Chapter 142

As the world entered the age of Awakeners, the logic of power reigned supreme.

S-Rank Awakeners were so sensitive that even their movements between nations were monitored; an Awakener’s Rank was a symbol of power.

At least, that was the case until recently.

“Rank? It’s important. It is, but.”

“If that were the case, Lee Seok-jae wouldn’t be in the position he is now.”

“And Rachel Carson, too.”

Lee Seok-jae was the child of a Korean entrepreneur, and Rachel Carson, though once one of the Three Sovereigns, was now treated like an old woman put out to pasture.

Nevertheless, even the heads of most nations now groveled at a single word from Lee Seok-jae or Rachel Carson.

It wasn’t because Lee Seok-jae and Rachel Carson were strong.

“What’s most important? Obviously, what matters is your ranking within the International Awakener Association.”

After the appearance of the powerful transcendent being, Choi Gi-woong, an Awakener’s Rank had lost its significance.

Instead, one’s standing was determined by who was closer to Choi Gi-woong.

Today was no different.

The International Awakener Association’s board of directors meeting.

It was the first meeting held since Choi Gi-woong was formally elected as the association’s Chairman.

As such, the directors gathered from each country couldn’t hide the sharpness in their expressions.

That was why the faces of the directors from each nation were filled with tension.

There wasn’t a single fool here who thought the nameplates placed at each seat were meaningless.

“…Second row, third seat.”

Among the 50 seats, they measured and confirmed how close they and their rivals were to Choi Gi-woong.

“Looks like that friend Ying Xin got pushed back to the third row. In terms of Rank, he should be sitting in the first.”

“Didn’t he misspeak at the last press conference? Saying there should be a rematch.”

“He did take it back at the end.”

“He was just testing the waters and got burned, that’s all.”

China’s number one Awakener, Ying Xin, who had been listening to them, scowled.

“If you have something to say, why don’t you say it to my face.”

A silence fell, but only for a moment.

In the past, the Awakeners would have backed down at a single word from Ying Xin, but now they didn’t even snort.

“There’s no reason I can’t. It’s not like I said anything wrong.”

“Honestly, Ying Xin, you were pushed back. That’s a fact.”

“Still, your situation is better than Japan’s. They weren’t even invited as a director nation.”

They even sneered and looked over the Chinese side.

Ying Xin’s fists trembled as he sat down.

And he regretted it.

He should have groveled before Choi Gi-woong.

Like Henry Povil, who was sitting right next to Lee Seok-jae and Rachel Carson.

The real silence came next.

After the two giants, Lee Seok-jae and Rachel Carson, arrived at the meeting hall.

The seated Awakeners all rose to their feet.

Lee Seok-jae, who had naturally taken the seat to the right of the head of the table, opened his mouth.

“Please be seated. We don’t have much time, so I’ll get straight to the agenda.”

Henry Povil asked.

“What is it?”

“The Demon King Raid.”

At those two short words, everyone’s gazes snapped to him.

“…If you mean the Demon Kings.”

The story of the Seven Demon Kings was no secret.

The scene of Choi Gi-woong personally raiding Entesto had been broken down frame by frame and analyzed by every country.

Lee Seok-jae snapped his fingers. At the back of the hall, the drawn blinds opened.

A thick glass room was revealed. Inside the glass room, which had been reinforced with several layers of magic, three Crystal Orbs were placed side by side.

“……!”

“……!”

The 50 S-Rank Awakeners gasped.

The aura they emanated was anything but ordinary.

S-Rank?

No. It was far above that. Just looking at them was suffocating.

Someone spoke without realizing it.

“So, this is what we have to…”

We really have to raid this?

And Choi Gi-woong defeated a creature like this? This is completely different from seeing it on video.

It was written all over everyone’s faces.

“…Are you saying the Chairman told us to raid this?”

“Yes.”

Groans erupted from here and there.

“…By when?”

“We have been given a deadline of 50 days.”

“50 days…”

We have to kill those three within 50 days?

Simultaneously, at that? It was no different from being told to go die.

“This is…”

Impossible.

He swallowed the words that had risen to the tip of his tongue. Hearing that Choi Gi-woong had decided it, no one could object.

It was then.

Lee Seok-jae’s phone rang. Soon, Lee Seok-jae, who was looking at his phone, tilted his head and spoke.

“The raid date has been changed.”

“To when?”

They thought it was for the best.

A raid of this magnitude should take at least a year, slowly…

“To one week from now.”

A suffocating pressure filled the meeting hall.

After sending the text to Lee Seok-jae, I looked forward again.

Whoosh- Whoosh-

Byeon Soo-hyeon moved fluidly on his limping leg. My mind worked furiously, not wanting to miss a single one of his movements.

Chilyanggong.

A martial art composed of seven forms.

Presumably, it was a technique that even the one called the Heavenly Demon in the Murim world had yet to master completely.

-You have acquired the Skill, Chilyanggong.

Chilyanggong: A martial art devised by the Heavenly Demon. During the Great War of Justice and Evil, the True Master Jingong stated that there has never been a better martial art since time immemorial.

-Information on the dimension, Murim, is insufficient.

-Detailed information cannot be confirmed.

The System’s evaluation of Chilyanggong was as dry as could be.

But this.

This shouldn’t be evaluated in such a manner.

All surrounding terrain becomes a weapon, a tool for battle.

In other words, it meant it could be mixed with magic or Elementalism.

In my head, I could already picture myself having mastered Chilyanggong.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

“How does it look?”

Kim Soo-gyeom, who had been spacing out, looked at me.

There wasn’t a trace of his usual playfulness.

He was observing Byeon Soo-hyeon with complete seriousness.

So much so that he didn’t even seem to know I had spoken to him.

Belatedly, Kim Soo-gyeom shook his head and licked his parched lips.

“…It’s amazing. Uh, um. Hyung.”

“Wait. I’m going to turn it into a Skill Book.”

Though that would be after I had savored Chilyanggong enough myself.

“You’ve worked hard.”

I said to Byeon Soo-hyeon, who was drenched in sweat on the Training Arena. I meant it.

If it weren’t for this man, I would have been at a complete loss as to how to take down the three Demon Kings.

“Ah, no. It is I who… am honored. Chairman.”

His earlier intensity was gone as Byeon Soo-hyeon nodded his head shyly.

After that, I sent the two of them out.

In the now-silent Training Arena, I sat cross-legged.

From now on, it was the real deal.

Not for real, of course, but in the virtual world I had created.

The moment I closed my eyes.

Fwoosh-!

I was inside my world of consciousness. Here, time passes infinitely slowly.

More importantly, it meant it was a place where it was easy to learn something.

I could see three monsters.

Their names were Adramalik, Verdele, and Kaldrak.

They were staring at me silently.

My self in the Mental World moved.

I did my best to imitate the movements of Chilyanggong.

Whoosh-!

K-crack-!

The result was disastrous.

I was sent flying before we even exchanged a single blow.

My crushed face was reflected in Durandal.

This would be an Instant Kill.

But this wasn’t reality. It was a virtual world.

A single word escaped my crushed lips.

“Again.”

Fwoosh!

The world reconfigured itself. The broken Training Arena was remade.

I placed my hand on the Crystal Orb. The creatures reawakened. And I fell again.

“Again.”

I was sick and tired of infinite repetition. Besides, this time, wasn’t there a visible reward?

-Your Comprehension Level of Chilyanggong is increasing.

-The Rank of Chilyanggong is increasing.

-Current Level: Lv. 2

-Max Level: Lv. 7

A pleasant message rang out. As expected, nothing beats grinding, I thought, and was about to say “again” when…

The System threw a fit.

-Warning.

-Do not recklessly learn Skills from other dimensions.

-This is a Skill whose side effects have not been identified. The System recommends deleting the Skill, Chilyanggong.

What?

I read it again, thinking I had misread it.

But it was the same.

The System was telling me not to learn Chilyanggong.

Why?

I couldn’t understand. To defeat Chaos, didn’t I need to master Chilyanggong above all else?

In any case, what was certain was that the System was reacting strongly, like an allergic reaction.

-Warning.

-To defeat the common enemy, Chaos, you must exclude dangerous Skills.

-This is for the user, Choi Gi-woong.

Let me say it again, the System is not a benevolent entity. For my sake?

A common enemy?

It’s all bullshit.

Then why on earth is it reacting so sensitively?

“Then besides this, is there any other way to raid those three?”

No answer.

“Or are you going to give me a massive Buff?”

-Warning.

-To defeat the common enemy, Chaos, you must exclude dangerous Skills.

Or the same warning just popped up.

I was starting to get pissed off.

Is it messing with me?

It won’t tell me the reason, just blindly telling me not to learn it?

In situations like this, a game piece is bound to go rogue.

“I can’t help it either. You shouldn’t have set such a tight deadline for the Quest in the first place.”

I shrugged. After that, there was no reply.

It wasn’t a sign of permission. It meant that both of us were holding back.

In the end, it was a matter of who would explode first.

Someday, this festering problem would burst.

I clicked my tongue. I focused my mind again.

From then on, the same scene repeated endlessly in the infinitely slowed world of consciousness.

Thwack!

A hundred times, two hundred times, a thousand times.

-Your Comprehension Level of Chilyanggong is increasing.

-The Rank of Chilyanggong is increasing.

-Current Level: Lv. 3

-Max Level: Lv. 7

Except for the System Messages that occasionally roused my consciousness, a lonely time repeated itself.

-Your Comprehension Level of Chilyanggong is increasing.

-The Rank of Chilyanggong is increasing.

-Current Level: Lv. 4

-Max Level: Lv. 7

It was familiar.

The infinitely repeating time, the grinding, the System’s interference.

-Your Comprehension Level of Chilyanggong is increasing.

-The Rank of Chilyanggong is increasing.

-Current Level: Lv. 5

-Max Level: Lv. 7

And I was sick of it. How on earth could I escape from the System and Chaos?

I thought about it endlessly.

And finally.

-Your Comprehension Level of Chilyanggong is increasing.

-The Rank of Chilyanggong is increasing.

-Current Level: Lv. 6

-Max Level: Lv. 7

-Warning.

-To defeat the common enemy, Chaos, you must exclude dangerous Skills.

-This is the final warning.

It was when the System issued its final warning.

The three Demon Kings in front of me.

They launched the same offensive they had been using tirelessly.

One tried to bind me with the Mental System, while the other two charged straight at me.

It was a pattern so familiar it was boring.

The moment they charged, the entire virtual Training Arena was blown away.

At the same time, I bent my waist low.

The wind pressure burst my eardrums. Until the hundredth attempt, I had tried to block it without getting hurt. That’s why my head had been cut off.

The Training Arena was already shattered, and the surrounding earth was boiling.

It’s fine. This is a virtual world.

“Self-Heal.”

I swung Durandal. One of the creature’s heads was severed.

A viscous black liquid obscured my vision.

Until the thousandth attempt, I was blocked here.

“Immobilize.”

The creatures flinched. Until the fifteen-hundredth attempt, I was blocked here. I hadn’t known they could act.

That was a fake. They were pretending to be affected by my magic. If I entered their reach like that, I would die.

In the meantime, the Demon King whose head had been severed came back to life.

I only realized it after repeating the simulation two thousand times.

This time is the real one.

Slice-

One Demon King was felled in a single blow.

-You have successfully raided Adramalik in the Mental World!

Two Demon Kings remained.

But I had gained more important information.

In this moment, as I swung my sword imbued with Chilyanggong.

I realized why the System, that bastard, had reacted in a way that was close to a seizure.

It was wary of me, the one who had mastered Chilyanggong.