Chapter 75

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Translator: thursdays Editor: Sasha

1.

“There are originally nine swords in the Infernal Heavens Demonic Art,” the Heavenly Demon commented after seeing me in battle.

“The Sword of Starvation, the sword that you showed, is just the first form. You know this.”

“Yes.”

“After the way of starvation is the way of dehydration.”

The way of dehydration.

“So it’s death from thirst.”

“Yes. Child of the outside world. You demonstrated the Sword of Starvation very well. So, if you devote yourself to training, you will get good…“

“Wait just a moment.”

Chuk.

I raised my hand.

“Please wait.”

I felt sorry, but I couldn’t endure it without raising my hand. The person sitting cross-legged in front of me was about to go over a wall as if it were nothing, but the wall seemed very high to me.

“…What is it?”

“What did you say just now? [Good enough]?”

The Heavenly Demon closed her mouth.

“Huh, that’s weird. I thought I did pretty well. But it was barely good enough for the Heavenly Demon… Oh! I’m sorry… Suddenly, my self-esteem is disappearing and I’m losing my confidence. I think I’m losing my nerve.”

“You…”

The Heavenly Demon’s mouth wiggled.

“…Fine, I’ll admit it. You demonstrated the Sword of Starvation skillfully. Don’t be impudent and go around saying that the Infernal Heavens Demonic Art isn’t much.”

“Excuse me? What did you say? I did it [skillfully]?”

“Are you going to harass the great me with wordplay?!” the Heavenly Demon said.

“It seems like you will only be satisfied if I bow my head to you. You’re truly a child who doesn’t know when to stop! Why don’t you be the teacher?! I myself will be your disciple.”

Okay. She nibbled.

I acted casually like a fisherman.

“Oh, does that mean you recognize me as a disciple, right? Heavenly Demon-nim? Not an outsider but an inside disciple of the sect. The real, authentic, best disciple.”

The Heavenly Demon was again at a loss for words.

One second. Two seconds.

After a small pause, her mouth slowly opened.

“Refrain from making other sounds. Child. Since I will be teaching you from now on, you must concentrate.”

Mm-hm.

‘Just as I thought.’

The Heavenly Demon just forced herself to ignore my words. Force comes from stubbornness, and stubbornness comes from sincerity. I could tell where her sincerity stopped.

‘She really won’t admit that I’m her disciple even if she were to die.’

The relationship between an older and younger member of the same sect.

The Heavenly Demon had already marked me as a disciple. Nevertheless, adamantly, she never said these words [I shall accept you as the disciple of this master] out loud.

Though the Sword Emperor and I bickered often, for the Heavenly Demon, that is, for most martial artists, the connection between a teacher and student was that heavy.

‘A heavy connection… can sometimes turn into a terrifying connection.’

Therefore, the Demonic Cult woman did not declare me as her disciple.

She was hesitating.

What kind of person was I? Not only did she see me for the first time in her life, but I was also not from the central area of this Murim world. Could such a child, should such a child, be allowed into her heart?

Can she have more hope in her life?

So Baek-hyang, the master of the Demonic Cult and the Heavenly Demon, was conflicted, and so she was hesitant.

“Listen carefully. If you have learned the Sword of Starvation to that level, you are at least entitled to listen and steal the teachings of the sect. But…”

Although her outer appearance was being unreasonable, inside, it was perfect.

‘Character window.’

The inner mind reflected in my eyes told a completely different story.

+

Name: So Baek-hyang

Favorability: 51

Favorite Genre: [Martial Arts]

Hated Genres: [Classical], [Mythology], [History], [Fairy Tales]

Favorite Characters: [Commoners], [Rival]

Hated Characters: [Oppressor], [Deceiver], [Playboy]

Favorite Plot: [All-out Match]

Hated Plot: [Running Away], [Oblivion], [Meaningless Death]

Psychological State: ‘Is he a disciple? The time to make up my mind is also… Ah, no. It’s a bad idea! I should be content by facing off with Namgung Un. It is too much to have a disciple now at the end of my life! It is an ugly desire.’

+

That’s right.

I smiled in my heart.

‘Please consider it more.’

The Heavenly Demon’s troubles.

They were like a green light for me.

‘Please be more shaken.’

Because I was the one who presented her with a crossroads.

Will the Murim Lord and she continue the War of Good and Evil without hope? Or will she take a disciple and take the measures to continue the doctrine of the Demonic Sect to the next generation?

Which way would she escape the [meaningless death]?

‘Please don’t let go of your life like this.’

My words were light.

They were in vain.

Light words could only be responsible for light-hearted people.

No, it was like they weren’t taking responsibility at all.

‘Please live.’

How empty those words were.

‘Even if the world perishes and you are left alone in this world, I still want you to live. I wish you will survive.’

No matter how many words I pile up, they didn’t carry any weight.

‘I want to be your reason to live a little longer.’

Useless and vain words.

I didn’t say them out loud.

I was sure that it was for the same reason that the Heavenly Demon didn’t declare me as her disciple.

The lightness of words is bound to be weighed down by the heaviness of one’s actions. That way, it won’t fly away like a whim.

But the Heavenly Demon and I both still haven’t tried hard enough to say what we wanted to say.

「It’s not the time to decide yet.」

The Heavenly Demon thought in her heart.

‘I haven’t come up with a decision yet.’

I thought to myself.

“…….”

“…….”

The Heavenly Demon and I faced each other.

“Child of the outside world. You don’t look focused. Are you listening to me?”

“Yes.”

I was watching well.

“Of course I am focusing. What do you mean?”

“It’s not a joke. I’m serious.”

“Of course. I swear to anyone, whether it is the Jade Emperor or King Yeomra the Great.”

We exchanged glances. Unlike her hands, her eyes were conflicted. They do say that the eyes are the windows to the soul.

The Heavenly Demon opened her mouth after going back and forth several times.

“Fine. Seeing that you are overflowing with confidence, you can take the next test right away.”

The Heavenly Demon brushed away the snow and stood up.

She started heading somewhere.

“Do not follow me. My feet are busy.”

Saying so, she left. The Heavenly Demon walked on the snowy field, but there were no footprints left in the snow. Only a thin shadow slid over the icy path. Extreme qigong skill—Traceless Snow Road. The woman was demonstrating what she talked about on the first day after we fell into this world.

Suddenly.

-I want to fight her.

Bae Hu-ryeong said abruptly.

-I want to have a match with her, even if it’s just one match. Really.

I thoughtlessly turned to face him.

‘What?’

-Did you get salt in your ear? I said I want to have a round with her. A contest.

For me, it was the first time I had seen Bae Hu-ryeong look like that.

-Fuck. Damn it, shit!

The Sword Emperor was truly angry.

-Know this, Zombie! In the Murim world where I was born, the Demonic Sect was extremely weak! The only use for those Demonic henchmen was to hit them! There was a guy who called himself the Heavenly Demon, but I planted his asshole in the ground and changed his nameplate to the Earthly Demon! Fuck! I challenged and changed the names of hundreds of so-called strong warriors. Agh! Really!

Something was different.

His current expression didn’t resemble anything like the times when he lost a bet to me.

Then, he writhed around, saying that he was angry… But the expression Bae Hu-ryeong was making right now was—

-I’m really jealous of that Murim Lord bastard who was born here!

—It was much more intense.

-What if it was me, huh? We’d have a fight with our lives on the line! We’d say, oh, will this be your death or mine? After that, we’d climb up a snow peak and have a bowl of rice wine! Chewing on a segment of a tangerine, it’d be satisfying! That’s the perfect meaning that all warriors search for!

Wanting to win. The spirit of victory. Fighting spirit.

His face became as fresh as raw meat.

-Ah, really! If only I wasn’t a ghost!

“…….”

I silently kept my mouth shut.

Without meaning to, I had also begun to worry. My head still down, I put my chin on my hand. My head was filled with thoughts, so I needed to support it with my hands.

-Huh? Zombie. You look like a zombie that’s wondering why nobody is calling them a zombie. You’re sulking because I called you a crow-tit, huh. Hey, should I just call you a zom-tit?

“……That’s it.”

-Huh?

“I’m saying that’s it.”

I quickly raised my head.

“Say the boss makes a cure for the infection. Say that I’m recognized as an official disciple of the Heavenly Demon. That’s good. Everything is good, but… I felt that alone won’t be enough. Can we call it a finale? But you just gave me the cherry on top.”

-Uh…

“Nice play. Good job, Sword Emperor.”

I laughed.

For some reason, the Sword Emperor looked at me and stepped back.

“What’s wrong?”

-Nothing… Just… Every time you put on that expression, it’s like an ill omen for me. Should I say that it’s unlucky? Because something will stain my face and stature.

“But I respect Sword Emperor-nim so much, from the bottom of my heart. You know that, right?”

-Thank you. Are you trying to make me throw up on your face?

“Hmm.”

I put my hands behind my back and stared at the faraway sky.

“There was an unpaid debt between us.”

-…….

Bae Hu-ryeong hesitated.

-…Debt? What debt? I am a human being who has never lived in debt my entire life. Oi, this Gong-ja kid is trying to trick me with his gob again. Don’t do that. Uh-huh! You’ll get hurt like that!

“[Let’s bet how many times I’ll die when climbing up to the 19th floor].”

-…….

“Our Sword Emperor-nim bet that I would die less than 100 times. I bet that I’d die less than 99 times.”

-No…

“Right?”

My smile became a little kinder.

-No, that was already a long time ago…

“If my memory is correct, then regarding this bet, the conclusion clearly ended with number 97?”

-…….

“If my calculations aren’t off, 97 is less than 99. Right?”

-…….

“Sword Emperor-nim.”

-Why do you keep doing this to me…?

“Please listen to one request.”

Bae Hu-ryeong looked as if he would cry.

-Fine, you evil bastard. Beat me up or kill me yourself…

It was a complete surrender.

2.

The Heavenly Demon came back.

She had left alone when she crossed the snowfield, but not when she returned. She carried a zombie on her back. Like the Hadouken zombie, this zombie wore a black uniform.

“In our sect, there is a group of elite members called the Bloody Ghosts. It is the best combat unit made by collecting only the greatest swordsmen and lancers. They are people who exist only to fulfill my orders.”

In other words, it was my second opponent.

I readied my stance with the Holy Sword.

“The last time it was a promising master, and this time, it’s someone from an actual combat unit? The difficulty level is jumping higher.”

“Don’t worry. I took care to bring a child that would suit your level.”

The Heavenly Demon probably did go looking for [the perfect opponent for me]. She must have searched the snowfield. Going through hundreds of zombies, one by one.

It was a thoughtful consideration.

It was a heartfelt gesture.

I gratefully accepted this as a kind of compliment.

“What you have to demonstrate is no different than from this morning. Fight the Jiangshi…”

“With only thirst in my heart. Only the pain of thirst should be in that place.”

“Hm.”

The Heavenly Demon smiled.

“That’s right. No emotions or thoughts other than thirst are allowed in your psyche!

“All right!”

I dashed forward, excited.

“I’ll show you something amazing aga—”

[You have died.]

[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]

“It’s ridiculously strong! Damn it!”

I did show something.

The fastest death scene in the universe.

Aaagh.

“Alchemist. Medicine King. The research for the zombie virus treatment should proceed like this…”

“Oh my god! It’s just like my research! No, it’s like my research was organized and arranged like a bouquet commissioned by an aristocrat. A-and it feels like it’s been put in a formal dress like an earl!”

“What is this? Death King or whoever you are, are you also from Silicon Valley? This is exactly the way I’d arrange things…”

First of all, we had to update the findings of the treatment research as we did every time.

“Hundred Ghosts Reincarnation!”

This time, I decided to shut myself in on top of a snowy mountain to do some closed training.

Like last time, I ordered the demon and the skeletons to collect more deaths. Although it was different in that I told them to find corpses that died of thirst rather than hunger, the order was not very different.

“Scatter. Scatter and gather thirsty corpses.”

“Yes, milord. As you command.”

However.

“I have one more thing to ask of you.”

This is where it began to deviate from the last time.

The demon tilted her head.

“If it’s an order…”

“There will be Jiangshi that use martial arts in the vicinity that are alone.”

I wasn’t referring to the ‘forest of corpses’ that we saw as soon as we fell into this world. During the last 3 years. The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Lord fought their battles, and they lost bodies—Jiangshi—one by one during the war.

When the blizzard blew for days without a break. When the day didn’t come because the night was getting longer. At that time, the power of the Demonic Cult and the Righteous Sect gradually walked away and disappeared.

These ‘missing people’ were the ones I was talking about right now.

“Find them,”

I said.

“Find the Demonic Cult members in their black uniforms. Find the chivalrous fighters in their white uniforms. Whether it’s a hundred or three hundred li away, you must release the skeletons and find them… No. Make a map and put a mark wherever the Jiangshi are located.”

The demon looked puzzled.

“What are you trying to save those lives for, milord…?”

“It’s a dying world, but there are two people who are still at war. They want the right conclusion to their fight and the world. Unfortunately, however I look at it, it’s just a sad game of pretend to me.”

I looked up at the night sky.

The moon was out.

“They want to see a good conclusion, so I’ll prepare for a real war.”

“A real war?”

“That’s right.”

I smiled, the expression slipping out of me by itself.

I felt like Santa preparing a Christmas present.

“I will prepare for a proper war between good and evil.”