The giant Earthen Figure howled at the loss of its companion.

And in that same instant, it charged toward Seo Kangrim, ignoring the Muhyeongpa members entirely.

The giant Earthen Figure swung its massive fist, but Seo Kangrim vaulted lightly into the air, evading the blow with effortless grace.

-Seogeok!

With a single sweep of his blade, a massive fissure split open across the Earthen Figure’s chest.

It felt as though he had sliced through soft clay rather than solid stone.

The sensation startled him inwardly.

‘Was the giant Earthen Figure always this weak?’

He recalled his past life—the first time he had entered the Great Demon Realm.

Back then, he had barely escaped with his life under Shin Sooa’s protection, retreating early from the fray.

Seo Kangrim swung his sword with a bitter smile.

‘It’s unmistakably different from back then.’

His past self—who had undergone training yet remained a hopeless underachiever—now felt almost like a stranger to him.

As he danced through attacks like flight itself, countering with effortless precision, his party members watched in stunned silence.

“I’d heard that trainees from the Education Facility were strong, but…”

“Are all training cadets normally that powerful?”

As non-trainees, they were witnessing a training cadet’s combat for the first time.

It was a display on an entirely different level from anything they could manage.

The giant Earthen Figure, seething with rage, swung its fist at Seo Kangrim once more, but—

-Ppagak!

In that same instant, the Seven-Blade Sword in Seo Kangrim’s hand sheared clean through the Earthen Figure’s fist.

And in the blink of an eye, countless lines carved themselves across the Figure’s body.

-Kuuung!

The giant Earthen Figure collapsed without so much as a dying gasp.

It simply returned to a pile of rubble.

Seo Kangrim glanced at the fallen Earthen Figure and resumed walking.

His expression was as nonchalant as someone who had merely swept a boulder from their path.

“E-Excuse me!”

At that moment, the leader urgently grabbed Seo Kangrim to stop him.

Seo Kangrim turned back and asked in an indifferent voice.

“What is it?”

“Well, the thing is…”

The leader hesitated, then squeezed his eyes shut and spoke.

“Would you be willing to party with us?”

This was no time for pride.

If they could tag along with Seo Kangrim, they might actually have a chance of clearing this place.

But Seo Kangrim replied with a dismissive expression.

“Didn’t you just walk past me earlier? Why the sudden change?”

“W-Well, that’s…”

How could he admit that they had dismissed him, thinking he was nobody worth noticing?

As the leader stammered, struggling to find the right words, Seo Kangrim let out a short sigh and slipped past the fork in the path.

The party members scrambled after him.

“L-Let’s hurry and get out of here! More demon beasts could show up at any moment…”

“…Damn it.”

Running into demon beasts with their retreat blocked again was the last thing they wanted.

They hurried after Seo Kangrim and emerged from the cave.

* * *

-Keuaang…!

The demon beast blocking the path let out a final shriek and collapsed.

I shook the blood from my Seven-Blade Sword and surveyed my surroundings.

Countless demon beasts lay scattered across the forest’s edge.

I had defeated the Earthen Figure and escaped the cave, but there was no time to rest.

I had dealt with all the demon beasts that ambushed us, but their sheer numbers had cost me more time than expected.

Judging by my memory, I was about halfway through.

How far had the others progressed by now?

I settled onto a nearby boulder and activated my Ear Cuff.

“Is everyone alright? How far have you progressed?”

“[Ah, Mr. Kangrim. We just made it through the fork. I was nervous since it’s a Great Demon Realm, but it’s not as difficult as I expected.]”

Shin Sooa’s group seemed to be progressing smoothly.

Then again, she had been the first to clear this demon realm even in my past life. She would manage fine without my help.

Meanwhile, Yoon Bom and Yoon Gyeoul’s side was still noisy—likely in the thick of combat.

The faint cries of Rini and Yorongi echoed through as well.

“[Master, we’re still in combat! I’ll contact you later!]”

“[Damn it, why is everyone else so weak? Sis, I’m telling you, just leave them behind…!]”

Yoon Bom and Yoon Gyeoul were having a somewhat rough time, fighting while looking after the others.

Hearing Yoon Gyeoul grumble about how weak everyone was, I couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“It’s not that those people are weak. It’s that you two are strong.”

“[Us? Aren’t we just normal? Compared to you, Master, or Sooa Noona1, we’re nowhere close…]”

Other awakened ones would have been outraged to hear such a statement.

Regardless of the gap between them, everyone seemed to be progressing without major issues.

Amid the sounds of combat bleeding through Yoon Gyeoul’s communication device, the voices of gods intruded noisily.

【Hey, is that Seo Kangrim?】

【They say he hasn’t received Divine Descent yet, and it’s actually true?】

【Seriously, why hasn’t he?】

All manner of gods had flooded into the Universal Communication, chattering away.

It was even more chaotic than during my time at the Education Facility.

By now, most hunters would have received Divine Descent, making me—an uncontracted human—obvious prey.

【Hey, Seo Kangrim. Want to do Divine Descent with me? I’ll treat you well!】

Whether at the Education Facility or out in the field, the gods’ reactions were always the same.

They came at me, blindly insisting on Divine Descent.

But the situation had changed since then.

“Empty-handed?”

【What?】

“My services don’t come cheap. Are you planning to take me without even offering a deposit?”

In most cases, people were desperate to receive Divine Descent, but my situation was different.

I had no intention of receiving Divine Descent.

Which meant the ones who should be desperate were the gods.

I could sense the gods faltering at my response.

【Are you seriously trying to negotiate with us?】

【You’ve got some nerve for a mere human.】

【You think you can get cocky just because you’re a little strong…!】

It seemed the gods were displeased with my approach.

Naturally.

Before the Day of Awakening, they had enforced Divine Descent through violence and intimidation. Now here was a mere human demanding compensation.

Let them voice their displeasure. I didn’t care.

They were the ones who needed me, after all.

“If you want me to accept Divine Descent, at least send some gifts my way.”

With that said, I adjusted the Universal Communication settings.

After breaking through the thirtieth level, my strengthened Yeongryeok allowed me to exert some control over the Universal Communication.

[Universal Communication is being partially blocked.]

I hadn’t completely expelled the gods—it was more of a mute function.

They were probably cursing me out over my attitude by now, but since I couldn’t hear them, it didn’t matter.

Unless they used an item to reveal their Deity Name and send a highlighted message, that is.

In any case, I was satisfied with the silence.

With the gods’ voices gone and the demon beasts more or less dealt with, I rose to my feet.

…Actually, perhaps not quite dealt with.

“Why do you keep following me?”

I addressed the people gathered nearby.

I could see them flinch—they had been watching my movements from a distance.

Whether they were Muhyeongpa or Mumyeongpa, they belonged to a sect I had never heard of.

The man who had introduced himself as the Sect Leader spoke up.

“We’re not following you! You just happened to go the same way we were heading!”

“Then go ahead of me.”

“…We’ll go in a little bit!”

Ever since I had inadvertently saved them at the fork in the path, these Muhyeongpa people had been trailing after me.

They weren’t particularly getting in the way, and they were handling the minor threats nearby, so I had left them alone…

But having them continue to follow was becoming problematic.

I had no choice but to shake them off.

I stood up and began moving forward again.

The Muhyeongpa members immediately fell in behind me.

I could hear them whispering among themselves.

“That wall in the center must be the boss room, right?”

What had appeared the moment we exited the cave was a massive stone wall.

A wall that encircled the area like some kind of tower.

Just as they suspected, the boss waited within.

“Seo Kangrim, the fact that you haven’t completely shaken us off shows that, despite your words, you’re a pushover… no, I mean, you seem good-natured.”

“If we play our cards right, we might be able to tag along all the way to the boss room.”

I listened to their chatter as I walked toward the center.

As I pressed forward in silence, stepping deeper into the forest, demon beasts once again revealed themselves before me.

They bore the shape of enormous lizards.

-Swiiseuk!

The demon beasts bared sawblade-like teeth, emitting threatening sounds.

The Muhyeongpa members in the rear didn’t seem particularly tense, apparently assuming I would handle the threat.

They really should have been more on guard.

[Special Ability ‘Hidden One’ is activating!]

The moment I held my breath, ‘Hidden One’ activated.

As I vanished, both the demon beasts and the Muhyeongpa members panicked simultaneously.

“W-What? Where did Seo Kangrim go?”

“He was definitely right here…!”

Unable to see me, the demon beasts glanced around briefly before immediately seeking their next target.

The lizards charged at the Muhyeongpa members with metallic screeches.

Caught off guard, they had their limbs bitten immediately.

“Ugh, aaagh!”

“Everyone, grab your weapons, now!”

“S-Seo Kangrim, that bastard used us as bait…!”

While they screamed and fought off the demon beasts, I slipped ahead through the path.

The demon beasts would keep them adequately occupied.

After deactivating Hidden One, I surveyed my surroundings.

I traced through my memories of the past life to confirm the geography of the area.

Heading straight from here would lead to the boss zone, but…

I turned my steps to the right instead.

-Baseurak, baseurak…

Following the traces etched in my memory, I pushed deeper into the forest.

Thorny vines blocked the path ahead, as if even demon beasts avoided this route.

I silently cut through the vines and pressed on.

When I had come to conquer the first Great Demon Realm in my past life.

Numerous Manshin had charged at the boss, but every one of them had been repelled.

Even Shin Sooa and Dokgo Jun had struggled to stand against it.

And so, people had failed to conquer the Great Demon Realm time and time again.

The first Great Demon Realm had remained unconquered for over a month.

During a strategy meeting on how to clear it, Shin Sooa had been leading the discussion when I raised a question.

“[There’s something that’s been bothering me, actually.]”

“[Something bothering you? What is it?]”

“[Why is the Great Demon Realm divided into three zones?]”

At first, I had assumed it was simply to divide the forces.

But ultimately, all the zones connected to the boss room.

The others had dismissed my question, but Shin Sooa had listened carefully—and she found the answer.

-Pasasak…

I had finally found it.

After trudging through the rough forest path, I discovered what I had been searching for.

Pushing through the underbrush and stepping inside, I found a peculiar mechanical device sitting there.

It was entangled in ivy vines, appearing to have been abandoned for a very long time.

I approached the device slowly.

And at that moment, a warning message appeared.

[‘Cheongjeokgwi’ has detected an intruder!]

As I stepped within a certain range, the trap activated just as I had anticipated.

The armor scattered nearby began to twitch and stir, then rose into the air, assembling into a shape.

[‘First Ghost Grade Cheongjeokgwi’ has appeared!]

A First Ghost Grade demon beast—Cheongjeokgwi.

It was a somewhat daunting opponent to face alone.

But before I could despair at that fact, I was already rejoicing.

Cheongjeokgwi was a humanoid demon beast.

In other words, I could steal its fortune.