Chapter 231: Buffet

Episode 231

Moments later,

a dimensional door opened in Dantalian’s subspace.

Dantalian led Kim Jinsung through the door, and they arrived at a completely different location.

As soon as they arrived, Kim Jinsung heard

*Roarrr!*

*Grrrr…!*

*Screeeech!*

A cacophony of monstrous roars and cries.

“…Is this a monster farm?”

He asked, looking around.

He saw numerous monsters rampaging inside large cages, each seemingly engraved with sealing magic.

As he observed the monsters, all glaring at him,

[To be precise, it’s a ‘bio-research lab’. You know those ‘lab rats’ humans use?]

“…They use these monsters as lab rats?”

[Exactly. This way.]

Dantalian started walking, and Kim Jinsung followed.

He continued walking, observing the countless steel cages and the monsters inside.

Moments later,

[What brings you here, Dantalian?]

A Demon God’s voice boomed, and Kim Jinsung turned to look.

A figure stood there, his face covered by a gas mask-like device, his body concealed by a robe and leather gloves.

[I’m here to fulfill the contract, Decarabia.]

Dantalian called out his name.

[Do you have any expendable ones? Preferably fresh ones that haven’t appeared in the demon world dungeon yet.]

[Plenty. Follow me.]

Decarabia readily agreed and led them to a giant iron door.

He channeled Demonic Energy into the symbol engraved on the center of the door, and it creaked open.

‘…Hmm?’

Kim Jinsung’s eyes narrowed as he smelled a foul odor coming from inside.

It was a familiar smell.

‘It smells like the incinerator at the Fight Club, don’t tell me…’

His guess was correct.

He saw a furnace blazing with blue hellfire, the symbol of the Demon Realm, inside the incinerator room.

[All these are scheduled to be incinerated after the experiments.]

Decarabia said, pointing at the cages surrounding the incinerator.

The cages were filled with grotesque monsters, gasping for air as if on the verge of death.

[Omurga, you’re the one who gets stronger by devouring monsters, right? You can eat all of these if you want.

But not the other monsters. We need them for experiments.]

[Don’t worry. He can only eat the ones we agreed on, according to the Soul Oath.]

[…Still, it makes me uneasy, knowing he’s Omurga… Well, I trust you’ll keep him under control.]

He left the incinerator room.

After the door closed, Dantalian turned to Kim Jinsung.

[You said it was fine to kill them as long as you’re in your human form, right?]

“Yes.”

He nodded and checked the notification window that had appeared in the corner of his vision.

▷ Complete Ability Absorption: Absorbs the corpse of a defeated opponent to more effectively absorb their abilities.

※ When a corpse is completely absorbed, the physical stats and Beast Karma Points gained increase significantly.

※ When a corpse is completely absorbed, the chances of acquiring hidden skills or traits of the defeated opponent increase significantly.

He reread the notification window that had appeared when he realized his true identity as Omurga and continued,

“I just can’t absorb them in my Omurga form.”

He looked at the next notification window.

▷ Gluttony: Increases all stats by 10% for 1 hour for each corpse consumed, but also increases ‘Gluttony’ by 20%.

When Gluttony reaches 100%, the user loses their sanity for at least 1 hour and starts devouring all living beings in sight.

Consuming living beings in this state also increases all stats by 10%, but the stat buff disappears when Gluttony ends.

The Gluttony debuff only applies when the user is transformed into Omurga.

“…If I devour these monsters in my Omurga form, I’ll be violating the ‘Soul Oath’.”

[Kuk kuk kuk…! It was a good decision to write that oath, wasn’t it?]

He turned away from Dantalian, who was chuckling, and thought to himself,

‘I need to be careful about revealing my true form. It’s too dangerous if I accidentally activate Gluttony while absorbing strong enemies.’

Honestly, he could endure anything, but he couldn’t resist absorbing the abilities of a strong opponent after defeating them.

He could always transform back into his human form and absorb their abilities, but there was always a chance that he might not be able to.

He decided to only reveal his true form if there were less than five strong opponents, or if it was impossible to reach 100% Gluttony.

“Well, let’s enjoy this buffet.”

As soon as he finished speaking, black miasma started swirling around the monsters trapped in the cages.

He was going to completely engulf them in Demonic Energy and devour them, just like he had done with the Void Worms.

It was the only way to activate the ‘Complete Ability Absorption’ trait.

* * *

“You’re here.”

A voice greeted Hong Yeon-seok as he stepped through a dimensional rift.

It was Yoo Jun-ho, the Vice Master of the Korean Clan.

“Why are you sitting on a rock? I brought a sofa for you…”

“It’s fine. I don’t want to sit on a leather sofa in another dimension. Ah, but Team Leader Hong will have to sit on a rock too, so let me move…”

“It’s alright. I’ve been sitting all day. I was planning to report while standing.”

Yoo Jun-ho asked,

“You’ve been sitting all day? So the encryption took a while.”

“Yes. I had to contact a lot of people.”

“That’s right. All the Vice Masters. Did you send the encrypted messages to everyone?”

“Yes. I confirmed that they all received and decrypted the messages before coming here.”

“What was their response?”

He answered smoothly,

“Many of them praised the idea of holding the meeting in another dimension. They said they had never thought of it before.”

“I know, right? Why didn’t we think of this sooner? It’s the perfect place to hold a secret meeting, safe from eavesdropping, even if someone has a surveillance skill on them.”

They were also in another dimension, Yoo Jun-ho’s subspace.

He had gotten the idea from his secret conversation with Team Leader Hong inside the 45th floor of the Trial Tower and had been holding all his secret meetings in other dimensions ever since.

He was also the one who suggested holding the Vice Masters’ meeting in another dimension.

“I heard that the idea was brought up before, but they didn’t go through with it because of the risks of dimensional travel.”

“That’s right. If the dimensional coordinates suddenly changed, they might never be able to return to Earth.”

“Yes. Many of them are worried about that, even for tomorrow’s meeting.”

“But we have no choice. Even the Masters of the Major Clans are suspected of being under surveillance. Holding the meeting in another dimension is the safest way to prevent eavesdropping.

The real problem is Kim Jinsung.”

He continued,

“It’s a problem that he acquired dimensional abilities after killing Graham. If he finds out about the location of tomorrow’s meeting, there’s a good chance he’ll calculate the dimensional coordinates and create a portal.”

“We’ve taken all the necessary precautions, as you instructed.”

“I know. But it’s not enough. All the government buildings that were attacked recently had tight security. You know that, right?”

“That’s true.”

He agreed and continued,

“Actually, I have something to report regarding that.”

“What is it?”

“One of the clans attending tomorrow’s meeting is sending a reliable expert to prevent any potential attacks.”

“Who is it?”

He looked around and whispered the answer, covering his mouth with his hand.

Yoo Jun-ho’s eyes widened in surprise.

“…Really?”

“I couldn’t believe it either, so I double-checked. It’s true.”

“That’s a relief. It’s great news.”

He sighed in relief, a bright smile on his face. He hadn’t been this happy in a long time.

* * *

Meanwhile,

a man stood at the Elnacon port, staring out at the sea.

It was Kim Jinsung, who had just left the demon world dungeon.

“…That must be it.”

He muttered to himself, looking at the horizon.

A giant ship was approaching the port at high speed.

The ship, painted entirely blue, had no national flag or clan mark.

It looked like a pirate ship, but it soon docked at the Elnacon port.

A woman jumped off the ship and landed next to him.

“Have you been waiting long?”

It was Hong Hyeonjin, a beautiful woman with a bright smile.

“I’ve been waiting for a while, but I wasn’t bored.”

She nodded, understanding his answer.

“I can see that.”

She glanced at the men lying on the ground around him.

It was obvious what had happened. Bandits, who preyed on illegal immigrants, must have attacked him.

“…I’m sorry. We’re trying to improve security at the port after forming the alliance, but it’s not easy.”

“It’s alright. It’s not something that can be done overnight. Let’s go up.”

“Yes.”

They both jumped onto the ship.

She led him to a conference room inside the ship.

“Everyone, this is Kim Jinsung.”

She introduced him as she opened the door, and everyone inside stood up.

He quickly scanned the room, observing their first impressions.

‘They’re all concealing their identities.’

They were all wearing masks or hoods to hide their faces.

And the second thing he noticed was…

[Tsk tsk tsk, they’re all so weak.]

Dantalian spoke for him.

The Demon God, who couldn’t leave the Demon Realm, was communicating with him in the Middle Realm.

—