The Price of Breaking the Limit
“Ugh!”
It was pain like my entire body was being twisted apart. It didn't even compare to the pain of my mana awakening.
I'm going to die.
It was exactly that kind of pain. Even body reconstruction hadn't hurt this much. Neither had using Limit Break.
But why—
This was the first time it hurt this much. No—wait. This was pain I had definitely felt before. I didn't know when, but at some point in my life I had felt suffering on this level.
When? Where?
Nothing came to mind. It wasn't the fight against Pride. That battle had left me unable to even register pain—I'd died in an instant, without a moment to feel anything at all.
Then what on earth is this pain…
Swallowed by the agonizing question, my consciousness sank back into darkness.
“Hah!”
I gasped in a huge breath as my eyes flew open. The moment consciousness returned, pain flooded through every inch of my body.
“Ugh!”
I clamped my mouth shut, barely choking back the groan that threatened to escape. Only after a while had passed was I able to stir and push myself upright.
How much time has passed?
The last thing I remembered was stepping into the third step of the Nameless Footwork, my technique colliding with Poison's… and then nothing. I'd blacked out right after the collision. Still, judging by the fact that I was breathing, I probably hadn't lost.
Then a message appeared before my eyes.
You have slain a demon bearing the Rank of Baron.
Settling experience points.
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
.
.
.
LEVEL UP!
You have reached Level 200.
Settlement of remaining experience has been deferred.
A demon with the Rank of Baron—that was obviously Poison. And this message appearing before my eyes meant I had won the fight.
I won…
Honestly, it didn't quite feel real. With my current abilities, beating a ranked demon had been absolutely impossible. And yet I'd won. And survived.
Apparently even the system had considered it impossible—it actually announced that I'd completed an impossible achievement. Before my regression, I'd had to steal the Rank or Grade of my enemies just to beat anyone who held one.
I won't need to do that anymore.
Taking others' Ranks and Grades had been exactly why my mind had deteriorated day by day back then. But this time, it seemed I wouldn't have to.
So what's the Level 200 promotion quest?
By this point I was genuinely curious what kind of promotion quest I'd get. As if reading my thoughts, a system message popped up.
You have reached Level 200.
Special variable detected.
Impossible achievement already completed.
The method of promotion will be changed.
I'm sorry, what?
An abrupt change to the promotion format. From my experience, the promotion method had never once changed all the way up to level 500. I'd simply never achieved an impossible achievement before my regression. This new variable wasn't entirely welcome either—I still had plenty of relics left to claim inside the museum.
And at last, I learned what the changed promotion method would be.
Description: You have achieved the feat of surpassing the limits of your kind. Now is the time to step onto the path of Transcendence.
Clear Condition: Accumulate Karma and forge your own Epic.
I froze solid the moment I read it. Karma. Epic. Both were words I had never once heard before my regression. Which meant I would have to hunt down the conditions myself and satisfy them from scratch.
This… has properly gone sideways, hasn't it?
The plan had been to promote quickly, then level up just as fast. But with promotion conditions I couldn't even identify, that was impossible now.
What am I supposed to do with this…
While I was still mulling it over, the door opened and two familiar figures walked in.
“Han Jin?”
“Master?”
Both of them went wide-eyed at the sight of me sitting up. Won-ae's way of addressing me seemed to have changed a little, but it didn't bother me enough to point out.
“Hey.”
When I raised a hand and gave a small wave, tears welled up in both their eyes. Their reaction caught me off guard.
“Master!”
“Han Jin!”
And with that, they threw themselves at me. Normally that would've been no big deal—but right now I was in no condition to handle it.
All Stats −99%
All mana expended. Mana cannot be used for the time being.
Right now my body was at a normal civilian's level. And in that state, being crushed in a fierce hug by two awakeneders over level 100…
“Khh!”
There was no way I could breathe.
S-save me!
No matter how much I screamed internally, the two of them only squeezed tighter.
“So, you thought I might never wake up again?”
“Yes.”
Once the two of them had calmed down a little and filled me in, it turned out I had been in a near-corpse state. They'd genuinely believed I was dead.
Was I really in that bad of shape?
I couldn't know for sure, but judging from their account, my condition had apparently been far worse than I'd imagined.
“And then?”
“But afterward the territory kept binding itself to you, Master, so we knew you weren't dead. We kept treating you and waiting for you to wake up.”
“You worked hard. By the way, how long was I out?”
“Today makes exactly one month.”
“Kehk!”
At the word one month, I choked and doubled over coughing. There was exactly one reason for that reaction.
Mom thinks I'm dead…
An image flashed through my mind—Mom, scarier than any demon, glaring at me with a rolling pin raised. Goosebumps crawled over my entire body.
I-I need to get home, fast…
I hurriedly tried to move—but Baek-rim and Won-ae held me back.
“Where exactly do you think you're going in that condition?”
“Master, rest is what your body needs right now.”
I understood perfectly well that they were worried about me. But this was a problem on an entirely different scale.
Any later and I'll be murdered!
Their concern was appreciated, but I had no intention of dying just yet.
Then Won-ae spoke up. “If it's about your family, you don't need to worry.”
“What?”
“While you were unconscious, we went down and reported to the Association President. You should be safe for a while yet.”
At those words, all the tension drained out of me at once. Whether it was the relief of not being about to be murdered by my mother, my legs simply gave out.
“But more importantly—come with me.”
“Didn't you just tell me not to move?”
“That's that, and this is this.”
The moment I sat up on the bed, Baek-rim hauled me to my feet and led me out of the room, Won-ae following quietly behind us.
“So? Where are we going?”
“Even you'll be surprised when you see it, Master.”
Baek-rim walked along grinning from ear to ear, apparently thrilled about something. My crippled body was leaning on her for support, and when she picked up the pace, it hurt.
“Have you forgotten that I'm an invalid?”
“Ah. Right.”
“Thought so.”
Baek-rim slowed down with a chastened look on her face. I wanted to know what had her so excited, but there was no way for me to find out yet.
After a short walk, we arrived at the balcony.
“The balcony? Why all of a sudden…?”
Frowning in confusion, I looked out past the railing. The mountains were green and the land was green. The water was crystal clear, and animals abounded everywhere. I rubbed my eyes at the sight.
“Where… is this?”
“Where else? It's your territory, Master.”
“My territory?”
The instant Baek-rim said it, a message I hadn't seen before appeared.
You have claimed all territories in North Korea.
The final winner of Territorial Conquest is ‘Han Jin’.
As the winner's reward, the land will be reconfigured.
The will of the territory's owner will be reflected.
The will registered is: ‘Paradise on Earth’ and ‘Protection’.
Reconfiguring the territory to match Paradise on Earth.
Reconfiguration complete.
“Ha.”
Reading the message, I let out a hollow laugh. The reward was absurd. The power to restructure the very earth itself.
So that's why it was all so hard before I regressed.
In my first life, every stretch of land in the world had belonged to a demon or one of the Seven Great Demons. Which meant the terrain had always been reshaped in their favor.
It was a completely rigged fight, huh.
I felt a flicker of bitterness, but complaining about it now would change nothing. Nothing would change at all.
“By the way, why did I win?”
“Because you beat that Poison guy, obviously.”
“No, there were definitely other human survivors.”
“Ah, them? They handed their territory over to us.”
“What?”
I couldn't understand it. A territory was a goose that laid golden eggs. Giving up that goose made no sense to me.
“They asked to be allowed to work in the territory in exchange for handing it over.”
“And then?”
“Since I'm your knight, Master, I accepted on your behalf and took the territory.”
“Ha…”
I sighed at Baek-rim's words. It was hard to believe this was the same bloodthirsty girl I'd met back then.
Is this actually her real personality?
Before, I'd liked her precisely because she seemed so grown-up for her age—now I found myself missing the old her a little.
“What if I'd been thinking something else entirely and you just accepted it all on my own?”
“Ah, I'll explain that later. First, please look down there.”
“Down?”
At Baek-rim's prompting, I looked beneath the balcony. Hundreds of people at the very least stood gathered together down there. Until a moment ago, my eyes had been glued to the distant scenery and I hadn't noticed them at all.
“What is all this?”
“What else? Your people, Master.”
“My people?”
If they were territory residents, why say people? Before I could ask that question outright, a system message supplied the answer.
By claiming a territory of sufficient size, its designation has been changed to Domain.
Because you possess a Domain, you have been granted the Rank of King.
“I'm… a king?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
At my question, Won-ae and Baek-rim cast off the playfulness they'd worn until that moment, their expressions turning grave as they knelt. And at the same time, a thunderous roar rose from below the balcony.
“Long live the Hero King!”
“Long live Hero King Han Jin!”
The people chanted my name again and again as they cheered. And in that moment, something began to well up inside me.
“Wh-what on earth is this…?”
Leaving me bewildered, my body began to radiate a dazzling light. And at the same time, a system message appeared.