After Ten Millennia in Hell

"…"

Loud eating noises filled the small home.

"I-It seems like you were really hungry." Han Seol-Ah smiled awkwardly upon seeing Oh Kang-Woo eat the kimchi stew as if he were a starving demon.

It did not make her happy to see someone eat her food like that; rather, it disconcerted her.

Slurp! Munch, munch!

However, Kang-Woo didn't seem to care that Seol-Ah was watching him. He was just focused on eating.

'It's delicious.'

Kang-Woo took a spoonful of rice, put a slice of pork belly on top of it, and then placed a slice of kimchi on top of that. He opened his mouth wide and put the heaping spoon into his mouth. A new world of sensations spread through his body.

'This is too delicious!!!'

His taste buds, which had been lying around without doing anything for ten millennia, were going crazy.

Kang-Woo's feelings now were similar to when he had met Han Seol-Ah for the first time. His mind went blank.

"Sniff…" He was overwhelmed by emotion.

Memories of his ten millennia of suffering flashed through his mind.

"Sniff… Hic. Fuck… This is too delicious."

Kang-Woo ate the kimchi stew while crying like a little kid.

After he accepted demonic energy into his body in the Nine Hells, he had practically become half-demon and thus no longer needed to consume food to live. Demons maintained and moved their bodies through demonic energy, so they didn't need to eat.

'Those poor guys.' Kang-Woo pitied the demons who didn't know about the pleasure one could get from eating food.

Although he did not need to eat, Kang-Woo's taste buds were still intact because part of his body was still human. Demons, on the other hand, had weak taste buds to begin with because their bodies didn't require sustenance in the form of food.

"I-Is it that delicious?" Seol-Ah stuttered while watching Kang-Woo eat the kimchi stew while crying.

She was confident in her cooking skills, as she had done most of the housework ever since she was little. So, the kimchi stew she had cooked was the result of the skills and experience she had accumulated throughout the years. However… Seol-Ah didn't think her food was good enough to cause a person to shed tears while eating it.

"It's… too delicious…" Kang-Woo nodded while emptying the kimchi stew.

"I'm glad that you like it." Seol-Ah smiled proudly.

Nevertheless, she still found his reaction awkward since he wasn't like those people in charge of making reactions in cooking manhwas. Despite that, she didn't hate it. Kang-Woo's reaction just meant that he really liked what she had cooked for him.

'I'm glad,' Seol-Ah thought.

She had felt a bit guilty because the only thing she could offer to the person who had saved her life was kimchi stew, but seeing how much he enjoyed eating it made her feel relieved.

Kang-Woo seemed to have a pure side, which made her more interested in him.

'What am I thinking?'

Seol-Ah didn't have time to think about relationships. She sighed while thinking of her current situation.

Clatter!

"Ah…" Kang-Woo let out a sad gasp after seeing the empty pot.

'I haven't had enough yet,' he lamented inwardly.

He had a body that didn't require food, but his taste buds, which had activated after ten millennia of dormancy, weren't satisfied.

"Should I make a bit more?" Seol-Ah asked.

"Yes!"

"Fufu. Then wait a moment, please."

Kang-Woo nodded without a moment of hesitation.

Seol-Ah took the empty pot and stood up from her seat with a smile. Perhaps it was because she found Kang-Woo's behavior cute.

"It's nice to see a young man who eats well," Seol-Ah's mother remarked.

"It's the most delicious kimchi stew I have ever eaten," Kang-Woo stated.

He wasn't exaggerating. The kimchi stew had tasted so good that it was as if Seol-Ah had put all kinds of drugs inside it.

'I cannot lose this.'

Kang-Woo couldn't let that kimchi stew go.

'The answer is marriage.'

In truth, the reason why it tasted so good to him was because he hadn't eaten proper food for the past ten millennia. Nonetheless, he didn't have the rationality to come to that conclusion at the moment.

Kang-Woo's eyes shone as he imagined his future with her, full of her kimchi stew.

'Darling, I'm going to make you happy!'

The lord of the Nine Hells, a gluttonous monster who had devoured more than hundreds of thousands of demons… This scene of the demon king, who had been at the top of the food chain in the Nine Hells, losing his reason because of a kimchi stew felt like a tragedy.

Bubble bubble.

"Since you enjoyed it so much earlier, I've made more this time," Seol-Ah said.

She knew nothing about Kang-Woo, who had eaten all the stew, yet she smiled and brought out another bubbling pot of kimchi stew.

"Thanks for the meal!" Kang-Woo told her.

Slurp! Munch!

Kang-Woo grabbed the spoon and once again began emptying the pot of kimchi stew.

'Like I thought, it's still delicious!' he thought, once again moved by the taste of the stew on his tongue.

Seol-Ah smiled proudly while looking at how eagerly he was eating the kimchi stew.

Boom!

The door suddenly slammed open, and a young man entered the house.

"Hey, Seol-Ah! I heard that you entered a Gate without my permission! Come here!" he yelled.

The young man, who was dressed in a suit, had short blond hair and fine facial features. He approached Seol-Ah while letting out a slew of curses.

Seol-Ah froze upon seeing him.

"O-Oppa…"

"Tae-Hyun! H-How can you talk to Seol-Ah like that?!"

Seol-Ah and her mother trembled because of Han Tae-Hyun's sudden appearance in the apartment.

Tae-Hyun snorted indifferently and walked over to Seol-Ah.

He questioned, "Who gave you permission to enter a Gate by yourself?"

"I-I'm a Player now. Also, it was you who stopped me from getting a party!" Seol-Ah replied.

"Hmph, you talk too much nonsense for a newbie who hasn't even received basic training," Tae-Hyun said. Then he grabbed Seol-Ah's shoulders while smiling. With eyes of ambition, he whispered to Seol-Ah, "I told you to stop this nonsense and join our guild. I'll introduce you to some kind people."

"Ugh…" Seol-Ah looked at Tae-Hyun with a disgusted expression.

Tae-Hyun was Seol-Ah's biological older brother, and he was three years older than her.

'This human garbage isn't my brother.' Seol-Ah clenched her fists and glared at him.

Tae-Hyun had been a troublemaker even before the Gates had appeared five years ago.

Seol-Ah and Tae-Hyun's father had died at a young age, but their household circumstances hadn't been that bad despite their mother raising them by herself. Their mother had been a skillful career woman, so she had earned a decent amount of money.

However, ever since middle school, Tae-Hyun had been involved in many acts of violence. He even assaulted his mother and robbed her of the valuables she had at home. After that, her mother fell sick from all the stress Tae-Hyun's behavior caused her, and that made their household situation worsen.

On top of that, Tae-Hyun had awakened as a Player. He was a very talented Player. When he reached Level 10 and achieved his Second Awakening, he received a B-rank Trait and joined the Andras Guild.

The Andras Guild was a guild whose name was based on one of the seventy-two demons of Solomon, and just like their name, they were famous for doing all sorts of horrible things.

After entering the Andras Guild, Tae-Hyun did everything he could to reach a higher position. The Andras Guild wasn't big, but it was still quite large compared to mid-sized guilds.

In such a large guild, Tae-Hyun's abilities were only considered average, so he was struggling to climb up. That's when he thought of Seol-Ah, his beautiful little sister.

'If I put her in the same party as my superiors…'

There weren't many women that were as pretty as Seol-Ah. If she were offered to them, he would probably be able to reach a higher position. Tae-Hyun was a lowlife who didn't feel remorse for wanting to sacrifice his family member for personal gain.

"No. I'll never join your guild," Seol-Ah declared.

"Hah. It seems like you're still far too naive to understand how the world works. This isn't a world you can live in just by doing things you like. If you receive the love of my superiors, your life will improve immediately, and so will mine."

"How… How can you say something like that to your family?"

"Huh? Family? Don't bullshit me. How could I call such a poor and useless bunch like this my family?"

"Whose fault do you think that is?!"

Tae-Hyun laughed at Seol-Ah's shout and then said, "Whose fault? It's obviously because of Dad, who died too early, and Mom, who can only earn pennies."

"You crazy bastard!"

Seol-Ah couldn't contain her anger anymore. She clenched her fists and tried to punch him.

Tae-Hyun wasn't her family member anymore; he was just a beast wearing the skin of a human. No, he was trash.

Grab!

"Ugh!!" Seol-Ah groaned in pain when Tae-Hyun grabbed Seol-Ah's wrist.

Seol-Ah shook because of the pain in her wrist. She had just reached Level 6, so overpowering Tae-Hyun, who was very close to Level 30, was impossible for her.

"Let me go!" she screamed.

"The only thing useful about you is your pretty face. So, you should think of using that to at least be of some help. Don't you think so? How could you talk to your older brother like that? You spoiled little—"

"T-Tae-Hyun!" the siblings' mother called out.

"Get out of the way, you old hag!" Tae-Hyun spat.

He ignored his mother, who stood in his way, and walked toward the living room while holding Seol-Ah's wrist.

"Today, I will make sure to… Huh?"

Slurp! Munch!

The moment he entered the living room, he saw Kang-Woo, who was concentrating on eating the kimchi stew.

"What, did you seduce some man?" Tae-Hyun said while laughing at Seol-Ah.

He let go of her wrist, walked toward Kang-Woo, and said, "Hey, man. You're a bother, so get the fuck out."

Slurp!

Even though Tae-Hyun had threatened him, Kang-Woo just ignored Tae-Hyun and kept eating the kimchi stew.

"I told you to get the fuck out!" Tae-Hyun repeated.

However, Kang-Woo continued ignoring him, so Tae-Hyun violently kicked the table.

Slam!

The table was overturned, and…

"Ah…" Kang-Woo gasped.

The kimchi stew… was spilled… on the floor…

"AAAHHH!"

The lord of the Nine Hells, the monster that had devoured the seven princes of Hell who used to rule Hell… He was the demon of demons, the predator of predators, and an existence that was like the Hell of the Hells. He was the master of demons who had devoured more than a hundred thousand demons.

The scream from the demon king, the pinnacle of all demons, spread through the worn-down apartment.

"MY KIMCHI STEEWWW!!!"