Only I Level Up: Ragnarok Episode 189

After the cataclysm, it is difficult to say anything about the actions of Chairman Woo Jin-cheol.

He was a person respected by all Koreans.

At the same time, he was also a character whose likes and dislikes were sharply divided.

Looking back, his choices were always right, but the process was always reckless and bold.

So inevitably, it caused a lot of public resentment behind the scenes.

Among them, there was one issue that the Hunter Guilds in particular could not help but be dissatisfied with… … .

It was a problem of ‘recruiting talent’.

‘What? You got stolen by the association president again?!’

‘Yes. As soon as that person woke up, the association found out about it and offered to recruit him.’

‘No! This time, the awakened person didn’t even go to the magic test?! How on earth did the association find out that he had awakened and come looking for him!’

‘That’s right. Haa. I wonder how good the association’s information power is… … .’

Yes.

A truly enormous amount of information.

Chairman Woo Jin-cheol would always be the first to seek out useful Awakened individuals and somehow bring them into the Association.

His actions were enough to make the Hunter Guilds, who wanted to recruit talented people and grow their power, feel disgusted with him.

In particular, the anecdote that many hunter guilds regretted hitting the ground when Woo Jin-cheol first took the S-class hunter ‘Choi Jong-in’ was very famous.

And.

“… … Senior ‘Kim Chul’ was also one of the talented individuals personally recruited by the association president.”

Team Leader Han Jae-hyeok was recalling memories from that time while talking to Arsha.

The conversation between Kim Chul and Woo Jin-cheol, who had just awakened as A-class tankers, was a very famous anecdote.

‘What kind of hunter do you want to be?’

Instead of answering Woo Jin-cheol’s question, Kim Chul is said to have asked this in return.

‘Mr. Chairman, do you know what my motto is?’

‘What is it?’

‘Let’s live well.’

Shh.

Kim Chul smiled brightly at Woo Jin-cheol, saying the motto he had always kept in his heart since his adolescence.

Kim Chul was now middle-aged, but his smile was filled with the innocence of a teenage boy.

Woo Jin-cheol, who was faced with the good sense of justice clearly felt in those eyes, asked again with a satisfied smile on his lips.

‘… … Does that mean you want to be a good hunter?’

‘Yes. Now that I’ve become a Hunter, I want to fight to protect the world with pride.’

‘What a wonderful attitude. Come to the Association. I will entrust you with the important task of protecting the world.’

‘Please take care of me in the future.’

Suddenly.

Kim Chul firmly held hands with Woo Jin-cheol and entered the Hunter Association without hesitation.

But… … .

“I heard that Senior Kim Chul, who joined the association like that, was very disappointed in the association.”

Team Leader Han Jae-hyeok muttered with a bitter expression.

Actually, I couldn’t help but be disappointed.

Kim Chul joined the association because he wanted to become a great hunter who could protect the world.

“Because the job that the president of the association entrusted to that senior was right here, the Yangpyeong branch.”

[Ah.]

Arsha nodded in agreement with those words.

Yangpyeong was too quiet a town for a hunter with the ambition to protect the world.

Since there were so many rich people living here, there were even malicious commenters who went around saying that the Yangpyeong branch manager was a dog that protected the rich.

“… … Then, in the end, Senior Kim Chul left the association on his own. There were many speculations that the rumor that he was involved in a cult was just an excuse or a false rumor.”

[… … .]

Arsha relayed to Suho exactly what she had heard from Team Leader Han Jae-hyeok.

* * *

Suho was a little surprised to hear Arsha’s words in real time.

‘Chairman Woo Jin-cheol personally selected you and put you in charge of the Yangpyeong branch?’

According to Ber, Kim Chul was a soldier named ‘Iron’ of the Shadow Corps led by Sung Jin Woo a long time ago.

But as Earth’s time regressed to before his death, he came back to life and began a new life.

Like Hwang Dong-soo, who was a shadow soldier named ‘Grid’ and is now living as a S-class villain.

But that Kim Chul became an association hunter and lived as the branch manager of the Yangpyeong branch where his grandparents lived?

Is that really a coincidence?

‘No, that would never happen.’

Suho realized the situation right away.

‘For my father.’

Chairman Woo Jin-cheol was a man who remembered all his past lives related to his father.

That means.

‘In case my grandfather and grandmother were in danger while my father was away, the association was protecting Yangpyeong. I left the Yangpyeong branch to someone trustworthy!’

Perhaps, in the opinion of Chairman Woo Jin-cheol, there was no one more trustworthy than Kim Cheol, who used to be his father’s shadow soldier.

‘But who would have thought… … that Kim Chul would become a priest serving Itarim in such an unexpected place?’

It seems that even the great Woo Jin-cheol could not have anticipated such a variable.

“… … You are a priest of a foreign religion?”

“Yes.”

“If it’s Kim Cheol, then he must have been the branch manager of the Yangpyeong branch?”

Kim Chul nodded with a compassionate smile at Suho’s sharp question.

“Hehehe. Lord Volkan, you know everything. Yes, you were once a member of the Hunter Association.”

“But why are you here now?”

“Hehe, that is truly regrettable. Are you doubting me just because I was in the association for a while? Or are you doubting the performance of this star fragment?”

At Suho’s words, Kim Chul smiled kindly and lifted his large palm to touch the star fragment embedded in his forehead.

Then, an auspicious blue energy began to burn brightly from the star fragment, and mad eyes flashed between his fingers.

The corners of Kim Chul’s mouth went up in a smirk.

“Our foreign church only baptizes those who have proven their faith with a piece of a star, or rather, a ‘foreign stone.’ So, you don’t have to be suspicious. I just think that the foreign church is more for the world than the association… .”

[Kill him right now. I don’t need to listen to any more of that nonsense.]

Berga whispered like a demon next to the guardian.

Let’s kill. Let’s kill. Let’s kill.

Let’s kill. Let’s kill. Let’s kill.

[You must kill that fallen soldier Iron immediately and bring him back to the Shadow Legion!]

“… … Heh heh. Lord Volkan, please calm down for a moment. As you know, there is absolutely no reason for us to be at odds with each other.”

Maybe because of the energy that Berga was giving off, Kim Cheol wiped the cold sweat that was forming on his forehead with a handkerchief and spoke.

Suho quietly stepped on Ber with his foot to subdue him, then looked at Kim Chul and opened his mouth solemnly.

“I ask you, priest of the foreign religion.”

No matter how much I pretended to be a nerd, I felt like I had to ask this one thing because I was really curious.

“Haha. There are things that even the Demon Lord doesn’t know. Yes. Feel free to ask me anything… … .”

“If you implant a star fragment into a human, are there any side effects? Like losing hair like you did.”

“… … .”

That moment.

Kim Chul’s smile, which had been kind all along, flinched for the first time.

Kim Chul answered with a slight tremble in his eyes.

“… … This is just normal hair loss.”

“I see. Now that I think about it, the other humans next to you have hair. So there are no other side effects to the star fragments?”

Suho nodded as if nothing had happened and changed the subject.

Then, a wrinkle appeared on Kim Chul’s forehead where the star fragment was embedded, and he gritted his teeth and smiled.

“No way. How could there be any side effects in the first place? The Foreign Stone is a grace given by God for lowly humans like us.”

Saaaaaa-

With those words, the star on his forehead emitted blue energy in streams.

“Ugh.”

Kim Chul took a deep breath of the energy and showed an extremely ecstatic expression.

“Hehe. Do you feel it? If the stardust was just amplifying the power that you have, then the outer stone raises the power of its owner to a higher level. In short… … you are reborn as a higher being!”

Saaaaaa-

At the same time, Kim Chul’s star fragments began to glow blue and his energy seemed to grow stronger.

I can confidently say that the energy was far beyond the magical power limit of Kim Cheol, who was known as an A-class hunter.

[This can’t be happening. You’ve taken in the divine power of an alien and are emitting an aura that’s close to that of an S-class.]

‘It’s similar to the principle I used to infuse Gray into my body.’

Suho was able to understand the principle of the star fragment at a glance.

However misunderstood that expression, Kim Chul opened his arms and smiled brightly at Suho with an extremely affectionate smile and crazy eyes.

“So, Lord Volkan, how about joining us? It is the mission and destiny of mortals to worship and praise the gods.”

“A mortal’s mission. What good does it do for me?”

As Suho smirked and hinted at the luck, Kim Chul’s eyes sparkled with a meaningful expression.

“You probably already know, right? The real reason why Lord Volkan, the Demon Noble, came to us! You want to use the Outer Stone to become the King of Demons, right?”

“… … You’re quick-witted.”

“Hehehe. I’ve seen many demons up close. Lower-level demons want to become demon nobles, but if it’s Lord Volkan’s goal, it’s obviously the Demon King!”

[That, that was it?!]

‘Why are you like this too?’

Ignoring Eshil’s surprised voice, Suho glanced around with a cold gaze.

‘First of all, none of these people have a grandfather.’

After checking the faces of the foreign believers one by one, Su-ho asked Kim Chul, who was happily preaching alone, beating the drum and janggu.

“But are you all the foreign believers here?”

“That’s not true. All the other believers are offering sacrifices in the chapel.”

“Give me guidance.”

“Oh, you’re interested in the chapel! My guess was right. Come with us to the chapel and accept the pews.”

Kim Chul didn’t doubt Suho even a little bit.

Volkan was called the ‘Demon of Greed’ because he was the greediest of all the demons.

Now that all the other demon nobles are gone, the position of Demon King is what he would most desire.

[So when do you plan on killing me?]

‘Wait. When we’re all gathered together so that no one can escape… … .’

While listening to Ber’s whispers to continue to surprise and kill Kim Chul, Su-ho followed the foreign believers’ instructions and left the gambling house and headed to the chapel.

Soon, a huge door appeared in front of Suho.

When Kim Chul placed his palm on the massive door, his star fragment glowed and the heavy door opened by itself.

Ggggggggggggg-

Then, a large dome-shaped room appeared in Soo-ho’s sight.

Inside it were foreign believers lying flat on their stomachs mumbling prayers like crazy people.

But there was a reason why this incredibly wide space felt cramped.

‘That’s… … ?’

Suho’s eyes lit up.

The innermost part of the chapel.

There, sitting on a chair as large as itself, was something so huge that it defied common sense.

A statue of a god of truly enormous size.

“Welcome, Volcan. This is the chapel of our foreign church.”

As soon as Kim Chul finished speaking.

Whew-

The heads of the foreign believers who were kneeling and praying in the chapel all rose and looked up at Suho.

Then everyone smiled brightly, showing their teeth with the same expression.

And still, prayers flowed ceaselessly from his mouth.

“Worship God. Worship God. Worship God. Worship God.”

“Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God.”

“Prove your faith. Prove your faith. Prove your faith. Prove your faith… … .”

And.

Koo-kung!

The chapel door closed with a loud noise behind Suho.

The last verse of the prayer flowed out from Kim Chul’s mouth, who was smiling brighter than anyone else in front of the door.

“He who does not keep this rule will not be able to return alive.”