How To Survive As A Demon King

Chapter 97

Kuung-

The massive corpse of the monster collapsed to the ground.

Seo Woojin swung ‘Run Dea’ and shook off the blood on the sword body. 

“Ten in total.”

It was the number of monsters Seo Woojin had killed in a week.

He had hunted only the ones that could give him the maximum experience points, so his level had skyrocketed.

“13 levels in one go…….”

Seo Woojin had indeed achieved explosive growth.

He had killed ten monsters and leveled up to 13.

Thanks to that, his current level had reached 51.

He had finally surpassed the 50th level that Baek Si-woo had mentioned.

“I didn’t expect it to be like this.”

He recalled Baek Si-woo’s words about a big change coming.

He wondered what it could be, but Seo Woojin was able to confirm its identity just yesterday.

====================

■Name : Seo Woojin.

■Job Affinity : Demon King [Immeasurable]

■Level : 50

■Skills :???[Passive], [Enhance], [Swiftness], [Naraka’s Wrath], [Frenzy], [Inferno], [Heavenly Sword].

====================

His skills had been simplified.

No, it would be more accurate to say they had been merged.

Similar attributes or those with good synergy had become one.

The effects and performance were, of course, much more exceptional.

“‘???’ is still unknown, though.”

As his level increased, the number of skills had increased endlessly.

But now that they had been simplified, it was easier for Seo Woojin to use them.

“Well, I can only use a few of them in front of others, anyway.”

‘Enhance’, ‘Swiftness’, and ‘Heavenly Sword’.

These three were all he had.

The rest were still heterogeneous and couldn’t be used in front of others who had discerning eyes.

“…It’s gotten worse.”

It was now so heterogeneous that it was eerie.

After using ‘Naraka’s Wrath’ and ‘Inferno’, even Seo Woojin, the user, was terrified.

“The effects are good, but it’s still unusable.”

There was no way others would be as kind-hearted as Grand Duke and let it slide.

“By the way, my level isn’t increasing as easily as before.”

Before, he would level up 2-3 levels with just one monster.

But not now.

Even after hunting a powerful monster just now, his level hadn’t increased at all.

“It’s getting harder, indeed.”

He had thought that if he used all eight remaining ‘Summoning Stone’, he might reach level 100, but that was just greed.

Maybe 70 levels was the limit?

Of course, that was still impressive, but…

“If I can just raise it a bit more, I can catch up to Baek Si-woo.”

Baek Si-woo’s level had already reached 55.

He must have received support after catching Rosie Ruby and leveling up.

The Empire’s national power was indeed formidable.

Even while attending the Academy, Baek Si-woo received overwhelming support.

On the other hand, Sion…

“I haven’t heard much since I came to the academy.” 

Other heroes were still receiving support from their respective countries.

While it wasn’t as much as Baek Si-woo’s, they were still receiving steady supplies of weapons and magic crystals.

Even Kim Da-hye, a C-rank, received painting materials and sketchbooks every week.

Thinking about all that, Seo Woojin felt truly pitiful.

“But I have Irene, so it’s okay.”

Even if he received all that support, he wouldn’t trade it for Irene.

It wasn’t easy to find a walking encyclopedia, indeed.

“Let’s stop here for today.”

Seo Woojin, who was feeling frustrated and scratching his head, activated ‘Enhance’.

“……!”

There was no sound.

Only a jet-black flame, darker than ‘Black Flame’ and more intense than ‘Muspellheim’, burned the monster’s remains to ashes.

No, it would be more accurate to say it annihilated them.

Not a single piece of ash was left, and everything was incinerated.

Seo Woojin was awestruck by the overwhelming power and swallowed his saliva with a gulp before leaving the indoor training hall.

“Are you done?”

The manager of the indoor training hall, who was in charge of its maintenance, approached him with a smiling face.

“Yes, I’m done.”

“Hero Seo Woojin is really dedicated, isn’t he?”

Many heroes used the indoor training hall, but Seo Woojin was the only one who came every day without exception.

The manager seemed impressed.

“It’s just something I like to do, so it’s nothing.”

Since they had become quite familiar, Seo Woojin smiled and replied.

“Will you be heading in now?”

“Yes, I have an appointment.”

“Is that so? I apologize for holding you back.”

“It’s okay, it’s not urgent.”

Seo Woojin spoke nonchalantly, but the manager waved his hands.

“Please go ahead. I’ll take care of the cleanup.”

“Thank you.”

Seo Woojin bowed his head slightly and left.

“……Hmm.”

The manager gazed at his back with a curious expression.

After Seo Woojin disappeared, the manager opened the door to the indoor training hall that Seo Woojin had used.

“I don’t get it.”

The interior was in shambles.

It was unclear what had happened, but the training hall always ended up like this after Seo Woojin used it.

The walls and floor, which had defense magic engraved on them, were completely destroyed.

“It’s as if a battle had taken place.”

With whom? How?

There was no answer to those questions.

“Something’s definitely going on.”

Seo Woojin’s level had increased every time he finished training.

His magic quality visibly improved each time, making it impossible to overlook.

“It’s not just monsters.”

He couldn’t level up by training alone.

He had to ‘hunt’ something to make it possible.

The manager, who had been observing the training hall with a keen eye, turned around and left.

He sat at his desk and began writing something on a piece of paper.

Soon, it was sent to somewhere via a shadowy bird’s leg.

He was a member of Crusiel.

*  *  *

“Is everyone here?”

Seo Woojin was at a restaurant.

It seemed to be a famous eatery even within the Academy.

It wasn’t Seo Woojin’s taste, but Lee Ji-ah had strongly insisted, so they had no choice but to choose this place as their meeting spot.

“Yes! Teacher!”

Lee Ji-ah replied playfully.

There were eight heroes in total, including Seo Woojin.

They had all grown to level 10 or higher using the ‘Summoning Stone’.

Even Kim Da-hye, who was the lowest, had reached level 43.

Her growth rate was narrow due to her C-rank.

On the other hand, Gu Dong-hwan and Gye Suji had reached level 48.

“And I’m at level 47.”

They had become strong enough to be compared to elite friends.

Seo Woojin looked at them with a proud expression.

“But what’s the reason for gathering today? I was in the middle of my lower body workout.”

Gu Dong-hwan asked, puckering up his lips.

“It’s because of the training next week.”

“Huh? Next week?”

“What’s happening then?”

Everyone seemed to have forgotten about the education schedule. 

They were too caught up in the fun of leveling up.

Then, Lee Ji-ah raised her hand.

“Me! Me! I know! It’s the group battle training!”

“Correct answer.”

Lee Ji-ah jumped up and down.

“Ah, right. That’s what it was.”

“Completely forgot.”

Group battle training.

It was similar to the team survival training they had done in Heldaine.

The only difference was that their enemies were not monsters, but other heroes.

“It’s training to learn teamwork and leadership, right?”

“It’s necessary for war.”

It wasn’t just about fighting monsters one-on-one; they needed to work together to respond to the enemy’s army.

“There are ten people in one team, right?”

“But we’re only eight people?”

They were short two people.

Seo Woojin would have liked to receive training with just these people, but it wasn’t possible due to the fixed number of participants.

“Then we need to recruit more people.”

“Is there anyone good?”

Seo Woojin asked, looking around, but everyone shook their heads.

They had been stuck together for a while, and the people here were the only ones they knew.

Seo Woojin frowned, feeling uneasy.

“Forming a team is part of the evaluation, so we need to find someone quickly…….”

He couldn’t just approach anyone and ask them to join.

It wasn’t like he could say, “Do you know the way?”

“Uh…….”

Just then, someone raised their hand.

“Ah, Taeseong?”

Seo Woojin’s eyes widened in surprise.

He never thought that Jin Tae-seong would express his opinion

As the introverted Jin Tae-seong opened his mouth, everyone’s attention focused on him.

Thanks to that, his face turned bright red.

He must be regretting raising his hand right now.

“If there’s someone you’re thinking of, feel free to talk about it.” 

Seo Woojin said with a smile.

Then, Jin Tae-seong took a short breath and continued.

“There’s someone living next door to me… I don’t know, it’s just that they don’t seem to have any friends…”

Due to his nervousness, Jin Tae-seong stuttered badly.

“Um, yeah?”

He didn’t have any friends.

He wasn’t particularly appealing, and there was a high probability that he had some personality issues.

But they didn’t have time to worry about that now.

“Do you know that person’s name?”

“I think it was Kim Ga-ram.”

“Kim Ga-ram, Kim Ga-ram…….”

Seo Woojin tried to remember, but he couldn’t think of anyone with that name.

“Okay, I’ll go meet him once.”

He would decide whether to recruit them to their team after meeting him.

“Is there anyone else?”

Everyone remained silent.

Even Lee Ji-ah, who was usually talkative, didn’t say a word.

Seo Woojin let out a sigh and clapped his hands together.

“Then, please look for it by tomorrow and see if there’s anyone good.” 

“I’ll do that!”

“I’ll do it too!”

The responses were quite good.

Seo Woojin smiled awkwardly, feeling for a moment as if he were a real teacher. 

“Well, let’s eat then.”

Since they were already at a good restaurant, they decided to have a meal together.

But everyone quickly finished their meal and left.

They were too caught up in their training using the ‘Summoning Stone’ to waste time eating.

“Group battle.”

Seo Woojin, who was left alone in front of the restaurant, thought about the upcoming training.

“Our team’s power is objectively top-notch.”

Seo Woojin had trained with them, and thanks to the ‘Summoning Stone’, his level was unmatched.

With their skills, levels, and teamwork, they didn’t seem like they would lose.

Except for one team, that is.

“What are the elite friends planning to do?”

There were five of them.

They were the strongest heroes, recognized by everyone.

Although Seo Woojin had somewhat overshadowed them, no one doubted their strength.

“I don’t think we’ll lose even if we face them head-on.”

But the S-rank job was a concern.

On their side, Seo Woojin was the only one with an A-rank job, while the others had B-rank and C-rank jobs.

They were at a disadvantage in terms of rank.

“I need to think about this.”

It was just a training session, but Seo Woojin didn’t want to lose.

Especially not to those elite friends.

“…I need to investigate.”

He had let things slide before, but this time, he needed to find out for sure.

It was about the Magi he had sensed from Baek Si-woo.

“I hope I’m really mistaken.”