“See here. Didn’t I say he’d be here? Hahaha.” The Demon Lord, well known as the chattiest of the disciples, walked up and tapped on the Earth Demon’s shoulder. “How have you been, Sajae Earth?”
“Have you been well?”
“I’m always having fun. I hope nothing happened to my sajae?”
The Earth Demon was polite, but his heart was in turmoil. The Demon Lord may be endlessly cheerful, but the Earth Demon knew he was a poisonous snake on the inside. He lurked like a viper, waiting for his opponents to come close so he could devour them. All his meaningless chatter was just a front for his meticulous calculations—every word was part of a trap for his next prey.
“Long time no see.” A woman in splendidly embroidered robes came up to him: the third disciple, Fang Spirit. She was beautiful and innocent-looking, and she used that to her fullest advantage. This was the woman who overthrew the Shaolin temple—they called her the Bloody Monk.
She was spiteful, vengeful, and manipulative. The Fang Spirit coaxed all of the Hidden Demonic Hall to her side, earning her the cooperation of all the stealth squads and, indirectly, the support of most of the Pavilion Lords as well.
“Yes, sajae. Long time no see.” The Earth Demon turned to the last person. “And you, great sahyung. Nice to see you.”
The last disciple was breathtaking. The great sahyung, the End Demon. Strongest of the four, by an overwhelming margin. It is said that he slayed masters of the Wudang sect right in front of their disciples when he was only in his twenties.
When he turned thirty, he killed three elders, four experts, and eight first-class disciples. It was no surprise attack—he took them head-on and still won. The story of him putting their heads on a pike was infamous throughout the Murim.
Now, at the age of forty, he was smashing the walls of disciplehood; already he was at a level where he could stand amongst the Heavenly Demon’s guardians.
“Cheeky bastard.” As usual, the End Demon ignored him—but today, he was especially hostile. He’d obviously realized that the high-ranking subordinates he’d dispatched had gone missing.
And so, the atmosphere was ripe with awkwardness—and then someone interrupted.
“I have something to tell you,” the guard said.
“A man named Seol-Hwi came to see the fourth disciple.”
“What?” The Earth Demon’s expression shifted. He nodded. “Tell him to come over.”
The guard disappeared and was soon replaced by a man carrying something over his shoulder.
“Why are you here?” the Earth Demon asked.
But the man didn’t answer.
“I asked you why you are here!”
The man went stiff but still didn’t answer, and he was beginning to attract the other disciples’ attention.
“What is it, sajae?” the Demon Lord asked. “Who is it?”
Seol-Hwi’s expression twisted, like he was looking at something foul.
“It’s me, you fucking bastard.”
Seol-Hwi’s face was bright red.
▶ It’s me, you fucking bastard.
I-I said it out loud! What a crazy thing to do! Absolute madness!
He’d thought about it for a while—it wasn’t completely crazy, actually. Seol-Hwi had learned an important lesson after many lives: the worst choice was usually the best one.
So he went for it. With no extra lives.
Ah, just say something…! He could feel a cold sweat running down the back of his neck.
At this point, the best outcome would be if they decided he was crazy, but no one said anything. The anxiety was like a sword in the gut.
The Demon Lord was smiling, but his eyes were not.
“Th-that, right—ugh!” Seol-Hwi collapsed.
He heard swords clash and found a deformed blade at his neck, narrowly blocked by a second blade.
“Ugh. I’m the one who got cursed at—why is my sajae the one lashing out?”
Surprisingly, it was the Fang Spirit who attacked. The Demon Lord was the one who stopped her.
“Move, sahyung.” She evidently felt like Seol-Hwi’s words were directed at her.
“I can’t do that. How can I stand by if you’re going to kill the cute fourth disciple’s subordinate?” The Demon Lord looked at the Earth Demon and then winked at the Fang Spirit. “Look at great sahyung. He’s so great he isn’t bothered in the slightest by the man’s horrible language.”
As he said, the End Demon was silent and unbothered. Not flustered, like the Earth Demon, or angry like the Fang Spirit, nor interested like the Demon Lord. He just didn’t care.
The Demon Lord and the Fang Spirit looked at each other, then she stepped back. Her sword crawled back into her sleeve like a living snake.
Ah… I-I’m alive? He thought his neck was gone—he hadn’t seen anything, let alone reacted. They were so strong there was nothing he could do even if they stabbed him.
“Haha! Sajae, your subordinate is so much fun. I can’t believe he looked at me and even cussed at me.”
“S-Sorry, second sahyung, third sajae. I will take care of him myself.”
“Um. Did I mishear? Don’t kill him.”
But then all his good thoughts got thrown out.
[Three rewards are granted for your choice.] +3
Words immediately appeared over the second disciple’s head.
Demon Lord △ Uses any and all methods to achieve his goals. Outwardly attractive and sociable, but it is all calculated behavior optimized for exploitation. △ Has a strong need for stimulation and enjoys taking risks. Camouflages themselves well and hides their true feelings. △ Lacks the ability to feel guilt, but has highly developed cognitive skills and is good at bad things.
What is this… The explanation was unpleasant just to read.
“Right, he probably didn’t come here just to swear.” The Demon Lord bent towards Seol-Hwi. “Why are you here?”
Seol-Hwi had seen eyes like that before—that shine of stimulation and pleasure. The Lord of the Supreme Pavilion had the same eyes, didn’t he?
“I captured the spy, as the fourth disciple asked.”
The Demon Lord gave the Earth Demon a look.
“What spy are you talking about?” the Earth Demon asked.
“Take a look at him first.” Seol-Hwi set down the sack and dumped Goeun out.
“This is…” The Earth Demon’s eyes trembled with recognition. This man was his second grade guard, and had helped him often in recent years.
Shit, the first disciple saw! Seol-Hwi peeked at the End Demon nervously, but he didn’t seem to care at all.
End Demon △ Uses any and all methods to achieve his goals. Self-centered, self-righteous and has no regard for anyone except himself. △ Insensitive to others' suffering, and has no conscience in regards to harming people. △ Bloodthirsty murderer. Acknowledges only the strong. △ Overwhelming desire and envy; destroys everything which makes him uncomfortable. △ Emotionally responds only to the pleasure of destroying hopes and dreams.
This guy is—! Crazy people were the bread and butter of the sect, but this murderer business he didn’t like.
“A spy…” The Demon Lord looked from Goeun to the Fang Spirit. “Sajae, will you interrogate?”
“Try it once. It’s a spy, maybe we can figure out who he’s working for.”
Seol-Hwi eyed the Fang Spirit.
Fang Spirit △ Impulsive, showy, and desperate to feel needed. △ Extremely moody; uncomfortable with situations that don't interest her. △ Exaggerated emotions and emotional triggers. △ Can fully manipulate emotions and physiological responses to satisfy her desires. △ Instinctively manipulates human emotions. △ Prefers to exploit and leech off of humans; seducing is preferred.
Not a single decent human in sight.
“Seol-Hwi, right?” The Earth Demon looked at him, having finally tamed his flustered emotions.
“Yes, fourth disciple.” Seol-Hwi kneeled. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel⚑fire.net
“Why do you think he’s a spy?”
“He deliberately withheld the pills and the sword you gave me in order to disqualify me from the test,” Seol-Hwi calmly replied.
“Yes. As you know, I was desperate. I asked him for the pill and the sword, but he gave me a beating and threatened me. And then he said…”
“He said: ‘It isn’t like you’ll pass the test, even if you have them. Consider yourself lucky I’m going to kill you here. When the Earth Demon hides like a mouse, he’ll die the same way.”
It was a blatant lie, but it worked. The Earth Demon’s face creased with anger, as Seol-Hwi thought it would.
Earth Demon △ Unstable personal relations, low self-esteem, self-destructive behavior; applies excessive effort into not being abandoned. △ Emotional anxiety linked to self-esteem. Periodically plagued by a sense of emptiness; devalues himself when feeling good. △ Aggressive when feeling abandoned. △ Highly self-destructive. △ Paranoid about abandonment; tends to become violently and lethally enraged when he feels abandoned. △ Bipolar; swings between distrust and blind trust.
It seemed like Seol-Hwi’s lie had struck a weak spot. The Earth Demon’s hands trembled, betraying his raging emotions.
“Then—” The Earth Demon stared at Seol-Hwi. “—do you know whose spy he is?”
An unanswerable question.
Seol-Hwi immediately realized that the text was referring to the +3, +2, and +1 from the last choice.
So the system was providing a customized reward for the situation; in this case, the information on the Heavenly Demon’s disciples that everyone was curious about.
The Ghost Eye Demon Lord, a test proctor, Goeun, and the first disciple. They were all in on this.