Early morning, when the full moon was still shining brightly in the sky, a baby wrapped in a quilt was placed on the steps of a temple. Faint light lit the baby’s face. He wasn’t crying and only stared at his mother’s face.

Soon, the mother began to cry. She turned back as her baby watched her and walked away reluctantly.

A smile emerged on the innocent baby’s face. Hearing the baby’s laughter, the mother began to run. Tears scattered in the air as she ran and ran.

Soon, the moon grew faint, and the temple’s door opened when the sun began to rise. An old nun stopped in front of the baby. With a sigh, she picked him up.

The baby opened his eyes, in which reflected the nun’s wrinkly face. With a gentle smile, the nun stroked the baby’s quilt and congratulated his birth.

The baby was thus placed in the temple’s care and was given the name ‘Eren’.

Eren spent much of his childhood in the temple. The temple was his home, his place of worship, his playground, and school. The temple’s nuns taught him many things.

Eren was never a big fan of studying. He favored cutting wood instead. Rather than history, he wanted to learn swordsmanship and knighthood.

But because the temple was located in the rural countryside far away from the capital, the nuns couldn’t provide him with the education he wanted no matter how hard they tried.

Then one day, a retired knight visited the temple. The nuns introduced Eren to the knight. The knight wanted a successor but had no child. Eren was the perfect match.

With a mutual understanding, Eren became the knight’s student.

Eren felt happy every time he swung his sword. In those moments, he wasn’t sad that he didn’t have parents or friends.

Eren trained with his sword and even slept with it. The dream of becoming a knight sprouted within him. The hero of justice he read about in fairy tales… he trained every day as he imagined himself becoming such a person.

The nuns watched him grow with pride. They treated him as if he were their son.

But they weren’t left with much time because the ‘Demon Realm Transformation’, which had been slowly devouring Akatrina, had finally reached the temple.

**

[Outside Baal’s Castle]

The misfired arrow flew up to the top of Baal’s castle before flying into a bed and causing a silver explosion.

The power of [Dismantling] imbued in the arrow shook the entire castle. The rumbling turned into a terrifying storm of energy that destroyed the top parts of the castle. The demonic energy surrounding the castle scattered, and its foundation broke down. The destruction wasn’t limited to the top of the castle.

Kwaaaaa—!

With an explosive sound, the sound of a collapsing building rang out. The shell of Baal’s Devil’s Castle broke down completely.

However, I didn’t have the time to watch this sight. A blade shot towards me from behind.

Clang—!

A black barrier instantly formed and blocked the attack. The barrier was neither Jain’s nor Shimurin’s. I let out a sigh of relief and turned to the side.

I could see a familiar face. A smile emerged on my face when I saw her.

“Did you rest well, Boss?”

Boss had appeared out of nowhere and protected me.

“You should be careful when you’re using your bow.”

“Ah, Boss~ Are you okay now~?”

Jain cut in. Boss nodded her head nonchalantly, and Shimurin shrugged as she looked at Boss like she was her disciple.

“Rather than that….”

Boss’s shadow stretched out, flying at the speed of light. It grabbed the person responsible for attacking me and dragged him by his feet.

“Kuuk…”

The attacker was a Djinn. The shadow coiled up his body and strangled his neck. Looking at his face, I frowned. I remembered seeing him before.

But since I couldn’t remember, I used [Observation and Reading] to look at his setting.

“…Ah, you’re Terror’s lackey.”

I finally remembered him. I had seen his face before on a wanted poster in Violet Banquet. He was a subordinate of Terror, who was one of the Nine Evils.

"I almost forgot. I guess the Nine Evils are still alive and well."

I turned to Boss, who promptly nodded her head. Other than Destruction, who was killed by Aileen, the rest of the Nine Evils were still unharmed.

"…Terror is a supporter of Astaroth. Let's interrogate this man and find out where Terror is hiding."

Boss took her shadow back and grabbed the Djinn's neck with her hand. She seemed quite angry.

"Oi, I don't think you should be paying attention to that guy right now."

Shimurin muttered as she watched Baal's crumbling castle.

"Huh?"

"Look."

Shimurin pointed at the castle with a grin. Above it, Baal made his appearance. He looked just like Bell, his incarnation body.

He was glaring at me…

—!

He roared.

His scream shook everything inside his barrier. Soon, Baal's body rose to the sky. At the same time, a terrifying amount of demonic energy flowed out.

Baal unleashed his demonic energy in all directions. It seeped into his barrier, turning it even darker.

I had no idea what he was planning to do.

"Oi."

But Shimurin seemed to know something as she nudged my shoulder with a grin. I looked back at her blankly.

"Wait for me. I'll see you again soon."

As she said that, she covered us in a barrier.

Immediately afterward, the world exploded.

**

[Virtual Reality Game - 'Leraje's Game']

Around the same time, Leraje's character, Lijengy, shook. She looked up at the game's sky, feeling an explosion of demonic energy somewhere far away.

"Lord!"

Her loyal servant, Corte, otherwise known by his ID, 'Leraje's Monster', shouted. Leraje nodded her head. She spoke through the chat system.

—Looks like Old Man finally descended.

Leraje let out a light sigh and looked around her surroundings. A vast wilderness dyed in darkness was spread out before her. This place was called Lekior Field and was a famous high-level training ground in the game.

Because it had a high spawn rate of powerful monsters, most players couldn't enter it at all. However, Leraje and her servants had easily occupied the place with Leraje's special control.

—Take all the items.

Leraje ordered her guild members.

—Blacksmith, can you make something with this?

"With enough of them, I should be able to make a [High-rank Obsidian Breastplate]."

A week had passed since the game's release. The game was more realistic than one might expect. To craft high-rank equipment, a large quantity of crafting materials were needed. But no matter how good one's equipment was, a moment of carelessness could lead to their death.

Plus, there was no revival mechanic. Death in the game was permanent.

Leraje enjoyed this realism, and it was the same for other players. If the game wasn't fun, it never would have reached 15 million concurrent players.

The game company Leol had really created an RPG game of the century.

"Will you go meet His Highness, Baal?"

Corte asked as he collected the items. His expression was serious, but the way he was hunched over to pick up the items was funny.

—I should… but since I made a promise with this world, I will keep it. My war will only be within this game.

"…We will follow our Lord's wishes."

Corte bowed. Leraje nodded without a word.

—I'll log out first.

"Yes, Lord!"

Leraje logged out. Meanwhile, Corte remained in the game. He wanted to follow Leraje, but he had been ordered to take care of in-game duties.

15 million human players were gunning for Leraje's guild. It was 15,000,000 vs 1,000, so to say. Corte refused to let his guard down even for a moment.

"Blood Brothers!"

Corte turned back to his fellow demons and shouted with a serious face.

"Collect the items! We will move to the next dungeon soon!"

Corte and the guild members quickly gathered up the necessary items.

—We're ready, sir!

"Good!"

Corte laughed and pointed at the 'boss dungeon cave' in the distance.

"Let's get moving. Get ready for a boss raid!"

Boss raids were one of the most fun parts of this game. Corte was somewhat disappointed that his lord would miss the upcoming raid.

—Yes, sir!

Corte began to march towards the cave. The members of Leraje's guild were filled with excitement and anticipation for the battle. Although they were playing the game for Leraje's sake, they truly enjoyed it as well.

*

[Earth - Korea]

…Hajin… Kim Hajin!

I slowly opened my eyes. I felt terrible aches all over my body, but I could tell that someone was shaking my body.

…Wake up!

It was from Kim Suho. He was slapping my cheeks and saying something. I looked at his lips.

—Wake up, Kim Hajin! Wake up!

Kim Suho was shaking me and slapping me with a face full of worry. However, I couldn't move my body at all. It was as if I had been drained of all energy.

—Hajin, Hajin! Snap out of it!

After an unknown amount of time, my consciousness returned and my other senses including hearing recovered.

"Kim Hajin! Are you okay!?"

"…."

I swallowed the saliva pooling up in my mouth. I looked at the sky and the world around me.

I was familiar with the surrounding scenery. I could see Essential Armory's protective barrier in the distance and even North Hamgyeong Province's city.

This was undoubtedly Korea.

I looked out at the horizon in a daze.

"Are you okay?"

Kim Suho asked again. I turned back to him and nodded. He then helped me up with his hand.

"We're… back on Earth?"

"Yeah."

I first checked to see if Aether worked. After protecting me from the explosion, it had transformed into a small bag and was storing Black Lotus's equipment.

I took out my Desert Eagle and looked up at the clear, blue sky.

"What…."

I furrowed my brows in confusion. Did Jin Sahyuk and Kim Suho kill Baal in that short instance?

I faced Kim Suho once again.

"What happened to Baal?"

"I don't know. The castle suddenly exploded and this happened."

"…."

It was only after this that I realized who was around me. Chae Nayun, Shin Jonghak, Yun Seung-Ah, Jin Sahyuk, Yi Yeonghan, Kim Youngjin, and even Jain and Boss… They were all sprawled out on the ground.

"Ah."

I got up to run to Boss. But I didn't need to. Jin Yohan, Kaita, and Khalifa appeared and took Jain and Boss away.

Soon, other high-ranking Heroes came over.

—Ho~ Looks like everyone's back.

Yoo Sihyuk appeared with nine white wolves.

—Yeonha, Yeonha!

Yoo Jinwoong ran around to look for his daughter.

—Look for anyone who's injured! It doesn't matter what guild they're from! We have to save everyone!

Vice-Leader Yi Jin-Ah arrived with Essence of the Strait's Heroes. Also arriving with them were Seo Youngji, Oh Junhyuk, the fully armored Heynckes, and the apathetic Chae Joochul.

Surrounded by hundreds of Heroes, I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"…Haa."

I felt like I could finally rest. Just as I loosened my nerves a bit…

—!

A loud screech rang out in the sky. The clear sky turned reddish-black, and Baal once again appeared in the air.

The Heroes in the area quickly prepared themselves for battle.

Sssk—

Kim Suho also took out Misteltein.

I chuckled, thinking it would have been too easy if Baal was really dead.

—Grohack Derla Croska Fedra!

Baal muttered incomprehensible words. The devil's cry tore through the sky and formed a pentagram.

Koooong…!

Demonic energy stormed through the air, and the earth rumbled crazily. Kim Suho and I watched the scene in a daze.

Baal seemed to be casting a ritual-like grand magic.

—Come!

In that instant, the pentagram flipped upside down, and the summoning of an evil god began.

First, a giant leg appeared. The leg was bigger than anything I had ever seen before, and it stepped onto Korea's land.

Boom—!

The earth shook from the single step. A huge shockwave spread out and razed the nearby trees.

—Uaaak!

—Kuak!

Several medics fainted after being hit by the collapsing trees. Heroes who were crushed by the foot died on the spot.

Kim Suho's face froze as he watched the scene of devastation.

"…."

Meanwhile, I looked at Kim Suho's hands. They were trembling. Kim Suho was afraid. It must be because he recognized the owner of the leg.

Rank 21 Devil, Morax.

He was the calamity that ruined Akatrina.

Morax was larger and more destructive than the one we saw in the 'Recorded Past'.

"Suho."

I grabbed Kim Suho's trembling hand. He flinched in surprise and looked back at me.

I stared into his eyes and smiled.

"Don't worry."

Kim Suho swallowed his saliva. I grabbed his hand more tightly and announced with confidence.

"I can kill someone like him with a single bullet."

I wasn't lying, technically speaking. After all, I had done exactly that in the world of the Recorded Past.

"…."

Kim Suho looked at me in silence. He seemed to be searching for the source of my confidence.

After about a minute, Kim Suho smirked and muttered.

"…It won't be that easy."

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