The Strongest in the Game by Dominating Monster - Chapter 1

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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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Monster Domination: Game’s Strongest Episode 1

Black Giant Castle.

A man reigned from the highest balcony of that castle.

He looked down at the vast plain spread before the castle with arrogant eyes.

The man’s gaze swept from the castle gates to the edge of the horizon, and every creature that entered his sight bowed their heads.

Not only low-level monsters like goblins and kobolds.

But also giant monsters like minotaurs, trolls, and ogres.

Even wyverns, bone dragons, and liches.

All the monsters in the world showed respect to his authority.

And then, his lips slowly parted.

“Tear it down. That vulgar world.”

Quieeeek!

Krwaaaaaaah!

Karrrrrrrrr!

Hundreds of thousands of monsters moved at his single will, shaking the earth.

The man smiled coldly as he watched the march of hundreds of thousands of monsters.

This place was his territory, built from nothing but bare ground.

That great army was his force, grown gradually starting from a single goblin.

He was the absolute monarch of monsters, the apex of all demons.

The seventh Demon King of the Demon Realm, Kairen.

* * *

“Ah. This dream again…”

Yu Baekjin woke up with disheveled hair, frowning and showing his irritation.

Demon King Kairen and all that—I’m really sick of it now. So sick of it.

Why am I sick of it? Because I’ve been having this dream tediously from when I was five until now at twenty-four.

Not every day, but intermittently.

From the scene where Demon King Kairen receives his territory to when he turns the world upside down.

Yes. I glimpsed his entire life through dreams.

And I realized.

That I was Kairen in my previous life.

How do I know that?

Do I think that just because of some dreams?

No. Absolutely not.

If it were just dreams, I wouldn’t think this way either.

I got up from bed and headed to the bathroom.

As I took out my toothbrush and brushed my teeth, a cat cried sharply outside the window.

Nyaaaong!

Others would consider it just a stray cat’s cry that’s a bit more unpleasant than usual.

But it sounded completely different to me.

[I told you not to invade my territory!!]

Like Kairen, I could understand the words of beasts.

* * *

A person who can communicate with animals.

How rare and magnificent is that.

In 2035, when the pet owner population exceeds 30 million.

I could have become their god.

Whether as a trainer or zookeeper, I could have become the king of those who love animals.

I could have become a billionaire.

But I couldn’t.

Why? Because while animals do follow me…

Before following me, they’re too scared of me.

When I was six, I went to the zoo holding my parents’ hands.

Seeing a tiger, I jumped around like a child and spoke to it, and the tiger wet itself.

Its eyes became gentle and it fainted right there.

I didn’t know then, but I understand now.

The reason the king of beasts became such a mess was all because I was a demon king.

If a tiger was like that, other animals were obvious.

Whenever I spoke to them, they would faint or run away.

So I gave up on becoming a billionaire through animal-related businesses.

It seemed faster to be kidnapped by a secret research facility after my abilities were exposed than to become a billionaire.

Instead, I nurtured a new dream.

I had some talent and interest in it.

But in my first year of high school, injury and family circumstances held me back.

I gave up my dream and turned to studying.

I may look like this, but I was a demon king in my previous life.

My mind was quite brilliant too.

Even though I started studying from the second semester of my first year, I hit the jackpot on the college entrance exam.

I entered Korea University’s Business Administration Department, the best university in the country.

And I was discharged from the military a week ago.

Wow. Saying it like this, I really lived diligently.

But even living this diligently.

Even with a previous life as a demon king.

South Korea was a really tough country to live in.

* * *

Someone once said that South Korea is a really good country for scamming.

Very unfortunately, I learned this uncomfortable truth in my first year of high school.

My father, who ran a fairly large small-to-medium enterprise, was scammed and went completely bankrupt.

The wealthy family’s downfall started from then.

Shadows deepened on my parents’ faces, and our whole family lived huddled together in a semi-basement studio.

At least now my parents moved to the countryside so we don’t have to live like that anymore, but life is still tough.

During my final leave, I went around looking for public rental housing and searching for tutoring jobs and part-time work.

“Hey! Baek Jin! Over here!”

Then, when I arrived at the promised bar, my friend waved his hand.

I casually waved back and headed to the seat.

This guy’s name is Park Jinwoo.

My close friend who’s not only my elementary, middle, and high school classmate but also went to the same university.

He’s even in the same Business Administration Department. With a bit of exaggeration, we’ve known each other longer than I’ve known my parents.

“Wow! How long has it been!”

“Almost half a year, right?”

Seeing his obviously delighted expression made me feel excited too.

“But what’s with your hair? Can Army guys come out with hair that long?”

“What are you talking about? It’s not much different from when you were discharged.”

“Hey now. A first-year reservist talking back to his senior?”

“Senior my ass. I don’t treat Air Force honey bees as seniors.”

“What did you say, you ground pounder?”

Despite our harsh words, we both broke into big grins.

A face I hadn’t seen in half a year. Even silly jokes felt enjoyable.

“What do you want to eat? Order everything. I’ll pay.”

I jumped up from my seat at my friend’s words.

“Get up. Let’s go for omakase.”

“Want to get smacked?”

I sat back down with a laugh.

I was joking around, but this place was a beef restaurant after all.

It wasn’t exactly cheap.

“Ah. Then…”

While Yu Baekjin looked at the menu, pondering what to order.

Park Jinwoo glanced around and let out a hollow laugh.

It was an ordinary barbecue restaurant, but maybe because it was near the busy district of Gangnam Station.

The place was full of quite attractive men and women.

And they were stealing glances at his friend while letting out sounds of admiration.

“Hair doesn’t mean shit for guys.”

Park Jinwoo pouted and grumbled.

“Huh? What?”

Yu Baekjin, who had been choosing from the menu, looked up and asked.

“What else. Your face, you bastard.”

“Is this news? Don’t worry about it.”

Yu Baekjin spoke indifferently, and Park Jinwoo looked at him with envious eyes.

He really was a peculiar guy.

A tall, lean height of 183cm.

Gentle eyes and a sharp nose bridge.

Even clean skin without a single blemish.

With a face that handsome, he had little interest in women.

Even more…

“You look different somehow? Have you been working out?”

“Yeah. Does it show? A junior who came in during my final year was a fitness trainer, so I learned a bit. It was fun.”

“Ah…”

Park Jinwoo let out a deep sigh.

The guy who was already good-looking had perfected his body too.

Just when he was desperately wishing for a law banning handsome men from exercising, Yu Baekjin, who had finished ordering, asked.

“Ah. Jin-woo. Are you busy tomorrow morning?”

“No. I’ve got nothing. Why?”

“Then, should we go to a jjimjilbang and sleep there tonight? I want to sweat it out after so long.”

At that moment, Park Jinwoo squeezed his eyes shut.

He and Baek Jin were dick friends.

Real dick friends.

“I’m not going, you monster bastard.”

Park Jinwoo shouted in frustration from his pointless inferiority complex.

* * *

After enjoying beef and drinks for quite a while.

A truly absurd scene unfolded before Park Jinwoo’s eyes.

“Excuse me… I lost at a game, so…”

What kind of woman plays drinking games at a barbecue restaurant?

And uses losing at drinking games as an excuse to come get drinks from men?

“Ah. Sorry. We’re having a serious conversation right now.”

And what kind of man uses “serious conversation” as an excuse at a barbecue restaurant?

It was the first time he’d seen such a scene in his life.

“Was the story about you shitting your pants in kindergarten really that serious?”

After the woman left, Park Jinwoo downed his soju and said.

“It is serious. Right now you’re distorting the past by making up false facts.”

“Distorting my ass. You really did shit yourself!”

“I did not! And stop talking about shit while we’re eating!”

As typical of twenty-four-year-old men, their conversation was childish and enjoyable.

Military stories that no man could skip.

Embarrassing past stories, stories about classmates.

The more drinks they shared, the more animated their conversation became.

“But she was really nice though. Wasn’t she worth giving your number to?”

Park Jinwoo glanced at the woman’s table and asked.

“Forget it. Am I in any position to date right now? I’m too busy trying to make a living.”

Yu Baekjin answered dryly.

In reality, dating was a luxury for him right now.

“Sigh. So you’re planning to do part-time jobs and tutoring until you return to school?”

“I have to. I already got one tutoring job.”

“Already? Ah, never mind. If it’s you, it’s possible.”

Baek Jin was a monster who had never lost his spot as top of the class before taking his leave of absence.

Even fresh out of the military, he was still in demand in the tutoring market.

“Don’t overdo it. You’ll hurt yourself.”

“It’s fine. What would I do just playing around anyway.”

“What do you mean what would you do? There’s so much to do… Ah! You know about that, right? New World!”

Park Jinwoo clapped his hands as he spoke, and Yu Baekjin nodded.

New World.

The virtual reality game that shocked the world in 2035.

It was a ‘revolution’ that perfectly implemented graphics, motion, and server stability.

Graphics more beautiful than reality.

Human-like NPCs.

An endless open world.

It was truly a utopia for gamers.

That was New World.

“Of course I’ve heard of it. There was even a guy in the company next to ours who went AWOL to play that.”

“Haha. Really?”

“Yeah. We suffered like hell because of that crazy bastard. But the guys who played it on leave said that guy had good reason to go AWOL.”

“Hahaha! That’s really crazy.”

Park Jinwoo clutched his stomach and laughed.

What was funnier was that he completely understood it himself.

“Have you played it? Is it really that fun?”

“It’s fun. It really is an incredible game. You remember Taemin and Hyeonjun? Those bookworms? Even they got academic warnings because of New World.”

And that wasn’t all.

There were truckloads of people who took leaves of absence just to play New World.

“Oh. Since we’re talking about it, do you want to try it too?”

Yu Baekjin scratched his head at his friend’s suggestion.

He did want to try it.

But he knew well enough.

That capsule rooms weren’t cheap.

“Hey. Let’s go. I said I’m treating today, didn’t I?”

Park Jinwoo stood up from his seat and shouted boldly.

His own wallet wasn’t exactly flush either.

But he wasn’t so heartless that he couldn’t do this much for a friend who’d just been discharged.

* * *

“Oh. But do you know what’s crazy about New World?”

“What?”

“A person’s characteristics? Talents? They’re implemented in the game too?”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

While walking to the capsule room, he tilted his head at Jin-woo’s words.

“I mean, for example, if you were a national Taekwondo representative. Then you’d be able to kick amazingly well in the game too.”

“Ah. I get it. Then athletes would be flying around, right?”

“Right. That’s why there are so many athletes among the streamers. But it’s not like only athletes have an advantage. Human talents are incredibly diverse.”

He nodded his head.

Right. Talents are very diverse indeed.

There might be people like me who have talents they can’t tell anyone about.

Suddenly, he became curious.

His talent of Animal Communication.

Would that ability work in the game too?

Then how should he use that ability in the game?

Or would they fear him and faint like in reality?

His steps quickened with intense curiosity.

They soon arrived at the capsule room, and everything proceeded smoothly from there.

“Please enter Capsule #3 and Capsule #12. We’ll help you with post-payment.”

Jin-woo, who was familiar with capsule rooms, helped with membership registration and login.

“You use #3. I’ll take #12.”

“Got it. Thanks, Jin-woo.”

“Don’t mention it. If you don’t know something or have questions while playing, send me a whisper.”

“Okay. Nothing else to say? Should I go in now?”

They waved and entered their respective rooms.

The inside of the capsule was as cozy as a luxury hotel bed.

At the head were a helmet and even a smartphone dock fully equipped.

They said if you place your phone in this dock, it automatically syncs with SNS and contacts.

After placing his phone and lying down with the helmet on, an icon appeared.

[New World]

When he clicked it as if reaching out, he felt like he was being sucked somewhere.

His consciousness sank, and his mind felt at ease.

And soon—

[Adventurer who has connected to New World, we sincerely welcome you. We will guide you to the Character Creation Window.]

A mirror appeared along with a gentle voice.

His full body was reflected in the mirror and a window for entering a name appeared.

He didn’t change his appearance much since there was basic correction.

He only changed his hair to blonde and his eyes to blue.

For the name, simply.

“Baek Jin.”

[This name is available. Would you like to create the character?]

“Ah. Wait a moment. I’ll choose again.”

[Yes. Please tell us the name again.]

Why did this name come to mind?

But he just wanted to use this name.

“Kairen. I’ll go with Kairen.”

My name from my past life when I was the Demon King.

He spoke that name.

[This name is available. Would you like to create the character?]

“Yes.”

[Creating character….]

[Creation completed.]

[May blessings accompany your journey.]

At the same time, his vision went dark.

Paaaaat!

In the blinding light.

Literally a new world unfolded.

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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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