Smartphones were truly convenient devices. With just one of these, one could communicate with people far away and quickly access news from the human world. In particular, Kiriel had developed a habit of reading the news on portal sites.
“All members of Behemoth safe... ‘Apologies for causing concern.’”
“What happened during the two hours when the broadcast was off?”
“‘Behemoth will never lose.’ - Hunter’s Bureau Chief”
“Who is Behemoth’s guardian angel?”
Do-Jun was having a drink at Hakase’s food stall. Since it was already past 9 PM when he returned from the third floor of the Core, he decided to have dinner outside.
Hakase prepared rolled omelets and fish cake soup.
“Your cooking skills are top-notch,” Do-Jun remarked with a smile as he tasted a piece of the rolled omelet.
Hakase scratched his head at the compliment. He had actually been taking occasional cooking lessons from Yoon-Hee. Ever since he heard Karsiel say, “Young Master’s food tastes better,” Hakase had taken the time to improve his cooking skills little by little.
“Sounds like you’ve had a long day,” Hakase said.
Through online articles, Hakase had a general understanding of the events that transpired on the Core’s third floor. From the brief glimpse in the footage, he knew that the enemy was Gamygin, one of Solomon’s Demons—a being far beyond what Earthlings could handle. The identity of the helper revealed by the Hunter’s Bureau Chief was almost certainly Do-Jun.
Noticing Hakase’s hidden intent behind the words “long day,” Do-Jun shook his head and downed a shot of soju. Watching him, Kiriel stroked his chin and began pondering something deeply.
As always, Hakase opened his food stall at 9 AM to sell taiyaki with various fillings, such as red bean, custard, and pizza toppings, to suit the diverse tastes of Earth’s humans. The morning temperature was 24°C, with summer now over and autumn approaching. As the weather grew cooler, more customers would come seeking warm treats. Hakase smiled faintly as he prepared the batter, but that smile soon faded with a sigh.
“Why aren’t you helping? You’re actually a distraction at this point. Stop fidgeting around!” he chided Kiriel.
Ignoring Hakase’s preparations, Kiriel had spread a sketchbook and crayons across a nearby table and busied himself with some sketching.
Hakase tilted his head, puzzled by Kiriel’s unusually serious expression. “What’s this?”
The drawing depicted a person. Though clumsy enough to resemble a child’s work, it clearly had eyes, a nose, a mouth, hair, hands, and feet. It seemed that Kiriel was drawing people—specifically, figures from the Deep Realm, including Solomon’s Demons, the Transcendents, and other powerful beings called kings.
Kiriel chuckled and explained, “Last night, a bolt of lightning struck my brain.”
“It means I had an idea.”
“I’m... worried already,” Hakase remarked.
He was slowly becoming painfully familiar with the saying, “Silence is golden,” from his time with Kiriel.
Undeterred, Kiriel responded, “I came up with a way to impress the King of Earth.”
Earning Do-Jun’s favor—no easy task.
“Yesterday, Behemoth nearly died at the hands of Gamygin. You saw the footage, right?”
“And the King of Earth went to help them.”
“He did,” Hakase agreed.
“The King of Earth must have been exhausted from working all day, but he still went to rescue Behemoth when they were in danger at the Core. That must’ve been a hassle.”
“So, I’ll visit Behemoth’s leader today and explain the Deep Realm rankings to them,” Kiriel said.
Kiriel simply shrugged in response.
The Sword Emperor sat across from a man in a small conference room at the Hunter’s Bureau. The man appeared young, likely in his early to late twenties, with striking foreign features and a large bow strapped to his back. He introduced himself as “Kiriel.”
How he bypassed the Hunter’s Bureau security remained a mystery, but one thing was clear: no one sensed him. Even Kang-Hyun failed to notice him until he placed his hand on his shoulder. It would have made sense if they were in the Core, but in Korea, there was only one person capable of such a feat: Do-Jun.
Following Kiriel’s request for a private conversation, Kang-Hyun guided him to an unused conference room.
He’s a... Transcendent? Kang-Hyun thought in surprise.
Occasionally, during breaks while exploring the Core, Kang-Hyun would browse the Core Forum and had learned about the Transcendents. These were individuals who had started from the Tutorial just like him but had successfully made their way into the Deep Realm and adapted to its brutality, a feat only a select few could achieve.
I thought Transcendents were supposed to be in the Deep Realm. Then... how is he here? Kang-Hyun nervously gulped as he met Kiriel’s gaze.
Kiriel was the one to break the silence, opening a sketchbook titled “Deep Realm Rankings.”
“What is this?” Kang-Hyun asked.
“Is it not obvious? It’s the rankings of the Deep Realm.”
As Kang-Hyun wondered why Kiriel was showing him this, Kiriel flipped to the first page. Kang-Hyun’s eyes widened upon seeing the contents. To put it mildly, the illustrations were crude.
The first page of the book was titled “Solomon’s Demons.” Beneath the title was a character labeled as “Demon King Baal, number one demon.” Although crudely drawn, the figure had horns, wings, and the words “Bad Guy” scribbled next to it.
The following pages showed the demons ranked below him in descending order.
“If you ever run into danger again, call me,” Kiriel said.
“Sorry...?” Kang-Hyun thought he had misheard.
“The King of Earth is busy. Don’t bother him unnecessarily.” Coughing awkwardly, Kiriel added, “By the way, I’m ranked sixth among Transcendents. While I can’t handle a major demon like Gamygin alone, it’s no problem if I bring some comrades. Oh, and I can deal with lesser demons ranked eighth and below by myself.”
Kang-Hyun tried to make sense of the situation. This man named Kiriel, who introduced himself as a Transcendent, called Do-Jun the “King of Earth,” and told him not to bother him. Considering all this information, it was highly likely that this Kiriel knew Do-Jun and was in some sort of subordinate relationship.
But how? Why? Weren’t the Transcendents supposed to be a threat to Earth? Why was this one here?
Kang-Hyun didn’t know what to think anymore. “Are there other Transcendents or demons on Earth besides you?”
Kiriel shook his head.
“Nope. An old friend, Wei Zhongqi, is in the Deep Realm, and all the demons are scumbags. If they came to Earth, I’d have taught them a lesson myself.”
“So, you're the only Transcendent on Earth?”
“Well, there’s also the lizard.”
Kang-Hyun already knew that dragons lived in Do-Jun’s home. However, the presence of a Transcendent added another layer of complexity. Moreover, Kiriel seemed to fear Do-Jun immensely.
Just what kind of person is Supervisor Lee...? As Kang-Hyun sat in bewilderment, Kiriel grinned smugly.
Should Behemoth face another crisis, Kiriel would rush to the rescue, earning Do-Jun’s praise. That thought alone promised him a good night’s sleep.
“Thank you. I’ll remember your advice,” Kang-Hyun said, closing the sketchbook.
“Ah, hold on.” Kiriel took the book back, tore out twenty illustrated pages, and handed them over.
After hours of explaining the rankings of the Deep Realm to Kang-Hyun, Kiriel returned to Bangbae-dong with a light step. He entered Hakase’s food stall, briefly helped with making taiyaki, and then stood up.
“I’m going to stop by unit 301.”
“I need to return this,” Kiriel said, holding a box of crayons and a sketchbook.
Lately, Byeol had taken up drawing as a hobby. Wherever she went, she carried her sketchbook and crayons, sketching whenever she saw something that caught her eye. But today, she had stayed home all day because she had lent her sketchbook and crayons to Kiriel. All she could do now was wait patiently for his return.
The doorbell rang, and Byeol jumped to her feet, running to the entrance. She opened the door and saw Kiriel holding her crayons and sketchbook. Her face lit up.
“Are you done with them?” she asked.
But then Byeol stared at her crayons and sketchbook. The once-thick sketchbook had become so thin that it was barely holding any pages, and the crayons, which had been long, were now stubby, barely the size of a fingertip.
“Y-you actually finished them...?” Her eyes widened in disbelief. To confirm, she opened the sketchbook. Only five pages remained.
“H-how did it end up ?”
Byeol opened and closed the sketchbook repeatedly as if the missing pages might magically reappear. Then she examined the pitifully short crayons. Big, bead-like teardrops began to spill from her eyes.
Kiriel realized something was wrong, and lightning struck inside his head once again. This was the result of numerous experiences he had gained on Earth.
“How could you do this to me?” Byeol, still crying, asked resentfully.
“W-wait! Let’s go to the stationery store together!”
Though such stores were becoming scarce, there was still one near Changshin Villa in Bangbae-dong, tucked inside an old apartment complex. A stationery store sold school and office supplies—and, of course, crayons and sketchbooks.
“Go ahead. Pick whatever you like,” Kiriel said.
“Really?” Byeol asked him.
Smiling brightly, she began browsing the crayons. Soon, she found a box of twelve-color crayons, the same kind she had been using.
“This is the one I had before!”
Watching her closely, Kiriel grabbed the box of forty-eight-color crayons sitting next to it. “I’ll get you this one.”
He handed her a box with four times as many colors as her original 12-pack, and it even included a golden crayon!
“H-how...?” Byeol asked, eyes wide.
“T-this is unbelievable.”
Kiriel chuckled softly and chose a larger sketchbook as well.
“A-ah! That one’s so expensive!”
“Don’t worry. I’m rich.” Kiriel pulled out a crumpled 50,000 won bill from his pocket—a wage earned from helping Hakase.
It was that time when office workers, done with their day, would gather for a casual drink. While preparing for the evening rush, Hakase noticed Kiriel returning.
“Did you return the stuff?” Hakase asked.
“I bought her new ones.”
“Wow, that’s pretty smart, actually. I’m impressed,” Hakase praised him.
He had pegged Kiriel as a hopeless idiot, but this gesture made Hakase smile faintly.
“What made you decide to buy new ones?”
“A lightning bolt struck my mind.”
“A lightning bolt? Did you come up with another idea?”
Kiriel shook his head. “If I hadn’t, I probably would have had to write a five-hundred-page reflection paper this time.”