Chapter 24
Chapter 24
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Let's Give This PK Thing a Shot
-----------------------------------------------------------------
House in front of me.
I let out a deep sigh as I lit a fire under the stone slab.
"Awoo! Woo-woo-woong!"
"Eek! Shut up, you mutt!"
The baby wolf pup and the rabbit were growling at each other, squabbling away.
"They seemed to get along just fine before..."
The first time I met Ruby by the lake.
I remembered the baby wolf pup hugging her.
And not just that.
Last night when she came over, the wolf had been thrilled to see her too.
But things changed the moment we went inside to sleep together.
The baby wolf started barking nonstop at Ruby.
"What the heck are you two even talking about, Ruby?"
I called out to Ruby amid their fight.
I wanted her to translate their conversation with her magic.
But.
"I'm busy right...! This little runt's barking at me now, meow!"
"Grrr... Awoo!"
"What? You telling me not to talk, meow? You can't even talk yourself, meow!"
"Ang! Awoong!"
They started fighting again.
I decided to just tune them out.
I opened the gallery while grilling the meat.
"Wonder what they're talking about today."
I muttered as I started scanning the posts.
📰 Breaking News Everyone heard the news? The Dragon-Phoenix Conference is being held this time. 💬 Comments — Anonymous The winner's gotta be Nangong Jin, right? — Anonymous Gah! What nonsense! The winner's obviously Shaolin's Do Yeon! — Anonymous Heh heh, you all blind? Obviously Nangong Cheong-a taking the win! — Anonymous Hey, heard the Five Great Palaces Beyond the Seas are sending their lords too? — Anonymous Ooh! Does that mean the Ice Palace Lord too? Finally get to see that peerless beauty everyone's raving about. The entire gallery was buzzing about the Dragon-Phoenix Conference.
Seeing those posts, envy washed over me.
"Sounds fun."
I wasn't particularly dying to watch martial artists duel.
Just the crowds alone.
Meant tons of delicious food.
And plenty of sights to see.
That was what I envied.
"Sigh..."
I flipped the page with a sigh.
No point in window-shopping at a party I couldn't crash—it'd just make my stomach hurt.
I was scrolling back through the pages when a familiar nickname caught my eye.
The Red Mage who'd shown up in my stream yesterday, threatening me to stop growing mandrakes.
— Shihanbu, Take Note Author: Red Mage Don't take the Red Magic Tower's will lightly. Remember: desire can sometimes be the fastest path to self-destruction. I scowled at the post.
"Let yesterday slide and now he's crossing the line again?"
Irritation surged.
I opened the compose window right away.
⭐ Top Comment — Sorry, Red Magic Tower Folks Author: Shihanbu —or did you think I'd say that? If you're pissed, drag your asses to the Abandoned Continent and PK me yourself. 💬 Comments — Anonymous Lmao, yeah, what're they gonna do if they can't handle it? — Anonymous Lol come to the Abandoned Continent if you're mad. — Anonymous They can't come, right? Scrawny mage punks got no balls, can't do shit. The gallery users backing me up.
I was smiling warmly at their support when.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The Heavenly Demon has requested a 1:1 chat. "Hm? What's up?"
I accepted the chat curiously, and a video popped up.
The Heavenly Demon was beaming, waving cheerfully.
Behind her stood a young girl and three boys.
"How've you been, Vice Cult Leader?" ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Heavenly Demon Divine Cult headquarters, the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
Screams were echoing through the area right now.
"Kyaak!"
The screaming girl's name was Yeran.
In the past, she'd been inspired by Shihanbu's Blood Wave Sword and climbed the mountains.
Right now, she was carrying her master A-ryeong on her back as she climbed.
"Hey! You're slowing down!"
"Huff! Huff! Master, this disciple has a question!"
"Mm. Ask away."
Yeran glanced down at the massive sandbags tied to her feet.
"When exactly are you going to teach me swordsmanship?"
She was questioning the Heavenly Demon's training method—making her climb the mountain daily with heavy sandbags and her master on her back.
At her disciple's question, A-ryeong clicked her tongue.
"Can't even stand steady and you wanna run? You're far from ready to hold a sword."
"But Shihanbu..."
"Gah!"
A-ryeong suddenly bellowed, cutting Yeran off.
She glared at her disciple from her piggyback position.
Realizing her mistake, Yeran hurriedly corrected herself.
"Th-the Vice Cult Leader got taught right away, didn't he?"
A-ryeong's satisfied look lasted only a moment.
She soon sneered.
"You comparing yourself to the Vice Cult Leader right now?"
Yeran had no choice but to shut her mouth.
She watched Shihanbu's streams every day.
She knew his talent well.
Comparing herself to Shihanbu was like comparing a firefly to the sun.
"...I'll work hard."
"At least you know your place."
With that, Yeran resumed climbing.
Buildings of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult came into view.
Today's training would end once she reached there.
Suddenly, strength surged through her.
Then A-ryeong yelled.
"Stop."
With that, A-ryeong hopped off Yeran's back.
And shouted toward somewhere.
"Come out."
The moment her shout echoed.
Three figures leaped out from behind a tree.
Yeran tensed, thinking it was an ambush—but sighed in relief.
They were all teenage boys younger than her.
The kids who'd jumped out bowed in unison at the Heavenly Demon's shout.
"Heavenly Demon! Make us your disciples!"
"I wanna be a master!"
"Please take us in!"
The Heavenly Demon didn't panic like last time.
She smiled leisurely and asked.
"You kids here after seeing Shihanbu's stream too?"
The kids nodded in sync.
The Heavenly Demon nodded approvingly.
"Good. You're cult members starting today."
The kids cheered at the permission.
Ignoring them, A-ryeong opened the gallery.
She wanted to share the joy with Shihanbu.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Shihanbu has accepted the chat. She was online—chat accepted immediately.
On screen: a frail-looking man with a sculpted body and striking looks that radiated decadent beauty.
"Heavenly Demon? What's up... Oh? More people behind you?" "Heh heh, as expected of my Vice Cult Leader. Sharp eyes."
A-ryeong pointed at the three boys.
"Kids who joined today, inspired by you."
"Nah, what would they admire about me? Must be your swordsmanship that drew them in." He'd deny it but be grateful anyway.
Yet Shihanbu credited himself instead.
A-ryeong's heart warmed.
"Saying that saves my face. Thanks. But..."
She trailed off mid-sentence.
Shihanbu asked.
"Something you wanna say?" A-ryeong brushed her hair behind her ear.
After hesitating awhile, she spoke.
"Ah, never mind. Training calls—let's end here."
"Sure, let's chat face-to-face like this again sometime." "Indeed."
After ending the chat, A-ryeong muttered softly.
"Didn't call me pretty today..."
A strange pang of regret hit when a new alert popped.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Shihanbu has started a broadcast. The Heavenly Demon grinned as if the regret had never been.
"What a hardworking man. Guess I need to step it up too."
She muttered, then beamed at her four disciples.
"Such a joyous day today..."
Yeran lit up with anticipation.
Maybe a break since it's special?
But.
"Let's just do ten more laps around the mountain."
"..."
That night.
Complaints about the master flooded the gallery three times the usual amount.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Right after ending the chat with the Heavenly Demon.
A new chat window popped up like it'd been waiting.
— Snow Girl Young master. Time for your inspection. Seeing Snow Girl's message, I sighed and snapped a photo to send.
— Snow Girl Hee hee, our young master's looking healthy. — Shihanbu Stop the harassment. — Snow Girl Your face is red again. So cute. — Shihanbu Stop spying too. — Snow Girl This is your reward. (Photo of body part) Today's reward from Snow Girl secured, I glanced around and saved the pic.
— Snow Girl Want to chat more with you, young master, but gotta stop here for today. Got somewhere to be—need to prep. Oh, inspections every day, don't forget! With that, the chat ended.
"...Unbelievable."
I sighed and opened the gift box from Snow Girl.
The moment I did.
A chill washed over me.
"Can't she hook me up with a bigger one? Perfect fridge material."
Hunted meat spoiled fast in the wild—most got tossed.
This would seriously upgrade my quality of life.
As I went to put the jar inside.
Bang—
The door flew open, Ruby bounding in.
"Why so jumpy, meow?"
Ruby eyed me suspiciously as I startled.
Her gaze landed on the jar in my hand.
"What's that, meow? Something tasty, meow?"
"Mind your own... More importantly, why're you here?"
"Sneaky meow! Eating alone's mean, meow!"
"...Told you, not food. Now why'd you come?"
Ruby pouted sulkily before answering.
"Just grabbing something quick, meow!"
She headed to the corner of the room.
Her stuff was piled there.
She pulled out a cloth.
"That time again, huh."
I muttered and followed her out.
The familiar yet bizarre scene unfolded.
"Comfy now, meow?"
Ruby was draping the cloth over the mandrake.
Remembering yesterday's talk, I recalled.
'How're you gonna heal it, meow?'
'Simple, meow! Grant its wishes! It's rest time, meow!'
Yeah.
Why Beastkin could grow spirit herbs.
They could communicate.
Not just with animals—with plants too.
"Fell asleep fast, meow."
I watched the beastkin cheer over tucking in the plant and asked.
"So, how long till it's fully recovered and ready to cultivate?"
"Hmm, recovery alone? Roughly three months, meow."
"Three months!?"
Despair hit me.
I wasn't sure I'd even be alive that long.
"S-sorry if it sounds pushy, but... no way to speed up recovery?"
"Nope, meow."
I turned on the stream, pondering her firm no.
Time to crowdsource.
"Any way to heal a mandrake faster?"
Chats poured in at my question.
— Anonymous No clue? — Anonymous Knew it, I'd be an adventurer if I did? Would've joined Red Magic Tower to farm 'em. — Anonymous Extinct here a century ago, remember? "No answers after all?"
I scratched my head in frustration when a standout chat appeared.
— BabyElf Elves have a secret remedy passed down! Want me to tell you? "Elves, huh..."
Felt sketchy.
But no other options.
If it didn't recover fast, I'd die.
"What's the method?"
— BabyElf Condense mana in your blood and sprinkle it on the mandrake. Sprinkle blood?
Skeptical, I checked the chat—
— Anonymous Yeah, heard elves have that remedy. — Anonymous Heard stories of saving spirit herbs that way. — Anonymous It's a famous tale. Verified method, good.
Relieved, I circulated my qi.
Blood? No issue.
"Cough!"
It spewed out with every cough anyway.
A basin full from the coughing fit.
I splashed it straight onto the mandrake.
That instant.
[Rooooaaar!]
The sleeping mandrake bellowed.
The withered thing.
Flex!
Turned buff in a flash.
Not sure if plants get "buff," but it legit bulked up.
"This... actually works? BabyElf, thank you so mu—"
As I went to thank the time-saver.
I froze, staring at chat.
— Anonymous World Treeeeee! — Anonymous World Tree! World Tree! World Tree! — BabyElf Even this and you deny you're the World Tree!? (Elf swinging fist meme) I checked the verification chatters' histories.
— Anonymous Wanna marry the World Tree. — Anonymous Wanna touch the World Tree. — Anonymous World Tree... All elves.
Completely played.
"M-me, falling for this scam..."
Trembling in self-loathing when a chat caught my eye.
— RedMage You've gone and ignored the warning after all. I scowled at it.
"If you're mad, come here and—"
Before I finished.
The scenery shifted.
The forest around me had become a brick tower.
And before me stood an old mage in red robes.
"This old body can't make the trip, so I brought you here."
The mage raised his staff.
"So let's give this PK thing you wanted so badly a try."
Wait... this ain't it?