Chapter 7
Injuries on his body?
Why now?
“Especially the wound on my chest—it’s deep.”
It wasn’t something that could have been scratched with fingernails.
It was clearly a stab wound.
Did someone break into his house and cut him?
Slide.
Lee Kang-han sat up from the floor.
Judging by the wounds, there should be blood on the blanket…
“But only the T-shirt has fresh blood on it.”
He looked around the house.
The room was clean, and there were no signs of forced entry.
“Then why do I have wounds?”
Should he go to the hospital?
In front of the bathroom mirror, he took off his shirt and frowned at the wound—
Shhh…
The wounds began to heal in real time.
“…?”
What was that?
They were deep enough to definitely leave scars.
But his body returned to normal in seconds.
Pat, pat.
He touched his body.
“Doesn’t hurt at all.”
Was this another effect of the Heavenly Demon’s Physique?
He opened the status window to check.
[Trait: Heavenly Demon’s Physique (Grade: E~SSS)]
“E?”
It was clearly listed as F~SSS before.
Now it had risen to E?
“Yesterday, I’m sure it was F.”
He remembered checking it after getting home yesterday.
So it went up a rank after just one sleep?
“…Must be related to that injury.”
What happened while he was sleeping?
No matter how many times he thought about it, he couldn’t find a clear answer.
“Not enough information yet.”
Still, maybe he should record himself while sleeping next time.
He looked at the clock.
He thought it was around 11 AM since he had fallen asleep around 11 PM last night.
“It’s 8 AM?”
Same as always.
Which meant… he only slept for 9 hours?
Unheard of for Kang-han. Yet, he felt completely awake.
“I spent a bit over 3 hours in the Tower…”
So there seemed to be a connection between his sleep duration, the Tower, the injuries, and the trait level-up.
“Hmmm.”
He tried tapping the ‘Heavenly Demon’s Physique’ in the status window again, but unlike items and skills, no description appeared—just the grade.
“Tch. So stingy with information.”
No way to learn more for now.
He closed the window.
“Still got time before Ju-young comes over. I’ll check the Ten Thousand Demon Palace.”
He had told Ju-young to come in the afternoon thinking he’d wake up late. But with free time now, he opened the feature.
[Ten Thousand Demon Palace (萬魔殿)]
A place of fallen demons who surrendered to the Heavenly Demon.
Your rank is too low, so the palace isn’t fully functional.
Current Capacity: 51/10,000
“Now it’s 51.”
Seems the goblins dragged in by the Castrated Goblin Chief had joined.
Inside the dark void, Kang-han could see the slumped chief and the goblin minions scattered around.
“Why are they all like this?”
The chief was holding up, but the weaker goblins seemed unable to withstand the environment.
He clicked on one.
[Goblin Horde]
Status: Confused, Afraid, Starving
Time to Death: 10 hours
“Starving to death?”
That’s sad.
They had helped him in the tutorial; he couldn’t just let them die.
Then—
Zzzz…
[Would you like to build a Goblin Settlement?
20,000 TP will be consumed.]
“20,000?”
That’s 2.6 million won.
Should he just say goodbye to them? They’re just basic monsters anyway.
“…No, I’ve got TP. Let’s test this.”
He clicked Yes.
Whiiir…
The darkness lifted slightly, and brown wasteland appeared where the goblins had been.
The goblins stirred and got up.
Their fear status disappeared.
“That’s better.”
He thought he’d done enough to help.
But—
Thump.
One by one, the goblins collapsed again.
Right—there was nothing to eat in that wasteland.
“Did I just waste 20,000 TP for them to still die?”
Zzzz…
[Would you like to add food and basic resources?
20,000 TP will be consumed.]
“Another 20,000?!”
He groaned out loud.
“What is this, a scam? Couldn’t you say from the start it’d cost 40,000?”
Still—
“If I don’t add food, that first 20k is wasted.”
He bit his lip.
“Fine, fine… grow, you damn place!”
Tap.
He invested another 20,000 TP.
Whiiiir!
A forest bloomed over the wasteland.
The goblin chief jumped up and gathered fruits to feed his tribe.
Soon the others regained their strength.
[Status: Confused]
Starvation and death were gone.
“Phew… raising goblins is hard work.”
40,000 TP… he could’ve bought a decent imported car.
Just as Kang-han was feeling regretful—
The goblin chief gathered everyone.
Boom. Boom.
They all bowed deeply.
[The Castrated Goblin Chief offers heartfelt reverence.]
[The Goblin Horde offers heartfelt reverence.]
“Real reverence?”
So it wasn’t real before?
Kang-han stared, confused.
[Heavenly Demon’s Physique has been enhanced.]
[Heavenly Demon Divine Arts duration increased.]
[Skill ‘Heavenly Demon Reigns, Ten Thousand Demons Submit’ has been enhanced.]
“Whoa… now we’re talking!”
Suddenly, the 40,000 TP didn’t feel like a waste.
Yeah, even goblins deserve a meal if they serve you.
As he smiled with satisfaction—
[Reverence from one’s own kind enhances effects.]
“…Own kind?”
Wait, this works with humans, too?
“How do I get a person to bow to me?”
Just then—
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang.
Kang-han smiled.
“Ah, the perfect guy just showed up.”
“…So let me get this straight.”
His best friend, Kim Ju-young:
“You want me to bow to you? Are you out of your mind?”
“C’mon, friends help friends.”
“Hell no. You want me to say that Heavenly Demon chant?”
“Yeah. And don’t forget the Ten Thousand Demons part.”
“Screw you.”
“I’ll buy you booze.”
Scratch, scratch.
Ju-young scratched his head.
“Even I have limits—”
“Top-shelf whiskey. Your pick. I’ll pay.”
He looked around.
“Here good?”
“Yeah. And put some sincerity into it. That helps.”
“Sincerity from a paid actor, huh?”
Still, he gave in.
“Heavenly Demon Reigns, Ten Thousand Demons Submit!”
BOW!
[Received reverence from fellow human Kim Ju-young.]
[No fear detected. Effect reduced.]
[Cooldown time for ‘Heavenly Demon Divine Arts’ reduced by 1 minute.]
“One minute?”
That’s weak.
Can he do it again?
“One more time?”
“That’s two bottles, damn it—Heavenly Demon Reigns, Ten Thousand Demons Submit!”
[This being has already offered reverence.]
[Cooldown: 23:59:50]
“Wow. Goblins give 5 minutes; humans give less?”
Looks like bought reverence doesn’t count as much.
“So it’s either inspire fear or earn sincere devotion.”
Seems that’s how the Heavenly Demon rolls.
“It worked?”
“Not really. You weren’t sincere.”
“Still buying me booze though, right?”
“A deal’s a deal.”
They went to the convenience store.
Ju-young grabbed two whiskey bottles.
“Nothing like Saturday afternoon drinking.”
“Wait, it’s Saturday?”
“You still have no concept of time, huh.”
At home, they set the bottles down.
“So, about this Heavenly Demon stuff…”
“It just happened. I picked the trait and here I am.”
“Sounds OP. You hit the jackpot.”
They discussed the Tower and player systems.
“Channel opening rights? That costs 50k TP! That’s like second-place lotto prize!”
“It costs that much?”
“Yeah. TowerTube is cutting-edge. Only top players get in.”
He looked over.
“You could sell the rights, but I’d open a channel if I were you. Gotta ride the hype.”
“Hmm.”
“Need any advice? I’ll even recommend good guilds—not mine, though. Ours sucks.”
“What’s your level?”
“13.”
“Then guild system should be open. You might’ve already gotten offers.”
“Wait, really?”
He opened the system window.
There it was—the guild feature.
But it looked faded.
He clicked it.
[The Heavenly Demon does not serve beneath others.]
[Only ‘Heavenly Demon Cult’ can be established.]
“Wait… I can’t join guilds?”
“You can’t. Heavenly Demon doesn’t bow.”
“Whaaat? That’s real?”
“Shame. Guilds give solid buffs—XP, TP, stat boosts, even manage sponsorships.”
“Damn. That’s a loss.”
“Try creating the Cult. It might have unique features.”
He clicked the create button.
[Establish ‘Heavenly Demon Cult’?
Cost: 100 million TP]
“100 million?”
That’s 13 billion won.
He laughed in disbelief.
“What?”
“The cost.”
“In won?”
“No. In TP.”
“Holy… just go solo.”
As he nodded—
Zzzzz…
[If the Ten Thousand Demon Palace is restored, required TP will decrease.]
[The more you upgrade the palace, the lower the TP cost.]
“So rebuilding the palace is the priority.”
He was just a newbie who cleared the tutorial.
No need to rush.
“So, what’s the industry like these days?”
“Did you hear about the Phoenix Guild?”
“At the warehouse, yeah.”
They disbanded and were heading to Saudi Arabia.
Ju-young sighed.
“It’s like locking the barn after the horse is gone.”
“…?”
“That’s exactly what’s happening in Korea right now.”
