The Heavenly Demon Returns to the Divine Cult (2)
The one who greeted us was Han Seo-woo, wearing a white mask. We had used the convenience teleport function to arrive at the village that housed the main headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“You have arrived.”
Baek Hwaryeong had said her disciple would guide us, so I knew this fellow would show up. Still, why was he putting on such a ridiculous show? Hiding his face and even modulating his voice. When I asked why, an awkward laugh drifted out from behind the mask.
“It’s a little awkward to show my face on stream.”
“Playing the mysterious hermit, are we?”
“Uh… you could say that.”
If he did not want to reveal his face in front of others, there was no point in forcing the issue. He was not one of my subordinates, after all. He was Baek Hwaryeong’s disciple.
I shifted my gaze away from Han Seo-woo and looked around. The scenery was so familiar it was almost boring. This place had barely changed at all. In the world of Hwaryong Muin, every city bore the touch of players, yet this place alone remained as barren as ever.
“Seol-ah. Is the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult a place players rarely reach?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Everywhere players have touched has flourished, yet this place is still bleak and harsh.”
It had been the same in Hwaeum, the same in Hangzhou, and the same at the rebuilt headquarters of the Murim Alliance. Come to think of it, finding a place that had not prospered would be the harder task. Over the years this game had been running, players had brought tremendous change to this world. I had seen and felt it with my own eyes. Yet that wave of transformation had never reached this place.
In my view, players were creatures who could not tolerate inconvenience. If they had truly decided to change something, this place should have shown some sign of it. I had directed the question at Seol-ah, but the answer came from Han Seo-woo instead. He spoke in a flat, indifferent tone as if it were nothing special.
“The reason it hasn’t changed is simple. There are almost no players in the Divine Cult. Including myself, only about a dozen people consistently operate here, so transforming an entire city is difficult.”
“How did it come to this?”
“The explanation is rather long. Shall I tell you on the way?”
“Yes.”
Han Seo-woo, who had been active in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult since the early days of Hwaryong Muin, remembered all too well how the sect had become an isolated island.
“The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was not unpopular from the beginning. In the early days, it was packed with players.”
“That’s right. When the Divine Cult was first discovered, so many people rushed in that bandits appeared in the desert. Can you believe it?”
From what I heard, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art held a kind of romantic allure for modern people. So when the path to the cult was opened, countless players had flocked to it.
“There were truly many people in the cult back then.”
In Hwaryong Muin, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was not a place one could reach from the start, but it was not particularly difficult to reach either. Once you crossed the barren desert, you would enter the cult’s territory. As long as one somehow succeeded in crossing the desert, arriving at the Divine Cult itself was not impossible.
“The problem was that the cult had zero interest in attracting players.”
Unlike the orthodox factions, who would be in danger of collapse if they did not recruit players, or the unorthodox factions that sought to expand their power by gathering more people, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had no reason to court outsiders. Having already conquered the murim once and returned to its rightful place, the cult could maintain its strength with its existing members alone. Why would they bother bringing in players?
Therefore, the Divine Cult did not compromise with players the way other places did.
“The cult was wary of outsiders. They did not treat them as enemies, but they did not welcome them either.”
The flood of outsiders was not a welcome sight from the cult’s perspective, so becoming a formal member was no easy task. Only after completing various quests within the cult’s territory and earning their trust could one barely gain membership.
“Up to that point, it was manageable. Some people gave up, but because there were so many applicants, quite a few succeeded in joining. However, a new obstacle appeared before them. Even after becoming a member of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, one could not immediately learn the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.”
“Of course not.”
Becoming a member and learning the martial arts required considerable effort. Some people spent their entire lives without ever obtaining the cult’s techniques.
“Most players left during that process.”
To modern people, Hwaryong Muin was merely a hobby. They had no intention of devoting their lives to the cult the way the other members did. When the same level of devotion was demanded of them, they naturally grew tired and ran away.
“Some players endured that process and began learning the cult’s martial arts, but then a new problem arose.”
As I mentioned earlier, the cult showed not the slightest interest in attracting players. Naturally, they forced the principles of martial arts upon them. To people who had seen countless martial arts that granted instant power, the concept of “principle” sounded like empty nonsense.
While they wasted time, other players rapidly mastered different martial arts and roamed the world of Hwaryong Muin. How could the players training in the cult not feel a sense of relative deprivation?
“Those who felt that deprivation had two choices: quit the game entirely, or leave to learn other martial arts.”
People began to dwindle one by one. At some point, the cult’s martial arts came to be treated as something only NPCs could use. There was no point in players trying to learn them. It was nothing but a waste of time before giving up. If you wanted to use the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, it was better to go to Apis and simply choose the Heavenly Demon character.
“It has faded now, but back then, if you said you practiced the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the atmosphere was full of mockery. People called you a sucker, an idiot, or a chuunibyou. Thanks to that, all new players stopped coming.”
Since change in the world of Hwaryong Muin begins with players, once their footsteps ceased, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult could only remain exactly as I remembered it.
“These days it is treated as a place where newbies stop by for sightseeing, get disappointed by the lack of anything to see, and leave.”
That must be why Baek Hwaryeong had never properly tasted good food until now. That child. If she knew how many joys had been stolen from her because of the cult’s closed nature, what expression would she make?
I slightly lifted my mask, placed the long pipe between my lips, and took in the scenery of the cult’s streets. If I had to describe this place in one word, it would be barren. It was a land where various wisdoms for surviving on soil that yielded nothing had been mixed together. The buildings were old, the people were dirty, and the children grew up far too quickly.
It had been a long time since I last walked these streets. After abandoning the position of Heavenly Demon and leaving, I had never returned. If it had changed even a little, I might have thought it was an entirely different world. But it had not.
I wondered how the city’s appearance would have changed if many players had settled here. But I soon dismissed it as a useless thought and blew away the idle thoughts along with the smoke from my pipe. I was not the Heavenly Demon of this world, and even if I were, I had not the slightest intention of leading them. Worrying about such things was Baek Hwaryeong’s job, not mine.
Since there was nothing to see on the streets, the viewers did not ask to go look at anything either, so we were able to head straight to the cult’s main building.
“The Heavenly Demon descends! All demons bow!”
The first thing to greet us when we arrived at the main gate was the thunderous roar of countless voices coming from far away. The entire grounds of the Divine Cult seemed to vibrate with the fierce sound. It had been a long time since I last heard it, but it was not welcome at all.
“It looks like they are preparing the ritual.”
“Yes. The ceremony is about to begin.”
By now, the warriors participating in the solitude ritual were probably stepping forward and showing off their strength. I roughly remembered the order of the solitude event, so there was still some time.
“Master is waiting inside. I will guide you there first.”
“No. There is no need.”
“Pardon?”
“That hot-tempered fellow Baek Hwaryeong is already on her way here.”
Not long after I spoke, Baek Hwaryeong appeared from afar. Wearing a black martial robe draped over her shoulders and biting on a long pipe, her face was so serious it was hard to believe she was the same thoughtless person who usually tormented Baru. Behind her, the elders of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult followed in her footsteps.
They were all faces I knew far too well. It was good that I had chosen to wear the mask. Otherwise, the moment I saw their faces, my frown would have been obvious.
When Baek Hwaryeong appeared, Han Seo-woo dropped to one knee in greeting, but Seol-ah and I remained standing.
“Lady Na Seol. Please hurry and follow my example.”
Han Seo-woo scolded Seol-ah, hoping she would show the same respect, but Seol-ah only tilted her head in confusion.
“Why should I? The one I follow is not that person, but Lady Hwaryeong.”
Exactly. If the one you follow is me, there is no reason to bow your head to anyone else.
“However…”
“It is fine. I will handle it myself.”
I stopped Han Seo-woo, who was trying to persuade Seol-ah, and waited leisurely for Baek Hwaryeong to arrive.
“Young lady. Why do you not show proper respect?”
The first to speak among Baek Hwaryeong and the group of elders was the Second Elder. As one of the few survivors of the previous war and someone who placed great importance on the authority of the Heavenly Demon, he seemed unable to tolerate our behavior.
“A fellow who has only barely reached the Peak Realm dares to forget her place.”
As the Second Elder rebuked me, the others behind him subtly showed their agreement. Meanwhile, Baek Hwaryeong simply watched me while biting her pipe and said nothing. Her silence meant she wanted me to deal with these people myself. Very well. I would do as she wished. But she had better not complain no matter what happened next.
“Have you sewn your mouth shut with thread? Why do you give no answer?”
“I am simply speechless. To think a fellow who does not know her place would dare raise her eyes like that.”
“Hmph?”