Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

Chapter 484: Taking Off The Mask (3)

“Hurgh…”

The cries of a goddess echoed within a ruined palace.

Oh Kang-Woo looked down at Gaia, who was bawling her eyes out on the floor. He clicked his tongue with a bitter expression.

‘Maybe I went a little too far.’

He naturally had no intention of doing this from the beginning; he had planned on concealing his true identity from Gaia to the end.

‘But I was given no choice once it was all out in the open.’

Bael was able to monitor Kang-Woo at all times through the System— no, he was even able to show others footage of Kang-Woo with it as well.

‘I probably would have managed to fool her once.’

It would be a hassle, but it was possible. However, what about a second or third time?

‘Impossible.’

Bael would inevitably expose Kang-Woo’s identity if he had the System privileges.

‘It’s like being filmed by a security camera with no blind spots twenty-four seven.’

Going out of his way to hide his identity in such a situation would only restrict his actions.

‘I had no choice but to make Gaia trust me even after knowing my identity.’

Kang-Woo looked down at Gaia with deeply sunken eyes. Her shoulders were trembling pitifully and tears were trickling down her cheeks. Not only had the retainer whom she trusted betrayed her but she was forced to trust the Demon of Prophecy on top of that. Kang-Woo sighed.

‘I would have revealed it to her sooner if I knew this would happen.’

Kang-Woo had considered multiple times to reveal his true identity and prove that he had no intention of ending the world, however long it took.

‘But I ended up not doing it because of how massive the backlash would be.’

There was a huge difference between trusting the hero who would save the world and being given no choice but to trust the Demon of Prophecy. It was no different from a nation forcing its citizens to sacrifice themselves for their great nation.

‘There’s no way someone would give their all when they are forced to do it.’

Kang-Woo could no longer expect much from Gaia; her faith in him had shattered beyond repair.

‘At least there’s still the pledge she made with her Deific Essence on the line.’

If it hadn’t been for that, Kang-Woo might have had to eliminate Gaia.

‘Well, regardless.’

What was done had already been done; it was irreversible. Time was better doing what he could instead of regretting what he had already done.

“Sniff… Sniff.”

Kang-Woo walked toward Gaia, who was crying with her hands over her face.

‘Since I was harsh on her, it’s time to console her now.’

“Well, don’t feel too bad about this. I’m just as frustrated as you are.”

“...” Gaia slightly lowered her hands and looked up. “What… do you mean?”

“Like I told you from the beginning, I have no intention of ending the world. If I did, why would I have gone through all that shit to save it? I would have just left the world to end by itself. I just want to eat my kimchi stew and live happily ever after with my Darling.”

“...”

Gaia flinched. Kang-Woo was not wrong; the Demon Cult would have turned Earth into Hell if not for Kang-Woo. Even in Aernor, the angels would have been no match for the Constellations of Evil. No, even just a few days ago, the Parasites would have been unstoppable without Kang-Woo.

“I only hid my identity because of how fervently you wanted to kill the Demon of Prophecy.”

“B-But—”

“Yes~ yes. I know what you’re worried about. You’re trying to say that I’ll be consumed by the Demonic Sea once it gets bigger and end up destroying the world even if I don’t want to, right?”

“...” Gaia remained silent.

Kang-Woo chuckled. “Let’s see… Since it was when I first entered the Ninth Hell… Yes, I’ve heard that constantly since a thousand years ago.”

“A-A thousand?”

“Yes. And as you can see…” Kang-Woo opened his arms widely. “I’m right here, perfectly fine.”

“...” Gaia looked up at Kang-Woo with trembling eyes. No one could endure for a thousand years with the Demonic Sea inside them.

“Well, the Demonic Sea wasn’t complete at the time,” Kang-Woo remarked.

“How did you—”

“I don’t know.” Kang-Woo shrugged. “I have no idea how I managed to hold out for this long, but one thing I know for sure is that I will remain myself from now on as well.”

He had endured ten grueling millennia in Hell without proper food or rest. There was no form of entertainment, only massacre and battle.

‘And most of all.’

There were no goddamn women. After eight millennia passed, Kang-Woo couldn’t even imagine women because he had forgotten what they looked like.

‘Do you know how miserable I felt whenever I touched my Fran?ois because I was worried that he would die? Huh? Do you? Oh, wait. I guess there was a woman, but can you even call that a woman?’

Squelch.

Kang-Woo was reminded of those nightmarish ■■■■■■■■■ as well as the sounds of sticky mucus.

“No, you can’t.”

Kang-Woo had no choice but to do it, but he didn’t want to consider that his first time. No, he couldn’t— he refused to.

“M-My ch— no, Oh Kang—”

“Fuck! Motherfucker! I was reminded of that cursed memory again!” Kang-Woo shouted at Gaia.

Gaia flinched.

“Huuu, huuu. I won’t let it be taken.”

“...”

“My endless frustrations refuse to let my body be taken. Okay? Hm? Fuck the Demonic Sea, I’ll never hand over my body. I fucking refuse.”

“I-I understand, so calm d—”

“I won’t fucking calm down!” Kang-Woo aggressively grabbed Gaia’s shoulders. He stared at her with blazing eyes and continued, “Listen carefully, okay? I won’t let anyone take my goddamn body, so get your worries out of your head and focus on the tasks ahead.”

“...”

“Besides, you already know you have no choice but to trust me, don’t you?”

“That’s…”

“Then trust me,” Kang-Woo stated firmly. “Or you can just stay a crybaby bawling your eyes out on your knees.”

His words were as cold as ice, but they were just what Gaia needed to hear.

“...” Gaia closed her eyes and stood up slowly. “As you’ve said, I am an incapable goddess.”[1]

“...”

“I tried my best to save this world… and my children, but you’re the one who saved them in the end, not me.”

Gaia recalled Kang-Woo’s sharp remarks after he revealed himself as the Demon of Prophecy. As he had said, she wasn’t able to save anything. The one who had been protecting the world all this time was not her but the Demon of Prophecy.

Gaia clenched her clothes and stared at Kang-Woo with trembling eyes.

“Are you… Are you sure I can trust you?” she asked desperately.

Kang-Woo smiled and turned to her. “That’s up to you. Even I can’t control that, but you need at least something to cling onto if you want to save the world, right?”

Even if that something was the demon destined to end the world.

Gaia remained silent. Kang-Woo turned his back on Gaia and walked out of the ruined palace.

“Fuuu, haaa,” he inhaled and slowly exhaled. He looked up at the black sky of the divine realm and asked, “Were you watching?”

There was no reason to struggle pathetically to hide the truth. There was no need to even put effort into bending a poor goddess to his will.

“Right then, take notes,” Kang-Woo said to the being who was likely watching from somewhere. “This is gonna be on the exam.”

He cackled.

***

Wham—!

The hill made of red sand exploded.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” The roar of a beast echoed throughout the hill. A boy screamed madly, “OHHHHH KAAAAAAANG-WOOOOOOOO!!”

Boom! Boom!

The hill exploded every time he swung his arms. The sky turned black and the ground distorted. The nearby demons bowed deeply on their knees.

“SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!!!” the boy screamed hysterically as he pulled on his hair.

He raised his right arm and sucked one of the bowing demons toward him.

“L-Lord B—”

Crunch—!

Bael bit off the head of the demon trembling in pallor.

“Haaa, haaa, haaa.”

The boy trampled on the demon’s corpse, exploding it into pieces. He stared daggers at the blue window in front of him.

- Pfft! Bwahahahaha!!

A man with sharp eyes was bursting out laughing with his hands on his stomach.

“This… is wrong.”

This was not the struggling and frustrated Demon King that he wanted to see. The Demon King was not pathetically trying to hide his identity in tears. Rather, the Demon King was… the embodiment of what Bael considered the ideal attitude of a demon.

“THIS IS WRONG!!!”

Bael stomped his feet as he pulled on his hair.

- Did you think you could become like me… if you copied what I do?

“No…”

Bael trembled. The Demon King was staring at Bael as if he were talking to him.

“I’m… not… copying… you.”

Bael’s eyes were bloodshot. He gritted his teeth so hard that they were shattering and flying everywhere.

- You’re…

“Don’t say it,” Bael said as if begging.

- Nothing, man.

“A-Aaaahh.” Bael staggered backward. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

A crazed scream filled the hill once again.

1. I don’t think he said that, but it’s true I guess LMAO ?

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