The Heavenly Demon Goes Out to Play (1)

— For real.

They said they prepared pretty thoroughly, right?

The opponent is Hwaryeong.

<Photo of Hwaryeong with a dead-serious face>

She usually looks so laid-back, but when she gets serious it’s actually terrifying. I accidentally looked away while watching the screen.

— Sorry! I’ll go buy some again!

— If you had a bully like that no one would ever mess with you lol

But scary is scary, she’s seriously beautiful.

Just standing there makes her look like a scene from a movie.

— I wish she’d step on me…

— I want the whip. Heuuung.

— I have no interest in the teachers’ peculiar tastes.

— Please just die already. You’re wasting oxygen.

Hwaryeong-nim. A maze is a place where you find the path. It’s not a place where you make the path, you crazy person!

— The way she thinks is on a completely different level.

— Is it still true words when she’s literally denying the entire purpose of a labyrinth?

— Are you scared?

— Lmao he’s such a scaredy-cat.

— Shut up. You watch Dang So-il’s stream too. He says it’s terrifying.

— For real?

— You’ll understand if you watch Hwaryeong’s stream.

— I’m watching Dang So-il’s stream right now and it’s seriously scary.

— I need to sleep but I can’t turn the lights off lol

— I don’t get what’s so scary about this. I’m gonna go find my mom now.

— For real. There are so many scaredy-cats. I need to go change my underwear.

— Watching a horror game from the boss’s perspective is pure gold lol

— So this is why hidden camera pranks are so popular.

— Dang So-il you massive scaredy-cat lol

— What if it’s still scary even when you know what’s coming?

— Then you’re just a massive scaredy-cat and there’s nothing you can do about it.

— Fuuuuuck.

— Everyone has a perfect plan until they get punched in the face.

— Lmao did they really think Hwaryeong would go easy on them?

— If you add up all the playtime of those veterans over there, it’s probably close to a hundred thousand hours.

— They can’t resist a custom server event.

— But no matter how strong Hwaryeong is, she’s still just a player. If that many veterans team up, she can’t hold out, right?

— You don’t watch her streams?

— Go read the MyTube comments properly.

— No, I watch her streams a lot too, but this isn’t Apis or a murim game. There has to be a limit.

— A limit?

— You’re clearly not watching her streams lol

— Hwaryeong.

— Definitely Hwaryeong.

— Shouldn’t we be asking how long they can last instead of who wins?

— This.

— Exactly.

Ah, that’s the Falling Sun Swordplay. It drops the sun.

— Is that a murim technique?

— ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yep.

— But how does that work in Thread?

— Because it’s Hwaryeong.

— ?????

— Even the streamer alliance prepared hardcore, yet they couldn’t even land a single hit.

— She’s basically a walking bug, so there’s nothing they can do.

— But seriously, why is someone like that even streaming?

— When you watch other streamers’ reactions, they just call her a living disaster. No other words needed.

— I was watching Bae Min-hwang’s stream and all I could hear was “how the hell do we beat that?”

— There’s literally no answer.

— Is this person a demon?

— She’d probably still win even if they cut off one of her arms before starting.

— No way they’d do it. Even I’d get sick of it and quit.

— Forget the raid, just hurry up and go pet the wolf. I’ve been waiting to sleep while watching that.

I asked Bae Min-hwang once more if he had any thoughts of challenging me again before I took his head. You never know. The game still had a long way to go, so it was entirely possible he might prepare even more thoroughly and attempt another challenge with renewed determination.

Unfortunately, all Bae Min-hwang did was laugh as if he found the question absurd and shake his head. He said that unless the game received another update, what they had prepared was clearly the best they could do. Since even that hadn’t been enough to defeat me, there was no longer any method left.

“At the very least, wouldn’t it only be possible if we found someone who could actually hold Hwaryeong-nim down?”

It was a shame. I had been enjoying myself quite a bit, reminded of old memories.

That was why I even offered to refrain from using my sword or from taking the scroll, but Bae Min-hwang simply turned pale and shook his head vigorously.

Having finished all my business, I set off to find the wolf. I was the one who told it to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠run away, but just how far had this creature gone? It should have stayed at a reasonable distance so it would be easy to find. What an unreasonable fellow.

I leisurely followed its presence with a long pipe in my mouth. Then I sensed the presence that had been far away suddenly heading in my direction. It seemed to have noticed the commotion was over and was coming back to me.

Heh. What a clever little thing. I had even considered giving it a harsh scolding if it tried to use this as an opportunity to run away from me, but it looked like that wouldn’t be necessary. Since it was already coming this way, there was no need for me to move. I waited, and soon the wolf’s silhouette appeared in the distance.

However, it wasn’t alone. Trailing behind it was the shadow of the dragon I had hunted with my sword earlier.

“What is this? I clearly killed you.”

— Why are you even asking something so obvious?

“Hey, I can ask if I don’t know, you bastards.”

There was no way I would know everything just because I was me. I don’t understand why they try to bite at even the smallest opening. This is why the life of the strong is lonely. When one aspect stands out so much, there’s nothing else they can touch.

“...Hm?”

When I focused my eyes after hearing the donation alert, I saw the dragon shooting flames at the wolf in the distance. What was that crazy beast doing! After all the effort I put into maintaining that fur, it was trying to burn it?!

My body moved faster than my mind could make a decision. The moment it saw me, I drew my sword and swung it at the dragon’s neck. The creature had spread its wings to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chase the running wolf and was so focused on breathing fire that it hadn’t even noticed me. It never saw the sword coming before its head was severed and fell to the ground.

The wolf, which had been desperately fleeing from the dragon’s flames, slowly stopped at the sound of the dragon falling and turned its head. It looked at the dragon’s corpse, trembled, then turned to look at my face. The moment it confirmed it was me, it flinched backward in fear.

“Wolf.”

I believed it already knew what it had to do without me saying anything. I didn’t even raise my voice, simply smiling faintly. The wolf immediately wagged its tail brightly and ran toward me.

Yes. That’s how it should be.

— Someone needs to take care of this evil bastard so the wolf can be happy.

“What are you all saying?”

Look. Doesn’t it look incredibly happy at first glance? Where in this panting, tail-wagging creature is there any lack of happiness?

“So what exactly is the problem? I truly don’t understand.”

I put out the fire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the wolf’s fur and checked its condition, only to be horrified. The fur I had spent nearly an entire day grooming was ruined! Of course, not all of it. Only the area starting from the tail, the rear, and the hind legs had been slightly singed. But that part was extremely important!

The happiness that tail fur brings is immense! I had waited and waited to obtain perfect happiness. And now it was telling me to be satisfied with only partial happiness?! That was impossible. Absolutely impossible.

Sigh. Damn it. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have let the dragon off so easily. I should have made it understand exactly how grave a sin it was to steal my happiness before cutting off its head.

— The wolf’s fur is a critical matter.

“Wolf.”

“...Woof?”

Perhaps because my voice had dropped even lower, the wolf lowered its head and watched me nervously. Haha. There’s no need to worry. I would never do anything bad to you.

“Let’s go to the alchemist.”

If it was the one who made the shampoo, surely it would also know how to restore this fur. When I said that, the wolf lowered its neck and brought it to my side. It was telling me to get on. The moment I accepted the consideration and settled on its back, an indescribable happiness washed over me.

Ahh. What is this softness? Fluffy, fluffy. Silky, silky. It was exactly like the heavenly texture I had imagined while watching all those videos, and on top of that came the warm body heat of a living creature. It was nothing short of paradise.

Did I really need to visit the alchemist? Wouldn’t it be enough to simply lose myself in this happiness and enjoy it…

“Hah.”

No. No, that wouldn’t do. I had just sworn to obtain perfect happiness, so how could I forget that already? How frightening. To think that even someone like me almost fell for such temptation. Was this the happiness brought by perfect, lush fur? If it was already this good now, just how much greater would the happiness be once its fur was fully restored?

Ahh. I was already looking forward to that moment.

“Let’s move.”

To meet that alchemist fellow. There was no need to worry about receiving a bad answer. Even if the alchemist said it was impossible, I would simply make it change its answer.