Chapter 583
Flash!
Light burst forth.
It was not natural light, and when Grid saw it, he cried out in delight.
- He’s here!
- Oh!
Jack, who was beside him, reacted the same way.
The moment Jack heard that Su-ho had reached level 400, he had come to Grid’s side and waited for Su-ho.
The burst of light looked like something fired from an alien spacecraft, and by the time it touched the ground, Su-ho’s figure came into view.
As Su-ho reappeared, he said,
“Ugh... damn administrator bastard.”
If he was going to send me back, he could have done it normally. Did he really have to hit me with that hammer until the very end?
If he ever got the chance, Su-ho would definitely crush that face.
Before long, Grid and Jack spotted Su-ho and welcomed him.
- Welcome back. So, did you meet the administrator?
- How did it go? What did the administrator say?
“Ugh, my head hurts, so ask one at a time.”
Su-ho chuckled at the flood of questions.
Then he began telling them about meeting the administrator.
“Well, there wasn’t much to it. Just like I heard, he asked if I would become a Guardian God. He also threatened me, saying I should know what happens if I refuse. That hamster-headed bastard only spoke politely in wording. Overall, I really didn’t like the way he talked.”
- Administrators are all like that. So, did you agree?
“I did. I was promoted straight to Guardian God rank and received the Constellation rank promotion quest too.”
- What is the quest?
“He told me to finish my class quest and trait quest.”
- Hm? Is that not easy?
“It sounds easy if you only hear it like that. But my traits are so rare that if you count the detailed quests inside, there are more than four types.”
- I see. But even so, you simply have to accomplish it, do you not?
“That’s true.”
- Yes, stop whining, Master. You can do it. Anyway, what did you name it?
“Name what?”
- If you become a Guardian God, you can name your own world, can you not?
“Ah, I named it the Human Realm. As in, a world where humans live.”
At the words Human Realm, the two tilted their heads slightly.
- Hm, Human Realm... Somehow, it feels a little lacking.
- I thought you would name it something themed around your power, like the Sword Realm. This is unexpected.
“It’s not like all I do is swing a sword. Since it just means a world where people live, Human Realm seemed the most appropriate. Honestly, if I could have avoided naming it, I would have, but everyone else seems to name theirs, so I named mine too.”
- In that case, why did you not simply use its original name?
“Original name? What? Earth? Hm, maybe I should have just done that.”
Did I overdo it for no reason?
He thought that for a moment, then let it go.
Well, so what? The very act of naming the world was a kind of reward and right for having climbed this far while protecting his own world.
He decided to think of it that way.
Grid asked,
- So, what will you do now?
“I’ll check my forces once, then return to Earth... no, the Human Realm. After that, I’ll meet the people I need to meet, handle some work, then proceed with the promotion quest right away.”
- Clean and simple.
“There’s nothing I need to worry about on the Demon Realm side, right?”
- Nothing.
“Even if there is, handle it for me as acting representative. You don’t have anything else to do now anyway.”
There was nothing more to obtain from Grid.
After all, Su-ho had already received the most important things from Grid: Dominion Core and the Demon Realm.
Grid nodded as well.
- That is true. I will handle the work as acting Demon King.
“Okay. Then I can leave Demon Realm matters to you...”
Su-ho checked his status window.
[ An Su-ho ]
An enormous number of bonus stats.
The only thing that had changed was his Player grade.
But that difference was incredibly huge.
‘When the stat color went from silver to gold, it needed 500, right?’
Would the stage after gold be the same?
He was curious.
So he invested all his bonus stats into True Demon, and True Demon became 437.
‘That feels solid.’
His increased stat amount.
It was only displayed as 437, but thanks to Dominion Core and his various other abilities, the actual value would be higher than that.
After finishing his stat allocation, Su-ho asked Jack,
“Jack, how much of the Western Demon Realm cleanup is left?”
- You can consider more than 90% of it complete. Among them, nearly all the ones who could be considered dangerous elements have been eliminated. What remains is mostly small fry.
“Did you collect the shadows?”
- It could be called an enormous harvest. The Black Army expanded greatly through this war.
“Can I see?”
- Of course. How could I refuse, my dear Master?
Jack chuckled.
Then he exploded with spirit energy and raised his hand.
[ Umbra’s Shadow Legacy is activated. ]
[ Shadow Divine Beast King Hollow Jack summons the Black Army. ]
Shoooooo!
Spirit energy spread outward.
At the same time, True Demon drained steadily from Su-ho’s body.
But the effect was incredible enough to match what had been consumed.
The Black Army filled every direction.
Their numbers were tremendous, as though even the ones out on missions at the front had been called back.
“Wow.”
- Impressive, is it not?
“Did you bring back the ones who were on missions at the front too? The head count is that huge?”
- Kkkkkk.
At Su-ho’s question, Grid snickered.
“Why are you laughing?”
- No, this is the number of newly expanded soldiers. The existing soldiers are still faithfully carrying out their missions at the front.
“What?”
- The scale of the Black Army increased by at least two or three times through this war. If you ask whether all of them are at the level of the existing Shadow Knights, then I cannot say yes, but since we collected almost all the shadows of the Western Demon Realm people, we secured more than enough shadow material.
“Wow... War really does make money.”
It was something he felt all over again, but he was very glad they were shadows.
If it had been bones or flesh or something like that, it probably would have been a bit disgusting.
“Then I don’t need to worry about anything else. The East-West War is over, we took the heads of the Demon King and the Six Great Demons, I became a Guardian God, and we collected all the shadows... There’s no need for us to exterminate the remaining Western Demon Realm people, right?”
Grid nodded.
- That is true.
“Then my business here is all done, and all that’s left is to go back. Oh, right. Where did the Olympus guys go?”
- They are all carrying out the remaining missions at the front while waiting for you.
Huh?
They are?
That was unexpected.
Given their personalities, he thought they would do exactly what they had been ordered to do and stop there, but they had taken on additional missions on their own.
‘Should I praise them?’
For now, he decided to call them.
In any case, everything that needed to be done was done, and since there was no longer any reason to remain, he intended to cross over with them.
When he summoned them through voice transmission, dozens of Olympian gods appeared and landed before Su-ho not long afterward.
Su-ho spoke ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to Zeus and Cronos, who stood at the very front.
“You all worked hard. Thanks to you, we were able to wrap up the East-West War well.”
“Not at all. We merely did what we had to do.”
“That is correct.”
“...?”
At Zeus and Cronos’s answers, Su-ho’s eyes widened for a moment and he tilted his head.
What was that?
Did I hear wrong?
But he had not heard wrong.
Zeus added,
“We heard the news. You have become the Guardian God of the Human Realm.”
“Who did you hear that from?”
“We did not hear it from anyone. We could tell immediately. Ordinary Players may not know, but we are Demi-Constellations belonging to the Human Realm.”
“Ah?”
He had not known that either.
That administrator bastard. If he was going to hit me with a hammer to give me information, he should have told me things like this too. He conveniently left this part out.
“Congratulations, Guardian God.”
“I congratulate you as well.”
Zeus and Cronos offered their congratulations.
And then.
“Congratulations, Guardian God!”
All the Olympian gods offered Su-ho their congratulations.
Their behavior was almost like that of gangsters showing proper respect.
It also resembled the attitude humans took when worshiping gods.
That was why it felt burdensome, and he could not get used to it.
After all, these were the same beings who always acted high and mighty.
“Hey, why are you all acting so burdensome? Is everyone like this when someone becomes a Guardian God?”
When Su-ho asked Grid and Jack, the two shook their heads.
- No?
- Not really?
“Then why are they acting like this?”
- How would I know?
- We would not know.
They did not know?
At that question, Hera stepped forward slightly and said,
“If you do not mind, I will explain.”
Well, look at that.
Now even Hera was being formal.
It was awkward and hard to get used to, but since she said she would explain, he told her to go ahead.
Hera said,
“First, I understand that this may be difficult to adjust to, but to explain the situation, the moment you were promoted to Guardian God, all of us instinctively came to know it. Because that is how the system works. It is likely not only us, but every Demi-Constellation on Earth as well.”
“And?”
“So we discussed it among ourselves. About what we should do from now on. And we came to a conclusion. Just as we did during this East-West War, we will spare no support for everything you intend to do from now on.”
“So why all of a sudden?”
“To be honest, it is because we believe you will continue to borrow much of our strength in order to accomplish your goal.”
“Your strength?”
“You will come to understand in time, but there are few beings easier to borrow hands from than Demi-Constellations who belong to the same world.”
“Ah?”
He understood.
Even during the East-West War, he had called the Olympus family because, among the connections he knew, they seemed the most useful.
And just as Hera said, they were the most familiar beings, so borrowing their hands would be easy.
Hera continued.
“We know what your goal is. And we know how difficult that goal is as well. So please do not bear all of it alone. Place the Demi-Constellations of the Human Realm under your command, increase your strength, and organize an army. That will be the faster and more certain way for you to reach your goal. And...”
Hera’s eyes gleamed as she spoke.
“Not every Demi-Constellation of the Human Realm will be cooperative and obedient toward you. But I do not think we can simply stand by and watch that. We all belong to the Human Realm, so it makes no sense for some to fight for the Human Realm’s freedom while others hang back out of pride.”
“Uh, that’s true, but...”
“So please leave it to us. Once you return to the Human Realm, we will organize an institution among ourselves and persuade every Demi-Constellation to help you.”
“Ah.”
Su-ho realized it.
Their attitude had not suddenly changed purely out of loyalty and righteousness.
The Olympus group, more than anyone else, was quick to read the political situation. They had grasped what kind of person Su-ho was and finished preparing for the new wave.
‘They’re seriously amazing.’
But that did not mean it was necessarily bad.
In truth, just as Hera said, those were things Su-ho would naturally have considered doing later anyway.
After grasping the whole situation, Su-ho finally grinned and said,
“Will you do that for me?”
“Of course.”
“Good. Then starting with the East-West War, I won’t forget your contributions, and I’ll make sure to reward you accordingly. Then shall we head back to Earth... no, the Human Realm?”
“Yes, gladly!”
“Good. Grid, send us back to the Human Realm.”
- Why do you not try doing it yourself? If you met the administrator, you should be able to do it now.
“Me?”
At that moment, the method for using a portal surfaced in his mind.
It was information that had been injected into him when he was struck by the toy hammer at the very end.
“So that’s why he uses the toy hammer.”
Su-ho gave a faint laugh and raised his hand, and a portal leading to the Human Realm opened.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
It was the moment Su-ho, having finally completed his long journey, returned to his homeland.