F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 35

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

35

A tickling sensation flowing through his body.

It comes at the end of the rough texture going down his esophagus.

His mind becoming hazy.

Just like when he first crossed through a Gate, his stomach churned and…

[Extracting mana from the consumed medium.]

[Mana has been absorbed.]

[Training Room upgrade and operation is now possible!]

“What, are you okay?”

“….”

He was fine.

More precisely, the symptoms appeared for just a brief moment and then stopped.

“This is supposed to take effect immediately, right?”

“Usually when people eat it, they start going crazy and raving mad right away… but you just went ‘ugh’ for a moment and that was it.”

She stealthily examined his face as she asked.

“You’re really fine, right?”

“I’m so calm that it’s strange how normal I am.”

“That can’t be right…”

Mephisto looked around with a puzzled expression.

Soon, seeing Juhyeok showing no signs of abnormality, she began muttering to herself.

“Did it have less effect because his body has extremely little mana? No, humans without mana who ate it showed the same effects, so that’s not it.”

Deep contemplation all by herself.

As curiosity overwhelmed her, she continued talking alone, setting up various hypotheses without even thinking about the person right in front of her.

After muttering to herself in a way that was hard to understand, she looked toward Juhyeok again.

“Then…”

“Hm?”

Whoosh—!

Without saying a word, Mephisto quickly flicked her finger at him.

Juhyeok instantly moved his head lightly and dodged the finger flick.

“…What are you doing.”

“You dodged it.”

With those words, the corners of her mouth curved up.

She spoke with an expression full of amusement.

“Normally you would never have been able to dodge that attack.”

“It was too obvious to miss.”

“That speed just now is one that even our Jinky can’t keep up with.”

A speed that even the Cerberus she raises couldn’t easily follow.

“It wasn’t a finger flick that you, who struggled against Jinky, could dodge so easily.”

Yet Juhyeok had cleanly avoided it with just a very simple movement.

That fact proved one thing.

“The herb is working. The side effects came briefly and then stopped.”

His physical abilities had dramatically improved from the Dream Herb he just consumed.

Of course, his mana amount hadn’t increased, but he had gained abilities equivalent to being enhanced by mana.

How was such a thing possible?

“Is this possible with just mental strength alone? No matter how I think about it, I can’t accept it.”

“….”

“His mana amount is still just a speck and nothing special, but only his physical abilities became monstrous.”

She slowly shifts her steps.

Click-clack.

She walks silently, making only the sound of her heels as she slowly circles around Juhyeok.

After completing one circle and arriving behind him, she lightly grabbed his shoulder.

He didn’t bother to block it.

He couldn’t sense any killing intent from her.

“You know, the more I look at you, the more I want you.”

A pleasant fragrance.

Like the cozy scent that comes from blankets dried in the morning sunlight.

It was very different from his expectation that demons would have an intense and artificial fragrance.

“Make a contract with me. How about it?”

“I won’t.”

“Why? If you contract with me and gain mana, you’ll become much stronger than you are now.”

This level of ability even with mana that was barely a pittance.

What would happen if he were to make a contract with the great demon Mephisto?

“Then you could have anything you want, right?”

“I don’t need it.”

He doesn’t imagine it.

The wealth and honor he would gain the moment he shook hands with her.

He didn’t even blink at the proposal that would tempt many people.

“You’re going to live your whole life with F-rank level mana? There’s no reason to stupidly let slip away the opportunity to become stronger when it’s right in front of you.”

“There’s a very big reason for it.”

Juhyeok looked straight at her as she tried to persuade him and answered.

“I’m neither smart enough nor stupid enough to make a contract with a demon.”

He’s not a human smart enough to toy with Mephisto.

Nor is he a human stupid enough to not know that about himself.

Even aside from the identity of his goal, there were sufficient reasons not to contract with her.

“Ha! So stubborn…”

Mephisto clicked her tongue as if disappointed by his firm attitude.

“Fine, I got to see something interesting today so I’ll let it slide.”

“Since the contract is off the table, just guide me to Garitos’ mansion.”

“You refuse the contract but make demands so boldly?”

Right now, if not her, there were no connections to guide him to Garitos’ mansion.

Originally he wasn’t the type to like acting shamelessly, but given the situation, he needed to be a bit brazen.

“I still haven’t received compensation for the beating. My ribs that your mutt cracked are still throbbing.”

“What about the library and the Dream Herb? Besides, I healed your wounds perfectly, so what…”

A look that wondered how such a human could exist.

To her who was passionately arguing against the mention of compensation, he said again.

“Don’t you know about PTSD? And the library and Dream Herb were both things I won fair and square through bets.”

The library was a prize he won by beating her in the temptation bet.

The Dream Herb too – she had clearly mentioned it was a bet with her own mouth.

Then the compensation hadn’t been properly paid yet.

“Just healing me isn’t enough to let it slide.”

“…”

Mephisto stared blankly at Juhyeok.

She stared intently at the strangely unsettling reversal for a while, then chuckled.

“Puhup!”

A laugh she couldn’t hold back.

After giggling to herself for a while, she took a puff of cigarette smoke, exhaled it into the empty air, and answered.

“You’re right~ You’re absolutely right.”

A nodding head after her laughter finally subsided.

She looked at Juhyeok with a smile.

“I’d like to take you there right away since it looks fun, but… you’re not ready yet.”

“You said I could probably beat your mutt now.”

“Even that level isn’t enough.”

Mephisto answered his dissatisfied expression.

“Even if hordes of your human S-ranks swarmed in, they’d barely make it from the main gate to the main entrance – that’s Garisto’s mansion.”

Cerberus, who Juhyeok had only just become capable of beating.

Even bringing a pack of such Cerberus wouldn’t be enough to enter Garisto’s mansion.

“It’s crawling with all sorts of modified demons, and even I don’t like visiting there unless I have to.”

So much so that even she, the great demon Mephisto, was reluctant to visit.

Due to his personality that extremely dislikes having his territory invaded, he’s laid out all sorts of traps and monsters, so she really doesn’t want to drop by unless it’s for something quite serious.

“Going now would be suicide. Though it would be a different story if you contracted with me.”

“Either option ends up with the same miserable conclusion.”

“That depends on what you do.”

Her eye smile that felt like mockery.

It was a gaze as if looking at a human who would someday fall into ruin.

Of course, even when she looked at him with such an expression, it only made him feel more averse.

“Then give me more Dream Herb. I can just eat it and get stronger.”

“Even if you endured it once, still. Your guts have really come out of your belly.”

She walks to the chair, sits down, and deeply inhales the cigar again.

After lightly crossing her legs, smoke spreads out with her breathing.

Mephisto quietly leaned back against the backrest and answered leisurely.

“Even if I wanted to give you more, I can’t because there isn’t any. Additionally, after being strengthened once with Dream Herb, immunity develops so eating more has no effect.”

A fact already revealed through experimentation.

Bodies enhanced by Dream Herb show no effect no matter how much more you feed them.

If one could continue getting stronger with Dream Herb alone, Hell would have become an even greater pandemonium with only monsters that had eaten Dream Herb remaining.

“You’ll have to live your whole life pretending not to know what you want to obtain, unless you make a contract.”

Would he gain power through a contract with Mephisto and go meet Garisto?

Or would he leave with mysterious questions behind him?

For him, it was a choice between two options.

Mephisto certainly thought that if he was human, he would unconditionally choose the former.

“I’ll absolutely never make a contract, so wake up from that dream.”

He absolutely.

No, at least for now, he had no intention of making any contract with a demon.

“Hmm~ I don’t know how long you’ll keep acting like that though.”

As she got up from her seat and threw the cigar into the empty air, it disappeared with a whoosh in midair.

After that, a Gate of similar size to what he had seen before entering Hell appeared in that spot.

“Call me whenever you need me, I’ll appear in whatever way possible.”

*

The home he returned to first after going back through the Gate.

The strongest thought was wanting to test somewhere the power he had gained from Dream Herb right away.

The mana needed for the Training Room should be fully recharged by now.

After leaving a text to Mother and acquaintances that he wouldn’t be able to meet them for a while due to training, he immediately entered the Training Room.

As always, he was about to enter while touching the mark engraved on his arm.

[Would you like to ententer immediately?]

A message that had strangely changed from usual.

‘What? This is the first time it’s appeared like this?’

Doubt arising from the newly appeared typo.

Thinking something was strange, he canceled and touched the mark again.

[Would you like to ententer immediately?]

This time too, the exact same message appeared.

‘…Did something go wrong?’

If there had been a way, he would have examined the problem, but with no information about artifacts currently.

For Juhyeok, after spending a little time, there was no particular method other than touching the mark, and such a simple solution didn’t work.

“Is it because of the Dream Herb?”

The abnormality that occurred after eating the Dream Herb.

The Training Room that used to recognize magic stones broke down after eating a medium it couldn’t recognize.

That was the most likely assumption Juhyeok could make right now.

‘What should I do about this…’

If that demon called Garisto had been there, he would have at least sought some advice.

According to Mephisto, his power was still insufficient to visit that place, so there was no particular solution.

Then until he met the demon called Garisto, he wouldn’t be able to use the Training Room.

‘That can’t happen.’

Unless he was given a lot of time like in the Training Room, there were no factors that would allow him to become stronger.

The conclusion that would come from this was already decided.

“Let’s go in.”

Entering the Training Room where an error had occurred.

Though safety wasn’t guaranteed like before, this was the only thing he could do for now.

After making his decision, Juhyeok touched the mark again and entered the Training Room.

After opening his eyes, what Juhyeok faced was fortunately not the afterlife.

Hell with flowing lava, like the place where he had met Cerberus.

Getting up from his spot, the sword placed at his feet.

Just as he was feeling relieved about everything.

Kikikik―! Kkeek―! Ki…kkeek―!

[Defeat 1,000,000 Dolls contaminated by ?? 0/1,000,000]

The doll whose entire body had turned bright red began attacking even before he could pick up his sword.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————