It had been three days since a fissure appeared in the middle of Seoul.
It was obvious, but the country was turned upside down after the Isu Station incident.
No, it wasn't just within the country, but the entire world.
The Demon Cult…
It was the incident that made their existence known.
The world leaders weren't that surprised.
They already knew about their existence and how dangerous they could be.
Most countries ordered the elimination of the Demon Cult.
—But it wasn't that effective.
The Demon Cult was strong and secretive.
The foundation of war went from massive armies to individuals called players, so it wasn't easy to investigate.
Since they didn't need to hide anymore, the members of the Demon Cult began to move more actively, and incidents around the world were starting to happen more frequently.
Korea, the country that made the world enter a state similar to the 'Cataclysmic Day,' was going through relatively calm days.
That was because KangWoo had eliminated most of the Demon Cult members left in Korea.
While the world's attention was focused on Korea, big forces were starting to move.
* * *
"I can finally move comfortably."
A house located in Seoul station…
KangWoo was able to get out of bed after three days.
He found it hard to recover from the side effects of using the Ten Thousand Demon Core, so he'd spent the last three days sleeping.
But he had finally fully recovered.
Click-
"KangWoo, why are you up?"
"Because I'm feeling better. I think I can move again."
"Don't overwork yourself. KangWoo, it's okay if you rest a bit more. I'll take care of you."
Echidna grabbed KangWoo and tried to make him go to bed again.
KangWoo smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"No, I'm okay. Since I slept a lot, I'm feeling better than usual."
"…"
Echidna looked a bit disappointed.
It was because she thought that the times of her being stuck next to him while taking care of him had ended.
"KangWoo, don't overdo yourself anymore."
"Okay."
"I think you always say that but never actually do what you say."
Echidna complained and grabbed KangWoo's robe.
"KangWoo, what are you going to do today?"
"Hmm. First, I want to get a grasp of the current situation."
He had more or less heard something but didn't know the details.
KangWoo opened the door and went to the living room.
"Huh?"
He saw Chae YeonJoo drinking tea with Han Seol-ah.
"Why did you get up already?"
"Because I'm feeling better. But rather than that, what are you doing here?"
"Hmph. I bought this with my money, so I came here to take a bit of a rest. Why, do you have any complaints?"
Han Seol-ah laughed at Cha YeonJoo's words.
"Ms. YeonJoo came here because she was worried about Mr. KangWoo."
"Th-that's not true! Don't say weird things!" Chae YeonJoo shouted, flustered.
KangWoo smirked.
"I was about to call you anyway."
"You were about to call me?"
"Yes. I wanted to know what's going on around the world."
"Hmph. Since you're a patient, why don't you lay down a bit more like a patient?"
"I told you that I'm feeling better."
Chae YeonJoo sighed and took a sip of tea.
"First, the Hanul Guild disbanded."
"What about the members of the Demon Cult?"
"We grabbed them… but they turned into monsters before we could interrogate them."
"Hmm…"
KangWoo gulped.
It seemed like someone had made sure that information wouldn't leak.
"What about the Demon Cult as an association?"
"We've started to receive reports from all around the world… but they still haven't shown themselves as they did in Korea yet in another country. After all, the chaos in Korea still hasn't died down yet."
Thousands of lives had been sacrificed. There was no way the incident could be easily ordered.
KangWoo nodded and began reading the news.
[World-wide crazy organization, Demon Cult. What's their identity and goals…?]
[A hero appeared! Put Your Attention on Dragon Sword Kim ShiHoon!]
[People Continue to Testify about Dragon Sword Kim ShiHoon… A 'Divine' Rising in Popularity.]
[Kim ShiHoon's fan club was created. The world's attention on 'Dragon Sword Kim ShiHoon' has increased.]
"All the news is about Kim ShiHoon."
* * *
"Well, it's Kim ShiHoon who first got to Isu Station, killed the demonic monsters, and saved the normal people."
He was more handsome than the average celebrity and had saved normal citizens from being killed by demonic monsters.
A player who hadn't been known until then…
It would be weird if he didn't get attention.
"Why? Are you feeling disappointed because you feel like he snatched away your merit?"
"No way."
He shrugged.
He hated receiving unnecessary attention.
He even felt pity toward Kim ShiHoon, who had become a celebrity after the incident.
"Oh. One of the forces of a world ranker came to Korea."
"World ranker?"
"Yes. It's a Chinese guild called Thousand Sword Gate."
"Are they trying to approach ShiHoon?"
"I'm not sure. They haven't made any significant moves yet, so we aren't sure about their intentions."
"Hmm."
KangWoo nodded.
KangWoo thought it probably had nothing to do with him.
"Anyway. It seems like the Demon Cult in Korea has been wiped out…"
"Yes. Well, it seems like the ones in Korea were just the tip of the iceberg."
Chae YeonJoo's eyes shone sharply.
KangWoo looked at her.
"You aren't planning to end your revenge here, right?"
"Of course not. I'm not stopping until I completely wipe them off of the map."
"That's a good mindset."
After that incident, it became obvious.
—The Demon Cult was too dangerous for KangWoo and the entire world.
Because the Gaia System was getting weaker, he couldn't even imagine what strategy they'd use to increase their power.
'I never imagined it was possible to summon a demon inside you.'
He'd never thought humans could fuse with demons in such a way.
"So there's no news about other Demon Cult members?"
"Right. Although we've been receiving some reports, there isn't any precise information."
"I see."
KangWoo narrowed his eyes.
It would be impossible for him to search for the Demon Cult members that were hidden all around the world.
'That would be stupid.'
Finding out about the ones hidden in Korea was already hard enough, so searching for ones that he didn't even know the general hiding places of what pointless.
'Right now, I must get stronger.'
If it wasn't possible to do a siege, he just had to build a wall.
—One that they wouldn't dare to cross.
'First, I must see how I can lift the level restriction and solve the Extreme Demonic Energy Body issue.'
Since his leveling up was restricted, if he couldn't discover the last condition for Extreme Demonic Energy Body, he wouldn't be able to grow anymore.
But the problem was that he wasn't sure where to start to overcome those two things.
If he had some sort of clue, he would be able to make a guess, but that wasn't the case.
'Then…'
He couldn't waste any more time.
He had to find something that he could do right away.
'Something that I can do right now and could help me…'
The first thing that came to mind was increasing his demonic energy stat through hunting.
But since it had surpassed a hundred, it would be hard to raise it.
It wasn't very effective.
KangWoo closed his eyes and fell into his thoughts.
"Ah."
At that moment, he thought of a possibility.
It was something he could do and that could be helpful to him.
"I'll have to call ShiHoon."
KangWoo took out the smartphone while smiling.
* * *
"Hyeongnim! Are you feeling okay?"
After he called him, Kim ShiHoon appeared in less than 20 minutes.
KangWoo nodded.
"But more than that, how are you doing? I've seen lots of news about you."
"Haha, don't even mention it. As soon as I got out on the streets, people began gathering, so I even have trouble hunting."
Kim ShiHoon placed his hand over his face like it was a mask with a tired expression.
"I'm considering buying a mask."
"Well, I wonder what the point of doing that at this point would be… Anyways, good work."
"In reality, I have some complaints."
"Complaints?"
"Yes. Speaking frankly, I wasn't the one who solved the Isu Station incident. That was you, KangWoo hyeongnim. It's Hyeongnim who should be called a hero."
Kim ShiHoon said is as if it were disappointing.
He felt that he'd taken KangWoo's achievement.
"Why are you saying something as horrifying as that?"
"Hyeongnim, you don't mind people not recognizing you for what you've done?"
"Receiving attention when I have nothing to gain just makes things bothersome. You even said that."
"That's true. But…"
He felt a bit disappointed that people weren't recognizing KangWoo.
"I hate bothersome things."
"Hmm… If you say so, I guess there's nothing I can do. But more than that, why did you call me?"
"There's something I wanted to ask you."
"As long as it's something I can do, I'll do it," Kim ShiHoon said with eyes burning with loyalty.
KangWoo laughed after watching him act as if he were willing to give his liver.
"I want to learn martial arts."
"Martial arts…?"
Kim ShiHoon tilted his head.
"Yes. Didn't you reach Sword-man Unity? Anyway, you reached a new height."
"Yes, that's true…"
"Not to that point, but I want to learn how to use weapons properly."
"Hmm…"
Kim ShiHoon gulped.
It wasn't that he wasn't sure whether to teach him martial arts or not…
He replied in a careful voice tone.
"I'm not good enough to teach hyeongnim."
KangWoo was already on a higher plane than him.
Teaching him in that situation was as if the student was teaching the teacher how to study.
KangWoo shook his head.
"No. Although I'm stronger than you, if we limit it to using only a weapon, that isn't necessarily the case."
KangWoo's techniques had been polished through countless battles.
—He'd never properly learned martial arts.
'Although they say that true martial arts are formless…'
But that could only be said by someone who had learned the forms.
The techniques KangWoo knew were ones that were extremely good in real-life situations.
'I thought that it was good enough with these.'
But after allying with Kim ShiHoon, who was the successor of the Martial God, it would be a waste not to take advantage of that.
"Understood."
Kim ShiHoon nodded.
"I'll teach martial arts to Hyeongnim."
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