Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: 2. Jahwa-yeon
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Was sending the protector out a mistake?
I had dismissed him out of fear that my fake credentials might get exposed.
At that moment, a memo popped up in one corner of the monitor.
It looked like the information the protector had entered belatedly.
Anger control disorder and heart demon.
... I know all too well that she's suffering from such symptoms.
I could tell at first glance.
In the end, it hadn't been helpful at all.
I'll proceed in my own way.
"Of course. Someone like you, Heavenly Demon, would never waver."
I nodded slightly and continued in a straightforward tone.
"That said, even a steel-clad mountain can crumble from a single crack. Sometimes, even that tiny fissure becomes a warning sign."
"Have you... recently felt the urge to beat someone senseless?"
It was a story pitched right at her level.
"......"
A beat of silence.
Jahwa-yeon's pupils narrowed ever so slightly.
"There was..."
She spoke in a more deflated voice.
But I absolutely couldn't blurt out something like, 'It's that bastard! He's the source of your heart demon!' and charge ahead.
"As I thought."
I nodded slowly and cautiously.
"And yet..."
I continued in a quiet murmur.
"You didn't punish that person."
It carried a subtle hint of praise.
Praise for the one who had held back their anger.
Jahwa-yeon's pupils trembled faintly.
Then she nodded, as if satisfied.
"Indeed. I am the optimal successor to lead the cult. I can't discard talent over mere personal anger."
"Precisely."
I immediately agreed and quietly opened the door.
"In that case, Heavenly Demon. Could you tell me who that person is?"
Jahwa-yeon stared at me silently for a long while before her lips curved up faintly.
"Very well."
She spoke in a languid voice.
"Every endeavor needs a catalyst, after all."
The mood wasn't bad.
No, it was good.
Just like this.
"When I first fell into this world, I was at a loss. No sword, no cult, in a land where I knew no one. But..."
Her pupils glimmered faintly.
"Miraculously, the lineage of my cult remained here as well. Thin and frail, but the roots had spread."
Jahwa-yeon continued slowly in a low voice.
"The one who cultivated it was the Left Protector. More precisely, my father's left hand. I ascended to the Heavenly Demon's seat, highly valuing his contributions."
... Around this point, a certain feeling started to creep in.
My mouth went dry.
"But then, the Left Protector began dodging questions at every turn. Even within the cult, he started drifting away from me. And..."
She paused for a moment before adding calmly, as if recounting an everyday musing.
"Once... there was poison in my food."
"Pardon?"
I couldn't help but ask back.
"Don't make a fuss."
She raised a hand to silence me quietly.
"It's commonplace in the cult. He said it was a test to see if my body had rusted. The only regret is that he didn't inform Geumgang."
"......"
The more her explanation continued, the more my head ached.
So, Jahwa-yeon's situation was this.
She arrived in this world and took the Heavenly Demon's seat.
True to her bloodline, she tidied up all the loose ends cleanly.
In the end, the Left Protector—who had established the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and played Heavenly Demon before her—was forced to step down.
To her, the Left Protector was her mentor and her father's comrade even before coming to this world. Like an uncle.
When she crossed over alone, armed only with overwhelming force, he was the sole adult she could rely on.
Thus, she trusted him.
Yet that very Left Protector, after she ascended, had been secretly and repeatedly attempting to eliminate her.
Under the guise of a "test."
'...'
This seems more deeply entangled than I thought.
She's so pure, yet it's hard to comprehend.
How could she not notice?
At that moment, unable to hold back any longer, I finally asked.
"... Heavenly Demon. If it's not too rude, may I ask your age?"
"You mean me?"
She narrowed her eyes and stared at me for a long while before enunciating proudly.
"I've just entered my prime, you could say."
Ah.
Prime.
Around twenty.
The age when flowers begin to bloom.
Our Heavenly Demon was in the flower of youth.
So... she wouldn't know about such political maneuvering.
To her, it was no different from family trying to kill her.
I pressed my brow and sighed inwardly.
I wanted to, but I couldn't sigh openly in front of her.
'For now...'
After some brief conversation, I quietly stood from my seat.
"Very well, Heavenly Demon. I'll fetch something to drink. Please wait just a moment?"
I brought out the brownies and cookies from the prepared tray and placed them before her.
Desserts I baked every morning like clockwork.
Counseling is best done with something sweet in your mouth.
Sweets loosen both your words and your heart.
"What is this?"
Jahwa-yeon eyed the treats warily.
"Tea snacks. No poison, so rest assured."
I smiled softly.
She still looked suspicious, sniffing the brownie first.
She tapped the cookie a couple times with her fingertip.
Then, without a word, she shoved a large bite of brownie into her mouth.
"!"
As the brownie's sweetness melted smoothly in her mouth, Jahwa-yeon's eyes widened bright and clear.
I smiled inwardly and quietly slipped out of the room.
Straight across to the opposite side.
To the protector waiting room where Geumgang waited.
It had the same soundproofing as the counseling room.
As I closed the door, a quiet hum filled the isolated space.
"Pleased to meet you. Sorry about earlier. I thought it would be hard to proceed otherwise."
I bowed politely first.
"...No. I understand."
The burly man replied in a low, gravelly voice.
His body trembled subtly.
He seemed hesitant about speaking.
I sat in a chair and watched him quietly.
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask."
He asked immediately, as if he'd been waiting.
"... Truly, does the Young Lady have a heart demon in her head? Does it seem irreversible?"
His voice carried desperation.
At that moment, something appeared before my eyes.
[Geumgang]
Main Stance
[Hesitating between the Left Protector and the Young Lady. Believes he cannot serve a master possessed by a heart demon.]
Suitable Response[Satisfaction Suitability 100%]
I steadied my breath and spoke calmly.
"To put it simply, it's unlikely to be a heart demon."
From our conversation, Jahwa-yeon didn't seem to have any major issues.
Her intense demeanor and speech seemed shaped by her environment, and the dialogue flowed smoothly.
Of course, I was the one making it flow smoothly.
Relief flashed in Geumgang's eyes, but it quickly turned to anger.
"As expected... that Left Protector bastard! Physician, take a look at this...!"
He ground his teeth and pulled something from his pocket.
A crumpled sheet of paper.
When unfolded, it was densely packed with disease names and diagnoses.
[Schizophrenia / Intermittent Explosive Disorder / Borderline Personality Disorder / Antisocial Personality Disorder / Impulse Control Disorder / Emotional Dysregulation / Severe Impulsivity and Self-Harm Risk]
[Heart Demon Findings Present]
"......"
'What the hell is this?'
A blatant false diagnosis.
Turning a perfectly fine person into a lunatic.
I checked the bottom right of the diagnosis sheet.
Red text read:
[Certified by the Korea Hunter Counselor Association]
Hmm... definitely fake.
There is no such thing as a Hunter Counselor Association.
Why? Because I'm the only Hunter Counselor in the world. What association is there to form?
I'm the only one with a Hunter Counselor certification right now.
"... Where did you get this diagnosis from?"
Geumgang began to explain.
"A few days ago, the Left Protector took the Young Lady somewhere. I thought it was training at first. But..."
His eyes clouded over.
"A few days later, when she returned to me... she told me something shocking. That the Young Lady's condition was dangerous, so she needed to be confined to a physician and sealed away for the cult's safety..."
He bowed his head.
"Honestly, I couldn't believe it. The Left Protector... was untrustworthy, and I... wanted to believe in the Young Lady."
I exhaled quietly and looked back at the diagnosis.
If it were just a regular counselor, it might not matter, but the seal boldly proclaimed "Hunter Counselor."
"This isn't an official diagnosis. I'm the only Hunter Counselor in Korea. In other words, it's forged."
I gazed at him quietly and added one more thing.
"Also, 'heart demon' isn't a modern medical term. There are similar conditions... but they don't seem to fit the Heavenly Demon."
The moment anger and confusion crossed Geumgang's face—
- BOOM!!
A deafening explosion like a bomb rocked the counseling room.
Geumgang's face went pale.
"Y-Young Lady...!"
Ah, did I talk too long?
Our Heavenly Demon seemed thoroughly pissed.
I signaled the protector to stay calm and hurriedly opened the counseling room door.
A chill hung in the air. Jahwa-yeon sat with arms crossed, glaring sideways from her chair.
On the table where she'd sat, where the brownies had been, a fist-sized crater was clearly cratered.
With eyes closed, she intoned in an icy voice.
"Insolent physician."
She murmured with eyes still shut.
"For the crime of wasting my time, you deserve to be brought before the assembly and punished by the cult's laws..."
The cookies and brownies on the plate had already vanished without a trace.
"Is the black one better? Or the brown?"
"... The black one."
I stood silently, fetched a new tray, and placed more brownies before her.
Jahwa-yeon kept her sullen expression but naturally picked one up again.
I sat back down.
"......"
Then I looked at the system floating above her.
"Nom nom."
[Jahwa-yeon]
Main Stance
[This black snack is quite delicious. Fluffy and sweet.]
Suitable Response[Satisfaction Suitability 50%]
[Plant the seed of distrust in Jahwa-yeon.]
Suitable Response[Satisfaction Suitability 0%]
[Just let it pass.]
Jahwa-yeon, cheeks stuffed full of brownie, behind her.
I had no intention of just letting it pass either.
"Not tasty."
She told an obvious lie and cleanly emptied the tray.
I added one more brownie and spoke cautiously.
"Heavenly Demon."
"What."
Suitability 50%. Half chance of success or failure.
Now I had to forge the path.
The system's goal was clear.
But targeting the Left Protector directly now would only make her suspicious of me.
The best way was to make her see the truth with her own eyes.
To drive a sharp needle into her convictions.
"Congratulations. You're completely fine. No issues at all."
"Naturally. I am invincible."
Jahwa-yeon lifted her chin confidently. I gazed at her softly and nodded.
"In that case."
From my pocket, I pulled out the crumpled paper I'd secretly taken from Geumgang during our talk and slid it across the table.
"This is clearly a forgery."
Her gaze shifted from my face to the unfamiliar paper.
The top line of the paper. Protector, Hyeok Yeon-bo. Her eyes locked onto that name.
Her lips parted slightly in a daze.
"Left Protector...?"
It was filled with all sorts of unfamiliar disease names branding her a madwoman.
But all those words pointed to one endpoint.
Heart demon.
The cancer of the mind that strips a warrior of everything and leads to ultimate ruin.
As a native of the Central Plains, no one knew better than her what that term meant.
Protector, Left Protector.
Disease, heart demon.
Jahwa-yeon's black pupils trembled finely.
She slowly raised her head to look at me.
Her sharpened gaze, incomparably fiercer than before, bored into my throat.
Icy as a glacier, she commanded.
"Explain."
Her voice tone had completely changed.
Under pressure that felt like my head would fly off at a single wrong word, I replied with a faint smile.
"Physician!"
"It's a deadly poison."
"......"
"Meant to assassinate the Heavenly Demon."
"......"
"More insidious than any poison made by the Tang Clan. The most cunning kind in the world."
No sooner had my words ended—
- BOOM!!
An overwhelming aura erupted centered on her.
Once more, the counseling room filled with the sound of explosion.
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