Chapter 53 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon, Receiving Discipline (1)
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It was a leisurely and peaceful afternoon.
With nothing particular going on, the Heavenly Demon sat at the reception table, reading an interior design magazine he hadn't gotten to before.
Sipping his hot green tea, the Heavenly Demon suddenly gazed up at the distant sky.
"It's quiet."
Indeed, it was quiet.
Until Jang Chaewon came storming back, that is.
"Heavenly Demon, what the hell did you do!"
Jang Chaewon flung the door open, her cheeks flushed red.
The Heavenly Demon furrowed his brows in confusion.
"This seat has been sitting at this table reading a book the whole time."
"That's not it! What did you do to make the Divine Territory Management Team say they're revoking our territory grade!"
"What are you talking about?"
"They say it's the employee's fault. See for yourself!"
Jang Chaewon thrust a red piece of paper right in front of the Heavenly Demon's eyes.
Taking the paper, the Heavenly Demon carefully read the contents.
-...We have confirmed that an employee of your company entered a dungeon without permission and summoned a Hidden Monster to harvest relics. Furthermore...
The paper detailed how the Heavenly Demon had hunted the Hidden Monster Minotaur to treat Kim Hyewon, whose heart was failing due to botched awakening.
*Ring ring ring.*
At that moment, a sparkling light flickered in the eyes of Nameless, who was lying down in the storage room station.
[Heavenly Demon.]
Nameless rolled out of the storage room at high speed and approached the Heavenly Demon.
[Could you show that to me as well?]
The Heavenly Demon placed the paper on the table, and Nameless leaped up onto it.
[So it's about that incident after all.]
After eagerly reading the red paper, Nameless spoke to Jang Chaewon.
[Jang Chaewon, this is not the Heavenly Demon's fault.]
"What?"
Nameless extended a skinny arm from its body and pointed at its own face.
[It all happened because of my mistake.]
Jang Chaewon, arms crossed and brows deeply furrowed, spoke.
"What do you mean? Your fault?"
The Heavenly Demon, who had been sitting silently, spoke flatly.
"I just went to the dungeon. And caught one Hidden Monster along the way."
"What?"
[We caught the Minotaur in the dungeon.]
"Minotaur? That Hidden Monster said to drop national treasure-grade relics?"
Jang Chaewon's mouth fell open, and Nameless shook its head.
[No treasure came out. The Heavenly Demon didn't even know it was illegal.]
The Heavenly Demon looked at Nameless with slightly surprised eyes.
'You can lie too, huh.'
"That's not something you can just brush off like that."
Jang Chaewon pointed sternly at the red paper.
"An employee working in the territory went into a dungeon for no reason and hunted the Hidden Monster Minotaur. Do you know how serious this is?"
The Heavenly Demon had only gone into the dungeon with Nameless to save Kim Hyewon, the girl who worked at the convenience store.
But since he was aware it was illegal, he couldn't say anything.
"Why the hell did you sneak into the dungeon?"
In response to Jang Chaewon's question, the Heavenly Demon spoke flatly.
"It was personal business."
"I told you before. Those who resolve divine requests and receive compensation can't profit from dungeons for personal gain."
"I wasn't trying to profit."
"Then what?"
The Heavenly Demon shut his mouth again.
Honestly, even he himself didn't fully know why he had done it.
To keep the benefits from the convenience store? Because he pitied the dying girl? Or because of the absurdity of humans dying from illness despite the existence of Earth Gods?
"I'm sorry."
Even with the Heavenly Demon's apology, Jang Chaewon's anger didn't subside.
"You should've at least told me beforehand! If you'd just said something, this wouldn't have happened."
"Store owner."
"It's right there! We could lose the territory!"
Jang Chaewon shouted, biting her lip.
"Do you know how big a deal this is? This could shut down our store!"
*Jingle.*
At that moment, accompanied by the sound of wind chimes, a young man in a suit entered the store.
It was Dongwon, the public servant from the Divine Territory Management Team.
"Sis."
Dongwon entered with a stiff expression. Spotting the red paper on the table, his face darkened slightly.
"You came here because of this too?"
Jang Chaewon shoved the red paper at him, and Dongwon nodded awkwardly.
"It got reported all the way up."
"Just for a territory employee secretly hunting a Hidden Monster?"
"If it's done on the down-low, sure, but when evidence like this comes out, it blows up. You know that."
Dongwon glanced at the Heavenly Demon and cleared his throat dryly, as if choked.
"There were apparently discarded nanobots broken in that dungeon. A porter found one by chance, checked the memory chip, and saw footage of the Heavenly Demon fighting the Minotaur."
On the phone screen Dongwon held out, there was an image of the Heavenly Demon and Nameless, covered in blood, walking out of the dungeon.
"Luckily, we caught it before it spread online... but we couldn't stop it from reaching the higher-ups."
Jang Chaewon bit her lip.
"So, you're here to punish us yourself?"
"No way. The audit office is sending someone, but I came instead on purpose. You know my personality, sis."
"This has nothing to do with the store owner."
The Heavenly Demon stepped forward and spoke.
"I'll take full responsibility."
Dongwon shook his head bitterly.
"Heavenly Demon, this store is run by Chaewon sis. Which means she can't escape responsibility either."
Then Nameless spoke to Dongwon.
[The Heavenly Demon wasn't properly briefed on the dungeon prohibitions. Punish me for the poor guidance, and it'll end there.]
"Quiet, both of you."
As Nameless interjected, Jang Chaewon let out a deep sigh.
After all, she was the one who hired the Heavenly Demon as an employee. As Dongwon said, there was no escaping responsibility no matter what.
In fact, she had even anticipated that the Heavenly Demon might cause some dungeon-related incident someday.
'That's why I attached the nanobot... but for it to cause trouble too.'
Jang Chaewon glared resentfully at Nameless.
'Wait? The nanobot caused trouble?'
A strange thought crossed her mind.
Nameless was a bit chatty, but it possessed intellect far surpassing humans.
Not just in analyzing monsters and combat, but it was an expert in human society's laws and order as well.
There was no way Nameless wouldn't have foreseen that taking the Heavenly Demon into a dungeon would lead to something like this.
"Nanobot. You wouldn't happen to..."
As Jang Chaewon opened her mouth, Dongwon subtly pointed to the phone in his pocket.
"Sis. Let's talk about the rest later. Better not say anything that could be misunderstood right now."
Given the severity, Dongwon's phone was probably auto-recording or filming.
"Later?"
"First, come with me."
"So you're saying I have to go in for questioning now?"
Jang Chaewon sighed, and Dongwon said,
"Don't worry. Today it's just a simple fact-check with the audit office. The punishment will be decided at the disciplinary committee later."
"That's what an investigation is."
"I can't make sense of it no matter how I think about it."
The Heavenly Demon, who had been listening quietly, stared piercingly at Dongwon.
"Aren't you a divine realm public servant?"
"Yes."
"Then why bother summoning us for an annoying investigation?"
"Pardon?"
"Don't they have gods there too?"
Dongwon blinked for a moment, then realized what the Heavenly Demon meant and gave a wry smile.
"Everyone here is an Earth God. Meaning, they live on the same land as humans, doing their assigned duties."
"I don't follow."
"Earth God doesn't mean the omnipotent 'god' you're thinking of, Heavenly Demon."
"You're lying."
"Pardon?"
The Heavenly Demon swept his sharp gaze over Dongwon's body.
"There's a yokai god called the Two-Faced Ghost living in this neighborhood. When I first came here, that old man transmitted knowledge with a single finger. He even peeked into my memories."
A faint red light swirled in the Heavenly Demon's narrowly opened eyes.
"If you can summon the neighborhood yokai god and investigate every detail, how could the divine realm lack gods with such abilities?"
"Ah, of course there are those with abilities like the Two-Faced Ghost elder. But right now, no god—not even the Two-Faced Ghost—can peer into your inner self, Heavenly Demon."
"What do you mean?"
"You're an employee working in a territory, Heavenly Demon."
Dongwon met the Heavenly Demon's red eyes and smiled faintly.
"While working in a territory, even you are part of the divine realm. That's why you can't enter dungeons for personal reasons."
So that's how it was. The Heavenly Demon's eyes deepened, as if pondering something profound.
'Part of the divine realm.'
Dongwon, glancing at his watch, spoke heavily.
"Sis."
Jang Chaewon, meeting his gaze, nodded as if she had no choice.
"Fine. Let's just go."
The Comprehensive Office Building. Where government administrative departments were gathered.
At the far east end of its vast grounds stood an annex with a very secretive door.
This golden-glowing door was invisible and untouchable to humans. Only Earth Gods who tread the land or territory owners could pass through.
"This way."
Following Dongwon's guidance through the door of light, fog enveloped them, and suddenly dozens of hanok-style buildings came into view.
This was the Divine Realm Central Office, where the divine realm's administrative agencies were gathered.
"Here."
Entering a hanok building with a whale-back curved roof, a pitch-black glass door appeared.
As they approached, light emanated from the black door, and a man in traditional martial arts uniform materialized.
His skin was pale as if powdered white, but his phoenix-like elongated eyes brimmed with dignity.
"Facility Management Division, Divine Territory Management Team Deputy Manager, Dongwon."
"That machine can't enter."
The man in martial uniform pointed at Nameless perched on the Heavenly Demon's shoulder. Dongwon spoke politely.
"It's not an ordinary machine. It's been reported upstairs. Attending as a key witness in this incident."
The martial uniform man's transparent eyes fixed on Nameless. Frowning briefly, he stepped aside reluctantly.
"Sis. Heavenly Demon. This way."
Dongwon entered the black door, followed by the Heavenly Demon and Jang Chaewon.
Inside the black door, a refreshing breeze blew, revealing an antique-decorated office.
Standing before a pitch-black wooden door, it slid open automatically with a rumble.
"Inspector. From Complex Interior, Jang Chaewon and..."
"Thank you. Deputy Manager Dong."
The voice from within was extremely cold.
Cutting off Dongwon, the voice pierced the Heavenly Demon and Jang Chaewon's ears again.
"You two, come in."
Even the shadow didn't show, just calling by voice, making Jang Chaewon uneasy.
Noticing, Dongwon whispered lowly.
"Sorry, sis. Probably because the Heavenly Demon is human..."
"I know. It's not him, it's me."
"Sis."
"It's fine. Just saying so."
Suppressing her displeasure, Jang Chaewon patted Dongwon's shoulder.
"It's okay. Go take care of your business."
Smiling brightly, Jang Chaewon entered the door of light, and the Heavenly Demon silently followed.
Watching them, Dongwon muttered lowly.
"Sis."
Dongwon suddenly recalled Jang Chaewon's past self.
Her form, wrapped in blue light fierce enough to tear the world apart, looking down at him with dignified eyes.
"Please don't... hate us too much."
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