Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 150
>Chapter Title: Graduation Ceremony (2)
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How long had it been since I’d been secretly biting my tongue to stay awake?
“Ho ho ho. It seems I’ve gone on too long, so I’ll cut it short now.”
Right after Master finally wrapped up his tedious nagging and stepped down from the platform, Hall Leader Yeom Ga-hwi took the stage and opened his mouth.
“Congratulations on graduating from the Demonic Path Academy.”
And once again, the feast of old-timer lectures continued.
“You can take pride in the countless hardships and trials you’ve endured over the past two years. But as His Supremacy said, remember that graduating from the Demonic Path Academy doesn’t mean everything is over.”
As sleep kept crashing over me like waves, a bad feeling hit me that I might fall into demonic deviation at this rate.
Tap.
Finally, the second old-timer finished speaking and stepped down.
‘Haa. I really thought I was going to lose my mind.’
Still, with all the events now over, maybe I could head back to the Black Dragon Hall and rest?
Just as that hopeful thought crossed my mind, Instructor Eun-ryeo’s voice rang out.
“And finally, to celebrate this graduation ceremony, the Drama Club will now present their play.”
“???”
A question mark popped up involuntarily.
‘Was there originally an event like this?’
This was my first Demonic Path Academy graduation, but I’d heard from Jin Ha-yeon beforehand that it was supposed to be a pretty simple affair.
‘The Drama Club was only formed this year, wasn’t it?’
That would mean this was a last-minute addition to the schedule.
‘…So that’s why Cadet Jeong-hyeon looked so anxious.’
As that thought occurred to me, I turned my head and saw Jeong-hyeon stepping forward with a face like she was on the verge of death.
On top of that, Baek-cheon, Bang Mi-hwa, Ha-yeong, and Joo Seo-yeon.
As I watched the Drama Club’s fabulous five step forward, an inexplicable sense of foreboding washed over me.
Instructor Eun-ryeo had somehow set up a wooden signboard smack in the middle of the training ground.
[Forgetful Ridge]
And written on that signboard was a name all too familiar to me.
‘No way… It can’t be, right?’
I desperately tried to push away the ominous premonition that hit me the moment I saw the sign.
But Bang Mi-hwa’s bold shout from the center of the training ground shattered my hopes to pieces.
“Ha ha ha ha! This must be the Forgetful Ridge teeming with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s old monsters! But I am the eighth disciple of His Supremacy and the Young Master Il-mok, boasting heaven-sent talent. Do you think a mere Forgetful Ridge scares me?!”
The performance prepared by the Drama Club.
It was my story.
What’s more, a heavily distorted version of my story.
* * *
The play began with Bang Mi-hwa, playing the role of Il-mok, entering Forgetful Ridge.
It was an utterly absurd start for Il-mok.
He had stumbled into Forgetful Ridge after falling into a trap, but the Il-mok portrayed by Bang Mi-hwa was spouting a monologue as if he had voluntarily sought out the place.
And the first opponent she encountered was Joo Seo-yeon.
“Who are you to dare invade the Divine Cult’s territory?!”
Joo Seo-yeon had somehow prepared fake white whiskers and powdered her hair white to impersonate an old man.
Chaeng!
No sooner had they exchanged a few lines than Joo Seo-yeon and Bang Mi-hwa swung a spear and sword, diving into a spar.
After exchanging a few moves, Joo Seo-yeon recited her lines mechanically.
“To block this old man’s spear at such a young age!”
“Ha ha ha ha! To the last disciple of the great Heavenly Demon and heaven’s own genius, this is nothing!”
At Bang Mi-hwa’s bold declaration, Il-mok wanted to crawl into a rat hole.
‘I never shouted anything like that!’
The Il-mok played by Bang Mi-hwa shared only the name and male gender; otherwise, she was no different from the real Bang Mi-hwa.
Whether Il-mok wanted to hide in a hole or not, the play continued.
The old man, moved by Il-mok. After Joo Seo-yeon chased after her and wandered Forgetful Ridge together for a bit.
A new old man—Ha-yeong—appeared.
“Who are you?!”
Once again, Ha-yeong and Bang Mi-hwa exchanged a few blows, then Ha-yeong shouted with a furious face.
“To dare steal this old man’s Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword!”
With those words, Ha-yeong swung fiercely at Bang Mi-hwa, who flew back dramatically.
Halt.
As if time itself had stopped, Ha-yeong and Joo Seo-yeon froze in place, and Bang Mi-hwa’s monologue continued.
“Ahh! How tragic! The old folks of this Forgetful Ridge live on, each one having forgotten their memories!”
In her monologue, she acted out pity for the forgetful old men.
“That’s right! I must become that old man’s disciple and care for him!”
She justified the development of voluntarily becoming a disciple.
For the watching Il-mok, there was nothing to say.
‘Damn it. I did make up something like that to Baek-cheon…’
In the past, when Baek-cheon kept prying about what happened in Forgetful Ridge, Il-mok had fobbed him off with vague excuses.
He couldn’t very well say he’d stripped naked and jumped into a creek to play the madman, or climbed a cliff naked begging to live and tricked Old Man Gang into taking him as a disciple.
“Have you forgotten me, Master?!”
Just like Il-mok had done, Bang Mi-hwa tricked Old Man Gang into becoming his disciple. The process was completely different, though.
And she began performing the act of tending to Old Man Gang.
‘Please stop…’
Watching the play, Il-mok felt like he might die right there. If they autopsied the body, the cause of death would probably be shame.
But regardless of Il-mok’s wishes.
“Ahh…”
“How could it be so…”
Everyone watching the play let out sighs tinged with pity or wore moved expressions.
They had no experience with such plays, and Bang Mi-hwa’s confident acting held a certain persuasive power.
Just as the pity for Forgetful Ridge’s old folks reached its peak.
A new character—Baek-cheon—made his appearance.
Only then did Il-mok understand why Bang Mi-hwa had been cast as the protagonist.
That madman Baek-cheon would never yield the lead role.
The reason Baek-cheon handed the protagonist Il-mok role to Bang Mi-hwa.
“Master! It’s all a misunderstanding!”
“Ho ho ho. Worry not! This old man knows everything. You took pity on Old Man Gang and are tending to him, isn’t that right?”
It was to play the role of the Heavenly Demon, master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and Il-mok’s teacher.
As befitting an all-knowing being, the Heavenly Demon knew everything.
“So, what did you feel after spending five days here?”
The story unfolded as if even Il-mok’s visit to Forgetful Ridge had been a trial from the Heavenly Demon.
In response to the Heavenly Demon—played by Baek-cheon—Bang Mi-hwa, as Il-mok, answered.
She spoke of the various ways to improve Forgetful Ridge, based on what she’d felt during those five days there.
“Then, let us change this place together from now on!”
“I shall obey your command, Master!”
After finishing their conversation, the two sprang into action, and soon a new character appeared.
The last Drama Club member, Jeong-hyeon.
She too had stuck on white whiskers and powdered her hair white to dress as an old woman, playing a role with severe dementia who could barely speak.
She had no lines at all.
Bang Mi-hwa approached the staggering woman with no dialogue and did her best to tend to her, issuing orders to the old folks and changing Forgetful Ridge.
And Jeong-hyeon, receiving Bang Mi-hwa’s care, soon covered her mouth with both hands, tears welling up in her eyes.
“How could it be so heartfelt…”
Everyone watching the play wore faces moved by Jeong-hyeon’s acting.
They thought it was the scene of the old woman moved by Il-mok’s care.
‘Maybe I really was overprotecting Cadet Jeong-hyeon!’
Even Instructor Eun-ryeo, the Drama Club advisor, was touched by the performance.
Only Il-mok saw through to the truth.
‘It’s not感動, she’s dying of embarrassment…’
Those weren’t acting tears. You could tell from how her face was flushed red, on the verge of exploding. And above all.
‘Please stop…’
Il-mok, watching the play, felt the same dying shame as Jeong-hyeon.
Did his desperate wish reach them?
The play soon reached its final act.
“Ha ha ha. This place is no longer a demonic realm where pitiful old folks who’ve forgotten themselves wander! From now on, it’s a sanctuary for the elderly who devoted themselves to our Divine Cult, and I hereby name it Peach Blossom Ridge!”
With that final shout, Baek-cheon chopped down the wooden sign reading [Forgetful Ridge] and slammed a new one into the training ground floor.
The new signboard bore the words [Peach Blossom Ridge].
No sooner had the climactic scene ended than cheers erupted from the audience.
“Waaaaah!!”
“Long live! Long live! Long, long live!!!”
“Lord of Ten Thousand Demons! Save us!”
Strangely, they weren’t bowing to Bang Mi-hwa or Baek-cheon who performed the play, but to the real Heavenly Demon watching alongside them.
But as expected of a cult leader, he was in a class of his own.
Unlike Il-mok, whose face burned red with impending shame-death, the Heavenly Demon wore a purely pleased expression.
“Ho ho ho. A truly splendid play.”
Praised by the Heavenly Demon, the Drama Club five hurriedly bowed.
And Baek-cheon, the representative, spoke while still bowed.
“My humble acting failed to fully capture Your Supremacy’s greatness, and for that I am deeply ashamed.”
No matter how full of himself and attention-seeking he was, he couldn’t act arrogant in front of the Heavenly Demon.
After all, he was a devout follower of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“Ho ho ho. It was plenty splendid, so worry not.”
The Heavenly Demon bade them rise, then asked Baek-cheon.
“The matter of Peach Blossom Ridge isn’t widely known, so such a play wouldn’t have existed before. This must be one you created yourselves.”
“That is correct, Lord of Ten Thousand Demons.”
“Then, could you tell me why you prepared this play and performed it at this graduation ceremony?”
“It was to spread Your Supremacy the Heavenly Demon’s greatness to the world. And this idea came to us all thanks to Young Master Il-mok.”
With his answer, all eyes turned to Il-mok.
Already mortified, now with everyone staring, Il-mok felt like he’d go mad.
But unaware of Il-mok’s inner turmoil, Baek-cheon kept chattering away.
“Thus, even after graduating from the Demonic Path Academy, I plan to create and perform various plays. To turn the tales of Your Supremacy the great Heavenly Demons into plays and preach their greatness to the masses!”
At those words, the Heavenly Demon stroked his beard with a moved face.
“Hoo. To preach our Divine Cult and the greatness of past Heavenly Demons through plays. I never thought of such a method. Ho ho ho. I’d been trying to spread the doctrine in too simplistic ways.”
As if responding to the Heavenly Demon’s mutterings, Hall Leader Yeom Ga-hwi, who’d been watching beside him, exclaimed in surprise.
“Indeed! So that’s why Cadet Il-mok insisted on creating clubs at the Demonic Path Academy!”
It was a ridiculous misunderstanding.
He’d only suggested it out of pity for the young martial artists tormented by demonic arts, thinking maybe give them a bit of time for hobbies.
But now, with everyone in the training ground gazing at him with moved faces, Il-mok couldn’t bring himself to say no.
“Ah ha ha, I just thought something like this might happen.”
Answering with an awkward laugh, Il-mok thought.
He just hoped this horrific graduation ceremony would end quickly.