The Heavenly Demon Heads to Mount Hua (2)
Then it means you came to help. Thank you, Enri. As expected, you're the only one I can rely on.
"What should we do?"
I doubted they would listen even if I spoke, but I had seen plenty of people venting their anger at me during my long years in Murim. Some had lost loved ones because of me. Others sought to hold the Heavenly Demon Cult accountable for its sins. There were even children of the cult who screamed at me for abandoning them. Yet all of them shared one thing in common: they had no intention of listening to my words. No matter what I said, they paid no attention. They simply poured out their rage. Whether that anger was justified or merely the stubbornness of a child made no difference.
Watching the viewers hurl stones at me without pause brought back old memories. Rather than wasting my breath trying to persuade them, I decided to wait until their anger burned itself out. But Enri insisted an explanation was necessary. She claimed they would understand if I spoke. After a moment's thought, I chose to follow her advice. She had been streaming far longer than I had. There must be a reason she said such a thing.
"It all began after I ended the stream last night."
I continued speaking calmly amid the hail of stones. It was not difficult. I had spent nearly my entire life enduring people's criticism, so this was nothing new. Gradually, the chat's reactions began to shift. Some still hurled accusations, but others started listening, responding with reason. Viewers smiled or expressed admiration. Some showed interest in the elements I mentioned. Others grumbled that they had only seen it alone. Seeing this, I realized I had been mistaken about something.
They did not truly hate me. No matter how much they complained, these viewers had gathered to watch my stream. None of them treated me as an irreconcilable enemy the way people in Murim had. Once I noticed this, their words became clear. Their anger stemmed from disappointment. They had been enjoying my gameplay like watching a movie, only for the film to skip an important scene on its own. From a viewer's perspective, their frustration was natural. I would have felt the same.
By the time I finished explaining, the chat had returned to its usual state, as if the earlier outrage had never happened. A few still grumbled, but not enough to affect the stream.
"My apologies. From now on, I will avoid progressing the game after ending a stream."
If I did play something, I would choose titles without a continuous story, like Apis. Or perhaps avoid streaming that game altogether.
"It is never wise to make absolute statements before others."
No one knows what the future holds. Some unavoidable circumstance might force me to go back on my word. To prevent that, it is best to leave an escape route from the start. This was knowledge I had naturally acquired while dealing with those wretched elders in the Heavenly Demon Cult.
It seemed the viewers had calmed down. Thanks to Enri. If I had simply waited for the fire to burn out like before, the chat would still be moving at lightning speed.
"Thank you, Enri."
Though I expressed my gratitude, no reply came. She must have stopped by briefly before leaving. I would have to thank her again when we met at the language academy tomorrow.
"It's over now. Let's go."
"You had something on your mind, didn't you?"
"Well, something like that."
If I had to trace the root of this incident, it was because Baru had come looking for me last night. Yet I could not blame her. How could I be angry at such a cute fox who did not run away even after seeing me? Her mere existence was already a pardon.
When I grabbed Baru by the scruff of her neck as she stared blankly at me, she let out a startled yelp.
"What are you doing?!"
"We are descending this mountain. Walking on your own two feet would be slow, would it not? I shall carry you down, so behave yourself."
"I have a way to descend this mountain! So put me down at once!"
I thought simply leaping down would be faster, but Baru struggled so violently that I had no choice but to set her down. She let out a long sigh upon touching the ground, then pulled a staff from thin air. Grabbing my collar, she struck the ground hard with the staff. In an instant, the surrounding scenery changed. It felt similar to the teleportation I had experienced in Sky's End.
"I may not look it, but I am the mountain's guardian spirit. Within this mountain, I can reach any place I desire in a single step."
So guardian spirits possessed such abilities. Come to think of it, those called spirits often appeared without warning. Was that thanks to this power?
Baru puffed out her chest as if expecting praise, gripping her waist with both hands. I pressed down firmly on her head.
"Well done. Thanks to you, we saved time."
"Praise me more!"
I grabbed Baru by the shoulders, still smiling, and hoisted her onto my shoulder like a bundle of luggage.
"Why are you not praising me as I asked and doing this instead?!"
"You can only move quickly within this rocky mountain. Once we leave, we will have to walk slowly, and I cannot bear to watch that."
"Have some patience! Must you be in such a hurry?!"
Baru flailed about, but she lacked both the strength and technique to escape my grasp.
"Baru. Do you know which direction leads to Mount Hua from here?"
"You carried me without even knowing that?!"
"That is why I am asking. Just answer."
"I do not know either! When would I ever have gone to Mount Hua?!"
She had a point. A spirit who had been holed up in this rocky mountain would have no reason to know the way to Mount Hua. In that case, I had no choice but to ask the viewers.
The moment I posed the question, several viewers immediately told me the direction. Northwest from here, straight ahead? Confirming this, I drew my sword from my waist and swung it toward the base of a tree. Then I kicked the upper part, causing the large tree to topple lightly and reveal its rings.
Determining direction from tree rings was common sense I had possessed even before my previous life. I had used it often while traveling through Murim.
"...Just how do you swing a sword to cut so cleanly?"
"You simply cut well."
"Is that not an incredibly insincere answer?!"
A guardian spirit getting surprised by something like this would not do. There were far more monsters in Murim who defied common sense. If she saw Geomseon dropping the sun, she would faint on the spot.
After confirming the direction, I set off toward Mount Hua.
The path to Mount Hua was farther than I had expected. I thought using lightness skill would get me there within thirty minutes, but that was not the case. Even moving without rest, the mountain was still nowhere in sight. If it took this long even when I was using lightness skill quite diligently, how much longer would it take ordinary people? They would have to watch the sun rise and set just to travel from Hwaeum to Mount Hua.
Was a game allowed to be like this? What kind of pervert would play a game that required spending an entire day just to move?
"You should have told me earlier if such a thing existed."
The prologue would not have taken long anyway. If I had known there was a fast travel function, I would have obtained it before coming.
Though I voiced my complaint, the viewers offered no comfort. They simply said it was the path I had chosen, so I should endure it myself. What a ruthless bunch. Would it kill them to speak a little more kindly?
"Does anyone know how much farther it is to Mount Hua?"
Even though I had not expected an answer, replies came immediately. Did they have Murim's geography memorized? How could they answer as if they had known in advance? If what they said was correct, I still had as much distance left to walk as I had already covered.
The moment the thought of it being troublesome crossed my mind, a purring sound came from near my neck. It was Baru. At first, she had complained about being treated like luggage, asking if it was right to treat a guardian spirit this way. She had struggled to escape, but after a while, she seemed to realize she could not and let out a sigh. Then she asked to be carried in fox form rather than human form. There was no reason to refuse. I found her fox appearance far cuter than her human one.
Transforming back into a fox, Baru leaped up near my neck and wrapped herself around it like a scarf. Still displeased with how she was being treated, she continued chattering even as a fox, but as time passed, she gradually spoke less. I wondered if she had tired herself out from making a fuss and was resting, but to think she had actually fallen asleep. No matter how safe the place was, did she not lack any sense of danger? We were in the middle of traveling, after all.
Did one's way of thinking become closer to an animal's when taking on an animal form? It did not matter since she was cute, but it seemed time for her to wake up now.
Far ahead on the path, a man was walking toward us. He was scattering his inner energy around him as if wanting to show off his strength. He was not in his right mind. Normally, those with something to hide would try to conceal their identity. This man was not someone who had cultivated martial arts properly. He was a fool who had chosen the wrong methods to become strong quickly. Thanks to that, he had gained a large amount of inner energy disproportionate to his level, but that only held meaning if one had the skill to control the inner energy they possessed. If one could not properly handle their inner energy like him, an excessive amount of energy would only become a parasite that gnawed away at the body.
Hmm. Upon closer inspection, it was quite strange. How was he walking around so normally despite such a massive gap between his physical body and his level? An ordinary Murim person would have already fallen into qi deviation and lost their life. Was he one of the users who had come to play Hwaryong Muin?
If he had been a simple traveler, I would have been willing to pretend not to notice his fraud. He did not seem like someone worth dealing with anyway. However, the man was not a traveler. He had come to find me. Otherwise, there was no reason for him to glare at me with such gleaming eyes.
I stopped walking and stared at the man. I did not know why he had come looking for me, but it did not seem to be with pure intentions. In Murim, a fellow like him would have trembled and fled just from meeting my eyes. How troublesome. There was no choice but to teach him his place myself.