Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: TrueDetective
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: 17. South Barbarian Beast Palace Masquerade (3)
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The president of the Gupailbang fan club.
WeTaxi nickname 'Beggar Clan Leader' was lost in thought atop the roof of a stalled carousel.
'I absolutely have to snag that South Barbarian Beast Palace Sub-Palace Lord title...'
This [South Barbarian Beast Palace Masquerade] had drawn a massive turnout from the fan club executives.
Their target: the 'South Barbarian Beast Palace Sub-Palace Lord' title.
They planned to claim it and finally change the fandom name once and for all.
It was a fandom name they'd stuck with for six long years, sure.
But did that mean they had to keep forcing new Gupailbang fans into being beggars?
'Time to change it while we have the chance.'
Gupailbang wasn't even called that anymore—it was the One Alliance, Three Sects, One Family, One Cult these days. No reason for the fandom to cling to Beggar Clan.
They needed to rebrand anyway, to distinguish from fans of the departed members.
That's why the Beggar Clan Leader and the other executives were throwing everything they had into hunting down the Heavenly Demon.
But...
'I figured five out of the six would be decoys... so why do they all give off the exact same energy?'
As she pondered that, one of the fan club executives who'd gone to scout the situation—'Earn like a Prime Minister, Spend like a Dog.'
Shortened to Prime Minister Dog—came rushing back in a panic.
"Clan Leader!"
"Hey, call me Leader Sis."
"That's not the point! The Alliance Leader fandom and the Shaolin fandom have teamed up and are moving out!"
"What?"
At the start of the event, those two fandoms had been too busy fawning over their faves to worry about.
The Beggar Clan Leader irritably scratched her head and demanded,
"Why the sudden team-up?"
"Th-the head manager egged them on, from what I hear."
"Egged them on how?"
"He said the first team to catch the Heavenly Demon gets to give a title to one of its members."
"What?"
The Beggar Clan Leader stood there like she'd been slapped, then let out a deep sigh.
"Looks like KiiChi caught on to our fandom name change plan..."
"You think so?"
"Who else would get the head manager involved? What do those KiiChi bastards gain from keeping our fandom as beggars that they're so obsessed with it?"
They should've pushed back hard at debut and changed it then.
But they'd all fallen for the nickname-engraved tablets the rep handed out at the first concert...
"Whatever. If that's how they wanna play, no need to go easy on them. Time for me to get moving."
"You're gonna catch him yourself, Leader?"
"Quit with the Leader talk already! At least call me President or something."
"But we are the Beggar Clan..."
"You guys got eaten by the concept too?"
Six years living as beggars had worn them down.
Now it was 'if you can't beat 'em, enjoy it' vibes—they even sold steel rods as fan club merch.
But did they really need to go full beggar costume?
Her face must've shown it, because Prime Minister Dog narrowed his eyes and shot back.
"We got into the team with those beggar getups."
"Fine, fine. So where's the Heavenly Demon now?"
"They all headed off in the 12 o'clock, 1 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 9 o'clock, 11 o'clock, and 5 o'clock directions. Our kids chased the 12 o'clock one, and Shaolin went after the 9 o'clock."
"And the Alliance Leader?"
"The Alliance Leader's team hasn't budged from Jaguar Plaza."
"They already have the Alliance Leader title, so no greed for Sub-Palace Lord?"
"Who knows."
"Where's the head manager?"
"With the Alliance Leader."
"With the Alliance Leader?"
The Beggar Clan Leader paused, deep in thought.
The head manager was the Heavenly Demon's dedicated handler, so the one with him had to be the real deal.
'But of course they wouldn't stick him out there so obviously.'
"Then let's go after the 9 o'clock Heavenly Demon. Baek Na-han might know something."
"Yes, Leader!"
"That 'nim' suffix... Ugh, whatever. Let's go."
As the Beggar Clan Leader and Prime Minister Dog leaped down from the carousel roof, a group of Beggar Clan disciples spotted them and hurried over.
"Clan Leader!"
"Aren't you the ones chasing the 12 o'clock Heavenly Demon?"
"Yes."
"So why'd you come back here? Where's the Heavenly Demon?"
"He's heading back to Jaguar Plaza."
"Jaguar Plaza?"
"On the way, it looked like the Heavenly Demons who'd scattered in other directions were converging too."
Prime Minister Dog glanced at the Beggar Clan Leader as he reported from the disciples.
"Something must be going down at Jaguar Plaza."
"Didn't you say the Alliance Leader's team is there?"
"Yes."
The Beggar Clan Leader nodded as if she'd pieced it together.
"Then the Alliance Leader must've called them in. Let's head to Jaguar Plaza too. Everyone's gonna end up there."
* * *
I tried not to scream, but I couldn't help it.
The Alliance Leader punk had fired up the Viking ride next to Jaguar Plaza and strapped me onto the end.
If this lured the Heavenly Demon here, my dignity was toast.
"Cow Bro, having fun?"
"Aaah!"
I don't have a fear of heights or get scared on rides.
But this Viking ride was all wrong.
The safety bar was loose—that was one thing.
But it was swinging up to angles it had no business reaching!
"Wow, you still haven't fallen off."
It bent almost vertically from floor to ceiling, but the Alliance Leader next to me was chill as ever.
The Beggar Clan disciples riding with us screamed in delight.
I couldn't hold back and yelled,
"Wei Hua-jin!!"
Just as the Viking swung up high again.
Something that shouldn't have been there caught my eye.
The Heavenly Demon was standing calmly atop the Viking's mast.
Some Beggar Clan disciples on the ride shot to their feet and shouted.
"He's finally here, the Heavenly Demon!"
"You guys look like total villains right now."
The next instant, the Viking froze mid-air.
The Heavenly Demon flicked his sleeve, and a crack snaked across the pole connecting it to the mechanism. It snapped clean off and plummeted.
The Viking settled onto its base, but without much impact—the Heavenly Demon had casually reined it down with void grasp.
Repair bill's gonna be brutal.
I always think this, but thank god the rep's loaded.
...Once I sign with my new agency, I'll be footing these bills myself.
The Heavenly Demon swept his gaze over us on the ride, then shook his head.
"No way to tell who's from the Demonic Cult like this."
He shot me a pitying look.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Sorry..."
"While this lord's running around like an idiot, I never figured you'd be the one riding this fun-looking thing and shrieking."
I didn't want to be doing this.
But before I could explain, the Alliance Leader forced the safety bar open and yanked me to my feet.
"Heavenly Demon, if you want Cow Bro back, gather the rest of the Heavenly Demons here right now."
"And why are you going this far?"
"My fans want it."
"A monster born of fans..."
The Heavenly Demon sized things up for a moment, ran a hand through his hair, and asked,
"Even if this lord gathers them all, you think you can catch us?"
"You'll have to let yourselves get caught."
The Alliance Leader's grip on my arm seemed to tighten.
"If you want to end this chaos and get on with your other business."
That loaded line furrowed the Heavenly Demon's brow.
"You... what do you think you know?"
"I heard rides are fair game after filming wraps. You not gonna ride any?"
"The rest of this lord's duplicates will be here soon."
No way—after wall-running and air-stepping, you wanna ride amusement rides?
The Heavenly Demon hopped down from the mast to the safety bar right in front of me.
Close enough to touch, but no one dared approach.
"One... If this lord just lets himself get caught, where's the fun?"
The Alliance Leader pondered, apparently agreeing, then proposed,
"How about this: We number you Heavenly Demons and everyone guesses the real one at the same time. The team that nails it takes the title."
"When did this turn into a team battle?"
"Here come the other teams."
Looking around at his words, I saw my team—who'd left the plaza just before—and the Beggar Clan disciples—who'd peeled off way earlier—pouring back in.
Leading them were the Heavenly Demon's duplicates.
The duplicates who'd arrived first lined up beside the Heavenly Demon already here.
Baek Na-han, right behind, approached me with eyes demanding an explanation.
"Hang on, lemme explain. First, let's get down..."
With the Alliance Leader's help, I climbed off the Viking, calmed the fans itching to charge the Heavenly Demon, and organized them into teams.
Plenty of solo entrants, but a whisper from the fan club president had them all joining fan club teams.
In the end, three teams remained: Alliance Leader team, my team, and fan club team.
"No clue how it turned into a team thing, but... that's 1 over there, and the one at the end is 6. Write the number you think is the real Heavenly Demon on the papers we're handing out. The team that gets it right wins the 'South Barbarian Beast Palace Sub-Palace Lord' title."
Weird.
I'm baffled by this setup, but the three teams nodded quick and started debating which number to pick.
Do murim folk just adapt that fast?
"Oh, right."
While waiting for them to write, Number 6 Heavenly Demon sidled up to me.
"Seems the others ran into 'those things.'"
"'Those things' meaning... not human?"
"Yeah."
But you're way too calm about this.
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"Don't worry. They're still alive—for now."
You call that reassurance?
If the others are facing non-humans right now...
Where the hell are the Wave Sword School disciples?
They hadn't approached me or the Heavenly Demon.
That photo was definitely a Wave Sword blade...
"All done."
While I mulled it over, the teams finished.
The Alliance Leader, Baek Na-han, and the Beggar Clan Leader stepped forward with their papers.
"Okay... count of three, then show your answers at the same time."
Come to think of it, I don't even know which Heavenly Demon is real.
Logically, the first to rush over—Number 6—seems legit... but he's not the type to come running just 'cause I said it's dangerous.
Still, I figured my team would win out of these three.
On three, the answers they revealed were a sight.
They'd written something, alright—just not numbers.
"...What is this?"
Pointing at my team's paper, I asked. The Beggar Clan disciples on my team clasped their hands in prayer and chimed in unison.
"It's the Box of Truth. The real Heavenly Demon is in one of the three holes in the box."
That's just a Little Prince rip-off.
"Isn't it supposed to be a sheep in there?"
"Broadly speaking, the Heavenly Demon is a lamb too."
The next team stirred.
"Weren't those guys all Buddhists?"
"Calling the Heavenly Demon a lamb..."
"True amen."
Even amid the chaos, Baek Na-han's face stayed serene, not a peep.
"Got it..."
The fan club team buzzed at my team's answer, but theirs wasn't much different.
"So 'the real Heavenly Demon isn't here at all' is your guess?"
"You can't be fooled by appearances. Those six Heavenly Demons are definitely a trap."
"...Sorry, but one of them is the real Heavenly Demon. That answer's... rejected."
The Beggar Clan Leader scratched her head and muttered to her team.
"Hey, didn't we say this'd get it right?"
"Weird. In Count of Monte Cristo or whatever, the protagonist says that and goes home."
No, you ripped it off too?!
"Finally, the Alliance Leader team's answer... is."
The paper the Alliance Leader held read:
[Guys, sorry! No idea!]
"It's okay, Alliance Leader!"
"Could happen!"
"Not knowing doesn't hurt!"
"We don't know either!"
"Kids these days don't get Golden Bell, Alliance Leader."
Did these guys even try to get it right? I wondered.
The disappointed Beggar Clan Leader asked me,
"So what's the real answer?"
"Oh, the real Heavenly Demon is..."
As I turned to ask him, something sharp sliced through the air toward the Heavenly Demon.
It was an arrow.
An ice arrow, glinting blindingly in the sun, flew straight at Number 1 Heavenly Demon.
Pop!
It passed through Number 1, then 2 through 5, bursting like balloons.
Finally, Number 6 caught it in his hand.
The Heavenly Demon snatched the arrow soft as a paper plane drifting down.
A note was tied to the fletching.
"It's those guys."
Following his gaze, I spotted someone on the Ferris wheel lowering a bow.
Flanking him: a one-armed man in costume and a guy with a black hood flipped down to his nose.
The Heavenly Demon snapped the arrow in half and murmured low enough for only me to hear.
"Wave Sword School disciples. They used their heads for once."
No...
You shoot arrows for that?!