Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: The Heavenly Demon and the Iron-Eater (1)
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A dungeon teeming with all sorts of monsters.
That dangerous and unique place offered a fresh thrill to the Heavenly Demon, who spent his days repeating interior construction work in cramped buildings.
Every time he visited a dungeon, he even felt a delusion like he was roaming the jianghu. He had no nostalgia for the murim, but a dungeon where he could smash things to his heart's content was like a resting spot for the Heavenly Demon.
‘Nameless, that guy….’
But like the Ice Golem incident not long ago, going into a dungeon often meant listening to Nameless's nagging.
‘It's actually fortunate that I can't bring him to job sites.’
An interior construction site at a multi-family housing complex.
Whirrr. Clank clank.
In the construction site filled with clouds of dust and the clamor of power tools, the workers were busy with their assigned tasks.
The tile layer was crouched in the bathroom attaching tiles, while the carpenter stood at a table saw cutting moldings.
And in the middle of the living room stood a hulking man with his arms crossed, watching them.
It was the Heavenly Demon.
"Heh heh heh."
The Heavenly Demon, standing tall amid the dust, set down the large plastic case he held in his right hand.
"Finally, the first unveiling."
On the side of the black plastic case were the boldly engraved letters: Heavenly Demon All-Purpose Tool Kit.
It was the custom tool case he had bought from Dada's Everything Store just the other day.
Though the Heavenly Demon had been banned from approaching due to his wild conjecture, Jang Chaewon had begged the owner on his behalf, and he managed to purchase the tools.
Click.
With a crisp sound, the Heavenly Demon unlatched the plastic locks, his eyes gleaming with ecstasy.
When he opened the lid, sleek hand tools with smooth, flowing curves would greet him, shimmering with light.
-Kyuu?
But what appeared when he lifted the lid was a single snow-white ferret-like creature.
It was none other than the Iron-Eater, the legendary divine beast said to devour metal.
Crunch crunch.
And in its mouth was half-broken monkey wrench.
The Iron-Eater, which could freely adjust its body size, had sneaked into the tool case and was eating the tools.
"No way."
The Heavenly Demon examined the tool case with trembling hands.
The pliers, long nose pliers, and wire cutters that should have been neatly placed inside the tool compartment were reduced to mere silver scraps.
"You bastard…."
The Heavenly Demon's body shook with rage, his eyes flashing with crimson killing intent.
"To dare lay your filthy paws on my tools, you worthless beast!"
In fury, the Heavenly Demon thrust out one hand toward the Iron-Eater.
Boom.
With a thunderous roar, a powerful palm strike erupted, but the Iron-Eater left a white afterimage and was suddenly perched by the living room sliding window.
-Kyuu kyuu?
Thinking the Heavenly Demon was just playing, the Iron-Eater bared its sharp teeth in a grin.
"Heh heh heh. To mock me so boldly."
Losing his reason, the Heavenly Demon clenched his fists, his eyes blazing like flames.
"Fist Demon Seven Forms, Fist Demon Without Dao!"
His glowing red hands spun ferociously, creating hundreds of fist shadows.
But his opponent was the Iron-Eater. A divine beast known to possess the greatest strength among its kind, with movements as swift as lightning and a body harder than diamond.
-Kyuu!
As the red-hot fists surged like tidal waves, the Iron-Eater dodged the fist technique with movements as profound as those of a murim master.
"Thunderclap Human Destruction!"
Boom! Bang! Crash!
"Ugh, what the hell?"
The workers in the living room dropped their tools and fled the site amid the sudden disaster.
"You worm!"
The Iron-Eater moved like a white bolt of lightning, pursued by the Heavenly Demon turned into a red cloud.
In the process, the innocent construction site interior was being torn apart like a rag.
Jang Chaewon, who had rushed over upon hearing that the construction site was being wrecked.
She gaped at the ruins inside.
"What the hell…."
-Kyuu!
Spotting Jang Chaewon, the Iron-Eater wagged its tail happily and quickly climbed onto her shoulder.
She smiled at the Iron-Eater rubbing its cheek against her face.
"Sparrow? What are you doing here?"
Jang Chaewon had named the Iron-Eater she got from Dada's Everything Store "Sparrow" and doted on it endlessly.
Not only that, she had moved the Heavenly Demon's Ten Thousand Demon Palace from display in front of the store to serve as Sparrow's nest. Since then, she had become the human Sparrow favored most.
"Stop right there!"
At that moment, the Heavenly Demon burst out from the ruined master bedroom, shouting with blazing red eyes.
"Storekeeper! Catch that thing!"
"Why, what's wrong?"
"That ferret bastard ate my tools again!"
"What?"
"Look at this!"
The Heavenly Demon pointed to the large tool case standing in the corner.
The tools that should have been pristine were mostly shattered like cookie crumbs.
"Sparrow, you little rascal. Again…."
Jang Chaewon feigned a frown, and Sparrow gave a sheepish grin, acting cute.
-Kyuuung.
"I told you never to eat tools. I give you plenty of metal chunks, so why do you keep sneaking bites of the tools?"
Sparrow pouted its lips and twisted its body, as if saying, 'But that's just a snack.'
"Storekeeper!"
"Okay, okay, I get it."
Jang Chaewon drooped her shoulders and spoke to the Heavenly Demon.
"Fine. I understand the situation, so… I won't blame you."
"What do you mean? Blame me?!"
The Heavenly Demon clenched his fists and glared at Sparrow, trembling.
"Today, I will not forgive. I will pluck every hair from that greedy ferret and console the souls of the tools that never saw the light of day."
"Tools aren't people! Fine! I'll buy new ones, so stop it."
"Storekeeper!"
"Or are you going to take responsibility for this trashed site?"
And indeed, the construction site had already become a total ruin.
Fortunately, the workers were all yokai who knew the Heavenly Demon's circumstances; if they had been humans, it would have been a situation to be hauled in by the Divine Territory Management Team.
"That’s…."
As the Heavenly Demon faltered, Jang Chaewon rubbed her forehead.
"I get it. You're really pissed. I know Sparrow was wrong too, so let's call it here."
"Call it here? I haven't even started."
"Enough. Since it's come to this today, let's pack up and…."
As if remembering something, Jang Chaewon pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket.
"Head back to the store and make this."
The Heavenly Demon took the paper, which had diagrams of various shapes and sizes drawn on it.
"What is this?"
"Oh, it's a cat tower for Sparrow. I marked the dimensions precisely, so just build it to spec. Don't round off the edges too much. It messes up assembly."
"Cat tower?"
"It's a play structure for Sparrow to climb up and down on. Simpler than that Ten Thousand Demon Palace or whatever. Show off your skills."
At that moment, a brief silence fell.
Tremble tremble.
A thick vein bulged on the Heavenly Demon's forehead as he gripped the paper.
"So… you're telling me to make a toy for that ferret."
"Don't be like that. Sparrow sneaks to sites like this because it's bored staying home, right? Make it some fun play structures like this, and these incidents won't happen."
"I refuse!"
The Heavenly Demon flung the paper away, his red eyes flashing.
"I have no benevolence to waste making toys for such a ferret!"
"What's with the benevolence talk? Just make it."
"That's why you pamper it, and the beast gets more arrogant. To properly raise that animal, teach it proper character, ideology, dignity, and etiquette!"
"No, Sparrow's not a person. It's a newborn divine beast, a divine beast."
"Regardless, I refuse. I'd rather organize the warehouse."
As the Heavenly Demon turned away, Jang Chaewon spoke in a cold voice.
"This is a work order. An order."
"What?"
"Then you'll clean up this whole site?"
Looking at the Heavenly Demon, Jang Chaewon gently stroked Sparrow on her shoulder and said.
"That Heavenly Demon uncle over there is going to make you a fun toy from now on. So get along nicely from now on, okay?"
To the Heavenly Demon protesting like he was raising a child, she treated Sparrow like a grandson she wouldn't trade for the world.
-Kyuu kyuu.
"Aww, poor baby. You were scared, huh?"
"Eeeek…!"
The Heavenly Demon watching this had his eyes rolling back white.
Inside the Bokbok Interiors warehouse.
The Heavenly Demon opened a drawer in the back room and pulled out a thick bundle of thread wrapped in paper.
[Feeling unwell?]
Nameless, perched on a warehouse shelf, crouched and watched the Heavenly Demon unwind the thread.
[That folk remedy is a mangled version of the four bloodletting method from traditional medicine.]
"What are you talking about."
Instead of answering, Nameless yanked a bony arm from its body.
[I recommend hand therapy instead. There's the placebo effect theory, but it's quite effective for promoting blood circulation.]
"Shut up and go to sleep."
Without even glancing at Nameless, the Heavenly Demon grabbed the unwound thread bundle and headed deeper into the warehouse.
Sensing something off, Nameless hopped down to the charging station below.
[Lord Heavenly Demon. What exactly are you planning?]
The Heavenly Demon sat amid stacks of laminated wood.
Up close, his right hand held a saw shedding wood shavings, and his left clutched a thin thread.
[Ah, you're making the toy that Manager Jang requested.]
At that, the Heavenly Demon gripped the thread tightly, his eyes flashing.
"Bored? Make a play structure and these incidents won't happen?"
Recalling the annoying Iron-Eater's face, the Heavenly Demon let out a low chuckle.
"Heh heh heh. Fine. I'll make it. Your toy."
Licking the side of the saw blade with his tongue, the Heavenly Demon glared at the stacked wood with a cruel smile.
"But what kind of toy to make is up to me."
[Oh dear.]
Realizing the truth, Nameless pressed a hand to its forehead and returned to the back room.
It knew well that the Heavenly Demon and Iron-Eater didn't get along because the beast occasionally chewed his tools.
Fortunately, Nameless's body was made of the special alloy Hybe, so the Iron-Eater showed no interest in eating it.
[Lord Heavenly Demon, do your best.]
Nameless, who secretly disliked the Iron-Eater, murmured softly before climbing onto the charging station.
The next morning.
"Huh?"
Jang Chaewon, who had come to work with Sparrow on her shoulder, screamed upon spotting the bizarre objects in the warehouse.
"Eek!"
In one corner of the warehouse piled with tools and materials stood dozens of grotesque wooden puppets.
Each clutched a sharp weapon, wrapped tightly in red-dyed wire like cursed objects.
But even scarier was the Heavenly Demon, hunched over with dark circles reaching his chin.
"What the hell are you doing here? You scared me!"
"What do you mean? I'm making that beast's toy right here."
The Heavenly Demon's low chuckle revealed eyes heavy with fatigue, focus blurred.
His expression seemed somewhat unhinged.
"You stayed up all night making these? What about the cat tower? I drew the blueprint yesterday."
"How could such a simplistic thing be a toy for that beast."
"So this is supposed to be a toy?"
She pointed to the sharp weapons in the puppets' hands, eyes wide.
"Why do all the puppets hold such sinister things?"
"Not sinister—the Eighteen Arms. Reproductions of the eighteen weapons commonly used in the murim."
"What?"
As she tilted her head, the Heavenly Demon slowly rose.
"Set it down here. It'll like it."
"Hmm."
Jang Chaewon looked worried, but Sparrow, intrigued, chirped kyuu and approached the puppets.
Tap tap.
Sparrow cautiously poked one with its front paw, but no reaction.
"What is it? Just wooden dolls."
"Heh heh heh. As if."
Suddenly, eerie light gleamed in the Heavenly Demon's eyes.
"Go!"
At his shout, over twenty puppets gripped their weapons like living humans and attacked Sparrow.
-Kyuu?
Unfazed, Sparrow swatted away the charging puppets with its paws.
But the puppets dodged swiftly like murim masters and thrust their weapons again?
-Kyuu.
Sparrow smirked and stood still.
No wooden weapon could pierce its diamond-hard body anyway.
But then, a strange energy welled from the sword one puppet held?
Startled, Sparrow spun away, but a bit of white fur floated in the air.
-Kyuu!
Angry, Sparrow swiped at the puppets repeatedly, but they evaded with astonishing moves each time.
It was like twenty murim masters besieging the Iron-Eater.
"What the hell is this?"
Jang Chaewon gaped at the bizarre scene.
"How are the puppets moving?"
Snap!
Then, one puppet spotting an opening whacked Sparrow's head hard with its wooden sword.
At the same instant, the Heavenly Demon's left finger twitched faintly.
"Wire?"
Looking closely, the red threads attached to the puppets connected to the Heavenly Demon's left hand.
He was manipulating them freely with the threads.
"It's the Blood Thread Chaos Dance technique. With this method, I taught actual combat arts to the Eighteen Wild Wolves."
The Heavenly Demon licked his lips, purple eyes flashing.
"Training it this way will instill respect for me in that bratty beast."
"Does that even make sense?"
Jang Chaewon waved her hand dismissively, incredulous.
"Sparrow. No need to deal with that. Come to sis."
-Kyuu!
But Sparrow, pride hurt from the head smack, ignored her.
Crouching low, it fought the puppets even fiercer.
-Kyuuu!
The battle grew ever more intense.
As Sparrow and the puppets clashed, white shadows darted chaotically around the warehouse.
"Not bad for a mere beast."
The Heavenly Demon taunted while controlling the puppets.
"But soon you'll be flat on your back, surrendering."
-Kyuu!
Sparrow bared its teeth, white light gleaming in its eyes.
As if saying, 'Wanna go for real now?'
"S-Stop!"
Unable to watch, Jang Chaewon shouted loudly.
"Stop it now!"
"The match isn't decided yet."
-Kyuu!
Even Sparrow, unsatisfied without a finish, whined, so Jang Chaewon waved her hand.
"What kind of toy is this? It's combat training! No way. Request denied!"
Ring ring ring.
Then, the old phone in the store rang. A Divine Request had come in.
"Yes, Bokbok Interiors."
Jang Chaewon's eyes widened as she answered politely.
"Ah, right now?"
The flashy-moving puppets halted in unison. Annoying as it was, Divine Requests took priority.
The Heavenly Demon ground his teeth, glaring at Sparrow.
"Consider yourself lucky today."