Chapter 237: Cut Scene Of A Very Minor Miscalculation

A sudden and immense demonic presence erupted into earth, unlike any of those of recent eons. It swept across the entire land and the stars lost their glimmer for a moment; the moon waned its light, and even the sun hid itself from the appearance. Across the entire planet, many individuals and organizations became alerted of the event.

Great numbers now sought to quell the great evil that had visited the earth as they had done in previous millennia to millennia. Once more, they would defend the weak and conquer the darkness that once covered the entire realm.

Divided the world might be, each land bearing their own protectors, but a common enemy had arrived. The names that one might call it might have differed: demon, beast, monster, ghost—the result would always be the same.

Reckoning would come.

The sound of a sword unsheathing itself erupted in the great forest—four people remaining surrounded the Demon in their midst. Blood had already tainted and engulfed the land with its repulsive scent and yet before the Demon could leave, they arrived.

Each one of them donned an animal mask, rabbit, dragon, tiger and a snake. In front of her was a woman who held the spectral blade in her hands. She wore a white robe and raised her voice. Despite her midget frame, her voice boomed inside the forest. "This place is not for you foul seductress, leave or we will end you!"

Yes, the Demon was surrounded.

Several feet to her right was the silent man who wore a dragon mask, donning himself in dark blue robes. He was weaponless, and yet the aura that surrounded him was deadly. If her gaze idled to her left, the one who had the green snake mask had several talismans in her hand, a vicious poisonous aura in each talisman.

Finally, behind her was the orange masked tiger, ferocious and wild orange hair flew off the wind and equipped with claw-like weapons.

Jilanya idly eyed the four… Spirit Hunters? Exorcists? She didn't know how to call them compared to those she had encountered for the past hour. The group had also called themselves as Heroes and Warrior of Lights? Something else?

It was pathetic to have several groups hunting her for coming on earth.

So-called Elites. Did they honestly think that she would fall with only these few people? Their title didn't matter.

If she was any ordinary Succubus, then she might have felled. But she was a Demon Lord, and the thousand of years she had spent to accumulate power were incomparable to their insignificant lives. They would never amount to anything. She gave the woman a sugary smile and tilted her head, "Is that so? What if I have questions for you?"

"What the… what do you want?" the tiger-masked man spoke up. There was a tremble in his tone, a touch of both vulnerability and anger. "Will you leave this land after that, kumiho?!"

... what did he call her?

The green-masked woman threw a look at the man, "Don't speak to her, Han Ji—!"

Jilanya didn't need to hear it twice. She reappeared behind the masked man in an instant and grinned. She trailed her purple fingernail across his nape and grinned at the snake-like girl. "Why not? This man might have a lot to say to me..." she lifted his mask. "Although it is surprising that your appearance is not what I have in mind. I assumed you would have black hair like your avatar, but it seems you can use your brain."

"W-what?"

"Do not play tricks with me, it will not fool me." She hissed at his ear. Finding a person with simply his name was hard, but it seemed she had finally worked things out using the lost art of Chaldean numerology—

"Ji-woo!" another voice shouted. "Unhand him you bitch!"

The Demon Lord paused at the man frozen in her grasp. She had already taken off his mask. Bewildered green eyes stared back at her. She narrowed her eyes at him, "Oi, what's your name? Full name brat."

"H-Han Ji-woo."

The Demon Lord ground her teeth. Had she made a miscalculation again?! Her eye twitched, and she kicked the man forward. He shot towards the girl with the rabbit mask and crashed against the trees. Jilanya growled at the rest of their group. "I am searching for a person named Han Jing—show him, and I might spare your pitiful existences!"

.. .

He could almost imagine the two of them having ice cream together. There was an ice cream parlor at the mall and other restaurants. Han Jing visited them before with his old friends when he was in university and high school. But recounting these spots to her almost made it feel like the two of them were making plans.

But that was very far from the truth.

"What ice cream flavor do you like the most?" she asked him with a bright smile. There was a glitter in her eyes, "I like chocolate, but do you have any recommendations?"

Han Jing wanted to get diabetes. He scratched the back of his head, "Maybe you'd like to try triple chocolate and double mint? You couldn't go wrong with cookies and cream either." The mall was already behind her shoulders, a signal that it was the end of their ride. "—and oh, this is our stop. We better get down now."

Once he pulled up to his feet, he offered her a hand—which she surprisingly took.

"Thank you!"

"No prob." he nodded.

It didn't even take a while for them to arrive where she had planned to meet up with her friend. It was the same guy from last night at the PC Cafe. That probably shouldn't have been surprising to figure out for him. Han Jing stifled a sigh. Young folks these days worked fast—it was hardly a week since they entered university!

"Chan Lee?" Her friend greeted her and then glanced back at him. It was such a warm look. Even the way the guy narrowed his eyes at him almost felt reminiscent of Timothy glowering at him in their class.

Han Jing raised a hand, "Hey, what's up?" He couldn't muster the same blatant cheerfulness he did in Kraelonia Academy. It was awkward to do it here.

"He turned out to be going to the mall like me so we took the same bus." Chan Lee told him with a carefree smile. "It was a nice coincidence, don't you think?"

The younger man sighed but managed a smile, "I guess so." He then turned back to Han Jing. The gaze wasn't as hostile before. "Thank you for accompanying her. She almost took the wrong bus once and would have gotten lost."

"Hey, it's a little confusing here, Liquin!"

"You should buy an umbrella too if you don't have one, Chan Lee." Han Jing stuck his hands into his pockets and managed a small grin. "You were drenched when I first met you."

Her face grew red, "Now that's—!"

The two of them weren't exactly at that level where he could tease her—but he was being unscrupulous. If he was Han… and he was, he could say it with no care. He gave the two of them a nod, "Have a good day, I'll see you guys around."

Without waiting for any responses, Han Jing parted ways with the two of them and slipped in the mall's entrance with the rest of the crowd. He thought he heard Chan Lee shout something at him. He finally emerged into the mall's first lobby and sighed in relief. The air conditioning was nice as he glanced around the different stores available.

"Great, now it's time for the official start of my gift-hunting quest."

Well, it wasn't as if it was too late for him to go to another exit and then go some place else to find an appropriate gift for the Wood Elf. But it was also actually a good idea to find something here that was unique and unavailable in a forest. And yet it needed to please the frivolous guy, "Hah, I could get him a ceramic mug."

… Han Jing would probably enjoy seeing the look on the man's face if that were to occur.

But he also still sort of valued his life. He scratched his cheek and walked around. Window shopping was one way to do it. But that wasn't everything that was on his to-do list, was it? The blue screen appeared in his vision.

] Think about a gift for the Wood Elf on his arrival (ask when)

] Prepare for the Mermaid (confirm details)

] Gather Ingredients Daily (future purposes)

] Learn about Healing Potion recipe

] Ranking Tests

Well, there was more to add and restate:

] A trip for the Mermaid (carnival at the beach, transportation)

] Admit to Mou Gu that I remember

] Get pearls and sell it to Mou Gu (or somebody else who would buy)

Han Jing sighed. He only needed to reveal the information to Mou Gu once he actually got the pearls so he could do it in one go. And for the other tasks, he had already sent a message to the Wood Elf and he would only contact the Mermaid when things were finally settled about the location.

"Wouldn't it be more convenient if I had the two of them at the same time?"

It sounded like a terrible idea.

That was just asking him for a more world of pain if he had to deal with two powerful strangers at the same time. And with both knowing each other, it might just mean that they'd work together to give him a headache. "Don't even think about it, you don't have a death wish."

[ Wood Elf Has Sent You A Message ]