Chapter 36
The Heavenly Demon’s Housewarming
An apartment under renovation.
Vrrr. Rrrrkkk.
The loud sounds of construction, mixed with dust like drifting fog, spread out through the window.
In the bathroom, a tile worker named Kim Chan-won crouched down, cutting tiles with a grinder.
At the entrance stood Cheonma, sleeves rolled up, loading debris into trash bags.
“The atmosphere really has changed.”
Watching Cheonma work, Jang Chae-won nodded.
The man who used to radiate such a deadly aura that merely standing near him sent chills down one’s spine—
now looked calm, no different from any other construction worker.
“Hey, Mr. Cheon.”
Just then, Mr. Park, a carpenter dismantling old moldings, approached.
“You should only put non-flammable waste in those bags. If you mix them all together like that, the collectors—”
“What did you just say?”
Cheonma straightened up and turned. From his eyes flared blood-red light, burning like the fires of hell.
Meeting his gaze, Mr. Park shuddered and quickly shook his head.
“N-nothing! I just meant… keep up the good work!”
As Mr. Park fled in a panic, Jang Chae-won sighed and shook her head.
“Guess there’s nothing he can do about that face.”
“Yeah, no kidding.”
Tile worker Kim Chan-won, who had been in the kitchen, came over and sighed too.
“He looks terrifying, sure, but he’s actually a good guy, y’know.”
Indeed, Kim Chan-won was the only one who treated Cheonma like a normal colleague.
Watching him silently gather the trash, Jang Chae-won murmured softly,
“I wonder if he ever feels lonely.”
“Huh?”
“Ah, nothing.”
Just then, her phone rang.
“Ah! I forgot about that—yes, I’ll head over now.”
After finishing the call, she handed a plastic bag of cream bread and milk to Kim Chan-won.
“Here, share these with the others.”
“Alright.”
She then turned to Cheonma.
“It’s hot, so take it easy. I’m heading out for an estimate.”
“Got it.”
“And when you’re done, you don’t need to come by the store. Just go straight home.”
“It won’t even take half a day. Isn’t that a bit early?”
“It’s fine. Just head home.”
Before leaving, she paused and asked,
“You’ll go straight home after work, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re not stopping anywhere else?”
“Of course not.”
“Alright then.”
She waved without looking back and left.
A gentle breeze flowed through the veranda.
Cheonma stood beside Kim Chan-won, eating the bread and milk.
After finishing their snack, they stood side by side, quietly enjoying the wind.
“Man, your stamina’s unreal.”
Drinking the last of his milk, Kim said,
“What takes the demolition crew a full day, you finished in half.”
Not knowing what else to say, he chose praise. But with Cheonma, that was never the right approach.
“When you get older, you should focus on maintaining your stamina.”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“If this much work amazes you, that means you’re in poor shape.”
Kim groaned awkwardly and changed the topic.
“So how’s it going lately? Still practicing your tiling?”
“Of course. Whenever I have time, I take leftover tiles from the warehouse to practice.”
“Yeah? Where’ve you been putting them? Let me take a look sometime.”
“At the ‘Red Roof’ Dungeon on the northeast edge of Safe Dungeon.”
Kim’s smiling face immediately froze.
“W-what did you say? A dungeon?”
“There’s nowhere else to put them. I found a deserted F-rank dungeon people call the Red Roof and started tiling inside.”
“No, no, no! That’s bad!”
Kim waved his hands frantically.
“You can’t just stick tiles in a dungeon like that! It could destabilize it—or worse, monsters could spawn!”
Even a stable dungeon could become unstable if exposed to modern materials like construction adhesives.
If it turned into a variable dungeon, it’d be a disaster.
“It matters not to me.”
Shameless and completely unbothered, Cheonma spoke with pride.
“Besides, that dungeon’s filthier than a ruin. Thanks to me tiling the floors and walls—”
“Still no! You’ll get the whole company in trouble!”
Kim grabbed his shoulders and shook his head wildly.
“Just don’t, alright? Please, Mr. Cheon?”
“Hmm…”
After a long pause, Cheonma finally nodded with a strange look.
“There are far too many restrictions in this world. Back in the martial realm, nothing could stop me…”
Standing tall, staring at the distant sky, he truly looked like a grandmaster of legends.
Though no job is beneath another, his dignified bearing didn’t match someone hauling debris in dust.
“Come to think of it, you were some bigshot back in your world, weren’t you?”
“Not a bigshot.”
“Huh? Really? But I heard—”
“I was the pinnacle. In martial arts, in power—there was none above me.”
There was a hint of melancholy in his voice.
He, who had surpassed human limits, never imagined he’d one day labor as a tile worker in another world.
“I see.”
Reading his expression, Kim nodded heavily.
Though Cheonma often made mistakes at work, it wasn’t from incompetence—it was from struggling to adapt.
“By the way, your accent’s weird as hell. It’s like every Korean dialect mashed together.”
“Oh? You noticed?”
“I start and end each day reading books. Recently I studied a tome called ‘Our Native Dialects’.”
Kim grinned sheepishly.
“Well, I used to travel all over the country when I was young—guess the dialects just blended together.”
“I see.”
After a short silence, Kim asked quietly,
“Mr. Cheon… don’t you miss your world?”
Cheonma didn’t answer right away.
Miss it…?
Was there really anything to miss?
After conquering the martial world, all he ever did was sit in his library reading scrolls.
If not for his rival, the Martial Alliance Leader Jeong-cheon, he might never have endured that endless solitude.
“I don’t know.”
His eyes, fixed on the far sky, carried a faint loneliness.
“Wherever I am, I simply do my best.”
And that was true—he had always given his all.
He had mastered both demonic and martial arts thought impossible for any mortal,
and even accepted the solitude that came with reaching the top.
“I get that.”
Sensing his loneliness, Kim changed the subject.
“So, do you have any hobbies?”
“Hobbies?”
“Something you like—like fishing?”
“None.”
Kim nodded knowingly. A man who had tasted both the bitterness and sweetness of life could tell—
Cheonma’s life had been just as desolate as his expression.
“Then what are you doing after work today?”
“Returning to my quarters.”
“Ah, that building in the shielded zone that Mr. Im rented out to you?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, got it.”
Kim nodded, as if plotting something.
When the workday finally ended, Cheonma leisurely walked toward the subway station.
It was only 4 p.m.
“I finished early today.”
Since tomorrow was Sunday, he planned to stay home reading and watching TV.
As he walked, people glanced at him and gasped.
“Hmph.”
He glanced at his reflection in the glass and cleared his throat before boarding the train.
Later, he exited near his neighborhood and began running across rooftops using Night Moon Rapid Steps.
Even with only half his former power, his movement was swift as the wind.
A few bystanders caught glimpses of him leaping over buildings, but they simply assumed he was an awakened hunter.
Creak.
Entering his rooftop room, the air was silent.
He set down his shoes, hung up his clothes, and turned on the shower.
Shhh.
Cold water drenched his body in the cramped bathroom.
“Hoo.”
Drawing a bit of inner energy, his skin briefly glowed red-hot, instantly evaporating all the water into steam.
“Still too early for dinner.”
It was just past five. Walking out naked, he casually put his black training robe back on.
Then he sat cross-legged and opened a book.
On the cover, in big red letters: “Common Interior Construction Terms.”
Flip.
The small room was utterly quiet.
“Not much has changed.”
He smiled faintly.
His current routine wasn’t so different from life in the martial realm—
training (now manual labor) by day, reading by night.
Only, there was no morning meditation nor duels with Jeong-cheon anymore.
“What do you mean, not much has changed?”
A mechanical voice—his AI companion Nameless, resting on the charging dock, blinked awake.
“Nothing.”
“Hmm.”
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door.
Curious, Cheonma stood and opened it.
There stood Jang Chae-won, smiling brightly with several large shopping bags.
“Ta-da! Surprised?”
Kkyuu! (Ugh, smells like a bachelor’s place!)
The swallow perched on her shoulder chirped noisily.
Kkyuuu! (Doesn’t this place have hot water? Wash up already!)
“Yes, it’s me,” Cheonma replied calmly, interpreting freely as usual.
“What brings you here, Shopkeeper?”
“What do you mean? You moved here and never had a housewarming!”
“Housewarming?”
“Yeah, it’s like a little celebration when you move into a new home.”
She set the bags on the rooftop bench—full of vegetables, meat, and drinks.
“What’s all that food?”
“Well, I figured we could combine the housewarming with a team dinner.”
“Boss Jang?”
Just then, an elderly man appeared—Kim Chan-won, carrying more bags full of soju and snacks.
“Oh! Mr. Kim!”
“What are you doing here?”
“We were going to celebrate Cheonma’s move and have a little dinner party. You?”
“Ha! Same here. Thought I’d stop by for a drink. Looks like we had the same idea.”
“Perfect timing then!”
“Heh heh, I never say no to a drink.”
“Wait. This is my dwelling…”
Before he could protest, Jang handed him a bag.
“Here, wash these vegetables and mushrooms—ah, never mind, I’ll do it.”
She took it back and strode right into his room.
“This place is the sacred abode of—”
“Mr. Cheon, do you like charcoal-grilled meat?”
Kim waved his arm, and a gust of wind whooshed up, depositing a drum barrel and grill on the rooftop.
“Just wait. I’ll show you real barbecue!”
With that, both guests started preparing food, leaving Cheonma speechless.
“[I think I’ll excuse myself from this one,]” muttered Nameless, rolling back into the room.
Taktak.
The crackling of firewood in the barrel sounded like sweet music,
and the stars above twinkled as if dancing to the rhythm.
Cheonma gazed blankly at the night sky.
“Mr. Cheon… I’m not drunk… let’s drink more… I’m Kim Chan-won… remember me…”
Completely wasted, Kim lay sprawled across the table, mumbling incoherently.
Empty bottles and leftover food littered the rooftop.
“So this is how people drink in this world.”
It had been chaos.
What started as a simple barbecue turned into a full-blown drinking spree—
first on the rooftop, then at a bar downtown, then karaoke, and finally back here for more.
“Mm.”
After cleaning up the mess, Cheonma opened the rooftop door.
There, curled up asleep on the bench, were Jang Chae-won and her swallow.
“I can’t drink anymore…”
Kkyuu…
Cheonma gently draped his coat over her shoulders.
Half-asleep, she muttered faintly,
“Why… why are you still so sober…?”
“My body is immune to all poisons—including alcohol.”
“Ahh… that makes sense…”
Smiling dreamily, she drifted back to sleep.
“She’ll go home once she sobers up.”
Back inside, Cheonma picked up the book from earlier and sat again,
but for some reason, he couldn’t focus on the words.
“So that’s how it is.”
Closing the book, he looked up at the dawn sky breaking over the city.
“No… it’s not the same after all.”
