Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: TrueDetective
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: 21. Become My Family, Become My Idol (2)
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The Heavenly Demon couldn't tear his eyes away from Senior Hyun-seong as he muttered to himself.
"A monk's words turned out to be true. To think you were alive..."
Senior's expression turned peculiar at the Heavenly Demon's mumbling.
"Now that I think about it... calling you alive would be incorrect."
"Incorrect, you say?"
The Heavenly Demon shot back sharply, but Senior replied in an even tone.
[I'm no longer Changhye.]
I don't know much about martial arts, but I've seen it often enough to recognize it right away.
Senior was using sound transmission to speak only to me and the Heavenly Demon.
The Heavenly Demon immediately responded in kind, using sound transmission so only Senior and I could hear.
[If you're not Changhye, then who are you?]
[Here, I'm someone else. I'm Park Hyun-seong, former Kichi team leader and current president of Eunja-rim.]
Senior's words didn't end there.
[The 'Changhye' who was the Shaolin Abbot died by your hand that day.]
He said it so matter-of-factly, as if reciting some random event he'd witnessed in passing, that I didn't grasp the weight of his words at first.
But the Heavenly Demon immediately denied it.
"No!"
The Heavenly Demon seized Senior's shoulder.
Since Senior had his hand on my shoulder, I ended up drawn closer to the Heavenly Demon as well.
That was how I could feel the desperation radiating from him.
He'd even forgotten to use sound transmission in that moment.
[It wasn't me who killed you that day. Even your disciple thought so, but it's not true. I didn't kill the Sword Saint or the Divine Maiden either. Can't you even trust me anymore?]
"......"
Senior fell silent for a moment as the Heavenly Demon gripped his shoulder, then smiled softly.
[No need to resent you now, brother. Don't be angry.]
[Changhye!]
[As I said, I'm not Changhye anymore, so please don't call me that. I shouldn't have even acknowledged you... but since we've reunited in this unexpected place, I had to greet you.]
Senior removed his hand from my shoulder and offered the Heavenly Demon a clasped hands salute.
[Brother Hwajin, our ties ended in the Central Plains. I value the bonds I have here now. So... could you give me some time alone with my junior to catch up?]
It was a polite refusal, signaling he had no intention of continuing the conversation.
The Heavenly Demon, still struggling to compose his shaken emotions, finally released his grip on Senior's shoulder.
"...If it's your junior, do you mean Soeui?"
"Yes. It's been five years since I last saw Soeui, and to think she'd show up with you, Brother Hwajin. I have so much I want to ask and hear."
The Heavenly Demon stared intently at Senior for a moment, then glanced down at me and murmured quietly.
"...Do as you wish. By your logic, I'm a stranger to you now. From here on, you don't need my permission."
"Thank you."
Senior looked at me with a slightly awkward expression.
"Things got hectic, huh? Sorry about that."
"......"
I couldn't bring myself to say, "No, it's fine."
"I'll explain everything... Mind if we talk upstairs for a bit?"
"Upstairs?"
It seemed there were things he wanted to discuss away from the Heavenly Demon...
My master turned out to be a martial artist who arrived in this world before the Heavenly Demon.
And one who was supposedly killed by him, no less.
Sitting alone with Senior right now didn't seem like the wisest choice.
"Senior. Can Dang Sacheon join us too?"
"Dang Sacheon?"
He looked puzzled, as if wondering who that was, so I pointed to Dang Sacheon, who was sitting across from me.
Dang Sacheon had been lost in thought, pondering something, but he lifted his head at my gesture and glanced our way.
"Ah... So she really is with Soeui's group. I thought he was an interesting guy."
What had Dang Sacheon done in that short time to earn such praise from Senior?
Senior permitted Dang Sacheon's company more readily than I'd expected.
"Sure. Sacheon, come up with us."
Dang Sacheon nodded agreeably.
"Got it."
That single phrase made me understand Senior's assessment of him.
Why are you still playing that concept even here?
I turned to seek the Heavenly Demon's approval, but as soon as our eyes met, he gave a small nod—as if to say do whatever—and promptly turned and left the shop.
"Heaven—"
"Just let him go."
As I tried to call out to the Heavenly Demon, Senior stopped me.
"He's giving us space. With his physical abilities, he'd overhear us otherwise if he stayed close."
"...Right."
As Senior and I headed upstairs, I noticed Dang Sacheon grinning smugly as he addressed the Odae-sega candidates.
"You all heard that, right?"
"...Heard what? You were just mumbling."
"You didn't hear?"
It seemed Dang Sacheon had overheard Senior and the Heavenly Demon's conversation too.
Had the Heavenly Demon considered him as well?
Dang Sacheon tilted his head, then declared confidently.
"Either way, it's true I'm working under Soeui's brother. That should lend some credibility to what I said."
Pang Habuk eyed him suspiciously and replied curtly.
"...I'll ask Soeui myself and decide whether to believe you."
"Suit yourself. Wait here a bit, then."
I was growing increasingly uneasy about whatever they'd been discussing.
Dang Sacheon followed me upstairs with a refreshingly bright smile.
The upstairs was a small attic-like room with a slanted ceiling, featuring a large sofa in the center and a few small chairs around it.
On an inlaid side table by the window sat an antique phonograph spinning without a record—surprisingly, or perhaps predictably, a few Gupailbang albums were tucked into a nearby rack.
Otherwise, it was an ordinary space, nothing special.
Except for the life-sized Buddha statue in the corner, which caught my eye a bit.
"Have a seat."
Senior settled onto the large sofa and gestured for us to sit.
Dang Sacheon tested the cushions of the small chairs by pressing them, then handed me the plushest one and took the one next to it.
Watching this, Senior asked with evident interest.
"What's this guy's deal?"
"He's a manager, for now."
"A manager? Looks like the president assigned you a manager now. Not surprising."
He must have misunderstood because I sat so naturally in the chair Dang Sacheon picked for me.
"...No way he's my manager. He's Gupailbang's assistant manager."
"Gupailbang's assistant manager? The same one who just ignored Brother Hwajin like he wasn't there...?"
So Senior knew the Heavenly Demon was Hwajin, and that Gupailbang was his group.
Well, they'd been on that show together, so of course.
Senior pondered for a moment, then asked as if unconvinced.
"But his name's Dang Sacheon, right?"
"Yes."
"The president doesn't covet a face like that with a name like that? The way he talks alone would drive her crazy."
It'd been over five years since leaving Kichi, but Senior still hadn't shaken his industry instincts.
"He used to be a Kichi trainee."
"Used to be? Not anymore?"
"I don't know the details, but apparently he spiked the president's English tea with laxatives."
"Ah...? Hmm...? Whoa...."
Senior let out a series of exclamations, unsure how to react, then fell silent.
As if waiting for that silence, Dang Sacheon spoke up.
"You're Soeui's senior, right?"
"...Yeah?"
"I see. I'm Dang Sacheon. Nice to meet you."
"No more formal speech?"
"My brother's senior is like a big brother to me. Speak comfortably."
"Whoa... What an interesting guy..."
"Anyway, Big Bro."
I couldn't tell if this guy was just bold or completely lacking common sense.
Dang Sacheon asked Senior with a serious expression.
"Are you a possessor, Big Bro?"
"Possessor?"
When I echoed the question, Dang Sacheon replied as if I should know better.
"Possession shows up in wuxia novels all the time."
"Wuxia novels... have that?"
"Martial artists possessing modern bodies is super common these days. Like, a martial artist possesses the body of some wrongfully dead modern guy, uses martial arts to clear his name, and rises to the top."
"...They call that wuxia?"
"Ah... Soeui bro, you're a pure-blooded old-school fan, huh."
"What does that mean?"
As I bristled and demanded clarification, Senior chuckled softly.
"I'm not a possessor. If anything, you'd call me a reincarnator."
"Reincarnator?"
"Well, I didn't know until my mid-twenties... But getting tangled with that cultish CEO brought back my past-life memories."
If he didn't know until his mid-twenties...
That means when we met, in his late twenties, he already knew about his previous life?
"But... Didn't you hate wuxia, Senior?"
"Not wuxia itself—the CEO."
"You hated the CEO?"
"Don't you remember? I opposed everything she did."
It was true, but...
"So you only opposed the wuxia idol stuff because she liked wuxia?"
"That, and the wuxia knowledge around here is so shallow it hurt to watch..."
"Oh ho. Big Bro's the real old-school purist."
I recalled how they always clashed over the wuxia idol project.
Back then, I'd vaguely thought it was ruining their relationship.
"So why did you hate the CEO?"
"Because she wants something absurd."
"Absurd?"
Senior gazed at me steadily for a moment.
"You still don't know. Why she revealed that inner power cultivation method disguised as choreography... Why she's so desperate to summon the Heavenly Demon."
"You knew about the Heavenly Demon summoning too?"
"Of course. I joined Kichi to stop it."
Senior trailed off.
As Kichi's team leader up through Gupailbang's third year...
Out of Gupailbang's members, five had left within three years.
Even someone like Senior, practically a real martial artist, couldn't stop the Heavenly Demon summoning?
"With your power, couldn't you have killed the CEO before she started the summoning?"
Dang Sacheon asked without tact.
"As Shaolin Abbot, were you forbidden from killing?"
"I've cut ties with the past, so I'm no longer the Shaolin Abbot. You're right—I tried to kill the CEO. No... I did kill her."
"You killed her?"
"But she didn't stay dead. No idea how that's possible."
I gasped in shock, and Senior continued with a somber expression.
"That cultish CEO is an Immortal."
"......"
The cultish CEO is an Immortal?
An Immortal—someone who can't die no matter what.
Is that why, back on the dorm rooftop...
She so casually told Shin Tae-eul to come kill her if he wanted?
"After learning that, I decided to stick close and sabotage her instead. That's why all her Heavenly Demon summonings kept failing."
"Then you leaving Kichi in Gupailbang's third year..."
"Was because of the excommunicated disciples. It was just creating more victims that way. I figured I'd wait for her to actually summon the Heavenly Demon and stop him then. Luckily, Nahani—who I'd taught the Demon Absorption Divine Art to—joined Gupailbang."
The Demon Absorption Divine Art... was the technique Senior taught?
Then what was the one the Masked Expert used?
"But..."
Senior tilted his head slightly.
"The last time I saw Brother Hwajin before I died... the Heavenly Demon was no different from an evil ghost asura. I thought if he came to this world, he'd unleash a bloodbath, which was why I tried to stop it. But the first thing the summoned Heavenly Demon did in this world..."
"Was become an idol."
"Yeah. And the way Brother Hwajin acts on TV is so different from what I knew. So now I think maybe it's true he didn't kill me."
So...
Senior, once Changhye, was murdered in the Central Plains by someone.
He'd believed it was the Heavenly Demon up until now.
To stop that Heavenly Demon from being summoned, he joined Kichi...
Teaching Nahani the Demon Absorption Divine Art and sabotaging the rituals along the way...?
"What absurd thing does the CEO want?"
"The CEO..."
Senior lowered his gaze as he spoke.
"...Plans to establish the Heavenly Demon Cult in this world."