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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Overtime Work (2)
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As soon as I opened the door and stepped inside, I clasped my hands in a fist salute and bowed my head.
"The youngest disciple Il-mok pays his respects to Master and my senior brothers."
Then, as I slowly raised my head, the interior came into view at a glance.
Appetizing dishes were arranged on fairly luxurious tableware, and at the head of the table sat Master.
"Hahaha. Come on in. Everyone, greet him. This is the youngest disciple Il-mok that this old man took in his later years."
Following Master's brief introduction, the middle-aged man sitting closest to him nodded.
"Hahaha. Nice to meet you, junior brother. I am your eldest senior brother, Wi Jin-hak."
Eldest senior brother greeted me with a hearty laugh, if spoken kindly, or a dumb one, if spoken harshly.
But I mustn't be fooled by that smile.
'He definitely practices the Explosive Demon Net Sword Art.'
It was information I'd heard from Jin Ha-yeon. And the side effect of the Explosive Demon Net Sword Art was anger control disorder.
Not selective anger issues, but genuine ones, so regardless of whether Master was beside him or not, the moment his eyes rolled, he was the type to slice off my head.
"It's an honor to meet you, Eldest Senior Brother."
Ignoring the sweat trickling down my back as best I could, I offered the utmost courtesy in my greeting.
'…Honestly, he seems more like an uncle or granduncle than a senior brother.'
Eldest Senior Brother Wi Jin-hak was forty-five years old.
Considering this body was fifteen, he was hardly in the age range to call 'brother.'
'And that guy's nickname is Mad Demon….'
He had the vibe of that one nice but slightly dim neighborhood uncle everyone had back in the day.
But Seo Wan-pyeong's—wait, no, Wi Jin-hak's—nickname was Mad Demon.
About twenty years ago. Around the time Eldest Senior Brother's attainment in the Explosive Demon Net Sword Art reached Extreme Demon.
Unable to control his rage himself, he'd gone berserk and been subdued by Master several times, or so the story went.
And Master had advised him, 'If you can't control your temper, don't take it out on innocent commoners—vent it on the wicked.'
Deeply moved by the advice, whenever signs of Demonic Deviation or early anger issues flared, Eldest Senior Brother would leave Xinjiang for the Central Plains.
There, he unleashed his fury on Central Plains martial artists and corrupt officials, resulting in over a thousand of them—martial folk, crooked mandarins, and rotten soldiers—dying by his hand alone.
Naturally, the Martial Alliance declared him a public enemy of the martial world and dubbed his rampaging, rage-filled form the 'Mad Demon.'
After nearly a decade of unleashing his anger so refreshingly, he finally broke free from the Extreme Demon stage of the Explosive Demon Net Sword Art.
'…No matter how I think about it, it's impressive he didn't die.'
Surviving after rampaging dozens of times in the Central Plains and killing over a thousand people—he was remarkable in many ways.
If he had died, it probably would've been chalked up to a side effect of the demonic art.
In any case, now, with the passage of time, he had escaped Extreme Demon and reached a realm close to Transcending Demon.
And the most crucial point, to me, was that phrase: 'close to Transcending Demon.'
Meaning he hadn't fully transcended yet.
'One wrong poke, and the anger issues could flare up.'
Foolishly underestimating him based on that dumb-looking smile would get me killed.
After finishing my tense greeting with Eldest Senior Brother, the man sitting opposite him now spoke in a gloomy tone.
"I'm Seo Wan-pyeong."
Third disciple Seo Wan-pyeong.
Thirty-four years old, was it? I offered a fist salute toward the man who gave off a阴郁 aura, like a jaded manager soaked in life's bitterness.
"Pleased to meet you, Third Senior Brother. I'm Il-mok."
"What's the point of greeting twice? Are you treating me like I'm dead or something?"
"...."
I was at a loss for words in an instant.
'Fuck….'
The technique Seo Wan-pyeong practiced was Shadowless Fourteen Hands. True to its name, a demonic art boasting stealthy, swift strikes, with its side effect being paranoia.
A symptom of interpreting every situation negatively.
And damn it all, at thirty-four this year, Seo Wan-pyeong hadn't fully escaped Extreme Demon yet.
'If I hadn't greeted him, he'd have thrown a fit about being ignored.'
As I hesitated, unsure how to respond,
"Third."
A voice laden with immense energy flowed from Master's mouth.
"!!!"
Whether Master's energy drove out the demonic qi burrowing into Third Senior Brother's mind, he shook his head side to side a few times, then looked at me with slightly clearer eyes.
"Ahem. Sorry about that."
"Hahaha. It was my ignorance of proper etiquette. Please don't mind it, Senior Brother."
He seemed to have regained his senses a bit, but I was extra careful not to provoke him.
If the paranoia kicked in again, he might sneak in one moonlit night to take my head.
Shadowless Fourteen Hands specialized in assassination, after all.
After that chilling greeting at the nape of my neck,
This time, a young man sitting one seat away from Master and the two senior brothers greeted me.
"Glad to meet you like this. I'm Jong-ri Chu, the sixth disciple."
"Pleased to meet you, Sixth Senior Brother. I'm Il-mok."
Fortunately, Sixth Senior Brother didn't react like Third Senior Brother to my greeting.
Instead, he squinted slightly, stared at me, then suddenly turned his head to look beside me.
Sixth Senior Brother Jong-ri Chu alternated glances between the empty air and me.
The technique he practiced was Mad Soul Sword Art, its side effect schizophrenia.
After seeming to see something illusory for a moment, he turned back to me with a gentle smile.
"Ah, sorry, junior brother. Just a mistake—don't mind it."
At least that was a relief. Still only twenty-four and young, he hadn't fully entered Extreme Demon.
Meaning he only briefly confused hallucinations with reality. He hadn't completely fallen to visions or voices yet.
'…After graduating from the Demonic Path Academy, I need to avoid him as much as possible.'
He might seem 'relatively' fine now, but entering the academy took a year, and completing the training there another two.
After three years, he'd probably be deep in Extreme Demon.
Or maybe assassinated by Third Senior Brother in the meantime.
Zap.
Third Senior Brother Seo Wan-pyeong was glaring sinisterly at Sixth Senior Brother.
He seemed to think Sixth had interrupted my greeting to him.
And that it was because he was being looked down on.
In response to Third Senior Brother's sinister gaze, Sixth Senior Brother looked his way.
"Hm?"
More precisely, at the empty seat beside Third Senior Brother.
"Fourth Senior Brother. When did you arrive?"
"...."
Sixth Senior Brother greeting Fourth Senior Brother, who'd supposedly died on a mission against the righteous sects.
He shook his head side to side a few times, then returned to clear eyes.
"Ah, looks like I was mistaken again. Sorry."
"Uhahahaha. It's fine, junior brother. Seems you miss the Fourth we saw as kids, huh? Hahaha."
At Jong-ri Chu's apology, Wi Jin-hak burst into that dumb laugh again.
'What a mess.'
It was a scene that nearly made me sigh involuntarily, but I held it back with superhuman patience.
One sigh, and I might provoke one of the three senior brothers' wrath.
None of them were fully sane.
"Ahem. It must be uncomfortable standing. Sit down."
At Master's mediation, I shuffled awkwardly to the empty seat beside Third Senior Brother and sat.
Fortunately, having snapped out of it momentarily, Jong-ri Chu didn't spout nonsense like 'That's Fourth Senior Brother's seat.'
And so began the enjoyable dinner party. With my pitiful senior brothers whose heads ached somewhere.
"Hahaha. It's been so long since we've had a drink like this with Master and the junior brothers—truly delightful."
Surprisingly, not Master but Eldest Senior Brother led the mood.
He poured drinks for Master's cup, all the junior brothers' cups, then his own, toasting nonstop and belting out dumb laughs to keep things lively.
We chatted idly, enjoying food and drink for a while.
"I'm enjoying this time with you all too. By the way, while this old man was in the Central Plains, did you all handle the tasks I left?"
After a few sips, Master's words nearly made me sigh.
'Work talk at dinner.'
Dinner parties were definitely overtime.
Especially with an old-school boss-type.
"Hahaha. No worries, Master. There were no issues around Karamay where I went."
"As for around Bachu, bandits had recently settled in the Talimu Basin area, so this disciple cleaned them up on the way back."
But the senior brothers didn't seem particularly bothered.
Come to think of it, they were old-school too, so work talk at dinner didn't faze them.
Listening to Master and the three senior brothers' work reports for a bit, suddenly Master, who'd been hearing them, turned to me.
"Hahaha. Come to think of it, I haven't explained the situation to the youngest."
"Please don't mind me—carry on with your conversation."
"Hahaha! How could we, junior brother? After you graduate the Demonic Path Academy, you'll be handling these duties with us."
"Jin-hak is right."
Thanks to Eldest Senior Brother's nosiness, Master suddenly brought up work with me too.
Master's explanation was concise. My kidnapping from the Central Plains was mere coincidence. He'd had other business in the Central Plains and had to leave Xinjiang temporarily.
Thus, he'd instructed the three senior brothers to patrol regions under the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's influence in Xinjiang, ensuring no one troubled the commoners.
So when I returned to headquarters with Master, the senior brothers were still out.
Master had returned to the cult earlier than planned—after getting tangled with the Martial Alliance and kidnapping me as a disciple—so the senior brothers, not done with their tasks, arrived a step late.
After finishing the rough explanation,
Master looked at me with a peculiar expression and asked,
"What does our youngest think?"
"About what?"
"I'm curious about your impressions from what you've heard so far. Our cult's way of protecting the commoners—or do you have any better ideas that come to mind?"
At Master's question, the senior brothers, who'd been laughing and chatting, turned their gazes to me.
So it had finally come.
As planned, I had to play incompetent here.
But answering 'I don't know anything' wouldn't do.
The one asking was Master. The Heavenly Demon's disciple was me.
Meaning my incompetence had to be at the level of 'disappointing for a Heavenly Demon's disciple.' Below average human wouldn't cut it.
So on the way here, I'd pondered how to seem somewhat clever yet lacking for a Heavenly Demon's disciple.
What I came up with was the image of eager but green newbies.
Trying hard but with little yield—not incompetent, but 2% short.
'And Master's question is about the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's task handling?'
Perfect topic for me.
I knew all too well Korea's most outdated, responsibility-shirking systems.