F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 59

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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59

‘S-rank is different even in color.’

The S-Grade Magic Stone in his hand.

Its brilliant yet dark color, shining like obsidian, emanated an incredible aura.

‘How much exactly was left right now?’

Rolling up his left sleeve while looking at the bathroom mirror.

As he placed his hand and lightly rubbed the mark, a message immediately appeared.

[Training Room upgrade and mana replenishment for operation 82/100…]

“Ha, will this work.”

18% remaining for the Training Room upgrade.

Going through an A-rank Gate once had filled nearly 10 percent.

Jung Juhyeok pondered briefly before picking up the magic stone he had set down.

Then a new message immediately appeared.

[If you consume this magic stone, Training Room upgrade will be immediately possible!]

“Phew.”

An instinctive sigh of relief.

Just when he was worried about where to get new magic stones if the S-Grade Magic Stone wasn’t enough.

The news that one S-Grade Magic Stone was sufficient for the upgrade finally lifted his worries.

‘I don’t need to worry about the upgrade anymore… but the problem is whether it’s okay to enter the artifact now.’

Two weeks remaining until the promised date.

The time that had passed in reality since he last entered the artifact contaminated with Dream Herb was 3 weeks.

‘If I go in carelessly and can’t come out in time, I’ll have to wait again.’

Could he really come out of the Artifact within 2 weeks?

Since the time to exit the Artifact wasn’t something he could decide himself, it was quite a hesitant matter.

‘No matter if it’s an inspection day, some Modified Demons might still remain.’

Unless they were idiots, they would leave at least a few Gatekeepers even during inspection.

Was he currently someone who could definitely win against such guys?

‘No, absolutely not.’

He couldn’t settle the match for six hours even against a Hunter who belonged to the lower-middle tier among S-ranks.

With such a body, he would fight against several of those dangerous Modified Demons?

According to Mephisto, it was a date with some possibility, but she didn’t say it was definitely possible.

‘If I go there for no reason and die, it would be nothing but a dog’s death.’

If he made a mistake, he might die away from home without achieving his proper purpose, whether it was Garisto or whatever.

Then would it be right to enter the Artifact, train more, and come out?

‘If I can’t come out on schedule, I’ll have to live for a whole year with a body that might explode at any time?’

A body that showed no signs yet, but was infected even to the Dream Herb and could explode at any moment.

Moreover, there was no guarantee that the Artifact wouldn’t be discovered by others during that time.

“…What should I do.”

Faced with two crossroads, he held his head and agonized.

After pondering for a while, Juhyeok soon decided on the most rational choice.

“Let’s go in.”

His body was still insufficient to face Modified Demons.

Although Mephisto said it would be fine, he needed to train his body a bit more to prepare for any contingency.

What made him realize this was his last sparring match with Kieran.

‘I’m still far too lacking.’

Everyone praised him, saying that for an F-rank Irregular, this was an unbelievable achievement, but his opponents wouldn’t go easy on him just because they heard that title.

Since there was a possibility that Mephisto could be wrong, becoming much stronger would be far more reliable.

‘If I can’t get out of the Artifact within two weeks anyway, then I wasn’t qualified to go to Garisto in the first place.’

With that thought, he immediately swallowed the S-Grade Magic Stone.

As the rough stone went down his esophagus, a message appeared shortly after.

[Mana has been absorbed.]

[Training Room upgrade and operation are now possible!]

[Would you like to enter right now?]

The familiar message welcomed Jung Juhyeok.

As always, when Jung Juhyeok agreed, his vision went dark.

*

Yearning.

I wanted to become strong.

A life as fragile as a fruit fly that could be killed by a High-Ranking Demon at any moment.

I wanted to open Gates, take human souls, and become even stronger, but I was just one Lower-Class Demon among many who lacked even that ability.

Such a tiny existence always dreamed.

How wonderful it would be if I could become as strong as those Upper-Class Demons over there.

A famous demon whose stories are passed down like fairy tales among humans.

I wanted to become such a renowned demon and live pursuing not just the instinct to survive, but my own desires.

Then one day, the demon heard a rumor through word of mouth.

The rumor about Count Garisto, who could make even the weakest demon strong.

At his touch, even stones rolling around in Hell would become massive meteors.

At first, he dismissed it as mere rumors, but as days passed, the stories about him grew more elaborate and eventually sparked the demon’s curiosity.

He was tired of a life spent barely clinging to survival.

So the demon went to Count Garisto’s mansion to try living a new life.

And then.

“C-Count… please have mercy…!”

The demon immediately regretted it within 5 minutes of meeting Count Garisto.

When he knelt down and bowed his head, saying he wanted to become stronger, Count Garisto welcomed him with a gentle smile.

That sweet smile.

He absolutely shouldn’t have been fooled by it.

By the time he was already inside the laboratory, sitting in a chair and tied up, it was already too late.

“Mercy? Isn’t that exactly what I’m showing you right now?”

Items of unknown purpose placed on the table.

Potions, herbs, and hexahedral objects that looked like cubes.

Though they were scattered about messily, Garisto’s hand moved without hesitation toward its target.

“You walked here on your own two feet saying you wanted to become stronger, and I’m trying to help you. So why are you making such a frightened face and trying to turn away?”

“I-it’s true that I wanted to become stronger, but…!”

“So your desire to become stronger was only to that extent of resolve.”

A subtle madness could be felt in his voice.

He continued speaking to the demon in a gentle tone.

“In that case, I feel rather insulted.”

“…”

It was over.

Even if he refused that artifact right now, he would definitely use him as a test subject.

When I saw the Modified Demons in the mansion, I should have realized immediately and fled.

The stubbornness of not being able to turn back from here was what drove him to this point.

“Then I wish you luck.”

“Ugh, uugh…”

The demon couldn’t even scream as it made contact with the Artifact.

Before long, he collapsed into the air while still tied to the chair.

“I hope this time he comes back for sure.”

That’s as far as it goes.

The film cuts off and the world is plunged into darkness.

As the demon disappears and his vision turns black again, before long a landscape whiter than a midwinter Snow Field is revealed.

“…What is this?”

It felt like he had just watched a movie.

It was the same experience as when he first entered the Artifact.

‘Does it occasionally show me something like this?’

The Artifact’s inexplicable behavior.

Jung Juhyeok was momentarily confused by someone’s memories he had just witnessed, but then looked around his surroundings.

It was still pure white.

Unlike before when it always showed natural scenery like forests, caves, and swamps in some way, this time no environment was visible at all.

A pure white landscape that would drive someone insane if they stayed too long.

The landscape that stretched out vastly without a single tree was far too eerie.

“…Where is the Doll?”

No matter how much he looked around, the Doll was nowhere to be seen.

The sword that should have been placed at his feet was nowhere to be seen.

‘Could it be that something went wrong with the Training Room?’

The worst-case scenario.

Could he have gotten trapped inside the Artifact with no way out?

Just as he was calmly pondering how to resolve this situation.

“Where is this place…?”

Someone’s voice was heard from behind.

When he turned around to check, there was a demon with horns so small compared to Mephisto’s.

At first glance, the horns were so small you couldn’t even tell if they existed, making him seem human, but his Reverse Eye clearly detected that he was indeed a demon.

“You, you are… who are you?”

That demon looked utterly devastated.

Just from his voice alone, a feeling of emptiness emanated from somewhere within.

‘But why does he seem so familiar?’

Though his clothes were shabby and his face was covered with many wounds, he had seen this guy before.

And not long ago, but very recently.

An elongated face with small eyes.

The habit of twitching his thumb whenever he talked.

‘The demon I just saw in the illusion?’

The demon who struggled against Garisto but ultimately turned to dust and disappeared due to the Artifact.

Yes, he was definitely the same demon.

“What’s this? Why did a human appear instead of a doll?”

The guy was muttering to himself.

Then he casually stabs deeply into his own forearm.

Even while blood drips steadily, he doesn’t even frown as he digs into the wound.

“Can’t you speak?”

“…No.”

“Y-you can talk?”

The other party suddenly opens his eyes wide in surprise while mercilessly stabbing at the wound.

He rushes toward Juhyeok in a fluster and asks.

“How did you come to this place? Were you captured by Count Garisto? No, even so, how did a human get in here?”

“….”

The demon continues to stab at his own wound even while speaking.

His brow furrows involuntarily at the sight of blood splattering mercilessly in all directions.

“Could you stop that disgusting self-harm for now?”

“Ah, this?”

His arm stained with blood.

The demon continued to dig into the wound even while hearing those words.

“If I stop this, I’ll quickly turn into one of those dolls too.”

“Dolls?”

“Yes, dolls.”

Along with the word “dolls,” the demon’s expression finally contorts.

“Those guys who mercilessly beat and trample on me.”

His lips trembling.

His voice begins to shake faintly.

“To catch that thing a million times, it’s nothing short of complete madness.”

Acting with exaggerated gestures like a musical performer.

The demon raises both arms high and continues speaking.

“So I was about to give up on everything, but the moment I tried to, the Artifact attempted to invade my mind.”

Head wrapped by two arms raised high.

The eyes visible between them trembled with fear.

“So it keeps harming me.”

Then spreading the two arms that had wrapped around the head and inflicting new wounds in different places.

I wondered if I should applaud this third-rate performance, but the other party wasn’t doing this to earn applause.

“Trying to make me like that Doll… But I can’t just obediently become Count Garisto’s doll.”

“It’s trying to turn you into a doll?”

“Yes, a doll!”

Head tilting as it said this.

The Demon posed a question out of curiosity.

“But why are you fine?”

“…Because I’ve already escaped from the Artifact.”

“You escaped? Huh? What?”

After expressing confusion for a moment, it giggled and said.

“Don’t tell me you beat up that Doll a million times?”

“….”

Juhyeok affirmed without answering.

Then the giggling Demon suddenly became serious and answered.

“…Really?”

“Yeah, I defeated it and got out.”

“Lies!”

Shouting loudly and then viciously clawing at its wounds.

The Demon thrust its haggard face forward and asked intensely.

“Lies, lies! Do I look that stupid to you?”

Eyes glaring as he said those words.

After glaring at the still calm Juhyeok for a few seconds, that menacing expression gradually softened.

“No, it’s not a lie… You’re normal.”

Juhyeok just remained quietly still without saying anything.

The demon who had been playing all the parts by himself stopped self-harming and stepped back with a serious expression.

“You’re strong.”

He seemed to have calmed down a bit now.

He suddenly became composed and began speaking clearly.

“I have a feeling, I can get you out of here.”

Then his face filled with tears.

The demon quickly prostrated himself on the ground and cried out desperately.

“S-save me!”

A demon kneeling before a human.

It was indeed a rare sight, but at the same time, it wasn’t a particularly pleasant scene.

“I’ll become your doormat if you want! Please save me!”

He was desperate.

A means for his own survival.

To survive somehow, he prostrated himself on the ground and pathetically begged for help.

“I’ll get you out of here… so please help me escape from this hellish place too!”

“….”

“If you don’t, I won’t let you out!”

He went from begging for help to suddenly threatening, wavering back and forth.

If I stayed with him like this, I felt like I would lose my mind first.

‘I need to get out of here first.’

“I understand, so let me out.”

“Promise you’ll save me!”

“Alright, I’ll do my best to save you.”

“I can’t trust just words!”

“Then what do you want.”

“….”

Rising from where she had been prostrated.

The demon dug deep into the center of her chest and pulled out a magic stone covered in blood and flesh.

“Eat it.”

“…What?”

“It’s a contract.”

The demon’s crazed gaze.

She shook the magic stone as she spoke.

“If you don’t keep your promise, it’ll explode inside your body.”

“…Do we really need to go this far.”

“We have to! Otherwise I won’t let you out!”

“….”

Quietly staring at the magic stone.

Did he really need to help the artifact in this situation, even going so far as to eat a magic stone and make a promise.

Though he had doubts, currently not a single message window was appearing.

Except for the demon who claimed she could let him out, there was no other way to escape this place.

“Fine, I’ll eat it.”

“Good thinking.”

The magic stone handed to him by her.

The message that used to appear when touching magic stones didn’t show up this time either.

Though he worried something might go wrong, there was no other option, so he barely scraped off the flesh and swallowed the magic stone.

“Heh, hehehe… that was delicious.”

“Your creepy laughter is making me think I got tricked into eating something.”

“Well then, I’ll send you back now.”

With those words, his vision began to shake.

As his view gradually became blurry, the demon waved its hand and said.

“See you next time for sure.”

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