Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: One-Man Division
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One-Man Division
Kang Hyun-soo, having achieved his goal, turned his direction toward the Terra Kingdom.
‘They’ll handle things well since I gave them some key information.’
Among that info was details on Mad Blood Lord Igor.
‘Red Flame Lord Dorchov said he’d keep an eye on him.’
Kang Hyun-soo figured he could stop worrying about Mad Blood Lord Igor.
Kang Hyun-soo arrived at the border region between the Rokto Empire and the Terra Kingdom.
Naturally, the spatial transfer gate wasn’t open, so he had to go on foot.
‘When the hell are they going to fix this?’
At least it had improved from before—they’d made full preparations so it could activate immediately in wartime.
‘Still, it’ll take a few hours to get full bidirectional activation.’
What if a real emergency hit?
‘It’d be faster to just walk in that ridiculous scenario.’
The one upside was that reinforcements could move quickly once bidirectional activation kicked in.
Once Cecilia took the throne?
‘First order of business: activate spatial transfer gates between the Rokto Empire and its vassal states.’
Grrrrowl!
A few monsters lunged at Kang Hyun-soo.
Slash!
Kang Hyun-soo swung his sword, effortlessly slicing through the monsters.
Then, out of habit, he activated his brigade formation skill.
Not to add those monsters to his brigade roster.
It was just grind work to level up his class skill.
Kang Hyun-soo kept moving forward, turning freshly hunted monsters into summons and dismissing them to grind his class skill.
Then.
[One-Man Brigade - A-Rank has grown into One-Man Division - S-Rank.]
“Huh?”
His class skill suddenly upgraded from One-Man Brigade to One-Man Division.
‘What?’
He’d been habitually forming brigades and dismissing them with mid-to-low-level monsters.
No expectations at all.
‘Grew out of nowhere.’
But thinking back on it.
‘It’s about time.’
Ever since defeating Demon Dragon Karas and advancing from One-Man Battalion to One-Man Brigade.
‘Recruited a ton of heavy hitters under me.’
Pre-regression’s One-Man Legion and Shadow King, Ivan Yamelikonnen and Cecilia.
Those two probably hadn’t helped much with proficiency yet due to their low levels.
But after that.
Starting with Demon of Mass Slaughter Jo Sa-pyeong and Mantis Guild high-level players.
Sword King Jang Seok-won, Benevolent Army King Shin Chang-hoo, Doppelganger King and his doppelgangers, Dragon King and Tiger King plus Dragon Tiger Guild high-level players.
And now Red Flame Lord Dorchov had joined.
‘Honestly weird it hadn’t ranked up until now.’
Pathetically slow growth speed.
‘If One-Man Brigade to One-Man Division was this tough, when will I hit One-Man Legion?’
Upgrading to One-Man Division was great.
But thinking about pushing it to One-Man Legion.
The road ahead looked daunting.
Still.
‘I’ll get there eventually.’
Just like always.
Demon Realm nobles, demon king minions, traitors—those with overwhelming power were, to Kang Hyun-soo.
‘Nothing but perfect prey to fuel my growth.’
His goal wasn’t the SS-Rank One-Man Legion.
‘Dunno what’ll come next, but I’m pushing straight to EX-Rank.’
Kang Hyun-soo resumed his summon grinding as he walked.
While checking what had changed.
‘Finally can appoint regiment commanders.’
With One-Man Brigade, battalion commanders were the limit.
Now he could appoint four regiment commanders.
‘Still no division commander.’
Probably needed One-Man Legion for that.
‘Wonder if temporary regiment commander works?’
Since temporary battalion commander did, maybe temporary regiment too.
‘Battalion commander slots increased too.’
Excluding temporaries, he could appoint nine.
Now doubled to eighteen.
And crucially.
‘Summon count jumped from 5,900 to 15,900.’
Three times as many summons.
‘Now I can give battalion commander spots to Song Hana and Warlord too.’
Those two had been stuck as company commanders due to lack of openings.
Not anymore.
‘The question is who to appoint as regiment commanders.’
By raw power?
Demon Dragon Karas, Doppelganger King Taliman, Red Flame Lord Dorchov topped the list.
Next: Sword King Jang Seok-won and Benevolent Army King Shin Chang-hoo, or Fist Emperor and Martial Sovereign.
‘Demon Dragon Karas and Doppelganger King are locks.’
The other two spots were trickier.
‘I’ll think on it.’
Appointments could wait.
Priority was.
‘Whether I can appoint temporary regiment commanders.’
Also needed to check if he could add more than three temporary battalion commanders.
‘Doppelganger King Taliman first.’
Kang Hyun-soo tried forming a temporary regiment under Doppelganger King with three battalion commanders.
Result.
[You have appointed Battalion Commander Doppelganger King Taliman as temporary regiment commander.]
[Stats consumed.]
[Doppelganger King Taliman’s rank changes from battalion commander to regiment commander (temp).]
[Division Commander can form 2 temporary regiments.]
[Temporary regiment minimum 500, maximum 1,000 members.]
‘Success.’
Confirmed he could make two temporary regiments.
‘Two temporary regiments add 2,000 summons.’
Total capacity jumps to 17,900, not 15,900.
‘Test temporary battalions too.’
Kang Hyun-soo tried a temporary battalion.
Test subject: Dragon King Lee Ji-yong, stuck as company commander.
[You have appointed Company Commander Lee Ji-yong as temporary battalion commander.]
[Stats consumed.]
[Lee Ji-yong’s rank changes from company commander to battalion commander (temp).]
[Division Commander can form 6 temporary battalions.]
[Temporary battalion minimum 100, maximum 300 members.]
‘Doubled.’
Total battalion commanders: 24.
‘More generous than expected. Temporary battalions max 300, regiments 1,000.’
Exactly half of formal battalion and regiment sizes.
Total summon capacity: 18,800.
‘Regiment commanders up to six total.’
Just one rank up.
But One-Man Division outclassed One-Man Brigade in every way.
‘Time to grind summons again.’
All battalion slots filled, Commander’s Blessing distributed to everyone worth it.
Plus spare stats from Superhuman Strength.
To hit 18,800 summons, he’d need to hunt diligently and stockpile stats.
‘Appoint Demon Dragon Karas as temporary regiment commander too.’
Kang Hyun-soo summoned Demon Dragon Karas and appointed him.
‘How much has intelligence improved?’
Kang Hyun-soo eyed his new temporary regiment commanders expectantly.
“How’s it feel to promote to regiment commander?”
“We, Doppelganger King Taliman and Demon Dragon Karas, are your liege’s servants. Nothing but joy at being able to serve you greater.”
-I feel the same as Doppelganger King Taliman.
“Anything you want to say to me?”
Anyone could answer questions—even battalion commanders.
But volunteering opinions?
‘Battalion commanders couldn’t.’
Regiment commanders?
“Please assign my doppelgangers under my temporary regiment. Their utility would improve greatly.”
Doppelganger King spoke first.
“How so?”
“If my liege commands, we could seize human kingdoms or guilds and offer them to you.”
More aggressive than expected.
“You can pull that off?”
“Executing the plans I devised in the Demon Realm, it’s entirely feasible.”
“Without my direct orders?”
“Name the target, my liege, and I shall act.”
‘Proactive now.’
Intelligence definitely up.
As Doppelganger King finished, Demon Dragon Karas spoke.
-Please assign my dragonkin monsters to my temporary regiment as well.
“Why?”
-Dragonkin possess skills that empower dragon-type monsters.
“Sounds useful. What can you do?”
-My dragonkin and I can’t conquer kingdoms or guilds like doppelgangers, but we can stir chaos.
“How?”
-By appearing near the kingdom my liege designates, heightening fear of demons.
‘Pretty useful.’
They could voice opinions now.
“How much combat power recovered?”
Kang Hyun-soo’s top question.
“My physical abilities and mana fall short of my living days.”
-Intelligence affecting combat lags behind my prime as well.
Demon Dragon Karas’s expression was unreadable.
But Doppelganger King?
‘Check this out.’
He looked troubled.
Compared to emotionless battalion commanders?
Huge leap.
Plus.
‘Dodging the question?’
Asked recovery level.
They skirted with “short of living days” or “lacking compared to prime.”
“By your estimate, what percent of your prime have you recovered?”
Blunt question.
“Lost my demonic core’s origin, so about 50%.”
-About 70% for me.
Direct ask got honest answers.
‘50% and 70%.’
For Doppelganger King, factoring core loss.
‘Lost about 30% of prime power.’
Could see 70% as weak for regiment rank.
‘But they’re Demon Realm nobles.’
Beings who could solo a kingdom.
Considering that.
‘This is solid recovery.’
One curiosity lingered.
“Compare regiment rank now to battalion commander days—how much combat power boost?”
Stats only rose 5%.
But combat power.
‘Not just stats.’
Intelligence mattered too.
“Roughly 20% increase.”
-Same for me.
“That so?”
Bigger jump than thought.
‘Not bad making summons regiment commanders.’
Player candidates were all battalion commanders.
‘Heads of massive guilds.’
But they.
‘Except Cecilia, haven’t mastered their own commander appointment skills yet.’
Promote them to regiment?
‘They’d get stronger, but not like summons.’
Maybe later.
‘For now, summons boost forces more.’
Kang Hyun-soo summoned Fist Emperor, Martial Sovereign, Guardian Star of Mulan, Blade King.
Appointed them all regiment commanders.
‘Can swap anytime.’
Later, defeat more Demon Realm nobles or.
Recruit players worth regiment spots?
‘Dismiss and reassign then.’
Stats waste, sure.
But that.
‘I can handle it.’
More important: force boost.
“Compared to your prime, what’s your current combat power?”
“About 90% recovered.”
“Same for me.”
Fist Emperor and Martial Sovereign said 90%.
Nearing prime power.
“I’ve surpassed my prime.”
“Same here.”
Guardian Star of Mulan and Blade King exceeded expectations.
“Stronger than your primes?”
“Yes.”
“Indeed.”
“Roughly how much?”
“About 120%.”
“Same for me.”
‘Lower prime power, faster recovery.’
If he’d made Flame Knight or Sword Ghost regiment commanders?
‘Way stronger than alive.’
But Kang Hyun-soo didn’t care about prime recovery levels.
‘Who’s strongest matters.’
Even if Guardian Star and Blade King topped their primes.
They couldn’t beat weaker-but-still-strong Fist Emperor and Martial Sovereign.
‘Time to head back.’
Checks done, Kang Hyun-soo unsummoned them and headed for Terra Kingdom.