Translator: Nox
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: The Reason for Coming to the Demon Realm
The man hanging limply had a face covered in dirt. Drool dripped from his mouth.
It wasn’t scary—if anything, his face evoked sympathy. Kim Nari stared blankly at him.
“How is it? Still scared?”
She shook her head. The bruises forming under his eyes made him look almost like a panda.
“I don’t think I’m scared.”
“He used fire earlier. Still not scared?”
When he asked again, Kim Nari nodded.
“He can’t use fire now.”
“Why not?”
“He fainted.”
“Right. If he’s unconscious, he can’t use fire. If fire is scary, then this is what you do.”
If you neutralize your opponent, there’s no reason to be scared of their fire. There’s a reason why offense is the best defense.
Kim Nari’s eyes widened.
That thought had never occurred to her before. She was taught never to even think like that.
It was an almost brainwashed education. A rule implanted deep within her body.
For the first time, Kim Nari questioned that rule. Maybe unreasonable rules were meant to be broken.
“Where did you learn that, mister?”
“I didn’t learn it. You naturally realize things like that as you live.”
“Anyone?”
“Sure.”
Kim Nari tilted her head, clearly deep in thought.
“Then, if I ever want to put out a fire… can I do it like you do?”
“Yes.”
At his firm response, Kim Nari’s eyes sparkled. She felt as if a wall blocking her mind had just crumbled.
She didn’t understand what exactly had changed, but her heart thudded with an unknown excitement.
‘It won’t change overnight.’
That’s how deprogramming works. Cheon Dowoon thought bitterly.
But there was no need to rush. She could learn gradually, while living her new life.
“Now, what to do with this guy… Why don’t you decide?”
Cheon Dowoon pointed to the unconscious man. Kim Nari needed practice in making decisions for herself.
“You want me to decide?”
“He targeted you. What do you want to do with him?”
Kim Nari looked around, clearly struggling to decide with her own will.
She fidgeted her fingers before finally speaking with hesitation.
“He scared me… So I want to scare him too.”
“Sounds fair. How?”
“I want to hang him over the waterfall.”
It was a childish idea—and a merciless one.
This was the Demon Realm. Below the waterfall was a pool teeming with hundreds of fish.
These weren’t normal fish. They were demon realm fish that took pleasure in tearing living things apart.
Anyone hanging above them would find their knees buckling in terror.
“Nice idea.”
Cheon Dowoon nodded. With his support, Kim Nari raised her head confidently.
“And we need to hear Guu’s opinion too. He got attacked as well. It’s only fair we ask him.”
She picked up Guu in her arms.
“Mister, it seemed like you could understand Guu. Can you hear what he says?”
She looked curious. It was the same question Guu himself wanted to ask more than anything.
Guu held his breath, waiting anxiously for the answer.
-You… you really understand me?
They had already spoken before, so it was clear. Still, he asked again because this felt like a dream.
Could this really be happening?
“Yes, I can hear you. Loud and clear.”
At Cheon Dowoon’s confirmation, Guu’s eyes wavered. He took a deep breath, emotions swelling inside.
A wish he thought would never come true had just become reality.
“Mister, Guu’s crying.”
-I am not crying. Who said that?
Guu bit his lip hard. He had no intention of crying like a fool.
But despite that, tears welled up uncontrollably.
Being able to talk to someone—being able to communicate. Just that was enough to move him to tears.
“Alright then, tell me. Guu, what do you want to do with him?”
Guu looked at the unconscious hunter. According to the laws of the Demon Realm, the best choice would be to kill him.
But Guu wasn’t the kind of person to talk about death in front of a child.
-I’m satisfied with hanging him over the waterfall too. Let’s go with what the little one wants.
“He said okay.”
Once the message was relayed, Kim Nari happily hoisted up the man’s leg.
“Let’s go hang him up!”
Kim Nari looked delighted. Cheon Dowoon looked amused. And the one enjoying this the most was none other than Guu.
Perched on Cheon Dowoon’s shoulder, Guu’s fur puffed up with joy.
‘I finally found one. Someone who can hear my voice.’
Guu bounced his stubby legs in the air as he sat on Cheon Dowoon’s shoulder. It was his way of expressing joy.
Two chimeras and one monster. They laughed like they were out on a picnic.
* * *
A tree growing through the cliff’s side. At the end of the vine connected to it hung a man.
The one who attacked Kim Nari—B+-Class Hunter Nam Ki-seok.
He was trying to make sense of this situation.
Nam Ki-seok had high self-esteem.
An only child from a wealthy family, a handsome face, awakened at age 8—unusually young considering most awaken in their late teens.
Having awakened early, he adapted to his powers quickly. On paper, it was an enviable life.
Except for one shortcoming.
[Hey, Nam Ki-seok, why haven’t you called in so lon—oh, never mind.]
Hair loss starting in his late teens.
[Yo, it’s been a while—oh… right. Um, you’ve been well, I hope?]
A bald spot forming in his early 20s.
[Stay in touch, man. What have you been up t—oh.]
By his mid-20s, even his temples were receding.
As his hair fell out, his good looks lost their shine. People said he looked ten years older.
Frustrated, he shaved his head and walked around bald. Then, a glimmer of hope appeared just a few weeks ago.
[This liquid metal is a mineral from beyond the gate.]
He stumbled upon a current affairs program on TV.
[They say it can cure baldness. Is that true?]
Nam Ki-seok scoffed at the obvious marketing ploy.
He had tried every treatment on the market. He was beyond hope.
[It’s true. Look at my hair—so full, isn’t it?]
The doctor in the video swept his thick hair proudly.
[This was me a month ago.]
The picture showed a completely bald man grinning.
Nam Ki-seok rolled his eyes at what he assumed was a gimmick.
[It happened during a lab accident. I was doused in the liquid metal. Three days later—this.]
Sure, it was the usual sales pitch. Still, Nam Ki-seok found himself reaching for his phone.
【Liquid metal】
【Hair growth】
【Baldness cure】
The search engine was flooded with similar terms.
[If it’s a mineral from the Demon Realm… maybe it really works… Where do I order this…?]
He started hoping. The anchor on the show asked the same thing.
[Doctor, will you be the first to create a cure for baldness?]
[No.]
The doctor shook his head firmly. Nam Ki-seok froze.
[The quantity is too small. It should be used for the greater good.]
[The greater good?]
[To create chimera hunters. We’ll use it to build android skeletons infused with creatures from beyond the gate. Hunting monsters is more important.]
[Nooo!]
Nam Ki-seok screamed and slammed the table.
The expensive table cracked in half under the power of an Awakened.
He didn’t care.
[Make the cure! That’s what the world needs!] he shouted at the screen.
One month later, a breaking news alert appeared.
[A mechanical organism escaped from a lab and jumped into a gate—]
[Praise the heavens!]
Nam Ki-seok rejoiced. In the Demon Realm, the law didn’t apply.
If it’s outside government control, finders keepers.
He would find that mechanical creature and melt it down. He would pour it on his scalp.
With unmatched obsession, he dove into the Demon Realm.
After a week of searching, he found a young girl hopping through the landscape.
‘There’s no way a child would be in the Demon Realm.’
So that had to be the mechanical lifeform.
He’d already gathered intel that it could change its appearance. No doubt in his mind.
[Found you…!] his eyes gleamed. The attack began—and led to his current situation.
“Urghh… urk.”
Dangling above the waterfall, Nam Ki-seok retched.
Hanging for hours was starting to make him dizzy.
‘I can’t even use my powers like this…!’
He was a telekinetic. If he used fire recklessly now, the vine might burn and snap.
‘I’ll die if I fall.’
Three meters below was a pond teeming with fish.
Each one as thick as a man’s arm, with jaws stronger than piranhas.
They sensed food above and leapt toward it.
He flailed his legs to avoid being bitten—for three hours straight.
Even an Awakened was getting exhausted.
“Ughhh…” he groaned. Was wanting hair really such a crime?
“Please let me down…”
He had begged. He tried threatening them, too. But every time, the kid just poked him with a stick to keep him swinging.
“Hey, mister, look! He’s swinging.”
The girl giggled.
“He really is. Like a swing.”
The man beside her smiled too.
“That’s it! I’m giving him a swing ride!”
The girl gave him a long push. The tree creaked as if it might be uprooted.
“I’m sorry! I was wrong! Please let me down, big bro!”
Thirty minutes of begging later—still no answer.
The two, who looked like a father and daughter, opened a bag.
“Time for lunch. Should we cook some ramen?”
“Ramen! I like that. I’ll catch some fish to go with it.”
Splash. Kim Nari dove into the water and came out with a fish.
Fish swarmed her, biting her all over—but she didn’t flinch.
“Look, mister! I caught a lot!”
One in her hand.
Eight clinging to her.
“Let the rest go. We’ll want to eat them next time too.”
“Okay!”
She threw them back, leaving one behind.
‘Aren’t those registered as Class B aquatic monsters…?’
She just ripped them off bare-handed. Nam Ki-seok was stunned.
Meanwhile, Cheon Dowoon took a gas burner out of his bag.
They really looked like they were on a picnic.
‘What the hell is this… They’re cooking ramen while someone’s hanging from a cliff?’
Sure, the girl wasn’t human. But what was that man? How was he so relaxed in the Demon Realm?
He looked normal. Handsome, even. But dressed like a caveman from a painting.
‘He’s even barefoot. No armor or anything… What is he? Training in asceticism?’
One question led to another.
And then it hit him. The fish. Why had they caught the fish if they were cooking ramen?
He remembered the girl saying she wanted to put the fish in the ramen.
No way. Surely not.
That kind of fish was known for its foul stench—on the “Top 10 Worst Monster Smells” list.
‘No. They wouldn’t… right? Why would anyone do that…?’
Surely, he was just misunderstanding something.
He watched Cheon Dowoon nervously.
