Chapter 4
<The Demon World’s Labor Market #2 >
Evolution meant change.
Adapting to the environment, changing to become more suitable.
It was a bit different.
The skill that Yong-Ho had didn’t have the same exact meaning as the dictionary.
It was taking it a step further.
It doesn’t differentiate between the body and spirit and activates the potential power that one has. It allows one to develop through it and provides the power to take a step further.
If they wanted it to be faster, it’ll be faster
If they wanted it to be firmer, it’ll be firmer.
If they wanted it to be stronger, it’ll be stronger.
It guides them down the path.
It brings out the power that’s hidden within. It awakens them as a new being.
That’s the power of evolution.
The almighty power that one receives after awakening as a demon!
Yong-Ho opened his eyes. He awakened the consciousness that was sleeping deep inside him. And he thought.
‘So what does it all mean?’
The Power of Evolution.
He had a vague idea, but he wasn’t sure what kind of power it was and how he could use it. If this was a game, a tutorial would pop right up and would explain the power, but unfortunately, this was reality. That’s why, Yong-Ho thought about this himself.
‘So, a class change...no, does it mean that this power will increase the class?’
If it was a game, it was like promoting a goblin to a hobgoblin and a soldier to a higher ranked soldier.
He had a better idea than before, but he didn’t think he understood the entire concept. In that case, he would be known as the Demon of Advancement, not the Demon of Evolution.
And unless this was a game, it didn’t seem like the title, ‘Upper Class,’ was really used here.
‘Anyways, so it’s a power that helps evolve.’
Yong-Ho thought about the games he played in the past. Even in strategy simulation games, there were levels within each unit. If the character lived long enough and obtained experience, they would level up and the unit that increased their level was stronger and more useful against the opposing units that were weaker than them.
Of course it won’t be exactly the same as that game. No, Yong-Ho’s power wasn’t as simple as just leveling up because he had the ability to develop and to make things better.
But, it was enough for him to get an idea.
As an engineering student, he didn’t like the fact that there wasn’t a way to perfectly process this, but he decided to be satisfied with the information that he had.
It’s not like he was going to lose his power, so he decided to find out little by little by testing it out.
Yong-Ho opened his eyes. And he saw Catalina, who was wrapped in a cloak and was rolling around on the floor.
“Huh?”
Smoke started rising from her body. But the colors were very different.
First, the smoke had five different colors.
Red, Blue, Black, Yellow, and Purple.
The five different colors were rising towards the ceiling in similar sizes. The smoke didn’t combine and each of the five colors weren’t mixing with one another.
Yong-Ho blinked. Every time he blinked, the color of the smoke would get lighter and not long after, it would completely disappear as if he had been imagining it. 𝙛r𝚎𝐞𝑤𝚎𝗯𝗻𝗼𝐯e𝚕.𝒄𝐨𝓂
Instead of being shocked, Yong-Ho thought about it.
Why did he suddenly see that weird smoke?
Is the source of this change from himself or from Catalina?
Yong-Ho stood up from the throne and approached Catalina. She had the tendency to sleep in for a long time and as before, she moved around in her cloak, but it didn’t look like she was going to wake up anytime soon.
Yong-Ho assumed that the source was him.
Then, what was different from before?
It was simple. The Power of Evolution.
Yong-Ho sat down in front of Catalina and gulped. He closed his eyes again and tried to awaken his power.
His assumption was correct. Once again, the five colored smoke started rising again.
What did the smoke mean?
‘This isn’t it.’
It was too vague. Yong-Ho needed more detailed information.
Being used to it rather than wanting it. Something that’s easier to understand. Information that he could understand at once.
His power reacted to his wish.
The power that was within Yong-Ho started taking form and above the colored smoke, words started appearing.
[Name : Catalina (F)]
[Race : Half Succubus / Half Dark Elf]
[Main Elements : Wind / Darkness Secondary Elements : Lightning / Water / Earth]
[Main Stats : Succubus - Charm / Mana | Dark Elf - Agility / Courageous]
[Development Rate : 31/100]
Yong-Ho looked around. There were a couple of bright letters and he saw square-shaped, bright boxes. On the boxes, different letters were lined up.
[Succubus : Specialized Charm | ★★★ (3)]
[Dark Elf : Specialized Agility | ★★★ (3)]
[Hybrid | ★★★☆ (3.5)]
[Succubus : Specialized Mana | ★★★☆ (3.5)]
[Dark Elf : Specialized Courage | ★★★ (3)]
He made an assumption. It displayed basic information for evolution.
It displayed what kind of skills they had and what kind of hidden skills they had.
The colors represented their attributes. The box was the direction of the evolution. It could be seen as a Technology Tree.
In which direction will he evolve her? Which skill will he activate?
Yong-Ho gulped.
If he activated his Power of Evolution, what would happen? If he chose one out of the five boxes, what kind of changes will Catalina show?
He wanted to know.
He wanted to test it.
He wanted to use his power.
“Ah.”
Yong-Ho quickly retracted the hand that extended towards Catalina without him knowing. He quickly moved back and kept his distance from her.
‘I can’t.’
It wasn’t something he could do so easily. He didn’t know what would happen if he used this power. Testing on Catalina without knowing exactly what would happen was dangerous, a mistake and overall just crazy.
‘On top of that.’
He didn’t know if the power would activate for “free.” It was just his assumption, but after witnessing the events up to this point, in order to activate the power, there’s a high chance that mana is required. Yong-Ho’s mana level was really low due to yesterday’s event. It was best not to overdue it.
“Mas...ter?”
It seemed like Catalina woke up from the sound that Yong-Ho made because she poked her head out of the cloak. Her eyes were half-closed, which meant that she wasn’t fully awake.
The smoke that was rising out of Catalina’s body was getting lighter. Yong-Ho smiled and spoke as if nothing happened.
“Are you awake now?
Instead of answering, Catalina rolled her eyes and pulled her head back into the cloak. She moved around in there for quite a while, which probably meant she was organizing her clothes. She stood up and cleared her throat. Maybe it’s because her ears were long, but she barely had earlobes, but he noticed that it turned red.
If he continued staring at her, he felt like he would turn into the engineering student that stared at pretty girls, so Yong-Ho stood up from his seat and walked towards the throne.
.
Eligor returned not too long after.
&
“It’s different from Catalina.”
“Sir?”
Instead of answering Eligor’s question, Yong-Ho slightly opened his eyes.
Catalina nd Eligor were different.
Five different colors rose out of Catalina’s body, but for Eligor, a red and black smoke rose out of his.
[Name : Eligor (M)]
[Race : Red Demon]
[Main Elements : Fire / Darkness]
[Stats : Red Demon - Strength / Stamina]
[Development Rate : 62/100]
[Specialized Strength | ★★ (2)]
[Specialized Stamina | ★★ (2)]
[Specialized Mana | ★ (1)]
The information was different. There was a slight difference in the Technology Tree as well.
However, the category that caught his eyes was the Progress Stat. In order to evolve them, filling up the Progress Stat was necessary.
‘The problem is, how am I going to fill that up?’
He still lacked information. The information was different, but it wasn’t like a game where it provided an explanation regarding the skill.
Catalina and Eligor didn’t know much about the Demon of Evolution skill.
A demon’s power was only given to demons.
This was what differentiated the demon and the demon race.
That’s probably why they barely knew about it. No one would show off and tell others about their strongest weapon.
They’ve seen the previous head use their power often, but they didn’t know how it was activated, its function or its weakness since it was always kept as a secret.
The mana of the Demon of Mana was powerful. The Demon of fire controlled fire and this type of information was what Catalina and Eligor knew.
‘I’ll just take my time in learning it.’
Yong-Ho shook his head after he finished thinking. He naturally changed the subject.
“No, it’s nothing. You still have to eat in the demon world, huh?”
The three of them were gathered in a circle in the center of the room and were eating pancakes and vegetable soup. Both of them were prepared by Eligor.
Catalina flinched at what Yong-Ho said and spoke with the same serious face she had when they first met.
“After breakfast, I’ll go out for a hunt. I’ll put my life on the line and will bring you some meat no matter what.”
Despite the fact that she was overflowing with beauty, after finding out about her true character, he saw her in a different light. It seemed like he could hear her asking herself what she should do if she can’t bring any meat.
‘She’s a clumsy soldier...’
If he said something, he knew she would just start crying, so Yong-Ho decided to keep it in his head. After nodding his head, he turned his attention towards Eligor.
“Is it okay to increase the family members in the current situation?”
The inheritance that the previous head left wasn’t completely gone. The “Last Inheritance” remained, which was used as a last resort when Catalina and Eligor would welcome a new family member.
The remaining inheritance wasn’t much and reflected the miserable Maimon that committed suicide, but money was money. But, Eligor suggested that they use the money to invest.
“In order to develop the dungeon, spirits are required. A dungeon without workers doesn’t exist.”
Eligor answered with a serious expression. He wasn’t wrong. They needed to gather resources and have workers work on various parts of the dungeon.
“This is the labor market in the demon world.”
Yong-Ho looked towards the owner’s throne.