Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: First Steps in the Demon Realm
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It was the moment when the ground he had stepped on and the environment completely changed.
[You have become the first to set foot in the Demon Realm.]
[You have achieved the Unique Accomplishment: The One Who Trod the Demon Realm.]
[All ability scores slightly increase.]
[You acquire a large amount of Karma Points.]
At the same time, blade-like energies began to assail Go Yohan.
The black thread that had been just one among countless colorful threads before arriving here.
Whoosh!
It was tangled everywhere.
Moreover, it began attacking as if to invade and corrupt the threads that made up Go Yohan.
It was a situation he had experienced countless times already.
This black thread.
‘Demonic energy.’
It was the demonic energy of the demons.
Even in Travania, lands ravaged by demons were rife with this black thread, demonic energy.
These things corrupted and defiled everything around them.
Snap.
It was when Go Yohan tried to sever it as if it were only natural.
[The Black Knight class perk activates.]
[One Dyed in Darkness]
Something astonishing happened in that instant.
The power that had been attacking Go Yohan like a virus, so alien, began intertwining with the threads that formed him and taking root.
[All ability scores increase.]
Normally, demonic energy would gnaw away at one's original power just by starting to erode it.
But right now, Go Yohan could feel the powers that constituted him growing stronger.
This was clearly a blessing.
[Faith has increased.]
Only then.
“Guhk, guh-eok! Guh-eok!”
Did Lee Jae-kyung, howling like a beast, come to mind.
Go Yohan reached out his hand and severed the black threads heading toward him.
Clang!
He could see vitality returning to Lee Jae-kyung's deathly pale face.
At the same time, a golden aura emanated from Lee Jae-kyung's body.
He was undergoing the same thing Go Yohan had experienced.
- First reward.
It was said that when a player performed an act that was the first of its kind and significant, the system would grant a corresponding reward.
Anything the system could bestow: class, skills, ability scores, whatever.
In the past, the so-called first-generation players had monopolized these first rewards and continued to dominate to this day.
Lee Jae-kyung must have obtained that benefit, which was now nearly impossible to get.
“…….”
But his face, barely slumped on the ground, was the picture of death.
“I told you.”
Go Yohan said to such a Lee Jae-kyung.
“…How.”
This Black Gate was the first gate Go Yohan had ever entered.
The reason was that he hadn't felt the need to enter a gate, and also because of the watchful eyes of others, including Shin Su-kyung.
In contrast, Lee Jae-kyung was different.
He was someone who had conquered hundreds of gates, going back and forth between life and death countless times.
“How can a place like this… exist?”
He had been utterly overwhelmed by the Black Gate, just as the name implied.
“This is….”
“Hell.”
Go Yohan said clearly.
It was his first time stepping on demon realm soil as well, but he had experienced similar things many times.
“…….”
Lee Jae-kyung remained silent for a long while before rising to his feet.
Even in this moment, the goosebumps rising all over his body showed no sign of subsiding.
Just like when Lee Jae-kyung first entered a gate in the past, his instincts were screaming at him to run.
But because he hadn't run back then, he had become the Lee Jae-kyung of today.
Slap.
He slapped his own cheek with his palm to pull himself together.
“I've made a fool of myself.”
Lee Jae-kyung spoke as if chiding his own inadequacy, but Go Yohan saw it differently.
“Keep up well.”
Even in Travania, few showed such composure upon entering a demon realm territory.
*
*
*
“I've been curious for a while now.”
Lee Jae-kyung asked as they moved.
“Just how are you so strong?”
How could a player who didn't level up be that strong?
Whether he was even a player to begin with.
“Now that we've come this far, wouldn't it be okay to tell me a little?”
As he said, Lee Jae-kyung had stepped into hell itself with the determination not to fall behind Go Yohan.
He was right.
‘The Goddess is not stingy with rewards.’
One who showed fitting courage deserved a reward.
Just as Go Yohan had spared Lee Jae-kyung in the past.
“Magic power.”
“Who doesn't know about magic power?”
Magic power was the foundation of players.
It was used when casting skills or moving the body.
Moreover.
- Magic power cannot be raised with points.
It was akin to a player's talent.
Even with the five stat points granted upon level-up, magic power could not be increased.
It was an ability score that fluctuated organically with the growth of other stats, levels, acquisition of skills, and such—the greatest mystery among players.
“There is a power at the root of magic power.”
Go Yohan said with his eyes closed.
As he closed his eyes, the world that had appeared as woven threads expanded further.
He could even see the tiniest fibers making up those threads.
“I call it divinity.”
“…Divinity.”
Whoosh!
The spreading energy drew a map in Go Yohan's mind.
This ability to gauge the starting and ending points of the threads was what the people of Travania called this.
- Divine Eye.
The eye of the god bestowed by the Goddess.
“…….”
Go Yohan opened his eyes.
And he confirmed what he had felt upon setting foot on this land.
‘This place is definitely the Demon Realm.’
A land even he had not reached in the past.
But it was not perfectly their territory.
“…A fragment, huh.”
The Black Gate was so narrow that he could gauge it with his Divine Eye.
Even the beings that could be called enemies within it.
‘Gate.’
He had also detected something close to the boss, which was the ultimate purpose of the gate.
“Unfortunately, there's nothing for you to do here, mister.”
Go Yohan said firmly.
“Just make sure you don't fall behind.”
“W-Wait a second!”
But it was already too late.
Crunch.
The ground beneath Go Yohan's young body caved in.
Finally, when Go Yohan stomped it.
Rumble!
The ground split as if an earthquake had struck.
Boom!
A storm-like roar struck Lee Jae-kyung's ears.
Go Yohan was not wrong.
“Damn it!”
Just as Go Yohan said, not falling behind would require squeezing out every ounce of strength he had.
*
*
*
Within the Black Gate, they finally encountered something that could be called an enemy.
It was one of the lowest-ranking demon beasts.
A dog-shaped figure with a build that could be called Mountain Monarch, its body and tail ablaze with blue flames.
‘Hell Hound.’
A weakling that barely qualified as a demon species, but not one to be ignored.
In Travania, an entire baron's knight order had been wiped out by a single Hell Hound.
“Grrr.”
Those burning blue flames evoked images of hellfire and possessed destructive power equivalent to a 5th-circle flame magic spell.
The problem was that the Hell Hound could spew it as easily as breathing.
Boom!
Go Yohan charged forward like the wind and struck the ground.
The Hell Hound.
“Kyaaang!”
Without hesitation, it opened its maw and unleashed hellfire.
In an instant, blue flames enveloped Go Yohan's entire body.
As if it were only natural for Go Yohan to be burned to ashes, the Hell Hound waited for its meal to cook perfectly.
Fizzle.
But that hellfire vanished without a trace, without any warning.
“Grrrng?”
As if unable to comprehend, the Hell Hound spewed flames once more.
The fire trying to engulf Go Yohan again.
Step.
Vanished without a trace in Go Yohan's outstretched hand.
“…….”
Go Yohan's two eyes fixed on the Hell Hound.
- Black Gate.
He knew he would face these demon species again.
And the Hell Hound was merely a beast raised by those demons—not even the demons he sought.
Thump, thump.
But his heart pounded.
This was exactly why he had opened the door, knowing it would bring the end.
“Kyaargh!”
Sensing something amiss, the Hell Hound leaped toward Go Yohan.
But it shouldn't have.
Step.
Go Yohan's hand resting on the Hell Hound's head.
The Hell Hound should have tucked its tail and fled the moment its hellfire proved ineffective.
Crunch!
The sound of flesh twisting and bones shattering.
And then.
Boom!
The Hell Hound exploded pathetically.
“How dare a filthy beast of demon spawn bare its fangs at the Goddess's knight.”
Plop, plop.
What had been the Hell Hound rained down as fragments.
[You are the first to hunt a Hell Hound.]
[You have achieved the Unique Accomplishment: Nightmare of the Hunting Dog.]
[You acquire a small amount of Karma Points.]
[You have acquired the skill, Ignition.]
As the Goddess praised Go Yohan's efforts.
“Huff, huff.”
Lee Jae-kyung, who had barely caught up, exhaled roughly.
“……!”
He was shocked by the scene before him.
He had sprinted with all his might because he had sensed an indescribably massive energy from the direction Go Yohan had headed.
An energy on par with a mid-boss in an A-rank gate.
But now, nothing remained.
[Your contribution to the hunt is negligible.]
[You acquire a small amount of experience.]
What he heard was the system message.
[Your level has increased.]
An absurd level-up.
“……?”
He couldn't understand.
Even though experience was shared among those entering the same gate, it was distributed differentially based on hunting contribution.
No matter how little experience was left for level-up, it didn't make sense to level up from something like this.
And.
‘Why?’
Why wasn't Go Yohan leveling up?
The golden light of level-up was nowhere in Lee Jae-kyung's sight.
It was then.
“Survive on your own. You said you'd protect, right? You don't plan on just being shielded, do you?”
As he came to his senses, he felt it.
“Grrr….”
“Gruk.”
The monsters Go Yohan had just felled were now surrounding them.
“…Of course.”
He had many questions, but Go Yohan had said he would explain.
So for now, he had no choice but to do his utmost to survive, just as Go Yohan said.
Shing.
Sword Ghost, Lee Jae-kyung.
It was the moment he gripped his sword in real combat again after a long retirement.