The Heavenly Demon's Broadcast (4)
Han Seo-woo let out a hollow laugh as he watched the elders crash to the floor. It was absurd. Even after several years of training under the Heavenly Demon—thanks to one lucky coincidence—he still found it difficult to face them. It wasn’t that he couldn’t win at all. Thanks to the unique advantages players possessed, he could grow far faster than ordinary martial artists, and he received direct instruction from the Heavenly Demon herself. Even if he lacked time, there were plenty of special factors that could fill those gaps. So he was confident that against any elder of the Divine Cult, he could win at least one out of ten matches.
In other words, he would suffer a crushing defeat the other nine times.
That was exactly why Han Seo-woo knew all too well just how strong the elders truly were. Seeing high-level experts rolling around like third-rate thugs from the back alleys of the Murim world—how could he not be shocked?
He had known she was powerful, since she had defeated his master head-on, but this was on another level. A person like that was supposed to be a modern citizen? Did that even make sense? Had she been born in the wrong era?
Blinking rapidly, Han Seo-woo glanced at Hwaryeong’s streaming chat window, which he had kept open since the broadcast began.
Hwaryeong had been so overwhelmingly dominant that people who could have founded their own major sects in the current Murim world were being treated like this. Han Seo-woo, who had personally experienced the elders’ territorial attitude, didn’t exactly hold warm feelings toward them. Still, he didn’t want to see skilled martial artists being looked down on either. If they were being treated this way, then what did that say about someone like him who was weaker than them?
As he wondered how best to explain it, Hwaryeong tilted her head to dodge the Fifth Elder’s sword and spoke up.
Only after Hwaryeong explained that these elders would cause a catastrophe if dropped into the distorted modern Murim did the viewers slowly begin to understand.
While answering the donation, Hwaryeong caught the blade of the Fifth Elder’s sword with her bare hand, then lifted him by the sword itself and hurled him to the floor. With that, every elder standing behind the Heavenly Demon had been forced to submit before Baek Hwaryeong.
The Heavenly Demon watched the scene with her pipe in her mouth and let out a chuckle.
Even though Hwaryeong and the Heavenly Demon were speaking without the slightest hint of formality, no one dared to object. Hwaryeong had just proven her overwhelming superiority in this very spot. In a world where the strong reigned supreme, there was no one who could challenge her.
“To spread the name of the Ten Thousand Demons across the world…”
Before the solitude began, I watched the ceremonial ritual from the back and adjusted my mask while gazing at the figure standing at the center of the platform.
The cult leader. The one who directly led the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult in place of the Heavenly Demon, who held only a symbolic role. Back when I was carrying out my revenge in the Murim world, this was the person who had come to me and persuaded me, saying we needed to rebuild the Divine Cult so that my revenge could be perfected.
Setting aside his talent for martial arts, his tongue was truly something else. At the time, I had been consumed by revenge and my thinking had become twisted, so I fell for his silver tongue and ended up rebuilding the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
The process itself hadn’t been difficult. Everything needed to rebuild the cult had already been prepared. I was the daughter of the Heavenly Demon, so I possessed legitimate authority. I possessed enough martial prowess to raise a storm of blood across the Murim alone. And the surviving remnants of the cult, who had been hiding underground while praying for revival even amid the winds of extermination, all answered my declaration.
Looking back now, instead of falling for his silver tongue, I should have cut off his head.
Of course, regretting it now wouldn’t change anything. Still, just looking at that bastard’s face put me in a foul mood, so I turned my gaze toward the chat window.
Of course they were. The sermon currently being delivered was tailored to the standards of those living in the Murim world. There was no way modern people would find any point of empathy in it. Even Seol-ah, who carried the seeds of fanaticism within her, would not be moved by this content.
Thinking that, I turned my head to the side and saw Seol-ah listening to the sermon with sparkling eyes, completely focused. The sight of her looking like she might soon fall completely for that silver tongue made me sigh involuntarily.
Yes. I’m sorry. I cut down the foundation based on my own judgment. It seems you are far closer to a fanatic than I thought.
I pressed one of her pressure points. Her shoulders twitched as if in pain, and she slowly turned her head toward me.
At least after I stepped in once, she seemed to recognize the strange parts. That was a relief. If she had tilted her head again after that, I would have simply knocked her out by striking the back of her neck.
Not long after, the sermon ended. When Baek Hwaryeong stepped up onto the platform, every gaze followed her. A perfect silence fell—no one even dared make the smallest sound. Since the god of the Divine Cult had descended upon this place, all the believers could do was look upon her and offer reverence.
When I had stood in that spot in the past, this silence had been incredibly irritating. The moment I, as a human being, uttered a single word, the atmosphere made it feel like everyone present would hang themselves if I ordered it. I hated that feeling.
I wondered how Baek Hwaryeong felt about it. Having been born and raised in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, did she hold a different perspective than I did?
As I was thinking that, Baek Hwaryeong spoke.
Every time she recited a name in that indifferent voice, the atmosphere in the space grew heavier. It was the despair of those who could not participate, and the tension of those who could. Within that solemn atmosphere, not a single person worried about anyone’s death.
As soon as Baek Hwaryeong stepped down from the platform, the people of the Divine Cult began rising one by one. I followed suit and stood up as well.
In the sense that they were locked in one place and only survivors were chosen.
Is that so? I was merely trying to tell the truth, yet all these accusations of being cheap keep coming. It’s truly lamentable. How did my image end up like this? My hand unconsciously reaches for my pipe.
Hwaryeong-nim said that everyone participating in this event possesses simji. That by watching their martial arts, I could gain enlightenment. But could I really obtain such insight?
Seol-ah couldn’t feel any confidence about it. She had only known failure until now. Even though Hwaryeong had given her countless opportunities, she had kept walking the wrong path until she finally forced Hwaryeong to guide her personally. So could she really gain something just by watching people fight?
If she failed to gain enlightenment, what would Hwaryeong-nim think? She would surely be disappointed.
Her steps grew heavier with all these thoughts swirling in her mind when a voice called out from beside her.
It was Han Seo-woo, the one who had guided both Hwaryeong and Seol-ah all the way to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
He called the Heavenly Demon his master. That meant he had the talent to learn the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and receive instruction from her. Unlike herself.
As Seol-ah thought that, she suddenly grew curious about what kind of simji this man held in his heart. What kind of resolve did he possess that earned him the Heavenly Demon’s recognition?
Hwaryeong thought for a moment with her pipe in her mouth, then said she would return quickly. She left Seol-ah in Han Seo-woo’s care and departed.
Perhaps because they had spoken before, Han Seo-woo’s friendly tone made Seol-ah unconsciously open her mouth.