Chapter 161

IRL Fight (5)

The IRL showdown I’d only ever heard about had actually happened. I’d heard plenty of stories about them, but this was the first time I’d ever seen one actually take place.

It felt like I was witnessing an antiquated custom straight out of some bygone romantic era.

‘Who cares about meeting up in real life? Winning online is all that matters.’

Besides, the world I’d come from had the ultimate finishing move: “I’m suing you.”

Of course, filing a lawsuit was essentially a self-destruct button, since it created a huge headache for both parties.

Moreover, it generally only worked in cases of one-sided malicious comments. If both parties could potentially be held responsible, lawsuits usually weren’t an option.

‘And the biggest problem is having your face exposed.’

Just look at the Blood Demon. No one even knew what he looked like, yet he was being used for all kinds of memes.

If an IRL confrontation went sideways, you wouldn’t have any grounds to complain when people mocked you relentlessly.

Human malice didn’t disappear just because the era or the world changed.

If anything, Earth’s internet culture seemed even more vulgar.

‘It became more depraved as it advanced, I guess.’

Putting that aside, I watched the recording of the Heavenly Demon’s martial prowess.

In the video, a woman dressed in black stood across from a massive man wearing an old, tattered martial arts uniform.

The difference in their physiques was obvious.

Yet despite that difference, the woman was toying with him one-sidedly.

‘She’s beautiful.’

The way she toyed with him was impressive, but the Heavenly Demon’s appearance stood out even more.

Her beauty rivaled that of the elves, who were known as the race of beauty. No, perhaps she was even more beautiful than them.

Combined with her aloof air, she resembled a flower blooming atop a sheer cliff.

A flower that required one to overcome countless hardships to pluck, only to discover that even its stem was covered in thorns.

Her strength, beauty, and bearing were all truly befitting the grandeur of the title “Heavenly Demon.”

‘Someone like her talks like such an old geezer on the gallery?’

I couldn’t be certain whether this Heavenly Demon was the same person as the assistant manager Heavenly Demon.

But for some reason, I had a strong feeling that they were one and the same.

The speech that had made her seem old on the gallery became maturity in reality, while her pigheaded image transformed into aloof dignity.

Then there was the way she seemed to sing praises of her own beauty. There was hardly any difference between her online and real-life personas.

The only potential issues were that she probably held a high position or was quite old, but neither particularly mattered.

└ How incredible is the Heavenly Demon? I’m from the West, so I don’t really know.
└ Smart Demonic Cultist: This is related to the history of the Central Plains. Do you happen to know about the burning of books and burying of scholars?
　└ Nope.
└ Smart Demonic Cultist: Just think of it as going beyond persecuting scholars and outright exiling them. There’s this policy of keeping the masses ignorant in the Central Plains—
　└ What the hell does that mean, nerd?
　└ Stop talking about crap only you understand and give us a one-line summary.
└ Smart Demonic Cultist: She’s just fucking amaaaaaazingly incredible. Is that good enough? She personally took the emperor’s head, too.

　└ “One-line summary” [7 people]
　└ That wasn’t one line, though? Kek.
　└ Just fucking get the point, kek.

The very title of “Heavenly Demon” meant that she was the leader of the Demonic Cult.

The larger an organization was, the harder it was to dismiss its leader.

Besides, people grew into their positions. The Heavenly Demon’s way of speaking might have changed after she assumed that role.

‘If you think about it, arrogance is really just overflowing confidence.’

More importantly, I recalled the Heavenly Demon’s opponent—the registered user who had posted that disgusting image earlier.

The registered user had uploaded photographs of a blood-soaked floor and corpses while the moderators were absent.

The post was deleted shortly afterward, but I’d already read it. And I had realized something.

The Heavenly Demon had only killed people who deserved to die.

‘I should at least give her some covering fire.’

I argued that the woman couldn’t be the assistant manager Heavenly Demon because she hadn’t been carrying the sword I had given her.

As everyone knew, the Heavenly Demon was a swordswoman. An exceptional one at that, considering she possessed a ten-thousand-year cold iron sword.

She had toyed with that man barehanded, so having a sword probably wouldn’t have made any difference.

Still, from my perspective, it would be better if the Heavenly Demon’s identity remained hidden.

‘I’d hate it if she disappeared because of this.’

More importantly, what would change even if I saw through her identity?

It was meaningless as long as I couldn’t leave this place, and it would still be fine even if I did eventually escape.

We had treated each other with courtesy and respect on a gallery where anonymity was guaranteed.

Would things really be different in reality? I didn’t think so.

‘She’s also the person most likely to be capable of rescuing me.’

If the Heavenly Demon’s identity was exposed and she went into hiding, there would be absolutely no benefit for me.

The best outcome was for us to continue speaking respectfully as usual so that I could keep asking her for advice.

I watched the gallery erupt over the Heavenly Demon for a while before sending a message.

Naturally, I sent it to the person who should have been the busiest right now—the Heavenly Demon herself.

[Wild Grylls: Heavenly Demon, are you busy?]

[Heavenly Demon: This Lady is always at leisure. What is it?]

I had expected her to be busy preparing an explanation—or perhaps an “explanation”—but she replied unexpectedly quickly.

At this speed, she was practically watching the commotion like a fire on the opposite side of a river.

After wondering about it briefly, I asked her about the gallery’s current topic.

[Wild Grylls: Are you really the Heavenly Demon?]

[Heavenly Demon: If I said I was, what would you do?]

[Wild Grylls: I doubt anything would change. You’d still be my benefactor.]

[Heavenly Demon: That answer pleases me.]

[Wild Grylls: So, are you really her?]

[Heavenly Demon: The real Heavenly Demon is a vastly greater being.]

Wasn’t she just praising herself?

Even though it strongly felt as if she was desperately trying to deny it, I decided to let it slide.

As I had said earlier, I wanted to maintain my friendly relationship with the Heavenly Demon.

[Wild Grylls: Understood. So when do you plan to explain yourself? I think this will keep raging until you personally say something.]

[Heavenly Demon: I wish to enjoy it for now. Seeing them praise me so greatly warms my heart.]

At least this much was certain: the Heavenly Demon was enjoying the attention.

That explained both her wariness toward the Blood Demon, who was worshiped as a meme, and the attention-seeking posts she had made before becoming an assistant manager.

Despite being the type to march to the beat of her own drum, she still wanted the other users’ attention.

‘That’s understandable.’

So the Heavenly Demon was human, too.

Surprisingly, that made her even more charming.

Besides, she didn’t harm others with crude insults or jokes about their parents.

At the very least, she seemed closer to good than evil.

That was the impression I got.

[Heavenly Demon: Still, there is something that concerns me.]

[Wild Grylls: What is it?]

[Heavenly Demon: Some may believe that I and the real Heavenly Demon are the same person. Would you not agree?]

[Wild Grylls: I suppose… that’s possible?]

Apparently, she wanted to keep enjoying the gallery as she always had.

After all, the Heavenly Demon loved the very concept of an online gallery.

I considered her words for a moment before replying.

[Wild Grylls: You are going to post a separate explanation, right?]

[Heavenly Demon: Naturally.]

[Wild Grylls: Then I don’t think you need to worry too much. Things probably won’t change that much.]

[Heavenly Demon: Why not?]

[Wild Grylls: Because you don’t know any of the people talking about you, do you?]

Even if the users knew who the Heavenly Demon was, the Heavenly Demon didn’t know who they were. That was the key point.

It was a one-way street, not a two-way one.

The only issue was that the real Heavenly Demon’s reputation might be tarnished.

[Heavenly Demon: It matters not. People insult even the emperor when he is not around, so why bother stopping them? If they could insult me to my face, I might even acknowledge them.]

[Wild Grylls: “Me”?]

[Heavenly Demon: It was a slip of the tongue. In any event, it does not concern me, so there is no need to worry.]

She herself seemed unconcerned.

And honestly, the Heavenly Demon was completely right.

This was a gallery where people called even the emperor by all sorts of derogatory nicknames. There was no reason the Heavenly Demon would be treated differently.

If anything, mere derogatory nicknames were rather mild. As for Earth… I wouldn’t elaborate.

I had learned that a single person could accumulate a truly astounding number of nicknames.

‘Athletes had tons of bizarre nicknames. I wonder if it’s the same here?’

I could look into it gradually.

In any case, there seemed to be no need to worry about the Heavenly Demon’s anonymity.

She had apparently found her own way of dealing with it, and our relationship hadn’t changed from before.

So Geumjang was insanely strong, and the Heavenly Demon had toyed with someone like him.

If someone on the Heavenly Demon’s level entered the Forest of Four Seasons, wouldn’t she become a ruler of one of its territories?

As that pointless thought crossed my mind, I turned my head.

Kkobong was diligently sawing wood nearby.

‘I wonder if Kkobong knows this Geumjang guy.’

Curious, I asked the Heavenly Demon to write Geumjang’s name for me.

After receiving it, I called Kkobong over.

“Kkobong! Come here for a second!”

[Wild Grylls: By the way, who is this Geumjang person?]

[Heavenly Demon: I asked my aide, and apparently he was one of the Blood Cult’s elders. He possessed fairly respectable skills.]

[Wild Grylls: I wouldn’t stand a chance against him, right?]

[Heavenly Demon: He was roughly equal to that leader fellow, not the white one.]

Kkobong stopped sawing and came running over.

Until two days ago, he had ignored me whenever I called him, but now he came obediently.

It seemed he had begun to trust me after I gave him the glasses.

“Do you know who this is?”

When I wrote the name on the ground, Kkobong stared at it for quite some time.

Then, as though recognizing it, he nodded and looked at me.

“#%@#%”

“…You still can’t speak Korean, can you?”

“Ooh-kee?”

“Ugh. F**k.”

I needed to teach him quickly. It was frustrating as hell not being able to communicate.

Besides, using the Heavenly Demon as an interpreter every time was rather cumbersome. I felt bad about it, too.

In any event, the Heavenly Demon translated Kkobong’s answer exactly.

[Wild Grylls: Will they come to the Forest of Four Seasons in search of the successor?]

Whether they intended to kill the successor or take him back, this should have been a fairly important matter to the Blood Cult.

Even Geumjang, who should have served as both their central pillar and greatest military force, had fallen at the Heavenly Demon’s hands.

Could the Blood Cult possibly do anything after getting on the Heavenly Demon’s bad side?

They had nothing.

Unless they were desperate enough to come looking for Kkobong and the gorilla leader while practically clinging to their trouser legs.

[Heavenly Demon: He says Geumjang was his most trustworthy subordinate. Apparently, he had originally designated him as the Blood Cult’s next successor.]

[Wild Grylls: So he was an incredibly important figure. If someone like that disappeared…]

[Heavenly Demon: Then those gorillas truly are the successors.]

[Heavenly Demon: It is not impossible. The world is vast, and there are many lunatics. According to my aide, the members of the Blood Cult are thoroughly insane, even by the standards of lunatics.]

[Wild Grylls: I want normal people. I’d rather avoid lunatics.]

No matter how much I missed human company, I had no desire to live alongside followers of Hitler.

Not only would we be unable to communicate, but they might also try to harm me.

‘Though no normal person would come anywhere near the Forest of Four Seasons…’

Even on Earth, people got lured into cults and committed all sorts of bizarre acts. How much worse would this world be?

It would certainly be worse, never better.

Deciding to keep an eye on the Blood Cult’s activities for the time being, I spoke to the Heavenly Demon again.

[Wild Grylls: Thank you for telling me. You’re going to post something soon, right?]

[Heavenly Demon: I have prepared an explanation perfectly suited to the gallery’s users. It incorporates your advice as well, so you may look forward to it.]

[Wild Grylls: Oh. I’m looking forward to it.]

[This Lady Is the Heavenly Demon.]

A title that could never be ignored caught my eye. It had even been posted by the Heavenly Demon herself.

Had she decided to simply announce who she was after everything she’d said?

Confused by her contradictory behavior, I opened the post.

Perhaps there were so many people viewing it that the gallery lagged slightly.

Just what kind of explanation had she prepared to make me look forward to it?

I tossed Kkobong a fasting pill and told him he’d done well.

Kkobong happily began eating it as though it were delicious.

The swift sloth gave me a strange look, but I deliberately ignored it. I still had plenty left.

‘Let’s see. She should have posted it by now…’

That was when I saw it while browsing the gallery.

Title: This Lady Is the Heavenly Demon
Heavenly Demon

In truth, that was a lie.

But what will you do about it?

What can any of you do, you insignificant creatures?

Other than growing angry, hurling insults, and belittling me, what can you possibly do? I can hear the resentment of creatures who cannot even reach the heavens.

└ Swordmaster: What the hell is this? Kekekekeke.
　└ What the fuck? Kekekekeke. This is supposed to be the Heavenly Demon? What a load of bullshit. Kekekekek.
└ If that really is the Heavenly Demon, the Demonic Cult’s members are gonna cry. Seriously.
　└ The fuck? How could something like that possibly be the Heavenly Demon? Kekeke. She’s just another gallery loser.
└ Smart Demonic Cultist: I’m just going to believe she isn’t. I think that’ll be easier on my heart.
　└ Didn’t you say you were a member of the Demonic Cult last time? That thing is apparently your master.
└ Smart Demonic Cultist: Fuck, I said she isn’t, you bastard!
　└ Why are you swearing at me…?

“Um…”

Whatever else might be said, one thing was certain.

‘She really is wise, isn’t she?’

She was an exceedingly wise person.