Whip + Carrot + Fear = Loyalty
While I reflected on my martial arts on my own, I also deliberated over what to do with Jeokmyo and Chilmyo.
I'd never kept subordinates before, so I asked my master, and together we drew up a clear operation.
The name of the operation:
'Perfect.'
I recalled the conversation Daniel and I had shared at the Han River.
"What happens when you put someone inside the Magic Mirror?"
"Once you're in, your biological activity stops. So even White Snake, the guy I turned into a snake skewer, is still alive in there."
"Nice item."
"You could say that. But there's exactly one problem with it."
Exactly one problem.
And that was what I was going to exploit right now.
"The mirror drains your mana, and that drain manifests as extreme hunger."
"What's the time ratio?"
"One day inside is three days outside. Even an Awakener would have a hard time lasting more than two days in there."
"Oh, thanks for the great info. Thanks for the mirror too. Ah, and the Colosseum as well..."
"Brother Jaewoo. You. Are. Kinda scummy."
I snorted.
'Daniel, you're funnier than you let on.'
I pulled out the Magic Mirror — Mirror of Binding.
For the record, I did not shake him down for it. He gave it to me as a gift.
Anyway.
Let's go check on the hungry bunnies.
Within darkness black as ink, a woman in deep crimson robes hung bound tight in black mist, falling endlessly. Down into the dark. Endlessly.
Jeokmyo, executive of the Twelve Earthly Branches.
'I'm starving.'
'It's dark.'
'I'm scared.'
Jeokmyo was hollowed out with listlessness. The thieving darkness surrounding her was draining her mana drop by drop.
A high-level Awakener could survive a week or two without mana. But right now, her stomach felt shriveled dry, and the emptiness rising from her gut squeezed at her chest like a fist.
'My brain is shutting down.'
'Is this how I die?'
'Those Twelve Earthly Branches bastards.'
'My family...'
'Right. I guess we all die together.'
Then—
The darkness receded, and light came pouring down. THUD!
Jeokmyo and Chilmyo crashed face-down onto a field of grass. Trembling, the two of them lifted their eyelids.
Dazzling sunlight rained down. The fresh scent of green grass brushed their noses. A cool breeze caressed their cheeks.
'Wh-where are we...?'
Dumbstruck, the two of them stared out at the World of Dream Souls — a landscape as beautiful as a garden out of a dream.
Of course, the sightseeing didn't last long.
Thud. Thud.
A familiar and terrifying resonance — the footsteps of a death god, squeezing the very hearts in their chests. They wanted to bolt that instant, but their Demon Blood and Demon Arts were pinned down, leaving them unable to speak, unable to move. And then, the death god's presence drew near.
——Ssssssaa—
Sinister demonic energy coiled around their throats, stealing their breath.
Thud.
With each footstep of the death god, a bone-chilling voice rang in their ears.
"To run—"
Thud.
"—is to die—"
Their eyelids fluttered violently.
"If you understand, move your eyes."
Roll, roll.
They rolled their eyeballs for all they were worth. At that, the death god released their Demon Blood with his sword wind.
"Nghhh..."
"Haah— hah, hah!"
It had only been a moment, but their breath had genuinely stopped, so they sucked air into their lungs until they burned.
Thud.
Their heads turned slowly, like rusted machinery. And there stood the death god, hands clasped behind his back, looking down at them.
"...!"
"Eek!"
The two of them instinctively shrank back, scuttling away on their backsides—then slammed their foreheads straight into the ground.
"Sp-spare us, please!"
The pride of a Twelve Earthly Branches executive? Their dignity?
They'd thrown all of it away long ago. The one before them was the very visage of terror, an absolute being holding the ticket to hell.
"W-we'll never come near you again."
"We'll never set foot in Korea again. Please... have mercy!"
The death god clicked his tongue.
"Silence. Before I kill you where you kneel."
"......!"
Jeokmyo and Chilmyo's faces froze solid. Death had crept right up to them, hand outstretched—honestly, the inside of the Magic Mirror felt preferable by comparison.
Then.
A dark crimson current of energy bloomed at the death god's fingertips. It was no mere shape of mana. It writhed and squirmed, a grotesque centipede grown legs — a living, crawling curse.
The skill, Gu Poison.
"Wh-what is that..."
Jeokmyo recoiled in horror, but—
Shhk!
The Gu Poison split the air in an instant and burrowed into the bodies of Chilmyo and Jeokmyo.
"Khhk!"
"Ugh!"
There was no gap to defend. Ignoring flesh and muscle, the poison coiled directly around their hearts and brains. Before either of them could even grasp what was happening, the death god clenched his fist and released it.
"First, the heart."
And then—
Thump! Thump! Sssiiik—!
"GAAAAAAHH!!"
"HAAGH! UGHAAAH!"
Jeokmyo and Chilmyo screamed in unison and writhed on the ground, clawing madly at their own chests. It felt as if thousands of fire ants were crawling through their veins, gnawing at their flesh. Their hearts burned as if seared onto a hot griddle.
"S-save me! AAAH! My heart! My heart!"
Jeokmyo's eyes rolled back, froth spilling from her mouth. Chilmyo, unable to bear the agony, beat his own head against the ground, over and over.
The death god frowned at the pair. Then he raised his right hand.
Flick.
"Hah... hah. Hnngh."
As if by magic, the pain vanished. But—
"Next, the brain."
——SSSIIIING—!
"KIIIIEEEEK!"
Their screams changed from human to beast. The road to hell spread open before their eyes, and they fell into a hideous hallucination — their brains melting, pouring out through their ears.
Mind-shattering agony at its absolute limit. And then—
Click.
The death god snapped his fingers, and just like that, the screams died away.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Jeokmyo and Chilmyo lay sprawled on the ground, drenched in sweat. It had lasted mere seconds, but it had been years' worth of hell. Their eyes had lost focus, drifting every which way.
The death god crouched down, brought his gaze level with theirs, and spoke in a flat, toneless voice.
"I've planted Gu Poison in your hearts and your brains. At any moment, I can burst your hearts, or pour your brains out like water."
Jeokmyo forced her trembling body upright and desperately dropped to her knees. Resistance? Escape?
Those were dreams they could no longer even dream. They had learned, down to the marrow, that the power over their life and death rested entirely in that demon's hands.
The death god warned them in a cold voice.
"Submit, or die right now—"
"Please, don't kill us!"
"Please hear us out. There's something we absolutely must—"
"Wait."
Jeokmyo and Chilmyo scrambled to explain their circumstances, but the death god held out his palm.
"Shut your mouths."
"......"
"You're making me want to kill you."
"......"
Their faces drained ash-white, and the death god continued, flat and unhurried.
"If you have something to say to me, show loyalty first."
Jeokmyo and Chilmyo looked at each other. And then, simultaneously, they pressed their foreheads to the ground.
"We swear our loyalty!"
Swearing to devote themselves to me. Proclaiming they would serve me as their lord from this day forward.
I let their candy-coated flattery pour in one ear and out the other. Instead of answering, I rummaged through my inventory and started pulling things out.
Clunk— tap.
A portable burner and a wide grill plate. And a pack of soy-marinated beef bulgogi from the supermarket.
Jeokmyo and Chilmyo, still bowed to the ground, raised their heads with puzzled looks. Their expressions said it all: 'Cooking? At a time like this?'
But I paid them no mind and lit the flame.
Click— FWOOSH!
Blue fire ignited, and the grill plate began to heat. Without hesitation, I tore open the meat pack and dumped it all onto the searing surface.
SSSSSSSIZZLE—!
White smoke rose, and a sweet-savory soy aroma rippled through the air. That irresistible smell unique to bulgogi rode the breeze and struck the pair square in the nose.
"Ngh... mgh..."
Gulp.
Jeokmyo's throat bobbed heavily. Drool was already trailing down Chilmyo's chin.
They'd gone days without a single drop of water, hovering right on the edge of collapse. To men in that state, the smell of meat grilling before their eyes was nothing short of torture.
GRRRRUMBLE—!
Thunder rumbled from Jeokmyo's stomach. Her face flushed crimson with shame, but her eyes wouldn't leave the meat.
Sizzle— sssizzle—
I turned the meat with my tongs, cooking it evenly. Juices bubbled and popped; the onions and scallions softened, deepening the flavor. Once it was cooked to perfection, I poured orange juice into two cups.
Tap.
I set them on the low table and jerked my chin at the pair.
"Eat."
Jeokmyo and Chilmyo exchanged glances. But extreme hunger beat out shame.
"Th-thank you for this food!"
SCRAMBLE!
The two of them lunged for the grill.
"Hot! Hothot! Mm, mmmgh!"
Slurp, smack, smack! Nomnomnom.
Sauce smeared all over their mouths, they devoured the meat in a frantic scramble — a pair of starving goblins, through and through.
I watched the scene with my arms crossed and smirked.
'They eat well, at least.'
They'd need at least that much survival instinct. It made them worth the trouble of handling.
Before long, not a single sliver of onion remained on the grill. Perhaps it was the sated hunger that brought their numbed reason back, because fear rose anew in Jeokmyo and Chilmyo's eyes.
Their expressions said it plainly: 'You've fed us your fill. Now comes the bill, doesn't it?'
But I had no such intention. I'd put them through pain, sure — but I wanted to treat them as humanely as possible.
"Was it good?"
"Y-yes! Thank you for the grace you've shown us!"
And now—
Only the finale of the operation remained. The main event.
Jeokmyo and Chilmyo sensed a sinister presence approaching from beyond the mountains.
——Sssssuuu—
The air grew heavy and still. The wind died. The fresh scent of grass vanished, and a chill bit into the tips of their noses.
Jeokmyo instinctively started to lift her head — and slammed it right back into the ground under the crushing weight bearing down on her nape.
'Wh-what now?!'
If the terror Yu Jaewoo had shown them was fear of death, then the aura washing over them now was a primal dread of annihilation itself.
Thud. Thud.
Someone was walking toward them out of empty air — an old man draped in violet dragon robes. Jeokmyo and Chilmyo couldn't even breathe.
'A m-monster...'
No — even the word monster fell short. If Yu Jaewoo was a raging dragon, that old man was a great calamity incarnate. An overwhelming gravity that made their souls feel like they would burn away from a single meeting of the eyes.
"My disciple."
The low voice flowed straight into their brains, paralyzing them from head to toe.
"Where did you scrape up these rat pups?"
The Heavenly Demon exhaled a long drag of smoke from his pipe.
Sssssuuu—
The instant his gaze touched Jeokmyo and Chilmyo, both felt their hearts stop. No — perhaps, for a moment, they truly had.
"Master. You've come."
Yu Jaewoo bowed with deep reverence.
"These two are workers I picked up."
"Workers, hm."
The Heavenly Demon's gaze dropped to them. An indifferent look — the way one might regard insects. Before those eyes, Jeokmyo felt herself shrink into something worthless and small. The pride of an Awakener crumbled away, as if it had never existed at all.
The Heavenly Demon spoke, his voice bleak as frost.
"Just like a shard of the Mount Slaughter Blood Sea."
"......!"
The two of them trembled in suffocating terror, and the Heavenly Demon added carelessly:
"You had best mind how you carry yourselves."
"W-we will bear it in mind!"
"We pledge our loyalty!"
Jeokmyo and Chilmyo understood, with bitter clarity: they had already been swallowed whole by monsters.
And as the pair lay flattened against the ground, swearing their fealty, Yu Jaewoo and the Heavenly Demon looked at each other — and smiled, ever so faintly.
Yu Jaewoo spoke with his eyes.
'Operation, complete success?'
The Heavenly Demon answered with his eyes.
'You. You'd fit right in if you defected to the Cult.'