Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

“We’re home—!!” Oh Kang-Woo screamed with his arms out, home after ten days of relic hunting.

Each piece of furniture in their home, which was easily over six hundred square meters, felt like new.

“There’s no place like home.”

“Fufu. I’m happy to be home after so long too,” Han Seol-Ah mentioned as she followed Kang-Woo inside and giggled.

Cha Yeon-Joo flapped the front of her shirt and frowned as she said, “Urgh, let’s get washed up first. I feel so dirty after not showering for over a week.”

“Hoho. Then why don’t we all go in together?” Lilith suggested teasingly.

“N-No, that’s…” Yeon-Joo slurred, her lips quivering in embarrassment.

“Oh? You don’t want to? Then I guess you can go in by yourself later.”

“N-No! I’m not saying I don’t want to!”

Lilith giggled with one hand covering her mouth as Yeon-Joo shouted in embarrassment. Yeon-Joo glared at Kang-Woo and kicked his foot.

“Why are you hitting me out of nowhere?”

“Dunno, dammit.”

She snorted and turned away.

“Hm! Kang-Woooooooooo!!! You’re back!!!”

Slam!

Echidna swung her door open, ran to Kang-Woo, and jumped into his arms.

“Whoa there. Were you alright by yourself?”

“Yeah! Did you get lots of relics, Kang-Woo? A huge uproar was on the news a while ago about Valhalla blocking the entrance to the Gate and getting in a huge fight with the other Players!”

“Oh, them?” Kang-Woo nodded and continued, “Don’t even get me started on them. Those scumbags outright killed a Player who was just trying to enter the Gate so he could earn money to buy medicine for his sickly mother.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Yeah. Not only that, but his little brother was with him, and those sorry excuses for a human even killed the little brother!”

“They’re terrible!”

“I know, right?!”

“Hm! I was offered an endorsement contract from Valhalla not long ago, but I won’t do it now!!”

“A wise decision!!”

Kang-Woo patted the frowning Echidna as if he were proud of her. Echidna smiled happily and tilted her head to rub her cheek on his hand.

“...”

Yeon-Joo, Seol-Ah, and Lilith, who had been on the scene, simply smiled awkwardly, no idea how to react.

“But Kang-Woo, what’s that hideous thing?” Echidna asked as she pointed at Horos trembling in a corner.

“E-Eek!! I-I’m so sorry!! I’m sorry I’m so hideous!!” shouted Horos as he bowed to the ground in terror.

He had been like this ever since Kang-Woo easily killed Oh Hyun-Seong.

Kang-Woo lightly tapped Horos’ giant eye and answered, “He seemed useful, so I brought him with me. I’m planning on putting him in Lilith’s team.”

Horos possessed an ability known as Clairvoyance. Unlike the Authority of the Beholder which Kang-Woo often used to survey his surroundings, Horos’ ability drastically amplifies his visual prowess to inspect the surroundings.

‘It’s technically an inferior version of the Authority of the Beholder.’

To make a simple comparison, the Authority of the Beholder was like a wide-area scanner, while Clairvoyance was like high-quality binoculars. The Authority of the Beholder would naturally be better in normal circumstances since it could also survey the inner areas of the surroundings.

‘But it’s a different story when the power of a Titan is involved.’

The Authority of the Beholder couldn’t detect the power of a Titan— it was like a stealth aircraft. Hence, it was far easier to search for traces of a Titan simply with amplified vision.

“Peep… P-Please spare my life…” Horos trembled on the ground, still bowing to Kang-Woo.

“I said I wouldn’t kill you, man.”

Kang-Woo chuckled and lightly smacked Horos’ head. He thought about stealing his ability with the Authority of Predation but since Kang-Woo wouldn’t be the one on his feet to gather information, he decided it would be much better to make Horos a member of Lilith’s intelligence team.

“Th-Thank you very much!! I offer you my eternal allegiance!!”

Horos stood up as he blinked his giant eye.

“Then get out and stand in the hallway for now,” Kang-Woo commanded.

“Peep!!”

Kang-Woo chased Horos out since he might be able to peek at his lovers bathing with Clairvoyance.

He turned back to the women and remarked, “You guys can wash up first.”

“Oh? Are you not joining us, Kang-Woo?”

“I have something to take care of first.”

Kang-Woo smiled as he took out three bags full of relics from his subspace.

“Hmm. Can’t you do that later?”

Lilith hugged Kang-Woo from behind and seductively bit his ear. Kang-Woo almost faltered but used his transcendental endurance to suppress his surging desire.

‘Organizing the relics comes first.’

He could spend quality time with his lovers— no, wives in the evening.

“I’ll be in the room.”

“Ah…” Yeon-Joo expressed disappointment as she stared at Kang-Woo walking away with the bags.

Kang-Woo turned around with his eyes shining.

“Hm~? What’s wrong, my little Yeon-Joo? Are you upset I won’t go in with you?”

“Stop fucking around and get the hell in your room.”

Yeon-Joo bared her teeth and kicked Kang-Woo’s butt.

“Bwehehehe! I’ll see you guys in a bit.” Kang-Woo snickered as he entered his room with the bags. “Right, then.”

He took out all the relics in the three bags and sprawled them out on the floor.

‘Thirty-five of them.’

Kang-Woo had plundered eleven from the priests of Oceiros, twenty-three from the Lion of the Corridor, and Midir from Oh Hyun-Seong.

“Why the hell are they all relics I stole?” Kang-Woo feigned laughter and clicked his tongue. “Eve.”

Riiing!

[Yes, Sir Guardian Deity!]

[❀(*

A blue message with a smiling emoticon appeared in the air.

“Are any of the five-star relics worth using?”

Excluding Midir, there were seven five-star relics, and the rest of the thirty-four were three-star and four-star.

‘The three and four-star relics don’t seem that useful.’

Hence Kang-Woo was checking to see if any of the five-star relics would be of any use to him or his party members.

[Mmm. You and the others are so strong already that a five-star relic wouldn’t make a difference.]

“Is that so?”

Kang-Woo did not expect anything in the first place.’

‘Since a relic apparently needs to be at least seven-star to damage those with Deific Essence.’

Yeon-Joo, Kim Si-Hun, Balrog, Seol-Ah, and Layla were all powerful enough to easily penetrate Deific Essence barriers; a five-star relic wouldn’t be of use to them.

“In that case, how many times can I pull the Trait gacha if I extract the power of a Titan from all the relics except Midir?”

[Just a moment, please.]

The blue message window extended and wrapped around the relics.

[You should be able to pull six… no, seven times!]

“Wow,” Kang-Woo expressed surprise.

‘Way better than those damn necklaces from Akart.’

Considering they were all low-ranked relics, seven pulls from thirty-four relics were on another level in terms of efficiency.

“Then extract them right now, please.”

[Yes, Sir Guardian Deity!]

The blue message window turned into a funnel and stuck into the relics.

[SLUUUUURP!]

“Can’t you do something about that SFX?”

There were no sounds since it was just text on a message window, but it felt extremely vulgar somehow. Kang-Woo shook his head and leaned on the backrest of his chair.

‘Now all I have to do is figure out how to use those seven pulls.’

He could awaken seven Traits for himself.

‘But that’s too inefficient.’

Acquiring average Traits would not do much for him anymore. It would be a different story if he were to get an SSS-rank Trait, but the chance of that happening was too low.

‘Besides, it’s meaningless just for myself to get stronger.’

Akart and his subordinates were not invading Earth because of Kang-Woo— they were after an unspecified number of people.

‘In other words, I need as many cards I can play as possible.’

Hence, he would need to make his powerful comrades like Si-Hun, Yeon-Joo, and Balrog even stronger.

“Mmm…”

Kang-Woo closed his eyes and fell into thought. He then turned to Eve, who was sucking out the power of a Titan from the relics.

He asked, “Can I awaken Traits in Balrog and Lilith too?”

The others aside, Balrog and Lilith were not Players.

[Sluuuurp… Oh, yes, you can!]

“They’re not Players though.”

[But they are still residents of the Triad governed by the Law of Titans.]

“I see.” Kang-Woo nodded and snapped his fingers as if he finished thinking. “Alright, then. I’ll awaken Traits in Si-Hun, Yeon-Joo, Darling, Lilith, and Balrog.”

[Hmm? What about the remaining two?]

“Those are for myself.”

[Didn’t you say it was too inefficient?]

“I mean, yeah, but…”

‘I’ma be honest; I want the Abyss Watcher Trait so bad. Besides, I have to leave some for myself.’

Kang-Woo was the one who ultimately had to face Akart.

‘However strong Si-Hun and Balrog get, they’re no match for Akart.’

It was important to strengthen the cards he could play, but it was just as important to get stronger himself.

[I can understand for everyone else, but why would you awaken a Trait in Miss Lilith?]

Eve had a point; if Kang-Woo’s objective was simply to strengthen his party members, it would be more efficient to awaken a Trait in Layla instead.

“Because Lilith is exceptional in her own way.”

Lilith was specialized in information gathering, deciphering, and investigation— far more exceptional than Kang-Woo.

‘If Lilith awakens a decent investigation Trait…’

She might be able to find traces of Akart whom they had no luck in tracking all this time.

“Is the extraction complete?”

[Yes! All done!]

The relics were now nothing but scrap metal. Kang-Woo stuffed them into the bags again and stood up, full of anticipation.

‘Let’s start with my Traits.’

He would pull for everyone else after calling Si-Hun and Balrog tomorrow. Kang-Woo stood in the middle of the room and closed his eyes.

“Huuu, huuu. Alright. I have a super good feeling.”

Kang-Woo took deep breaths as he did squats and pushups in place. He had a feeling he would pull the SSS-rank Trait this time.

Riiing!

[Sir Guardian Deity!! Desperation!!! You’re still lacing desperation!!!] Eve commented sharply.

“Ah…” Kang-Woo realized he had been complacent until now. He got on his knees, clasped his hands together, and prayed, “Please, please, please, please, SSS-rank Trait!!! SSS-RANK TRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!!!”

[MORE! MORE DESPERATION!! LOUDER!!!]

“IT’S COMING! IT’S COMING—!!! I’LL PULL IT THIS TIME FOR SURE!!!”

[NOT ENOUGH!!!]

“WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!” Kang-Woo screamed and threw off his pants. He jumped in place and did flips. “ALRIGHT!! I’M FEELING GOOD!!! NOW, EVE!!! SPIN THE ROULETTE!!!”

[YES, SIR GUARDIAN DEITY!!!]

Brrrrrrrrrr!!!

The roulette spun rapidly.

“SSS-RANK TRAIT!!! I CAN SEE IT ALREADY!!!”

[YOU’RE DOING GREAT, SIR GUARDIAN DEITY!!!]

“LET’S GO! LET’S GO! IT’S COMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!”

The spinning roulette arrow stopped.

Riiing!

[You have acquired the Trait【Tentacle Expansion (Rank: C)】!]

“Fuck my life.”