The Demon God Returns as a Max Level Player – Chapter 7

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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The next morning.

Due to a deeply ingrained habit, Lee Seong-joon woke up very early and went out to the living room, but he couldn’t see his family.

It wasn’t that they were all fast asleep in their rooms.

“They go to work earlier than I thought.”

Talking to himself, he walked over to the refrigerator in the kitchen and saw a note attached to it.

[Son! We have to go to work very early in the morning, so we didn’t want to wake you up. We left breakfast on the table, so heat it up in the microwave.

We’ll leave some money on the table for lunch, so buy something you like to eat.]

He understood his family’s situation and feelings.

Since they were living day to day, worrying about their immediate livelihood, they couldn’t realistically apply for unpaid leave.

“I need to get moving as soon as possible.”

Yesterday, after the tearful reunion with his long-awaited family, Lee Seong-joon had made a firm resolution in his heart.

‘I will live happily with my family.’

To achieve this long-held dream, what he needed most right now was money.

Of course, money wasn’t everything when it came to happiness.

However, there was a reason why the saying “generosity comes from a full pantry” existed.

Right now, Lee Seong-joon’s family was living a life where they had to worry about the next month or even the next day, a life where they couldn’t even be guaranteed the basic necessities of clothing, food, and shelter.

Achieving happiness in such a life was an extremely arduous task.

Fortunately, the current era on Earth was one of great upheaval.

Awakeners and returnees, collectively known as ‘Hunters’, could earn tens or even hundreds of billions of won annually by dealing with monsters or gates.

Of course, not all those who worked as hunters earned high salaries.

It was a perfect meritocracy, with income being solely determined by one’s abilities and skills.

From Lee Seong-joon’s perspective, this was a good thing.

Considering the strength and abilities he had possessed when he was called a god of pestilence, it was no exaggeration to say that he would soon be sitting on a pile of money.

The only unfortunate thing was that he was not in a position to earn a large amount of money right away.

‘…I didn’t expect to feel regret for losing the power of a god of pestilence.’

From the highest SSS rank to the lowest F rank, it was common knowledge on Earth that Awakeners and returnees used the same ranking system as hunters.

Naturally, in his current state, having lost all his power, it was impossible for him to be registered at a high rank.

However, there was no need to be impatient.

After all, he was confident that he could regain his lost power if he had enough time.

With the experience and knowledge he had accumulated in the past, he knew exactly which path to take, and striving to become stronger was like a daily routine for Lee Seong-joon.

Moreover, he didn’t have to worry about his immediate livelihood.

Although he was an F-rank, it didn’t mean he lacked skills.

The average annual income of a skilled F-rank hunter was in the hundreds of millions of won.

This meant that his family would no longer have to work as if they were being chased by something.

Of course, Lee Seong-joon, who wanted to live happily with his family, would not be satisfied with just this level of income.

‘I need to start training quickly, or rather, wait a minute…’

Just as Lee Seong-joon was about to get up and start training himself, something came to his mind.

The system window, the special power of hunters, made up of a green hologram, also known as the status window.

Since it was a familiar sight in the current world, he had taken it in stride and moved on.

But now that he needed great strength, it was a different story.

‘I need to check it out.’

It was commonly known that the system window was very similar to existing games.

Basically, hunters hunted monsters and leveled up, and they received bonus points when they leveled up.

And just yesterday, he had hunted a D-rank monster, a troll.

Although he hadn’t been able to check it yesterday because he was out of it, he must have leveled up quite a bit.

A faint smile appeared on Lee Seong-joon’s lips as he scanned the green hologram window with his eyes.

‘Not bad.’

Level 6, he had gained a whopping five levels.

‘It was probably possible because my level was so low.’

Since the basic framework was similar to that of a game, the growth system was also the same.

The higher the level, the more experience points were required to level up exponentially.

Nevertheless, those who possessed a status window put in a lot of effort to raise their level.

The reason for this was the reward given when leveling up: bonus points.

‘Is this the bonus point I’ve heard so much about?’

It was said that just by using points to increase stats, one could become stronger.

This was why those who possessed a status window were so eager to level up.

However, all of this was just talk from the community or the public.

Since he had no direct experience, Lee Seong-joon couldn’t easily believe it.

‘Can you really become stronger with such a simple method?’

There was no need to rack his brain alone.

With a mixture of doubt and anticipation, Lee Seong-joon conveyed his will to the status window as he had seen on the Internet.

‘I will use 5 bonus points on Blood Energy.’

For a very brief moment, the external energy flowing around him fluctuated.

Immediately after, the energy floating in the air took on a familiar form and was quickly absorbed into his body.

Ding-!

Exactly double, Lee Seong-joon felt the blood energy filling his body and let out a small exclamation.

“…Amazing.”

Even Lee Seong-joon, who possessed a wealth of knowledge and experience to the point of having reached the realm of a god of pestilence, had never seen this type of growth method before.

Originally, in order to obtain great power, one had to consume ancient elixirs or repeat arduous training every day for a long period of time.

However, this status window brought about immediate changes in the body just by using the bonus points given when leveling up.

This meant that if one possessed a status window, one could become stronger without any special training or discipline.

‘No.’

There was no reason to exclude training.

As mentioned earlier, striving to become stronger was like a daily routine for him anyway.

What if he continued his usual training and hunted monsters while leveling up?

‘I can become stronger than when I was called a god of pestilence.’

He would be adding a completely new power to the already formidable strength that had earned him the title of god of pestilence.

Perhaps he could even set foot in a new realm.

It wasn’t simply 1+1=2, it could be 3 or even 10.

He had obtained an enormous foundation for growth that was hard to accept even after seeing and experiencing it firsthand.

‘Good.’

It was only natural, as although he had been called a god of pestilence, Lee Seong-joon’s foundation was that of a martial artist.

As someone who had purely admired the martial way, it was natural for him to feel pure joy at the prospect of becoming stronger.

“Heh heh heh…”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

His heart naturally began to beat wildly, and an undeniable smile was spreading across his face.

Just then, a question popped into his head.

‘But who created this system, and for what purpose?’

Was it the plaything of a lofty god?

Or to create their own agent?

Or was it some unfathomably dark intention?

It didn’t matter what the reason was.

The important thing was that, for now, it was giving him power without any special conditions or price.

‘There’s no reason to refuse what’s being offered.’

But when they tried to take it back, it wouldn’t be so easy.

Although it was an unfamiliar method he had never experienced before, it was ultimately a change applied to his body, his own power.

‘Even a lofty god wouldn’t be able to easily take away the power that has settled in my body.’

If he utilized the experience and knowledge engraved in his soul, he wouldn’t be pushed around even by a lofty god.

If they tried to suppress him, he would struggle with all his might, and in the end, he would break free and shatter their hold.

In fact, Lee Seong-joon had proven this countless times through battles against forces or gods who tried to antagonize him.

That was why he accepted the status window as it was.

“I like it.”

Thanks to the status window, he could grow much faster than he had expected.

Wiping the smile from his lips, Lee Seong-joon shook his head.

‘This is no time to be pleased.’

Seeing a path forward didn’t mean he had reached his destination.

He had to take steps forward himself to reach it.

It was time to start the arduous training.

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Lee Seong-joon immediately started exercising.

From early morning before sunrise until early evening, he ran tirelessly in the park, lifted and pushed the available equipment.

He also made sure to consume as much protein as possible with every meal or supplement he could afford with the money his parents had left him.

Of course, since money was tight, the taste of the meals and supplements he could buy was, to put it mildly, the worst.

However, Lee Seong-joon accepted the hardships with equanimity.

‘Muscles grow by consuming pain and discomfort.’

It might seem like a rather crude method, but it was the most effective way to transform his current unimpressive physique.

Knowing this, Lee Seong-joon silently walked the arduous path of asceticism.

After a week of this.

Ding-!

A smile appeared on Lee Seong-joon’s face as he scanned the green hologram that had appeared before his eyes.

‘Not bad.’

The combined effect of the six stat increases was enormous.

The pain that had made him feel like he was about to collapse just a moment ago was melting away like snow.

He suddenly felt a surge of vitality in his body.

He had finally reaped the sweet fruits of his week-long efforts.

However, Lee Seong-joon did not stop.

This was not the level of training he had started with the intention of merely satisfying himself.

One step, ten steps, a hundred steps, a thousand steps, ten thousand steps.

The hot blood surging from his wildly beating heart spread rapidly throughout Lee Seong-joon’s body as he ran in the park.

“Huu… Huu.”

His breath was catching in his throat with each tireless step, but Lee Seong-joon continued to move forward.

He had to endure.

Only then could he overcome.

That was why he couldn’t stop.

His body, which had just regained its vitality, began to scream once again.

His heart began to beat wildly.

It was a signal that he had reached his limit, a warning that if he didn’t stop now, it could have adverse effects.

But Lee Seong-joon still ran.

Sweat poured down like rain, soaking his entire body.

It felt as if a torrential waterfall was pressing down on his body, but Lee Seong-joon continued to take steps forward.

‘A little, just a little more.’

His desired destination was in sight.

Thump, thump.

His heart grew so large that it felt like it would burst at any moment.

Finally, the moment he felt the blood circulating freely throughout his entire body, a gleam appeared in Lee Seong-joon’s eyes.

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