The Heavenly Demon Raids Back

“Pipi’s defense really was no joke.”

After finishing the siege and stepping inside the castle, Byeol-ttuk stretched his arms while looking around. Even though seven people had attacked a castle defended by a single player, the battle had been surprisingly difficult. It was true that defenders usually held the advantage in siege warfare, but that only applied when the gap in power wasn’t too large. One could never defeat seven. Yet Pipi had nearly turned the impossible into reality.

Despite it being only the first day, the base was thoroughly fortified. Countless scrolls crafted from the materials Hwaryeong had gathered. And on top of that, the overwhelming skill of Pipi, a veteran of Thread. If Byeol-ttuk hadn’t been part of the attacking side, Pipi would almost certainly have succeeded in protecting the castle.

“Anyway, we won, so it’s fine, right?”

“Yeah. Check out what’s in the boxes.”

“Whoa. Sweet, so sweet.”

The massive amount of resources they had looted from various players. The countless gold coins won through gambling. And the various ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠high-tech crafting materials they had collected while clearing the maze. The sheer feast of materials that made people wonder if they had used cheats brought smiles to the faces of everyone who had joined the raid.

Everyone except one person.

Dang So-il watched his teammates urging each other to hurry up and grab the goods, biting his nails. One of his teammates noticed his anxious trembling and spoke up.

“Dang So-il? What’s wrong?”

“...This is Hwaryeong-nim’s party.”

Having spent recent days rolling around on the ground in the world of Apis, Dang So-il knew Hwaryeong’s terror better than anyone. He was now incomparably stronger than when he had first encountered Hwaryeong. The man who used to struggle in Challenger rank and only hear himself called an amateur craftsman could now hold his own against several pro gamers.

But what did that matter?

No matter how much Dang So-il improved, he still couldn’t reach even the tip of Hwaryeong’s toes. The more his skill grew, the more he realized the distance between them wasn’t narrowing at all. It had reached a point where he couldn’t even begin to guess how vast the gap truly was. So it wasn’t strange at all that he was trembling at the thought of future retaliation from Hwaryeong.

“You knew that before you came, didn’t you, Dang So-il?”

“Well, yes, but…”

Even so, the reason Dang So-il had joined this raid wasn’t complicated. He had been getting beaten by Hwaryeong every single day. It was only natural to want to pay him back at least once. But once the deed was done, the growing fear of the consequences was something he couldn’t control.

Because the opponent was Hwaryeong.

“Alright, everyone. Forget the rest for now. Let’s get out of here before Hwaryeong-nim comes back. Bigol-nim already laid down concealment magic, so let’s hide all this stuff there first.”

They hadn’t done this without any countermeasures. The streamers who broadcast on Turret had heard about Hwaryeong through various channels and knew he was currently doing insane things in the Thread world. They understood perfectly that even if they looted the castle and stole the materials, Hwaryeong would come for revenge and they’d have to give up everything.

The clear reason they had dared to do this despite knowing him was simple. First, the place where they lived was deep inside an underground maze. Even they, who had gone up and down the underground area multiple times, had gotten lost several times before reaching it. They believed Hwaryeong wouldn’t be able to find it easily either.

The second reason was the recipe for a concealment scroll they had luckily obtained in the dungeon. They were confident that using it would allow them to hide the entrance to their base. The moment they obtained it, they had decided to raid the castle. After all, even if Hwaryeong resolved to take revenge, it would be meaningless if he couldn’t find their hideout.

“We won’t have to worry about money for a while.”

“Let’s raise our tech tree quickly.”

“With this as a base, let’s try to succeed in a Hwaryeong-nim raid later!”

While the other teammates were smiling as they packed up all the materials from the boxes, Dang So-il simply couldn’t join them. He couldn’t shake off the ominous premonition that had taken root deep in his heart.

The sponsorship flew in right as I smashed the helmet of a wandering knight in the graveyard. Usually, messages delivered with such frantic excitement tended to be trivial, but this time was different. This news was genuinely urgent.

The castle guarded by Pipi had been raided by another faction. What the hell was this about?

“Pipi. I heard you were attacked.”

The moment I received the sponsorship, I contacted Pipi to confirm the truth. She answered in a slightly deflated voice.

Pipi explained that she had done her best to defend the castle, but the enemy numbers were too great and their skills were too high for her to overcome.

Her statement that restoring everything would be easy if I were there was certainly correct. Once I set my mind to it, it wouldn’t take long to recover everything we had gathered before.

But still.

I didn’t like it.

Knowing full well that I was staying in this world, they had still dared to raid my base and plunder the things I had collected. How arrogant. How insolent.

If this were the Murim world, such a thing would never have happened. Everyone had lived under the terror of my name. The fact that the Heavenly Demon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Cult had never faced any faction’s offensive even after I left proved that.

In other words, the reason they had attacked the castle was because they did not fear me.

“Kiiing…”

As I furrowed my brow, a small whine leaked out from beside me. Neukneuk had his ears lowered, carefully watching my expression. Haha. Don’t worry. I’m not angry because of you.

I reached down and gently stroked the worried pup’s forehead before climbing onto his back.

“Let’s head back to the base for now.”

The castle we returned to on Neukneuk had lost most of its former appearance. Holes were punched through the walls everywhere, the garden had been burned to nothing but ash, and what had once been the outer wall now lay in ruins, silently testifying that someone had once lived here. Just looking at the exterior made it obvious what the interior would look like.

Pipi, who had been working on repairs outside, came running the moment she saw me return.

“You’re back?”

“It’s been completely wrecked.”

“It’s a daily occurrence in Thread. I can restore it quickly.”

I cut off Pipi as she began blaming herself for getting too absorbed in gambling and neglecting preparations, then quietly looked around the castle before approaching Neukneuk.

“Neukneuk. Can you track the intruders’ scent?”

Without the slightest hesitation, Neukneuk nodded at my question and entered the castle with a dignified stride. He lowered his nose to the ground as if he were about to bury it, then suddenly lifted his head. The way his usually drooping ears perked up told me he had found something.

“Are you going to go retrieve the items?”

“Of course.”

Giving up on what had been taken from me was not my style. And this was not something that should be easily overlooked. If they learned they could touch me and get away with it, other trash would start crossing the line one by one. So I had to set an example. I needed to teach them exactly what price they would pay for attacking me.

I had to make sure that if they ever harmed those around me, even by mistake, they would be so terrified that they’d bury their heads in the ground. That was how I had been taught, and that was how I had lived. Even though I had loosened up quite a bit since coming to the modern world, the fundamentals could not be changed.

“I’ll call ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you when it’s time to collect the items, so wait here.”

“Yes! I’ll keep working on the repairs until then.”

After hearing Pipi’s answer, I climbed onto Neukneuk’s back. He gave a light bark, asking if it was okay to depart.

“Let’s go.”

Neukneuk seemed to have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠already pinpointed the intruders’ location and ran straight toward it without stopping or changing direction even once. As a skilled hunter, he knew exactly where his prey was hiding.

What we arrived at was the front of a half-collapsed tower.

The moment I got down from Neukneuk, another sponsorship popped up with an explanation.

“What do you mean?”

From what the viewers were explaining, it seemed the inside was similar to the maze I had experienced with Enry in the past. The main difference was that there were no skeleton soldiers appearing inside.

Following the viewers’ explanations, I found the entrance leading down to the underground. It was small enough that only about two people could enter at once. In other words, it was an area where I absolutely couldn’t bring Neukneuk along.

Hmm. Even if the paths inside were complicated, I had thought Neukneuk’s sense of smell would solve everything. But it looked like that method wouldn’t work here.

It wasn’t a big problem. It was something I could handle with my own abilities.

I grabbed Neukneuk by the scruff of his neck as he tried to force his face into the hole to follow me underground and pulled him back.

“That’s enough. You stay here and wait.”

There’s no need to show such excessive loyalty. Even if you don’t, I won’t abandon you.

When I said that, he let out a small whine and plopped his rear on the ground.

“It won’t take long.”

I set up a sleeping bag beside him and stepped into the underground passage.

The first thing I felt as I descended was darkness. Unlike the maze, there was nothing emitting light here. However, that was no problem for me. Even without eyes, my other senses remained perfectly intact.

The moment the stairs ended and the corridor appeared, I stood still and expanded my Qi Sense outward. How complex this underground area was didn’t matter. What I was looking for was nothing but the presence of people.

How long had I been doing this?

At the end of my search, I finally detected what I was looking for. To meet them, I would need to go down first.

I pressed my acupoints to cause my internal energy to run wild. Instead of moving forward, I looked down, infused my feet with qi, and stomped hard on the floor. The floor, unable to withstand the shock, collapsed, allowing me to naturally land on the level below.

It looked like I still had quite a way to go down.