Vol. 1 - Ch. 2

It was a late afternoon with rain pouring down.There weren’t many customers that day, and the air was even more humid due to the heavy heat that was dispersed by the thin trickle of rain, so it was a day where I didn’t want to lift a finger.

I was sitting across from Eun-young at a small table.

It was none other than to treat us to a meal and to study writing with books we borrowed from the village's greatest intellect.

“Practice the Ten Good Deeds and always be close to the Dharma Sutra. Then, we all… Unnie, what is the next word?”

“Uh? Wait up. So, this…”

“…”

“…”

“… unnie?”

“What book did that man lend us? You don’t have to know this because it is a Buddhist term. Skip it, skip it.”

On the surface, it might have seemed like I was teaching Eun-young how to write, but in reality, it was no different from learning together.

To put it simply, I, Ju Eun-ri, wasn’t that well educated.

But that didn’t mean I was completely dumb.

Ju Eun-ri’s father, who was busy with work at the guesthouse, didn’t feel the need to hold his daughter and have her study writing and stuff.

Therefore, like most people in Jang-yang village, Eun-ri knew how to simply read and write what she needed.

Instead, Eun-ri’s father taught her the skills a guesthouse owner should have, such as how to control fire, how to select fresh ingredients, how to keep an account, how to store things in a warehouse, and how to treat guests.

Thanks to the extraordinary passion for education that has been taught to Eun-ri since she was young, I, as a possessor of her body, have also been able to put to good use what Eun-ri learned from her father.

‘I am thankful. If it wasn’t for that memory, I would have suffered a lot more than I am.’

In the end, Eun-ri’s father had this opinion.

Even if an ordinary girl who is neither particularly talented nor from a good family knows to read, how can she use it for anything?

In contrast to what Eun-ri learned from her father, it at least gave us sisters something to eat.

However, while appreciating that it was the right choice, I had no intention of teaching Eun-young what she had learned from her father.

The reason was that Eun-young was young, but considering that Eun-ri had learned how to count money by her father’s side since she was about Eun-young’s age, it didn’t seem that needed.

“Unnie, can you read this part again?”

“Which one? This? Do not kill anything alive. Also, do not be greedy, and do not develop wrong opinions. Commandments is a word that means percepts and taboos. When it comes to guarding against and prohibiting all evil, do not call something that isn’t Tao (righteous) the Tao…”

I hoped that by learning and mastering writing , Eun-young could expand my options for the future, even by a little.

Unlike Eun-ri, whose career path has already been decided in the original novel, Eun-young is a child who is just 7 years old.

If one studies in advance like this, then she would help the protagonist recognize it later and achieve her dreams.

Even if that’s not the case, there is nothing wrong with learning something without being tied down to this guesthouse.

Of course, all of this applies only if we sisters survive safely.

“Look here, owner!”

I was just about to shake off the depressing thoughts and turn the page.

I jumped up from my seat at the sound of someone calling me loudly.

Eventually, the door to the guest room opened, and a man walked in without any sign.

“Unnie…”

Eun-young, who was sitting across from me, looked up with an anxious face.

The large man, whose face was barely visible because of the hair, seemed quite scary to a kid.

“Ugh, who are you?”

And it was no different for me.

After stuttering with a trembling voice, I closed my mouth.

Hair drooping from the rain. This was because the face seen between the fairies felt somehow familiar.

It was him.

The monk, Mu Myung.

“Ah!... you said you were going out fishing. Was it alright? You must have had a bad time with the rain.”

Feeling ashamed that I didn’t recognize the man who had been staying here for a week, I changed the subject with an awkward tone.

Fortunately, the other person just nodded without showing any signs of offense.

For your information, if we are talking about that middle-aged man called Mu Myung… this morning, despite me saying no and that it would rain in the afternoon, I could call him an eccentric monster who ran out to the river behind the village without even a fishing rod, saying he had to fish.

He visited the village a week ago.

“Could you please tell me your name so I can fill out the list?”

“…”

“Guest?”

“… no.”

“Uh?”

“I have no name to say.”

He then dismissed it as a sufficient name to be used for the guest list to be anonymous enough, by giving me Mu Myung (No Name) as the name.

From his excessive mysticism to his beggar-like nature, there was nothing seeming sane about him, but I was in dire need of money, so when I saw that fat pouch in his hand, I let him into the guesthouse without another thought.

The next day, Mu Myung stayed at the guesthouse.

Mu Myung, who had been staying at the corner in the morning and sipping down the alcohol alone, happened to join Ju Cheol-rim and his friends in gambling.

I wasn’t sure how he even got involved in the gambling scene.

“Haha! Monk! I guess your luck isn’t so good today!”

“That seems to be the case. As expected, I need to get out.”

“Eh! Why are you being so impatient? Us, sentient beings, will handle the next round, so please go and get your money.”

“Hmm, what do I...”

The first scene I saw was of Ju Cheol-rim and his men shaking off the monk.

But, when I returned with a bottle a couple hours later, Mu Myung was taking them.

Ju Cheol-rim, enraged, turned the tables and rushed to him saying, ‘You scammer!’, but instead, he got beaten up by the monk and thrown out of the guesthouse with the friends.

And Mu Myung didn’t stop there.

From there, I didn’t see it, but I heard it from the neighbor Soon Young, but was it the next day or the next? Mu Myung was being threatened by Ju Cheol-rim, who brought in thugs, but it is said that the monk easily eliminated the warriors of the Black Blade troops and the Evil Blood Clan, who had come without using much effort.

In addition, there was a rumor that he had a confrontation with Mok Yun, one of the expert warriors of the Evil Blood Clan, well known in Zhejiang Province.

I didn’t know if the rumor was true, but it was said that Mok Yun voluntarily stepped back from Mu Myung, so if it was true, then it is surprising.

In any case, from then on, Ju Cheol-rim didn’t even dare set foot into the guesthouse for fear of obscurity and almost lived in a bar managed by the Evil Blood Clan.

On the other hand, I, who had ended up with a large amount of gambling debt on behalf of my worthless uncles, was living my life satisfied with the fact that Mu Myung only needed cheap alcohol, and I didn’t ask for much money since he threw my uncle away.

For that reason, I have consistently maintained a good attitude toward Mu Myung and he too has been favorably acting towards me.

But now, for some reason, the Mu Myung I was handling felt odd.

He had an odd look on his face, as if he had died because his mistake got caught, but his expression softened when he saw my trembling shoulders.

It was only then that I realized, Mu Myung’s face looked quite scary.

During that time, I didn’t realize it because he was always smiling.

“I have a favor to ask.”

Mu Myung said.

I looked up at him with puzzled eyes, and then my eyes were caught by something large on his shoulders.

Uh? What is that?

‘I bet he couldn’t have caught a fish that size without a fishing rod.’

Even at a glance, the thing inside the cloth didn’t seem like a fish.

Additionally, if it was a fish, he wouldn’t have brought it wrapped like that.

With my eyes fixed on Mu Myung’s shoulder, I continued to speculate on what this monster had brought.

And then, inside the loosely wrapped cloth, a familiar outline got caught.

It was the unmistakable outline of a hand. There were also five elongated fingers.

And then I realized the situation.

‘That is a person!’

That is surely a human.

“…!”

Could it be that he brought a body? I was scared enough to back away, but Mu Myung hastily explained.

“Don’t misunderstand. Because he is still alive.”

“Ah…”

“Of course, if we leave him like this, it won't be long before he passes away.”

Mu Myung, who made the extremely frightening statement with a calm face, opened up the damp cloth.

And then what was inside came out.

The tattered clothes, the terrible cuts visible through the torn clothes, the young-looking face, which was blue close to a corpse, and the scarred fingers, which I had seen a moment ago, came into view.

‘Ugh, that must have hurt...’

Was the kid around 13 or 14 years old? I stared at the face of someone who I couldn’t tell was a girl or boy and gulped.

“Do me a favor. I will pretend that the owner’s uncle doesn’t owe me anything, so why not care for him instead? I won’t expect much. I am asking you to just wait until he opens the eyes, just till then.”

“Uh? Wait, what…”

“I will be back before he opens his eyes, so don’t worry too much.”

After speaking hastily, Mu Myung threw the bow he was carrying onto the table.

Thud! A loud noise was heard, almost like a dying patient being put down.

‘Ah, this is insane.’

Isn’t he going to die as such?

Mu Myung, perhaps aware of the worries, turned around and left the guesthouse at the speed of light.

I hurriedly looked to the door, but Mu Myung was no longer there.

No, what… What is even happening here? Sᴇaʀᴄh the N0vᴇlFirᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Before I could even come to my senses, a child’s low voice rang in my ears.

“Unnie.”

“…”

“Eun-ri unnie, this man is odd.”

“Uh?... ah, Eun-young, don’t touch him. We shouldn’t touch him.”

“Why? Is he dead?”

“No, not that. He isn’t head yet. It is because it must hurt him. Stop touching him and get home quickly.”

And then Eun-young said that she didn’t want to go and that she hadn't finished studying for the day, so she didn’t want to move.

“I don’t want to!”

“…”

Which 7-year-old would be obedient?

I picked up the noisy kid and headed to the back door.

There was a bit of protest, but I ignored it and opened the door and put her down in the backyard, where she had pouted, and ran home.

‘She’s upset, so upset.’

It was a bit daunting to go home and help that kid relax, but that was something to think about later.

The inside of the guesthouse turned silent.

I stood in front of the boy in confusion.

The boy, who was lying diagonally on the table in an uncomfortable position, let out a soft groan as if he felt a jolt.

“Euk…”

What do I do now?

“…”

Although it might be a bit unexpected,

‘As expected, this one is…’

I knew who he was.

Although I didn’t recognize him at first sight because I didn’t know who, when, where, or how he would be rescued, there is no way I wouldn’t have recognized the boy who gave out this odd atmosphere even as he was dying, knowing that this was a world in a novel.

Right.

He was the protagonist of this world, the Heavenly Demon, Jeok Mu-rin.

‘No, no, it isn’t Jeok Mu-rin yet.’

I will correct it.

The boy’s name is Ja-hyun.

In the future, when he leaves the guesthouse, he will abandon his real name of ‘Ja-hyun’ and become the main character of <the Return of the Heavenly Demon>.