Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon's Boyfriend (Not) Update
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[Breaking] Heavenly Demon Baek Seorin, starting the 'Romance of the Century' with Han Jaewoo?
[Hot Issue] The man who made the Heavenly Demon blush! Who is Han Jaewoo?
[Column] Northern Grand Duke Han Jaewoo—the shock his fashion and manners are sending through the Hunter world.
The whole world was drowning in pink-tinted delusions.
The iron-blooded empress who returned from the blood-soaked Murim, the Heavenly Demon Baek Seorin.
The news that a man had appeared to melt her frozen heart was enough to become global gossip fodder, spreading far beyond Korea.
People imagined it all.
By now, the two of them were probably sipping wine at a romantic restaurant, or Han Jaewoo was escorting the Heavenly Demon as they cleared a dungeon.
But reality always betrays imagination.
"Ow, Mom! That hurts!"
Smack!
A sharp smack echoed through the rundown apartment's living room.
Han Jaewoo yelped and scrambled to the corner of the sofa. His right wrist was wrapped in a thick cast, and he was wearing baggy gray sweatpants with holes at the knees.
"I'm hitting you because it hurts—should I hit you to make it feel good?"
His mother huffed, clutching a broken wooden spoon.
"I'm losing my mind here. Other people's sons buy skyscrapers in Gangnam the second they awaken as Hunters, or roll up in luxury foreign cars—"
She jabbed her finger at him, pouring out her lamentations.
"I send my son out to make some money, and he comes back half a day later with a broken bone? Do you have any idea how much the hospital bill was?!"
"This is... a badge of honor."
Han Jaewoo mumbled, looking wronged.
"A medal for blocking the Heavenly Demon's sword. You know I'm the only one who took that brutal slash barehanded?"
"Badge of honor, my ass! Does that badge buy rice or cook meals? Is there a medal that just sits in the room eating rice for a whole month?!"
Han Jaewoo shut his mouth.
He had no comeback.
Surviving his duel with the Heavenly Demon in style had been great.
The problem was the hairline fracture in his wrist as payment, making it impossible to Hunter it up—or even use chopsticks properly.
Guild signing bonus? Forget it.
Dungeon grinding? He'd need a wrist that could grip a sword first.
In the end, he was back to being a freeloading kangaroo, boasting nothing but the flashy title of "Heavenly Demon's boyfriend (suspected)."
"Ugh, what did I do to deserve this."
His mother clicked her tongue and vanished into the kitchen.
Han Jaewoo sighed and flopped onto the sofa. His flawlessly sculpted SSS Plausibility face crumpled.
Just then, the front door's electronic lock beeped open.
Ding-dong.
"I'm home~"
His little sister, Han Yujin, walked in. In her hands was a box of fried chicken wafting a savory aroma.
Han Jaewoo's eyes lit up.
"Chicken!"
He bolted upright, only to bang his casted wrist and cry out, "Ow!"
Han Yujin looked down at him pitifully and tsked.
"Bro, you see the articles?"
"What articles?"
"Check this out. 'Romance of the Century,' they say. Comments are blowing up."
She shoved her smartphone screen in his face. The sensational headline read: [Heavenly Demon Baek Seorin, waiting for Han Jaewoo in the training hall for a full month...]
"Whoa, big bro actually made it? You've been her mega-fan since forever—finally became a true devotee."
"...Ahem."
Han Jaewoo cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away.
Han Yujin was the only one who knew every dirty detail of his past.
Back in high school, the 'Heavenly Demon Noona Collection' folder buried deep in his computer hard drive.
The dark days when he'd loop her monster-head-kicking video 500 times, chanting "Noona, I'm dying."
"Be honest. You did it on purpose, right?"
Han Yujin smirked slyly as she poured the chicken soup base.
"That cringey line and stripping off your coat. All calculated flirting, huh? Knew she had trust issues with humans and poked at it to reel her in?"
"How rude."
Han Jaewoo straightened up sternly and shook his head.
Donning the mask of the Northern Grand Duke, he replied in a solemnly dignified voice.
"I merely respected her solitude as a fellow warrior. My fandom is as pure as the morning star in the night sky."
"Bullshit. Did all the morning stars freeze to death?"
Han Yujin snorted, but Han Jaewoo steadfastly held his poker face.
Of course, his inner thoughts were different.
'Pure? Yeah, right.'
He inwardly cheered.
Every manly fantasy had already run its season 10 in his head long ago.
The thrill when he'd draped the mithril frock coat over her, glimpsing her pale instep.
Her scent, so close up.
And that face of hers, flushing as she looked at him.
'Ah, it was the best.'
He desperately hid his perverted, lecherous fandom behind the noble mask of the 'Northern Grand Duke.'
If she found out, death by Heavenly Demon was secondary—he'd be his sister's teasing fodder for life.
"Alright, let's eat. It's getting cold."
The chicken box opened.
Golden fried chicken in all its glory.
Han Jaewoo instinctively reached for a drumstick.
Smack!
His mother swatted his hand away with a backhand to the shoulder.
"Who reaches before the hardworking little sister?"
"Mom!"
"Give to Yujin first! She's been on her feet at the convenience store all day—you've just been breathing at home!"
Han Jaewoo bit his lip in sorrow.
I, who dined with the emperor for ten years.
Falling in the drumstick hierarchy...
His mother piled two drumsticks on Han Yujin's plate and tsked.
"Look at your sister. Goes to school, works convenience store shifts on the side, even buys chicken for her big bro. You're a Hunter and can't even match that? Go pick up some recyclables at least."
The comparison hit hard.
Han Jaewoo picked up a tough chicken breast with his casted hand and thought seriously.
His mother didn't know.
How great a job convenience store clerking was.
The mental fortitude to smile through entitled customers' bullshit.
Memorizing over 500 cigarette brands.
Managing expiration dates, cash reconciliation, deep-frying cleanup.
It was S-Rank work demanding top-tier mental strength and stamina.
Far more productive and noble than a fake Hunter like him, sponging off home.
Chewing the chicken breast, he opened his mouth with a grave expression.
"...Mother."
His voice rumbled deeply.
Like an emperor discussing the empire's fate.
"Do you think convenience store clerking is bullshit?"
Silence fell.
Han Yujin nearly spat out her chicken.
Undeterred, Han Jaewoo gazed into the void with soulful eyes and continued.
"It's the front lines of capitalism. Facing hordes of humanity, a battlefield where desire and fatigue clash..."
Smack—!!!!
His mother's palm slammed into his back.
This one really hurt.
Practically a skill-infused strike.
"Aaaagh!"
"Who the hell talks bullshit like that to their own mom?!"
Flames shot from his mother's eyes.
"Come back from another world and you ate your manners with your damn ramen! Where'd you pick up that filthy mouth?!"
"No, I was just praising the nobility of clerking—"
"Shut it! Close that noble-ass trap and eat your food! Just die already!"
She brandished the ladle.
The Northern Grand Duke's dignity shattered in one back-smack.
Han Jaewoo hunched over, meekly slurping chicken soup.
Outside, he was the Heavenly Demon's man. At home, just a wallet-parasite to his sister.
At the same time.
Seoul Hunter Association underground training hall.
In the center of the empty space sat the Heavenly Demon Baek Seorin, legs crossed.
Her gaze was fixed on the bare floor—the spot where, a month ago, Han Jaewoo had laid his coat at her feet.
The black mithril frock coat had long been taken back by an Association manager to return to him.
Yet Baek Seorin stared as if it were still there, eyes tracing the nonexistent hem as she relived the memory.
The coat was gone, but the warmth that had enveloped her that day—and the memory—remained vividly etched in her mind.
She closed her eyes and reflected on the past thirty years.
The Murim.
Her childhood scorned for weakness.
To survive, she took up the sword; to grow stronger than any, she trained until vomiting blood.
When she finally reached the pinnacle of power, she thought she had everything.
But no.
Her most trusted senior brother stabbed her in the back.
The subordinates who swore loyalty poisoned her the moment she weakened.
That was when she realized it.
Humans were untrustworthy.
To never be betrayed again, she embraced utter solitude.
Built her own fortress (the Demonic Cult), ruled through fear.
As a result, no one remained by her side.
All worshiped or feared her as a 'disaster' or 'monster.'
Atop her cold jade throne, she was always alone.
Bitterly cold. Profoundly lonely.
The deep-rooted human distrust hadn't faded upon returning to Earth.
No—it had worsened.
Back when Returnees were unheard of.
The monstrous gazes toward the first Returnee, herself.
Corporations approaching to grab a piece.
Hunters provoking her to boost their fame.
But a month ago.
That man appeared.
The one who faced her killing intent head-on without flinching.
The man who wielded a brutally upright and honest sword.
His words as he laid his most prized coat beneath her bare feet echoed in her ears.
[Haven't you walked enough harsh paths alone...]
That single sentence rippled through her frozen heart.
It wasn't mere comfort.
It pierced her weary life, telling her to rest—a salvation.
Baek Seorin slowly opened her eyes.
The red killing intent vanished from her pupils, replaced by deep, clear resolve.
"Ah..."
She sighed softly.
"I didn't want to cut someone down."
Not strength. Not domination.
What she'd craved was simply a small warmth to lean her tired back against.
The moment she admitted it, the chains of her heart demon binding her inner self snapped.
Ruuuumble.
An invisible energy swirled around her body.
With enlightenment, her stalled martial arts leaped to a higher realm.
Surpassing the Realm of Manifestation, she stepped onto the threshold of the Profound Realm.
She gazed into the void.
As if Han Jaewoo stood there.
"That brutally upright man... might stay by my side."
For the first time, a sprout of 'trust' budded in her distrust-filled heart.
A faint, soft smile touched her lips.
The moment affection took root.
"But... why haven't I heard a peep from him?"
But the Heavenly Demon didn't know.
That the 'brutally upright man' who'd granted her enlightenment was holed up in his room for a month now, too broke for even chicken money.
Or the shocking truth that he was a drooling fanboy who'd watched her kicking videos.