Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

Chapter 251: After The War (3)

Click-

A giant door that was almost five meters tall opened up, and a muscular giant with red skin entered. No, he was closer to a monster.

[Hmm?]

Balrog had returned from training in the special training room built for him when he tilted his head.

There was an unexpected guest.

[What brings you here, Lilith?]

"I came here to borrow the kitchen. My house is next to the Demon King's, so there's a chance I'd be found out," Lilith calmly replied.

Balrog frowned at her words.

[To think you'd modify someone else's house as you please.]

The house KangWoo had built for Balrog didn’t naturally have a kitchen.

Not only was there no way Balrog would prepare his own food, but a demon didn't need to eat in the first place.

Lilith had created a kitchen by modifying his house.

"Fufu. This is also all for the Demon King."

[What do you mean…?]

Balrog's eyes shone as she mentioned KangWoo.

Lilith moved her knife while clicking her tongue.

Tang. Tang. A liquid red as blood poured out.

"Did you already forget what the Demon King told us before?"

[Hmm?]

Lilith kept talking while making a thoughtful expression.

"He always used to say that he wanted to eat kimchi stew."

[K-kimchi stew!]

Balrog's eyes widened.

One had to tear away the skin of a dead beast and take out its inner guts.

After killing an animal with a knife in a very cruel way, you only left behind the meat pieces that were the most comfortable to eat; then you boiled that in a liquid that was red as blood, and then you finally ate it. A food truly worthy of a 'Demon King.'

After returning to Earth, he had eaten it a couple of times, but was it because he wasn't as cruel as the Demon King? He couldn't understand that flavor.

[Lilith, don't tell me…]

Balrog glared at her while trembling.

Lilith licked the red liquid that was on the knife.

"Fufu. This time, I will make that thing called kimchi stew and offer it to the Demon King."

[…]

Balrog shuddered.

After swearing to protect the Demon King, he'd awakened the 'Overlord's Armor', so he was hoping to monopolize the King's love and attention, but to think that she'd do something like that…

[Ugh!]

Balrog clenched his fists.

[Was it not enough to seduce the King using your appearance?!]

It was unfair.

Lilith had a breathtaking appearance worthy of being called the succubus queen.

Even in Hell, she used her appearance to receive his love and attention.

'The way she acts by trusting her face…!'

Even if he offered the head of a demon to receive the appreciation of the King, he couldn't compare to Lilith.

Whenever the Demon King saw Lilith, he trembled in excitement.

Lilith turned her head while making a bittersweet smile.

"It seems like… The Demon King doesn't care about appearance."

That was easy to see just by seeing how he'd accepted the feelings of that human girl called Han Seol-ah.

To the King, having a beautiful appearance had no meaning.

The skin of the body wasn't enough to move his emotions.

To move his feelings, she had to go a step forward.

"I'm going to keep practicing cooking, so you just have to keep practicing that Overlord's Armor or whatever the name of that useless technique is."

[Ugh…]

Balrog clenched his fists while biting his lip.

He was starting to feel jealous.

'If only I…'

If he also had a beautiful appearance like Lilith’s that could seduce the Demon King.

[Haa.]

He sighed.

Balrog turned his body.

'I'll do what I can.'

What the Demon King wanted from him was probably different from Lilith.

What he could do was keep getting stronger so he could become the King's shield and sword.

[Later…]

Balrog turned his head.

[Tell me how to make kimchi stew.] He said in a very low voice.

Lilith burst into laughter while covering her mouth.

"Fufu. Okay. Stop looking like an abandoned dog. Even if I tell you…"

Would he like it more than the one she made for the Demon King?

[…]

Balrog remained silent at her question.

There was no need to think about it. If they all made the same kimchi stew, he'd obviously preferred one that a beautiful woman like Lilith prepared.

[Damn it…!]

Balrog cursed and went to the training room.

He picked up the communication crystal the Demon King had given him and called someone.

There was a limit to training alone.

- Hello?

[Human, I have a proposition.]

Through the communication crystal, the voice of a familiar young man could be heard.

[Hang out with me.]

The red muscles that felt a battle getting closer swelled as if they were about to burst.

* * *

"Let's see…"

KangWoo lay on the sofa and read the report he'd received from Gaia.

[Report of the Great Russian War.]

[Number of players dead - 3812.]

"Tsk…"

KangWoo clicked his tongue.

About ten thousand top players had joined Guardian; after one battle, almost half of the players had died.

'Although it was a very large-scale battle.'

He wasn't omnipotent.

There was no way he'd be able to stop everyone from dying in a large-scale war.

From the moment he prepared for a war to happen, he expected some people to die.

'Still…'

It was sad to see that almost half of them had died.

It was true that, after that war, the number of people wanting to join Guardian increased, but picking out people and making them grow would take time.

'The good thing is…'

There hadn't been major losses among the main forces of Guardian, the Celestial Wolf Troops, and the 1st Squadron that Grace led.

Most of the people that died were ones that had been swept away by the second landslide.

[Names and levels of deceased players.]

* Player Name: Kwon OhJin (Level: 78)

* Player Name: Hakigaya Hachiman (Lv: 82)

* Player Name: William Smith (Leve: 76)

…

'Smith?'

A certain name caught his attention.

"Smith, you…"

* * *

‘Without being able to propose to Anna…’

KangWoo sighed and prayed for Smith.

'Why would you say something like that…?'

One could say that it was destiny.

KangWoo picked up his phone while making a bittersweet smile.

- Ah, yes. Mr. KangWoo, do you need something?

Park HyunWoo—someone that had been scouted from the Red Rose Guild because his talent was recognized.

He had been placed in charge of sending reparations to the family of the deceased players and managing the money that governments from around the world sent them.

"It's about the player called William Smith that passed away."

- Wait a moment. Ah, there he is. He's an English player. Is he someone you know? Park HyunWoo carefully asked.

"No, it's nothing like that, but I wanted to ask if you could deal help his family sooner."

He'd died and left behind a woman with whom he'd promised to get married.

He wouldn't have cared if he didn't know who he was, but he wanted to do as much as possible since he'd noticed him.

'Well, I'm usually not someone who cares about things like this…'

But people often did things they didn't frequently do when they were in a good mood.

That was how it felt.

The things related to Lilith and Satan had been solved, so he wanted to do things he didn't usually do.

- Wait a moment. Hmm… It seems like the family has already been contacted.

"Really?"

- Yes. Ah, I was wondering where I heard the name ‘Smith’, but someone called Anna came to the Guardian base and took all the reparation money. Smith had written in his testament that he would leave everything to Ms. Anna.

"I see…"

For some reason, he felt that something was wrong.

- Yes. To be more precise, Ms. Anna and her husband came and took the reward money.

"Yes?"

Husband?

- I heard that Anna and Smith were childhood friends… There wasn't any other special thing written in the testament. Is there a problem?

"No. I mean… No, it's nothing."

KangWoo cut the phone call.

He remembered his face and how he told his subordinates he would propose to Anna once the war ended.

'SMIITTHH!!!'

It was the cruel taste of reality.

It didn't matter how much he thought about it. He couldn't help but think that Smith had been deceived by Anna.

'I guess that life is cruel.'

He thought he was glad that Smith had died without knowing.

KangWoo put away the list of the deceased for a moment and prayed for him.

"Well…"

To be honest, it didn't matter that much.

Who cared if Smith's life was messed up?

'It's okay as long as I'm fine.'

KangWoo has been looking back at his life.

He wanted an ideal life where there was nothing for him to worry about—the life of a rich person that could stay at home and do nothing, someone that could do anything he wanted without anyone saying otherwise.

Working was fulfilling?

You were the happiest while working?

'Nonsense.'

The people who said that were probably the ones who, if they won the lottery, would quit work before anyone else.

"Yawn."

KangWoo lay on the sofa and stretched his arms.

'Of course…'

Things hadn't ended yet.

There were still some branches of the Demon Cult left.

The relationship with the angels was also awkward. Not only that, but there was also the demon god.

'There are also many things I have to do right now.'

He needed to practice Satan's Authority, the 'Authority of Extinction', and at the same time, he needed to increase the amount of demonic energy he could control.

There were many things he had to do.

"But…"

Didn't he deserve some time to enjoy life?

KangWoo lay on the sofa and closed his eyes.

Ring-

"Did they already arrive?"

Echidna, Seol-ah, and her mother had gone out to buy some clothes, so he had been left alone.

KangWoo tilted his head and walked toward the entrance door.

He opened it.

Click-

"I've wanted to see you. My King, my love…"

SLAM-!!

He quickly closed the door.

"Haa, haa, haa…”

His hands trembled over the doorknob.

'Why… why so suddenly?'

The Lilith in front of him wasn't Kurosaki Yurie but the demon with green tentacles and 18 red eyes.

'Fuck. Why, just why does she look like that again?'

She probably realized he had a deep trauma regarding that aspect of her, otherwise it made no sense that she hadn't shown it to him recently.

'The light…'

The end of the nightmare should have come.

Squeak-

"Fufufu. Demon King. It seems like you're still quite a shy person."

A green tentacle entered through the crack in the door.

"Wh-what's wrong?" KangWoo asked while taking a step backward.

Lilith gave him a pot she was holding in her hands.

"Fufu. I tried to make it myself."

She smiled and blushed as a horrible smile that seemed like it would most likely belong to some nightmare formed on her face.

"This…"

A familiar scent came from the pot.

KangWoo received it with shining eyes.

"It's kimchi stew."

"Fufufu. In Hell, you often said you wanted to have it."

"That's true, but…"

After returning to Earth, he'd been eating it at least once a day.

Lilith shyly kept talking while twisting her body.

"I heard that Ms. Seol-ah cooks well… but I wanted to make it for the Demon King at least once. That's why I've been practicing."

"Ah…"

A short exclamation came out of his mouth. He understood why she hadn't been contacting him recently.

KangWoo saw there were some bandaids on her tentacles.

'What kind of setup is this?'

He smirked.

He didn't know where she'd heard of such a thing, but KangWoo knew there was no way kitchen knives could wound her.

"Thank you."

KangWoo grabbed the pot while smiling and sat on the table.

Lilith followed him.

Seeing her looking at him with shining eyes made him feel guilty.

'I suddenly feel sorry.'

He began feeling sorry after closing the door right in front of her.

"Then… I'm going to eat it."

"If you want more, just tell me. I have more in my house."

"Haha, okay."

Clack.

KangWoo began eating the kimchi stew.

'Woah.'

KangWoo's eyes shone while eating the kimchi stew.

'How delicious.'

It was delicious even compared to the stew that Han Seol-ah prepared.

KangWoo looked at Lilith in surprise.

For a demon who had almost no sense of taste, she probably had to go through a lot to make something so delicious.

'How admirable.'

He couldn't help but smile.

Squeak-

"Huh?"

At that moment, he felt something weird in his mouth.

It was as if he were eating an octopus instead of meat.

"What did you put in the kimchi stew?"

"Ah, that… You see…"

Lilith's smile deepened.

'Oh, fuck. Wait…'

KangWoo's expression hardened.

For some reason, he felt uneasy.

An ominous feeling spread through his back.

"It's my secret recipe."

Wink-

Nine of her eighteen eyes winked.

The ominous sensation worsened.

'No…'

KangWoo's hands trembled.

'There's no way…'

He looked at the bandages that were on Lilith's green tentacles.

There was no way a demon could get wounded by a kitchen knife, but…

What if she cut them on purpose?

"N-NO!!"

SLAM!

KangWoo slammed the table and stood.

‘No…’

‘There’s no way…’

‘Don't tell me…’

‘Even if it’s her…’

KangWoo lowered his head and looked at the pot.

There…

"Ugh."

She covered her mouth.

He naturally remembered a certain phrase.

'Reality…'

‘Is a bitch.’

"BLEH."