Chapter 98 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: The Heavenly Demon Goes to the Bathhouse (2)
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It started with the legs.
Kim Gil-jung placed wet towels on the Heavenly Demon's chest and arms before beginning to scrub the legs.
Even with his novice scrubber hands, dirt flaked off with every stroke. Scrubbing away the grime built up on someone else's skin was work, sure, but it was also a kind of pleasure.
Seeing that skin come away perfectly clean and gleaming was the greatest reward for any scrubber.
"Hoo. Hoo."
But today, Kim Gil-jung had no choice but to urgently revise his thinking.
Scrubbing was labor.
Endless abuse of the body.
A drain on the spirit.
He had to put every ounce of strength into moving his arms to make the scrub towel move. With each pass, thick black rolls of grime coiled up. At the same time, Kim Gil-jung's stamina and mental fortitude seemed to be ground down.
'I... I gotta give up on the legs.'
Exhausted, Kim Gil-jung lightly tapped the Heavenly Demon's leg. It meant to roll over.
"What."
"Uh? Oh, please lie on your side..."
"Hmm."
As the Heavenly Demon rolled onto his side, Kim Gil-jung started scrubbing again. The skin had a strange sheen and was tough, making it hard to scrub, and the grime seemed infinite.
'No, this won't do. Not this side.'
Finally worn out, Kim Gil-jung tapped the Heavenly Demon's leg again. It meant to roll over to the other side.
"Now what."
The Heavenly Demon shot up, eyes wide, and Kim Gil-jung averted his gaze.
"Lie on the other side now..."
"If your mouth can open, use it to speak. Understood."
"Y-yes, sir..."
Meeting those blood-red eyes made his body shrink.
"N-now, lie on your back."
Unlike the front, the back wasn't stiff. As the scrub towel moved across the ocean-wide expanse, grime flowed out like waves.
By then, Kim Gil-jung's body was soaked in sweat, his eyes glazed over.
His stamina had bottomed out long ago. He was just unconsciously repeating the motions he'd done as a scrubber for so long.
"Haa. Haa."
With his eyes unfocused, Kim Gil-jung looked down at his hands.
'What went wrong?'
Gazing at his trembling hands, his mind grew hazy.
'Who am I? Why am I scrubbing here? The rainbow in the sky is a dog. Mom, I miss you.'
Just as Kim Gil-jung, rambling incoherently, began to sway.
"Whoops. Sorry about that. I dozed off in the bath without realizing..."
Along with a thick dialect, Kim Gil-jung felt his body lighten.
Turning around, he saw a white-haired elder smiling apologetically.
"You've worked hard. Take a break now."
A cool breeze seemed to flow from the elder's hands. In that moment, Kim Gil-jung felt his overheated head cool and his mind clear.
"I'll pay you generously for your trouble."
The elder took Kim Gil-jung's hands in both of his, looking sorry.
"It's fine."
"Just wait a bit. I'll get your pay right away..."
"No. Not yet."
"Not yet?"
Kim Gil-jung flashed a bright smile and stuck out his thumb.
"I'm a scrubber."
The elder, Kim Chanwon, looked worriedly at Kim Gil-jung's dazed eyes.
"Uh, you... You should rest a bit."
"I'm okay. How can I rest with a customer here? I'm almost done."
Kim Gil-jung grabbed the scrub towel again and went back to work on the Heavenly Demon's back.
Scrub.
Even from the back he'd thought was done, grime still poured out. No, it was thicker and chunkier than before.
"..."
Seeing the udon-noodle-thick grime falling, Kim Gil-jung narrowed his eyes.
Then, as if struck by enlightenment, he smiled brightly.
"I'll do it for free."
The Heavenly Demon, now perfectly scrubbed clean, was changing in the locker room with Kim Chanwon.
"Hmm."
Watching him, Kim Chanwon let out a silent sigh.
They hadn't even hit the cold plunge or sauna yet, nor tried the snacks sold inside.
Still, they had no choice but to slip out like this—for the safe return of the Protector General Guild and the smooth operation of Bokbok Interiors.
"Did you see? Looks like Protector General Guild awakeners in the other bath."
Suddenly, murmurs rose from the opposite locker room.
Seemed like a group had arrived.
"Protector General Guild? Those tankers?"
"Yeah. The muscleheads who charge ahead trusting our healers every time."
"Ugh, gross. Better not even glance at the cold bath."
From the whispers, the group on the other side seemed to be healer awakeners.
"What's that noise."
"Shh. Mr. Cheon. Voice too loud."
Intrigued by the voices, the Heavenly Demon reacted, and Kim Chanwon whispered softly.
"Tankers and healers don't get along, as a rule."
"Tankers? Healers?"
"Tankers take hits upfront with their bodies, healers cast heals from the rear."
A master of combat and tactics, the Heavenly Demon grasped their roles instantly.
"Mutual support positions. Shouldn't that make them close?"
"Opposite, actually. Tankers gripe that healers slack in the back, healers call tankers brainless chargers."
Kim Chanwon shook his head with a wry smile.
"Anyway, mind our business and let's go."
As Kim Chanwon whispered low, the Heavenly Demon said flatly.
"Aren't the healers right? Think tankers charge out of boredom."
"Mr. Cheon. Voice too loud."
"Hmph. Only blocking frontal assaults lets the formation hold."
Arms crossed, the Heavenly Demon continued undeterred.
"Muscleheads who can't even form a basic battle line, bellies full and forgetting their place."
Had he been watching too much TV?
The Heavenly Demon now wielded Korean profanity with ease.
Normally, Kim Chanwon would marvel, "Mr. Cheon! You curse so colorfully now!" But not today.
"Hey, what'd you just say?"
The group from the far side glared with bloodshot eyes.
Not bulky, but solid muscle and minor scars marked them as veteran healers.
"What. Belly fat says Protector General Guild."
The tallest, oldest middle-aged man strode over.
"Huh? This young punk's got eyes wide open? Didn't your guild master teach manners?"
Tipping his head, the middle-aged man pointed at his face with his thumb.
"I'm Park Cheol-min of Survival Alliance. Don't know me?"
"No."
At the Heavenly Demon's curt reply, Kim Chanwon jumped forward with a shriek.
"M-misunderstanding!"
Sweating bullets, Kim Chanwon waved his arms.
"What we said was..."
"Nah, all true. Why pick a fight outta nowhere."
Then, from the opposite aisle, a burly man looking like a bandit approached with a scowl.
It was Ha Dong-seok, guild master of Protector General Guild.
"Come to bathe, soak quietly. Don't stir trouble everywhere."
Ha Dong-seok's words made veins bulge on Park Cheol-min's forehead.
"Hey, Ha Dong-seok. Watch your mouth. Wanna get wrecked?"
"By wreck order, you'd go first. Heard you got wrecked in the rear at Busan variable dungeon last time. Still alive?"
As the deadly exchange heated up, Kim Chanwon sweated and glanced at the Heavenly Demon.
The instigator himself dressed calmly amid the chaos.
"Don't drag innocents in. Go scrub and come out."
Ha Dong-seok waved at Park Cheol-min.
"Public place. No yelling. Do your thing."
Tension eased slightly, and Kim Chanwon tugged the Heavenly Demon's sleeve slyly.
"L-let's go quick."
"Huh? Go where. No apology?"
As Park Cheol-min raised his hand overhead, Kim Chanwon backpedaled with a "whoops."
Ha Dong-seok swiftly stepped up and grabbed that arm.
"Elder. Please go."
Ha Dong-seok's smile was warm.
Pitiful old day laborer at this age, and his sickly nephew hadn't taken the tankers' side?
"Th-thank you."
Kim Chanwon exaggerated his elder act and led the Heavenly Demon.
"Come on, let's go."
If the Heavenly Demon balked now, Kim Chanwon was defenseless.
"Mr. Cheon. Trouble here means Manager Jang chews us out."
Kim Chanwon couldn't transmit voice.
But he somehow mouthed the words to convey.
"Get tangled, Bokbok Interiors in hot water."
Was it his skull-pale face?
Luckily, the Heavenly Demon nodded. Regret at missing the fight aside.
"Hey! Stop right there!"
As Park Cheol-min advanced, Ha Dong-seok shoved his shoulder irritably.
"Ah, ignore this. Go do your business."
"But that muscle pig since earlier..."
Slap!
No words—Ha Dong-seok's pot-lid hand smacked Park Cheol-min's face.
"You noob healer punk. Calling who muscle pig."
Backhanded, Park Cheol-min crumpled unconscious. The healers behind flipped out.
"You muscle pig bastards!"
"Hey! Reverse Heal up. Crush 'em!"
Greenish light gathered on Survival Alliance fists as blue energy poured from Protector General Guild bodies.
Crash! Snap!
The once-peaceful locker room turned hellish. Fixtures toppled, floors caved.
But the true culprits, Heavenly Demon and Kim Chanwon, rode Lamas home leisurely.
Gazing out the window, Kim Chanwon glanced at the Heavenly Demon at the wheel.
"It'll be fine, right?"
"What will."
"Those awakeners earlier. Not fighting cuz of us, are they?"
"Warriors bond through such clashes."
The Heavenly Demon's flat words brought a smile to Kim Chanwon.
That impassive low voice held no emotion, yet inspired trust and calm.
"Still, shame though."
"Shame?"
"Haven't seen the whole bathhouse yet."
Normally, cold plunge after scrubbing, sauna to roast the body.
But famous guilders showed up, fight broke over Heavenly Demon...
"What else was there."
At the Heavenly Demon's question, Kim Chanwon smacked his lips.
"Like, no cold bath, no sauna."
"What's that."
"Hmm. Cold pool and hot room to sweat it out."
Kim Chanwon smacked his lips in regret, and the Heavenly Demon shook his head.
"I've done plenty of that."
"Really?"
"Of course. To master the Reverse Extreme Heart Method's Dual Origin Fire Wind doctrine, I alternated countless times between Extreme Yin Pool and Fire Transfer Cave."
"Huh?"
As Kim Chanwon tilted his head, the Heavenly Demon boasted proudly.
"Thanks to that, I gained the foundation for Reverse Extreme True Energy, freely wielding Yin-Yang Dual Qi."
Eyes always open, pondering greater strength.
Soaking in cold for extreme yin qi, hot for fiery yang qi practice—leisurely baths weren't for him.
"Here it's just soaking."
Kim Chanwon looked deflated, and the Heavenly Demon sighed long.
"Just? Why soak idly."
"Feels good. Refreshing."
"Soaking doesn't change my mood."
"True enough."
Bathhouse didn't suit the Heavenly Demon's tastes.
Gazing at his cold profile, Kim Chanwon smiled bitterly.
"Wanted to show you bathhouse fun..."
Since meeting Kim Gwang-uk again, Kim Chanwon had realized something.
-Make Mr. Cheon lots of happy memories!
People live on memories.
Many joys make even harsh life happy.
But Heavenly Demon was a lonely outsider from another world. Kim Chanwon wanted him to savor more pleasures here.
"Kim."
The Heavenly Demon gripped his shoulder.
"Hmm?"
"You've carried a strange burden for me lately."
"Eh?"
"I'm the Heavenly Demon. I don't chase human joys or fun."
"Mr. Cheon."
His eyes were ice-cold, voice emotionless.
"No need to worry or fuss over me henceforth."
Facing the Heavenly Demon's menacing glare, Kim Chanwon bowed his head.
"Sorry. Got carried away."
The Heavenly Demon wanted no unearned favors, accepted none.
Carried away indeed—forcing change on one with frozen emotions.
'Thought Mr. Cheon changed a bit. My mistake.'
As Kim Chanwon swallowed those words,
"This world overflows with novelties beyond my imagining."
The Heavenly Demon surveyed bathhouse-side scenery flatly.
"Seeing, learning, experiencing them suffices my joy."
Gazing coldly down, he murmured low.
"No need to fuss."
-Heavenly Demon already joyful.
Kim Chanwon's face lit up.
"Hahaha!"
Interest and goodwill not wasted.
Heavenly Demon, transcending human emotions, speaking of joy.
Unfelt till now, but perhaps changing little by little, slowly?
"That's it. No need to fuss over you."
Feeling chest swell with pride, Kim Chanwon pointed ahead and yelled.
"W-wait. Pull over."
"Why."
"One thing left."
Screech.
Parking on shoulder, Kim Chanwon took the Heavenly Demon's hand.
"Today, this at least."
Kim Chanwon led him to a roadside mini-mart.
"After bathhouse, this is the 'national rule.'"
"National rule?"
"Like, unspoken rule among folks. Try it."
From the fridge, Kim Chanwon pulled a yellow bottle of milk.
Paid and outside, he stuck in a straw and offered it.
"Hmm."
The massive Heavenly Demon's straw looked like a toothpick.
Suck—the bottle emptied in a flash.
"Oh."
"Good, right?"
"Subtle sweetness. Feels like it seeps into the body."
"Hahaha! Spot on. 'Seeps in'!"
Kim Chanwon's beaming face creased with wrinkles.
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