Ch.106Chapter 106 – The Banquet (1)

The war doesn’t end silently as some claim. It concluded with thunderous artillery fire that shook heaven and earth.

Since undead are summoned creatures controlled by necromancers, their motivations are simply their master’s commands. After Shin Jaehyuk killed Belphegor and closed the gate, the undead lost their supreme commander and fell into disarray, wandering aimlessly.

From that moment, the tide of battle completely turned. While the monsters hesitated, the allied forces pulled up their defensive line and drove the monster horde into Pyongyang. What followed was straightforward: carpet bombing. The city that was once North Korea’s capital evaporated, demonstrating just how powerful modern military might could be even without supernatural abilities.

“Fortunately, there were no survivors. Otherwise, we couldn’t have easily chosen carpet bombing as a tactic due to opposition from the ruling party or civic groups…”

Three days after the war ended, at a victory celebration and memorial service for war veterans in Seoul, President Park Ju-gwan broke away from the flashing cameras of reporters and approached Shin Jaehyuk, who was tucked away in an inconspicuous corner.

Shin frowned at Park’s unwelcome familiarity. He wasn’t the type who enjoyed being in the spotlight.

“Fortunate? The citizens of Pyongyang were annihilated.”

“Oh, I apologize. I don’t mean to suggest that the sacrifice of Pyongyang’s citizens was fortunate. It was a terrible tragedy that should never be repeated. I too feel immense sorrow for this catastrophe.”

Despite correcting his slip of the tongue, Park’s expression still betrayed an undisguised hint of joy. From his perspective, things had gone so well that he felt like dancing.

‘Good, so very good.’

He had successfully acquired nuclear weapons in secret as planned, and the gate had been cleared successfully. The media, which had initially criticized him for waging war without Kim Jaemin, had completely reversed their position and were now competing to praise Park’s judgment and insight.

By closing an S-rank gate and winning the war without Kim Jaemin, Korea had proven that its national defense remained strong even without that absolute figure. Of course, they had received significant help from neighboring countries, including two S-rank hunters, but securing such support was also a skill. President Park had proven his abilities amid public distrust.

‘This will solidify my position. And my honor!’

Over the past few days, Park had successfully pushed through an agenda at the UN summit to have South Korea absorb North Korean territory, using all the power at his disposal. North Korea had lost most of its population, its leadership, and its capital was destroyed—it was essentially finished. By pushing forward with the pretext of helping North Korean citizens and rebuilding cities as fellow Koreans, other countries couldn’t openly oppose it.

Rather than peaceful unification, it was more like absorbing a fallen nation—not the prettiest picture, but unification nonetheless. As long as Korea didn’t collapse, this achievement would be recorded in textbooks for generations to come. Park felt like he had become the protagonist of the world.

Struggling to control his rising smile, Park skillfully crafted a politician’s facade.

“Still, from my position where citizens’ safety must be the top priority, I hope you understand that while it wasn’t the best outcome, it was the second-best conclusion. But I didn’t mean to discuss such heavy and depressing matters…”

He handed Shin a wine glass, showing his respect.

“You single-handedly defeated one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Belphegor, didn’t you? Thank you sincerely, Hunter Shin. Thanks to you, our citizens can finally feel at ease.”

“Well… it was a close call for me too. If the fighter jets hadn’t bought me time with their support, I would have been done for.”

Though it was mere courtesy, Park’s face brightened. Just leaving the impression that ‘he received help’ was enough.

“Oh! I’m glad it was helpful. Actually, that was strongly requested by my sponsor and advisor.”

“Sponsor?”

“Someone who helped me greatly when I first entered politics as a mere soldier. Political funds, connections, and such. The same person who advised deploying the military immediately when the gates first appeared. I don’t know their identity since they only reveal themselves as ‘Mr. B,’ but… they’re someone I’m very grateful to. They recognized my potential since my military days and never hesitated to support me.”

With alcohol in his system and in good spirits, Park became rather talkative. But Shin was simply dumbfounded.

‘Mr. B? Why are you showing up here…?’

It had seemed strange that the notoriously slow Korean military had mobilized so quickly on the first day the gates appeared. Apparently, the message Shin had sent to Mr. B from the police station had been directly delivered to Park. Feeling the curious connection of fate, Shin made a subtle expression. He didn’t know how to react when the president of a nation was praising a criminal kingpin and ancient demon right in front of him.

“Ah… I’ve rambled too much. Anyway, thank you again for your help. Your performance exceeded my expectations. By the way, do you still have no intention of revealing yourself to the media…?”

“No. It would only be uncomfortable, and I don’t want to deal with the hassle.”

“Though disappointing, I’ll respect your wishes. I certainly can’t tell you what to do. I hope we can continue this good cooperative relationship in the future.”

This meant he would forget about the incident Shin had caused in the United States. Park shook hands with Shin and left. As he turned away, a satisfied smile hung on his lips.

Park had organized this event for three main reasons: first, to widely publicize that Korea’s national prestige remained intact; second, to honor the hunters who had distinguished themselves in the war and become acquainted with them; and lastly, for the personal reason of putting his former rival, the Korean Hunter Association Director Hwang Heejong, in his place.

‘Haha. Now I can solve problems of this magnitude without your connections or help.’

He intended to flaunt his achievements to his former rival who had once competed with him for the throne, savoring his victory. Though childish, power struggles often are. Park looked around the banquet hall for Hwang Heejong, who was conversing with two Westerners.

“Isn’t that… President Jackson of the United States and the CIA Director? Were they already acquainted? I’ve heard reports that he’s been losing interest in Korea lately and expanding his overseas connections…”

They seemed to be close, chatting in a warm, friendly atmosphere. Rosaries with inverted crosses swung barely visible beneath the sleeves of the three men.

‘Do they attend the same church? Is that how they became close? …It doesn’t seem like a good time to go put him in his place, so I’ll wait a bit.’

President Park took out his phone to use the spare time to handle work. Messages and emails had piled up like mountains since he hadn’t been able to work for days while attending the summit. President Park checked the one at the very top.

“Hmm? A message from my sponsor. ‘Proposal for Monster Trait Fusion Special Forces Training Program’…?”

***

Meanwhile, after Park left, Shin was sipping wine alone. The events of the past few days had left him feeling unsettled.

‘My friend, have you found peace?’

While people at the memorial service were honoring hunters who had died heroically fighting on the front lines, Shin was privately mourning one person.

The confirmed complete death of Kyle Leonhardt, verified by Kwak Taewoo. Shin felt both joy that his friend had finally been freed from the demon’s grasp and sadness that the connection from his past life had been severed. He drank his wine to soothe his bitter feelings.

“Defeating Belphegor is good, but the sacrifice was too great. The destruction of an entire nation…”

Shin reflected on his arrogance. It had been a mistake to underestimate Belphegor based on his experience with Belial. Unlike Belial, who had newly replaced Mammon as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Belphegor had been a Heavenly King since the beginning of time and was on an entirely different level.

Summoned with sacrifices orders of magnitude greater than Belial’s, Belphegor would have been impossible for Shin to defeat through normal means. This victory was only possible due to the fortunate combination of Shin’s awakening and Belphegor’s carelessness.

If Belphegor had been vigilant from the start and pressed Shin with that insane casting speed, Shin would have depleted his divine power and died. It was already remarkable that S-rank hunters without regenerative abilities had managed to defeat Belphegor in the first timeline.

“Next time, I should use the ‘Divine Punishment’ spell as a surprise attack rather than confronting them head-on.”

The remaining Heavenly Kings were Lucifer, the symbol of pride, and Beelzebub, the symbol of envy. While Shin had directly faced Beelzebub before, he had limited information about Lucifer, the fallen angel. Still, he didn’t feel that victory was impossible.

‘The ability I gained this time…’

Shin opened his status window.

「 ===

《Name》 Shin Jaehyuk

《Level》 1024

《Achievements》

<Master> – When movement embodies reason, it becomes martial arts; when martial arts embody art, one becomes a master.

<Slayer of the Four Heavenly Kings> – An ant that toppled an elephant.

<Agape> – When God looks down upon you, you also look up at God.

<Watched by Fate> – There are only two types of humans who receive a child’s attention: those not yet mad, and those already mad.

<Chaos> – Harboring two energies in one body.

<Indomitable> – As long as the mind doesn’t break, the body won’t deteriorate first.

<Divinity> – One who possesses the qualification of a master.

《Civilization Combat Value》

Lv. 2/5 (5.16%) [Check Reward]

=== 」

There were many changes in the status window. The most obvious change was his level. Belphegor had given so much experience that it had instantly changed to four digits.

‘The last time I checked, Kim Jaemin’s level was 1280, so I’m quite close now… How strong was Kim Jaemin in the first place? The more I grow stronger, the more astonished I am by Kim Jaemin’s level…’

There were also changes in the <Achievements>, which functioned like titles in RPG games. The previously incomplete achievement <Indo■> that had appeared after defeating Belial had fully developed into <Indomitable>, and <Divine Blood> had disappeared, replaced by <Divinity>.

Indomitable. As long as the mind doesn’t break, the body won’t deteriorate first. Understanding its meaning:

‘Conditional immortality…’

The regenerative ability that had withstood even dragon’s breath and hellfire had finally been recognized as a great achievement. Now, as long as Shin’s will remained unbroken, he would never physically die. Shin’s expression was peculiar.

“A cockroach, huh? Isn’t that something you only see in games? Should I be happy about this…?”

While immortality sounded attractive, what about powerful mental attacks like the one he had just faced? Shin set aside such worries for now and moved on to his next concern.

The change in <Divine Blood>. Whether it was something the “Master” had done in the mental world, or something Shin himself had done, Divine Blood seemed to have disappeared.

‘Or perhaps it hasn’t disappeared but has been completely absorbed and made my own…’

Considering the new achievement <Divinity>, that seemed like a plausible explanation. However, it was impossible to speculate further.

‘<Divinity>, one who possesses the qualification of a master. Master of what? What qualification? Isn’t this explanation too vague?’

The skill Shin had awakened, which he named Insight, still showed no signs of growth. Unlike others, he could see explanations for achievements in his status window, but that was it. It didn’t provide the information he actually needed, like the effects or conditions of the achievements.

‘It’s not skill awakening, it’s skill gacha. A real RNG hell game! You might as well just give me magic skills.’

Shin grumbled inwardly. Of course, complaining wouldn’t make him understand what he didn’t know.

“For now, the only thing that can be speculated as the cause of this achievement is this spear of light.”

As Shin concentrated his mind on his hand, light formed into the shape of an elongated spear. A spear of the mind created by Shin’s will. Though the effect was different, in principle it was similar to the mind sword found in martial arts novels.

After awakening this mental spear with overwhelming destructive power, Shin was able to easily defeat Belphegor, as if his previous struggles had been a lie.

“Is this spear itself a kind of ‘divinity’? Or is it a supplementary ability of divinity? I’m not sure. I don’t even know what divinity is. I lack information… It would be good to search through the Vatican’s archives at times like this.”

Shin had never heard of a technique or spell that produced such an effect as this spear of light. Since he couldn’t figure it out by just thinking about it, Shin decided to take it as a blessing. He was confident that with this technique, he could wound even the Four Heavenly Kings and the Demon King…

“Alright. Even the Demon King is a living being—if I stab it with a spear, it should die!”

Downing his drink and strengthening his resolve, Shin checked the last change in his status window. The Civilization Combat Value. This item, shared in the status windows of all awakened individuals, had risen from level 1 to 2 the moment Shin defeated Belphegor.

“As expected. It increases by 1 each time a Heavenly King is defeated.”

It was as he had previously speculated. When the experience approaches 100%, a Heavenly King is summoned, and when the Heavenly King is defeated, the level increases. Since there are four Heavenly Kings in total, the Demon King would be summoned at level 4. By defeating two Heavenly Kings, Shin had moved this speculation into the realm of certainty.

“Good. So what’s the reward this time? Last time when the civilization level increased, divine power awakeners started appearing.”

With anticipation, he pressed the reward confirmation button. And froze.

「===

The second World Boss has been defeated.

Civilization Combat Value Level Up

Lv. 1 > Lv. 2

Providing civilization reward:

-Eden’s Passage

===」

“Eden…?”