"Ehem."
KangWoo coughed.
He shook his head at the sudden thought that had crossed his mind.
Although it had been for a short while, it was a disgusting thought, even for him.
'There's no way I’m that kind of trash.'
He was fighting against the Demon Cult for world peace.
He had done nothing to be ashamed of; there was no way he'd do something like that.
"But…"
He naturally began thinking about it.
He'd discovered how to lift the level restriction. Even though he'd discovered how to do it, he wasn't satisfied with the result.
'I have to kill a Guardian…'
He knew the way…
But there was no way he could kill all of the Guardians because of that.
'That would be a stupid decision.'
First, the Guardians were people that, just like him, wanted to defend Earth from foreign invaders.
In the case of Alec, he'd gotten rid of him because his ideals could negatively influence Kim ShiHoon.
But there was no way other Guardians were like him.
'To be honest, if it weren't for ShiHoon, I might have left him alone.'
The flood of extraterrestrial beings could put the world into a state of crisis.
Becoming stronger by getting rid of people like that would be a stupid decision.
'I cannot kill the partners helping defend the kimchi stew.'
Maybe he could become someone strong enough to handle all of the invaders by getting rid of them…
But still, it wasn't a good choice.
'In the end, I'd be alone.'
There was a limit to how many things he could do alone.
It didn't matter how strong he became, he couldn't face a worldwide crisis alone.
Saving only Korea would also be a stupid decision.
The modern world was connected.
There was a reason why Korean stocks would get destroyed if the US raised the interest rate.
Korea wasn't a self-sustainable country. If the rest of the world was ruined, it would end up following the same path in the end.
'I cannot let that happen.'
Even if he wasn't someone patriotic, he didn't want to see the country of his birth destroyed.
Leaving everything else aside, kimchi stew was Korean…
It couldn't get ruined.
'I'll defend it no matter what.'
He became motivated and clenched his fists.
"And more than that…"
There was no way the system would be able to block his growth.
There wasn't only one way to get stronger.
"First…"
KangWoo lightly stomped on the ground.
He used the Authority of Sky and flew.
After getting away from the hotel's terrace, KangWoo reached a nearby hill.
"Should I check it?"
His eyes were full of expectations. It was an unexpected result, but his level restriction had been lifted, and his level had gone up.
He was finally free from the sixth Awakening and had reached the seventh one.
That being the case, there was something he had to check out first.
'What did I get for the seventh Awakening attribute?'
He opened his status window as if he were opening a gift.
[Seventh Awakening Attribute: Reaper of Souls (Rank: SS)]
Effect: It's an attribute connected to the 'Authority of Predation.' You can fully absorb the souls of demons and increase the 'quality' of your soul. The stronger the demon whose soul you absorb, the bigger the effect.
"This…"
KangWoo's eyes shone. First, it was an SS-rank attribute.
It was comparable to the ranking of the attribute that had allowed him to create the Key of the Demonic Energy Sea.
'Although I'm not sure what they mean by ‘increasing the quality of the soul.’'
He wasn't yet sure what increasing the quality of his soul would do.
It probably wouldn't have a negative effect, but he didn't exactly know what it did.
He thought about it but soon decided to stop.
He wouldn't know what it did until he tested it out.
'Connected to the Authority of Predation, huh?'
He thought he understood what it meant.
The Authority of Predation devoured everything about the opponent, its life, demonic energy, and even Authority, and its soul was no exception.
'Although the way to eat it is a bit different…'
The Authority of Predation tore the soul down.
In the first place, rather than absorbing, it was more like crunching it and devouring it, so your soul disappeared if you were devoured by the Authority.
Fully absorbing the target's soul was a new addition to the Authority of Predation.
"Also…"
There was another important thing in the 'Reaper of Souls' attribute.
KangWoo looked at his status window again.
'Demonic Soul.'
The second step to becoming a Demon God. He didn't know what he had to do to fulfill the second condition, but he was sure that the 'Reaper of Soul' attribute was connected with the conditions for 'Demonic Soul.'
'If I think about it, the sixth Awakening attribute was connected to the Extreme Demonic Energy Body.'
The first time he’d seen Demonic Art of Creation, he wasn't sure what connection it had with the Extreme Demonic Energy Body.
…But he’d discovered it after creating the Key of the Demonic Energy Sea.
'The Awakening attributes and the steps to becoming a Demon God are connected.'
He wasn't 100% sure, but it was a hypothesis worthy of consideration.
"Anyway, I'll have to hunt some demons and check it out."
There was no need to hurry.
As long as there were Demon Cult members, a demon was definitely going to appear. He wasn't sure in what form it would cross from Hell, but it definitely was going to.
'And those that cross…'
He just had to devour them as he'd done through the last ten thousand years.
"I'll have to make Chae YeonJoo work harder."
His current main source of information was the Red Rose Guild.
Since it became like that, it would be better to receive news of demon sightings as quickly as possible and move first.
"The attribute is done."
KangWoo sat down.
* * *
He closed his eyes and concentrated.
'Ten Thousand Demon Core…'
He could feel that ,after reaching the seventh Awakening, its seal had become weaker. He could see a bigger sea of demonic energy.
'Now to increase the stat with demonic energy from the Ten Thousand Demon Core.'
The demonic energy of the Ten Thousand Demon Core existed separately from his stats, but he couldn’t use it at the moment.
'The quality is bad.'
The Demonic Energy of the Ten Thousand Demon Core was similar to a sea. And, just like a sea, its end and longitude couldn't be seen.
He couldn't use demonic energy from the deeper part of the sea because the seal hadn’t been lifted.
The demonic energy that had flowed out as its seal got weaker was only from the surface.
'Although, if it were before, I would've just used it.'
He didn't need to do that anymore since he’d learned the technique to concentrate the demonic energy and create a Demonic Energy Stone.
"Oof."
He took a deep breath.
He used the Celestial Dragon's Psyche Style he'd learned from Kim ShiHoon.
The demonic energy that came out of the Ten Thousand Demon Core melted into his blood. He didn't focus the energy on the Dantian.
It was because, after reaching Extreme Demonic Energy Body, his whole body had become like a Dantian.
'But if I keep going on like this…'
He felt that the Ten Thousand Demon Core in his heart would spread to the rest of his body.
'No, rather than spreading…'
His body would probably become the Ten Thousand Demon Core.
"…"
His heart started to beat faster. If his body became the Ten Thousand Demon Core, he thought he would be able to use the demonic energy that was in the deepest part of it and extend his hand to where the 'Abyss' was.
He became motivated. He wanted to see a bit more of the bottomless Ten Thousand Demon Core.
If he forcibly made demonic energy from the Ten Thousand Demon Core flow out, he thought he might be able to drag it to his body.
'Not yet.'
He cut off that desire. An incredible thirst spread through his body.
It was as if something sharp was scratching his throat.
'Resist.'
He tried to cut off the desire once more.
It was different from when he'd created the Key of the Demonic Energy Sea.
His instincts were saying that it was dangerous.
"Oof."
He took a deep breath.
A demon's body naturally craved to fulfill desires.
Resisting that was comparable to not drinking water in the middle of a desert.
But even so, KangWoo resisted it.
He ignored the soul-crushingly terrible pain and thirst.
'I'm used to this.'
He was used to resisting ambition and desire.
He'd done that for the last ten thousand years, he simply had to resist it one more time.
Ting-
[Changing the demonic energy from the Ten Thousand Demon Core into stat.]
[Your unique stat (Demonic Energy) has increased by 8.]
KangWoo's eyes widened after reading the message window.
'It went up by eight?'
He saw a ridiculous stat increase. He felt the demonic energy inside his blood increasing explosively.
That meant that the demonic energy that flew out after reaching the seventh Awakening was that huge.
"That means that, now…"
KangWoo checked his status window. He saw that his Demonic Energy stat had reached 120.
"What?"
His Demonic Energy stat had been 113. Since it had increased by eight, it should’ve been at 121.
[Your stat has reached 120. The quality and effect of the stat have increased explosively.]
[The stat increase that legendary-rank equipment or lower has is of bad quality, so it has failed to increase your stat.]
"What's this?"
He more or less understood what it was saying.
His stat had increased too much and had become too strong, so the effect from items that increased his stats by an absolute value was blocked.
That meant that the Black Pearl Coat wouldn't have any more effect beyond 120.
"Kraken's Rage."
He quickly used the buff.
[The stat increase effect that the item has is of bad quality, so it has failed to increase your stat.]
As expected, the effect wasn't applied to him.
"…"
His expression distorted.
With that, the Black Pearl Coat had become a trash legendary that didn't increase his stats.
"Tsk. But my demonic energy has gone up a lot, so I guess I should be satisfied."
The huge amount of demonic energy within his body made him understand why the absolute value state increase didn't apply to him anymore.
He wasn't at the level of Balrog or Lilith yet, but he could easily beat an average monster of the 9th hell.
'But why is such important information not widely known?'
To think that the effect of a legendary-rank equipment's stat increase wouldn't apply to you anymore after it reached 120…
He hadn’t heard of anything like that happening before.
"…"
It didn't take long for him to realize.
"So that's what happened."
KangWoo burst into laughter.
The reason for it not being known was simple.
'There was none.'
Nobody had reached 120 in a stat yet, which was why it was something that wasn't widely known.
"Should I go back?"
KangWoo stood up.
The effect of the seventh Awakening was bigger than he thought it’d be.
The explosive amount of demonic energy stacked inside his body made him feel thrilled.
'Has it been half a year?'
It had already been half a year since he’d returned to Earth.
That was the time it took KangWoo to reach a place no other player had been able to for the past five years.
"It took longer than I thought."
“Tsk.”
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