The Heavenly Demon Fires Her Gun (9)
If Enry had been sobbing dramatically, I would have assumed she was just messing with me. People don't usually react that way when they're truly terrified. When someone who instills fear stands right in front of you, how could you possibly let out a sound? You hold back your cries, desperately trying not to provoke the other person. Just like Enry was doing right now.
I quickly withdrew my killing intent upon seeing her sniffling with tears. Why was she so scared? Sure, I had let out a bit of killing intent, but it was only in jest. It was even weaker than the pressure I used when training Ha-rin and Dang Soyeol. So while she might have felt some fear, it shouldn't have been enough to bring tears to her eyes.
While I was flustered, unsure what to do about Enry's hiccuping, a message popped up in front of me.
“Is this really the time for that kind of comment?! Just tell me how to calm Enry down!”
Can't you read the room? There are times to play along with jokes and times when you shouldn't! I was quite serious in my anger, but the chat window's reactions were lukewarm, as if they were just watching a spectacle.
These useless, good-for-nothing people. Don't they have even a shred of empathy? I must have been an idiot to ask them for help. Fine. I'll handle this myself.
“Enry. I'm sorry.”
“Hic. It's okay. I'm fine now.”
With the killing intent gone, she seemed to have calmed down somewhat. Enry collected herself and wiped away her tears.
“Listen. It was all a joke. There's no way I'd get upset over you saying just a little bit.”
“...Really?”
“Yes. Do you think I'm that narrow-minded?”
Of course, I really am quite a petty person, but that's only when dealing with enemies. I'm not so tactless that I'd act petty toward my acquaintances.
I waved my hands around, explaining to reassure her, and soon enough Enry stopped crying. Whew. Thank goodness. If she had kept crying, I wouldn't have known what to do. I thought I'd gotten used to lightly pressuring people with killing intent lately, but apparently not. I really need to restrain myself from using it on normal people.
While watching the flustered Ara, Enry wiped her tears with effort but couldn't help thinking this was troublesome. What now? The mood got all heavy because I cried. Even the chat window that had been busy teasing me at first was now filling with worried comments one by one. Ugh. This isn't good. It was supposed to be a fun back-and-forth, but I got scared and started bawling. As a VTuber, that's a total fail!
...But seriously, Ara's presence earlier was genuinely terrifying. Her voice was lower than usual. Those dry, emotionless eyes looking down at me. The aura radiating from her that felt like it was piercing my skin. She was just standing there looking down at me, yet it felt like she had grown several times larger and was crushing me. How could anyone endure that feeling that one wrong step would mean instant death?
Still, it's okay now. Time to recover. I can't let this emotional moment of hitting Gold turn serious. I didn't even cry from being moved by achieving my goal—I cried because I got scared of Ara. I can't upload this to my channel like this!
“Umm.”
Enry cleared her throat a few times with her hoarse voice before speaking again.
“Hey. Hwaryong-ssi.”
“What is it?”
Perhaps flustered by the fact that she had made Enry cry, Ara was looking at her with the gentlest expression she'd ever seen. It was obvious she was worried that any mistake might make her cry again. Ara-ssi really is kind despite being so quirky. Any other streamer would have said, “Split the screen in three and cry for us!”
“If you grant me one request, I think my tears will stop. Will you do it?”
“Speak first.”
“Please die for me just once.”
Give up first place as payment for making me cry! As if the tears from earlier had been part of her scheme all along, Enry spoke in a tearful voice.
Now then, Ara-ssi. How will you respond?! Since you panicked when I cried earlier, I think there's a good chance you'll accept my proposal right now! Just obediently offer your neck and depart! Become the sacrifice for this brilliant achievement that will be accomplished alongside my Gold promotion!
“You want me to die?”
“Yes.”
Enry spoke without a hint of shame, boldly and confidently. Ara stared intently at her face for a moment, then without any hesitation pulled out a pistol from her waist and pressed it against Enry's forehead.
“Uh... Ara-ssi?”
“That was that, and this is this. You brat. Trying to buy victory with tears, are you?”
So it didn't work after all? Just as Enry was about to say to wait a second, Ara pulled the trigger.
BANG!
Enry's character, whose health had already dropped significantly from the previous fight, couldn't withstand the headshot from the pistol. Her screen faded to black.
“Darn. Hwaryong-ssi really has no mercy at all.”
“Something big?!”
Not long after, a settlement window appeared in front of Enry. Before starting this game, her score had been 5,420 points. She had been right on the verge of Gold. In the last match, she placed second, earning 95 base points, plus 23 more from one kill for a total of 118 points gained. That brought her current score to 5,538. She had finally entered Gold.
“It's here! I finally made it to Gold aaaahhh!”
“No! From now on it's 'Enry is perfect for Platinum'!”
“Of course! Feel free to do so!”
Amid the flood of donations and congratulatory messages, Enry smiled, even forgetting that she had cried earlier. But then she tilted her head at the next message that appeared.
Mission Failed: Reach Gold before Hwaryong
“Why is this a failure?”
I reached Gold in this match, and Ara-ssi still has one more game before she hits Gold, right?
“For real?!”
“...So it's a tie then?”
I thought I could get the title of first streamer to ever beat Ara-ssi! A tie?!
“I guess so.”
It's hard not to feel a bit deflated. Sigh. I want to beat Ara-ssi at least once and tease her about it. It'd be fun. Is there any way to do that?
*
After the ordeal of making Enry cry that evening, I ended the stream and, as usual, entered the world of Hwaryong Muin. Seeing many things was one thing, but I still needed to continue my training in Taoist magic. From the position of someone seeking a higher realm, I couldn't afford to slack off. On the side, I also took Baru, Baekju, and Eun-in out to restaurants.
When I logged into Hwaryong Muin, the scenery of the office greeted me. Though it was called an office, I didn't actually do much work here. Any tasks that didn't absolutely require my personal attention were handled by my subordinates below. It was one of the privileges of those in power. This phenomenon occurred because it wasn't me but they who desperately needed this sect to survive. Thanks to that, whenever anything sect-related came up, the viewers would call me a wicked boss, a figurehead, or a lazy bum, but why should I care? My purpose for existing was to teach martial arts. And to serve as a physical deterrent when problems arose. Weren't those two things enough? The sect members hardly complained—except for one—so why were the viewers throwing tantrums?
When I stepped outside to find Baru, I spotted Seol-ah sitting in meditation in a corner of the training ground. She had been learning from Hak Yeong-chung for some time now. I had left her be, thinking that even flawed teachings might bring some realization, but from the looks of it, that didn't seem to be the case.
I deliberately made noise with my footsteps as I approached, and Seol-ah opened her eyes. Upon seeing me, she hurriedly stood up and bowed deeply.
“Hwaryong-nim! Hello!”
“Yes.”
Ever since I gave her advice last time, this kid had been wandering down the wrong path. She needed to find the answer within herself, yet she kept seeking it from outside. How could anything come of that? Normally I would have left her to this current struggle, considering it part of the process, but at this rate she seemed likely to fall for someone else's glib tongue. I should at least give her some direction. If this was what you were aiming for, I will purely praise you. Though it's unlikely that foolish Seol-ah intended it.
“Have you finished the tasks assigned to you?”
“Yes! Of course!”
“Have you slept?”
“No!”
She said she couldn't sleep because she felt like she was about to gain some realization. She laughed and said she'd sleep when she was dead. Watching her, I couldn't help but wonder when this kid would die from overwork. She was going to die from exhaustion before the side effects of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art could even get her. That wouldn't do. She was a talented individual under me. If she died, I'd unfairly take the blame. I declined.
“Seol-ah.”
“Yes!”
“This is an order. Leave this world and go lie down in bed.”
“Huh? But—”
“Will you disobey my words?”
Her pupils trembled at the question, but she couldn't refuse. Before wanting to learn the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, she was someone who held faith in me. No matter what weight was placed on the scale, nothing would outweigh my words.
“And one more thing. Stop receiving teachings from Hak Yeong-chung from now on. He won't be of help to you.”
“I... see?”
“Yes.”
After Seol-ah left the world of Hwaryong Muin with a puzzled tilt of her head, I took out my long pipe and put it in my mouth. I had left Hak Yeong-chung alone because I thought he was doing his job reasonably well. But it seemed it was time to go meet him.