Chapter 176: Career Path (1)

A few months ago, around the time when Il-mok was engrossed solely in his solitary training.

Il-mok’s peers were also in the process of overcoming the memory of that day in their own ways.

But not all the disciples were handling things well.

Since the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was a group that venerated the martial way, fearing battle was an unacceptable notion.

Most of the disciples desperately tried to ignore the fact that they'd felt fear, which only worsened their symptoms.

And Physician Seo Jae-pil, who'd received special orders from Il-mok, was busting his ass trying to save them.

"It's okay not to force yourself to ignore your fear. Being unable to feel fear is just plain ignorance. Knowing you're scared but still standing up to fight is what real courage is.”

He gave those desperately trying to push away their fear the courage to face their own emotions.

Obviously, a few words wouldn't magically fix all the disciples and help them overcome that day's trauma.

“It seems there are several students whose condition is more serious than I thought, Young Master.”

"Ugh. I'm in pretty serious condition myself."

Il-mok, who was still in the middle of his episodes at the time, let out a deep sigh and started venting.

"This damn bastard keeps acting up in my head."

Actually, there were several reasons Il-mok could endure despite having breakdowns day after day.

The rage that built up from being tormented by these shitty side effects. The hope that the side effects would weaken once this period passed. The nanny who appeared to save him every time he had a fit. And finally, the regular counseling he had with Seo Jae-pil made him stay sane.

When you're pissed off or depressed, just spilling your grievance to someone tends to ease the burden a bit.

Of course, there were also cases where misspeaking could spread rumors and cause more tiring troubles, but Seo Jae-pil was basically a psychiatrist, so he was a relatively safe partner for conversation.

"This crazy bastard can't even tell the difference between a sword and chopsticks anymore. I was just trying to pick up some meat with chopsticks, but suddenly he tried to unleash the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword’s technique as if trying to slaughter the meat!”

Since the 'crazy bastard' he was referring to was another personality, it was basically the same as calling himself a crazy bastard.

But Seo Jae-pil didn't bother pointing that out.

"I'm gonna completely slaughter him with the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword."

He also didn’t point out how insane the vow to slaughter himself sounded, or how bizarre it was to say he would kill the ego of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword with the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword itself.

He just thought, "The Young Master must be having a very hard time lately," and moved on to jot everything down on paper for the sake of future research purposes.

Once Il-mok’s seemingly never-ending rants finally stopped, Seo Jae-pil asked what he really wanted to know.

"What should we do about these poor disciples?"

He knew from the start that Il-mok just wanted to vent, not actually find solutions.

Hence, it was better to steer his thoughts in a different direction.

To that question, Il-mok responded with a half-hearted attitude.

"They're all members of our cult anyway, right? Maybe we could use their faith to help?"

It sounded pretty blasphemous, but Seo Jae-pil decided to hear him out.

"Using their faith... In what way do you mean?”

"Tell them to confess their sins to Master. From our cult members' perspective, Master is basically no different from a god. If they confess their sins to Master and receive forgiveness, wouldn't that alone make their hearts feel much lighter?"

People turning to god when pushed to their limits.

It was a common story.

Whether they be athletes or celebrities, exam-takers or businessmen, weren't there countless people who came to believe in a religion after overcoming a difficult time?

Religion is tremendously valuable because it can provide the driving force to get through hard times.

That's what Il-mok used to think.

Until he had entered this crazy cult.

And Seo Jae-pil, a cult member obsessed with medicine, opened his mouth with a troubled expression.

“Th-That… To use the Supreme One for such a personal reason, wouldn’t that be extremely disrespectful?”

No matter how obsessed he was with medicine, he was still a member of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

He would never have dared to even imagine the thought of selling the Heavenly Demon’s name for the sake of his own treatment.

But Il-mok was different.

"Have you forgotten how benevolent Master is? Since these poor young disciples have been pushed to their mental limits, Master would embrace them with his vast magnanimity. This isn't exploiting Master's name for personal gain at all."

"Ah..."

Seeing that Seo Jae-pil had realized something, Il-mok kept talking.

"Plus, if they overcome their fear through Master's grace, their faith will deepen. And if they break free from their Heart Demons, their skills will also progress by leaps and bounds. In other words, they will be reborn as faithful warriors of the Divine Cult. What reason could Master possibly have to be displeased?"

Seo Jae-pil scribbled something down on paper with his brush with a face full of emotion.

As he organized these medical yet religious insights, he soon lifted his head and spoke. “In that case, are you also confessing to the Supreme One every night, Young Master?”

“What the f—… Ah, sorry, my Demonic Art went crazy. What's with that random question?"

"Since you said praying to the Supreme Being brings peace of mind, I wondered if you, who've been having daily episodes lately, might also be doing the same."

Il-mok forced his lips up into the most strained smile possible as he answered, "Of course I am."

Far from confessing to Master, he cursed him out in his head every other day.

Even now, his daily journal was packed with insults about the Heavenly Demon.

It was natural.

'Motherfucker. Why the hell did you have to teach me this piece of shit Demonic Art?'

—Snatch that man’s brush!

—Show me that most perfect sword technique once more!

Even at this very moment, the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword was having a fit in his head.

***

The next day.

Seo Jae-pil smiled gently at a disciple he'd been counseling for months and gave his advice.

"Tonight, before you sleep, clasp your hands together and confess your sins to the Heavenly Demon. You are a frail mortal being under the Heavenly Demon’s care, and at the same time, you are a warrior who will fight for the Divine Cult in the future. If it's the benevolent Heavenly Demon, he will hear your confession and forgive your sins. And through the Supreme One's grace, you will be reborn as a faithful warrior."

Following Il-mok's advice, he gladly sold out the Heavenly Demon.

And not just to one person.

He gave the exact same advice to all the students who were showing similar symptoms.

And the effect was beyond imagination.

A few days later, students began to offer prayers to the Heavenly Demon according to Seo Jae-pil’s advice.

"Ah, so that's how it was."

"Fear is only natural for us mere mortals."

"But with the Supreme Being by our side."

"He embraces all our fears and sins."

The disciples, each having their own revelations, started reciting prayers with "The Heavenly Demon Descends to Save All Demons!" whenever even slightly negative thoughts arose.

Whenever Il-mok caught glimpses of his peers being like that during his training, he’d think, '...Their eyes look similar to those fanatic bastards I saw last time, don't they?'

Excellent fanatics were being cultivated in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

Thanks to his advice.

***

Around the time Il-mok's episodes were gradually becoming less frequent, most of his peers were also slowly beginning to escape from that day's nightmare.

As the wounds carved into their hearts gradually healed and they found the strength to move forward, the disciples each painted their own futures in their own ways.

There were those like Dokgo Pae who refined their own martial arts by reviewing the battle of that day, and there were those like Gwak Sul or Jeong Hyeon who set out to find their own unique paths.

Of course, there were also those like Ju Seo-yeon who didn't seem particularly moved by anything.

And one disciple was attempting a frontal breakthrough in a completely different way from the others.

Just when everyone was finally breaking free from that day's wounds, this woman went to each disciple individually to propose 'a certain thing.'

It was an absolutely ridiculous proposal, and several disciples reacted negatively to it.

"Hohoho. Just trust me and follow along."

"There's no need to be afraid. My outstanding looks and acting will draw all the attention anyway."

From the start, the possibility of her proposal being rejected was unthinkable to this woman.

She eventually persuaded—or rather, forcibly recruited—all her classmates except Il-mok and then moved on to her next task.

After dragging in all her classmates except Il-mok, she felt it was a bit lacking to proceed with just nineteen people.

She ended up convincing even the assistant instructors and instructors, and even dragged in the junior disciples almost by force.

The work progressed smoothly, and time flew by quickly.

And a few days after Il-mok took a step away from Extremity

On the day of the Hall of the Demonic Way’s graduation ceremony..

"As the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons, I offer my sincere congratulations to you, the talents who will be responsible for our Divine Cult's future, on completing your studies at the Hall of the Demonic Way.”

“It would be well for you to take pride in the countless hardships and adversities you have experienced over the past two years. In particular, there were an exceptional number of eventful incidents this year, so this Hall Master is also very proud of you for overcoming all of those adversities.”

The Heavenly Demon and the Hall Master droned on with congratulatory speeches similar to last time.

Il-mok felt like his barely overcome Heart Demon might resurface from that tedious speech.

—Cut off both their heads with your sword right now! You can unleash that perfect sword technique now!

'You crazy bastard. That wouldn’t even work on those two.’

Perhaps because his focus on training had paid off, Il-mok could easily resist his other ego's temptation.

—Ahem. L-let's build up a bit more skill before challenging them.

Maybe it just got scared of the Heavenly Demon and tucked its tail between its legs.

And after all the congratulatory speeches ended.

Il-mok came to witness with his own two eyes the plan of a certain crazy woman that had been carried out without his knowledge.

"This graduation ceremony performance will be conducted as a joint performance by all clubs!"

Il-mok, who had lived focused only on training, was puzzled when he heard Head Instructor Chu Il-hwan's announcement.

'Joint performance? Was there such a thing?'

And Il-mok's confused expression soon twisted bizarrely.

In the center of the training ground were his nineteen classmate surrounded by their juniors.

It was when he heard that specific battle cry did he finally realized what kind of joint performance this was.

"Allahu Akbar!!!"

The play that Bang Mi-hwa had prepared was none other than a reenactment of the battle of that day.

The juniors, assistant instructors, and instructors played the roles of those fanatics from that day.

"Hyaah!"

And the students who had been ambushed that day were each expressing their own selves from that day.

Except for one person.

"Disciple Gwak Sul! Keep giving orders!"

The protagonist of the play, Bang Mi-hwa.