So? Did Someone Force You to Become the Heavenly Demon?

Chapter 11: Overtime (2)

The moment I opened the door and stepped inside, I bowed with my fists clasped.

“The Youngest Disciple, Il-mok, greets his Master and Senior Disciples.”

As I slowly raised my head, I took in the scene before me. Appetizing dishes were laid out in rather elegant bowls, and at the head of the table sat Master.

“Come in, come in. Everyone greets him. This is Il-mok, the Youngest Disciple I’ve taken in my twilight years.”

Following Master’s brief introduction, a middle-aged man sitting closest to Master nodded.

“Hahaha! Welcome, junior brother. I am Wi Jin-hak, your Eldest Senior Brother.”

The Eldest Senior Brother greeted me with a laugh that could be described as hearty or foolish, depending on how you look at it. However, I couldn’t let that smile fool me.

‘He’s the one who learned the Raging Demon Sword Art.’

This was information I’d gotten from Jin Hayeon. The side effect of the Raging Demon Sword Art was intermittent explosive disorder. Not the selective kind, but a genuine, all-consuming rage. He was the type who would slice my neck off the moment he snapped, regardless of whether Master was present or not.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Eldest Senior Brother.”

Ignoring the sweat running down my spine, I greeted him with utmost respect.

‘…Honestly, he seems more like a Martial Uncle or Grand Martial Uncle rather than a Senior Brother.’

Eldest Senior Brother Wi Jin-hak was forty-five years old this year, and considering this body was fifteen, he was far too old to be called ‘brother.’

‘To think someone like him has the title Mad Demon (狂魔).’

He gave off the impression of a kind neighborhood uncle who was a bit slow—the type you’d find in every neighborhood back in the modern world.

But his title was indeed the Mad Demon.

About twenty years ago, Eldest Senior Brother Wi Jin-hak’s mastery of the Raging Demon Sword Art reached Extremity. Unable to control his rage, he went berserk and was subdued multiple times by Master.

Master then advised him, “If you cannot control your anger, instead of tormenting innocent civilians, unleash it upon the wicked.”

Deeply moved by this advice, Eldest Senior Brother would leave Xinjiang for the Central Plains whenever he felt the early symptoms of Qi Deviation or his fits of rage arising.

There, he would unleash his fury upon martial artists and corrupt officials. As a result, the number of martial artists, corrupt officials, and corrupt soldiers killed by Eldest Senior Brother alone reportedly exceeded a thousand.

Naturally, the Murim Alliance declared Eldest Senior Brother a public enemy of the jianghu, and his berserk, anger-fueled appearance earned him the title “Mad Demon.”

After nearly ten years of venting his fury, Eldest Senior Brother finally broke free from the Extremity of the Raging Demon Sword Art.

‘…No matter how I look at it, it’s a miracle he didn’t die.’

It was remarkable in many ways that he survived after rampaging dozens of times in the Central Plains and killing over a thousand people.

If he had died during those times, it would have likely been attributed to the side effects of Demonic Arts.

In any case, as time passed, he had now moved beyond the Extremity stage and was said to be approaching Transcendence.

The most crucial point was that he was only approaching Transcendence.

In other words, it meant he hadn’t yet fully reached Transcendence.

‘If I provoke him wrongly and he snaps, his rage disorder might surface.’

I’d be dead meat if I let my guard down because of that foolish smile.

After I finished greeting Eldest Senior Brother in this tense atmosphere, a man sitting opposite Eldest Senior Brother spoke in a gloomy tone.

“Seo Wan-pyeong.”

Third Senior Brother Seo Wan-pyeong.

If I remember correctly, he was thirty-four years old. I bowed with clasped hands to this man who gave off a gloomy aura, looking like a worn-out middle manager.

“Pleased to meet you, Third Senior Brother. I am Il-mok.”

“Why are you greeting me twice? Are you treating me like I’m dead?”

“……”

I was momentarily speechless.

‘F*ck…’

The martial art Seo Wan-pyeong had learned was the Shadowless Fourteen Strikes. True to its name, it was a Demonic Art that boasted swift and traceless sword techniques. Its side effect was paranoia, a condition where one interprets everything negatively.

Unfortunately, Seo Wan-pyeong hadn’t completely broken free from the Extremity of his Demonic Art.

‘If I hadn’t greeted him, he would’ve thrown a fit about being ignored.’

As I stood there hesitating, unable to do either right or wrong.

“Third.”

Master’s voice, imbued with immense energy, rang out.

“!!!”

As our  Master’s energy had driven away the demonic energy plaguing Third Senior Brother’s mind, he shook his head several times and then looked at me with somewhat clearer eyes.

“Ahem. I apologize.”

“Haha. It was my fault for not knowing proper etiquette yet. Please don’t worry about it, Senior Brother.”

Though he seemed to have regained his senses momentarily, I was extremely careful not to provoke him.

If his paranoia resurfaced, he might sneak into my room one moonlit night and take my head.

The Shadowless Fourteen Strikes specialized in assassination, after all.

As this spine-chilling greeting was over, a young man sitting one seat away from Master compared to the other two Senior Brothers greeted me.

“It’s nice to meet you. I am Jong-ri Chu, the Sixth Disciple.”

“Pleased to meet you, Sixth Senior Brother. I am Il-mok.”

Fortunately, the Sixth Senior Brother didn’t react to my greeting like the Third Senior Brother had.

Instead, he slightly furrowed his brows while looking at me, then suddenly turned his head slightly to look beside me.

The Sixth Senior Brother Jong-ri Chu alternated between looking at the empty space and me.

The Demonic Art he had learned was the Mad Soul Sword Art, and its side effect was none other than schizophrenia.

After seemingly seeing something that wasn’t there for a moment, the Sixth Senior Brother soon looked back at me with a gentle smile.

“Ah. My apologies, martial brother. I was mistaken for a moment, please don’t mind it.”

If there was any consolation, due to his young age of twenty-four, he hadn’t completely entered the Extremity stage yet.

In other words, he only briefly confused illusions with reality rather than completely succumbing to hallucinations or auditory hallucinations.

‘After I graduate from the Hall of the Demonic Way (魔道館), I should avoid them as much as possible.’

Though they might be “relatively” sane now, it takes one year to enter the Hall of the Demonic Way and two years to complete all the training there.

By the time three years had passed, their condition would likely change, for better or worse.

Or I might be assassinated by Third Senior Brother in the meantime.

Shiver

Third Senior Brother Seo Wan-pyeong was glaring at Sixth Senior Brother sinisterly.

Apparently, he thought Sixth Senior Brother had interrupted while he was greeting me.

He seemed to think this was because the Sixth Senior Brother looked down on him.

In response to the Third Senior Brother’s sinister gaze, the Sixth Senior Brother looked in his direction.

“Hmm?”

More precisely, at the empty seat beside Third Senior Brother.

“Fourth Senior Brother. When did you arrive?”

“……”

Sixth Senior Brother was greeting the Fourth Senior Brother, who had reportedly died at the hands of orthodox sect members while on a mission.

He suddenly shook his head several times, then soon returned to clarity.

“Ah. I seem to have had another illusion. I apologize.”

“Uahahahaha! It’s alright, junior brother. You must have missed Fourth Brother from your childhood. Huhahaha!”

In response to Jong-ri Chu’s apology, Eldest Senior Brother Wi Jin-hak burst into another foolish laugh.

‘What a mess.’

It was a scene that made me want to sigh, but I managed to endure it with transcendent patience.

The moment I sighed, I might incur the wrath of one of the three Senior Brothers.

After all, none of them were in their right mind.

“Ahem. It must be uncomfortable to keep standing, so please take a seat now.”

At Master’s order, I nervously walked over and sat down in the empty seat next to Third Senior Brother.

Fortunately, Sixth Senior Brother Jong-ri Chu had temporarily regained his senses and didn’t spout nonsense like “That’s Fourth Senior Brother’s seat.”

And thus began the pleasant dinner gathering filled with my pitiful Senior Brothers who had loose screws within their minds.

“Hahaha! I’m truly delighted to have a drinking gathering like this with Master and fellow disciples after such a long time.”

Surprisingly, it was the Eldest Senior Brother, not Master, who led the conversation.

He poured drinks for Master’s cup, filled all the disciples’ cups, and then poured his own while leading toasts or constantly bursting into foolish laughter.

After chatting for a while and enjoying food and drinks,

“I, too, am enjoying being with you all like this. Come to think of it, did you all handle the tasks I assigned while this old one was away in the Central Plains?”

After taking a few sips of alcohol, Master’s words almost made me sigh involuntarily.

‘Talking about work at a dinner gathering.’

Indeed, dinner parties were definitely overtime work.

Especially if it was a gathering with an old-fashioned, stubborn boomer.

“Hahaha! Don’t worry, Master. There were no problems near Karamay where I was assigned.”

“As for the area near Bachu, there were reports of bandits settling near the Tarim Basin, so this disciple took care of them and returned.”

However, the Senior Brothers didn’t seem to have any particular complaints.

Come to think of it, the Senior Brothers were old-fashioned people too, so they didn’t seem to mind talking about work at a dinner gathering.

After listening to Master and the three Senior Brothers talk about work for a while, Master suddenly looked at me.

“Now that I think about it, we haven’t explained the situation to our youngest.”

“Please don’t mind me and continue your conversation comfortably.”

“Hahaha! How could we do that, Junior Brother? You too, will be joining these tasks after graduating from the Hall of the Demonic Way.”

“Jin-hak’s words are right.”

Thanks to Eldest Senior Brother’s meddling, Master suddenly brought up work talk with me as well.

Master’s explanation was brief. My kidnapping by Master in the Central Plains was just a coincidental event—originally, Master had other business in the Central Plains and had to leave Xinjiang for a while.

Therefore, Master had instructed the three Senior Brothers to patrol the regions under the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s influence in Xinjiang and check if there were any problems of civilians being harassed.

That’s why when I returned to the headquarters with our Master, the senior disciples were still away.

With Master returning earlier than expected due to being tracked by the Murim Alliance and kidnapping me as a disciple, the Senior Brothers, who had not yet finished their tasks, returned a step later.

After finishing this rough explanation…

Master looked at me with an intriguing expression and asked.

“What does our youngest think?”

“About what, Master?”

“I’m curious about your thoughts on everything you’ve heard so far. What do you think about how our cult takes care of civilians, or do you have any good ideas for improvement?”

At Master’s question, the gazes of the Senior Brothers who had been busy laughing and chatting turned to me.

I felt like what I’d been waiting for had finally come.

According to my goal, I needed to act incompetent here.

However, simply answering ‘I don’t know anything’ wouldn’t be right.

The one who asked the question was my Master, the Heavenly Demon.

In other words, the standard for my incompetence had to be ‘disappointing for a disciple of the Heavenly Demon.’ It couldn’t be below the average human level.

Therefore, I had been contemplating this entire time on my way to this dinner party. How could I appear somewhat sufficiently talented while still giving an impression of being inadequate as the Heavenly Demon’s disciple?

As a result, I came up with the image of an enthusiastic but naive newcomer.

I planned to give off the impression of someone who tries hard but doesn’t achieve much – not incompetent, but just a little more capable than being competent.

‘Come to think of it, this question is related to how the Divine Cult handles its affairs.’

It was the perfect topic for me.

I knew all too well about South Korea’s most old-fashioned and blame-shifting work system.