Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

"What the hell’s with this crazy brat…?"

The apostles of Oceiros chuckled at the teenage boy, who seemed no older than a high schooler, trying to intimidate them.

"What are you doing, kid?"

The apostles glared at Oh Kang-Woo as they laughed mockingly at him. They were the apostles of Oceiros, the God of Plundering; as hunters who always took what they wanted by force, they were very used to situations like this.

"I am…" Kang-Woo puffed out his chest confidently and elucidated the truth he had realized. "A spreader of true love for humanity."

"What?"

"A truth-seeking pilgrim whose mission is to unite humanity of different dimensions and environments."

’Ahh, yes. You could call me the true messiah of humanity.’

"The hell? Is he insane?"

The bald apostles tilted their heads in confusion as they stared at each other dumbfoundedly.

"Okay… So what, you crazy brat?"

One of the apostles, who looked like his face was ground by a millstone, snorted as he approached Kang-Woo and glared at him menacingly.

Stab!

"GAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

Kang-Woo stuck his fingers into the man’s eyes.

"What else, you motherfuckers?"

He grabbed the agonizing man’s head and smashed it into the ground. His head exploded like a watermelon and splattered across the ground. Kang-Woo smiled widely as blood spewed like a fountain around him.

"Hand over everything you have, shiny-headed pieces of shit."

Kang-Woo’s gleaming eyes were full of endless love for humanity.

"Wh-What the fuck?!"

"Prepare for battle!!!"

The four remaining apostles hurriedly took out their weapons.

Whoooom—!

The eccentric tattoos on their bald heads shone purple like the group Kang-Woo had come across earlier, meaning they were on the same side.

’In other words…’

There was a good chance they also had relics.

"Hehehehe," Kang-Woo giggled greedily. He licked the blade protruding from his palm and continued, "You can avoid bloodshed as long as you hand over your relics."

"Fuck you!"

"Kill that fucking brat!"

The expressions of the apostles crumpled, hearing their usual lines spat back at them.

"O Oceiros, God of Plundering! Grant us the power to plunder the lives of our enemies!"

Whoooom—!

The eccentric tattoo shone purple. The apostles’ muscles swelled abnormally and they grew to three meters in height. The apostles, covered in muscles like Balrog, bared their teeth and charged at Kang-Woo.

Boom—!!

Craters formed with each ferocious step they took.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!" the apostles roared like beasts as they raised their double-edged axes.

Slice!

"Kurgh!! Gah!"

However, they were no match for Kang-Woo no matter how ferocious they were. Kang-Woo easily beheaded one of the apostles after cutting his ax in half and looked down at the giant corpse with great interest.

"Looks like you guys have a muscle augmentation ability."

The apostles of Ishvalda could control lightning and the apostles of Helya could control fire.

’I’m starting to get it.’

A worshiper was granted powers by the god they worshiped and were categorized by stars based on the amount of powers they were granted.

’Kinda like levels for a Player.’

Kim Tae-Ho, the man whom Kang-Woo met at the Temple of Truth, introduced himself as a seven-star apostle of Ishvalda.

"What star apostles of Oceiros are you guys?"

"Sh-Shit!"

"I-In one blow?!"

’Huh?’

"I said, what star apostles are you guys?"

"W-We can’t win!!"

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

"Scatter!!"

"WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! HOW DARE YOU BASTARDS IGNORE ME?!"

"E-Eek!! H-He’s insane!!"

"I AM THE MISSIONARY OF HUMANITYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

Kang-Woo chased after the apostles who scattered in three different directions but did not go out of his way to chase all three.

"Sigh, that crazy son of a bitch."

"Mmm… I l-love… that side of K-Kang-Woo as… well. Yes! I sure do!"

The sighing Cha Yeon-Joo and Han Seol-Ah who was nodding with an awkward smile neutralized the apostles who went left and right. Kang-Woo caught the apostle who ran in the opposite direction and beat him up mercilessly.

"WHAT DID I JUST ASK?!!"

"Kurgh! Urgh! Argh! P-Please spare me!!"

"WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! YOU’RE IGNORING ME AGAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!!!"

Kang-Woo smashed the apostle’s head into the dirt and ground it against the ground.

"Gah! Kurgh! Krrrk!"

The apostle’s nose broke and the skin on his cheekbones and lips ripped off.

"Ah…"

Kang-Woo realized he got too worked up only after the apostle turned out unrecognizable.

"Don’t worry, man. You’ll be alright," he consoled the apostle as he patted his shoulder. "You were fugly before this anyway. You’re not much different from before!"

"Hurgh, waaaaah."

The apostle burst into tears, likely because he was so moved by Kang-Woo’s consoling words. His tears mixed with the blood pouring from his mangled cheeks and fell to the ground.

"So, what star apostles are you guys?" Kang-Woo asked again.

"W-We are… f-five-star apostles of Oceiros."

’Five-star, huh? They’re a bit lower than Kim Tae-Ho.’

Kang-Woo honestly couldn’t tell the difference between the five apostles and Tae-Ho because they felt the same by his standards.

’Nah, Kim Tae-Ho was at least stronger than this.’

Seven-star relics apparently granted power close to Deific Essence. Tae-Ho had also shown enough power to deal damage even to those with Deific Essence in his Ultracharge state.

’If I compare the average Player to the average apostle… apostles are probably stronger.’

Players couldn’t hurt those with Deific Essence other than a select few so apostles were likely stronger on average.

’I mean, it’s all the same in the end.’

Kang-Woo shrugged and gripped the apostle’s shoulder tighter, his fingers digging into the apostle’s flesh as if his hand were a hydraulic press. A little tighter and the apostle’s shoulder would be crushed.

Kang-Woo cackled and whispered into the apostle’s ear, "So… do you have some relics, my man? Hm? Be honest. Contrary to my actions, I’m not a bad person."

"Huff, huff, huff! P-Please… s-spare me. S-Spare me."

The apostle of Oceiros trembled in pallor. It was odd to see how a three-meter muscular giant was trembling in fear from a high school boy but no one here could deny that the boy was far more monstrous than any demon of Pandemonium.

"Oh, you~ you’re hurting my feelings, you know? When did I ever say I was going to kill you? Just give me all the relics you have and we can all be happy! Okay?"

"N-Ngh."

"Besides, they’re all ones you stole from others, aren’t they?"

The hesitant apostle gulped and pointed somewhere with trembling hands.

"Th-They’re over there."

There was a large bag where he was pointing. Kang-Woo gestured to Lilith with her eyes and she examined the bag.

"My, there are four this time."

"Lemme check their ranks." Yeon-Joo approached Lilith to check the relics’ ranks. "Two four-stars and two three-stars."

"Kehehehehe, very nice."

’’That’s human farming for you. Seven relics already after not finding any for five days!’

It was a bit of a shame that the relics’ ranks were not as high as he had hoped but the profit was more than good enough.

’And besides, we’re just getting started."

Kang-Woo looked down at the apostle of Oceiros greedily.

"E-Eek!"

"Hehehe. There’s no way only ten of you came to plunder relics, right? Hm? Where are the others?"

The apostle shook his head and shouted, "I-I don’t know!! I swear!! We received orders separately in groups, so none of us know where the other groups are!!"

He did not seem to be lying based on how desperate he sounded.

’He’s not the kind of person to cover for his comrades either. I’m sure he really doesn’t know.’

"Is that so? Well, then I guess it can’t be helped." Kang-Woo shrugged and raised his arm, the black blade shining menacingly. "You’ll have to die."

"Y-You said you would s-spare me if I gave you the relics!!!"

"No, I didn’t. When did I ever say that? I said we could all be happy if you give me the relics." Kang-Woo smiled and lightly slapped the apostle’s bald head. "I’m sure you’ll be happier dead than bald."

"What the fuck are you talking ab—"

Slice!

Kang-Woo beheaded the complaining apostle of Oceiros.

"Bwehehehehe!! Scumbags are so innocent and cute!" he burst into laughter as he looked down at the apostle’s head, whose eyes were still open and full of hope that he would be spared.

The reason did not matter since Kang-Woo never had any intention of letting them live.

"Right, then. Who should I give happiness to next?"

Kang-Woo hummed as he turned to face the remaining two apostles.

"Eek! S-Stay away!!!"

"SAVE UUUUUUSSSSS!!!"

The apostles screamed in tears.

"Urgh!! Arghhh!!"

The apostle chained by Yeon-Joo struggled aggressively but the thorns on the chains sank into his flesh more and more.

"Kurgh! Gah! Krrrk!"

"Dayum. I guess he went to find his own happiness."

The struggling apostle died from severe blood loss soon after. Kang-Woo chuckled and turned to the remaining apostle who was on the ground, unable to move due to Seol-Ah’s curse magic, flinching.

"Right, then. It’s your turn now—"

"L-Listen!! I have information!!!"

"Hm?" Kang-Woo tilted his head as he was about to finish the apostle off. "What information?"

"A ten-star relic!!! It’s lying dormant somewhere on this floor!!!"

"Ten stars?"

Kang-Woo’s eyes shone. A seven-star relic could exert power on par with Deific Essence so he couldn’t imagine what a ten-star relic could do.

’It would be a massive score if I find it.’

He was naturally interested in the information.

"Where is it? No, I doubt you guys would be plundering if you already knew. Just tell me everything you know about that ten-star relic."

"H-Hehehe," the apostle chuckled and raised his head confidently as if he had seized the initiative once he saw Kang-Woo was interested. "If you want to know, release me from this magic this instant!!"

Kang-Woo smiled and lightly slapped the apostle’s head.

"Come on, you’re gonna be like that? Just tell me about that ten-star relic and I’ll kill you."

"Hah!! You can’t fool me with your lies! Even if you swear to me that you’ll let me live, I won’t… huh?" The apostle of Oceiros tilted his head in confusion. "You’ll… kill me?"

"Yup." Kang-Woo nodded without hesitation.

"Are you taking me for a fool, motherfucker…?"

"Hahaha. Well, I doubt you’d understand at the moment. Don’t worry, though." Kang-Woo smiled as he licked his lips and grabbed the apostle’s head. "You’ll want death more than anyone else soon enough."

’I’ll make sure of it.’

"W-Wait!! Wait a second!!!"

"Bwehehehehe! Alright, shall we start light with a finger?"

"N-No!!! PLEAAAAAASE!!!" the apostle screamed.

"..." Yeon-Joo remained silent as she bore witness to a sight hard to bear. She turned to Seol-Ah and said cautiously, "Umm, Seol-Ah."

"Y-Yeah?"

"We’re punishing bad guys who are killing Players and stealing their relics, right?’

"Y… Yeah." Seol-Ah nodded as she smiled awkwardly.

"But…" Yeon-Joo stared at the screaming apostle of Oceiros and Kang-Woo laughing maniacally. "Why does he seem like more of a bad guy?"

"..."

There was no response.