Ch 197
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 197
Where the light had receded, an old man and a small child were standing.
Both the child and the old man were wearing something like a Daoist robe, similar to Master when I first met him. The child wore pure white clothes, and the old man wore similar clothes but with Taiji patterns drawn on the sleeves.
"What brings you here again?"
Surprisingly, Master spoke respectfully.
"To give a warning."
The child naturally spoke informally... Wait, then could that child be...
"By any chance, are you the Primordial Heavenly Honored One?"
"I am called by that name as well. You must be the lucky fellow that Yama spoke of. Oh, and beside you is a Fairy Order from another world? Nice to meet you."
"That little kid is the Primordial Heavenly Honored One?"
I immediately grabbed Luciel's arm, but the milk had already been spilled.
This idiot Luciel, calling him a little kid right to his face...
I was worried about what would happen if the Primordial Heavenly Honored One decided to punish her for being disrespectful.
"No need to worry. I know there was no ill intent. Rather, if my appearance looks like a child to you, it means you still retain your purity, which is a good thing."
Did he read my mind?
He smiled lightly as if he had read this thought too, and the old man who had been standing behind the Heavenly Honored One stepped forward.
"Heavenly Honored One, may I speak from here on?"
When the child nodded, the old man approached Master.
"Yu-ryang, if the Heavenly Honored One speaks too much in the mortal realm, the world's balance will be disturbed, so I'll convey the message in his place."
Yu-ryang? He called Master's name as if calling a friend... Huh?
"Yes, Sambong. What do you mean by a warning?"
Looking at the Taiji pattern, I had roughly guessed, but that old man must be Zhang Sambong, one of Master's friends.
"Didn't you make a promise as the price for refusing ascension?"
"What's that? I haven't left this place to go to the outside world."
"The promise wasn't about that content, was it?"
"What exactly..."
"You wouldn't influence this world. Wasn't that our promise? You're not even a human of this world. And your power is strong enough to break the balance of this world's fate. It's dangerous to keep you here continuously, but we trusted you and allowed your stay."
"So? Isn't that what I've been doing?"
"It's strictly different, my friend. Even if you don't go out directly, this world's fate has begun to change because of those you taught."
Those he taught... Could he be talking about me?
But in the original work, even when Lee Ji-sung and Kim Do-hyun learned Master's Internal Energy cultivation method, there was no interference from the immortal realm.
"Then are you telling me not to teach disciples now? Isn't that completely unreasonable?"
At Master's protest, Zhang Sambong looked at me.
"Your first disciple is fine. That child had a connection with you before we made the promise, and your first disciple was granted causality."
I'm fine, but Luciel is the problem?
"Then what's the issue?"
"Your second disciple, that Fairy Order, is a different story. Didn't you meet after the promise? Moreover, your grand-disciple who isn't here now was also directly taught by you."
Seeing him point out even Se-jin, I roughly understood what he was saying.
Learning Master's martial arts was fine, but Master directly meeting and teaching them became a problem.
Come to think of it, in the original work, Lee Ji-sung and Kim Do-hyun didn't learn martial arts directly from Master, but learned the martial arts that Master had left behind before his ascension.
That's why there was no interference.
"What's so wrong with meeting through connected fate..."
"This isn't a matter to think about carelessly. Actually, your grand-disciple won't have much influence on the world anyway, but your second disciple is different. Do you truly not know what kind of influence your current actions will have on the world?"
Why Luciel?
"What am I doing?"
Luciel also protested indignantly, but Zhang Sambong's face slightly frowned.
"Do you truly not know? If you complete what you're doing now with Yu-ryang's help, you'll gain tremendous power that could bring about the world's destruction."
"I know that much."
"Someone who knows that caused this situation? Once it's completed, even you won't be able to handle it."
I was shocked.
What Zhang Sambong mentioned as 'what you're doing now' must be adjusting the Demon Realm Tree and divine power with Internal Energy to create balance.
I thought Luciel would become stronger if she achieved balance, but to the extent that even Master couldn't handle it...
"Excuse me... Master Zhang, may I say something?"
"Speak."
"Luciel learning martial arts from Master is to prevent her from losing her reason due to magic erosion, there's no other purpose at all."
"It's not about the purpose..."
"Luciel may look slightly delinquent on the outside, but she's pure and kind. Didn't the Primordial Heavenly Honored One also call her a Fairy Order? She won't do anything harmful to the world."
"That's not the problem. It's not simply a matter of good and evil, but that her mere existence collapses the world's balance."
"What does that mean? I just want Luciel to continue staying with me..."
"Right. I also just want to stay by Shin-hyeok's side. I won't do anything. Isn't that enough?"
Zhang Sambong sighed deeply and was about to speak again, but the Primordial Heavenly Honored One stopped him and stepped forward.
What?
Suddenly the world was colored gray and everything stopped.
"Don't be surprised. I was going to leave it to Master Zhang, but it seemed like it would take quite a while, so I did it myself."
The Primordial Heavenly Honored One who had been in front of Zhang Sambong was now standing in front of me.
"I really..."
"It would be faster to show you directly and talk."
The Primordial Heavenly Honored One flicked his hand once, and the surrounding environment changed instantly.
Buildings were collapsing and smoke was rising from fires.
Endless numbers of monsters and giant magical beasts, countless demons were killing and ravaging people.
The sight was so cruel and terrible that I felt like vomiting.
Wait, could this be showing me the Demon King's descent period that I saw in the original work?
"Um..."
"It hasn't even started yet. Keep watching."
The surroundings changed again, and there were many people gathered in what seemed like a refugee shelter... Huh?
Do-hyun and Lee Ji-sung, Yu Hye-ji and Seong Ji-an, Nam Ji-hyeon were there too.
Kim Do-hyun and Lee Ji-sung were arguing, but eventually their opinions diverged, with Lee Ji-sung going to subjugate the Demon King and Do-hyun challenging the Trial of Origin.
Lee Ji-sung and the suicide squad achieved victory after a fierce bloody battle.
Up to here, it was exactly as I remembered from the original work.
However, at the moment when everyone was cheering and rejoicing, black smoke began to rise from the Demon King's corpse.
The smoke quickly grew in size and instantly devoured everyone.
The moment I looked to see what was inside the smoke, my body trembled uncontrollably and I couldn't breathe.
Fortunately, the view changed again and I returned to where I originally was.
"It would be good to see a bit more, but it seems that's the limit with your mental strength."
"Did... did you show me the future?"
"It's not a perfectly confirmed future, but roughly similar."
"...What was that just now?"
"Outer gods, translated into this world's words it would be Evil Gods? Anyway, think of it as a collective of such things."
"A collective means there's more than one or two? Why on earth are such things on Earth..."
Certainly, the final boss of I Became a Delinquent Inferior Student at Hunter School that I know is the Demon King.
The ending was that they defeated the Demon King and both the protagonist and heroine lived happily.
If it hadn't been such an ending, I wouldn't have asked Yama to send me to such a world.
But why are such ridiculous things like Outer Gods or Evil Gods appearing...
"Haven't I said repeatedly? This is happening because the world's balance has collapsed."
...Because Luciel doesn't die and continues to live, such ridiculous things appear?
"I don't understand. I just want Luciel to not lose her mind and continue to be together, but why do such things..."
"Hmm, right. When the protagonist becomes stronger, don't they introduce strong enemies to maintain balance? Since your previous life was as a writer, this explanation would be faster."
"Then Luciel is destined to die no matter what?"
"When anything is changed, changes follow accordingly."
"...I won't give up on Luciel."
"Whoa, calm down. I only came to warn you, I have no intention of interfering with you."
"Then..."
"You're impatient too. However, if you choose, you'll have to bear the responsibility entirely. Would that be okay?"
"Yes. I'll handle it."
No matter what happens, I won't give up on Luciel.
"How? Don't tell me you still think this is a world inside a novel?"
I was startled by the sudden mention of a world inside a novel, but I had abandoned such thoughts long ago.
"It's not like that."
"Hmm, you've met Yama too, so you know that judgment awaits after death. Due to karma, you might spend thousands or hundreds of years in hell."
As expected, the Primordial Heavenly Honored One knows everything.
Right. I experienced the afterlife and briefly passed through and saw hell too.
It seemed like a truly terrifying and horrible place as I had heard, but it doesn't matter.
If I give up on Luciel, she has no future other than being corrupted by magic, losing her reason, and becoming a murderer.
Moreover, given her personality, she would definitely ask me to kill her before that happens.
Just like she made her final request to Kim Do-hyun in the original work...
I absolutely can't do such a thing.
I'd rather go to hell myself.
"Is that your answer?"
I hadn't spoken yet and was only thinking to myself, but he must have read my mind again.
"That's right. Losing Luciel would be no different from hell for me."
The Primordial Heavenly Honored One took a step closer and grinned, showing his white teeth.
Why is he being scary?
He clearly said earlier that he only came to warn and that the choice was mine, so he probably wasn't trying to harm me.
"You speak well for someone who's never been there."
"...Certain things can be known without experiencing them. I don't know if the Primordial Heavenly Honored One knows, but among human sayings..."
"You were going to say 'you have to taste it to know if it's poop or soybean paste,' right? You speak well indeed. If you like it that much, why didn't you just make a choice?"
Choice? Ah, he's probably talking about me being torn between Se-jin, Luciel, and Eunseo.
"Haha... Um, that's..."
"Well, that's for you to decide, so I have no intention of blaming you. Since you said you'd handle the matter regarding the Fairy Order, there's no need to argue further. Shall we go back now?"
"Wait a moment. Since the Primordial Heavenly Honored One said that the future you showed me isn't perfectly confirmed, I'll work hard to prevent such an unfortunate future."
"Work hard... As you said, it's an unconfirmed future... Right. I'll cheer for you too."
With the Primordial Heavenly Honored One's words, the world that had been colored gray and stopped regained its color.
"That way won't... Huh?"
The Primordial Heavenly Honored One had disappeared without a trace, leaving only Zhang Sambong.
"What? Where did that strange kid go?"
"Um... Master Zhang, I've finished talking with the Primordial Heavenly Honored One."
"Well now, I didn't see you that way, but you made a foolish choice."
Is this person serious?
Even the Primordial Heavenly Honored One said he'd cheer for me, but this lackey is being too much.
"Hey, you Zhang fellow. Who are you calling foolish right now? The conversation is over."
"I'm not saying your disciple is foolish, but that the choice is foolish."
"Isn't that the same thing? The Primordial Heavenly Honored One has left, so you leave too."
"I'd leave even if you didn't tell me to... but this has become a troublesome matter."
Zhang Sambong drew the sword from his waist.
Then Master also raised his energy, making the atmosphere instantly deadly.
"What are you doing? Are you suggesting we have a go right now?"
Could he be trying to deal with Luciel?
No, the Primordial Heavenly Honored One clearly said it was my choice and even said he'd cheer for me...
"Um, Master Zhang, the Heavenly Honored One said he understood when I said I'd handle it."
"I know. Didn't he say something else at the end?"
"At the end, he said he'd cheer for me..."
"Right. He told me to give you a lesson."
Huh? That's what he meant by cheering?