You Haven't Forgotten
Pa Cheon Sword.
The blade that shattered the heavens was utterly pinned down, gripped tight by the Heavenly Demon.
It was an utterly overwhelming display of telekinetic force.
"Where did you get this sword?"
"I came across it during a mission in the jianghu."
Soon enough.
With a subtle flick, the Heavenly Demon raised her finger. Without any visible action, a drop of blood had already beaded at its tip, falling onto Pa Cheon's blade.
But the Heavenly Demon's blood merely rolled down the edge without sticking.
"A treasure artifact that bonds through blood, then."
"Yes."
"Fascinating."
Her silver eyes lingered on me, piercing as if to see straight through to my soul.
"One who relies on such foreign objects... especially a demonic sword... should never grow strong. And yet you have."
In that instant—the one I didn't even realize had come—
The Heavenly Demon unleashed her simsang.
A chill brushed my skin.
Snow.
At some point, snow had begun falling from the sky.
It had to be an illusion. I'd recognized it as simsang. And yet, the cold felt vividly real.
The moment I sensed that chill, I realized my mind was shrinking, contracting under the pressure.
The Heavenly Demon, advancing beyond Super Peak toward realms unknown, was gradually overwhelming the psyche of a man who'd lived an ordinary life.
I have to endure.
She was testing me.
I couldn't draw on the Heavenly Demon Divine Art's energy—she'd notice immediately.
I couldn't rely on Pa Cheon either. The sword was fully occupied resisting her control.
So I had to withstand it alone. That's why I'd even trained to endure Sa Wol's simsang.
But how?
Sa Wol's simsang was incomplete, but the Heavenly Demon's was not.
The clear sky, warmed by gentle sunlight, was gone. Endless, despairing snow poured down on me. Behind her loomed the shadow of some vast something.
I couldn't even comprehend it, let alone describe it in words.
The moment I glimpsed that presence, my mind—
I can endure.
It sharpened instead.
That couldn't possibly be real.
In the world I'd come from, humans couldn't leap through the skies or shatter mountains with a single strike. It was a world ruled by science, not martial arts.
So this was unreal—just a phenomenon from the text.
Right, the text.
This world's essence was text, a script. Therefore...
I am Sado Hwan.
I'm just acting out the script.
My true nature is that of an actor. Does it make sense for an actor to freeze up against a rival role?
Even if Sado Hwan was a fabricated character, he never bowed, always holding his head high with unyielding pride.
"...Impressive."
In that moment,
The Heavenly Demon withdrew her simsang.
The snow that had blanketed the heavens vanished without a trace, as if it had been washed away.
Just as I'd thought—an illusion.
...Insane.
What had I just done? Withstood the Heavenly Demon's simsang?
But I couldn't celebrate or reflect. She was still right there in front of me.
"Indeed. You still carry that sweet scent. Relying on foreign objects to raise your realm would make this impossible."
She sheathed the sword and handed it back. I received it reverently with both hands.
She turned and headed across the cloud bridge over the pond. From the glance she threw back, it seemed she wanted me to follow.
I trailed slowly and cautiously behind her.
"I made a contract."
"A contract, my lord?"
"Yes. With your brother, Sado Gwang."
"...!"
This wasn't in the text I'd read.
"Sado Gwang made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and I accepted. That's why I let him live."
What kind of contract? Something about the engagement?
Even in Return of the Murim Lord, the full story of why the Heavenly Demon was engaged to Sado Gwang was never revealed. It only hinted that their bond was a contractual one, not a typical engagement.
Reason for letting him live.
That made sense. The Heavenly Demon held absolute authority in the cult. If she wished, she could execute Sado Gwang on a whim without repercussions. Everyone in the upper echelons knew of his atrocities.
From the cult's perspective, Sado Gwang was a cripple, unworthy of proper regard. Their engagement was bizarre.
That's why rumors swirled that the Heavenly Demon had chosen him out of compassion for the weak. Why else would someone of her stature bind herself to a invalid when she could pick anyone?
"That contract was born of a promise. Do you know what promise?"
As she spoke, her gaze fell on the ice sculptures at either end of the cloud bridge.
A pair of ice sculptures.
I'd passed them without a second thought before, but ice sculptures enduring this weather? It didn't make sense. She must have crafted them with her martial arts.
[That sculpture's face... it feels familiar somehow.]
I agreed.
In that instant, I recalled what she meant by "promise."
...I'm screwed.
It was a classic cliché.
Childhood friends promise to meet again as adults in their respective positions, then part ways.
And inevitably, one loses their memories in some accident, leading to misunderstandings.
That question she'd asked at the Punishment Cave entrance—whether I'd recognize her—was exactly about this.
Pa Cheon lost his memories.
After mastering the first half of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, all memories before age ten were erased. And in those lost memories, Yi Se-ryeong occupied the largest part.
Yi Se-ryeong grows up to become the Heavenly Demon. The one standing before me now.
And in Return of the Murim Lord's original story, the Heavenly Demon was a heroine.
"......"
The Heavenly Demon gazed at me steadily.
But I couldn't say a word.
Checkmate.
One might think, Hey, the official heroine is into you—what's not to like? But no.
In the original story, she was a heroine... but not a normal one.
To be precise, she was an obsessive, yandere heroine—possessive, ruinous, and deranged.
In Return of the Murim Lord, she stalked Mu Jin like a villain, bordering on outright obsession. She even tried locking him in the Heavenly Demon Palace, refusing to let him leave.
If not for the timely outbreak of war (blessings in disguise?), the novel would've ended there eternally.
What could anyone do against such an unstoppable force imprisoning them?
...This is why I tried to keep my distance and avoid entanglement.
The silver lining? She hadn't shown her full obsessive yandere side yet. For now, it was just at the "Do you remember our promise?" stage. Probably mild interest or fondness at most.
In Return of the Murim Lord, what triggered her obsession with Mu Jin was Sado Hwan's three-year disappearance.
During those three years Sado Hwan was missing,
The Heavenly Demon regretted her passivity—both as Heavenly Demon and as a woman.
Then news came of his return, and she rushed to him...
The Heavenly Demon comes on strong, he freaks out and rejects her. Can't blame him—reveal his identity, and he's dead.
That rejection blackened her heart.
Our situation was precarious enough already. If she fixated on me? It'd be like the novel's title come to life—a death sentence for survival.
...Fast escape from the cult is the only way.
Otherwise, the only ending I saw was eternal imprisonment here.
Heavenly glory for a cultist, maybe. But not for me. I'm just an ordinary actor (aspiring) from the real world.
[What in the world is my lord talking about, you demon?]
Pa Cheon, memory wiped, knew nothing. He saw Yi Se-ryeong only as the "Heavenly Demon," not the pure boy and girl from long ago.
I had to answer carefully.
Say I don't know the promise → She gets angry.
Say I do → She rejoices.
Rejection triggers her dark turn. Dodging with "I don't know" might awaken the full yandere right here.
But claiming knowledge outright was risky too. It'd draw even more attention.
"I'm not sure what you mean, my lord."
My choice: Play dumb for now.
"...Is that so."
For a moment, her eyes seemed to droop, like a puppy scolded. But I couldn't let my heart soften. Beneath lurked the obsessive yandere.
In truth, the sulk lasted only a heartbeat.
"I understand your thoughts well enough."
Her eyes cleared again, icy and inscrutable.
"The contract between Sado Gwang and me... no need to tell you, then. If you don't know the promise."
I was dying of curiosity, but begging for details now? Might as well ask for death.
"You may go."
She turned away. Clear dismissal.
"Then, preserve your jade body, my lord."
I bowed to her back and withdrew.
...I survived.
Part of me wanted to bolt, but that'd ping her senses for sure. I had to maintain dignity and poise to the end.
Reaching the Heavenly Demon Palace's main gate, I found Sa Wol waiting, her face clearer and brighter after successfully absorbing the spirit medicine. Escort Gu Jin-gyeong was there too.
"Did you converse well with my lord?"
"Yes. Thanks to you. Oh."
I pulled a small wooden box from my robes.
"What's this?"
"A gift for my lord."
"Not delivering it yourself?"
"...I'm not yet worthy, so I can't present it directly. Please wait a little longer. Can you relay that?"
Delivering this completes my plan.
To create a situation where she doesn't obsess over me, but doesn't fully reject me either.
Gu Jin-gyeong stared into my eyes, then nodded.
"I'll do that."
"Thank you. Then, let's go."
I descended along the Ascending Heaven Realm path.
Arriving at the Small Ice Garden, Gu Jin-gyeong frowned for a split second.
An ominous atmosphere pervaded the garden.
Did Sado Hwan stir my lord's emotions?
The Heavenly Demon sat perched on the cloud bridge. The pond below was frozen transparent.
"My lord."
As Gu Jin-gyeong approached, she looked up. Her face seemed pouty.
"Chief Steward."
"I'll bring Sado Hwan here."
"No need."
"But—"
"I said no."
At her words, Gu Jin-gyeong held up the wooden box.
"Then shall I dispose of this too?"
"What's that?"
"Something Sado Hwan left. For you, my lord."
"...For me?"
"Yes."
The Heavenly Demon flicked her hand. The box slipped from Gu Jin-gyeong's grasp into hers.
Opening it, her eyes began trembling fiercely.
Inside lay a small white orb, exuding immense yin energy. The box itself was a treasure artifact, containing the aura within.
"...This is an Ice Crystal?"
To be exact, it was the jade core that had restored the Little Demon Witch, but broadly speaking, it was indeed a concentrated essence of ice energy—an Ice Crystal.
"He discerned my condition...? Chief Steward, what did Sado Hwan say when he gave you this?"
"He said... he's not yet worthy to present it himself."
"Not yet... worthy?"
"He asked you to wait."
Her eyes wavered.
Clutching the box to her chest, she murmured,
"You haven't forgotten."