The name Hio had used when he played Ventair was zl존☆Cheonma★.
To Koreans, it was a fairly familiar yet unfamiliar, somewhat cringeworthy, childish sort of name.
But not to foreign users.
Back when it was still a game, no one had cared about the meaning of the name, but after it became reality, things were different.
Cheonma (天魔), the Heavenly Demon.
Jijon (至尊), the supreme among them.
It was an arrogant name, yet one that suited him terribly well.
He had felt too righteous to be called a demon, but that only made it suit him all the more.
Combined with his previous image—taciturn and overwhelming—it heightened his aura of mystery.
Among rankers, that was what the Supreme Heavenly Demon was.
Most had never met him at all, or could count the times on one hand.
And yet the admiration lodged deep in their hearts, and the solid presence he held there, had allowed them to cling to a sliver of hope even as the situation worsened.
Thus, a few days before the Abyss’s 70th floor erupted.
“The top rankers are clutching information to their chests and refusing to release it.”
On the day one of the First Awakened made his exposé.
“The Supreme Heavenly Demon is dead! If you’re one of the First Awakened, you should know how horrifying that is……”
The Supreme Heavenly Demon.
On that day, with that single disclosure, a name known only to those in the know became a name that no one in the world did not know.
“The Supreme Heavenly Demon? Among the First Awakened, he’s practically a religion. Even if you combined Phil Knight, Daphne, and people like Nam Taemin, they wouldn’t even compare to him……”
Most of them rose up.
The revelation about abyssal energy had been shocking as well, but that was something most of the First Awakened had long since known.
More than that, they were far more shaken by the words, “the death of the Supreme Heavenly Demon.”
“……Naturally, I thought the Supreme Heavenly Demon would be with them, above them, at their head! But in truth, the Supreme Heavenly Demon had been acting alone, and had even been at odds with Phil Knight!”
The man’s interview, that exposé, enraged every ranker.
“To think that such a Supreme Heavenly Demon died more than a year ago, stopping the abyss all by himself! How could they hide even that from us!”
But there was nothing they could do.
The Supreme Heavenly Demon was dead, and such a vital fact had not even been shared with the rankers?
Even if that were true, what could they do about it?
Even if they joined forces to resist, Antipus had already ascended to a height beyond their reach.
And so, rather than with strength, they tried to drag Antipus down with words.
“The Supreme Heavenly Demon was the leader and idol of all First Awakened.”
They exalted the Supreme Heavenly Demon and denigrated Antipus, Daphne, and the others.
Dozens of such interviews burst forth every day.
Seen broadly, it was an utterly foolish choice, but after the first exposé, the world had already become chaos itself.
They, too, had been swept up in that atmosphere.
What became known thanks to those exposés and interviews at the time was the name of the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
What was diminished because it could not be known were his achievements.
The power he possessed.
His majesty.
What was exaggerated were things like his charisma and leadership.
“When he so much as turned his head, not only Phil Knight but even that Daphne lowered her head and avoided his gaze. Was it really to that extent? Yes, it was to that extent. Such a person, and Phil Knight……”
Even lower rankers who had never once seen the Supreme Heavenly Demon, let alone Silbert, sprang up like mushrooms after rain and babbled about him as if they were stating facts.
Whatever the process had been, one thing was certain: along with the name of the Supreme Heavenly Demon, all sorts of exaggerations spread across the world.
In the midst of the confusion—no, precisely because of it—everyone sought information and the latest news, and the name Supreme Heavenly Demon was firmly engraved into their memories.
Who could have known that such a small snowball would roll this far?
“The Heavenly Demon has returned! Ten thousand demons bow in homage! Long live! Long live! Long, long live!”
Who could possibly have imagined it?
* * *
The man’s name was Park Jaehyeok.
He had started reading fantasy novels back in the rental-shop era, and was now a heavy web novel reader of over thirty years.
He had spent ten years devouring orthodox medieval fantasy, modern fantasy, hunter stories, dungeon stories, healing stories, and territory management stories.
Then he had challenged martial arts fiction, eventually creating his own martial arts map, running a martial arts fiction blog, and writing over 2,000 posts on the martial arts fiction gallery.
Of those, more than 300 had made it to the popular posts.
Recently, he had even been extending his reach to romance fantasy and modern romance—a self-proclaimed web novel master and a named reader famous for leaving comments on every work.
He was a man who believed that whenever his nickname appeared on a platform, the industry trembled,
and countless producers and authors must be shaking in fear.
“The Supreme Heavenly Demon was exactly what his name implied. No, there were even times when I wondered if he was truly human……”
That man, Park Jaehyeok, watched the interview and sneered at them.
“They puffed themselves up, calling themselves the First Awakened or whatever, and yet they have no pride…… Tsk.”
After the Great Cataclysm struck the world, everyone said web novels were finished now that reality had become more novel-like than novels, but in truth, the opposite happened.
Instead, web novels entered their greatest golden age since the founding of the nation.
“They want to become protagonists. Tsk, tsk…… Daring to do so without even knowing their place.”
In a reality like a novel, people had begun to dream.
Could they, too, become protagonists?
Could they awaken incredible abilities and become famous?
“As if that could ever happen.”
Park Jaehyeok mocked such fools with all his might.
“Not when This Seat is here.”
He chuckled, perfectly imitating the laugh he had seen in martial arts novels, and stroked the rough stubble on his chin.
In his mind, the world already belonged to him.
It was the stage of a man who had spent his entire life reading genre fiction.
“The Supreme Heavenly Demon, is it? Absurd. Hm!”
Of course, starting about a year ago, the situation had become truly dire, and web novels and everything else had completely fallen apart.
That was why he thought the time had come all the more.
After all, protagonists were meant to awaken in times of crisis.
“Is it today?”
Park Jaehyeok stopped the interview video he had already replayed countless times and rose from his seat.
“Today is the day This Seat’s name becomes known to the world.”
Ahem.
With a solemn cough, he clasped his hands behind his back and headed outside.
It was madness.
Kwaaaaang!
Because outside was the very moment when the collapse of the black gate, which had long since been predicted, had begun.
The ground shook, and all manner of monstrous shrieks and human screams came from far away.
Black energy surged rapidly into the distant sky.
Even so, Park Jaehyeok did not panic.
His heartbeat grew a little faster, but that was due to his anticipation that his awakening was close at hand, not fear.
He truly believed it.
That the time of his awakening had arrived.
That all under heaven would lie beneath his feet.
A fairly long time passed like that.
Kwaaaaang!
The explosions and screams now came from close by.
He had come much farther than expected.
He had walked almost to the front line.
“Kueeeek!”
Fountains of blood burst up here and there, and bizarre screams rang out.
Buildings shook as if they were about to collapse, and quite a few actually did.
Only then did Park Jaehyeok, who had never doubted that he would awaken, begin trembling all over and freeze in place.
He was afraid.
He was going to die.
He would be caught in the hands of those vicious monsters and torn in half, or devoured.
What was this? How had it come to this?
Awaken? Someone like me?
Had that ever been a reasonable thought?
He had no way of knowing that all the negative thoughts and emotions surging within him were because of the abyssal energy he had inhaled in full, and he had no means of resisting it either.
So he had no choice but to collapse.
Even though he had been certain that today, of all days, was the day of destiny.
Even though he had not harbored even a shred of doubt, there was nothing he could do before the abyss that shattered both body and mind.
“A stupid…… stupid, pathetic bastard like me should just……”
Just die.
It was the moment he sank to his knees with that thought.
A deep violet light fell across his face.
“……”
An unreal reality unfolded, a violet vertical line cleaving earth and sky at once as space split apart one layer at a time.
The empty air bowed its head and withdrew to either side.
As if making way for someone’s arrival.
As if delighted by it.
And soon, what came into view was a single person.
A pair of enormous wings floating with the violet dimension at their back.
“Ah……”
Golden light covered the entire world.
A light so bright he could not even bear to open his eyes and look up.
And yet, if he forced his eyes open and looked to the sky, he could see a miracle.
The form of a god, holding and governing lightning in his left hand and blue flame in his right.
His heart washed clean as if purified.
Who could understand that rapture?
The feeling of being freed from every kind of negativity.
That overflowing emotion one felt upon meeting a true god.
That was what the man, Park Jaehyeok, felt in that place.
At that moment, from not far away, he heard a clear murmur.
A voice filled with shock and disbelief.
“The Supreme…… Heavenly Demon……?”
Only then did he realize.
How diminished the name and majesty of the Supreme Heavenly Demon had been in those interviews.
The shadow of his fully spread black wings covered the ground.
Filling the spaces between was the warmth of divinity.
“Ah…… O Supreme One……”
At the sense of fulfillment swelling through his entire body,
at the ecstatic holiness of it, he could not control the tears that flowed.
He could not dare to look up at the sky.
That was why he knelt, bowed low, and worshiped.
“The Heavenly Demon has returned (天魔再臨).”
When the Heavenly Demon returns,
“Ten thousand demons bow in homage (萬魔仰伏).”
all demons prostrate themselves and worship.
“Long live. Long live. Long, long live.”
Today, the Heavenly Demon had returned.
He had seen the true Heavenly Demon.
When he finished his worship and raised his head, the light had vanished and the lightning had left behind remnants, while the blue fire had not left even a trace. All that remained were two unbelievers.
“The Heavenly Demon has returned! Ten thousand demons bow in homage! Long live! Long live! Long, long live!”
Once more rejoicing in the return of the Heavenly Demon, he rose to his feet.
The two unbelievers not far away were still exchanging all manner of blasphemous words between themselves.
“That’s Lee Hyeonseung…… no, the Supreme Heavenly Demon…… Seriously? Is he even human?”
“The Supreme Heavenly Demon should definitely have died……”
At the sight, he could not suppress the rage boiling up inside him.
To think that even after witnessing the Supreme One, even after encountering a god, they would maintain such a blasphemous attitude!
“Silence!”
Park Jaehyeok shouted thunderously and ran toward the two.
For some reason, they had the pretty and handsome faces he often saw on TV, but such things did not even register in his eyes.
Compared to the radiance of a god, their light was far too small and shabby.
“Prostrate yourselves at once and worship the Supreme One! Revere the heavens!”
Once he had converted the unbelievers before his eyes, he would have to contact his acquaintances from the martial arts fiction club.
They, too, must have seen today’s miracle, the true Heavenly Demon.
They were surely all thinking the same thing.
“The Heavenly Demon has returned, and no unbeliever shall survive any longer!”
As Park Jaehyeok shouted that, Nam Taemin and Yun Seula stared at him with vacant eyes.
* * *
Now, let’s sort this out.
Among the messages that had streamed upward, there were three most important points.
「You have acquired the Authority—‘Patience of Splendor.’」
An Authority.
「You have acquired Divine Points.」
Divine Points.
And……
「The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult (天魔神敎) rises in the Republic of Korea.」
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?
What the hell is that?
「Heavenly Demon Divine Cult (天魔神敎)」
「Follower Management」
「Faith Management」
「Information」
……
「It is an early religion without an established system.」
「It is a group that worships the Supreme Heavenly Demon.」
「Current number of followers of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult (天魔神敎) - 384」
「Current number of followers of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult (天魔神敎) - 428」
「Current number of followers of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult (天魔神敎) - 601」
……
「Appoint an apostle.」
「Define laws.」
「Establish order.」
……
「You have acquired +1 Divine Point.」
「You have acquired +1 Divine Point.」
「You have acquired +1 Divine Point.」
……
At least the first two, the Authority and the Divine Points, he could understand.
There had been signs of them even before, and he had nearly died to Kreutzwald because of them.
He had roughly looked through the newly created Authority window and Divine Point shop, so he could grasp what they were.
But what had happened for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to appear?
“Are you truly…… the Supreme Heavenly Demon?”
As he was lost in such thoughts, a voice suddenly reached him.
He could not help feeling a little irritated.
“Seriously, how many times do I have to tell you I am?”
“……I see.”
He was busy enough to die, yet Antipus had been holding him there for several minutes, repeating things like this.
If it had not been Antipus, he would have immediately stormed off.
He had to find out what the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was.
More than anything else, he had a feeling that had to come first.
“I see…… You really were the Supreme Heavenly Demon……”
But…… listen to that voice, trailing off so long at the end and drained of strength.
Antipus wore an expression as if he alone shouldered every anguish in the world, and he gave a self-mocking smile.
As that repeated for several minutes, Hio slowly grew impatient.
“……Supreme Heavenly Demon.”
“Hm?”
“There is something…… I must say.”
“Okay. Say it.”
“……”
“……”
Antipus, wearing a resolute expression, barely opened his mouth.
“There is something I must confess. The truth is……”
But by then, Hio, whose frustration had already boiled over, had risen from his seat.
“Let’s talk next time. There’s somewhere I need to go urgently.”
Leaving only those words behind, Hio immediately vanished using Dimensional Transfer, whose cooldown had ended.
Just because it was called Dimensional Transfer did not mean he absolutely had to cross dimensions, so he intended to return quickly to Korea and investigate the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Of course, Antipus had no way of knowing that, and after staring for a while in the direction where Hio had disappeared,
“Haha…… As expected……”
he tightly shut his eyes.
“You knew everything.”
The Supreme Heavenly Demon had known everything.
That he had been jealous of him.
That he had been pressured by the Ruler trait.
And even that, in the end, the one who had created that hellish tragedy on the 58th floor was Antipus himself.
Because he knew all that, he must not even be giving him a chance to confess.
It must mean that if he knew he had been wrong, he should fight to the end and repay him that way.
“Truly, you are……”
A man he did not dare measure or even fathom with his own capacity.
Thinking so, Antipus wore a powerless smile for a long while.