The Heavenly Demon and the Heavenly Demon Divine Art (3)
The meeting place Han Seo-woo had chosen was a restaurant in Hangzhou. The establishment operated on a reservation-only basis and provided each guest with a private room offering perfect soundproofing. No one outside the room could overhear the conversations taking place within. Both Seol-ah and Harin, who frequently had to discuss confidential matters while completing various quests in Hwaryong Muin, were quite familiar with this place.
“Judging by his choice of location, it seems Han Seo-woo is also a player of Hwaryong Muin,” Seol-ah said once the waiter had taken their order and left the room.
“That makes sense. This place isn’t exactly well-known to people who don’t play the game.”
“It’s strange, though. Someone that skilled should be famous. I can’t believe we’ve never heard of him.”
Both Seol-ah and Harin had practically lived in Hwaryong Muin since its early days. They remembered every name and face of those who had made a name for themselves in the game. So how could they possibly have missed the fact that Han Seo-woo—the man currently achieving the highest scores in the Apis League using a guest character—was playing Hwaryong Muin? It was incredibly odd.
There was no way someone of that monstrous caliber wouldn’t have stood out in Hwaryong Muin.
“It’s one of two possibilities,” Harin said. “Either he’s some eccentric training alone in a remote corner of the world, or he quit early on in the game’s launch.”
As she listened to Harin, Seol-ah thought the former was far more likely. After watching the Apis League footage yesterday, she could tell that Han Seo-woo’s passion for martial arts ran deep. Could someone like that truly abandon Hwaryong Muin, a world that was practically the ideal environment for learning martial arts? Seol-ah didn’t think so. Of course, if he were a true monster capable of grasping the principles on his own, he might have grown disillusioned with the old Murim and left. Still…
While the two of them were passing the time with such conversation, the door opened. Two people entered. One was a man wearing an awkward, troubled smile. On his right stood a woman wearing a veiled hat.
Since no one could enter this room without giving the proper passphrase, the man had to be Han Seo-woo. But then who was the woman he had brought with him?
Her identity was revealed the moment Han Seo-woo closed the door. The woman immediately yanked off her veiled hat.
Both Harin and Seol-ah knew that face all too well. After all, it was identical to Hwaryeong’s—so identical it sent chills down their spines. The only real difference was that while Hwaryeong’s expression was usually blank yet gentle, this woman’s eyes were cold enough to cut like a blade.
Seol-ah recognized her immediately.
“Heavenly Demon?”
The Heavenly Demon of Hwaryong Muin, Baek Hwaryeong. The person who had been dropping by whenever she was bored lately, pestering Baru. The one viewers of Hwaryeong’s streams often teased for looking so undignified when she begged Baru to pet her. That’s the Heavenly Demon?
“Are you not the child who follows that fellow Min-ga? And the one beside you is your acquaintance?”
“My name is Nya-Nya Fist Technique. I am currently receiving guidance from Lady Hwaryeong.”
At Harin’s words, Baek Hwaryeong’s eyes swept over her.
“Oh? So you are that fellow’s disciple?”
It was a question full of curiosity, but Harin had no choice but to shake her head. She only received advice from Hwaryeong; she had never been formally accepted as a disciple.
“No, it’s not like that. I simply receive occasional advice, that’s all.”
Hwaryeong would teach others, but she never called them her disciples. When Harin had asked about it before, Hwaryeong had explained that the title of disciple was reserved for someone to whom she could pass on all her martial arts and entrust the future. She had no intention of calling anyone her disciple. At the time, Harin had thought, Wow, Lady Hwaryeong really commits to her Heavenly Demon concept. Ever since then, she had simply referred to herself as someone who received guidance. After all, as a fan of Hwaryeong, she couldn’t be the one to break the character.
“Hmm. I see. What a shame.”
The moment Baek Hwaryeong naturally took a seat after saying that, both Harin and Seol-ah’s gazes snapped toward Han Seo-woo. Their eyes were filled with reproach that clearly asked, What on earth is going on? Han Seo-woo smiled awkwardly and sent the two of them a message.
Master? The man known as the living Heavenly Demon was the disciple of the Heavenly Demon inside Hwaryong Muin?!
Harin’s head jerked up in shock as she read the message. Seol-ah looked just as stunned. Sensing the astonishment in their eyes, Han Seo-woo quickly sent another message.
The disciple of the Heavenly Demon. In the world of Hwaryong Muin, whenever people discussed the strongest martial artist in the Murim, this was the name that always came up. He was the very person who had inspired the Heavenly Demon character in Apis, and now he was directly learning the Heavenly Demon Divine Art from its source. Harin finally understood why Han Seo-woo was so strong.
Even she had seen her skills skyrocket after receiving direct guidance from Lady Hwaryeong. And that was only once a week, not daily training. If he held the position of official disciple and trained under her every single day, just how much would his ability grow? Of course, it would require a certain level of innate talent, but if he possessed that talent, he would be able to grow stronger faster than anyone else.
If someone was learning the Heavenly Demon character directly from the Heavenly Demon herself and wasn’t strong, wouldn’t that actually be the bigger problem?
Having learned an unexpected secret, Harin let out a laugh before she could stop herself.
“Have you already ordered the food?”
“Yes. I ordered the best items this place has to offer.”
“Is that so? Then I shall trust your judgment.”
While Seol-ah handled the conversation with the Heavenly Demon, Harin sent Han Seo-woo a message.
Well… that’s true, but…
Would she really give a proper answer? From what Harin had heard, even when Seol-ah had asked that person called Dang Yunok, she hadn’t received a proper response. Would Baek Hwaryeong be any different? After all, Baek Hwaryeong was Dang Yunok’s disciple.
“Hmm. It seems my appearance is not particularly welcome.”
Baek Hwaryeong studied the flustered faces of Seol-ah and Harin, then smiled as she spoke.
“Do not worry. This seat is not one to commit rudeness without reason. Since I have come here as an uninvited guest, it is only proper that I offer you suitable assistance. There is still time before the food arrives. Speak. What did you wish to ask this seat’s foolish disciple?”
At the sight of Baek Hwaryeong resting her chin on one hand as she asked that question, Harin closed her mouth. This was not a decision for her to make.
When Harin subtly turned her head, she saw Seol-ah quietly observing Baek Hwaryeong. Seol-ah pressed her lips together, her eyes shifting slightly, before she finally let out a soft breath.
“It’s about what happened yesterday.”
Seol-ah’s story was not long. She simply summarized the events of the previous day in a dry, emotionless tone, without adding any of her own feelings or judgments.
When Seol-ah’s lips finally stopped moving, Baek Hwaryeong spoke as if the matter were of little importance.
“That fellow Min-ga was simply worried about you.”
“Pardon?”
“There is a reason the Heavenly Demon Divine Art is called a demonic art. Hmm. Perhaps that explanation does not resonate with you.”
As she spoke, Baek Hwaryeong pulled a long pipe from her robes. Han Seo-woo immediately lit it for her as if he had been waiting for the moment. Smoke rose within the isolated room as Baek Hwaryeong continued.
“This seat has seen many people die after learning the Heavenly Demon Divine Art from a very young age. Those who trained alongside me in our youth. Those who lost control while trying to force their way past a wall. Those who were devoured after using more internal energy than they could handle in a moment of crisis. Their deaths were caused by nothing other than the internal energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. The energy turned on its own master.”
Her voice was calm, yet it carried a deep sense of resignation and lament. The weight of those emotions was so heavy that no one present could offer a reply. Not even Seol-ah. To think that this was the same person who became depressed after being rejected by a fox and lit up like a child when eating delicious food. Even if she sometimes seemed undignified, she was still the Heavenly Demon who had endured countless hardships.
“Having witnessed such scenes, one does not recommend that those around them learn the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Unless that person is a madman obsessed with the supremacy of the strong, willing to throw away their life for power.”
Baek Hwaryeong paused for a moment after saying that. Even so, the heavy atmosphere that dominated the room did not dissipate. Only smoke continued to rise and slowly disperse. The silence was finally broken when Baek Hwaryeong spoke again.
“In this seat’s opinion, if that fellow Min-ga refused to teach only the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, it was likely for this reason.”
Baek Hwaryeong’s words were certainly persuasive, but there were still several holes. After all, martial arts were just part of a game. Even if someone died from the Heavenly Demon Divine Art’s backlash, they would simply revive. So why worry? Wouldn’t being a player actually make it safer? Of course, she might be acting that way to maintain her Heavenly Demon concept. But Lady Hwaryeong wasn’t refusing to teach the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to others entirely. Dang Soyul, for one, was learning it from her without any issues. If she had truly decided not to teach it, Dang Soyul would never have been allowed to learn it either.
The questions kept piling up, and Seol-ah could no longer endure it. She bit her lip hard before opening her mouth again.
“May I ask a few things?”
“You may.”
“Does the backlash of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art affect outsiders?”
“No. In fact, it could be said that their bodies are ideally suited for learning the divine art. That is precisely why this seat teaches it to my foolish disciple.”
“Then why does Lady Hwaryeong care so much about it?”
“I do not know. As I said, this is merely this seat’s speculation. It is truly infuriating, but that fellow’s realm is far beyond mine. She must have her own reasons for the judgment she made.”
To every other question, Baek Hwaryeong simply answered that she did not know. She claimed that Hwaryeong could see far more than she could. That she herself could not yet see the same scenery that person saw.
While some of Seol-ah’s questions had been resolved, new ones had taken their place. The frustration lurking in her heart remained roughly the same size as before.
“If you truly wish to learn the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, come to the Divine Cult. I have been thinking lately that it would be good to see more children from the outside world, so you would be welcomed.”
Seeing Seol-ah frown, Baek Hwaryeong offered those words, but Seol-ah shook her head.
“No. I want to learn it from Lady Hwaryeong.”
“…Hmm. Is that so?”
Baek Hwaryeong did not press the matter further. She removed the pipe from her mouth and extinguished its flame.
“I shall end this question-and-answer session with one final piece of advice. You said there is another person besides yourself who is learning the Heavenly Demon Divine Art from that fellow Min-ga, correct?”
“…Yes.”
“Think carefully about what the difference is between that person and yourself.”
The moment Baek Hwaryeong finished speaking and put away her pipe, the door opened and food was brought into the room.