From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 265. The End of a Tragedy

Right as Lee Jun-Kyeong stood in front of Gehenna and was about to enter, Heimdall tried to say something, “Jun-Kyeong…”

Crunch!

However, Gehenna’s actions were quick. The gate began to move in a practiced manner as if it had been waiting. It was almost as if it were a living creature.

Crunch!!

The black void of the gate bulged out and took on the shape of teeth.

“Mr. Lee!” Jeong In-Chang shouted urgently, surprised.

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong raised his hand to stop him.

He mouthed to the others, ‘I’ll be back.’

Before they knew it, he was fading away, surrounded by the black teeth.

“What a ridiculous gate…” Zeus muttered.

“Can that thing really be called a gate…” Merlin asked.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had already disappeared as the gate exuded a huge aura that suppressed them.

“He’s completely disappeared from this world.”

They couldn’t feel the Hunter anymore. Normally, entering another gate didn’t erase all traces of a Hunter, as a Hunter’s mana would flow out, little by little, through the entrance to the gate. However, Gehenna was different. Like a complete abyss, it consumed Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“Now, there’s only one thing we can do,” Arthur said as Horus finished for him.

“Wait,” the Hunter said, kneeling down on one knee before the gate. “Brother, I will wait for you.”

The King of Egypt and the Nile was prostrating himself, which was something that had never been seen before by anyone except his god.

“Lord Ra, please protect my brother,” Horus prayed.

Gehenna was clearly a world of the Sponsors, their realm and domain. If so, then Ra might also be there. If the actions that it had shown them were true to its nature, then, maybe, hopefully, it would protect Lee Jun-Kyeong.

‘Please. Please save the one who had to throw away his fate to end this great tragedy.’

Everyone stood still as they looked at Gehenna with determination on their faces, waiting for the end.

“Heimdall.”

Amid them, a voice called out to Heimdall. Even when Heimdall had told them everything, she had just listened quietly. Through it all, she had looked at him with more questions hidden in her gaze than anyone else.

"Athena."

She spoke in a low voice to Heimdall, surrounding the two of them with mana and making sure no one else could hear their conversation. After being satisfied by the protections she had made, she asked him, “Please answer honestly.”

Her face was too gaunt to be considered a goddess of the battlefield.

“I…and the Underdog…no, what does Lee Jun-Kyeong have to do with me?”

“...”

“Tell me. Something felt strange from the moment that I had first met him. It was a familiar feeling. No…almost like…I’ve been longing for him for…”

Tears were already falling from Athena's eyes, but she didn't seem to know why she was crying. Heimdall hugged her as she cried endlessly.

“He is…”

Then, he slowly began to tell the girl the unspoken secrets.

***

He couldn’t count the number of times he had thrown himself into a gate. Moreover, he also had the experience of returning to the past and had even gone gate clearing without any stopping. Despite that, none of them were like Gehenna.

‘It’s painful.’

No, there was no similarity at all. He was sure of it.

‘This isn’t a gate.’

It felt like he was sinking into a deep sea. He had to struggle to come to his senses. If he lost his mind…

‘I’ll be swallowed.’

He felt a deep fear as if he would be devoured by this abyss. Lee Jun-Kyeong took a deep breath and surrendered himself to the waves. However, he still kept his head cool.

‘What I heard from Hyung…’

While he was being sucked in, Lee Jun-Kyeong remembered Heimdall’s story. The story of the Demon King that he had read had just been a portion of the time that the Hunter had experienced. Compared to that being’s true tragedy, that story was like a fairy tale.

‘I am…’

That being wasn’t the Demon King that he had respected and aspired to be. No, the one who had gone through that hell was a True Demon King. He was someone who was mired in evil and wasn’t afraid of destruction.

‘But, he’s still my idol.’

Nothing had changed. Even though that being was now a monster with emotions worn to pieces, what he had done hadn’t disappeared. Although there would be nothing materially left in history, they still knew.

In Heimdall's story, Lee Jun-Kyeong had felt his dedication and sacrifice. Suddenly, Lee Jun-Kyeong could feel the aura of mana enveloping him.

Ssss.

Little by little, his senses were awakening as the abyss that had sucked him in was preparing to spit him out.

‘Hyung. Seong-Gu Hyung.’

He still had stuff he wanted to ask Heimdall about. That was why he would go back.

“You have to tell everyone when I get back.”

Tap.

Light as a feather, Lee Jun-Kyeong landed on the ground.

Thud, thud.

At that moment, he almost lost his balance and fell. The floor was different from what he had thought. It wasn’t solid, and there was something squishy pulling at his feet. He slowly lowered his head.

“...tsk.”

The first thing he saw upon entering Gehenna was a sight that had made even someone like him nauseous.

He muttered, “It’s all…corpses…”

There were piles of corpses all over the ground, making it impossible to see even a hint of the ground. There were cracked, torn, and crushed corpses, and they all were corpses of monsters he had never seen before.

‘The monsters of Gehenna.’

They must have been what was written about in the Book of the Demon King.

“The Legion of Demons.”

However, their majesty and ferocity couldn’t be seen anywhere as their dead bodies were just lying on the ground like weak, helpless people. None of them even showed any signs of resistance.

Lee Jun-Kyeong soon realized all of this had to have been the work of the Demon King.

***

Squelch.

His feet continued to be sucked in.

Squelch.

All he could make out were shapes in the pitch-black darkness. There were endless rows of corpses. No matter where he stepped, all his feet touched were the dead.

“How amazing…”

He couldn’t help but admire them after examining the ones who still had their bodies intact. These strange corpses truly deserved to be called the strongest of the monsters, as not even any of the other gates’ boss monsters seemed to be as strong as they were.

In addition, once he felt their mana, the difference became even more stark. The mana possessed by the dead monsters stung. It stretched out, grazing Lee Jun-Kyeong. It was as sharp as needles, different from any mana that he knew.

He then intentionally withdrew the mana that protected him, wanting to know what sort of place he was in.

“Ugh…”

However, the air was full of poison. Most poisons couldn’t penetrate into him, even without a shroud of mana. However, Gehenna's miasma was different. It was almost like a living thing trying to find an opening to break into him.

He looked up at the sky, but there was no light. He soon noticed that the further he went, the more a faint light began to shine.

“Is that a moon…?”

A pale, red, moon-shaped object was emitting a very pale light. It was clearly floating in the sky. The further he went, the brighter it became.

Squelch.

As he trudged forward, the mountains of corpses grew taller. He hadn’t met the Demon King yet, or any other living thing for that matter.

Boom!

He exuded a burst of mana, trying to use it to get a look around.

Zzt.

Unfortunately, the moment he did so, the mana around him attacked him back, seemingly warning him not to look around in this place carelessly.

Lee Jun-Kyeong slowly went forward. There was no need to hurry since he had come all the way here anyway.

“Whew…”

If there was no Demon King, then he would have had to enter Gehenna on his own and confront those creatures. No, if he had to enter here with his companions… He tried to think about the uncountable number of corpses he saw.

“Could we have been able to do this?”

Everything around him was miserable and terrible. Even though it was only the deaths of monsters, Lee Jun-Kyeong felt pity for them. There were no signs of resistance. This had been a massacre. The Demon King had slaughtered all of them, even those who couldn’t resist.

But if it weren’t for the Demon King’s actions, then these monsters would have rushed forward to take him and the other’s lives. Despite that, everything around him was still so horrendous that he felt pity for them.

This was it.

‘The path that the Demon King walked, a path of tragedy.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong had once said, ‘I will become the Devil.’

It was something he had said with the determination to change the world. According to the Book of the Demon King, the Demon King had ultimately failed. The world was a mess, and ordinary humans had to live a hellish existence.

That was why he had decided to surpass him, stating that he would succeed through changing the history of the Demon King’s failures. That was why he had said he would become the Devil, the Demon God.

“Damn it.”

It was now that Lee Jun-Kyeong had realized how embarrassing that thought had been. He couldn’t understand even half of the path that the Demon King had taken. But to think that he had said he would be the new Demon King, a Devil.

“...”

Lee Jun-Kyeong walked, going forward amid endless corpses and the light of the blood-red moon.

Gurgle.

Then, he started hearing sounds emerge from somewhere. The moment he heard the sound, there was an explosion.

BANG!

Standing right in front of him was a monster that looked exactly like one of the other corpses.

“Gur…gurg…”

Thud.

Choking on its own blood, it fell into a heap, with a huge hole in its chest. The moment it had rushed toward him, Lee Jun-Kyeong had pierced its chest.

“Whew,” Lee Jun-Kyeong exhaled.

He had killed the monster easily, but he hadn’t been mistaken.

‘They’re strong.’

If all of them had come at him, then he would have had a hard time. Still, he didn’t feel as though he was going to lose.

“I am…”

The name “Devil” might not have been suitable, as he couldn’t even understand the depth of the one who had become the Demon King, let alone becoming the God of Demons.

“I’ve still become stronger.”

What the Demon King had hoped for, what he had wished for by creating the path for succession, was to create someone strong enough to kill him. At least that much just might be a success.

Squelch.

Lee Jun-Kyeong took another step forward. Because he wasn’t circulating his mana, the miasma invaded him, and the mana pierced his lungs.

It was painful. Nevertheless, Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t push them away. At this moment, he was moving towards the Demon King, and what he was feeling right now was nothing but a mere blip compared to the tragic time undergone by the Demon King.

‘I will try to understand your pain even for a slight moment.’

That could be said to be his courtesy to the Hero he admired so much. The stabbing pain gradually dulled. It wasn’t because he had used any mana.

“Is this for real…”

Rather, it could be said to have been a change more fittingly called an evolution. These were changes that occurred after gaining a title and reaching level 100.

His body began to adapt to the environment of Gehenna. His vision became clearer. Even though the amount of light was the same, he had adapted to create a clear view, even with just the slightest bit of light.

Squelch.

Lee Jun-Kyeong moved on a little faster than before. His suffering was but a fleeting moment as he adjusted to Gehenna. Then, as he walked for some time and then walked some more, the scenery finally changed.

“...”

The ground was no longer full of the corpses of monsters. Instead of the corpses of monsters, there were giants.

“Just how…”

The corpses of giants were of an indescribable size.