Episode 4
The Heavenly Demon's Secret Training
‘What's up with the titles of all the books the Heavenly Demon reads?’
The books looked like something a regular housewife would pick out.
Yep. Most of the books on the shelf were about raising kids.
‘No wonder Dad's so good at doing my hair.’
Dad would do my hair himself every day, always a different style with different stuff.
Today, he twisted my pigtails into little round buns, kind of like dumplings.
‘The purple ribbon matches the color of Dad's coat.’
I touched the purple ribbon and smiled a little. It wasn't what I expected, but I didn't mind.
‘Dad's been putting in so much effort for me.’
I was once again impressed by Dad’s efforts.
‘I gotta keep up! I need to help Dad get over his mental weakness even faster, so we can keep living happily like this!’
To make that happen, I had to get moving.
I walked past the shelves crammed with parenting books and headed further in.
‘More parenting books. “How to Make Your Kid Grow Taller”…’
When I opened a book, I saw a memo in Dad’s handwriting.
‘Boil snow herb and give it to them once a day.’
The book about height reminded me of something I asked Dad a while back.
“Dad, why am I so short?”
“Who said Star is short?”
“But Ik-seon is my age, and he's way taller than me. I wanna be tall like Ik-seon.”
“Dad likes you just the way you are, Star.”
“But I don't! You and Ik-seon are both tall. I wanna be tall! Make me grow!”
I remembered Dad's face, looking all troubled as I clung to his arm and whined.
‘Now that I think about it, that's when Dad started giving me tea made with snow herb…’
It was all to make me taller.
‘And all I did was complain about the tea being bitter…’
“You finished your tea, so I shall reward you.”
After I drank the tea, Dad would pop a sweet sugar candy in my mouth like a present.
‘Dad made that bitter tea for me. It's really bitter, but... I'll drink it without complaining from now on.’
Feeling touched by Dad's love, I turned the page. There was another note in the same handwriting where it talked about what snow herb was good for.
‘…No effect?’
I blurted out, feeling totally blindsided.
“Even if it didn't work, did he have to be so harsh about it?”
Muttering, I put the book back and turned to the shelf across from it. Some words caught my eye.
[A Gift for Star(星).]
‘Star, the same 'star' as in my name.’
Curious, I started to pull the book out.
Creak, rumble, crash!
The bookshelf split in two with a loud noise.
* * *
Meanwhile, the Heavenly Demon, Dang-hui, quietly slipped into the inner room, locked the door, and sat down cross-legged.
“Transcendent Demon Barrier Thread.”
When Hui spread his hands, a creepy, purple energy poured out of his fingertips like a bunch of threads.
The purple threads wrapped around the room in a flash, making a barrier.
‘How long can I train today?’
Normally, Cheon-seong would go play at Ik-seon's house while Hui worked, but just in case, Hui always used a barrier to make a secret training space.
‘Star might come back early, so I gotta be quick. Is this how I slice it?’
The book Hui opened just had a drawing of a person's head.
Hui stared intensely at the picture in the book.
“It'd be easier to learn by doing it.”
Hui put the book down, stood up, and looked at a straw dummy that looked just like a person, even down to the detailed hair.
‘I wonder if this will cut cleanly?’
Hui eyeballed the distance to the straw dummy.
It looked like Hui just touched the sword. But then, purple sword energy burst from the blade.
“Flying Spirit Quick Sword.”
Before he even finished the words, Hui zipped past the straw dummy in a straight line, like he was gliding.
Suddenly, the sword was in Hui's hand.
The straw dummy's hair flew everywhere.
Hui turned around and walked back to the straw dummy.
“Perfectly straight.”
Hui smiled to himself, looking at the straw dummy's hair, cut perfectly straight.
‘This'll look great on Star. Well, Star would be cute even bald. But she's at that age where she cares about what's in style.’
“What else is there?”
Hui picked up the book, looking pleased.
The book's title was revealed.
"How to Style Your Kid's Hair So They'll Love It"
* * *
‘D-did the bookshelf just split open?’
I stared at the split bookshelf, my mouth hanging open.
That wasn't the only surprising thing.
‘There was a hidden room behind the bookshelf!’
Unlike the library, which was packed with books, this place only had one bookshelf, and the books were wrapped in silk.
‘Maybe I found something awesome? Like a real-deal martial arts manual?’
In other martial arts stories, people get enlightened just by reading secret manuals... Maybe this life is all about leveling up with martial arts manuals?
My heart pounding, I grabbed one of the silk-wrapped books.
I opened the book and couldn't help but grin.
‘Found it!’
It wasn't a martial arts manual like I'd hoped, but it was all about the Demonic Cult.
‘Wait, is everything in here...?’
I quickly pulled out the other books in the secret room and flipped through them.
‘A gold mine! This place is a gold mine!’
“Jackpot!”
I was right! I raised my hands and cheered.
‘Is this what it's like to be a Simmani who found a ginseng field?’
All the books in the secret room were about the Demonic Cult.
Just looking through them, I figured if I read and organized them, I could find out everything – where their headquarters were, how they were organized, everything.
“I can't just stand here celebrating.”
‘I need to get the info I need before Dad finishes training. But...’
“Where should I start reading?”
All the books in the secret room were about the Demonic Cult.
There were fewer than outside, but seeing dozens of books still made me feel overwhelmed.
‘Dad said books are food for the soul. I'll just think of it like eating sugar candy.’
“Okay, first, the location of the Demonic Cult!”
I clenched my fist, determined, and opened the book about where and why the Demonic Cult was set up.
‘This village is way closer to the Demonic Cult than I thought.’
Now that I knew where the Demonic Cult was, it made sense why Dad picked this village to hide in.
‘It's close to the Demonic Cult, so it's easy to get news and give orders.’
Someone as skilled as Dad could get there in a flash if something dangerous happened.
‘The problem is that I’m not as skilled as Dad.’
‘Especially since I'm a kid, it'd take me more than a day to get to the Demonic Cult.’
“I guess I should be glad it's not farther, right?”
After I carefully figured out the Demonic Cult's location, I moved on to the next book.
This one was about how the Demonic Cult was organized.
‘The head of the Demonic Cult is the leader, Dad, and there's a second-in-command... Yeah, there are second-in-commands in novels too.’
Got it. I quickly flipped to the next page.
‘This is the important part. To find a way to cure Dad's mental weakness, I need to be able to move around the Demonic Cult freely.’
The only way to do that is to become a member and move around.
‘The infamous Demonic Cult won't just let anyone in.’
So, I had to find a way to be useful to them.
This chapter was about the lower ranks of the Demonic Cult.
‘First off, with my martial arts skills, there's no way I'm getting into the Five Main Combat Units... Is there a way to become a low-level disciple?’
And right there, the next line explained how the Demonic Cult recruits new disciples.
‘New disciples are chosen once a year. Hundreds of people fight, and whoever survives gets in.’
Fight hundreds of people when I can barely beat one?
In this tiny body, it'd be a miracle just to survive without getting trampled!
“If even being a low-level disciple is this hard, how am I supposed to get into the Demonic Cult? Should I try to get in as a servant?”
But if I became a servant, I wouldn't be able to move around freely.
‘I could spend all day just doing chores and laundry. I need enough free time to sneak around.’
So, being a servant was out of the question.
Now, there were only three organizations left.
The Black Assassination Squad (黑殺隊), a small elite assassination unit.
The Shadowless Squad (無影隊), a secret inspection group.
The Three Secret Squad (三秘隊), an intelligence agency within the cult.
‘Which of these can I get into…’
As I thought about it, a solution suddenly hit me.
I knew the answer. I immediately pointed to the name of one of the three groups.
“Here!”
