Preparing for the Peach's Martial Journey - 1
Roll. Roll. Rumble—!
"Bbi?"
Dan-pung, who had been playing with his ball on the computer desk, stood up on his hind legs and looked out the window.
"Bbi-i— Bbi-i—"
Dan-pung pointed at the window while slowly wagging his bushy tail.
"Yeah. It rumbled, right? Looks like it's going to rain."
"Bbi!"
"Outside?"
"Bbiit!"
"Right, they'll grow well then."
Han Ga-eul waved her small hand as if explaining about the cherry tomatoes she had planted, though the meaning didn't come across clearly. She figured that once they got closer over time, she'd understand for sure.
"Play!"
Baek Seol's voice rang out, and at the same time a dark shadow fell over her.
"Kuhup!"
Her face grew hot. When she peeled off the thing stuck to her, Baek Seol was dangling from her hand, swinging back and forth.
"Baek Seol-ah, it's going to rain outside soon. It just rumbled, remember?"
"Play!"
"Bbi!"
"Dan-pung wants to play too?"
"Bbiit!"
"Oh dear. It's pitch black out there, though."
Baek Seol seemed to like going outside even more than Dan-pung did. Dan-pung made sense since he was used to playing in nature, but she couldn't figure out why this white house rabbit was so fond of the outdoors. Maybe she dreamed of being a wild rabbit.
If she left them like this, it was obvious they'd turn into a water-soaked rabbit and a water squirrel, and that disaster was bound to explode inside the house.
"Oh my god… Absolutely not."
Just thinking about it was horrifying. Dealing with a water bomb right after a shower was already more than enough.
Roll. Roll.
When it seemed like she was lost in thought, the two of them started playing with the ball again. Even while busy playing, they kept glancing outside. She was the only one taking it seriously. Those who gained two cotton-ball companions had to endure their weight.
"Kids, I'm going out for a smoke, so play nicely together."
"Bbi!"
"Okay!"
Click.
The moment she stood up and opened the door, humid air rushed in. The closer she walked to the entrance, the heavier the air felt.
Rumble—!
"Hmm…"
The sky growled the instant she opened the front door. The thought of going out to play in this weather already made her whole body feel gross.
—Chik, chik.
"Huu—"
The cigarette smoke she exhaled rose into the sky, cutting through the heavy air. The smoke she'd always thought was heavy seemed lighter than the air before rain. The problem was that the rabbit and squirrel's butts were even lighter than the drifting cigarette smoke.
"Haa—"
Still, without those two, life might have been more boring than it was now. They forced vitality into her, which was a problem, but she decided good things were good.
Plip. Plip-plip.
Just then, raindrops began to fall from the sky one or two at a time. If there hadn't been a rain cover above the front door, she would have had to throw away her precious cigarette unfinished.
"Huu—"
While she kept smoking and blankly looking around, she noticed a clay pot at her feet. Thanks to Dan-pung's diligent care, the soil looked nice and fluffy.
"Huh?"
Now that she looked, a small sprout was poking its head out of the soil where the raindrops were falling. When Dan-pung had been singing, the notification had gone off like crazy, and it seemed like he'd done something. She recalled Dan-pung happily touching the soil.
"What a strange little guy."
This must be why the viewers called him the forest caretaker.
"Huu—"
The cigarette was burning down. She needed to flick the ash, but the ashtray was a few steps away. She had no choice but to walk through the raindrops, and the already damp ashtray came into view.
Tap!
When she knocked the cigarette butt against it, the ash fell. Even though she'd just smoked, a sweet taste quickly spread in her mouth.
"Tsk."
Leaving the sigh that escaped her behind, she returned to the room. The two cotton balls were still rolling the ball on the desk.
"Kids, it's raining outside. Want to stay in the room with me, turn on the AC, and stay nice and dry?"
The moment she finished speaking, the two cotton balls flew straight at her face.
"Kuhup!"
"Play!"
"Bbi!"
Baek Seol rubbed her cheek against Han Ga-eul's face while Dan-pung's tail tickled her neck.
"You little rascals."
When she lifted one cotton ball in each hand, they dangled from her palms.
"I even installed a tower and hammock over there for you to play on. Why do you keep sticking to my face?"
"Bbiit!"
"I like it!"
Seeing how happy they were, it seemed they thought this was just another way of playing together. Since she'd put her other clothes in a different room and the inventory space, the only thing left in this room that belonged to her was the broadcasting computer. Before she knew it, the place was filled with these two's belongings.
"Yeah… As long as you're having fun, that's all that matters."
"Okay!"
"Bbiit!"
The two balls the kids had been playing with were sitting on the desk. When she picked them up and put them into the inventory space, the quick-witted pair started bouncing in place.
"Play!"
"Alright, alright. Let's go play."
For a moment she wondered if she should hire Sun Wukong as a babysitter, but remembering his haggard face from before, she decided against it.
"There's someone who helped me when Grandpa was sick. Let's go there to say hello too."
"Good!"
"Bbiit!"
***
Geukma Hall. A massive building located at the highest point of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the core of the Murim's evil. As the name suggested, it was a place only those who had reached the Extreme Demon Realm, the counterpart to the Flower Realm, could set foot in. Yet, despite the name, many people were gathered inside Geukma Hall.
Even those at the Peak Realm were treated with reverence wherever they went in Murim, and most leaders of major sects had reached that level. However, the Extreme Demon Realm was considered one step above that. Though it was only one step, the difference was as vast as heaven and earth. Even if Peak Realm masters attacked in droves, they couldn't touch a single finger of someone in the Flower Realm, which the Demonic Cult called Extreme Demon.
"How could you send that delicate child out alone! I won't allow it until dirt covers this old man's eyes!"
In Geukma Hall, the most sacred and highest place in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, where the Heavenly Demon, the absolute ruler of the cult, resided, Geom-ma, one of the cult's elders, was shouting at the top of his lungs. His appearance, which reminded one of an immortal, didn't match his behavior at all.
"Mm!"
The other elders nodded in agreement.
"Ugh…"
Thanks to them, an uncharacteristic groan escaped the Heavenly Demon's mouth. Among the nodding elders was the Supreme Elder, someone even the Heavenly Demon couldn't treat lightly.
"The Murim Alliance keeps sending all sorts of untrained birds—carrier pigeons, eagles, you name it—like they're crazy. They've already figured out that the Divine Doctor is in our cult, so what exactly are we supposed to do?"
At this rate, the cult would become the Pigeon Cult instead. But the elders' eyes began to shine brightly at the mention of the Murim Alliance, unaware of the Heavenly Demon's feelings.
The flow of time was something even those at the Absolute Realm couldn't avoid, and it had always been accepted as natural law. Rejuvenation, reversing one's age, only appeared in legends as a joke. Nevertheless, the elders, whose bodies were too powerful to allow generational change despite their bent backs, had someone who had practically reassembled their bodies. That person was the Divine Doctor the Supreme Elder had brought, and the reason they were shouting in Geukma Hall.
"This is driving me insane."
Those who had reached the Manifest Realm above the Flower Realm—people who should be called the greatest of all time rather than just the greatest under heaven—were causing an uproar in Geukma Hall.
'Not just one, but a whole bunch… I can't tell if this is thanks to the Divine Doctor or because of the Divine Doctor.'
The moment the Heavenly Demon convened the meeting, all the elders had entered the Manifest Realm as if they'd just peeled off a scab and barged into Geukma Hall. If even one of them went out into Murim, it was obvious blood would flow like a river. Who could possibly stop them? Even if they gathered all the few Flower Realm masters in the vast Murim, it seemed impossible to defeat even one of these elders.
Thanks to that, the Heavenly Demon felt like his head was about to explode.
"Huu."
Finally, the Heavenly Demon let out a sigh and turned his head to the side. There, the strategist, his reliable ally and the one called the head of the cult, was nodding along with the elders.
"Gah!"
The Heavenly Demon, who had hoped the chief strategist would wisely resolve the situation, ended up with his blood pressure skyrocketing at the sight.
***
After the meeting ended in a mess, the elders were walking toward the Black Dragon Pavilion.
"Absolutely not!"
"Mm!"
In Murim, where people risked their lives fighting every day, it was harder to find someone who wasn't sick than someone who was. Because of that, Murim people could only stamp their feet at the rapidly spreading news of the Divine Doctor.
Shing.
Geom-ma, who had been walking while shaking his white beard, had his sword half-drawn from his waist.
"At this rate, I should just send the sick ones to the afterlife. Then they won't need the Divine Doctor, right?"
"A genius has arrived. Why aren't you the strategist instead? Didn't the Heavenly Demon say that if even one of us steps forward, it's war?"
"Heh heh."
At the chief strategist's scolding and the Supreme Elder's laughter, Geom-ma had no choice but to sheathe his sword again.
"Have you forgotten the treaty? The war with the righteous factions is over."
"Treaties exist to be broken."
"That's enough."
At the Supreme Elder's single word, the conversation between the chief strategist and Geom-ma cut off.
"Supreme Elder, what should we do then?"
"Heh heh, we can't not send her, can we? She's a grown child, so don't overprotect her."
"What do you mean grown? She's only fist-sized!"
At Geom-ma's nonsense, the other elders walking with them nodded in agreement. Seeing that, the chief strategist finally pulled out one solution.
"Wouldn't it work if we let them know that child is on our side?"
"How?"
"Why not teach her a bit of demonic arts?"
"That's it! As expected of the strategist! But the child has already learned immortal arts—can she learn demonic arts too?"
The chief strategist glared at Geom-ma, who had stolen the conversation with the Supreme Elder.
"The Supreme Elder is here, so act your age."
"You do it first."
The saying that men remain children even when old seemed true, as the elders bickered the whole way.
"Heh heh."
As they continued walking and were almost at their destination, Han Ga-eul flung open the door of the place she called Black Dragon Silver Town and stepped outside.
"Oh? Grandpa, Grandma!"
Han Ga-eul waved at the elders, who were quite a distance away. Then the elders, who had been walking with their hands behind their backs, all disappeared in a white blur and appeared right in front of her.
"Child, have you rested enough already? You didn't strain yourself treating the Vice Cult Leader, did you?"
"Neng! I'm sturdy!"
"Hoho."
The Supreme Elder, Hyang-hyang, stepped forward from among the elders lined up around Han Ga-eul.
"Grandma."
"Yes, child. I'm sorry right after you came out, but this grandma has a favor to ask."
"What is it?"
"Someone sent a message here saying there's a sick person. Could you go? It's up to you, so you don't have to if you don't want to."
At the Supreme Elder's words, Han Ga-eul tilted her head.
"Is it someone Grandma knows?"
"No, it's not."
"Hmm… Then it's a bother."
"That's it! What a fine demonic person!"
Geom-ma, unable to hold back, cut in again. The Supreme Elder shot him a look, and he turned his gaze away.
"Still, since it's Grandma's request, I'll go take a look."
"Heh heh, thank you."
Supreme Elder Hyang-hyang reached out and stroked Han Ga-eul's head.
"Hehe."
"Child, before you go, learn a bit of demonic arts. I'll teach you myself."
"What's demonic arts?"
"Just think of it as unorthodox martial arts, as the name suggests."
At those words, Han Ga-eul snapped her fingers, and the solid blue steel stone laid in front of the Black Dragon Pavilion began to shake.
Crack! Crack-crack!
The blue steel stone, said to be as hard as iron, shattered into pieces and sprayed white dust.
Graaah—!
Clack, clack.
Black bones crawled up from the ground, their red eyes glowing as they began to form ranks. It was as if they were showing obedience to their master.
"Like this?"
"Hmm… She's not the Divine Doctor, she's going to become Murim's public enemy."
At Geom-ma's muttering, the chief strategist's mind snapped back to attention.
"W-wait a moment. Let us discuss this among ourselves."
"Neng!"
The chief strategist, who had urgently tried to salvage the situation, led the elders a distance away from Han Ga-eul and began whispering.
"What should we do? The child has no middle ground."
"……"
"They're martial artists with no equals when it comes to martial arts. Say something quickly. What the hell is that!"
"……"