The Wheel of Routine
Train at the facility, then clock out. Wake up the next morning, come back in, and run patrols while half-worrying that some Demon or Villain might decide to run wild. Eat with Kim Seohyun, train, clock out again.
A daily grind that spun like a hamster wheel.
And yet, the routine wasn't half bad, in its own way.
"H-how?! What's the Cheonryu Guild doing here?!"
"What else? You people reek of something revolting, that's how."
Krrrk-crack-crack!
A beam of ice lanced out from my ring and froze the Demon solid. The frozen thing slowly began to crumble into ash from within, and before long, a portion of it was absorbed into my body.
Conceptual Stat Defying Heaven has increased by 1.
Growth's getting sluggish. Feeling Defying Heaven tick upward, I sighed inwardly.
The stronger the Demon, the faster Defying Heaven climbed. Weak ones didn't move the needle at all anymore — I'd already put down ten of them without so much as a blip.
The bigger problem was that the local supply of Demons was finally running dry. Becoming a Demon granted enormous advantages, but it carried drawbacks to match.
Take Tak Yoonil, for instance — a finesse-style fighter who gained the strength to overpower even a swordsman built on raw muscle.
And that wasn't all. Sever a Demon's limb, press the cut ends back together, and the wound sealed in an instant; lose a limb entirely, and a single day was enough to grow it back.
That was why the Association, the guilds, and every hunter outfit out there pounced on Demons with rabid hunger the moment one was spotted. They were simply far too dangerous to be left alone.
In other words, becoming a Demon meant that the instant you were found out, the entire world became your enemy. Which was why so few ever chose that path.
"So that's the last of the Demons around here?"
"Looks like it."
Kim Seohyun slid his sword back into its sheath.
"I can't sense a trace of demonic energy nearby."
"Then I guess we're done," I said flatly.
"Shall we go get lunch, then?"
"It is just about lunchtime. Hmm, what should we eat?"
Together with Kim Seohyun, I deliberated the single gravest question of office life: what to have for lunch. After whiling away a little time out on the street, we made for a well-reviewed pasta place nearby.
"They say the pasta here is amazing."
"Yeah? Then this is the place?"
"Seoha, anything in particular you're craving?"
"...Let's just get pasta."
Truth be told, I'd wanted to suggest the hangover soup joint nearby — rich oxbone broth, or sundae soup with its Korean blood sausage — but the more I turned it over, the surer I was that Kim Seohyun would hate it. So pasta it was. Besides, after walking all the way here, I couldn't be bothered to hunt down another restaurant.
Inside, the clean, tasteful interior made an impression. Most of the clientele looked to be women dining alone or couples out on dates. We took a table off to the side.
"W-will you be ordering now?"
"Yes. One vongole pasta for me — Seoha, what are you having?"
"Meatball marinara. Ah, I'm starving — should we add a gorgonzola pizza too?"
"Sure."
"Of course. Your order's in!"
The server bowed and disappeared into the kitchen. Meanwhile, I unfolded the slip of paper she had slipped me on the sly.
— I'm not usually like this, but if you don't happen to have a girlfriend...
That was what the note said. The round, bubbly handwriting was kind of cute.
"...Is that a phone number?"
"Yep. The round, bubbly handwriting is cute."
I let out a snort of laughter, and Kim Seohyun murmured under his breath.
"This is what happens when a man's too handsome. Far too many women come hanging off him."
His tone was so frosty that I laughed awkwardly.
"Your vongole pasta, meatball marinara, and gorgonzola pizza are here!"
With that announcement, she set the pizza down in the middle of the table, then placed the meatball pasta in front of me — along with a blue lemonade.
"Excuse me, I didn't order this."
"I-it's a s-service. On the house."
Saying so, she cackled and vanished off to who-knows-where.
"Good?"
"Very. Being on the receiving end of someone's kindness feels pretty nice."
I took a sip of the blue lemonade. Quite tasty.
"Then why not just date her...?"
"No time for romance. The dream I'm chasing is a truly enormous one."
"A dream...?"
To slay this world's enemies while keeping the loss of life to an absolute minimum, and see it through to a happy ending.
But could that really be possible? The question gnawed at me. The enemies would only keep growing stronger. I was growing stronger too, and the people around me faster still — yet someday, a day would come when even that fell short.
And when that day arrived...
"Anyway, that's why I don't have time for dating."
"Nice dream."
Kim Seohyun nodded.
"Then I'll help you chase it, Seoha."
"I'd be grateful if you did."
After all, my dream didn't work without Kim Seohyun in it.
After that, we put in a moderate training session and parted ways — Kim Seohyun heading home, and me to the Red Tower.
It's almost over already, huh.
I would intern through the day after tomorrow, then take three days of rest — one of them official vacation — before returning to school. Lamenting my lot in life, I made my way to the Red Tower.
"A guest, I see. Please wait just a moment; the Red Tower Lord will be with you shortly."
"Thank you."
After a brief wait, the summons came. Guided by an attendant, I ascended to the tower's upper floors.
The Red Tower Lord was waiting in the reception room.
"Welcome."
I returned a light greeting. Then, deflecting the Red Tower Lord's none-too-subtle pressure to matchmake me with Hong Yuhwa, I moved straight to business.
"This is the item I promised you."
The Red Tower Lord produced something and set it on the table: a white sheath, sized perfectly for Heukcheon. Even at a glance, it looked like quite the remarkable piece.
I appraised it with my talent, Perusal (–).
Rank: B+
An artifact tailored to Lee Seoha. Forged through the combined efforts of a master artisan and a master mage.
Woven through with highly advanced techniques.
— The longer the blade remains sheathed, the greater all damage dealt upon drawing. (Up to 300%)
— Upon drawing, converts all kinetic energy into increased blade speed.
Not a bad result at all.
Holding White-Red, I sank into thought for a moment.
This world was home to all manner of powers. Martial arts and magic, divine power, then yin-yang arts, immortal cultivation arts, alchemy — every kind of force imaginable existed here. Beyond even those, there were abilities known as psychic powers.
And the energy of Defying Heaven denied every last one of them.
Yet one power existed that it did not deny — the force known as Mystery. A power that touched the System itself; one might call it the very law of the world.
What a joke.
It negated everything, yet not the world itself. That was why the Transcendents, upon witnessing the energy of Defying Heaven, had taken such an interest in it.
Not that I minded. It was precisely thanks to that property of Defying Heaven that I could acquire other powers.
Clack. I slid Heukcheon into White-Red.
"Ooooh, now this is quite fine indeed!"
Heukcheon cooed over it like a child.
"Should've gotten you one ages ago."
"'Tis rather cozy in here. My first time in a place like this — not bad at all, better than I expected."
...How does it compare to the sheath you used before?
"My previous sheath? Ah — you speak of the sheath of my former master."
Heukcheon answered, her expression going thoughtful. Then it turned puzzled.
"...I have no memory of it. It seems my former master placed a restriction upon my memories."
Is that so.
Giving her a noncommittal reply, I eyed Heukcheon with suspicion. She was, admittedly, an existence that aided me. But setting that aside, Heukcheon was less a sword spirit and more...
I calmed my mind and offered the Red Tower Lord my thanks.
"I like it even more than I expected. Thank you."
"No thanks needed. My life was never that cheap. Should you ever want for anything, you need only tell me."
With that, the Red Tower Lord pressed a slip of paper into my hand. Judging by the feel of it, a business card.
"Come to think of it, the day Korea Hero Academy reopens draws near."
"..."
"Why pull a face like the world is ending over the first day of school? Ah, well — regardless, I leave our granddaughter in your hands."
"...Yes, sir."
I nodded with a mournful expression.
Despite having stood empty for a while, the penthouse inside the academy didn't hold a single speck of dust. Cleaning robots and magic within the rooms kept the dust at bay — and swept up anything that managed to appear regardless.
I stood before the mirror. Black slacks, a white shirt — and over it all, a man in a black tie and a white blazer.
It looked far too warm for summer, but the uniform itself was an artifact, its temperature held constant no matter the weather. Anyway.
Staring at the man in the mirror, one thought surfaced. ...Fucking hell, I'm handsome.
My past-life self hadn't been an ugly man. Measured against my current face, though, he could only be called overwhelmingly plain.
If my past life had ranked as handsome among ordinary people, my present self outshone even the heartthrobs paraded across every TV screen. Height, proportions, face — not one of the three had a single flaw.
I was, quite literally, a flawless pretty boy without equal.
...And I'll end the escapism there.
"Haa." A sigh slipped out of its own accord. I stopped running from reality.
I was wearing my uniform. Which could only mean one thing: today was the first day of school.
"...I want to die."
And with that, I left the penthouse to head for school.