episode_0004

After I expressed my consent, everything went smoothly.

If Cheonma is the supreme being of Cheonmasinism, which leads hundreds of thousands of followers, then the position of junior leader is the one destined to succeed him.

In the Demonic Cult, where the law of the strong is held up as if it were a golden rule, the position of the leader of the cult is not one that can be obtained through bloodline alone. Just like the will of the King of Conquest that the strongest person should become the successor, one must have noble bloodline and the power to overwhelm others in order to ascend to the position of leader of the cult.

In that sense, Yu Ye-hyang has already proven herself to be more than qualified to be a sect leader.

It was already difficult to find a rival for Yu Ye-hyang within the school, even though she was still a junior.

Excluding the retired giant demons of the previous generation or the elders who are still in office, it is difficult to find a rival for his overwhelming martial arts skills. Because he has shown a divine status that is more than enough to succeed the position of the Heavenly Demon.

The fact that he had already mastered the difficult and tricky art of Sosumagong to the extreme and that his hands were white and transparent was only the tip of the iceberg.

In that sense, it was no different from the fairy tales that Yeonjin often saw in her past life.

‘It’s actually similar.’

Yeonjin was thinking the same thing too.

If we were to apply this to the world, it could be expressed as something like, “I caught the princess’s eye and became successful.” Thinking so, Yeonjin looked at the room she had been assigned with a bewildered look.

“It’s wide.”

First of all, I expressed my first impression. I was able to use an entire building that was much larger than the one I had been using before.

In the Central Plains, where Confucianism was the state religion, the distinction between men and women was strict, but there was no reason to consider such things even in the Demonic Cult. Compared to the dorms she used with her female classmates, it was a world of difference.

In addition, since I was in charge of the nominal escort of the young sect leader, Yu Ye-hyang, I was assigned a place to stay very close to her residence.

“… … The picture is a bit weird, though.”

Even if you say luggage, it’s just a simple bundle. Yeonjin muttered as she unpacked her luggage in the main hall. She was a life that was busy learning martial arts to survive, but as her instructor, Chil-ya-sal, had said, she had a beauty that was enough to make people covet her in the shadows.

Moreover, both Yu Ye-hyang and Yeon-jin were in their prime. If it were not the martial arts world but the common people where early marriage was prevalent, they would have already started families long ago.

A young man whom the leader of the cult personally selected and said he would make as his bodyguard after storming the training ground. He may be called a bodyguard, but he is not skilled enough to warrant a bodyguard, and he is a young punk who has just been assigned to the military unit, and he does not have the skills to protect a key figure.

To put it in a slightly euphemistic way, it was like expressing his intention to make her his confidant, and to put it bluntly, he made her his person.

But now that the issue of gender was involved, and since he was young and handsome, there were strange rumors going around, so there was nothing to say.

“Hmm.”

Yeonjin frowned as she recalled the strange gazes that had been looking at her, then shook her head and shook it off.

“I just need to be honest.”

There was no such strange atmosphere, and it didn’t seem like the leader had any intention of doing so. That’s why I felt there was no need to pay attention to the ramblings of the rich and famous.

After nodding her head like that, Yeonjin slowly gathered her thoughts.

When I took out the unidentified letter to check again, it had already disappeared without a trace, as if some supernatural force had been at work.

If we knew who sent it, things would be easier, but it is now impossible to trace back who sent the letter to Jeonseo-gu.

Anyway, if what was written in the letter is true, it was definitely the cult leader who realized the future.

“Otherwise, there would be no reason for you to come all the way here and single me out.”

It is an astronomical probability, literally less than the probability of being struck by lightning out of the blue. If we calculate it in units of numbers, it would be in the trillions and trillions of oceans, or even in units like Nayuta.

Rather than thinking that the leader of the cult had chosen to be his bodyguard despite having no connection to him, despite such astronomical odds, it would be more reasonable to think that the leader of the cult had glimpsed the future through some means, whether it was regression or precognition, and had moved in that way.

At first I was skeptical, but it quickly turned into confidence.

In fact, since accepting the sect leader’s proposal and unpacking here, all kinds of imaginations have run wild in Yeonjin’s head.

Perhaps, in the future she glimpsed or experienced, Yeon-jin had a strong tendency to think badly, and the leader of the cult had taken steps in advance to remove the risk factor.

However, Yeonjin quickly erased such an assumption from her mind. If that was the case, there would have been no reason to bother with such a method; she thought that the leader of the cult could have just killed her on the spot.

There is a difference that cannot be overcome by either martial arts or location, so there is no need to use such a cumbersome method.

Anyway, this was a sudden event even for Yeonjin. Now, she should calmly gather her thoughts and come up with a conclusion about her future course of action or the current situation. As she was thinking this, the voice of a young girl calling out to her father from outside the palace was heard.

“Yeonjin, the leader of the small group is looking for you.”

“The little cult leader?”

The luggage was just a simple bundle containing only clothes, so the packing was finished quickly. Yeonjin, who was lost in thought, suddenly came to her senses when she received a call from the cult leader.

The residence of the Sogyoju is just a stone’s throw away from the pavilion that Yeonjin uses as her lodging.

“… … This is Yeonjin. I will go in, Sogyoju.”

As soon as he entered the cult leader’s residence, the strong scent of silver bells that he had smelled when she first appeared in the training grounds wafted in. Yu Ye-hyang, sitting on the bed, greeted him, wrapped in a refreshing yet sweet scent similar to orchids.

Wearing a pitch-black robe with ornate embroidery, her unique red eyes, which were hard to see naturally, stared at Yeonjin.

The eyes and gaze that seemed to subdue the soul. The corners of Yu Ye-hyang’s mouth, which had been staring at Yeon-jin with a bored expression, drew a curve.

The expressionless face from a moment ago disappeared, and Yu Ye-hyang’s lips formed a deep smile. Just like when I first saw her at the training grounds, Yeon-jin was definitely in front of me.

It was at least ten years earlier than before the return.

As evidence, Yeonjin’s face had a younger look than when they first met. In reality, she was only seventeen, so it would be natural for her to look younger than in her memories.

Just being alone like this brought back old memories that were now buried in the cracks of time, and I felt my heart pounding without realizing it. However, Yu Ye-hyang slowly shook her head.

‘No, that can’t be.’

I would like to treat him like I used to. But none of that has happened yet. We don’t even know each other. And treating him like I used to will only have the opposite effect.

Yu Ye-hyang, who calmed her throbbing heart with superhuman patience and rested her chin on her arm on the wooden table, looked at Yeon-jin. She looked lovely no matter how you looked at her. She wanted to hug her and whisper her love right away.

But that’s later. It won’t be too late to build a relationship after starting over from scratch. Yu Ye-hyang opened her mouth as she braced herself by repeating to herself that.

“Rumors have already spread. The leader of the cult is crazy about men and has brought a young girl under his wing as his escort.”

“… … This is the first time I’ve heard of it. What a blasphemous rumor.”

Yeonjin paused for a moment at the sudden words, then answered after choosing the words as carefully as possible.

“If that’s true, don’t you want to give those who spread such blasphemous rumors a piece of your mind?”

“Huh?”

“Your talent for accumulating enemy attacks is truly worthy of being called the best. If the woman next to you were to help you out just a little, you could reach a level that others have achieved in their entire lives. Are you still not interested in this?”

Yu Ye-hyang cast her fishing rod and shook the fishhook gently.

The Yeonjin she had seen was a natural born martial artist. As with all martial artists of the Cheonmasingyo, he loved nothing more than to improve his martial arts skills while fighting enemies in the martial arts world in the body of a man.

He grumbled that this was all he could say, and he would pout as if to say, “How could that be?” But when discussing martial arts, he was more serious than anyone else. Didn’t Yu Ye-hyang like that kind of attitude in the first place?

As evidence, Yeonjin’s eyes were shaking even though it was a sudden suggestion.

It is not uncommon for men to have enemies in the martial arts world, but there are not many who are called peerless masters who can rule the world. In reality, there are only a handful of them, including Namhae Botaam and Geomgak Geomhu, who are known to only accept men.

But Yeonjin hesitated at the suggestion that she could reach the same level as them.

“I would be honored if the leader of the small group helped me, but… … .”

“Hmm.”

Yu Ye-hyang released the arm that was resting her chin on and tapped the table with her slender fingers again. It seemed that her former lover was wary enough to not readily accept a sudden and unilateral offer of favor.

I guess I’ll have to be a little more insistent.

Yu Ye-hyang, who muttered like that to herself, got up and reached out. With a faint smile on her lips, she held Yeon-jin’s chin with her outstretched hand.

After lifting the chin she was holding and making eye contact with him, Yu Ye-hyang spoke with a polite smile on her face.

“It’s not that I won’t accept anything in return. Rather, I intend to demand more than you can repay in return for making you a peerless master.”

Yeonjin, whose chin was suddenly grabbed, just blinked and her throat fell. Yu Yehyang, who was watching the scene with interest, drove the wedge in.

“But instead, if the heavens are on your side, you will be able to reach the realm of Hwagyeong before you reach Irip. So, are you interested? If you agree, nod your head.”

Yeonjin’s eyes rolled around. In a situation where something suddenly passed by like this, she didn’t have time to think about anything.

What is the leader of the cult in front of him trying to ask? Is he trying to create some kind of personal force? Since he said he is very talented, he must have become quite an expert in the future. If that is the case, it makes sense that Yu Ye-hyang is trying to recruit him to this extent.

After a series of thoughts quickly crossed her mind, Yeonjin nodded slowly, arriving at a conclusion that was completely different from Yu Yehyang’s.

“… … I will do it.”

Yu Ye-hyang smiled as if she had agreed to the offer, just like before.

“That is a wise decision. Come to my bedchamber as soon as the hour of the grave (05:00~07:00) comes tomorrow. The story begins after you have become strong enough not to die wherever you go.”