Chapter 313: The Fifth Return, Earth (9)
They had won.
The people rejoiced, cheering and embracing one another in celebration of their victory.
But they couldn’t remain lost in their joy forever. Their victory was far from perfect, and a mountain of tasks awaited them.
Kim Hwiyeon surveyed her surroundings with a grim expression.
The bodies of the fallen were scattered, forming small mounds across the battlefield.
“…Let’s take care of this.”
She spoke quietly. The others, setting aside their joy, began to gather the corpses.
Taesan helped as well.
Besides managing the bodies, there was much more to do. They needed to account for the survivors, tallying the number of players left in each mode.
Naturally, players from different countries began to speak with one another.
“Um…”
“Hello.”
Chinese players timidly initiated greetings.
Although they had faced countless waves together and crossed paths numerous times, this was the first time they had spoken.
Kim Hwiyeon welcomed them with a smile.
“Yes, hello.”
The invisible barrier between them began to dissolve. Once that initial step was taken, they eagerly engaged in conversation.
But someone was deeply displeased by this.
“How dare you!”
Jinryong roared furiously, causing the chatting players to flinch.
“I told you! I explicitly told you not to speak with people from other countries! Such contact will only corrupt you!”
Jinryong trembled as his power surged around him.
“Do you dare defy my words?”
“W-we didn’t mean to…”
“Jinryong-nim…”
“This time, I will mercifully forgive you! But if I catch you speaking to them again, I will kill you all!”
Despite his threats, the players merely stood awkwardly, exchanging troubled glances rather than bowing to him.
Jinryong’s face twisted in frustration.
“How dare you!”
For such insignificant beings to disregard the words of a great ruler like him!
Jinryong’s power began to boil. The rippling force caused the players to pale, but none of them yielded to his commands.
They merely glanced at him, shifting their eyes elsewhere.
“You dare avert your gaze while I’m speaking?”
Jinryong angrily followed their line of sight.
There, Taesan stood calmly, observing him.
Jinryong, who had been ready to unleash his power as punishment, froze.
His gaze, fixed on Taesan, was laced with fear.
“…Get out of my sight!”
In the end, Jinryong couldn’t release his power. He shouted harshly, withdrew his strength, and retreated.
The players’ gazes grew even more focused on Taesan.
Jinryong, once the ruler of China, was no longer their leader.
Jinryong’s strength had once made him a subject of worship, allowing him to dominate others with sheer force. Without that strength, he was worthless.
But now, Taesan had appeared—a being far more powerful than Jinryong. The people no longer revered Jinryong.
Even Jinryong was aware of this. But having lost his influence, he could only remain silent.
This silence slowly eroded his sanity.
Unrelated to Jinryong’s decline, time continued to pass.
Kim Hwiyeon, working with the temporary representative of the Chinese players to tally the number of survivors, frowned.
“But why hasn’t the quest ended?”
“Exactly. The return screen hasn’t appeared yet,” Geum Jung-geun replied.
The wave was over. Since no new quests had appeared, this seemed to be the final one.
Yet the portal to return to the labyrinth hadn’t opened.
“Could this really be the end?”
“No way. We haven’t even cleared the labyrinth yet.”
“Then why hasn’t anything happened? This is unsettling.”
Kim Hwiyeon grumbled.
Taesan emerged from the background.
“Take a rest.”
“Ah, yes.”
Taesan stepped forward.
He ascended to the divinity, and the Chinese players, seeing him, let out gasps of admiration and bowed deeply.
Having lived under Jinryong’s rule, their reverence for Taesan was deeper and more intense than that of the Korean and Japanese players.
Upon reaching the divinity, Taesan opened his skill window.
[Divine Power]
[Proficiency: 72%]
[The power of the gods. Originally meaningless, it gained significance as the faith of many people converged, becoming Divine Power. Their beliefs and worship shaped it into a force capable of influencing the world.]
Since clearing the quest, his proficiency in Divine Power had risen rapidly.
At this rate, he might even reach 100% within this return.
However, as his proficiency hit 70%, the rate of increase slowed dramatically. While it was natural for progress to slow at higher levels, the drop in speed for Divine Power was abnormal, even by those standards.
“Simple faith alone won’t be enough.”
[If you reach 100%, you’ll likely obtain complete divinity. But with just the faith of a few million ordinary people, it’s impossible. It’s one path to transcend mortality, after all.]
Taesan closed the skill window and looked down from the heavenly domain.
His senses picked up countless lives.
Among them was Jinryong, still wielding the power of an immortal.
“What should I do about him?”
Jinryong, once China’s ruler, was a slave to the immortals.
Since the wave began, the rule prohibiting combat had long been nullified. Taesan could kill Jinryong at any time.
But he hadn’t. Jinryong, while oppressive and tyrannical, was still China’s leader. Killing him could cause greater chaos.
Of course, Jinryong had already lost the people’s trust and faith. Even if Taesan killed him now, no player would likely object.
Yet Taesan refrained from killing him.
“If I attack him, he’ll try to kill me in return, right?”
[Most likely.]
Jinryong belonged to the immortals.
The immortals had their reasons for enslaving Jinryong. If Taesan were to harm him, the immortals might consider Taesan an enemy.
[The Beast That Craves Life is unique even among immortals. It neither seeks transcendence nor envies mortal beings with potential. It only exists to satiate its endless hunger.]
The specter continued its explanation:
[For that reason, it’s not targeting you… but if anyone obstructs its desires, it would attack, even if it were a transcendent being.]
The Beast’s sole concern was quelling its insatiable hunger. Matters like the gods’ conflicts or divine opposition held no interest for it.
Taesan saw no reason to make an enemy of such an entity. This was why he refrained from killing Jinryong.
Still, the quest had not yet ended.
The gods were undoubtedly plotting something.
For now, Taesan could only wait for the gods to make their move.
—
The people cried out Taesan’s name in reverence.
Jinryong’s existence had been entirely erased from their minds. Once revered by all of China, Jinryong had been cast aside.
With a stiff expression, Jinryong watched the people.
Even though he stood right beside them, they paid him no attention.
‘How dare they.’
Who had protected them all this time? These ungrateful wretches!
His emotions churned violently. The people flinched and instinctively distanced themselves. Finally noticing him, they retreated further, fear evident on their faces.
“Ah…”
There was no faith or reverence in their expressions—only the desire to avoid him.
Furious, Jinryong considered devouring them on the spot.
But he couldn’t.
He was terrified. Taesan’s power made him feel as insignificant as an insect. He knew exactly what would happen if he acted recklessly.
For the first time, Jinryong experienced the same fear that others once felt toward him.
In the end, Jinryong did nothing and returned to his domain, defeated and powerless.
No one worshiped him anymore.
He wanted to kill them all, but Taesan’s presence stopped him.
Clenching his fists in frustration, Jinryong trembled.
“This isn’t right. This is all wrong.”
His murky voice echoed as his twisted power began to seep into his mind.
Through his contract with the Beast That Craves Life, Jinryong had gained the skill [Life Devour]. Its effect allowed him to take the power of others by killing them.
Even if the strength he absorbed exceeded what his body could endure.
Jinryong’s original power wasn’t extraordinary. But by continuously using [Life Devour], he had taken in strength far beyond his limits.
This unchecked and fragmented power had been warping his mind for a long time.
Until now, Jinryong had sustained his fractured sanity through the worship of others.
But that worship was now gone.
Jinryong finally snapped.
A twisted smile spread across his face.
“It’s not over yet.”
He leapt to his feet, storming out of his tent and shouting toward the heavens.
“Oh, great god! My master, the magnificent Beast that devours all!”
With bloodshot eyes, Jinryong cried out.
“Grant me greater power! Allow me to become your vessel!”
It was a summoning.
A cry only allowed to a slave of an immortal, calling upon their master.
Jinryong bellowed desperately:
“In exchange, I will offer all of China’s players!”
These people no longer worshiped him.
They were no longer his to protect.
Thus, none could complain if he offered them as a sacrifice. After all, he had saved their lives. Who could object if he used those lives for himself?
With his twisted thoughts, the heavens opened.
The presence of the great being responding to its slave’s call began to manifest. Even those below him felt the chilling sensation and looked up in alarm.
“Ohhh!”
Jinryong shuddered with trembling eyes. The great being! A force so overwhelming that even Taesan seemed insignificant in comparison, was descending!
Space distorted, and the entity began to reveal itself.
From the undulating darkness, the sound of a beast’s growl resonated.
“God!”
Jinryong dropped to his knees, shouting in devotion.
“Grant me power! Power to dominate the world and crush that insolent man!”
The beast in the darkness silently observed Jinryong. Slowly, its power began to seep toward him.
“Oh… Ohhh!”
Jinryong trembled with joy.
He was gaining power—power that made even Taesan seem like an insect!
Lost in ecstasy, Jinryong felt someone’s presence behind him.
He turned with a crazed grin, only to find Taesan staring at him with an indifferent gaze.
“Hahaha! Look at me, insignificant one! I will ascend to heights far beyond you!”
Jinryong laughed proudly, mocking Taesan.
But Taesan wasn’t looking at him.
His gaze was fixed on the beast beyond the darkness.
‘Crack.’
The beast chuckled.
The power that touched Jinryong began to envelop him. He shuddered under its greatness.
“Oh… I… I’m…”
He was becoming something extraordinary.
As Jinryong prepared to embrace his newfound strength, the power began to consume him.
The energy emanating from the beast was nothing like what he had anticipated.
It wasn’t empowerment—it was theft.
Taesan watched impassively.
“As expected.”
For an immortal to interfere directly on the mortal plane, numerous restrictions applied. The Beast That Craves Life could not easily enact its devouring desires.
Thus, it enslaved mortals.
Through a contract, it granted them the power to devour life. Whether the slave was consumed by that power was irrelevant. Their sole purpose was to devour as many lives as possible and fill the Beast’s endless hunger.
To the Beast That Craves Life, Jinryong was nothing more than a tool.
“W-wait.”
Realizing the truth too late, Jinryong tried to pull away. But the beast’s power held him firmly.
Jinryong screamed in terror.
“Stop! Don’t do this!”
The Beast quietly began to consume Jinryong.
The lives he had devoured, the strength he had accumulated while descending the labyrinth—all of it was being devoured by the Beast, vanishing into nothingness.
“Aaaaahhh!”
Jinryong wailed. This couldn’t be happening.
Once the ruler of China itself, he was now becoming nothing.
Despair and fear overwhelmed him.
As his already twisted mind shattered further, becoming something no longer human, the Beast’s power fully enveloped him.
“Huh?”
Even amidst losing everything, Jinryong trembled. Pure darkness began to invade the core of his being.
The darkness asked him a question: ‘Do you desire power?’
Jinryong couldn’t bring himself to answer.
Even in his pitiful state, the sheer terror of the darkness froze him. Accepting its offer felt as though it would erase his very existence.
But Jinryong was already broken.
With his self shattered and his reason nonexistent, he subconsciously gave his answer.
‘Boom!’
At that moment, an immense force struck the Beast that had been consuming Jinryong.
The Beast was flung backward, roaring ferociously.
Its bellow shook the world, threatening to unravel reality itself.
‘Crack.’
Yet the force crushed it.
The power of the immortal was distorted and rendered meaningless. With the cry of the Beast That Craves Life echoing in retreat, it was driven away.
Seeing this, Taesan leapt forward.
[You have activated Acceleration.]
[You have activated Skill Acceleration.]
Using a barrage of skills, Taesan dashed toward Jinryong.
His sword aimed for Jinryong’s throat.
‘Crack.’
A massive shroud of darkness intercepted Taesan’s sword. Clicking his tongue, Taesan retreated.
“As I thought, it won’t work.”
“Ugh… urgh…”
Jinryong’s entire body began to twist. Taesan raised his sword again.
Jinryong was an immortal’s slave—a being already warped and broken.
Taesan had suspected that the gods were targeting Jinryong for something, and it turned out to be true.
He had intended to take advantage of the conflict between the gods and the immortal to eliminate Jinryong, but he hadn’t expected the god to display enough power to drive the immortal away in an instant.
“Ugh… ugh.”
Jinryong’s body continued to contort. His form was no longer recognizable as human, and his sense of self had completely vanished.
[Ooooooh!]
A roar shook the world.
As Jinryong’s collapsing body twisted further, a system window appeared before Taesan.
[Special Quest Activated.]
[Defeat the Monster.]
[An aberration no longer alive has emerged.]
