Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon Raid
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"I'll come back tomorrow. Next time, I'll visit properly, with all due courtesy."
What had battered Han Jaewoo's eardrums and robbed him of sleep all night wasn't upstairs noise or the buzz of midsummer mosquitoes.
It was the horrifying proclamation left behind by Baek Seorin, the Heavenly Demon—the number one powerhouse in Korea and the pinnacle of the hunter world.
The moment the morning sunlight filtered through the window cracks, Han Jaewoo's eyes snapped open. His face pale as a ghost, he glared at the ceiling.
The words "proper visit" she'd spoken were seared into his brain, refusing to budge.
"Proper" and "with courtesy" probably meant—not like yesterday, showing up empty-handed and barefoot.
She was definitely going to come laden with gifts, knocking on the front door.
What if the Heavenly Demon actually stepped inside the house?
In the living room, amid his mother's merciless back-smacking and his sister's sharp fact-bombs, the lofty, icy dignity he'd built as the Northern Grand Duke over a decade of life-and-death struggles in that other world wouldn't stand a chance.
The Northern Grand Duke getting thwacked with a ladle by his mom while in his underwear, right in front of the Heavenly Demon?
That was a social death sentence worse than being stabbed by an assassin's poisoned dagger.
'I absolutely cannot let her inside. No matter what, I have to block her perfectly outside.'
With grim resolve, Han Jaewoo rose from bed.
For this survival stakeout—no, date—against the Heavenly Demon, he needed perfect armor.
He pulled on the top-tier black suit Baek Seorin had personally picked out and paid for at the VVIP shop—one that cost as much as a house.
It was a full three-piece with vest, but he couldn't bring himself to layer a thick long coat over it.
The season had already passed late spring, racing toward the increasingly sweltering early summer.
He straightened his tie, donned his most decadent and aloof expression in the mirror, and stepped out of the house.
At the entrance to the rundown apartment complex in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province.
The windless early summer morning was already thick with stifling heat.
And the outfit he'd chosen was a pitch-black suit that soaked it up like a sponge.
Standing at the complex entrance where heat haze shimmered up from the asphalt, Han Jaewoo screamed internally.
'Ah, so hot. I'm seriously gonna melt. Feels like sweat's pooling under my arms.'
Skipping the coat had been a godsend, but even the three-piece suit was midsummer torture.
Yet astonishingly, his outward appearance perfectly clashed with his inner turmoil.
Standing under the scorching sun that could char flesh, his SSS Plausibility wouldn't allow even a single bead of sweat on his forehead.
On the contrary, the blazing early summer rays served as natural lighting, highlighting his porcelain-pale skin and jet-black hair.
He leaned casually against the weathered flower bed at the complex entrance.
Slightly furrowed brows and serene blue eyes gazing into the void.
To others, the face of an everyday guy irritated by the heat looked like the languid portrait of a noble ruler lost in solemn thoughts, burdened by a lonely fate.
And there were covert gazes fixed intently on that perfect, photoshoot-worthy scene.
Behind the recycling bins and under the tree shade by Building 102's bench.
Apartment housewives in deep sun visors held their smartphones trained on Han Jaewoo, barely breathing.
It all stemmed from a single worry post his mother had uploaded to the neighborhood mom cafe a few days ago—a massive butterfly effect.
"My son brought home a girl in hanbok and barefoot—who could she be?" Along with a description of her appearance.
The mom cafe's terrifying intel network had identified her in a single day as Baek Seorin, Korea's top martial artist, guild master of immense wealth—the Heavenly Demon.
Rumors that the 203rd unit's neighborhood bum was dating the hunter world's apex had already set the housewives' group chat ablaze.
The auntie squad had pitched camp at the complex entrance since dawn to snag this historic scoop.
"Oh my, that's the 203rd kid? Was he always that handsome?"
"Heavens, his face is glowing. I thought he was an actor. Doesn't he look like some prince with a backstory?"
As the aunties' hushed exclamations poured out, a woman's silhouette pierced the distant haze, approaching.
It was the Heavenly Demon, Baek Seorin.
Today, as always, she wore a dazzling pure-white martial robe, barefoot as ever.
But her gait carried not her usual chilling killing intent, but a mix of irrepressible tension and strange anticipation.
Her gaze landed on Han Jaewoo, leaning by the flower bed.
The instant she confirmed his figure, Baek Seorin's lips quivered faintly.
Her sharp eyes instantly caught the key change in his outfit.
Gone was the tattered rag-coat—that irritating remnant from some unknown woman of his past—that had always draped his shoulders.
Instead, he wore only the black suit she'd personally selected and purchased.
'He's shed the traces of his past and wears only the clothes I dressed him in.'
To her, it wasn't just a wardrobe shift.
It was perfect, sweet proof that he belonged to her domain, her possession.
Suppressing the joy and fierce possessiveness threatening to burst forth, she approached with feigned aloofness.
But Han Jaewoo's eyes weren't on her face or clothes—they were locked on the hefty paulownia box cradled preciously in her hands.
'What's that? A fruit basket? Or a hanwoo beef set?'
As Han Jaewoo eyed the box with inner dread, Baek Seorin stood before him and cautiously opened the lid.
In that instant, a bone-chilling cold far outstripping the midsummer swelter rushed out.
The air's moisture at the apartment entrance froze in a flash, white frost blooming.
Inside the box lay a massive ginseng root, the size of an adult's forearm, glowing with a bluish light, nestled on fine silk.
The peerless elixir said to hold the ultimate yin energy of the martial world: the Millennium Ice Snow Ginseng.
She'd chosen it from the depths of her warehouse to replenish the Northern Grand Duke's signature cool, icy aura—the world's rarest and most lethal gift.
Of course, Baek Seorin's true motive in selecting this elixir hid a devious, twisted scheme.
Any martial artist—or power-seeker—would lose their mind at the sight and devour it on the spot.
If he succumbed to temptation and swallowed it right there, he'd need an assistant to handle the massive yin energy.
That would naturally lead them into his house, his private room, sitting face-to-face on the bed to circulate qi—a perfect excuse.
Intimate physical contact under the guise of qi circulation.
That was the top hunter's shy yet naughty grand plan.
"A modest betrothal gift. An elixir infused with a millennium of chilling yin."
Baek Seorin extended the box with pretended nonchalance.
But facing the elixir's ferocious cold head-on, Han Jaewoo's mind blared with emergency sirens.
'Crazy. Is she for real?'
He sensed it instinctively.
That wasn't an elixir.
For an ordinary guy like him with zero inner power, even nibbling it would freeze his esophagus and stomach solid, killing him on the spot from acute hypothermia.
Handing his mom that lethal assassination weapon? The whole family would turn into ice sculptures.
'Is she telling me to eat it and die?'
Hiding the cold sweat trickling down his spine, Han Jaewoo slowly reached out and closed the box.
Then he mustered his most languid, indifferent expression—one showing utter disdain for such an elixir.
"...A precious item."
His cavernous low voice echoed at the apartment entrance.
"However, I'm not inclined to partake just yet. I'll accept your sentiment for now."
Han Jaewoo extracted only the Ice Snow Ginseng from the box and casually slipped it deep into his suit's inner pocket.
Sell it on the secondhand market later or offload it to the association—whatever, just get it out of sight.
But in that moment.
Right after the ginseng entered his inner pocket, Han Jaewoo's eyes widened slightly.
A crisp, tingling chill spread from his chest throughout his body.
The suit's interior, which had felt like a sauna, cooled as if blasted by top-grade AC.
The martial world's ultimate yin elixir perfectly neutralized the heat.
For Han Jaewoo, forced to wear a suit in the blistering heat, it was the world's most perfect, high-performance human ice pack.
'Oh? This thing's insanely cool. I might actually survive.'
Relieved from the hellish heat, a lazy, satisfied smile crept onto Han Jaewoo's lips unbidden.
But Baek Seorin, watching that smile, was utterly aghast.
'Heavens.'
Regret over her foiled scheme had long vanished from her mind.
Her eyes shook violently, as if an earthquake had hit.
Overwhelming self-control—not a speck of greed for that peerless elixir right before him.
And not just that.
He'd casually pocketed the terrifying yin energy that would freeze meridians on touch, without any qi circulation or precautions.
Even bearing that horrific chill, he smiled with comfort and ease.
As if such yin was mere refreshing mountain breeze before his vast vessel's arrogance.
'As expected of the man I've sworn my life to. His caliber is on another level.'
Awe and love for him exploded in the Heavenly Demon's heart.
Her cheeks flushed red enough to melt the ginseng's frost.
Before his mom could burst out of the house, Han Jaewoo seized the initiative.
He couldn't let the boss monster (mom) spawn at the house (dungeon) entrance.
Stepping closer to Baek Seorin, he gazed down at her with his signature lethal eyes.
"Meeting the family... wouldn't that waste this glorious weather?"
His hand extended naturally, gently enveloping hers.
His body, cooled by the ginseng, touched her heated palm.
"I want time just for us."
It was flawless Northern Grand Duke flirting.
His real thoughts? 'If we meet my mom, I'm toast today—let's bolt somewhere else now.' A desperate survival instinct she couldn't possibly hear.
Her heart pounding like it might burst, Baek Seorin nodded dazedly and gripped his hand in return.
Click, click, click.
The moment the two held hands affectionately, exiting the complex.
The aunties behind the recycling bins silently flashed their smartphone cameras.
This sighting, sparked by a Siheung mom cafe post, would rocket through hunter communities to entertainment desks in 30 minutes flat.
Tonight's portal main pages would be plastered with: "Heavenly Demon Baek Seorin Spotted on Humble Neighborhood Date with Mystery Hottie in Siheung Apartments!"
But sadly, the reality of that "humble date" was nothing like Han Jaewoo expected.
The moment they left the apartments, Baek Seorin led him with a tender yet resolute voice.
"Last time, you invited this seat to a modest picnic and graciously hosted."
Her "modest picnic" meant that hellish F-rank slime dungeon where he'd flung a life-risking survival flirt.
"Now it's my turn to invite you somewhere befitting your station. I've prepared the perfect diversion for us."
She wasn't leading to an air-conditioned neighborhood cafe or a dark theater.
The direction veered from the city center toward rugged mountains radiating deadly auras, strictly off-limits to civilians.
A blood-red sky and "blood aura" demonic realm.
The true gateway to hell, swarming with at least A-rank beasts.
'Hey, picnic means coffee at a cool cafe! Where the hell are we going?!'
Han Jaewoo inwardly screamed, dragged along forcibly.
He clutched his sole lifeline— the inner pocket's ginseng ice pack—with both hands.
The Northern Grand Duke's sweat-free dignity and the everyman's survival drive tangled in the dizzying prelude to a full-on Heavenly Demon raid.