Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Waiter Hides His Magic (4)

Announcing a trial the moment he appeared—even a professor starting class on the first day of the semester wouldn't be that aggressive. No matter how you looked at it, this was not a man of good character. Then again, that was probably exactly why he was a Demonic Sect member. Ha Jin pursed his lips.

Before long, the gaze of the man called the Right Protector swept over the warriors standing in formation.

"From the moment you pass the admission trial, you will become cadets of the Demon Path Hall. Each of you may have different goals, but the fact that you must pass the Demon Path Hall's trials remains unchanged. I sincerely hope you will become talents capable of shouldering the Divine Sect's future."

With those parting words, the warriors moved one by one to the training yard. After waiting his turn, Ha Jin's came at last.

"Your turn. Follow me."

Ha Jin wordlessly followed the martial arts instructor before him.

"Enter. The time limit is one shichen. During that time, use any means necessary to kill that walking corpse."

With this, the instructor flipped an hourglass and stepped outside. Before Ha Jin's eyes was a walking corpse, bound and thrashing. Questions like "Never thought I'd actually see one of these in real life" were set aside.

The fortunate thing was that, judging by both its appearance and the aura it gave off, it didn't seem particularly strong.

'If this is an admission trial that demands roughly second-rate difficulty, there's no way the walking corpse is stronger than a first-rate warrior.'

Ha Jin mentally gauged the walking corpse's fighting power. Against an opponent of this caliber, the Wind Cutter he had used before should be more than enough to finish the job.

WHRRRRR—!

Mana began to compress at his fingertips. But before he could even cast the spell, a different thought suddenly crossed his mind.

'Hold on. If I finish the trial too quickly, won't that just draw more attention?'

He recalled what Yang Jun had said before entering the Demon Path Hall.

-Your outstanding ability would likely attract considerable attention, and you might even draw the focused interest of the upper sub-sects or elders.

Sadly, that was the very last situation Ha Jin wanted.

'Right, there's no need to show everything I've got. I should come across as average as possible—no, maybe even slightly clumsy. The goal is to pass around the same time as the other participants.'

Ha Jin shelved his plan to use Wind Cutter. Instead, he thought of a different spell. One that would gradually incapacitate the target without dealing direct damage.

'Dry magic—let's go with slowly desiccating it to death. I can drag out the time just right, and from the outside, it won't look like some incredible technique. I'll just come across as some guy who fights in a slightly unusual way.'

A Demonic Sect extra who dabbled in dark sorcery. That was the right level to aim for.

He raised a faint smile and extended his hand toward the walking corpse. A ripple of inner arts originating from the qi center gathered at his fingertips, and magical principles compressed.

HISSSSSS—!

The walking corpse's damp skin instantly lost its moisture and turned dry and flaky. Soon its entire body cracked apart like parched deadwood, grotesquely twisting before going still.

No further movement.

'Wait, why am I this strong?'

In that moment, Ha Jin recalled a fact he had forgotten. Dry magic dealt far greater damage to inorganic matter. And a walking corpse was, in essence, a corpse. Already dead—therefore not a living thing.

'Damn it, why'd it end so fast?'

At least the traces left on the walking corpse's body didn't look particularly alarming, which was something. All he had to do now was wait for time to pass.

Just as the last grains of sand trickled through the hourglass, Ha Jin opened the door and stepped outside.

Afterward, Ha Jin became Cadet Four Hundred. The number was assigned based on the order in which one passed the trial. This was a suitably inconspicuous number.

'Everything is going according to plan!'

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect's martial arts instructors who entered to dispose of the walking corpse's remains encountered quite a remarkable sight.

The walking corpse's stiffly desiccated husk. For any warrior of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, it was a trace that was utterly unmistakable.

"Isn't this the mark of the Star-Absorbing Art?"

"Sure looks like it."

"Come to think of it, I seem to recall hearing a rumor that Elder Ghost Hand's disciple is in this year's class. It must have been passed down from the elder, don't you think?"

"What?! Why are you only mentioning this now! Report to the Right Protector immediately!"

***

The Sect Leader's Hall of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.

The hall was blanketed in a biting frost. Perhaps it was because the Right Protector, Seol Gwi the Snow Ghost—a master of ice arts rarely found anywhere in the martial world save for the North Sea Ice Palace beyond the frontier—was present.

"Haa, there's far too much work."

Spread across the desk was a scroll containing the names, brief backgrounds, and martial arts training records of the cadets who had passed this year's admission trial.

These would become vital assets for the next generation of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect. Sifting out the gems from the ordinary stones was the task that fell to Seol Gwi.

Technically, it wasn't Seol Gwi's job. His title was Right Protector—guarding the Sect Leader was supposed to be the extent of his duty.

Of course, as the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect's Right Protector, Seol Gwi had faithfully carried out the role of the Sect Leader's right-hand man—no, too faithfully.

Put generously, his loyalty was beyond reproach. Put bluntly, it was an unending streak of overtime that vastly exceeded the scope of a protector's duties.

In any case, Seol Gwi reviewed the cadets' files with deeply sunken eyes. As though he had been appointed to draft a national exam.

It was then.

"How does this year's class look?"

"You've arrived, Sect Leader."

Without a moment's hesitation, Seol Gwi dropped to one knee, clasped his fist in his other hand, extended it forward, and lowered his head deeply.

The figure who appeared beside Seol Gwi was Cheon Yu-baek, the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect's sky and Sect Leader. In simpler terms, he was the CEO of Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, Inc.

"Nothing significantly different from last time. However, four of the top five sub-sects have entered successors."

"The Sword Demon, Poison Demon, Fist Demon, and Blade Demon Sects again?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"As expected."

The Mad Demon Sect never entered a successor. The Mad Demon was, by nature, a person you could never predict.

"They're likely aiming to inherit the Sect Leader's seat, wouldn't you say."

"As always, if their caliber proves worthy, it's of no concern."

Seol Gwi observed Cheon Yu-baek's easy smile and sank into thought for a moment.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Sect was a place governed by the Reverence of the Strong. The weak fell away and only the strong survived to enjoy everything. This was the unwritten law that formed the very bones and foundation of the Divine Sect.

It had always been that way, but Seol Gwi knew all too well that the current Sect Leader, Cheon Yu-baek, upheld this principle of the Reverence of the Strong with even greater thoroughness—no, with something bordering on fanatical devotion.

'He makes no exception even for Lady Ha-rin. Perhaps that's only natural, knowing who he is.'

Cheon Ha-rin. Sect Leader Cheon Yu-baek's only flesh and blood, his treasured daughter. But even so, he had not prepared a comfortable seat for her within the Divine Sect.

Cheon Yu-baek was the kind of man who had publicly declared that even his own child, Cheon Ha-rin, must fight through the Demon Path Hall's brutal competition and prove herself before she could earn a position befitting her efforts. Accordingly, Cheon Ha-rin had entered this session's Demon Path Hall admission trials.

'Truly a ruthless man.'

Moreover, as far as Seol Gwi knew, Cheon Ha-rin herself—rather than harboring resentment toward her father's ruthlessly fair principle—had accepted it as a matter of course and devoted herself to training.

'I understand their reasoning, but what a merciless father and daughter.'

Seol Gwi clicked his tongue inwardly. A cold-bloodedness that refused to show even a scrap of personal warmth or special treatment to his own child.

In a way, that thoroughness—harsh enough to be called heartless—was undoubtedly what had made Cheon Yu-baek the man who now led the Divine Sect. So Seol Gwi understood.

"Seol Gwi, in your estimation, does anyone among them look capable of passing the final trial?"

"Are you asking for reality or for wishful thinking?"

"For now, reality."

Cheon Yu-baek smirked.

"One of the successors from the top four sub-sects is the most likely candidate."

"Meaning my daughter's chances are slim?"

"......Must you put it that way?"

"I hear your meaning well enough. After all, once words leave the mouth, they cannot be taken back. If Ha-rin heard this, how sad she would be."

Despite his words, Cheon Yu-baek's expression barely changed. No one knew his daughter's abilities better than he did. And Cheon Yu-baek did not expect his daughter to win the Demon Path Hall.

'She still has so much yet to learn.'

What could he do about a lack of skill? But just as he himself had done, his daughter need only prove herself, and that would be enough.

"Are there no other talents? What happens if the so-called successors all turn out to be duds?"

"If there are no talents among the successors backed by the upper sub-sects, wouldn't that be a crisis for the Sect itself?"

It was a mercilessly blunt remark. But Seol Gwi's words could not be denied.

"If there truly are no talents, might not a raw gem emerge from the next class of Demon Path Hall cadets?"

"As if that would ever happen. Tch."

Seol Gwi clicked his tongue and flipped to the next page of the file.

It was then that his brow narrowed. Cheon Yu-baek, having watched Seol Gwi for many years, instinctively sensed that something had caught his attention.

"Is something bothering you?"

"Something is strange."

Seol Gwi was not a man who used the word "strange" lightly. If he called something strange, the odds were high that it truly was.

"Tell me what it is. If something is troubling my faithful Right Protector, I'll personally draw my blade on his behalf."

Seol Gwi handed over the paper he was holding. Cheon Yu-baek's gaze fell upon it. The name "Ha Jin" and the number four hundred written beside it.

"Doesn't seem like a number worth paying attention to."

"The number isn't the issue."

Both pairs of eyes moved downward.

-Suspected to be Ghost Hand's disciple and user of the Star-Absorbing Art.

Cheon Yu-baek's eyebrow twitched. The Star-Absorbing Art—a martial art he could never fail to recognize. It was a dangerous form of demonic arts, and it had been the signature technique of Ghost Hand, once the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect's foremost assassin.

"Well, well. That old man always swore he'd never take a disciple, and it seems he raised one outside the Sect."

"Yes, so it would seem. But if he received training from that man, surely he wouldn't have placed four hundredth?"

"Then are you suggesting someone is impersonating him?"

"Not that either. When the Protector Squad went to escort the elder, he was reportedly together with Ha Jin. According to their report, he cut down the Kunlun Sect's First Disciple in a single blow."

A smile crept across Cheon Yu-baek's lips.

"He's certainly no weakling."

"Indeed. It appears he's hiding his strength for some reason."

"An interesting fellow. Almost makes me want to find out what's going through his head."

"If he's bothersome, I can look into him."

Seeing Seol Gwi's dead-serious expression, Cheon Yu-baek shook his head.

"No. I cannot allow my personal curiosity to interfere with fair competition. Leave him be."

"As you command."

***

Number four hundred—the tag he had received upon passing the Demon Path Hall's first-stage trial. Ha Jin was rather satisfied with the figure.

Since there were five hundred who passed, a ranking of four hundredth was the very picture of inconspicuous—an utterly ordinary and safe position.

'They told us to head to the training yard, right? Is there something to hand out?'

As he stepped into the training yard, the cadets who had arrived before him came into view. Every last one of them sported a face that could rival a bandit chief's, with killing intent practically billowing from their bodies.

'As expected, Demonic Sect members are something else, right from the aura they give off......'

Ha Jin clicked his tongue inwardly. The thought of undergoing training alongside such fearsome individuals made him a little tense. But soon, a different thought filled his mind.

'Still, builds that big must mean they eat like crazy. Could be potential customers, actually......?'

His inn-owner mentality activated immediately. The foundation of any good business was connections. It was always wise to maintain amicable relationships, no matter with whom.

The reasons Ha Jin had come to want an inn this earnestly were complex.

The warmth and happy memories of the inn he had experienced under Yu Jin-bang's roof, the passion to create new dishes using magic, and the resolve to carry on the old man's dream. He simply didn't want to live a life where he fought every moment and teetered between life and death the way he had during his Hunter days.

Just as Ha Jin was naturally strolling toward the inner part of the training yard while working out his own business plans, a massive figure—easily two heads taller than him—came striding over from the distance. A man he had never seen before.

"Hey, is that sword just for show? I can't sense a shred of aura from you—how the hell did you even pass the trial?"

"......?"

What's this bastard's deal?