He opened his eyes.
He couldn't see anything.
It was as if the entire world had been devoured by darkness.
He moved his hand, twisted his body, and struggled.
He felt something sticky as if he'd fallen to a swap.
'Where…'
His memories were blurry.
It was as if he were under the effect of a drug. He turned his head and saw something being absorbed by the darkness.
'Baek KangHyun.'
A faint memory came to mind.
He remembered KangHyun being devoured completely by the darkness.
It didn't matter how much he struggled, he had been completely devoured.
While seeing Baek KangHyun sinking deep into the sea, he realized what he had to do.
'I must get out of here.'
He turned his head again. He still couldn't see anything around him.
He stirred his feet violently.
Up, up!
He felt his body going up little by little.
Crack-!
'Ugh.'
Something bit his feet.
He looked down.
A mouth…
A giant mouth was biting and pulling him. His body started to sink.
He twisted his body.
He pulled out his ankle, which was cut by the mouth.
'Now.'
He swirled both arms, twisted his body, and moved his remaining foot to escape the black floor.
Mouths appeared from all around.
The mouths of predators with sharp teeth…
His entire body was bitten, his arms were cut, and half of his torso was bitten away.
But he still didn't stop.
He knew better than anyone that if he stopped right there, he wouldn't be able to return.
He raised his face.
There was a wide-open door.
He turned his body to the door.
The giant mouth had devoured half of his body.
He desperately struggled to escape while letting out a shout.
But the mouths weren't letting him go.
His consciousness started to fade away, and his sight became blurry.
'Ah…'
He didn't remember where he was.
He couldn't remember anything—not his name, age, or past.
He began thinking that it'd be comfortable to sink into the darkness.
- Kang… Woo!
He heard a voice. It was the voice of a girl.
He regained consciousness.
'Concentrate.'
He bit his lip.
He had to remember his name.
Who he was and the reason why he was there…
He had to think about how to get out of there.
'I'm…'
He extended his hands and grabbed the doorknob.
He pulled the doorknob.
The door closed.
* * *
"Oof! Oof! Oof!!"
"K-KangWoo! Are you okay?"
He regained consciousness.
As he opened his eyes while breathing heavily, he saw Echidna grabbing his face.
"Here…"
He looked around. It was the place where he'd fought against Baek KangHyun.
"The fissure?"
"It disappeared when the demon died."
"Oof. Then I managed to turn off the fire."
He felt relieved.
KangWoo collapsed to the floor.
Echidna looked at him while trembling. Transparent tears dripped down her cheeks.
"KangWoo… You almost disappeared."
"…"
* * *
"I know it since I'm KangWoo's summoned monster. KangWoo, you almost died."
"In this kind of situation… you have to risk your life to look cool."
"Don't joke…!"
Echidna angrily glared at him.
"I thought that you wouldn't leave me alone… that I wouldn't be lonely anymore…!"
He extended his hands and touched her cheeks.
"I'm sorry."
"Sniff. Sob. Sob."
Echidna hugged him.
KangWoo softly patted her and fell into his thoughts.
'Was opening the door in that situation too much?'
Opening the door…
It was a way to explosively increase the demonic energy of the Ten Thousand Demon Core, the sea of demonic energy.
Even while in Hell, he had avoided using it if possible.
It wasn't hard to see why.
'It could devour me.'
The Ten Thousand Demon Core was huge.
Even KangWoo didn't know everything about it.
Tens, hundreds of thousands of demons.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call that place, where there was the demonic energy of hundreds of thousands of demons, another world.
Forcing that was too risky.
'But I never had a problem with the first door.'
After the Gaia System sealed his strength, it became harder to control.
'I'll have to be careful before using it.'
The risk was bigger than he thought.
If it weren't for Echidna's voice right then…
It wouldn't have been weird for him to have been devoured by his own demonic energy.
He would have to refrain from using it until he recovered his original strength and could better control the Ten Thousand Demon Core.
'I can't die.'
KangWoo looked at Echidna, who was hugging him.
Although it hadn't been long since he had returned to Earth, he'd gone through many things.
He'd been able to experience the joys of eating and taking a break…
And he'd also gotten important people and beings he had to protect.
He had a reason to survive.
Ting-
[You've successfully eliminated the demon Amducias from the 8th hell.]
[Your level is capped. The experience will be accumulated.]
[Your demonic energy has increased by 5.]
[You've obtained the Authority of Seals.]
"Oh!"
Five demonic energy!
It was a lot considering that his demonic energy stat was similar to that of a player that had passed level 90.
It was comparable to the effect of Kraken's Rage, which had a time limit of a minute.
'I finally surpassed 100.'
KangWoo checked out his status window.
His demonic energy stat was at 103!
He'd only been able to reach three-digit stats after using Kraken's Rage.
'Did they say that the minimum requirement to becoming a world ranker is having a stat of three digits?'
The minimum requisite for receiving the world ranker test was to reach level 85 and have a three-digit stat.
It was high enough that most people, even at level 90, weren't guaranteed to have a three-digit stat, but KangWoo had reached it at level 59.
In the end, what gave players strength wasn't the level, but the stats.
KangWoo was as strong as a world ranker.
No, considering how many Authorities he had, it wouldn't be weird if he were stronger than them.
In just three months…
'Also, the effect of the new Authority is great.'
The Authority of Seals.
It was an Authority strong enough to seal KangWoo's power.
The only bad thing about it was that you had to touch the target's body, but its effect was incredible.
'I'll be able to use this very effectively.'
KangWoo smiled, satisfied.
The things he'd obtained were so great that it almost made him forget that his level limit hadn't been lifted.
"Mr. KangWoo!"
"KangWoo hyeongnim!"
"Hey! Are you okay?!"
Han Seol-ah, Kim ShiHoon, and Chae YeonJoo came running to him.
Behind them, he saw TaeSoo, Baek HwaYeon, and EunBi.
"Yes."
KangWoo nodded and tried to stand up.
"Huh?"
At that moment, he fell to the ground.
"KangWoo!!"
Chae YeonJoo extended her hands.
The chains that emerged from her hands wrapped around his body.
"Lay down if you're too tired, and don't make people worry!" She said while glaring at him.
"Who told you to go alone?! You were the one who said we should be careful about the Demon Cult! Why did you fight alone?"
KangWoo smirked after hearing her angry voice.
The sincere concern hidden behind anger made him feel good.
"Well, anyway. This incident was solved, right?"
"That's not the important thing here! Do you know how—"
"Thank you for worrying."
KangWoo placed his hand on top of Chae YeonJoo's head.
She was surprised and moved back.
"It… It's not like I was worried!" Chae YeonJoo shouted while her face was completely red, just like her hair.
KangWoo didn't answer and lay down on the floor. He felt a fatigue that weighed down his body.
Han Seol-ah got close to KangWoo and placed her hand on top of his chest.
"Healing Light."
"Oh…"
Although the tiredness hadn't disappeared, his body didn't hurt as much as before.
"The effect is incredible!"
"It's because I finished the fifth Awakening."
"What? You already reached level 40?"
Although it was weird that he was saying it, it was still an incredible leveling-up speed.
"Mr. ShiHoon received a special quest. After completing it, our level went up many times."
"Special quest?"
"Hyeongnim, I'll explain it to you later on. I think that it would be better if you took a rest."
"Hmm…"
KangWoo nodded.
'After all, I feel like I'm about to fall asleep right now.'
Although he felt better after receiving the Healing Light, he still felt tired.
"Do you still have trouble moving?"
"A little bit."
KangWoo nodded.
While smiling kindly, Han Seol-ah picked him up.
Although she looked frail, she was still a player.
Her basic specs were far beyond a normal human’s.
Lifting a male human's body was easy.
"I'll carry you home."
'This is a bit…'
KangWoo smiled awkwardly.
Leaving the strength aside, he felt weird being carried by a girl.
'I'll ask her to put me down.'
Although he found moving a bit uncomfortable, he could at least walk.
"Thanks, but I think that…"
Touch-
At that moment…
He felt something soft against his stomach—a sensation that couldn't be described with words.
It was her chest that had the nickname of Kerberos.
KangWoo widened his eyes.
"Can you walk?"
"Ah…"
His instincts were about to overtake his reason.
He didn't think about it too much.
While coughing, KangWoo answered.
"As expected, I think walking will be a bit hard. Although it’s weird that my body can't properly move…"
"Then I'll take Hyeongnim back home!"
"Huh?"
‘Not this…’
"Hahaha! I think it will be more comfortable if I pick you up rather than sister-in-law!"
'Don't get close to me.'
"As the little brother, I can't remain still while looking with my arms crossed at Hyeongnim, who can't properly walk."
'Hey, bastard, remain in your place.'
"Hyeongnim! I'll hold you in my arms!"
'Leave me alone.'
Kang TaeSoo picked up KangWoo.
He felt muscles that were hard as stone and the smell of sweat.
"Hyeongnim! I think that you should go back to your home first! Don't worry. I'll safely take you back home!"
"No… TaeSoo, you live on the other side, so…"
"Hahaha! If it's for Hyeongnim, that much is nothing!"
"Put me down. Now that I think about it, I think I can walk."
"You shouldn't overwork yourself! Stay still!"
TaeSoo held KangWoo even tighter.
KangWoo was soaked with TaeSoo's sweat.
'This isn't it.'
KangWoo's face had turned pale.
He extended his hand toward Han Seol-ah.
—It didn't reach her.
'This really isn't it…'
