Was it because he had just discovered Elle’s shocking secret? He suddenly thought that, maybe, Cheon-ma also had the wrong perception of sex like Elle. Come to think of it; it would make sense. Her difficult life was comparable to Elle’s.
She entered Cheonma-dong and spent her whole life training for decades at a very young age, and after coming out, she had to live her life as the cult’s leader. Those under her promoted a culture of fearing her, treating every word she said as the holy word of the bible, and prostrating whenever she walked by.
He couldn’t even begin to imagine himself providing proper sex education to the absolute supreme leader of the Demon Cult. But…
‘Nah, no way…’
Yoon-seok shook his head. Cheon-ma and Elle were completely different. Even after emerging as the absolute best in Moorim, she wandered for decades. Well, he could verify if he asked, but…
‘No, that can’t be true…’
He decided not to. Apart from not wanting to know, what would he ask? Ask the Demon Cult Leader if she knew how children were born? If Yoon-seok was the one who received that question, he would feel extremely insulted and might even draw his sword.
“Huhuhu. What are you doing? Show him that, too.”
“Yes.”
After deeply bowing at Cheon-ma’s words, Yong-yong stood. Then, after saluting shyly to Yoon-seok, he pulled a knife from his waist and began to dance.
“Fire Dragon Sky Dance!”
Was this the result of early education? Judging how fire attribute magic was waving from the tip of his sword, it seemed like he had already reached the level of using sword energy. Considering that it had been less than a month since Yong-yong was born, it was a truly amazing achievement.
‘Are dragons not a magical race?’
Of course, this question suddenly popped up, but Yoon-seok didn’t ask it aloud.
“Under Mother’s guidance, I was able to create my martial arts technique. I have been polishing it while waiting for you, Father, but I still have a long way to go.”
After finishing the sword dance, Yong-yong humbly bowed. That was what he said, but his eyes and expression made it look like he was expecting something from Yoon-seok. Was he waiting for a compliment?
“…I see, well done.”
“Thank you!”
When Yoon-seok praised him, Yong-yong clenched his fists. Cheon-ma smiled warmly. Both seemed satisfied with the current situation.
“…”
On the other hand, Yoon-seok was even more confused. Thinking of Yong-yong, who practiced hard every day to show it to his father, it was cute, and he was proud. This was definitely what parents felt.
That was why he felt it was a little unfair. He hadn’t even held a woman’s hand properly yet, and now he was a father? Really? Maybe he wouldn’t feel it wrong if he had that kind of relationship with Cheon-ma…
“What are you thinking?”
“N-nothing.”
Yoon-seok flinched at Cheon-ma’s question and evaded her gaze. Even if her appearance put her in her early twenties, Cheon-ma was like a teacher to him and the Sect Leader of Demon Cult. No, it would be an insult to see her as a woman after she lived as a warrior all her life.
‘…Oh? Wait a minute. Come to think of it, when was it?’
“Tsk, tsk. You said it was nothing, but you’re thinking about something else in front of me?”
When they first met, Cheon-ma referred to herself as the sect leader. However, she stopped doing that at some point. When did it start?
Yoon-seok realized it was when they fought against the Heavenly Buddha in Cheonma-dong. So…
—Can you win if you endure this?
— Stop that nonsense and get out of the way…
—Can you win?
To be exact, it was after Yoon-seok intervened and saved her in the fight against the Heavenly Buddha.
—This is fun. Where did that guy who shouted at me go?
Cheon-ma didn’t blame him for being rude that day. Rather, after that day, she treated Yoon-seok more gently than before. Yoon-seok only thought it was a comradeship forged after surviving a life-or-death crisis together.
‘…But it wasn’t that?’
“If you keep ignoring me, then it can’t be helped.”
‘…I mean, why?’
It felt like he hit a limit while training alone. If he continued a little more, it felt like he could reach an answer. However, Yoon-seok could not reach that answer.
“Ancient Heavenly Demon Karmic Sword.”
As soon as he thought he found his decision-
All he could see was a black sword that ignored time and space flying toward him. Yoon-seok fainted that day.
“Are you up?”
“…How long has it been?”
“About a quarter past.”
In other words, he had fainted for about 15 minutes. Feeling a strange sense of shame, Yoon-seok closed his eyes once and opened them. All he could see was the unfamiliar ceiling of Cheon-ma’s waiting room.
“…”
The sky beyond the sky. Was this what that meant? Among the rankers who had the power to reach the sky, Cheon-ma was different.
“How do you do it?”
Neither the frozen {Immortality} state nor Arch Hunter’s Hunting Gloves activated. The moment when her sword energy hit his forehead, Yoon-seok blacked out right then and there.
“Well, I have no idea what you’re asking about.”
“…”
“What were you thinking so deeply about earlier? You didn’t answer when I was talking to you.”
Yoon-seok sat up at Cheon-ma’s words. Only then did he think of those final thoughts before he was knocked out. For some reason, he felt warm.
‘What the heck was I thinking…’
After being hit, he returned to his senses. The way she referred to herself has changed, but what was he trying to imply?
“…It was nothing.”
Yoon-seok shook his head. However, Cheon-ma smiled and gradually spread her magic.
“That’s what everyone says at first.”
It was the conversation method that Yoon-seok had been using. But, as expected, the original was at a different level. His body reacted first before she could press him.
“…I met my admin before coming here.”
“You’re talking about the woman who gave you a hard time? The lover of your past life.”
“Strictly speaking, we’re not lovers….”
“Hmm! Well, if you say so! I’ll trust you.”
Fortunately, Cheon-ma appeared interested. Of course, Elle was watching, so it was a little awkward to talk about her, but…
However, it was a hundred times better than confessing about the illusion he had earlier.
“So, what did you talk about?”
“Nothing much, but we resolved our misunderstanding and made up.”
“Resolved the misunderstanding… then, do you trust her now?”
“Yes.”
Cheon-ma remained silent under Yoon-seok’s confident answer. Then, she looked at Yoon-seok with a hard-to-read gaze and said:
“I see, that’s good to hear.”
For some reason, she sounded weaker than before. He didn’t know what to say.
“Ah, isn’t there a saying in Moorim that the more friends you make, the fewer enemies you have? Although I disagree with that!”
“…?”
“T-then doesn’t that mean you’re wrong?”
He didn’t know what she was trying to convey. However, it felt like she was trying to cheer him up, so he bowed.
“Thank you.”
“…Yeah. I’m glad you understand.”
Cheon-ma nodded as if she’d given up. Now that was over, Yoon-seok asked.
“Why did you call me here?”
Last time, she happened to have mission tickets, so he thought it might be an exploration ticket that she picked up this time…
Contrary to his expectations, as if she had other business to attend to, she coughed several times before calling Yong-yong over.
“Yong-yong, come here.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Go ahead and tell him.”
Yong-yong tilted his head at Cheon-ma’s order. Then, he took something out of his pocket as if he suddenly remembered. He held two mission tickets.
“I want to go with you, Father!”
“You see. He was impatient…”
Yoon-seok, face turning blank, looked at Cheon-ma. She scratched her cheek with a sheepish look.
“…So, what are you going to do? If you don’t like it, then it can’t be helped, but Yong-yong will be very disappointed.”
The answer was set. But the current situation was somewhat absurd, so he stood still and looked between Cheon-ma and Yong-yong. A phrase suddenly appeared.
「Grape Jam requested a communication.」
「Would you like to accept it?」
Communication? A skill like this existed in the Tower?
“Can you wait a moment?”
Yoon-seok asked Cheon-ma to excuse him and pressed the accept button. Then something translucent, similar to a chat window, popped up.
—I got this item in exploration. How was it? Is it working?
It’s working. However, there was no keyboard, so he didn’t know how to send a message. However, as if she could see through his thoughts, Lee Su-yeon told him how.
—Imagine the words and think about sending them.
—Like this?
—Yes! By the way, where are you right now? Mr. Ashton said you stopped by just now.
Yoon-seok told her that he was with Cheon-ma in her waiting room. Then she freaked out.
—What? You’re with her right now? Why?
—It just happened. I think we’re going to do a mission together.
—You’re saying not yet, right? Hold on! I’ll go with you!
—You want to come?
—You won’t fail if you go with the No. 1 ranker.
In short, it meant she would get carried in the mission. Well, Yoon-seok didn’t resist. Although she phrased it that way, she would help in many ways. Didn’t he go in without any information and suffer from it in his last mission? If Lee Su-yeon, the rewinder, was by his side, he could count on her.
However, since he wasn’t alone this time, he should listen to other people’s opinions.
“I’m okay with going on a mission. But can someone else tag along?”
Yoon-seok further explained that she was a person who helped him in many ways. Perhaps she thought he was bringing a subordinate, as Cheon-ma readily agreed.
“I’m proud to see you take care of your subordinates. I’m okay with it, so go ahead.”
Receiving permission, Yoon-seok coordinated the timing with Lee Su-yeon through Communication and tore the ticket with Cheon-ma.
「Mission Order is used.」
「The mission on the 22nd floor is The One Who Leads Destruction.」
「Difficulty level can be chosen.」
「Moving to the mission site.」
No. 1 ranker Cheon-ma, and regressor Lee Su-yeon. It was a journey with these two, so he thought it was okay to relax. That was all. However, the moment he arrived at the mission site-
“Father! Thank you for bringing me here!”
Lee Su-yeon froze in place as she approached them.
“…Oppa, you’re a dad?”
Come to think of it; he hadn’t told Lee Su-yeon about Yong-yong. He had to explain to her before a misunderstanding could appear, but he couldn’t say it right away because he didn’t know how to explain.
And then, Cheon-ma, who was smiling at Yong-yong and running to find Yoon-seok, also stopped.
“…No way, is this woman the subordinate you mentioned?”
Did he underestimate this mission? For some reason, he already had chills running down his spine.
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