Half Human, Half Demon, Half Dragon

As Kim Jun walked up the stairs from the underground to the surface, he concentrated on the condition of his body.

Two kinds of mana now flowed through him: dragon mana and demon mana.

The human mana he had originally possessed had vanished completely during the Dragon Heart transplantation process.

And with his contract with Asmodeus, a new power had been added on top of that.

I’m going to fuse them.

Carefully, Kim Jun tried bringing the two mana streams into contact.

Crackle—!

At once, a violent backlash erupted inside him.

Dragon mana was hot and overwhelming. It seethed like magma, carrying the nature of red flame.

Since the time he first awakened as a hunter, the fire attribute he had possessed had already merged with the dragon’s power and become even more potent.

By contrast, demon mana was cold and sinister.

It was a terrifying force that sought to swallow every shred of light, like a deep abyss of darkness. Within it lingered the will to destroy, to drag everything down into despair.

One power came from light; the other stood in direct opposition to it, rooted in darkness.

Those two forces, utterly opposite in nature, were colliding ferociously inside Kim Jun’s body.

“Cough!”

Kim Jun dropped to one knee. Agonizing pain crashed through him.

The dragon’s flame mana tried to dominate the right side of his body, while the demon’s darkness mana fought to seize the left.

Where the two powers met near the center of his chest, around his heart, pain struck as if a bomb had gone off inside him.

But Kim Jun was used to pain like this.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

This is better than when I had the Dragon Heart implanted.

Compared to the hellish agony of that transplantation, this was manageable.

He had nearly died back then, after all.

Kim Jun steadied his breathing and tried again.

I can’t just force them together. I have to tune them step by step.

This time, he made only a tiny amount of mana touch. One drop of red flame mana, one drop of black darkness mana.

Sssss—

The recoil was still there, but it was weaker than before.

Slowly, patiently, Kim Jun began to align the two powers.

He cooled the heat of the flames a little, and breathed a hint of warmth into the chill of darkness.

He softened the fire’s aggression and mediated the darkness’s hunger for destruction.

Carefully, almost like a negotiation, he drew the two forces together until each acknowledged the other.

Thirty minutes passed.

An hour passed.

Though cold sweat trickled down Kim Jun’s brow, the conflict between the two mana streams gradually eased.

Flame and darkness were no longer rejecting each other; they were finding a way to coexist.

And at last…

Now!

Kim Jun fully fused the two powers.

Whoosh—!

In that instant, an entirely new mana was born within his body.

Black flame.

A mysterious fire that had never existed in this world, completely unlike ordinary red flames.

A flame with a black core and a red outline. It was both uncanny and beautiful.

And most importantly, it carried the unmistakable sense that it would never go out.

Ordinary fire died without oxygen. It died under water. It died when the wind scattered it.

But this black flame was different. It contained an immortal will, a sense that no matter what was done to it, it would continue burning forever.

That was when it happened.

It’s been a while.

The power he had forged by synthesizing darkness attribute mana after conquering Hell before the regression.

Kim Jun checked his status.

Half-human, half-demon, half-dragon?

Kim Jun let out a bitter smile.

With a dragon’s heart inside a human body and a contract with a demon, he had become a singular existence that belonged fully to no race at all.

But to Kim Jun, that meant greater possibilities.

If he could make use of the strengths of all three races, then even the being on the hundredth floor would be more than manageable.

Kim Jun raised a hand.

Fwoosh—

Black flame bloomed quietly from his palm and spread outward.

It felt utterly unlike ordinary fire.

Hot, yet it did not scorch. Dark, yet it shed light. Contradictory, and yet in perfect harmony.

This flame could stand against divine power. It carried darkness strong enough to oppose the absolute force of light.

“Return—Thebes.”

There was no need to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠waste any more time.

He would return to Thebes via Bifrost, then begin the conquest of the 11th floor.

Whoosh—!

*

If one were to name the five great guilds of Korea, they would be these.

The Cheongryong Guild, led by Han Seojin, master of ice magic. No monster could remain unfrozen before his absolute zero spell.

The Black Tiger Guild, jointly led by the twin martial artists Park Cheolmin and Park Cheolsu. Their combination attacks could subdue even S-class monsters in an instant.

The Taebaek Guild, famous for Kang Donghyuk and his massive warhammer. It was said that one blow from him could bring down a mountain.

The Buyeo Guild, led by Yu Giha, a specialist in group buffs. With perfect teamwork and strategy, they could overwhelm enemies stronger than themselves.

And the fifth: Kim Jun’s Han Guild.

Only five members in total, including the guild master, but every one of them was S-class. A true elite guild.

“I’m guessing it’s probably the Iron Fist twins, right?”

“No way, it has to be Han Seojin. The Cheongryong Guild is the strongest.”

Hunters were in the middle of a heated debate at a tavern in Thebes.

They were curious about the person behind the daily [Identity Hidden] announcements that had been going off day after day.

“If Han Seojin spreads his ice domain, he’s invincible inside it!”

“So what? In the Cheongryong Guild, only the guild leader and vice guild leader are S-class. The rest are all A-class.”

“Enough A-classes can beat S-class, too. Ever heard of swarm tactics?”

One hunter took a sip of beer and fired back.

“Then what about the Black Tiger Guild? Both twins are S-class. And most of the guild members are upper A-class, at the very least.”

“What about Kang Donghyuk from the Taebaek Guild? That guy’s warhammer… with one swing…”

Then one hunter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spoke quietly.

“Why are you leaving out the Han Guild?”

“The Han Guild? They only have five people.”

“Still, they’re all S-class.”

“No way… You think five people somehow reached the 10th floor already? That doesn’t make sense.”

But a few of them nodded.

“Come to think of it, that Han Guild leader, Kim Jun… he really is strong.”

“He’s the guy who was soloing A-class monsters at gates, right?”

“Still, the 10th floor is a little…”

It was then.

The tavern went silent in an instant.

“What? The underground floors?”

“Hell? There was a real Hell?”

“Who the hell opened something like that?”

The hunters broke into a buzz.

“It’s gotta be the Cheongryong Guild, right?”

“No, it’d be the Black Tiger twins!”

They were still arguing for over an hour about who had opened the underground when—

“Well, Cheongryong does have the most people, so maybe…”

“What does that matter? In the Tower, only—!”

The tavern went silent in an instant.

“Damn it. Heaven and Hell? What the hell is this?”

“T-the same person, right?”

“No, come on, there’s no way…”

But deep inside everyone’s heart, the same thought had begun to take root.

What if?

*

11th Floor, Heaven.

The moment Kim Jun passed through the golden gate, he felt overwhelming divine power.

The very air was saturated with sacred force, enough that ordinary elemental attacks would lose more than half their power here.

But Kim Jun had Black Flame.

The monsters of the field began to appear.

Grrrrr—

A giant lion made of holy light charged at him, its golden mane streaming behind it.

Then a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠winged white horse descended from the sky, hooves raised high, and eagles formed of light circled overhead in a flock.

Kim Jun sighed and extended a hand.

Fwoosh—

Black Flame bloomed quietly and spread around him.

He didn’t care whether it was a lion, a white horse, or an eagle.

The instant they touched Black Flame, their sacred light was consumed by darkness and vanished one by one.

“This is way too different from before.”

Kim Jun muttered without stopping.

The first time he reached the 11th floor before his regression, he had only been level 15. Back then, even killing a single sacred lion had been difficult, but now, unless it was a boss, the experience barely even moved.

Sacred wolves that blocked the road, golden stags, divine bears… all manner of heaven’s monsters appeared, but the result was the same.

Wherever Kim Jun passed, the fire naturally spread, and everything in its path quietly disappeared.

No real resistance. It all happened as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

And where the monsters vanished, valuable rewards were left behind.

Shimmer—

Small silver crystals lay scattered on the ground. Lunarium.

A special mineral that could be gathered only in the Tower, and an essential material for crafting high-grade equipment or enhancing existing gear.

The Lunarium that came from Heaven was especially valuable because of its high purity.

Kim Jun swept his hand and collected the Lunarium into his subspace pouch.

“That alone is worth quite a bit.”

Kim Jun nodded in satisfaction and kept moving forward.

How long had he walked?

At last, Kim Jun arrived before the enormous golden palace at the center of Heaven.

At the palace entrance, a massive door carved with sacred patterns stood shut tight.

It was the 11th floor boss room.

Standing before the door, Kim Jun drew in a deep breath.

“Hoo.”

Creak—

15