Ch.637Chapter 24. Real Estate Never Die (15)

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”

Yoo Yeol-chung screams.

The one who should be laughing and enjoying the screams of those who perish from misguided wishes is now screaming himself.

“What, what have you done! Do you even know what you’ve just done?!”

[I granted a wish.]

Of course, I know exactly what I’ve done.

[Free of charge.]

“AAAAARGH!!”

Yoo Yeol-chung writhes in agony.

From that demon’s perspective, what I’m doing is worse than walking into a house with shoes on—it’s like climbing onto a bed while still wearing those shoes.

…Come to think of it, isn’t that completely trashy behavior?

‘That’s why I’m a villain.’

To bring peace when dealing with demons, to handle someone like Yoo Yeol-chung, I could go beyond just wearing shoes on the bed—I might even jump around on it.

“Even if you grant wishes, you should only grant those of people who deserve it!!”

[That’s not for you to decide. It’s for me.]

“You bastard!!”

[I’m someone who can grant your wishes too. If I deem your wish worthy.]

I’m just saying whatever while waiting for Seong Ji-eun to use her “ultimate skill.”

“What?”

Yoo Yeol-chung stops moving.

“What did you… just say?”

Like all demons, he seems mentally shaken by something unexpected.

“You’ll grant my wish…?”

[If your wish aligns with my interests, I don’t see why I couldn’t grant it for free. If it benefits me.]

The ability manifested through the Goblin Club is “material creation.”

Naturally, with enough magical power, imagination, and will, I can create fairly impressive objects for anyone.

I could create a rope for siblings being chased by a tiger.

I could gift a poor woman who can’t attend a ball with magnificent clothes and glass slippers.

“What do you gain from granting wishes? What’s your benefit?”

[Do you want to know?]

“…A world ruled by the Syndicate? A world where all demons have disappeared?”

[If you really want to know.]

I pointed to the sky.

[Go ask Dueoksini who became a star in that sky.]

“…Did you send Dueoksini into space?”

[No.]

Then I gripped the Goblin Club and aimed it at Yoo Yeol-chung.

[Go to hell and ask.]

“!!!”

Rumble rumble.

Stone tombs rapidly rise from below.

Rock pillars shoot up like totem poles, forming a circle around Yoo Yeol-chung.

“You stalled well, Manager Do.”

Seong Ji-eun, who had been hiding beneath me, emerged.

“I needed quite a bit of time, and you bought it perfectly.”

[Demons always seem to take the bait when you engage them in conversation.]

It’s always the same.

When I talk to demons, it’s never just for the sake of conversation.

Either to buy time, find weaknesses, or shake their mental state through dialogue.

This time it was the first reason—while I was talking, Seong Ji-eun was preparing a large-scale ability.

“Th-this is….”

“Sculpture. Tetrapod.”

Crack!

Like branches extending from the risen pillars, marble tendrils spread out in fractal patterns, instantly binding Yoo Yeol-chung.

“…….”

He was completely immobilized, trapped in Seong Ji-eun’s marble restraints like someone who had fallen into breakwater tetrapods.

“You won’t be able to escape. I’m compressing it with magical power. And you can’t destroy it either. It’s pure marble gathered from beneath Mount Geumgang.”

The longer our conversation lasted, the more time Seong Ji-eun had to concentrate on creating her binding ability.

“I won’t let you escape, Demon of Burning Passion.”

“…..Heh.”

Yoo Yeol-chung let out a hollow laugh and gestured forward with his eyes.

“Goblin. What you said was probably just to buy time… but at least there was no lie in your words.”

[So?]

“If you were sincere, I think seeing that might break your mental state.”

Yoo Yeol-chung pointed toward the other cable car, as if he’d discovered some new toy.

“Look. See what’s happening to the love you believe in.”

[…….]

The moment I turned my head toward the cable car.

“D-darling….”

“S-stay away…! Y-you’re a demon! I can’t be with a man who’s become a demon…!”

I witnessed the betrayal of love unfold before my eyes.

“Darling…!!”

“Don’t talk to me with that face, that form…! How could you become a demon! A man who represented our country in the World Cup!”

“N-no!! This was all for you…!!”

“Get away!!”

The woman was vehemently rejecting the man.

In front of the cable car, the demon Sweet Boyfriend hovered with fluttering wings, holding a honeycomb dripping with honey, his face blank as he simply flapped his wings.

Someone once asked:

If the person I love suddenly appeared as a demon, could I continue living with that demon for the rest of my life?

Some jokingly answered, “Maybe if they were a handsome vampire like in the movies who drinks my blood,” but the demon before us looked no better than a monster from a Kamen Rider show, even being generous.

“How about that, Goblin? That love you believe in seems to have been just a momentary fling for them. Ah, although I wasn’t the one who granted the wish…. Argh!!”

Yoo Yeol-chung barely managed to point his index finger at me through the rock restraints.

“Indeed…! You knew this would happen! Hahaha! You knew she wouldn’t accept a man who became a demon! Rather than granting a wish, you bestowed even greater despair! Amazing, truly amazing! An even more demonic idea than mine!”

The demon is enthusiastically misunderstanding, but this outcome isn’t unexpected.

“…Goblin. What do you want to see from that demon?”

Seong Ji-eun cautiously asks me.

“Confirmation that your belief wasn’t wrong?”

[Maybe.]

Yoo Yeol-chung thinks I gave that honeycomb to the demon to plunge him into an abyss of despair.

But I believe in that man’s wish that made him desperate enough to become a demon, and the faith and heart underlying it.

“……Darling.”

Sweet Boyfriend carefully held out the honeycomb.

“Take this. If you eat it all, you’ll definitely become A+ rank.”

“…….”

“And report me to the Association… Tell them I became a demon because I was jealous of you getting stronger, afraid you might fall for another man.”

“You….”

“AAAAARGH!!!”

Sweet Boyfriend swung his arm wide, breaking the cable car’s connection, then grabbed the car and hurled it far away.

Whooooosh!!

The cable car rapidly descended down the mountainside. It was still within reach if one ran quickly enough, but as I expected, he stood blocking its path.

“If you want to pass, you’ll have to kill me!”

Sweet Boyfriend spread his wings, blocking the way.

“You can’t catch my wife! I’ll buy her time!”

“HAHAHAHAHA!!”

Yoo Yeol-chung laughed hysterically.

Even though his entire body was being compressed by Seong Ji-eun’s tetrapod restraints, crushing him against the rocks with each laugh, he continued to mock Sweet Boyfriend.

“How foolish! That woman abandoned you the moment you became a demon! Yet you offer her the honeypot and then try to protect her! How ridiculous!”

Sweet Boyfriend’s face contorted at Yoo Yeol-chung’s words.

Though airborne, his vibrating wings seemed to tremble with something more.

“Male! You’ve already been abandoned by that woman! You’ve become nothing! Either die as a demon or become a Zenros—just a Zenros man, not even an ability user!”

What Yoo Yeol-chung says isn’t wrong.

“What will you do, Goblin! There’s a demon right there! Not the one you’ve already caught, but a demon stealing Korea’s resources and escaping! Will you execute him?! Make him a Zenros?! What will you do?!”

[There’s only one thing for me to do.]

I signaled to Seong Ji-eun, and she extended a long branch downward, creating a path for me to walk forward.

[State your wish.]

“What…?”

[Demon. State your wish.]

“W-wait…!”

As I approached the stationary demon, Yoo Yeol-chung stretched his arm through the rock restraints.

“Wh-what are you doing! Are you going to grant a demon’s wish?!”

[You haven’t read Korean folktales, have you? Traditionally, wishes are heard regardless of whether the wisher is good or evil—that’s basic human decency.]

Even the mountain god who heard the greedy woodcutter’s wish for both gold and silver axes.

Even the Jade Emperor who heard the tiger’s wish for a rope to chase the siblings.

At least they listened to those wishes.

Though they ended with moral lessons, they still heard what was wished for.

[Demon. What is it that you desire?]

“…I am a demon. Will you grant it?”

[We can certainly offer a death row inmate their last meal request. Of course, only if it’s within reason.]

I pointed the Goblin Club downward at the demon, and he twisted his lips into a smile and spread his arms.

“…My wish is.”

“Stop!! Are you going to grant a wish for free! No, you’re pretending to grant it while planning to backstab him!”

“For my beloved wife to awaken as an S-rank and become stronger.”

“STOOOOOP!!”

[Even if that means she might end up in another man’s arms?]

Sweet Boyfriend.

“…If she finds love with another man instead of me who has already become a demon, I can only wish for her happiness.”

He looked up at the sky, spreading his limbs wide.

“But I won’t go down eas—”

[Your wish is granted.]

WHACK!!

A rock branch shot up from beneath me and struck hard between the demon’s legs. The demon’s eyes rolled back.

[Your wife will become S-rank.]

The demon.

[Thanks to you.]

At my words, his face trembled as he closed his eyes.

Whoosh.

The demon, turning white, reverted to his original form and collapsed onto the rock branch, having lost all his mana.

[I’ll grant your wish to the fullest.]

“N-no…! That’s not how wishes are…!”

[My choice.]