The Ninth Hell was said to be a place where only the strongest demons were gathered. Undying flames covered the distorted landscape under a blood-red sky. There, demons battled against each other for all eternity. They weren't fighting to see who was the strongest; all of the battles over the last ten millennia had already made that clear.

The demon king, who was considered the pinnacle of all evil, lived in an out-of-place castle in the desolate land at the heart of the Ninth Hell. He had managed to unify Hell, which had been divided into seven factions.

A young man with black hair sat on a giant white throne made with the bones of the seven princes of Hell. Although he was sitting there with his eyes closed, a breathtakingly strong demonic energy emanated from him, terrifying the thousands of demons kneeling on one knee in front of him.

One of the kneeling demons got up and walked slowly toward the throne. He was a demon over five meters tall. The demon had skin covered in red fur, a muscular body as sturdy as stone, horns resembling those of a goat on his forehead, sharp and protruding molars, and giant bat wings on his back.

He, who had the typical appearance of a demon, kneeled before the demon king and said, "My king…"

His name was Balrog. Despite being unmatched in the Nine Hells except against the seven princes, he called out to the young man in fear. It was bizarre to see Balrog, who was a monster in appearance, so afraid of someone who looked like a human being, but every single kneeling demon perfectly understood his fear.

The demon king had been an insignificant human when he fell into Hell ten millennia ago, but he had used his Authority of Predation to devour other demons.

After ten millennia, the human, who had grown by eating demons from the First to the Ninth Hell, became the lord of Hell. Hundreds of thousands of demons were eaten by his Authority. In the end, even the seven princes of Hell, who had been incapable of killing one another because they had each been too powerful, kneeled before him.

So, it was understandable that even the fearless Balrog would fear the pinnacle of all evil, the monster who had devoured countless demons of the Nine Hells.

"Why are you trying to go back? You already have everything that you could possibly desire here in Hell," Balrog asked while trembling in fear.

The young man slowly opened his eyes, and even stronger demonic energy surged from him.

"I have everything? Like what?"

"…"

Oh Kang-Woo's voice echoed from his figure on the throne as his face distorted in rage.

"There's nothing for me to have here. Enlighten me on what exactly there is here for me to have."

One could hear the clear depression in his voice.

"There's nothing to eat, and there's no form of entertainment. I'm not sure what this damn place has that makes you say I have everything."

There was nothing but a desolate landscape, a red sky, and undying flames in these nine Hells.

Balrog's eyes widened as he asked, "Were you hungry? I just recently obtained food worthy of my king. Guys! Bring that out!"

"Yes, sir!"

A group of demons brought out a giant plate at Balrog's command. On it was the head of a demon that was spouting out blood.

"We recently defeated Focalor, the one leading the largest remnant force of the seven princes. My king, although this may not satisfy you since you have already devoured countless demons, please accept this offering from your loyal underling!"

Kang-Woo scowled at Focalor's grotesque head, saying, "I don't need it, dumbass."

Shatter!

He threw the plate containing Focalor's head to the ground and stomped his feet hard on the floor with his fists clenched.

"I don't want to eat something so grotesque and tasteless! I… I…!"

Kang-Woo's fists trembled.

He then said desperately, "Kimchi stew… I want to eat Kimchi stew."

"Kimchi stew!"

"The ultimate food that the Emperor of Predation desires!"

"A food full of blood and meat!"

"No… No, you idiots!" Kang-Woo cried out while clenching his fists.

Although meat was an ingredient of kimchi stew, it probably wasn't anything close to what the demons were imagining.

Balrog looked at Kang-Woo with eyes blazing with loyalty. "Which being's head is it made of? Or maybe an organ? Please just say the word, and I will tear anyone and anything apart and offer it to my king."

"Kimchi stew isn't that kind of food…" Kang-Woo expressed while suppressing his frustration. They were driving him to the edge of madness.

Explaining what food was to a demon didn't make sense from the beginning. After all, food for demons was nothing more than the right they held over the loser if they won a battle.

"And there's no entertainment…? It seems that you have gotten bored of slaughter after killing the seven princes."

"As expected of the demon king…"

"The Emperor of Blood and Slaughter!"

"I was talking about manhwas and novels," Kang-Woo stated.

Balrog slammed his fists on the floor in anger with himself, crushing the castle's floor. "I cannot satisfy your demands because of my weakness… So, please, kill me…!!"

"Please, listen to what I'm saying." Kang-Woo sat back on the throne in exasperation. "If there was at least a woman…"

"Oh? But if we're talking about women, you have me, Lilith."

"Lilith!"

"The succubus queen!"

"The most beautiful woman in Hell!"

One of the kneeling demons approached Kang-Woo.

"Is my affection not enough for you, my king?" Lilith asked seductively as she caressed Kang-Woo's arm with dozens of her tentacles.

The eighteen eyes covering her entire face radiated a mellow atmosphere.

"…"

Eighteen eyes, dozens of squirming tentacles coming out from all over her body, and a snake tongue… Kang-Woo laid his hand on his forehead as if he was getting a headache from looking at Lilith, who was considered the most beautiful woman in Hell.

"Why… Why does a succubus look like… Just why…" Kang-Woo muttered.

The succubi that lived by absorbing a male's sexual energy had been far from the beautiful women that Kang-Woo had known them to be. From his point of view, Lilith looked more grotesque than Balrog. It wasn't just Lilith; the rest of the succubi also looked like her.

"I will come join you in your chambers tonight."

"No… Please don't."

"Oh, my. Fufu. Don't be so embarrassed. How could you call yourself the lord of the Nine Hells like that?"

"You'd better not come…"

"My, how cute. Fufu, you don't need to be so embarrassed. I, Lilith, will forever serve you by your side."

"Please, just leave me alone…"

Kang-Woo hung his head forward and covered his face with his hands. He wasn't the kind of person to judge people based on their appearance, nor did he believe that appearance was an important factor in love. Still…

'This is too much.'

This wasn't a matter of whether she was pretty or ugly; her appearance just didn't fit human aesthetic standards.

"Earth…" Kang-Woo muttered while clenching his fists in desperation. "I must return to Earth…"

His subordinates could not change his mind. It actually only made his decision firmer.

'I'm going back.'

A few days ago, Kang-Woo managed to devour Bael, the last remaining prince of Hell standing against him. With that, Kang-Woo managed to become the demon king.

All the preparations were now complete. It was time for him to be rewarded for his ten millennia of suffering.

"Get everything ready."

"My king…"

After hearing his firm tone, Balrog lowered his head in sadness. 'If this is what the demon king wishes…'

Since he had sworn eternal loyalty to Oh Kang-Woo, he had to follow his wishes.

"Balrog, are you going to make me repeat myself?"

"… My apologies."

Balrog bowed and ordered the subordinates to bring out the items Kang-Woo had mentioned. The items he'd asked them to prepare were armaments that had belonged to the seven princes of Hell. Each of the weapons had the strength of the Nine Hells inside them. It was said that if one managed to gather all seven of them, one would gain enough power to twist the boundary between time and space.

After killing Bael a little while ago, Kang-Woo had managed to collect all of the equipment, and they were all lined up neatly in front of him now.

"The preparations are complete."

"Okay."

Kang-Woo slowly stood up from the throne and walked toward the seven armaments of different shapes and colors. The seven armaments that held the power of the Nine Hells were interacting with each other and amplifying the demonic energy inside each of them.

'If I infuse the demonic energy that I've absorbed into them…'

It was possible to forcibly open a dimensional rift.

Kang-Woo sighed. He couldn't believe that he was finally about to return to Earth.

'Finally…'

He was going back.

Fwoooom!

A huge amount of demonic energy flowed from his body toward the armaments. He had devoured hundreds of thousands of demons through the Authority of Predation. He had so much demonic energy inside of him that it would be no exaggeration to say that he was the embodiment of the Nine Hells.

'Ten Thousand Demon Core' was what Kang-Woo used to describe the giant ball of demonic energy inside his body. He thought it was an appropriate name since there weren't many famous demons that he hadn't devoured.

The demonic energy that came from the Ten Thousand Demon Core began to interact with the seven armaments. A rift was formed in the space, and a black gate appeared before him.

'I can finally return to Earth.'

Remnants of his memories from Earth came back to him. Even after ten millennia, he hadn't been able to forget about his home. It wasn't like he had a family waiting for him, nor did he have a partner whom he had promised to spend the rest of his life with. However…

'I'm sure it'll still be far better than this place.'

Kang-Woo was willing to do anything to be able to get away from this place that had no good food or entertainment, just blood and slaughter.

'I also need to adjust the time.'

He had no intention of returning to an Earth where ten millennia had passed. Many of the things that he missed about Earth were probably no longer around after that much time.

'Kimchi stew might have disappeared.'

Kang-Woo didn't even want to think about an Earth without kimchi stew. He wanted to return to the past, to the Earth from before he had arrived in the Hells. Thankfully, he could also adjust time by using the armaments of the seven princes of Hell.

"Well then, see ya," Kang-Woo expressed.

"My king…"

After hearing the determination in Kang-Woo's words, Balrog lowered his head in sadness.

Tears dripped from all eighteen of Lilith's eyes while she opened her long mouth and said, "Sniff, a-are you really going to abandon me?"

"Don't cry," Kang-Woo replied.

'You look terrifying,' he remarked inwardly.

The sight of Lilith crying was straight out of a scene from a horror movie. It seemed like she'd misunderstood his words.

She shouted as her tentacles trembled, "Oh! Your kind words have moved me! My heart is about to burst from your love."

After saying that, one of the tentacles linked to Lilith's chest exploded, and yellow pus came out of it.

'Oh, heavens,' Kang-Woo thought.

"My king! My love!"

'Stay away from me.'

"Ahh, I will go with you, my king!"

'Screw off.'

Upon seeing Lilith, who was covered in yellow pus, approach him, Kang-Woo threw himself into the dimensional rift.

"My king! I, Lilith, will come find you, no matter what happens!"

When Kang-Woo heard the chilling shout ring out behind him, a weird sensation swept through his body.

'Let's never meet again.'

While raising his middle finger toward Lilith—no, the Hells that had made him suffer for ten millennia, Kang-Woo regulated the boundary of time inside the dimension.

'This is pretty hard.'

Controlling an absolute entity such as time was a difficult task, even for him. Kang-Woo was trying to adjust the time settings to be as similar to the period when he fell into the Hells as possible.

'I'm okay with a difference of around ten or twenty years.'

Because he had been born an orphan, there wasn't a past he wanted to change or a future he wanted to go to. He was okay as long as some of the Earth he remembered was still there.

Fwoooosh!

"Urgh!"

When he finished setting up the time, a strong force sucked him in. Kang-Woo closed his eyes as he was pulled by a force he couldn't resist.

- A Rift Core has been detected.

- Activating the Dimensional Defense Mechanism 'Gaia System.'

- Fail. Fail.

- The Rift Core is too powerful.

- Focusing all defense mechanisms of the infinite dimension on the Rift Core. The Gaia System is being overloaded.

- Fail. Fail.

- The Rift Core is too powerful. Complete elimination of the Rift Core is impossible.

- Complete elimination deemed impossible. Beginning sealing process of the Rift Core.

- Fail. Fail.

- The Rift Core is too powerful. Complete sealing of the Rift Core is impossible.

- Applying a limiting seal on the Rift Core.

'What is it saying?'

Kang-Woo frowned when he heard a voice in his ears. However, his thoughts did not last long.

'Ah…'

The world seemed to distort as he lost consciousness.

***

"Urgghhh…!"

Kang-Woo felt an intense pain weighing on his body. He was struggling to even move a finger.

After coming back to his senses, Kang-Woo opened his eyes while groaning.

'Where am I?'

The first thing he saw was a dense forest. The light shining through the thick bushes tickled Kang-Woo's cheeks.

"Fuu…" Kang-Woo stood up while taking a deep breath.

The pain that was spreading through his body made him feel dizzy.

'First, I need to check my status.'

He needed to know what had happened to his body.

Riiing!

[Opening the Status Window.]

"Eh?"

The moment he thought that he should check his current status, a blue window opened in front of his eyes. Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes to stare at the unexpected blue status window in front of him.

[Status Window]

[Player Name: Oh Kang-Woo

Level: 1 (First Awakening)

First Awakening Trait: Authority of Predation (Rank: ???) *The majority of the trait's power is currently sealed.

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 9

Health: 7

Mana: 0

Demonic Energy (Unique Stat): 12

Intelligence: 8

Wisdom: 7]

"… What the hell is this?"

The status window reminded him of the games that he used to play a long time ago before falling into the Hells.

Kang-Woo frowned at the phenomenon he couldn't get a grasp on.

'Most of the power of Predation has been sealed?'

Authority of Predation was the only power he'd had when he had fallen into the Hells, and it was what had made him the lord of the Nine Hells. It was the authority that lay dormant within the Ten Thousand Demon Core, which he considered the entirety of his power.

The moment Kang-Woo read that the strength he had accumulated for ten millennia had been sealed, he started to feel anxious.

"Fuu." Kang-Woo took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

Being anxious because something unexpected happened would only make things worse.

'Calm down.'

The most important thing was checking out his current status. Kang-Woo tried to bring out the strength of his Ten Thousand Demon Core, which contained the demonic energy of hundreds of thousands of demons.

'It isn't moving.'

To be more precise, he could only move a tiny bit of his demonic energy by will—which was almost nothing, considering the limitless amount of demonic energy it contained.

"At this rate, I'll have trouble using my Authorities as well," Kang-Woo mumbled while frowning.

A few demons possessed a special Authority similar to his Authority of Predation. Among the hundreds of thousands of demons he had devoured, only six hundred and sixty-six of them had possessed an Authority. Apart from the ones that the seven princes of Hell used to have, he could use the rest.

Each Authority required a certain amount of demonic energy to activate, although the amount required varied between them. With the amount of demonic energy he currently had access to, there were more Authorities he couldn't use than ones he could.

'With my current demonic energy, I'll probably struggle with even the Authority of Blades.'

Authority of Blades was the Authority of the demon Sabnak. It allowed one to pull out blades made of demonic energy from one's body.

'But it isn't a good Authority.'

There were ways in which he could use the Authority of Blades effectively with enough demonic energy, but it would be difficult with the amount that he had right now.

Kang-Woo focused on his left hand and used the Authority of Blades.

Schwiiing!

A sharp black blade sprang out from the back of his left hand. He felt the demonic energy leaving his body.

'It's hard getting used to it.'

It was stifling to go from having unlimited demonic energy to it being limited. At present, he couldn't freely use the Authorities he had access to as he had done before.

"Anyway, it seems like the information on this status window is true."

Kang-Woo didn't know why his Authority had been sealed, but it was true that he couldn't use most of the demonic energy he had stored inside the Ten Thousand Demon Core. That meant that the status window in front of him showed exactly his current state.

"… Am I actually inside a game?"

At that point, the thought of whether or not this was truly Earth made Kang-Woo feel a bit anxious.

"Skree, skree!"

He suddenly heard an ear-splitting sound. Kang-Woo turned toward where the sound had come from.

"Damn it."

He scowled upon finding out what had made such an unpleasant sound. It was a small creature with green skin, sharp teeth, and a height that reached Kang-Woo's chest. The creature was as ugly as one of the monsters that roamed around the First Hell. There weren't monsters like these on the Earth that Kang-Woo knew.

"Is this… seriously not Earth?" Kang-Woo murmured in despair.

He couldn't even laugh at the thought that the place he had come to after ten millennia of suffering might not be Earth.

"Skreeee!!"

Upon seeing Kang-Woo, the green monsters charged toward him.

'Just… what went wrong?'

Oh Kang-Woo was sure he had opened a gate to Earth. He had also felt the same sensation from ten millennia ago when he was dragged into the dimensional rift.

Amid this desperate situation, Kang-Woo fell into confusion.

"Skreeee!" the green monsters shrieked even louder when they saw that their prey wasn't moving.

Then they swung their crude knives at Kang-Woo.

Slash!

"Kiiiik!"

Yet, the arm of one of the green monsters fell to the ground from an instant slash of a black blade.

Kang-Woo turned his body around and swung the blade he had created with the Authority of Blades. Although most of his demonic energy had been sealed, he was still the demon king who ruled over the Nine Hells. There was no way he wouldn't be able to win against such worthless opponents.

'First, I should take care of these guys.'

Regardless, he didn't have time to think about anything else right now. Enemies were charging at him with their lives on the line.

As Kang-Woo glared at the monsters that were leaping toward him from all directions, he exuded a bloodlust similar to that of a beast.

"Kiee?!"

Upon sensing Kang-Woo's killing intent, the green monsters trembled.

'There are around eight of them,' Kang-Woo observed inwardly.

If he had access to his Ten Thousand Demon Core, he would be able to kill the green monsters without even moving; all he would need to do was release some energy. Nevertheless, he couldn't do that right now.

"It's been a long time since I've moved my body like this."

Kang-Woo stepped lightly and dodged the attacks of the crazed green monsters. He then cut their necks with a blade made of demonic energy.

Slash!

"Skreee!"

Thanks to all of the battle experience Kang-Woo had gained through the years, the monsters died without being able to deal any damage to him.

Riiing!

[You have successfully defeated the E-rank common monster, Goblin.]

[Increasing EXP.]

[Your level has risen to 3.]

'Level up?'

Blue message windows appeared before him after the Goblins died. When Kang-Woo opened the status window again, he found that he had risen from Level 1 to 3.

'My stats went up as well.'

His strength, health, and dexterity stats had risen by one point each. Furthermore, it wasn't simply just an increase in the stats numbers. He could also feel his body get stronger, albeit only slightly.

"But that's not the important thing here."

Right now, it didn't matter if his level went up or if his stats increased. What he needed to do was confirm if he was currently on Earth and if there were even humans here.

"Tsk, in situations like this, it would be more comfortable if I could use Alloces' Authority."

Kang-Woo smiled bitterly while thinking of the Authority that would let him fly freely through the skies. The Authority of the Sky allowed him to ignore gravity and move freely through the air, so it required a lot of demonic energy. However, with his current amount of demonic energy, he would only be able to jump high.

He then walked toward the Goblins' corpses.

'It would be great if I could obtain more information about this unknown world.'

He extended his hands toward the Goblins' corpses and murmured in a low voice, "Predation."

Authority of Predation, the ultimate Authority that had allowed him to become the lord of the Nine Hells, was activated. Black demonic energy flowed out of his hand and covered the corpses of the Goblins.

Crush! Crunch!

Creepy sounds rang out as the mass of black energy surrounding the Goblins' corpses reduced in size. Kang-Woo then began receiving information about the Goblins in his mind.

With the Authority of Predation, he couldn't read the target's memories, but he could get their biometric information, such as the Goblins' physical characteristics, habits, how they lived their daily lives, and what their weaknesses were. However, the biometric information did not have anything that could help him know more about the world that he had found himself in.

"Damn it," he cursed, feeling disappointed.

Suddenly…

"Hmm?"

While absorbing the Goblins' energy with Predation, Kang-Woo felt a very familiar energy.

'This is…'

There was only a very small amount of it, but his senses could not be deceived. Kang-Woo's eyes lit up.

'Demonic energy.'

Inside the Goblins' bodies was a very tiny amount of demonic energy.

Riiing!

[Demonic Energy has risen by 1.]

As if confirming his guess, he got a message saying that his demonic energy stat had increased. With that, he felt the demonic energy inside his body expand and thicken.

"… Damn it."

Although Kang-Woo's demonic energy had increased, what came out of his mouth were curses.

Demonic energy was an energy that everyone in the Nine Hells possessed. So, finding that energy here meant that the probability of this place not being Earth had increased.

'No…'

Kang-Woo was starting to get anxious. The only reason he had managed to endure the Nine Hells all this time had been his hope of being able to return to Earth one day.

Memories of all the years he had spent among demons whose only interests were fighting and killing each other flooded into his mind.

"This can't be happening."

He felt even more frustrated than all those times when he was almost driven to death while fighting against a prince of Hell.

"Kyaaaa!"

Kang-Woo suddenly heard a scream from far away, and his hopeless eyes came back to life.

"This…"

It wasn't the voice of a demon or a monster. He could sense that the shout belonged to a human, but more importantly…

"It's a woman."

Kang-Woo started to tremble as a shiver swept through him.

The echo of the scream seemed to spread through his entire body, right into his soul.

"A woman!"

If someone were to have heard him, they would probably think he was a pervert. Regardless, he didn't have enough mental space to think about his dignity right now.

It had been ten millennia. For ten millennia, he hadn't been able to even look at a video in which a woman appeared. So, it would be strange if he could stay rational in this situation.

Stomp!

With aggressive steps, Kang-Woo ran over to where the scream was coming from. Simultaneously, he activated the Authority of Haste, the Authority of the demon Valefor.

Demonic energy flowed out of his body and pooled around his legs. The demonic energy inside his body was depleted swiftly, and his body shot forward like an arrow.

Although this was a frighteningly fast speed for an ordinary human, it felt slow for Kang-Woo.

'If only I had more demonic energy!'

If he had access to all the demonic energy inside his Ten Thousand Demon Core, then he would be able to move at speeds so fast it would be like teleporting. Kang-Woo couldn't help but feel resentful that he couldn't do so.

"Kiieekk!"

"Kyaaaaa!"

The screams got clearer. There were also shouts similar to those of the Goblins that had attacked Kang-Woo earlier.

'I just hope it isn't a monster like Lilith!'

Kang-Woo was fine with it if the woman was ugly. She could even be fat. He was okay as long as she had two eyes, one nose, and one mouth.

'And no tentacles, please!'

He kept focusing his demonic energy on his feet while thinking about Lilith's absolutely horrifying tentacles.

For the first time in many years, Kang-Woo felt out of breath. He felt frustrated by how breathless he was just from running. The fight had not even begun yet.

'I found her.'

As he moved through some dense grass, he found an open space. There, he saw a frightened woman surrounded by more than ten Goblins. She was pressing her hands on her leg wounds to stem the blood loss.

"Ah…" a gasp emerged from Kang-Woo's mouth.

The moment he saw the woman surrounded by a group of Goblins, he shuddered.

The woman had black hair that reached her waist, big eyes, thick lips, and a high nose bridge. She even had a small mole near the left side of her mouth. She was so pretty that if one saw her on the street, one would have instinctively turned around.

Nevertheless, her beauty wasn't important to Kang-Woo right now.

'She's human.'

The main point was that the woman was a human… with two eyes, one mouth, and one nose. She was just a simple human who didn't have tentacles from which pus emerged, nor did she have bat wings or red fur covering her body.

'Thank heavens…'

Kang-Woo was so touched that he wanted to thank the god who had ignored him for the past ten millennia.

"Grrrrr!"

"Ugh!"

As the Goblins charged at the woman with rusty knives, she closed her eyes. The sight of the knives swinging in her direction made her think she would die there.

Clash!

"Kiieekk?!" the Goblins shouted in surprise.

Kang-Woo suddenly appeared, moving swiftly like an agile beast as he killed the Goblins.

"Huh?" The eyes of the black-haired woman widened.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Kang-Woo had slayed the group of more than ten Goblins in just a few seconds.

Stab!

"Kiieekk!"

Kang-Woo's black blade cut the neck of the last Goblin.

After twisting the blade and completely slicing through the Goblin's neck, Kang-Woo approached the woman sitting on the ground.

"Th-Thank you," the woman said.

Although hurt, she stood up with some struggle and bowed to him. Kang-Woo grabbed her hands and helped her maintain her balance.

"Ah…" Kang-Woo gasped the moment he grabbed the woman's hands.

That soft sensation was something he couldn't have felt in the Nine Hells. She was definitely human—the species that he had wanted to see and interact with so much for all this time.

Overwhelmed by his emotions, Kang-Woo's mind went blank. All the emotions he had forced himself to suppress had exploded and blocked off his rationality.

"My name is Han Seol-Ah. Thank you for saving me," the woman said.

She was surprised to see Kang-Woo feel so moved while grabbing her hands. Nevertheless, she bowed again without freeing her hands from his grip.

Kang-Woo gazed at Han Seol-Ah and stated in a serious tone, "Let's get married."

"What?"

"Three kids sounds good."

"What…?"