I Raided the Demon’s Treasury

Chapter 4

As Se-Woon engaged in a fierce battle with the wolves, those who had been screaming at the sight of the wolf pack stared at him in a daze.

“Who is that guy?”

“How is he fighting wolves with his bare hands?”

“Is he some sort of Taekwondo athlete?”

“Regardless of whether he’s an athlete or not, can you really fend off wolves with just your bare hands?”

“Well…”

Is that even possible?

Se-Woon wasn’t just fighting one wolf—he was taking on five at once. With no weapons, using only his arms and legs.

“Yelp!”

Despite that, Se-Woon was entirely in control.

The wolves had abandoned stealth attacks and were charging all at once, but Se-Woon’s strange footwork caused all their attacks to miss.

In fact, seizing on the openings in their attacks, a threatening crack sounded, followed by another wolf rolling onto the dirt ground.

This drew the wolves’ focus entirely onto Se-Woon, reducing the danger to the others.

Among them stood out a particularly noticeable burly man.

‘He’s strong.’

Kang Han-cheol, the burly man, felt something stirring within him as he watched Se-Woon.

What was this feeling?

He had been born with a large, powerful body and had never experienced any sense of crisis or urgency in his life, so he couldn’t easily identify this emotion.

However, what he needed to do now was clear.

“Grr!”

Taking advantage of the people’s distraction, a wolf lunged forward.

Kang Han-cheol quickly turned his body and raised his thick arm to block the wolf’s attack.

Chomp!

The wolf bit into the human arm that had entered its jaws forcefully.

Contrary to its expectations of tearing soft flesh and spilling sweet blood, Kang Han-cheol’s arm didn’t budge an inch.

His thick coat and the solid muscles hidden underneath blocked the wolf’s sharp fangs.

Crack.

But even so, he couldn’t completely withstand the wolf’s bite force.

A strong pressure was felt through the arm bitten by the wolf.

However, Kang Han-cheol appeared to feel no pain as he grabbed the wolf’s neck with his other hand.

His large hand, fitting his bulk, gripped the wolf’s neck with brute force.

Thump!

“Yelp!”

As soon as the wolf’s jaws loosened from having its neck gripped, it was tossed to the dirt ground.

A simple throw without any proper technique, yet the single move caused the wolf to roll back its eyes and lose consciousness.

Perhaps because of this?

“We can do it too!”

“There are more of us! Does anyone have anything that can be used as a weapon?”

The people, previously in chaos, began to regain their composure little by little.

Even so, Kang Han-cheol’s gaze remained fixed on Se-Woon.

And in his mind…

‘I want to fight together.’

An unrecognized sense of admiration grew little by little within him.

* * *

Crack!

“Yelp!”

A wolf that had attacked my shin flew far into the distance from a kick to its side.

The feeling as my kick connected to its ribs—

Undoubtedly, four or five ribs were completely broken. Even if it didn’t die instantly, it wouldn’t be able to get back up to fight.

“Grr!”

Swoosh—

As another wolf sought an opening and swiped its claws, I ducked deeply.

Horse stance (馬步), Bow stance (弓步), Empty stance (虛步), and Sitting stance (仆步).

Shaolin’s fundamental footwork, which I had never used in my life, unfolded naturally as if performed by an experienced martial artist.

This was the power held by Mammon’s treasures, the Demon God of Greed.

Even as the number of wolves surrounding me increased, driven by a sense of urgency, the thrill outweighed any fear.

Smack!

Dodging the wolf’s attack that aimed for an opening, I countered by kicking at its vulnerable spot.

The attack penetrated deeper than expected, leaving the wolf unable to let out a single cry as it collapsed, the air leaving its lungs in a soft wheeze.

As he adapted to the Ten Path Leg Technique, Se-Woon’s attacks became increasingly powerful.

However—

“Damn. It’s my own body, but it’s ridiculously weak.”

As time passed, his stamina rapidly depleted.

Moreover, as his body adapted to the Ten Path Leg Technique and his attacks grew stronger, the damage to his body accumulated with each strike.

Although his mind was that of a battle-hardened player, his body was that of a regular human who had only just entered the tower, no different from the others.

‘Given the situation, I need to finish this as quickly as possible.’

Leap!

Se-Woon no longer waited for the wolves to attack first.

Having grown familiar with the Ten Path Leg Technique, he took the initiative and lunged at the wolves, extending his leg in a powerful kick.

“Grr!”

“Yelp!”

“Grr!”

The wolves struggled desperately, but they couldn’t stand a chance against Se-Woon, who had perfectly adapted to the Ten Path Leg Technique.

It was as if a wolf had jumped into a flock of sheep.

The wolves, now being treated like helpless prey, fought back fiercely, but the outcome didn’t change.

Since this was the first monster wave, the number of wolves wasn’t overwhelming.

The other people, somewhat unexpectedly, were also managing to hold off the wolf attacks fairly well.

As Se-Woon’s breath reached its limit—

“Huff…”

He finally managed to take down all the wolves surrounding him.

Perhaps due to pushing his frail body too hard, he felt his legs shaking.

As he turned his head to the other side, he saw that the wolves attacking the others were also nearly defeated.

Feeling relieved, he took a moment to catch his breath, but suddenly, a piercing gaze sent chills down his spine.

A sneak attack from a wolf? This was far worse.

From above. A gaze of an overwhelming presence felt from the top of the tower.

– The Constellation, ‘Bowed Raven,’ gazes down upon you.

Se-Woon’s suspicions were confirmed.

A Constellation.

A term for the gods residing at the top levels of the tower.

They are transcendent beings who have surpassed the very essence of mortal existence and have touched the laws that govern the world.

They can grant power to players they favor and deliver punishment to those they disdain.

Moreover, the alias, ‘Bowed Raven.’

‘Mammon.’

How could he not know?

The owner of the treasury he had desperately sought to find Chronos’s Hourglass. The Demon God of Greed, Mammon.

Such a god taking an interest in him the moment the tutorial began?

There was no need to ponder the reason.

‘Did he realize it?’

The Treasury of Greed.

Though it was the treasury connected to Se-Woon before the regression and thought to be separate from the one Mammon currently possessed, it seems the owner recognizes his own.

In an instant, a torrent of thoughts surged through Se-Woon’s mind.

Should he stop using the power and hide his strength from now on? Or should he immediately come up with an excuse for Mammon?

None of Se-Woon’s plans for regression included dealing with the ‘Power of Greed’ or receiving ‘Mammon’s interest.’

Hence, he was caught off guard.

At that moment—

– The Constellation, ‘Bowed Raven,’ discovers traces of twisted causality around you.

‘So much for hiding it.’

Truly, a god is a god.

He had used the godly power just once, but it seemed like Mammon could see through everything about Se-Woon’s situation.

Cold sweat trickled down from his tightly clenched fist.

The opponent was a Demon God.

There was no way a god would tolerate Se-Woon’s wanton use of items from his treasury.

At the very least, Se-Woon expected to have the treasury reclaimed, and at worst, he could face punishment right here.

However, contrary to Se-Woon’s concerns, the gaze that had sent chills down his spine felt considerably softer.

– The Constellation, ‘Bowed Raven,’ nods as he recalls the existence of the Hourglass.

– The Constellation, ‘Bowed Raven,’ smiles.

“What?”

Although Mammon had discerned that Se-Woon had used Chronos’s Hourglass, he did nothing.

Rather, it seemed as though he had been expecting it all along.

‘Could he have predicted this?’

That someone would rummage through the treasury and use the hourglass after his death?

It seemed a bit of a stretch, but he couldn’t completely rule it out. After all, gods were entities that far exceeded human understanding.

‘Well, for now, I suppose it’s fortunate.’

Despite using his treasury without permission, Mammon didn’t punish Se-Woon; he even smiled.

Although it was suspicious that Mammon didn’t say anything further, it was almost as if he implicitly allowed the use of the treasury.

‘If that’s the case, I might as well use it to my heart’s content.’

With the owner’s implicit permission, there was nothing holding him back.

Now, it was time to check the next power.

After unintentionally killing the Beast of Gluttony and just before Chronos’s Hourglass activated, the power of gluttony had imbued his body.

‘Power of Gluttony.’

Just like he did with the Power of Greed, Se-Woon focused on the power as if using a skill.

But then—

– A target designation is required.

Contrary to his expectations, the Power of Gluttony didn’t activate.

‘Target?’

Without knowing what the power did, it was proving to be quite tricky to use.

He could still see people struggling against the remaining wolves, but he couldn’t risk using an unknown Demon God’s power on regular people.

He raised his hand to target one of the wolves attacking the people, but—

– This is not a valid target.

Again, the Power of Gluttony did not activate.

He tried using it on the ground and trees just in case, but to no avail.

Growing increasingly frustrated, Se-Woon aimed the power at the corpse of a wolf he had just defeated and tried again.

Then—

– The Fangs of Gluttony devour the prey.

Crunch!

“…!”

Above the wolf’s corpse, something like a set of fangs appeared.

Resembling the jaws of a beast, it violently bit into the wolf’s hind leg.

It didn’t stop there; dozens of newly materialized jaws began to devour the wolf at an alarming speed.

The fangs bit into the wolf as if they hadn’t been fed for days.

Within moments, the wolf’s body was completely consumed, leaving no trace of flesh, bone, or even a single drop of blood behind.

As Se-Woon stood there bewildered by the sudden turn of events, a new system message appeared.

– The ‘Brown Wolf’ has been devoured.

– Absorbing its nutrients increases Strength by 1 and Agility by 2

“What?”

Se-Woon unintentionally exclaimed in astonishment.

An increase in stats? From just one Brown Wolf?

“Strength up by 1, Agility up by 2. That’s equivalent to three stats, which corresponds to a level 1 increase.”

Of course, what I’m talking about here is the ‘remaining stats’ provided by the system.

Additionally, there are various methods to increase stats within the tower: stats that increase autonomously through actions, those that improve through trials like the current wave, and more.

However, this was different.

A Brown Wolf, one of the weakest monsters.

Gaining stats merely by devouring its corpse?

If I could freely use this power…

‘I could instantly elevate my physical stats to their limits.’

Regaining my pre-regression stats or even surpassing them wouldn’t take long at all.

Just the Power of Greed alone was astonishing enough, but this was beyond the realm of any player’s understanding.

Truly, the godly power of a Demon God.

However…

‘Wait, if that’s the case, then what about the Demon God of Gluttony…?’

As a bead of cold sweat trickled down my spine due to worry, an intense gaze suddenly bore down on me from above, just as I predicted.

– The Constellation, ‘Hungry Prince,’ is startled mid-chew on a wolf haunch by the sudden presence of meat.