Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: Unconsciousness
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"..."
The conversation dragged on a bit after that, but nothing really sank in, so I brushed Yeo Socheon off politely and sat alone on the bed, staring blankly into space.
According to her, my appearance as her fated partner in the heavenly secrets meant that was how the Heavenly Demon saw it. In other words, it was her "desired future."
To the Heavenly Demon, anything she wanted was achievable, and the future was just something she could shape to her liking whenever it came.
So, me marrying her, getting locked in a basement, and spending over a decade being raped by her—it was all part of the future she'd imagined.
Of course, no human imagination could fill in every detail of the future that precisely, so the heavenly secrets must have automatically patched the gaps. But the foundation was still her fantasy.
In the end, what this all meant was...
"It's already too late..."
From before I'd even read the heavenly secrets, I'd already been in her grasp.
That's the only way such an imagination could manifest as heavenly secrets for me... That...
'Fucking insane rapist bitch...'
-Scribble scribble.
What kind of twisted personality even thinks that about someone she just met?
Even if imagination is free, isn't that going too far?
Fine, falling at first sight—sure. But jumping straight to locking me in a basement and having four kids...
-Tremble tremble tremble.
Is this how idols feel when they stumble across weird fanfiction about themselves online back on Earth?
My body shook even more than when I'd glimpsed the abyss by chance.
How could someone with that appearance even think of doing something like this?
She wasn't some shut-in who'd never gone outside, had no friends, and just wasted away in her room...
'Wait, she was?!'
Her looks were so dazzling they hurt the eyes, but her behavior was pure hikikomori.
We'd talked about it over drinks—she didn't like sunlight much, and she'd implied I was basically her first real friend...
Thinking about it that way suddenly made it all click.
The kind of person who's never dated, gets a tiny bit of inspiration from some light novel, and goes off the rails imagining marriage and even kids' names.
I could kinda understand it like that, even if it was still hard to swallow...
-Tap tap.
"Saintess, come out."
'Get out here, you shopkeeper.'
First, there was something I needed to check.
"This is you popping that up, right? Come on out already."
At my urging, the Saintess appeared with an awkward laugh, her face the picture of innocence—like she had no idea what was going on.
"You have to take responsibility if there's a defect in what you sold me."
She couldn't dodge it that easily.
"Even assuming the Heavenly Demon was some inexperienced virgin with no dating history, I can't imagine her falling for a guy whose face she didn't even know and wanting to lock him up."
"...I think this cloak failed at its job. What do you think, Saintess?"
I cut straight to the chase, not giving her a chance to deflect.
-Drip drip.
The Saintess broke into a cold sweat, eyes darting away.
She bowed deeply, like in those mobile game ads.
"Sorry doesn't cut it! You gotta do A/S or exchanges or refunds or something!"
"You didn't mention that when you sold it to me!"
...Come to think of it, yeah.
We couldn't talk when I first bought it.
"...Whatever, it got pierced. Do something about it. This thing was expensive. Took me six whole years to buy it."
"...Hm."
".......Hm..."
...She'd explained all this before. I'd just gotten used to her merchant side.
She'd even said if there were no interference limits, she'd hand over holy swords and everything.
"...Yeah, I was out of line. Sorry."
"No need!!!"
This rotten Saintess!
She couldn't touch me physically, so she was going insane bit by bit.
Unable to feel me directly, she was developing exhibitionist tendencies.
No matter that I was a healthy adult male and her looks didn't lose to any other woman's—her intentions were way too impure.
Honestly, she was starting to scare me.
She'd seemed pretty diligent at first, but watching her descend into madness in real time made it worse.
Maybe since she realized no matter what I did, I had no intention of going to her world, she'd gotten more blatant.
'Whoa, this woman's not even a saint anymore.'
'...Whoa.'
I didn't know how to respond to that.
The more we talked, the heavier my heart got hearing about her world's grim state.
I was just a selfish human ignoring her desperate pleas for help.
'...If you do?'
........................
Yeah... sure...
She's still a good person at heart...
...But I'd really rather you hold off on that.
In the end, to calm the Saintess down, I took another set of photos for her.
I could feel her demands getting more intense each time. How long could I keep this up?
Wondering if I'd eventually have to do a strip show for real, I went to Yeo Socheon to prepare for the trip back to Shaanxi.
There wasn't much for me to do to prepare.
I'd just wrap myself in blankets, pass out in her arms, close my eyes for a bit, and open them to be done.
The hard part was all on her—leaping across the vast distance from Kunlun to Shaanxi in a single day with lightness skill.
"Alright then... I'll knock you out?"
Just like when we'd left Shaanxi, she placed her hand on my head and sent a current through me.
Figuring I'd open my eyes in Shaanxi like last time, I closed them.
And when I opened them again...
'...?'
Instead of Shaanxi as expected, the scene around me was a bleak, sunless dark space.
Just like the basement from the heavenly secrets.
'...A dream?'
My mind was unusually sharp for a dream, but it was probably still one.
It couldn't connect to reality from before I closed my eyes.
As soon as I thought that, a voice echoed around me, as if confirming it.
"Here, ah."
"...I can feed myself."
"No. Mom said I have to spoon-feed you every bite. Here, ah~."
"Tch."
Familiar voices.
I turned toward them and saw a future version of myself—and a young woman who looked like a mix of the Heavenly Demon and me.
She seemed barely of age, too young to be the Heavenly Demon herself.
From their earlier talk, I could guess who she was.
'My daughter.'
This seemed to be even further in the future than the heavenly secrets I'd seen.
The two daughters there had been much younger.
'...Her impression must've been pretty intense.'
I'd dreaded dreaming of this, but not in this form.
Still, this version didn't seem dangerous.
Just a normal father-daughter chat.
Even if I was chained up, opening my mouth for food from my daughter—it beat dreaming of being raped by the Heavenly Demon.
I hadn't aged a day here either.
My hair had some gray, but no height gain, face basically the same.
Life in captivity had made me look a bit fiercer, but my base face was soft anyway...
Honestly, it was like a tiny puppy throwing a tantrum.
...Ah, that's me.
After silently eating with a sulky expression for a while, I finally spoke to my daughter.
"...You're the fourth, right?"
"You don't even know your kids' birth order, Dad?"
"I'd have to see them for that. She only showed me the first three as babies. Never saw you."
"Today's the first time I've seen you in person too, so I guess I can't complain."
...Suffocating!
They talked like father and daughter, but this was her first time seeing me too.
Judging by her apparent adult age, time had built a thick wall between us.
"...She treating you okay?"
"Huh? Mom? She's scary when mad, but I think she's a good mom."
"Food."
"Three proper meals a day."
"Training."
"Checks once a week."
"Doesn't hit you."
"Dad. Normal people die if Mom hits them."
"...She's raising you well, then."
The Heavenly Demon seemed to raise her kids right.
Though this was just a dream, not heavenly secrets, so who knew if it was real.
"Dad. Why'd you have us?"
"Wasn't my choice. She did it on her own."
"Doesn't pregnancy need mutual consent from the couple?"
"Apparently not."
Come to think of it, I rarely used casual speech with others. Weird.
Probably 'cause she was my daughter.
"I see... Hm..."
"If you're done feeding me, grab a bottle of booze from the shelf over there. Plenty there."
"Mom said no booze."
"...Sneak me just one. I'll handle it if we get caught."
"I'm scared of getting yelled at by Mom too... So grant me one request."
"...What."
The plea from my youngest daughter, meeting her father for the first time as an adult.
I watched the scene without much thought,
"Spread your legs a bit, Dad."
..................
"Huh?"