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

Chapter 67: The First Test (2)

Upon reaching the designated location using his stealth, Jeong Hyeon took a deep breath and steadied his mind.

‘Phew.’

Clang!

Through the gaps between the bushes and trees, he could see two decoys were just now engaging in combat with disciples from another group.

Watching the scene, Jeong Hyeon calmly raised his bow and drew an arrow.

His movements were surprisingly silent, releasing neither presence nor sound. But instead of just focusing on his bow, his mind wandered elsewhere.

‘I don’t want to disappoint him.’

Jeong Hyeon was recalling what had happened earlier.

“Our team’s secret weapon is none other than Disciple Jeong.”

From their very first meeting until now, he had shown nothing but pathetic displays of himself. Yet, for some reason, Young Master Il-mok regarded him as a truly capable martial artist.

The feeling when his only friend patted his shoulder while uttering those words is still vivid in his mind.

He cringed inwardly, remembering how pathetically he had trembled at that moment.

So. At least in this moment.

‘I don’t want to disappoint the first friend I’ve ever made.’

“Hoo.”

After taking a very light breath, he concentrated.

The moment he concentrated, all his senses sharpened.

Every nerve flared, and the world seemed to slow down. Although the distance was easily over ten zhang (approximately 30 meters), cluttered with bushes and trees, the battlefield felt absurdly close, as if it were right in front of him.

This was the effect of the Demonic Art, Ghostly Spirit Divine Bow.

These unbearably acute senses were precisely what caused him to nearly have breakdowns whenever people or animals approached too closely.

Because of this, everyone had left him.

All except one. Young Master Il-mok.

Swish!

Within the slowing world, Ju Seo-yeon’s spear slowly lifted upwards.

And just as the female cadet executed her grappling technique towards the now off-balance Ju Seo-yeon…

Rustle.

Il-mok, who had stealthily approached nearby, drew his sword and lunged.

Simultaneously, the disciple who had knocked aside Ju Seo-yeon’s spear began swinging his blade.

‘Now!’

His hyper-focused senses seemed to predict the immediate future.

Through observing the disciple’s posture as he swung his blade and the subtle muscle movements visible beneath his clothes, Jeong Hyeon visualized exactly how the man would be positioned when his arrow arrived.

The arrow left his bow without even a whisper of sound, flying perfectly toward the single pressure point on the disciple’s paralyzing point.

***

Too many things happen at once.

The female disciple’s grappling technique aimed at Ju Seo-yeon successfully struck her paralyzing point.

Pat.

But at the exact same moment, Il-mok’s finger struck the female disciple’s own paralyzing point.

It was truly a perfectly timed ambush.

The female disciple couldn’t even react to Il-mok’s ambush due to being too focused on Ju Seo-yeon.

In the end, both Ju Seo-yeon and that female disciple had their pressure points sealed almost simultaneously.

“Kuk.”

The male disciple swinging his saber also had his paralyzing point struck by a blunt-tipped arrow, freezing mid-swing.

“Young Master! I did it! I succeeded as bait!”

Despite having her acupoint sealed, Ju Seo-yeon boasted proudly, causing Il-mok to let out a hollow laugh.

‘It would have been better if she got struck on her mute point rather than her paralyzing point.’

Shaking his head to clear the stray thought, Il-mok turned his gaze towards the two disciples who had paused their attack on Choi Woong.

“Will you surrender quietly and hand over your tokens? Or do you prefer to resist and have them taken by force?”

Il-mok’s suggestion was born from not wanting to exert unnecessary effort, but after a moment’s hesitation, the two suddenly turned to flee.

“Tsk.”

Of course, Il-mok wasn’t foolish enough to just let his targets escape.

In an instant, Il-mok closed the distance and began pressuring the two with the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword.

“You cheating bastards!”

Choi Woong, seizing the opportunity for revenge, joined the fight with a fiery glint in his eyes.

‘Who’s calling who a cheater now?’

Il-mok nearly laughed aloud, remembering how Choi Woong had been one of the three who ganged up on him on his second day.

Already struggling against Il-mok alone, the two disciples found themselves further pressured by Choi Woong’s relentless saber attacks.

“Kuk.”

With the addition of near-silent arrows flying from seemingly nowhere, their pressure points were swiftly neutralized.

“Check the spoils. I’ll go release Disciple Ju’s pressure point.”

After giving instructions to Choi Woong, Il-mok approached Ju Seo-yeon and released her acupoint.

“Disciple Ju, check the female disciple’s body.”

Rustle.

While resting after giving instructions, Jeong Hyeon quietly approached from where he’d been providing support fire, though he still stopped about three meters away.

“I knew I could count on you, Disciple Jeong.”

When Il-mok smiled at Jeong Hyeon who was fidgeting from a distance, Jeong Hyeon bowed his head deeply and mumbled something in a small voice.

“Found it, Young Master!”

“Here’s another one, Young Master!”

But his words were buried under Ju Seo-yeon and Choi Woong’s loud reports..

“With this, we’ve collected three tokens.”

“Yes, Young Master. And we’ve secured the map these people received from the instructor. There are two places marked that weren’t on the map we received.”

“Then let’s proceed to one of those locations using the same strategy.”

As Il-mok spoke, Ju Seo-yeon nodded vigorously, and Jeong Hyeon nervously responded with a quiet yes.

“But what should we do with them?”

Surprisingly, Choi Woong asked a sensible question.

“Just leave them hidden somewhere. If we free them, they might join other groups for revenge.”

“Isn’t that… dangerous? Even if they’re martial artists of the Divine Cult, if they encounter wild animals while their acupoints are sealed, they could die.”

Il-mok shrugged at Choi Woong’s concern.

“Someone will probably retrieve them after we leave. Honestly, with rules that encourage fighting like this, there must be instructors stationed around to prevent accidents.”

Scanning their surroundings, he added, “In fact, an instructor might have been watching this whole fight.”

***

After moving for about 30 minutes, they arrived at another location where a token was hidden.

Whether by good or bad luck, they encountered no other groups, but the token was already gone.

“It seems someone got here first.”

“Should we move to the next location right away?”

Il-mok shook his head at Ju Seo-yeon and Choi Woong’s questions.

“About two hours have passed since the test began. Since this one’s already taken, there probably aren’t any markers left.”

“Then should I act as bait again?”

Seeing Ju Seo-yeon volunteering to be a decoy, Il-mok shook his head.

“There are still six hours left in the test, so we should eat first.”

This time, no one questioned his decision.

Having adapted somewhat, they had begun to grasp his intentions.

‘He must be planning to rest now and strike later when others are tired.’

An eight-hour test on the mountain meant that the Hall wouldn’t provide meals to the disciples. By eating now, they could take advantage of others’ hunger later.

Choi Woong’s assumption was only half-correct.

‘Four groups remaining. Ten tokens total. Since we already have three, we can take it easy for now. We just need to ambush one more group to secure at least second place.’

In fact, Il-mok’s biggest goal was simply to laze around. Maintaining their current status seemed sufficient to secure a high rank.

“To avoid being ambushed while eating, let’s move as far away as possible from the marked locations. On the way, it would be good to catch an animal or two to roast and eat.”

“By the way, is there anyone skilled in hunting or gathering?”

In response to Il-mok’s question, Ju Seo-yeon simply smiled with a dumb expression, and Choi Woong subtly avoided Il-mok’s gaze.

‘Good for nothing except being decoys.’

As Il-mok was thinking that. A small voice reached his ears.

“Um…”

Turning his head, he saw Jeong Hyeon, standing three meters away with his head bowed, raising his right hand.

“I… I have s-some experience, Young Master.”

A smile spread across Il-mok’s face.

“Hahaha! As expected, Disciple Jeong is the star of this test! You’re our only hope!”

After showering Jeong Hyeon with praise, Il-mok shot disappointed looks at Ju Seo-yeon and Choi Woong.

“Ahem.”

Embarrassed, Choi Woong turned his head to avoid that gaze.

“Hahaha. Well done, Disciple Jeong!”

While Ju Seo-yeon remained cheerfully oblivious.

***

The group moved toward the mountain’s outskirts while examining the map.

Along the way, Jeong Hyeon would occasionally disappear from the group to hunt game or gather fruits and mushrooms before quietly reappearing.

It was a bizarre sight.

“When did you leave?”

With his naturally faint presence and habit of maintaining distance, no one noticed when Jeong Hyeon slipped away. Only when he reappeared later holding something did they notice with surprise and ask.

After about thirty minutes, they reached the outskirts and prepared lunch.

Some prepared the animals Jeong Hyeon had hunted, while others carefully started a fire.

By the time preparations were complete, about three hours had passed since the start of the test.

As hunger set in, they enjoyed their meal in relaxed spirits.

Jeong Hyeon, as always, quietly enjoyed his meal at a slight distance, while Ju Seo-yeon chattered endlessly to Il-mok about Jin Hayeon.

Listening to her prattle, Il-mok suddenly grew curious.

“By the way, when did you first meet Miss Jin?”

Ju Seo-yeon’s eyes sparkled as she replied.

“Actually, my father is one of the shadows of the Dark Shadow Pavilion. Because of that, I occasionally had opportunities to meet people from the Dark Shadow Pavilion or visit there.”

“So, did you meet Miss Jin there?”

“Yes! Two years ago, when Miss Jin had just entered the Dark Shadow Pavilion, I happened to visit with my father and saw her!”

Ju Seo-yeon launched into a lengthy explanation of how she became obsessed.

“I never imagined someone so noble and elegant could exist! So, I asked my father.”

“After hearing my father’s story, I fell for Miss Jin even more. Unlike her noble appearance, she started in harsh conditions and through effort reached the second seat in the Hall. Her story was so moving.”

“My father said I should follow her example to become a great martial artist and join the Pavilion too.”

Listening to her elaborate story, Il-mok thought.

‘Two years ago. That means she was fourteen at that time. An age where children are easily led astray.’

Fourteen by Western count. Roughly equivalent to a second or third year of middle school in Korea. At that age, falling into such an obsession seemed plausible.

Her father’s encouragement must have played a role too.

‘Though this likely wasn’t the outcome he wanted.’

He’d probably hoped to inspire his daughter with a role model. The problem was that Ju Seo-yeon had received a different kind of inspiration.

Just then, Choi Woong, who had also been listening to Ju Seo-yeon’s story, spoke up with a somewhat bewildered expression.

“Just to be clear, this Jin Hayeon is a woman, right?”

“That’s right. The most elegant, noble woman in the world!”

Facing Ju Seo-yeon, who was enthusiastically promoting her idol to him, Choi Woong asked with a baffled expression.

“So… Disciple Ju likes another woman?”

His face was filled with confusion.

‘Well, I guess it might be a difficult preference to accept in this world?’

While Il-mok was thinking that. Surprisingly, it was Ju Seo-yeon who looked at Choi Woong with a baffled look.

“Don’t you admire the Heavenly Demon?”

“O-Of course! How could anyone not revere the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons?!”

“But the Heavenly Demon is a man like you, isn’t he?”

“!?”

“I just feel the same. The person I respect most is the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons, Miss Jin is the second. Her gender doesn’t matter.”

Watching Ju Seo-yeon’s fanatical expression, Il-mok wondered if her feelings were truly pure admiration.

But that wasn’t important right now.

“Now that we’ve eaten and rested, we should start moving.”

Il-mok stood up, fearing that Choi Woong might fall into a state of Qi Deviation if they continued.

Not that he cared about Choi Woong.

He just didn’t want to deal with a rampaging madman.