After Ten Millennia in Hell

Chapter 408 - Why Is It Cute?

[...]

A blue message window with just ellipses appeared as if the System was lost for words. Oh Kang-Woo coughed as he stared at the message window. A question popped up in his head.

‘What in the world is this System?’

Gods like Gaia had referred to the System as the providence. The Gaia System that had sealed Kang-Woo’s power when he first came back to Earth was a portion of the providence granted to Gaia, the chief god of Earth.

‘In other words...’

A mere portion of the providence had been enough to seal the Demonic Sea within him.

‘I mean, it’s different from back then.’

That was an understatement; Kang-Woo was growing at an explosive rate ever since he had arrived on Earth, and the Demonic Sea was also expanding endlessly. The height that he had reached back in Hell could not even be compared to his current self.

‘But even so...’

It did not change the fact that the Demonic Sea had been sealed with just a small portion of that providence.

[Calculating an alternate reward...]

‘Just seeing these message windows makes it seem like some sort of machine, but...’

Kang-Woo stared at the message window that was filling up a bar like the loading screen of a game. It was not expressing any emotion at the moment, but...

‘It has an ego.’

The System could think and make decisions, but it felt more like artificial intelligence rather than a real person.

‘I wonder what it could be?’

Kang-Woo continued to think. Gaia had said that beings of other worlds were not able to meddle with Earth due to the Gaia System’s protection.

‘That’s not the only thing it can do.’

Protection was merely but a portion of the providence’s capabilities. The providence created Players and granted them power. It restricted the actions of gods and prevented them from recklessly intervening in the physical world. Its power was not only restricted to Earth and Aernor; it spanned throughout the entire universe and kept all worlds in check.

‘As if... it’s a law that someone made intentionally.’

[Excessive prying into the ‘Law of Titans’ has been detected.]

[Additional prying will result in the demotion of Deific Essence.]

A message window popped up along with a familiar bell chime. It was red, unlike the usual blue.

“Oh?” Kang-Woo smirked.

‘They’re warning me not to dig any deeper, huh?’

It was an interesting response. Kang-Woo stared at the red warning window with great interest. There was no need for him to risk his Deific Essence getting demoted by trying to earn information.

‘I got a general idea from that message.’

Kang-Woo stared at the words Law of Titans. Titans were the creators of the gods as well as the entire universe.

‘Titans are more like gods than the actual gods.’

Beings like Gaia and Tirion who possessed Deific Essence were different from the gods that one usually associated the word to. Gods were neither omnipotent nor omniscient; they were nothing but superhumans with a personality.

‘They’re like the immortals of martial arts novels.’

It was not an exact comparison since those like Kang-Woo who acquired Deific Essence through growth and achievements were extremely rare. Most gods were born with Deific Essence.

‘They’re closer to the gods of Greek mythology.’

It just so happened to be Gaia, one of the gods of Greek mythology, who was the chief god of Earth.

“There’s no way it’s a coincidence.”

There was likely some sort of connection between Gaia and Greek mythology.

‘In any case...’

The important thing was the words Law of Titans themselves. It was not difficult to figure out who had made the System just from those words.

‘The Titans, like Bauli.’

If that was the case, Kang-Woo could understand how just a mere portion of the power was able to seal the Demonic Sea.

“Titans, huh?”

Kang-Woo raised his head. His eyes glinted with madness as he stared into nothingness. A chilling smile lit up his face and he licked his lips. Titans... the beings who had created the gods and the universe...

‘I wonder how they taste?’

Kang-Woo gulped. His heart was beating like crazy. His body temperature rose as his blood circulated quickly. Suffocating thirst and gut-wrenching hunger took control over him.

“No, this isn’t the time.”

Kang-Woo shook his head and quelled his surging desire while taking deep breaths. Even if he acted true to his desire, he had no way of finding out where the Titans were and if they even existed.

‘And...’

Kang-Woo thought about Demon God Bauli, the Titan who was roaring madly while imprisoned in the Abyss. Kang-Woo had acted impertinently to him while as relaxed as he could be, but...

‘I wouldn’t stand a chance whatsoever if we were to fight.’

The only reason why Bauli did not kill Kang-Woo was because he needed his body. If Kang-Woo fought Bauli for real, he would 100% lose.

“You are nothing without me!!!”

Kang-Woo recalled what Bauli had shouted at him. He knew that there were no lies in Bauli’s words.

‘If not for Bauli...’

The Demonic Sea would fall apart because the keystone of the Demonic Sea was not Kang-Woo but Bauli.

“I should be prepared for this as well.”

He needed to bear in mind that he might need to face Bauli head-on in the future. Kang-Woo smiled bitterly and clicked his tongue.

Riiing.

Just then, he heard the bell chime that he had been waiting for.

[The reward of the ‘Road to Becoming a Demon God’ quest has been changed to the Trait ‘The Revered.’]

[The Player can convert faith directed at ‘Oh Kang-Woo’ into Divinity and absorb it. The Player’s Deific Essence will be promoted once a fixed amount of Divinity has been accumulated.]

Kang-Woo’s eyes shone as he read the blue message window in front of him.

“Faith, huh?”

He looked down from the imperial palace’s window and saw the people of the continent praying while on their knees. They were worshiping both him and Kim Si-Hun like gods after the war. The people of the continent had named the church that they had created the Church of Splendor. It was the perfect name to worship Kang-Woo, the God of Splendor.

Kang-Woo looked down at the devotees of the Church of Splendor while licking his lips.

“Not bad at all.”

No, it wasn’t just not bad; it was an incredible ability. Unlike demonic energy, sacred power, and mana, there was no way to accumulate Divinity. Kang-Woo was only able to accumulate it by eating those who possessed Deific Essence with the Authority of Predation.

‘If I can change people’s faith into Divinity...’

He would have a way to receive Divinity. It was as if a caveman, who only hunted for food, learned how to farm.

‘Meat is the best, but...’

Procuring a stable supply of sustenance when he had no idea when he would be able to find his next prey was worthy of welcome.

‘But how am I supposed to convert it?’

The basic usage instructions of a Trait usually flowed into one’s mind once they learned it, but the method to convert faith into Divinity did not enter his brain no matter how long he waited. Then, a message window popped up as if to answer his question.

[Faith can be converted into Divinity through the ‘Key of the Demonic Sea.’]

“The Key of the Demonic Sea?”

Kang-Woo raised his right hand while tilting his head. Why did a function like that form on the Key of the Demonic Sea out of the blue?

Squelch.

“The hell?”

Something popped out of the black ring; it was the black lump known as the Demon God’s legacy. The black lump, which had not come out of the ring since Kang-Woo came out of the Demonic Sea, traveled up Kang-Woo’s arm to his shoulder and rubbed itself on his cheek. Unlike the sloppy sounds that it made every time it moved, it was as soft as a bouncy ball.

Squeak, squeak, squeak!

The black lump quivered in joy. Two yellow dots appeared on the lump.

‘It even has eyes?’

Kang-Woo stared at the black lump in confusion. He felt as if he had been smacked on the back of the head with a sledgehammer after finding out that this was the Key of the Demonic Sea’s true form. The black lump tilted its head in wonder as it stared at the wide-mouthed Kang-Woo.

“Grrrk?”

“You can even make sounds?” Kang-Woo asked.

The black lump jumped up and down on Kang-Woo’s shoulder. Kang-Woo grabbed his forehead in confusion and stared at the black lump. It was slightly smaller than a soccer ball; its glossy skin and how it made waves on its skin whenever it moved made it look exactly like a generic slime.

“Grrrk! Grrrk!”

“Hah,” Kang-Woo chuckled due to the absurdity.

‘The hell is this? Did the author just force this thing into the story since protagonists of other fantasy novels all have cute pets? If you were gonna make one, at least put some thought into it. This thing is just a black slime.’

Kang-Woo glared at the black lump in silence.

It flinched and lowered its head like a dog getting scolded by its owner.

‘The hell? Why is it cute?’

“Grrrk...”

The black lump’s yellow eyes shook. Kang-Woo slowly reached for the black lump and touched it.

Squelch.

The sound was unpleasant, but its texture was not sloppy at all. Since it was soft and squishy, it felt nice to touch. It felt like a water balloon.

“Grrrk, grrrk.”

The moment Kang-Woo touched the black lump, it narrowed its eyes as if it were smiling and rubbed itself on his hand.

“Ahh.”

Kang-Woo had no choice but to admit it. He clenched his fists in frustration.

‘This thing... is cute.’

“Why are you so damn cute for a slime?”

Kang-Woo frowned due to the discrepancy between what he saw and the logic in his head.

‘No, it doesn’t matter if it’s cute or not.’

The black lump had a role to play.

“Absorb the faith of those people over there,” Kang-Woo said to the black lump.

“Grrrk!” The black lump nodded as if saying to trust it.

Kang-Woo fell into thought while looking at the black lump.

‘Come to think of it, the Demon God’s legacy was able to absorb fear.’

The Constellations of Evil had come to Kang-Woo and Si-Hun in the first place because the fear that should have been directed toward them had been directed to Lucifer instead.

‘Fear and faith, huh?’

Gods were objects for those to place their faith in, as well as beings to be feared and worshiped.

‘Oh, that’s why it’s able to absorb faith.’

Kang-Woo nodded as if he understood now. The Demon God’s legacy had been able to absorb emotions and convert them into Divinity from the very beginning, and it had simply been made available through the power of the System.

“Hmm,” Kang-Woo looked at the black lump while nodding.

It was time to witness how an immaterial concept like faith was able to be converted into Divinity.

Squelch, squish.

The black lump came down from Kang-Woo’s shoulder and bounced toward the window.

Split.

And then, the black lump opened up to reveal a hideous mouth filled with sharp teeth. The mouth grew bigger and bigger to a size that could easily swallow a person whole, and it ferociously bit the air.

Crunch, crunch!

Chilling sounds rang out. The black lump worked hard to eat something that couldn’t be seen.

“...”

Kang-Woo’s mouth was agape as if he couldn’t believe it. The black lump that had been so cute had turned into a hideous monster in the blink of an eye.

[Converting the absorbed faith into Divinity through the Key of the Demonic Sea.’]

“Grrrk!”

The black lump jumped onto Kang-Woo’s hand after devouring the faith. Kang-Woo could feel Divinity flowing into his body as the black lump rubbed itself on the ring.

“Hmm.”

As expected, it wasn’t a lot.

‘There’s only about three hundred people at most who come to the imperial palace to pray, after all.’

Most of all, there was no way that an immaterial concept like faith could be converted into energy with 100% efficiency.

“Well, in any case...” Kang-Woo smiled in satisfaction. “Church of Splendor, huh?”

There was no better name for a church that worshiped the God of Splendor.

‘Looks like I’ve gained a magnificent food source— I mean, some magnificent devotees.’

The seeds had been sown; all Kang-Woo needed to do now was to add just the right amount of fertilizer and water so that the crops could grow well.

“Hehe,” Kang-Woo giggled as all sorts of plans popped up in his head.

He turned his head to the black lump, which was looking up at him with sparkling eyes as if it wanted to be praised.

“Come to think of it, I should give you a name.”

He couldn’t keep calling it black lump.

“Hmmm...” Kang-Woo fell into thought and then snapped his finger as if he had thought of a great name. “Yeah.” He raised the black lump with his hands. “Your name will be Slushy.”

“Grrrk!”

Slushy bounced up and down as if it were happy.