Chapter 29
Shh
Chapter 29: Shh
A city that looked exactly like it had been lifted straight out of the ancient martial world.
Lanterns hung along every street, and rows of tiled-roof houses stood side by side.
Naturally, it was all virtual reality.
That the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament was being held in Rifa was only natural.
There was no need to move around busily in real life… one only had to put on goggles and connect.
It was also the only place where everyone’s language could flow naturally and be understood by all.
And as the origins of virtual reality and Rifa showed,
even if someone died in battle here, they wouldn’t truly die in real life… so accidents leading to death were completely eliminated.
There could be no better venue for a tournament than this.
The Kwitch corporation even opened a massive dedicated room in Rifa to host and support the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.
The deep bond between the Nine Heroes and Kwitch was well-known; in fact, Kwitch had become famous from the very beginning thanks to them.
When Kwitch had just launched, the Nine Heroes had streamed on it, drawing in countless users… after all, who could resist watching a stream featuring all nine heroes?
The streets of the virtual martial world, recreated in perfect detail for the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament, were packed with people.
Crowds had gathered from all over to watch the great event.
“Hey, did you hear? The lineup of participants in this year’s Dragon-Phoenix Tournament is said to be dazzling.”
“Who’s participating?”
“Oh, listen to this.”
The man spoke excitedly, spittle flying from his lips as he listed the likely winners and famous contestants being talked about by enthusiasts everywhere.
The rising star of the Alchemist Association… the Iron Golemancer.
The Whistling Knight, master of the spirit sword imbued with the wind spirit Sylph.
A physical mage who pummels his enemies with bare fists.
A young dark mage rumored to be a disciple of the Death King. And then…
“Wait a minute. The Death King? Are Lunatic Nine affiliates even allowed to enter the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament?”
“I heard they are. It’s only the Seven Demon Lords faction that the Nine Heroes banned.”
“Interesting.”
“You see that burnt-down pavilion over there? Apparently the Flame Sect tried to sneak in and got caught… caused that whole mess.”
“Tsk. Those lunatics. The host, the League Master, must have a headache dealing with them.”
“And here’s where it gets good… guess who else is participating….”
“Whoever it is, it doesn’t matter.”
The man cut him off with a bored expression.
“It’ll just be another Awakener winning again. Just like last time.”
He was referring to the last Dragon-Phoenix Tournament’s champion, Thunder Dragon Zeus.
Zeus had won by an overwhelming margin, making a spectacular debut.
The power of Awakeners was often so immense and unnatural that it went beyond “supernatural ability” and was instead called divine authority.
Thunder Dragon was one such example.
That’s why people said… “the winner will be an Awakener anyway.”
“Still, that guy isn’t even from the martial world. Why does he have a martial epithet like that?”
“Because the League Master gave it to him. Thunder Dragon liked the sound of it… said it was cooler.”
“What a strange man. He didn’t even become the League Master’s disciple, did he?”
“No, of course not. Why would someone like him need to learn martial arts? He became Psycho’s student instead.”
“Well, it makes sense for an Awakener to learn from another Awakener. Anyway, the point is, an Awakener will win again.”
“I’m telling you, this time it’s different! Now we have real contenders for the championship!”
“Oh? Who?”
“The martial artists, of course!”
“…The martial artists?”
“This year’s Dragon-Phoenix Tournament will be the martial artists’ time to shine. Mark my words… it’ll be a festival of the martial world!”
The other man snorted.
“Ridiculous. How could a handful of martial artists possibly win the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament? I’d sooner believe the pure-techno punks could win.”
“You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about! Just listen!”
Out poured the nicknames of outstanding martial-world participants who had entered the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.
Sword King, the eldest son of the Namgung Clan, said to be a once-in-a-century prodigy… Blue Cloud Sword!
The young genius of Mount Hua, Drunken Plum Blossom Sword, whose swings scatter a fragrance so sweet it could intoxicate!
The young monk of Shaolin, Demon-Breaking Monk, who slew countless beasts with nothing but his bare fists!
The heir of the Ghost Soul Tower, beloved by spirits themselves… Ghostly Fate Lord!
As the man boasted and rambled on—
“Hey.”
“Hmm?”
When he turned around, a man with long hair tied behind his head stood there.
“Have you ever heard of the Moonlight Divine Sect?”
“Moonlight Divine Sect?”
“What’s that?”
“You mean you’ve never heard of it?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Sounds like some cult.”
“Pahahaha! Moonlight Divine Sect? That’s exactly the kind of thing the Lunatic Nine weirdos would love.”
“…”
“L-let’s go.”
“Y-yeah, let’s.”
A girl holding a skewer of grilled chicken tugged gently on the man’s sleeve.
“Come on, that’s enough. Let’s go.”
After staring silently at the two men for a moment, Blood Demon turned away.
“Pay them no mind. Once this Dragon-Phoenix Tournament is over, they won’t be able to not know who we are.”
“That’s true.”
Chi Yulang walked through the bustling street, flanked by her left, the Blood Demon, and her right, the Cheonyeon Heugu.
-Look at her tying her hair up just for the tournament
-Bun-haired Heavenly Demon-chan, so cute
-(Excavator13) Heavenly Demon-chan kawaii!
-(AnonymousSpearGuy) Ahh I wanna bite her cheeks haha
“So many people.”
“It’s a big tournament, after all.”
Chewing on her chicken skewer, Chi Yulang asked,
“How exactly does it proceed again?”
Dam Wolrin, wearing a silver mask, explained.
“First, there’s a preliminary round. Those who pass the preliminaries move on to the main event… the round of 32.”
“Even though it’s still the preliminaries, there sure are a lot of people.”
“There’ll be lots of spectators, and quite a few scouts too.”
“Scouts?”
“People sent by different groups to recruit talented folks.”
“Oh-ho.”
Chi Yulang chewed on a chicken skewer for a moment, thinking.
“Let’s do that too.”
“Sorry?”
“Sounds like there are a lot of promising talents there. Let’s bring some in.”
“Ho… I didn’t even think of that.”
Dam Wolrin touched her chin thoughtfully.
“As expected of our cult leader. A brilliant idea!”
“It’s nothing special.”
Chi Yulang shrugged.
-LOL look at her being all proud
-How high are those shoulders going up lol
-Ahh so this is why people give compliments 😂
-fr tho, she’s fun to praise
-Heavenly Demon-chan is too cute
-(하꼬Archaeologist13) Haa, Heavenly Demon-chan!
-(하꼬Archaeologist13) I love you!!
-(하꼬Archaeologist13) Cute cute cute cute cute cute cute cute cute cute TOO CUTE
– uh, is the manager even allowed to spam like that?
-If Jin Eungeom bans toxic chatters, who can ban Jin Eungeom himself?
-That’s deep
-(하꼬Archaeologist13) Wait for me, Heavenly Demon-chan! I’ll see you in person someday!
-Uh… isn’t that a little dangerous?
-Leave him. Chilbok will handle it.
“I’ll take charge of recruiting the talents.”
“Do that.”
While Dam Wolrin and Chi Yulang were talking, Blood Demon quietly leaned toward Nam Dusik, who was walking behind them.
“Byeok Ungeom. That your brother?”
Nam Dusik paused, then nodded stiffly, his face hard.
“Yes.”
Blood Demon smirked.
“Well, that’s something. We’ll be seeing some fraternal tragedy, then.”
“…”
“Kidding. Relax.”
—
The dim room was washed in the pale neon glow spilling in through the window.
A white-haired man with deep shadows under his eyes was half-reclined in his chair, dozing.
“Gah!”
He jerked awake, eyes bloodshot, breathing hard.
Sweat trickled down his temples.
This man—Snow—was one of the co-founders of Kwitch and the lead developer of the virtual reality project Real World.
Snow was an Awakened, one who possessed the power to dream of things yet to come—prophetic dreams.
Just like the one he’d had now.
“They’re coming…!”
A flurry of thoughts swirled through his head.
How did they find out? Impossible. They’d been quiet all this time… Are they finally making their move? Why the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament, of all places?
“Ah.”
The whirlwind of thoughts sharpened into a single realization.
“Who’s at the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament?”
The answer was obvious.
“The prodigies who’ll lead the next generation.”
It hit him like a bolt of lightning.
“Damn it! Only realizing it now!”
No time to lose.
Snow immediately grabbed his phone and made a call.
-Oh, it’s you. What’s going on?
“Leader!!”
-Ow, my ears. What’s the emergency?
“It’s the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament!”
-You called about that? It’s going fine. The preliminaries are already underway. Looks like we’ve got a great lineup this time! Last time that brat Noryong wiped the floor with everyone, but this year, it’s really a golden generation—
“Damn it, they’ve found it!”
-…What?
Silence fell for a beat.
-You’re saying they’ve found the place?
“Yes! I just saw it in a dream!”
-…I see.
The leader’s tone grew serious.
-Which “they” are we talking about exactly?
Snow recalled the fragments of the near future he had seen in his dream.
An overwhelming pressure that crushed your fighting spirit just by witnessing it!
A presence so dreadful it drove you to despair!
That nightmare-inducing, horrifying aura!
It was unmistakable…
“Threat level One… No, maybe even higher than that!”
-…!
Realizing the gravity of the situation, the leader immediately hung up.
Snow clenched his trembling hands into fists. He couldn’t stop shaking.
It looked right at me.
In his dream, as Snow had been observing the future, he saw that being tear open a rift and invade the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.
And at that moment, their eyes met.
The thing had smirked… its lips curling upward ever so slightly.
A chill ran down his spine.
Just the memory made his skin crawl.
The public classified demonic beasts by threat levels, to measure the danger they posed.
After all, not even the Nine Heroes, nor those of comparable power, could appear every time one showed up.
Threat Level 4 meant Diamond–Master class.
Threat Level 3, Grandmaster class.
Threat Level 2, Challenger class.
Threat Level 1, Transcendent class.
What the public didn’t know was that there existed something beyond even that.
Beings known as Lords—or sometimes, Apostles.
At the end of the Rift War, when humanity thought it had finally driven the demonic beasts out and peace was within reach…
A massive rift opened, and that being appeared.
Leading an army of monsters, it brought a new despair with power beyond comprehension.
The Nine Heroes fought together for days and nights before finally managing to bring it down.
If not for the Silver Sun, half of them would have perished.
Just before dying, the creature had spoken words that chilled them all:
“I am not the only one.”
It died, but its last words left an indescribable impact.
To think there were others like it—beings with such monstrous power!
Though the war had ended, the Nine Heroes began preparing for them.
For the day they would return.
They classified these entities as “Special Entities”, and began developing countermeasures.
As part of that effort, they formed Rift Exploration Teams to travel beyond the rifts.
And their expeditions did bear fruit.
The stronger a demonic beast was, the higher its intelligence.
Creatures of Threat Level 2 or above could even speak.
Through both exploration and linguistic research into their tongue, one shocking truth was revealed:
The so-called “Special Entities” were indeed what the beasts themselves called Lords or Apostles… and six such entities had already been identified.
If they appeared again, the world could very well end.
Of course, this information was never made public… it would only spread despair.
Even the Nine Heroes alone could not stop them.
That was why they worked so tirelessly to train successors.
‘If there’s another ray of hope… it must be the existence of the Demon Realm itself.’
Snow remembered a vision he had seen once in a dream.
He didn’t know whether it was of the past or the future, but in it, he had seen hope.
‘No… that’s not what matters right now.’
Snow shook his head sharply.
What mattered was that the being had discovered the location of the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.
‘But how?’
In truth, the virtual reality program distributed by Kwitch… Project Real World… wasn’t virtual at all.
As its name implied, it was a real world. A place that truly existed… beyond the Rift.
A world woven from dreamlike illusions, yet real on the other side.
That was the true nature of what the public so admired as Project Real World.
The VR goggles merely copied the user’s physical form into a dream, linking their soul to that other world.
Because it was a world born of dreams, even if someone “died” within it, their real body did not perish.
Only their illusory dream-form dispersed, while their soul remained intact.
But beings that came from outside that dream world… were different.
They were not bound by the rules within it.
If they killed you, you would die for real.
They could tear apart illusions and devour the souls contained within them.
They would not miss a chance to annihilate the future of humanity… the next generation of prodigies gathered there.
Snow slammed open the panel beside his desk and smashed his hand down on a red button.
An alarm blared, echoing through the entire building… an emergency alert.
He hurried to the conference room to wait. Moments later, hurried footsteps sounded in the hallway, and several people burst through the door.
“What’s going on?!”
“Boss! What happened?!”
Snow clenched his trembling hands again, forcing his voice to sound steady.
“It’s an emergency. They’ve found the site of the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.”
“…!”
Snow began issuing orders rapidly… all while praying silently.
‘Please… please, let it not be too late.’
—
Dam Wolrin went off to scout for potential recruits, while Blood Demon dragged Nam Dusik away, saying he wanted to check out his rival.
The rest of the tournament participants scattered to prepare for their matches.
That left only Chi Yulang and Romero, whose preliminary rounds were scheduled later.
“Well then, I’ll end the stream here. I’ll turn it back on when the matches start.”
-bye bye~
-Heavenly Demon-chan, have fun!
Chi Yulang ended her broadcast and strolled around the venue with Romero.
“Romero, what is that thing?”
“Oh, that’s called a hotdog.”
“It looks delicious! And it smells wonderful. Let’s go try some.”
Nom nom.
“How is it?”
“Mmm! Quite good! Give me two more!”
“Hoho, what a cute little lady. Here you go.”
“Please slow down, my Lady. You’ve got ketchup all over your mouth.”
Having devoured three hotdogs on the spot, Chi Yulang’s eyes turned to the next stall.
“Hm? What’s that beside it?”
“That’s bung-eo-ppang… fish-shaped pastries. There’s red bean and custard cream. Which one would you like?”
“Both!”
“As expected of you, my Lady… bold as always.”
Chi Yulang bit into the pastry from the head, and her eyes lit up.
“This is delicious!”
“Oh, do you like it?”
“Yes! Sweet and amazing! The red bean is wonderful, and the custard cream is wonderful too! Shopkeeper! Ten of each, please!”
“My Lady, aren’t you full? You were eating nonstop during the stream earlier.”
“I’m still hungry.”
“Hoho, you eat so heartily, young lady. You’re so cute I’ll toss in two extra.”
“Ooh, thank you!”
Chi Yulang happily walked down the street, clutching a paper bag full of bung-eo-ppang, pulling them out one by one and munching as she went.
Her expression was pure bliss.
“Is it good?”
“Yes! The best! This is what a festival should taste like.”
Romero smiled faintly. Now he understood why people liked watching eating streams.
As he escorted the little cult leader around, he suddenly felt something strange.
“…Hmm?”
“What is it?”
“It’s nothing.”
He had eaten Abyss Grass the previous day… maybe that was it?
It was a strange, indescribable feeling, like something was calling to him.
“I’ll step out for a bit.”
After getting Heavenly Demon-chan’s permission, Romero quickly left the bustling city center.
He walked past the crowded streets, heading outward… to where no people were.
Eventually he reached a vast, empty field on the outskirts.
“…There’s nothing here.”
Romero scratched his head. Was it just his imagination?
Crack!
Something shot out of thin air.
Something sharp tore through space like paper. The air warped… and beyond that distortion, something horrific was trying to emerge.
“Wh–what…?”
Romero stared, frozen in shock.
The next moment, it came through the rift.
“!”
It looked almost angelic… a white, radiant being… but with only one wing.
It was as tall as a three-story building.
The one-winged “angel” locked eyes with Romero and smiled faintly.
“…!”
Despite its divine appearance, Romero instantly knew… this was no angel.
It was a monstrous, malevolent being.
He couldn’t even think of resisting. The power it exuded was so overwhelming it crushed his will to move.
If the gods had apostles, this was what they would feel like… that suffocating, world-crushing pressure.
It was on a completely different level.
He had never seen anything like it before.
Fear flooded Romero’s eyes.
Thud.
His legs gave out, and he collapsed.
“A… aah…”
Just looking at it brought tears streaming down his face.
And suddenly, one name surfaced in his mind.
“White Death.”
White Death… what a dreadful name.
Behind it, hordes of demonic beasts poured out through the rift.
Unlike the one-winged angel, they looked like nightmares clawed up from the pits of hell.
‘How can demonic beasts even be here?’
Wasn’t this supposed to be virtual reality?
And then—
“Oh.”
Beside him stood Heavenly Demon-chan, casually munching on a bung-eo-ppang.
Romero turned, panicked.
“My Lady! Run!!”
But instead of running, the little girl walked toward him and—
rustle—
placed the paper bag full of pastries into his hands.
“Here. Hold this.”
“?”
“You can have a few.”
The beasts spilling out of the rift froze when they saw the small girl.
Even the one-winged angel lowered its smile into something unreadable.
All eyes were on her as she walked forward, step by step.
Romero, dumbfounded, stared at her small back.
Didn’t she feel it? The crushing weight in the air?
How could she walk so calmly toward that thing?
His voice trembled.
“W-what are you doing!?”
Without turning around, Heavenly Demon-chan spoke, her tone casual and steady.
“I can’t let them ruin such a fine festival.”
At that, one of the demonic beasts… a hellhound-looking creature… let out a roar.
Thud! Crack!
With a wet, awful noise, the roar stopped.
“…”
The field went dead silent.
The other beasts slowly turned their heads toward what used to be their companion.
It was now an unrecognizable pulp.
“Shh.”
Chi Yulang smiled and pressed a finger to her lips.
“Keep it down.”
