that Grace had come to meet him.
Kim ShiHoon had become stronger after receiving Gaia's Blessing, so he returned immediately to Shangai.
- The day I return, I'll come back stronger than master.
Kim ShiHoon said that confidently. Cheon MooJin, who was next to him, frowned.
It was a natural reaction since a newbie was trying to overcome him after just a few months of training.
But he couldn't deny that Kim ShiHoon was growing that fast.
- Oof, why did I pick up such a monster in my last years…
Cheon MooJin said in disbelief at Kim ShiHoon's incredible growth rate.
Even if he was the Sacrum, he never imagined he'd grow so fast.
If Kim ShiHoon were the protagonist of a martial arts novel, he wouldn't have been able to grow so fast.
But Kim ShiHoon was a player. If his level went up, his stat increased. And stats gave him a strength that seemed like something was being created out of nothing.
It had been one week since Kim ShiHoon, and Cheon MooJin left for Shangai.
KangWoo gathered information about the Demon Cult through meetings with Gaia and Grace.
And.
"I'm going to give Mr. KangWoo the first mission."
'Finally!'
KangWoo exclaimed in excitement at Gaia's words.
He'd been desperately waiting for information on the Demon Cult, and the Guardians had finally found something out.
"What’s the mission?" KangWoo asked while making a serious expression.
The expression and the eyes were the most important things.
He would be found out if he looked happy after hearing the Demon Cult had begun moving. He had to make an expression that showed a mixture of worry and anger.
'I'm quite confident about these types of things.'
He was quite confident about controlling emotions.
That was way easier than controlling the lust and desires of a demon's body.
"Recently, the Gaia System has been weakening."
"Wasn't that already going on…?"
Gaia shook her head.
"No, but it wasn't at this speed. We think there's probably another reason."
"Hmm. Can you tell me where that's happening?"
"I'm not sure, but we received information that they found traces of the Demon Cult in Korea."
"In Korea?"
That was unexpected. The Demon Cult members in Korea had scattered away after Baek KangHyun died.
'Did new members appear?'
He didn't know, but he wasn't sure why foreign Demon Cult members would go to Korea to make plans.
"Yes. They found traces in a gate that was near a city called Daegu?"
"If it's Daegu…"
Just like in Sapporo, Japan, there was also a city in Korea that got ruined after the 'Cataclysmic Day.'
In Sapporo's case, the city couldn't recover because the monsters that lived there were too strong, but in Daegu, there was another reason.
It had been five years since the Cataclysmic Day. No, it was about to be six years.
Running a country after that was already a miracle.
Nobody said anything about neglecting a ruined city.
"Understood."
"If it's too much for you to do alone, you could ask guardian Kim ShiHoon—"
"No, ShiHoon is currently concentrating on training. I cannot interrupt his training."
"Then how about other Guardians? Grace is in the USA, but I could ask Zhuge Xuan and Ito Shinji."
Zhuge Xuan and Ito Shinji…
They were the names of the Chinese and Japanese Guardian's he'd heard of after joining the Guardians.
They weren’t players that were publicly known like Alec Osborn and Grace McCarbin. They weren't even known as world rankers or normal rankers.
'According to what I've heard, they seem like good people.'
But he wasn't sure if, by ‘good people’, they meant someone like Alec or Kim ShiHoon.
It was obvious that Gaia didn't have an eye for people when he took into consideration how Alec Osborn was.
'Well, I guess you can’t say she doesn't have an eye for people at all.'
In the cases of Kim ShiHoon and Grace, they both had great talent and qualities as Guardians.
'Seeing that she accepted me as a Guardian, you couldn't say she doesn't have an eye for people.'
Seeing that she'd gone against the rules to allow him to join, you couldn't say she doesn't have an eye for people.
There probably weren't many people who could work for world peace with such pure intentions.
"I'm going to investigate alone first."
He thought of dragging Zhuge Xuan and Ito Shinji and investigating them but decided not to.
Since they were both members of the Guardians, they probably weren't playing around.
It wasn't that the Demon Cult was active only in Korea, so it would be more effective if each concentrated on their own areas.
'They could also be bothersome while doing the interrogations.'
To grab the tails of the Demon Cult members that hadn't been very active, he was planning to interrogate them as much as possible.
If they were people like Alec Osborn, there was a chance they wouldn't be able to withstand his justice and that they would react in an unexpected way.
"Understood. I'll trust and wait if Mr. KangWoo says it like that."
"Then I'm going to move immediately."
Since they'd obtained hints, there was no reason to hesitate anymore.
KangWoo put on the mask and walked out of the 'Hall of Protection.'
He exited the gate the same place he had entered it—the rooftop of the building where he lived.
"Echidna, Balzac."
He called his two summoned monsters.
He could do justice in his own way in front of his summoned monsters, so he didn't need to think too deeply before doing anything.
"What's wrong, KangWoo?"
Echidna reached the rooftop first.
She had a rice cake skewer covered with red sauce in her hand.
"What's that…?"
"Balzac made it for me."
She opened her mouth and ate the rice cake skewer in her hand. Ang. One wouldn't believe the size of that mouth belonged to a little girl's body. She ate the entire rice cake skewer at once.
Crunch-
"It's delicious."
"…"
The silence was finally broken by KangWoo’s shadow.
A white skeleton appeared from the shadow that wriggled like it was alive.
[Did you call me, Master?]
Balzac, someone who used to be called Demon King, a strong and powerful lich, was wearing a cute pink apron with a bunny instead of a black robe.
"Balzac, you…"
KangWoo was shocked by the visual.
Balzac raised his head and looked at the sun.
[Woah. The weather seems good. Hehehe…]
A thick Demonic Energy rose, and the ruler of death spoke in a low tone.
[Weather like this is perfect for washing the blankets…]
"No. Let's leave washing the blankets for later. We have something else to do."
KangWoo glared at Balzac while making a serious expression.
It wasn't the time to care about something like washing the blankets.
"Don't tell me there isn't a rice cake skewer for me?" he asked in a serious voice.
[Hahaha! Master! Who do you think I, Balzac, am?]
Tap-
Balzac bounced a finger, the shadow began moving again, and a rice cake skewer appeared.
[Fufu. I've been learning cooking from Ms. Seol-ah these past few days. This is also one interesting world.]
"Let's see."
He took a bite of the rice cake skewer. A spicy but sweet taste spread through his mouth.
"It's very well-made."
[I'll keep doing my best, but more than that, why did you call me?]
"Oh yeah…"
KangWoo turned his head to Echidna, who was licking the sauce on her hands.
"A mission. It's about time we warm up for the first time in a while."
Echidna and Balzac's eyes shone.
* * *
KangWoo took Echidna and went to Daegu.
It was a city that, just like Vladivostok, was destroyed. He didn't see traces of anyone around.
'Authority of Observation.'
He expanded his demonic energy.
Investigating in an area where demonic energy was so visible was more comfortable.
'There doesn't seem to be any around here.'
He couldn't find traces of demonic energy in the area.
'Was the information wrong?'
He thought that for a short while but shook his head. He couldn't be so sure yet.
"Let's enter the gate."
Three A-rank gates had appeared in Daegu.
Players could perfectly deal with them at the moment, but that wasn't the case on the Cataclysmic Day.
KangWoo entered one of the three gates.
'Bingo.'
As soon as he entered the gate, he could feel demonic energy inside it.
He walked toward where he could feel the demonic energy.
"This…"
It was a place where there was strong demonic energy gathered. He saw a black inverted cross about a meter tall stuck in the ground.
There was a fissure around that area as if the space had been broken, and the size of the fissure was getting bigger.
'What's this?'
It was something he'd never seen while fighting the Demon Cult.
He was about to approach the black cross when…
Grrrr-
"As expected, there's no way they would've left them alone."
There was a low cry; he turned his head to the source of the sound.
He saw an ogre and some elite trolls that often appeared inside A-rank gates.
'No.'
KangWoo narrowed his eyes. He used the Authority of Observation and looked at the monsters.
Monsters moved by using the energy that was within mana stones, but instead of mana, he could feel demonic energy from them.
'Are they being contaminated?'
Just like he'd found a demonic energy stone inside El Quero's head, the monsters were slowly turning into demonic monsters.
"Prepare to fight."
"Okay."
[I'll follow your orders,]
The two summoned monsters prepared their attacks when…
"Who are you?"
A thin, young man who was over two meters tall appeared while making a cheeky smile.
"Hmm. You don't seem to be from the Hwarang Squad…"
He didn't seem surprised by how Balzac looked.
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter since I can always kill invaders."
He made a thick smile and bounced a finger.
Kiieekk-!
The land he was standing on was turned upside down, and a monster with a long tail appeared.
It wasn't that big. It was only three meters tall, but its body was covered with black scales as if it wore armor. There was a green, acidic liquid coming out of it.
The monster looked like an alien from a science fiction movie sharing the same name.
KangWoo's eyes shone after looking at that monster.
'A Cryshalis?'
Cryshalis…
It didn't look that powerful from the outside, but it was a demonic monster that lived in the 8th hell.
It was a strong demonic monster that could easily eliminate a group of demonic monsters like kerberos.
'Are they even able to control a demonic monster that lives in the 8th hell?'
He couldn't help but exclaim in admiration at the Demon Cult's knowledge.
A Cryshalis was a very violent demonic monster that not even demons living in 8th hell picked a fight with.
It wasn't as intelligent as an ancient demonic monster like a halcyon, but still, it was quite clever compared to others.
If the Demon Cult could control such a demonic monster, that meant their knowledge was on another level.
"The 8th hell, huh?"
The demonic energy from the demonic monsters of the 3rd hell he'd devoured before weren't of much help.
But if it was the 8th hell, the story changed.
KangWoo smacked his lips.
"I'll face that guy."
For the first time in a while, food worthy of eating had appeared.
It didn't look tasty, but that didn't matter.
'I stayed with Lilith for a few thousand years.'
He almost found the alien cute.
He felt that he was hearing hallucinations.
KangWoo made a bright smile and took a step forward.
