Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

Oh Kang-Woo and his comrades gathered in one place after the meal Layla had suggested every have together.

“Sheesh.” Cha Yeon-Joo sighed deeply and stared at Kang-Woo as if she was sick and tired. “How can you eat kimchi stew for our last meal?”

“What’s wrong with kimchi stew? It’s delicious.”

“You should seriously moderate that obsession of yours.”

Yeon-Joo grabbed her forehead as if she were having a headache.

Kang-Woo smiled and remarked, “The braised spicy chicken you made me was delicious too.”

“Wh-What?! I-I wasn’t the one who made that!! I-I just helped Seol-Ah make it because it would be hard for her to do everything by herself!!”

“Mm. Your consistent reactions… Teasing you has become one of my purposes in life at this point.”

Kang-Woo nodded in satisfaction. Whenever he thought he was getting tired of it, Yeon-Joo’s tsundere reactions brought the fun right back.

Kang-Woo smiled widely.

“Y-You son of a bitch…”

Yeon-Joo shook in rage with her face reddened. Layla, who was watching from the sidelines, took a bite of a fruit slice and giggled.

She remarked, “Hohoho. It seems you’re an S in front of Yeon-Joo, Kang-Woo.”

“Pardon?”

‘What S?’

“You’re more of an M when you’re with Seol-Ah and Lilith.”

“...”

“Are you perhaps interested in chains or whips?”

‘The fuck is this woman talking about?’

“He is! He said he was interested a while ago!” Seol-Ah shouted.

‘I’m not.’

“My, I knew it…! It seems I wasn’t seeing wrong, Seol-Ah!”

‘I said I’m not.’

“In that case, let me introduce to you this website, Seol-Ah. If you take a look at this bondage package…”

“Gasp. How indecent…”

‘Stop it right now, you crazy woman.’

“...” Kang-Woo pulled on his hair as he twisted around. “I don’t have an interest in those things. I am an advocate for normal and wholesome—”

“Hm? You weren’t interested in that kind of stuff, Kang-Woo?” asked Echidna, who was munching on an apple slice on Kang-Woo’s lap, as she tilted her head.

“What are you talking about?”

‘Why does everyone keep perverting my tastes?’

“Well, there were tons of stuff like that on your external hard drive…”

“...!!” Kang-Woo’s eyes widened. He asked with a trembling tone, “W-Wait, Echidna. You couldn’t have…”

‘Did you open it? The treasury containing the knowledge of the mysteries of life? The Ark that would save the world from its end?’

“Hm! It looked like you kept it hidden well, but you can’t hide anything from me.”

“B-But I’d set up a password…”

“Kang-Woo, you need to think of a better password than 1q2w3e4r.”

“I-I heard this code is commonly used to protect classified military secrets!”[1]

‘It’s uncrackable!’

“...”

A heavy silence fell.

“Echidna.” Seol-Ah pulled Echidna by the arm with a smile.

“H-Huh? Wh-What’s wrong, Seol-Ah?”

“I’m also very curious about this external hard drive… Could you show it to me later?”

It felt as if freezing air was coming out of her mouth.

“H-Hm! K-Kang-Woo! I’m scared!”

“Me too,” Kang-Woo responded.

‘Geeeeeeehhh!’

“Let’s… have a long talk about this once everything is over, Kang-Woo,” said Seol-Ah, her eyes as cold as ice.

“... Yes, ma’am.”

Kang-Woo lowered his head to avert his gaze from hers, and everyone laughed.

“Man, is this what karma looks like?” Yeon-Joo smiled as if she had been redeemed and pounded on her stomach.

“That aside…” mentioned Kim Si-Hun as the laughter died down. “It’s… tomorrow.”

“...”

“...”

The air around the house froze from that one sentence. They had burst into laughter to force themselves to forget, but there was no way they could forget that this peace would come to an end tomorrow.

“Sheesh, Si-Hun. Stop being such a buzzkill,” Kang-Woo expressed.

“I-I’m sorry, hyung-nim.”

“No, that’s just how you are.” Kang-Woo chuckled and leaned back in his chair. “The invasion will begin tomorrow.”

“...”

The mood in the house fell dark because of how sure Kang-Woo was.

“Umm…” Si-Hun said to break the silence. “When this war is over… I have something to tell you, Layl—”

“Hey, hey, shut that son of a bitch up!”

‘He’s trying to set a death flag!’

Balrog covered Si-Hun’s mouth with his hand in an instant.

“Mrp! Mmrp!” Si-Hun pushed Balrog’s hand away and shouted, “What the hell are you doing?!”

Balrog chuckled and answered, “I am just following my king’s command. No other reason.”

“Haaa,” Kang-Woo sighed and looked around.

He was surrounded by people whom he had made unbreakable bonds with after coming to Earth. He did not want to break those bonds— no, he couldn’t.

‘It’s a bit of a shame Uriel isn’t here.’

Kang-Woo had no choice but to leave Uriel out of the invitation since it would be dangerous to have an angel near Balrog and Lilith. After all, there would be nothing more of a pain in the ass than having internal troubles before the final battle.

‘During the war… it should it be fine since I’ve stationed them as far away as possible.’

The war would take place throughout the entire city of Seoul instead of in a small area. Hence, there was no need to worry about the angels meeting Balrog and Lilith.

‘No, even if they do meet, the war would be so hectic that the angels wouldn’t have the leeway to find out.’

Kang-Woo turned to Lilith and asked, “How is the status of the barrier?”

“I’ve checked it thoroughly. A barrier that covers the entirety of Seoul will be erected as soon as it is activated.”

“Good.” Kang-Woo then turned to Layla and asked, “How is the defense line?”

“The mage Players and the angels have worked together to prepare a wide-area magic spell. We’ll be able to deal considerable damage as soon as the battle begins.”

“Are you sure it will be enough firepower?”

“I’m sure, with Seol-Ah’s buffs.”

Kang-Woo nodded. He couldn’t fully put his faith in the Players and angels, but it was a different story if Seol-Ah was buffing them.

“What about the reinforcements from Aernor?”

“I’ve brought the entire army of Arnan!” answered Iris with her fists clenched.

Kang-Woo laughed unconsciously. “Even if the situation is dire, the entire army is a bit…”

“It’s okay! No noble would dare act out of line, thanks to your purging spree of corrupt nobles!”

“Uhh, yeah. Sure.”

‘Is that something to say so brightly? Anyway…’

“What about the Church of Splendor?”

Yeon-Joo answered, “Well… I’ve selected volunteers after filtering out the ones who were vowing to stay even if it were to kill them. I don’t think they’d be of much help, though.”

Most of the devotees of the Church of Splendor were powerless civilians; not many would be of direct help in the war.

“It’s okay. You’re all we need,” Kang-Woo mentioned.

Yeon-Joo by herself would be far more helpful than a group of nobodies.

“Ngh…” Yeon-Joo flinched and lowered her head.

“Right then, Balrog. You take Echidna, Halcyon, and the bag of bones to let loose on Bael’s army. Si-Hun, you stick with Guardians.”

“... Yes, my king.”

“Understood, hyung-nim.”

Kang-Woo stood up from his chair after getting their answers. “Okay, then. Let’s all get some rest for tomorrow.”

He turned around and opened the front door of the apartment with a dragon pattern on it.

“...”

Kang-Woo looked up at the night sky and thought about the dinner full of laughs he just had. He reached out his hand toward the sky and slowly closed it. His desire blazed so strongly to the point that the hunger starving him was dissipating.

‘For a tomorrow as great as today.’

Fwoosh.

Flames resembling a black sun burned brightly around him.

***

A hunchback demon with a staff stood on top of a red hill in front of countless demons standing at attention. Amon looked back at Bael, who was lying leisurely on the hill.

“Are you sure I can do it?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’m not interested in that kind of stuff,” answered Bael apathetically as he rolled around on the red sand.

Amon sighed and shook his head. He then raised his staff in front of the demons.

“Demons of the Ninth Hell.”

Bang.

A wave of dense demonic energy spread across the surroundings once he smashed his staff down on the ground.

He said with a voice as unpleasant as nails on a chalkboard, “The day of the Apocalypse has come.”

“Raaaaaaaahhh!!”

“For Lord Bael!!”

“For the birth of the new king of demons!!”

The demons standing at the foot of the hill roared in unison. They celebrated the birth of the new Demon King.

“Today, the Triad will be destroyed and born anew in the name of Lord Bael!”

Sparks ran through Amon’s entire body. He had dreamed of one day seeing enough demons to fill the entirety of the Ninth Hell, standing together.

‘And…’

Amon slowly turned his head. Demons were not the only ones gathered here.

[How boring.]

[When will the battle begin?]

They were beings of worlds outside of the Triad, who had submitted to Bael and decided to follow him.

‘I’ll have to deal with them one day.’

They would be of use in Bael’s army at the moment, but they couldn’t be trusted in the long run.

‘Even Eilles cut all ties with us and ran away.’

Amon had granted Eilles the position of one of the Four Heavenly Kings due to his unyielding loyalty to Bael, but Eilles vanished after leaving a message that he would stop serving Bael about a month ago. For Amon, who was managing the army in Bael’s place, it was as if a sledgehammer had smashed the back of his head. The incident had crushed his trust in otherworldly beings.

‘Well, it matters not.’

Amon’s eyes glinted sharply. It would be a piece of cake to replenish their lacking forces once they won the war and turned the Triad into the territory of the Nine Hells.

‘And Lord Bael will be the one to win.’

Amon cackled as his shoulders moved up and down. As long as the Demon King possessed Ingrium, a branch of the corrupted World Tree, Bael’s victory was guaranteed.

‘Lord Bael will get his hands on the Demonic Sea. Once that happens…’

“... Titan,” Amon whispered.

He thought about the Titans who created and ruled over countless worlds beyond the Triad.

‘As long as those detestable beings disappear, I’ll be able to get my hands on the Primordial Knowledge.’

The Primordial Knowledge was what Hecate, the Titan who created magic, tried to acquire. Amon was getting heated just thinking about getting his hands on that knowledge.

“Demons of the Ninth Hell.”

Amon raised his staff high again.

Whoooom!

The black magic circle drawn on the entire red hill shone.

Split!

The air cracked and created a giant red Rift.

“Advance.”

“Raaaaaaaaaahhh!!”

Boom! Boom!

The demons of the Ninth Hell charged into the Rift as per Amon’s command.

‘Finally…!’

Amon’s eyes shone. He had been waiting for this day for so long.

“Slaughter to your heart’s content!!” shouted Amon with his arms spread out.

He passed through the red Rift to the concrete city.

“H-Huh?”

“Wh-What the hell?!”

The people on the streets expressed shock as they stared at the giant Rift that appeared in the middle of Seoul.

Amon cackled unpleasantly. “The pathetic screams of the humans mark the beginning of the Apocalypse!!”

Amon let the thrill take over his body and swung his staff. He created spears of demonic energy and fired them at the humans standing blankly. However…

Wriggle.

“Hm?”

The humans pierced by the spears turned into black mucus and splashed on the ground.

“... What?”

Only then did Amon realize that the humans filling the streets were not humans but dolls in the form of humans.

“What in the world is—”

“All forces.”

The Demon King enveloped in radiant splendor, floating in the air, raised his hand before Amon could comprehend what was going on.

“Fire!”

Rumble—!!!

A thunderous sound that signaled the beginning of the Apocalypse shook the entirety of Seoul.

“Shieeet, this is it! What a fantastic sound!”

The Demon King cackled as he looked down at the horde of demons getting engulfed by the explosions.

“Art!” He spread his arms out and shouted ecstatically, “Is an explosiooooooooon!!!”

SHIEEEEEEEEEEET!

1. This password was so commonly used in army bases and government offices in Korea that it has become a meme that you would be punished for leaking government secrets if you leaked this password. ☜

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