Chapter 13
Chapter 13
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Diamond Indestructible (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Who are you, mister?"
The young Seo Yul-hye looked up at me with her big, sparkling eyes.
If Dang Ha-eun had a bit of a rough edge to her looks and Namgung Serin seemed like the perfect student council president, then Seo Yul-hye just had the face of someone destined for the spotlight as an idol.
Her features were so perfectly compact, like staring at a living doll.
"Me?"
"Yeah. This is hell, right? It's weird to see a person here."
"Hell? What hell?"
"We're dead and getting punished. For the sin of failing to protect my father."
Ah, so that's how she saw it.
I scratched my head. Come to think of it, she had no way of knowing if she'd lived or died.
And if she kept reliving these horrific memories like this, it was no wonder she'd think she'd fallen into hell.
I carefully considered my words but couldn't come up with anything special, so I just blurted it out.
"The greatest in the world."
Seo Yul-hye's eyes went wide.
"The Heavenly Demon?"
"No. I'm better."
Of course, I'd have to fight him to be sure, but the odds of me losing were slim to none. No matter how good a person is at fighting, they can't beat a bear. That was the gap in power between me and the Heavenly Demon. Not that I was completely invincible, mind you.
Seo Yul-hye eyed me skeptically, then picked up an intact plate.
"...It didn't break this time."
At the same moment, the world glitched with static, and the viewpoint shifted back a bit. Seo Yul-hye pierced a falling leaf with a twig, earning praise for her talent.
She looked about ten years old. The slightly younger Jeongam Satae appeared surprised.
I slipped up beside her and swung the twig around. The leaf split into forty-five pieces. Her faintly reddish cheeks puffed out in disbelief as she stared at me.
"Happy you won?"
I chuckled like an old man.
"Truth be told, this is my first time showing off like this."
"Why? You're the greatest in the world, aren't you?"
"I am, but no one knows it."
"No ambition, huh. So why tell me? I'm dead anyway, right?"
"Something like that. You'll forget all these memories when you wake up. The Demonic Cult's golden elixir works that way—all of it."
"I don't get what you're saying... but forgetting everything? Sounds good to me. Honestly, I'm exhausted."
Seo Yul-hye stopped poking the air with the twig and plopped down on the dirt floor. Jeongam Satae started saying something, but no one paid her any mind. A breeze blew in, and Seo Yul-hye closed her eyes gently.
Static. The viewpoint cut again.
"This is the Emei Sect. What do you think, first time seeing it?"
This time, a fifteen-year-old Seo Yul-hye sat in the seat of honor as Moon Phoenix, receiving congratulations from the Emei Sect disciples.
But this wasn't my first time either?
I stayed silent, and she gaped open her mouth.
The Emei Sect disciples spotted the man and screamed, scattering in all directions.
"...A lecher? You were hiding your identity on purpose? Is that it?"
"No. There were real circumstances."
"Don't tell me you chased me all the way to hell just to have your way with me? Yeah, that'd make you the greatest for sure. The depths of human depravity know no bounds..."
Seo Yul-hye's face twisted in revulsion. I started to explain, but then remembered she'd forget it all anyway, so I just lay back.
"Exactly. Not just you—Dang Ha-eun of the Sichuan Tang Clan, Namgung Serin of the Namgung Family, even your junior sister Seo Miryeo I met recently—they're all part of my plan. And that's not all. The beauties of Huashan, Wudang, Kunlun, Qingcheng, Zhongnan. Hebei, Murong, Zhuge, Huangbo. I plan to claim them all."
At my nonsense, Seo Yul-hye fell silent for a moment, thinking.
Then she tossed one line my way.
"In that case, being first wife would feel pretty damn good."
Her voice had a playful lilt somewhere. It was ridiculous enough to be funny just imagining it. As if that made any sense.
"Surprisingly, that spot's still open."
Seo Yul-hye raised her hand mischievously.
"I'll take it."
"Too bad. You'd have to remember those words."
"You remember for me. When I return to the real world, tell your first wife we're separated. I'd like to try marriage too."
"Can't do that."
"...It was just a joke."
I shook my head at her slightly crestfallen expression.
"Not that. You haven't died yet. How could I divorce the living?"
The world shook again. This was probably the last memory. Seo Yul-hye stared down at her parents' brutally murdered corpses with a strange expression. Oddly, there was no sadness in her eyes. Just the gaze of someone utterly worn out.
"You came?"
She greeted me calmly. The thick stench of blood made her wrinkle her nose a bit.
"Do you see scenes like this every time?"
"Pretty gruesome, huh? But I'm used to it now. Hundreds of times already... Anyway, forget that—explain what you said earlier. What do you mean I haven't died?"
"Just what I said. You're not dead yet. You're in a half-dead coma, but soon the Demonic Cult will come from outside to save you."
In the blood-soaked house, we sat facing each other on two chairs.
Seo Yul-hye tilted her head at the mention of the Demonic Cult.
"Not dying yet is shocking enough... but why would the Demonic Cult save me?"
"To be precise, it's your master Jeongam Satae's obsession that's saving you. She's about to join hands with the Demonic Cult and attempt the golden elixir."
Seo Yul-hye's eyes trembled. The Emei Sect allying with the Demonic Cult?
Impossible, she thought—yet her master was obsessive enough to make it plausible. The love she'd shown had always been a bit extreme.
A deflated voice escaped her.
"...I see. My master."
Then she looked up at me.
"So what are you doing here? If I'll forget everything and wake up, what's the point of coming here?"
Because I'm waiting for the golden elixir to activate so I can purify its power. Just doing what the original protagonist was supposed to, a little earlier.
But that answer would be no fun. I smirked faintly.
"Why no point? I get to spend every day with a beauty like you."
*
A quiet temple hall.
The Sichuan Tang Clan Leader, clad in a green robe, placed a wooden box before the seated Geumseon Grandmaster.
The sound of the wooden fish mallet stopped. Eyes full of spirit fixed on the Sichuan Tang Clan Leader.
"When a big shot like you shows up out of the blue, I figured it wasn't trivial. But I didn't expect you'd thrust something like this at me right away."
"Take a look inside."
"Alright, alright. What grand gift has you in such a hurry?"
Click.
Geumseon Grandmaster's thin, wrinkled hand unlocked the box.
A fragrance like the temple hall itself wafted gently, and his white eyebrows twitched once.
Inside was nothing special—just pitch-black prayer beads.
"Hm, prayer beads? But not ordinary ones... Oh? Wait, these look familiar..."
Then, abruptly, Geumseon Grandmaster's mouth and body froze in place.
His long beard quivered slightly. In utter disbelief, he stared at the Sichuan Tang Clan Leader.
"H-how do you have this?"
No one knew. He'd heard his daughter's explanation, but it didn't add up. Some merchant casually lending out a divine relic like it was nothing.
"It's not mine."
"Then?"
"Someone lent it to my daughter, and it saved her life. But we don't know the benefactor's whereabouts, and it's clearly from Shaolin. So I've come to return it."
"In other words, your benefactor and we should sort this out ourselves?"
The Sichuan Tang Clan Leader smiled quietly without answering. Geumseon Grandmaster closed his eyes in thought. The wooden fish mallet resumed its rhythm.
If all was fate, then what did it mean for the heavenly treasure known as the Diamond Buddha's Divine Armor to suddenly land in his hands?
Clues began connecting one by one. Minutes later, having pieced it together, Geumseon Grandmaster burst into hearty laughter.
"Fate weaves itself like this!"
Jeongam Satae's request. Her disciple's suffering. The Dalma Grandmaster's divine relic appearing out of nowhere...
The old body sprang up from its seat. It felt like the vigor of his youth surging back. With a booming voice unbelievable for a 90-year-old, he summoned the monks outside the hall.
"Everyone, rise and prepare! We're taking the fastest route to the Emei Sect!"
Time was short.
Geumseon Grandmaster moved with urgency.
'Jeongam, I've found a way. Just hold on a little longer...'
His heart swelled with joy, yet anxiety gnawed at him. Everything seemed to fall into place, only to feel like it might all unravel too late.
[...Truly, there is no other way?]
The image of Jeongam Satae turning away, her eyes sharp in his hastening memory, burned clear.