The First Apostle of Greed

I scanned my surroundings, checking for any approaching threats. I couldn't afford to be careless; I had to be thorough in every detail. Nothing here... Thankfully, I didn't sense anything nearby. I could see strange birds flying high in the sky, but they didn't seem like they were going to descend. Or perhaps I should say they were just flying. But the fact that they looked so large despite the immense distance from the ground meant they were truly gargantuan. It was a little terrifying. As expected of a leveling zone exclusive to level 20s. The standard mobs here were incomparable to mere zombies.

Let's pick a skill... My vision was getting blurry, but I could deal with observing the surroundings after I chose my skill and replaced my eyeballs.

"Whoa..." A skill I hadn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even imagined appeared. A skill that allowed for skill combinations? I caught a glimpse of infinite possibilities. If I combine 'Tentacle Eruption' with 'Profane Touch'... would anything touched by the tentacles start to rot? And if I mix 'Abyssal Maw' with 'Polluted Breath'... I might be able to poison enemies from a distance...

I had intended to choose between Profane Resonance and Mutation Factor Extraction, but this was something else entirely. Sure, there would be skills that couldn't be mixed, but if used correctly, it would allow for truly diverse attacks. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yeah... my fighting style has always been the same. My main tactics were either staying back and grabbing them to death with tentacles, or chewing them to death with the Abyssal Maw. It was monotonous and highly likely to be countered...

If I mastered this, enemies wouldn't know what I was going to unleash. I could combine 'Profane Blade' and 'Tentacle Eruption' to summon dozens of bladed tentacles, or use 'Abyssal Maw' shrouded in the 'Void Veil' to unleash absolute defense and absolute offense simultaneously. Yes, I had to pick this one, no question.

Next...

"Oh..." A 'Craving Hole.' It was a very lewd and vulgar skill name, but the effect was significant. Just by inserting a corpse... I can extract a Deficient Familiar? It seemed to grind up corpses to pop out familiars like sausages. This was quite novel. Of course, I already had too many summons right now, so I didn't necessarily need it...

[Ah... can you hear me...]

"Ah, Indikron..."

[It seems you escaped safely. Since there is much to explain, I will speak on behalf of the others.]

Indikron reached out to me, representing the three main evil gods. Since Indikron was always the one in charge of explanations, it seemed she, the oldest among the evil gods, was handling it this time too. But seeing that we could communicate like this, it probably meant that by escaping the Black Market, the burden on them had decreased significantly. They must have been draining their energy trying to block the other gods who were constantly scheming to kill me.

[First, that place is a neutral zone, so it's difficult for us to intervene. However, others won't be able to intervene easily either... because there are already those who rule it.]

"Excuse me? Those who rule it?"

[Yes... claiming neutrality, beings who belong to neither the Pantheon, the Demon Palace, nor the Ghost Palace manage it.]

"If they're neutral... do you mean those 'Operators'?"

[No, they are different from the Operators... the managers of space-time. They are the Lords of Hell who refused to stand on the side of the Operators.]

Lords of Hell. Names like Hades or King Yama immediately came to mind. It seemed they had decided not to interfere much with the game itself.

[While the Infinite Hell can be used as a game board... they've made it so other gods can never intervene. Even for us, it requires consuming significant causality to speak to you.]

"Ah..."

[The only ones who can intervene are the Operators. In a way, it's the fairest battlefield. It's a place that even the Ghost Palace, the Pantheon... and we cannot easily touch.]

Hell, managed by the gods of death. This was a place where intervention between factions was impossible. It was truly a place where one could decide the outcome through individual skill and strength. Neither the Ghost Palace, the Pantheon, nor the Demon Palace... the domain of the gods of death. Perhaps this was the reason why the 'Zombie Apocalypse' began.

[Correct. Since the dead, beings of the afterlife, do not belong to any faction... they could become the fairest field mobs.]

So that was why the dead were crawling out into the world of the living. Honestly, I had wondered why it had to be a zombie apocalypse. I hadn't known there were such circumstances behind it...

The first DLC that struck humanity—'Eternal Night.' The secret of why it was the first was finally solved. Because the afterlife didn't belong anywhere, they used the dead, who were easy to utilize, to filter humanity. Into survivors and victims.

[They are proceeding with the game by grinding up the souls of the dead... humanity was ground up as consumables to obtain causality. It might be a tragic story for you, but from a cosmic perspective, there are those who have been sliced up planet by planet... Anyway, since you reached this point, I could finally tell you.]

"Oh..."

The information Indikron provided seemed to be a kind of locked information. Information given to those who reached level 20 and arrived at the Infinite Hell alive. It was like behind-the-scenes lore for this world and the game board.

[Anyway... the conclusion starts now.]

"Ah. Yes."

[Craving Hole... that is your authority.]

"Excuse me...?"

My authority? What was this supposed to mean?

[It is your exclusive skill, created by analyzing your growth, inclinations, and combat style up to this point. Congratulations. For surviving until now.]

[You are doing well, my companion. My side is always empty... so keep striving...]

[By the way, you are the first visitor to Hell! You've become the highest-level human on Earth. Congratulations!]

Congratulatory messages from the evil gods, including Indikron. The evil gods who had supported me until now... receiving my own exclusive skill, created by those who had watched over me according to my inclinations, almost made me tear up. Yes, this was a very honorable thing. To think that the evil gods, who had watched over the program that was 'me' almost every second of the day for 24 hours, had created an authority tailored to my inclinations... it was moving in itself...

This... am I gradually becoming close to a god myself...

Come to think of it, as Indikron said, the Craving Hole was a skill that heavily reflected my combat inclinations. The act of inserting a corpse resembles an offering... and extracting familiars is also my specialty... Up until now, in most battles, I didn't step forward myself, but rather relied on the slaves I summoned or subjugated. My main methods of strengthening my power were flipping the board at critical moments, recruiting slaves, recruiting NPCs, and consuming elixirs. In line with that, I had been granted the authority to extract my own familiars.

Until now, when it came to corpses... I mostly gave them to the Jet-Black Beetles to eat, or had Haeun dominate them with the Parasitic Tree. Or the Corpse Tree I bought at the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Black Market would handle them...

A new use for corpses had emerged. It was much better than letting them rot and swarm with bugs. Moreover, pushing forward with sheer numbers was good too. Plus, it consumed 6 Mana per unit, so the cost was cheap. It might be more efficient than the Jet-Black Beetles. Because I could extract, rest, recover mana, and extract again. Summoning magic had the advantage that even if a summon died, it could be re-summoned, but mana couldn't be recovered while summoning. However, familiars had the advantage that while they were gone once they died, I could recover mana after calling them out.

"I've decided."

I chose the Craving Hole. It was an authority made for me, so naturally, I had to choose this first. There was no option to hold off. It was etiquette to check a gift as soon as you received it.

My name, Jang Jojun, standing proudly among the names of the evil gods. It was a moving experience. The name 'Jojun,' which I had been teased for throughout my school days, was now on the same level as the evil gods.

The dim-witted me, who was so distracted by playing games even after the disaster began that I moved three days late... I can't believe I've actually reached the ranks of humanity's strongest. It doesn't feel real...

But I wouldn't be arrogant or careless. I knew there would be those who could rise up at any time. So I had to keep moving forward. So that no one could covet my position. To make everyone submit and obey me, I had to maintain the position of the strongest. I had to trample Nick and all the other unnamed powerhouses and become the best.

[Then, keep up the hard work, my child. We are always watching you...]

[My companion... are you hungry... Ah, no... that's not it... uh... yes, good luck...]

[Ah! Cultist, I had forgotten, but the Curse of Existence Erasure I placed on you has been lifted. Then...]

Soon, Indikron, Kashnakas, and Botamilli retreated. Their presence faded. Since the Infinite Hell was a place where interference was nearly impossible, it would be difficult for them to talk to me anymore.

"Haha... please keep watching. I'll definitely get stronger and screw you all."

I proudly stated my ambition. This was the path I walked. This is my way. My path, my method. Until now, I had moved forward using my desires and greed as the driving force. The desire to gain an advantage had always been the driving force that kept me moving. That wouldn't change in the future either. Because being most like myself would be the most correct path.

Now then... slowly...

It was time to replace my eyes. My vision was getting blurrier and blurrier, and I couldn't see well ahead.