Chapter 2
All right. First, calm down and sort this out step by step.
Yesterday, I woke up, posted a breakfast proof shot on Wizard Gallery, and went to an interview.
As usual, I failed the interview, came home feeling bitter, and went to sleep.
After that, I dreamed I was an incredible being called the 'Heavenly Demon,' and everyone looked up to me.
Then I woke up as a little girl, and my status window had changed, too.
There's only one place I can turn to at a time like this.
[Magic Awakeners Gallery]
A community where all kinds of information about magic and Awakened people gather. If anyone knows about this bizarre phenomenon I'm experiencing, it'll be someone there.
I hurriedly picked up my phone.
Bzzzt-!
[Fingerprint does not match.]
“Ah.”
Looks like my fingerprints changed along with my body.
Luckily, I could still enter my password, so I quickly unlocked my phone and logged into Wizard Gallery.
[Magic Awakeners Gallery]
[Title: Guys, I got it cut off]
[Posted by: Cheon.Ma]
I really did get my dick cut off, you fuckers!
Do Awakened people ever turn into women when they awaken a second time? I'm serious.
[Comments]
Anon: What the hell are you talking about? Have you finally gone insane?
MageTime: Since your breakfast posts aren't getting you attention anymore, are you making crazy shit up now?
Roombound Archmage: Mage bro, second awakenings aren't a thing... Once you've got a trash trait, it's trash forever...
Warrior Main: Once a magic-perv, always a magic-perv, bro.
Loves Magic: This bastard's gone and started trolling about turning into a woman.
Black*Demon*Blade: Mods, what are you doing?
Allah's Magic Wand: An Awakened person awakened again and turned into a woman? But that's not the end of it! Soy sauce, pepper, green onions, garlic, onions, ginger... (View more)
“No, fuck.”
Comments came pouring in one after another in no time. The problem was that every single one of them was negative.
I'm telling the truth, you bastards!
Just as I raised my hands to the keyboard again to plead my case.
Ding!
[This IP has been blocked.]
Reason: Trolling
Duration: 7 days
"Aaaagh!"
BANG BANG BANG BANG!
Before I could even finish screaming, someone pounded furiously on the wall from the next room. They seemed pretty angry.
Come to think of it, this studio apartment has absolutely terrible soundproofing.
‘Calm down.’
Thanks to the neighbor's murderous complaint, I managed to cool off a little.
Of course, calming down didn't make this goddamn reality any better.
“…….”
Okay, analysis complete.
I'm fucked.
‘First, I need to verify the facts.’
I brought up my changed status window once again.
[Lee Jian]
[Level] 1
[Class] Heavenly Demon (天魔)
[Traits] Heavenly Demon (天魔), Nine Yin Severed Meridians (九陰絕脈)
I still couldn't get used to this status window. First, I decided to check the Heavenly Demon trait, which stood out the most.
[Heavenly Demon (天魔)]
[Master of the Ten Thousand Demons (萬魔). Absolute sovereign of the Nine Heavens (九天). All demons (魔) in existence bow their heads at your feet.]
“What the hell is this?”
I'd never seen such an utterly deranged description window in my life.
Of course, I'd never seen anyone else's trait window, but still, there had to be such a thing as an average.
“And why doesn't it list a rank?”
Don't traits usually have their rank after their name?
Is it really just 'Heavenly Demon' and that's it?
“……Guess that's that.”
Even I, who didn't read much fiction, knew what the Heavenly Demon was. That said it all.
“And what is Nine Yin Severed Meridians...”
I could more or less guess without looking, but I checked anyway, just to be polite.
[Nine Yin Severed Meridians (九陰絕脈)]
[A vessel of extreme yin (極陰). Your frozen meridians consume your innate true energy every moment.]
Mm, still no idea.
It just seems like mana depletion syndrome in a wuxia style.
‘Should've read some wuxia when I had the chance.’
I'd spent my whole life focused on magic, so wuxia had never really interested me.
I wanted to be someone who dropped a gigantic meteor from the sky like some ninja, not a swordsman who cleaved mountains with a blade.
'Come to think of it, that guy did both.'
Anyway, Nine Yin Severed Meridians. I'm pretty sure I'd heard that somewhere.
There was one thing I knew for certain.
'It seems worse.‘
The situation had gotten worse, if anything. It certainly hadn't improved.
‘Hmm.’
After checking my status window, I plopped down onto the floor.
For some reason, I naturally crossed my legs into a lotus position, but I decided to let the little things slide.
‘Heavenly Demon.’
Ruler of the Ten Thousand Demons, the one whom all demons obey.
The description was vague, so I couldn't tell exactly what it meant. And yet, every time I rolled the word 'Heavenly Demon' around in my mind, something in my chest tickled.
'Heavenly Demon, Heavenly Demon, Heavenly Demon...'
-What do you think the Heavenly Demon (天魔) is?
Perhaps that was why someone's voice suddenly rang out in my head.
A voice that felt somehow nostalgic.
I—this sovereign—knew the owner of this voice.
"The Heavenly Demon is..."
I paused to catch my breath.
“The strongest person in the Heavenly Demon Cult, and”
-The one who leads its followers.
I answered, and this sovereign wasn't about to be outdone.
-And someone who must live up to everyone's expectations, too.
The owner of the voice replied gently.
-Today, let's review the basics of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art once more. Now, close your eyes.
Following the other person's instruction, this sovereign quietly closed their eyes.
-
Sit cross-legged and place both hands together over your navel.
I crossed my legs and neatly placed both hands together over my navel.
-
Breathe in slowly. Don't rush.
I began breathing as the voice guided me.
I drew in the surrounding air until my lungs felt ready to burst, then took in only the energy I needed and breathed out the unwanted, turbid qi.
Once, twice.
With the first breath, I guided the gathered inner qi (內氣) into my dantian through controlled breathing (吐納).
With the second breath, I sent the inner qi racing toward the acupoints throughout my body.
-
This was the basic energy-circulation meditation practiced by martial artists.
Thump!
The power racing through me soon hit a solid wall and came to a stop.
Nine Yin Severed Meridians (九陰絕脈)
With nine meridians frozen, nothing but extremely yang energy could break through this solid wall.
-
-You say you've hit a wall? But it's all right. Haven't I already taught you how to smash through it?
That's right. I already knew how to deal with this situation. Hadn't I been receiving instruction all this time?
'Heavenly Demon Divine Art (天魔神功).‘
A martial art—or rather, a divine art—for the Heavenly Demon who would one day open the heavens.
Nothing can stand in the Heavenly Demon's way. I slammed the power I'd gathered straight into the blocked wall.
Thump!
"Kehk."
A red line of blood trickled from between my tightly pressed lips. It hurt.
-
-It doesn't matter. What's the worst that could happen? You die, that's all.
The person in my memory laughed. Is that so? Well, if Lord %#!@ says so, then it must be so.
Thump!
Once again, I slammed my inner qi into the blocked meridian.
Thump! Thump! Crack!
After several fierce collisions, blood thoroughly soaked my lips.
At last, a crack appeared in the tightly sealed meridian, and a path opened.
I pushed my inner qi through that narrow gap.
Little by little, slowly.
I repeated this process nine times, until a clear passage opened through the frozen meridians.
'…….'
How much time had passed?
By the time I could no longer tell the blood from my bitten lips apart from the blood rising in my throat.
At last, the inner qi flowed through my meridians and made one circuit around my whole body, forming a circle—in other words, a tiny universe.
-That is the Small Heavenly Circuit (小周天).
Flash!
At that very moment, this sovereign snapped my eyes open.
-You know what you have to do now. Go.
Yes, this sovereign knew. Hadn't the other person taught me again and again?
“I'll be back.”
A brief greeting. I changed clothes haphazardly and went outside without hesitation.
Far away, a tower rose into the darkness, so tall it seemed to reach beyond the sky.
‘Hmm.’
It's far. Even in my original body, it would've taken a full two hours to walk there.
With my current stubby frame, it would take even longer.
But it didn't matter after all. Distance was no longer an obstacle to me.
Thump!
I folded the earth beneath me and raced through the air.
“Shukuchi (縮地).”
In a mage's terminology, teleportation.
Whoosh!
The tiny body, engulfed in a swirl of light, soon disappeared without a trace.
***
“Yaaawn.”
Kim Cheolsu, a staff member in charge of controlling access to the tower, yawned hugely.
It sounded good to call it a management position, but in reality he was little more than a guard.
His main job was to stop freshly Awakened rookies from rushing in blindly and to control indiscriminate entry into the tower.
“Man, I'm tired.”
He rubbed his dry, gritty eyes, forcing himself to fight off the drowsiness that had hit him during his first night shift in a while.
‘Maybe I'll browse the gallery.’
When you're bored, there's nothing like an online community.
Of course, looking at his phone during his shift was clearly slacking off.
But how many crazy people would go into a tower in the middle of the night like this?
“Ahem.”
Kim Cheolsu hummed as he pulled out his phone.
He was a proper mage-type Awakened, if nothing else, and had full access to Wizard Gallery.
Kim Cheolsu used the handle 'Allah's Magic Wand,' and couldn't help smiling at the thought of enjoying the gallery as usual today.
‘What kind of stupid post should I make today?’
Just imagining it made him shiver with excitement. And just as he thought that and turned on his phone.
Whoosh!
“Huh?”
A kid suddenly appeared in front of him, surrounded by a swirl of light.
‘Am I dreaming?’
He rubbed his eyes hard once more.
A child suddenly popping out of thin air? That made no sense.
But no matter how many times he rubbed his eyes, the reality before him didn't change.
Ebony-black hair and red eyes.
The girl, who would surely grow into a stunning beauty, was still standing there, staring at the tower.
“Hey, kid, it's dangerous up ahead, so...”
At Kim Cheolsu's attempt to stop her, the girl slowly turned her head.
‘What is that look...’
The moment their eyes met, Kim Cheolsu involuntarily drew a sharp breath.
That wasn't the kind of presence a kid who looked barely middle-school age could give off.
Utterly ferocious, and overwhelmingly vast.
It was as if all the magic in the world bowed its head at that girl's feet.
“Kid, it's dangerous, so step back...”
Kim Cheolsu pulled himself together, as befitted a professional, and reached out toward the girl.
“Enter.”
But the girl was a step faster, reaching out toward the tower.
“Huh?”
The girl was engulfed in a swirl of light, just as she had been when she first appeared, and vanished in an instant.
“I'm fucked.”
Kim Cheolsu's jaw dropped.
***
Please select a difficulty.]
[EASY] [NORMAL] [HARD] [NIGHTMARE]
“…….”
I didn't answer. It wasn't worth answering.
[NIGHTMARE difficulty has been selected automatically.]
[May glory be upon the challenger.]
Flash!
My vision was engulfed in a brilliant swirl of light.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a group of goblins drooling all over themselves.
‘About ten, I'd say.’
Considering that Easy had one, Normal had three, and Hard had five, the number had suddenly doubled.
On top of that, they had all sorts of weapons: swords, spears, and bows.
So this was Nightmare difficulty. The gallery said to pick Nightmare if you wanted to die quickly.
Just the monster placement alone made it clear they intended to kill the challenger, no matter what.
First. That wasn't what mattered.
“Your heads are too high.”
It was most unpleasant that such insignificant creatures dared to meet this sovereign's gaze without knowing their place.
“Kereuk!”
The goblins all gripped their crude weapons and charged at this sovereign.
“Do not stand in this sovereign's way.”
Thump!
I stamped my foot.
I sent the recoil from digging deep into the earth through my feet, legs, and waist, all the way to my fingertips.
To make up for my pitifully frail body, I immediately layered magic over it.
“Strength enhancement, acceleration, hardening.”
Countless spells wrapped around my body, layer upon layer.
There was no need to worry about running out of mana. The path was open, and all the demons (魔) in this world belonged to this sovereign, so depletion syndrome was no obstacle now.
Vrrrm!
Vast amounts of mana gathered over my clenched fist, as if it might explode at any moment.
I punched at the insignificant creatures charging toward me with all my might.
“Get lost.”
Heaven-Shattering Limitless Fist (破天無極拳)
Heaven-Shattering Annihilation (破天滅殺)
The earth screamed.
***
[You have cleared the first floor on Nightmare difficulty!]
[Clear Time] 10 seconds
[Clear Rank] SSS
[The Tower remembers the challenger's name.]
“Heavenly Demon.”
I spoke a single, brief word toward the notification windows appearing one after another in midair.
[Challenger Rankings]
[1st: Heavenly Demon SSS]
[2nd: -SUPER- S ]
[3rd: Blood Demon S]
And just like that, the world was turned upside down.