The Demon God Returns as a Max Level Player – Chapter 3

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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Bang-!

With a rather loud noise, the wildly rampaging energies finally broke through the blocked acupoints.

A smile appeared on Lee Seong-joon’s face as he felt the energy circulating freely within his body, a sensation as exhilarating as a flash of insight.

‘Not bad.’

His rough and painful breathing had become considerably smoother.

He had taken in the ambient energy, accumulated it in his dantian, and even managed to control some of the blood in his body, taking the first step in the Blood Spirit Demon God Technique.

In fact, he could feel the energy gathered in his lower abdomen, in the area called the dantian, forming a small lump, the internal energy that was the foundation of martial arts.

Naturally, a satisfied smile spread across Lee Seong-joon’s face.

“Effort never betrays you, indeed.”

In the past, it took Lee Seong-joon one month to fully master the Blood Spirit Demon God Technique.

However, thanks to the knowledge and experience accumulated through blood and sweat, he had shortened that time to less than a day.

He felt as if he had been rewarded for his efforts.

Although it was still insignificant compared to the internal energy he once possessed, one cannot expect to be full after the first bite.

“This should be enough to put out the immediate fire.”

Just as Lee Seong-joon was wiping the sweat from his forehead and was about to get up to explore his surroundings.

-Parapara-pam-pa~ Parapara! Pam! Pam~~!

A brilliant fanfare struck his ears, and a translucent message window appeared before his eyes.

Ding-!

Suddenly, a green holographic status window, like something out of a game, appeared before his eyes, but Seong-joon’s expression remained calm as he looked at it.

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Humans are creatures of adaptation.

At first, something might seem amazing, but if you keep seeing and hearing it, you gradually lose interest.

That was exactly how Lee Seong-joon felt as he looked at the system window that had just appeared.

He was literally unfazed.

‘A system window?’

As mentioned earlier, Lee Seong-joon had lived in a world where Awakeners, dungeons, different races, and returnees existed since he was born.

The system was the same.

‘I didn’t expect the system to activate as soon as I used an internal energy cultivation technique, though…’

In any case, this increased the probability that this place was Earth.

‘I’ll have to meet people to be more certain. Still, it’s hopeful.’

A smile appeared on Seong-joon’s lips due to the positive situation, and his gaze suddenly fixed on the word ‘Blood Energy’ reflected in the green holographic status window.

‘But to think it could accurately detect even blood energy.’

Blood Energy, a special power used only by the martial artists of the Blood Cult, who directly used or manipulated blood like internal energy.

It wasn’t just empty talk.

The power of blood energy was literally on a different level from ordinary internal energy.

In fact, in a fight between martial artists of the same level, those who could not use blood energy could never defeat those who could.

It was only natural, as blood was the foundation of life, overseeing everything in the human body.

Manipulating blood meant not only controlling its shape or movement.

It meant controlling body temperature, pulse, and blood components such as red blood cell count.

If desired, one could forcibly induce a state of mental awakening, or inflate and toughen muscles to momentarily increase physical abilities.

Internal energy battles were out of the question.

It was only natural for the power of blood energy, which was created from blood, the foundation of life, to overwhelm ordinary internal energy.

Furthermore, those who could use blood energy could replenish their depleted blood with internal energy, or conversely, convert blood or life force into internal energy.

Of course, it was not a perfect power without weaknesses.

Since it used blood, excessive use of this power could lead to dizziness, vomiting, chills, paralysis, and in severe cases, death by becoming a mummy as all the blood drained from the body.

‘I knew the system was remarkable, but it’s even more amazing than I thought.’

It wasn’t just about what was displayed in the system window.

Perhaps because it was recognized as a stat.

The moment he extended his palm forward, his internal energy turned into blood, and his muscles began to swell.

Even without focusing on circulating his internal energy, it materialized as soon as he thought about it.

Naturally, a satisfied smile appeared on Lee Seong-joon’s face.

“Convenient.”

However, he soon shook his head, his expression hardening as usual.

Now was not the time to be impressed.

Lee Seong-joon placed his hand on his chin and began to carefully organize the information he had obtained.

‘The probability that this is Earth is quite high.’

Although aged, the appearance of the collapsed building remains, coupled with the congratulatory message and the activation of the Force System, confirmed that this world was indeed Earth.

However, he couldn’t say for sure that it was the year 2080, the time he originally lived in.

There was only one hypothesis he could come up with.

‘Did the timeline get messed up…?’

Traveling through time and space was by no means an easy feat.

There was a high probability that unforeseen variables could occur.

Lee Seong-joon shook his head at the anxiety that bloomed in his chest.

‘Nothing is certain.’

It wouldn’t be too late to see with his own eyes, confirm, and then make a judgment.

Just as Lee Seong-joon, having regained his composure, was about to get up and explore his surroundings.

“Danger!”

From not far away, a familiar and longed-for language was heard.

Lee Seong-joon’s head naturally turned in the direction of the sound.

“Korean?”

He had never forgotten it, so he remembered it clearly.

The voice he had just heard was definitely Korean.

The probability that this place was Earth was increasing.

-Thump! Thump!

His heart, unable to hide its excitement, began to race.

However, it wasn’t just pleasant sounds that he heard.

-Boom-! Bang-!

Following the urgent voice, a roar was heard.

It was a familiar sound.

A battle was taking place nearby.

Lee Seong-joon immediately started running in the direction of the sound.

Fortunately, it wasn’t far, so it didn’t take long for the battle to come into view.

Five people, three of whom seemed to be injured, were standing precariously, clutching their bleeding arms and legs.

‘Humans.’

Moreover, they were undoubtedly civilized people, Earthlings.

He had met Koreans who could tell him about the incomprehensible current situation on Earth.

But unfortunately, their situation was not relaxed enough to exchange questions peacefully.

In front of the people, a huge, green-skinned being was continuously swinging its fists.

Lee Seong-joon narrowed his eyes and watched the green monster.

“That’s…?”

Dark green skin, pointed ears, a large build, and matching bulky muscles.

As someone who had longed for Earth for decades, he remembered it clearly.

It was undoubtedly the appearance of a ‘troll’ that he had seen several times on the Internet and during safety education classes at school.

However, it was not in the same condition as what he had seen in the educational materials.

‘…It’s small.’

About 2 meters tall, considering that the size of a troll was stated to be 3 meters in the educational materials, it could be said to be quite small.

‘Is it a juvenile that hasn’t fully grown yet?’

Of course, the important thing right now was not whether the troll was fully grown or not.

‘Why is a troll here?’

Why were these people, who were presumed to be Awakeners, fighting a troll in this devastated park?

While numerous questions were arising in his mind, the middle-aged man facing the troll shouted.

“We can’t win like this! While I draw its attention, everyone run!”

The people were being pushed back helplessly by the threatening fist of the troll, which was powered by a strength that overwhelmed that of an adult man.

Perhaps because they had been working together for a long time, they were barely maintaining a defensive line even amidst the pouring attacks, but even that was like a lamp in front of the wind.

Lee Seong-joon, who had been watching the battle from afar, slowly nodded his head and made a decision.

‘For now, I’ll save them.’

It was not an easy decision.

One of the things he had learned from his long life on the Celestial Continent was that the most dangerous thing was humans.

Moreover, these people were not ordinary people, but Awakeners.

They could be considered martial artists.

In a devastated city without proper law enforcement, extending a helping hand to martial artists whose character was unknown was a very dangerous thing to do.

But Seong-joon believed in his skills and senses.

Although he had lost most of his power, he wouldn’t be defeated by a troll that hadn’t even fully grown and those Awakeners.

‘A lot of internal energy and strong martial arts don’t necessarily determine the outcome of a fight.’

Some might call it arrogance, but he was once at the pinnacle of a world.

Nodding his head, Lee Seong-joon took a step forward.

He had used up all his power as a price for traveling through time and space.

But just now, he had mastered the Blood Spirit Demon God Technique.

There was no reason to consider defeat.

Taking a confident step forward, the middle-aged man shouted at Lee Seong-joon, who was about to join the battle.

“It’s dangerous! Run away!”

However, Lee Seong-joon ignored the man’s words and closed the distance to the troll.

-Whoosh-!

With minimal movement, Lee Seong-joon tilted his head slightly to dodge the troll’s incoming fist.

‘It’s like a mindless beast.’

No matter how strong or fast a monster was, what good was it?

‘If you can’t hit, it’s all meaningless.’

After dodging the ridiculously straightforward attack, Lee Seong-joon used footwork, the Ghost Shadow Step, to penetrate the troll’s body.

The Ghost Shadow Step was characterized by its blurry movements, like that of a ghost, and was used to confuse the opponent’s senses.

Startled by the strange movement, the troll tried to retreat, feeling a sense of instinctive unease, but it was a futile struggle.

“It’s too late.”

Before he knew it, Lee Seong-joon naturally extended his palm and placed it on the left side of the troll’s chest, where its heart was located, and muttered inwardly.

‘Blood Flow Explosion.’

-Bang-!

At the same time, the blood energy attached to the troll’s heart exploded, causing a loud bang.

No matter how strong a troll’s regenerative power was, it couldn’t regenerate if its heart was completely pulverized.

As if to prove this…

“Kaaaa-!”

The troll, spewing black smoke from its mouth, fell backward with its white eyes showing.

-Thud-!

It was instant death.

“Oh, oh my god…”

The Awakeners, unable to believe what they had just seen with their own eyes, all sat down in a daze, as if they had made a promise, with blank expressions on their faces.

Meanwhile, Lee Seong-joon, who had approached the Awakeners lying on the ground, opened his mouth.

“I will ask.”

Although it was strange for someone who looked much younger to speak down to them, from the perspective of Korea on Earth, the middle-aged man did not feel any sense of discomfort.

The pressure, dignity, and natural tone that flowed from Lee Seong-joon prevented him from harboring even the slightest doubt.

“Yes, yes! P-please, go ahead.”

Seeing the middle-aged man who answered him in a hurry while wiping away his cold sweat, Lee Seong-joon asked.

“Is this Earth?”

“Yes… Yes, it is!”

He had returned to the Earth he had so longed for.

Naturally, a bright smile spread across Lee Seong-joon’s face.

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