Picked Up (3)
The Heavenly Demon, Yu Sowol, wondered how many times in her life she had ever felt this anxious.
With her innate talent, she had advanced by crushing everything that stood in her way.
From the martial world, whose overall strength had declined after the Orthodox–Blood War, to the imperial family, which had preserved its forces.
Only one thing had ever been able to stop her: qi deviation and the internal energy that had run rampant within her.
Had Grylls not helped her, she would no longer exist in this world.
That was why she wanted to help Grylls however she could. Someday, she hoped to bring him out of the Forest of Four Seasons.
’Nothing has happened to him, has it?’
Today, however, was different.
Yu Sowol felt as though her heart were burning away in real time.
She repeatedly refreshed the Gallery, waiting endlessly for Grylls to make a post.
She had sent him message after message, but received no reply. Dark thoughts continued to plague her, but her best option was to assume that he was merely asleep.
The reason the ordinarily fearless Heavenly Demon, Yu Sowol, was so worried was none other than the Blood Cult.
’My benefactor must be safe....’
She had felt uneasy from the moment she allowed the Blood Cultist to escape.
She had worried that some of the remnants might come into contact with Grylls.
Grylls had reassured her that the odds of that happening were minuscule and that she had only let him escape because she had been protecting innocent people, so she shouldn’t worry about it.
His reassurance had put Yu Sowol at ease—but only briefly.
Before even a few days had passed, a remnant of the Blood Cult came into contact with Grylls.
Her heart plummeted.
Her blood ran cold, and goosebumps rose across her skin.
It was an emotion she had never experienced before.
’I cannot help but worry that something may truly go wrong.’
Nothing inspired more anxiety than seeing one’s fears become reality.
She couldn’t understand why such an ordeal had been thrust upon them.
’I am powerless.’
There was nothing she could do except watch.
She wanted to enter the Forest of Four Seasons herself, but that would be far too impulsive.
Times like these demanded a calm mind. Hadn’t she heard that so often as the Young Cult Leader that her ears had nearly worn out?
’Back then, I never understood why they kept telling me that....’
She had dismissed it as the nagging of old fogeys.
But she had been completely mistaken.
Maintaining her composure was incredibly difficult. It was this hard even after she had reached the Profound Realm, so how much worse must it have been before?
Yu Sowol fervently prayed that the Blood Cult remnant would not harm Grylls.
She remained awake throughout the night and sent Grylls a message every hour.
If a notification appeared saying she could no longer send him messages—
Rumble—
Perhaps her extreme thoughts had caused her to lose control of her energy.
A faint tremor shook Yu Sowol’s private chamber.
Since she possessed enough power to overturn heaven and earth if she wished, even phenomena like this could occur.
The instant Yu Sowol felt the tremor, she calmed herself.
The shaking soon stopped.
"Haa...."
Although she had calmed her mind, a troubled sigh still escaped her.
She couldn’t help worrying because Grylls didn’t fully understand the Blood Cult’s infamy.
Yu Sowol might look down on the Blood Cult, but she never underestimated their wickedness.
Unlike the Blood Cult, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult possessed firm moral and ethical principles.
Even in Yu Sowol’s eyes, the Blood Cult consisted entirely of monsters whose crimes cried out to heaven for vengeance.
’My benefactor only knows the Blood Cult through the Gallery. If he truly came from another world, he may be in danger.’
There was one thing Grylls had mentioned repeatedly.
He claimed that he came from another world.
Naturally, neither the users nor Yu Sowol had readily believed him.
As they built trust, she gradually began to believe his story, but she still wasn’t completely certain.
It remained only a possibility.
The problem was that this possibility intensified her worries.
’The Blood Cult may be treated as a laughingstock, but its viciousness is enough to make one recoil in horror.’
She desperately hoped his kindness and goodwill wouldn’t place him in danger.
The one fortunate thing in this unfortunate situation was that Ludwig was beside Grylls.
Yu Sowol was well acquainted with Ludwig’s reputation. The title of Guardian suited him perfectly.
Had the first person Grylls encountered been a remnant of the Blood Cult instead of Ludwig, he might have been in grave danger.
After all, a person living alone would naturally yearn for the company of another human being.
’Time passes so slowly.’
Yu Sowol stared wide-eyed at the Gallery, combing through it.
She couldn’t remember the last time a day had passed this slowly.
Even while waiting for Grylls’s post, she continued fulfilling her duties as a moderator.
With time crawling by like this, she could hardly maintain her composure without exercising her moderator authority.
’They truly are diligent.’
Even accounting for the differences in time zones, new posts continued appearing on the Gallery without pause.
Most of them were pointless shitposts, but occasionally, something useful appeared.
’The imperial family is searching for Grylls’s medicinal herb....’
It was only a rumor.
However, the imperial family had indeed begun making unusual movements recently.
It was all because of the divine medicinal herb Grylls had gifted her—the "Hair-Growth Herb."
Yu Sowol had never intended to name it, but Wi Seorak had taken it upon himself to do so.
Still, the name described its effects perfectly, so Yu Sowol didn’t particularly mind.
After all, cultivating the Hair-Growth Herb required her power.
’Public sentiment is paramount.’
Wi Seorak had told her that public support was more important than anything else if she wished to unite not only the martial world but the entire Central Plains.
If the Divine Cult lost the people’s support, it would turn the entire populace against them. In the worst case, the very survival of the Divine Cult could be endangered.
For that reason, now was not the time to use force.
The best course was to wait and observe how things developed.
’Public sentiment....’
It was a phrase frequently mentioned on the Gallery as well.
Whenever the head moderator did something strange, she had often seen public sentiment turn hostile.
And it wasn’t only the head moderator. The same had once happened to Yu Sowol, back when she posted nothing but shitposts.
’Come to think of it... Grylls must have seen those posts too.’
She had laughed them off at the time, but looking back now, she felt slightly embarrassed.
For a moment, she considered deleting them.
However, some of them also contained records of her realizations, so she decided to leave them as they were.
Time passed, and the next morning finally arrived.
[Wild Grylls: Heavenly Demon, why were you calling me?]
The message Yu Sowol had awaited for so long finally arrived.
The instant she read it, Yu Sowol’s eyes widened. Her emotions showed plainly on her face.
She took a breath, regained her composure, and sent a reply.
[Heavenly Demon: I wished to ask what became of that remnant. I was concerned that he might harm you.]
[Wild Grylls: Oh. That man ran away. I’ll explain everything in a post.]
He had run away?
Something must have happened during the night.
"Haa...."
Yu Sowol released a long sigh of relief.
Not only was Grylls safe, but the remnant had fled on his own.
She had spent the entire night fretting that the man might harm Grylls, but her fears had proven unfounded.
’To think that I could worry this much....’
She was experiencing one unfamiliar emotion after another.
Grylls was both the benefactor who had saved her life and the first fortuitous encounter she had ever experienced.
That alone made him special to Yu Sowol.
Then there was his sincere goodwill, his unclouded kindness, and much more.
"Hmm-hmm."
A faint laugh escaped Yu Sowol.
She simply felt like laughing.
Joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure—not as the Heavenly Demon, but as an ordinary person.
Every one of those emotions felt precious to her.
’I wish to meet him in person.’
She wanted to repay Grylls as soon as possible.
Doing so through the Gallery wasn’t enough.
Just as Yu Sowol was beginning to form a rough plan in her mind, Grylls uploaded a post.
Title: The Blood Cultist is gone
Wild Grylls
(A photo of Wonmo and Tyrano sleeping tangled together)
I didn’t have a photo of him, so I’m posting the Gallery mascot and the candidate instead.
Long story short, the Blood Cultist ran away during the night. He even took an elixir with him.
But just in case, I’d filled the bottle with urine instead of elixir, and he ran off with it, lmaooo.
They say you should never take in a black-haired beast, and they were right. If he comes back, I’m throwing him out immediately.
└ Heavenly Demon: I am relieved that you are safe. I hardly know what to say.
└ Wild Grylls: Let’s look on the bright side. Since you eliminated the Blood Cult beforehand, only this one man came after me!
That was Grylls, all right.
Yu Sowol felt her despondent spirits begin to recover.
However, that feeling didn’t last long.
The next comment shook Yu Sowol’s heart.
She stared in bewilderment.
Only after reading SwordMaster’s comment did she belatedly realize that something was wrong.
Thinking that perhaps—just perhaps—she had made a mistake, Yu Sowol checked the post Grylls had made when he first discovered the remnant.
She had indeed apologized to Grylls in a comment rather than through a private message.
"Oh dear."
To think she had made such a mistake after being swept away by her emotions.
She had never imagined it.
This was a critical situation in which her identity might be exposed. How could she overcome it?
As Yu Sowol stopped typing and pondered what to do, Grylls left a comment.
└ Wild Grylls: Huh? I didn’t notice either. I only just realized, lmaooo. It sounded so natural that I didn’t think anything of it, lmaooo.
└ SwordMaster: But why is the Heavenly Demon apologizing? Wasn’t it the real Heavenly Demon who stopped the Blood Cult?
└ Now that you mention it, you’re right. Why is she apologizing? Is she the real Heavenly Demon?
└ She did the same thing in yesterday’s post. She apologized for failing to stop him.
└ She couldn’t say something like that unless she was the real Heavenly Demon, could she? Is she actually real?
Oh.
Grylls had provided her with a suitable way out.
Yu Sowol didn’t let the opportunity slip past her.
└ Heavenly Demon: Why, that is only natural. It is because I am the Heavenly Demon.
└ SwordMaster: Wow... Your commitment to this role-playing is seriously something else, lmaooo.
└ How committed do you have to be to your character to plan even that far ahead? Lmaooo.
└ But what if she really is the Heavenly Demon?
└ As if, lmaoooooooo.
└ If she were the real Heavenly Demon, we’d have to go capture that bastard immediately, lmaooo.
When Yu Sowol brazenly doubled down, everyone reacted as though they were thoroughly fed up with her.
Seeing that, she released a sigh of relief.
Because her personality in reality wasn’t much different from the persona she displayed on the Gallery, everyone had dismissed it as part of her "act."
’I must be more careful.’
Something like this could happen again, especially when the subject involved Grylls.
Yu Sowol sent Grylls a private message thanking him, then closed the Gallery.
This incident had made her realize something.
She could no longer afford to sit around leisurely.
She immediately moved to the audience chamber and summoned Wi Seorak.
"You summoned me, O Heaven?"
Wi Seorak greeted her with a respectful bow.
Yu Sowol silently gazed down at him before rising from her throne.
Step. Step.
She descended from the throne with light footsteps.
Eventually, she stopped before the flowerpot containing the Hair-Growth Herb.
Naturally, Wi Seorak was puzzled by her inexplicable actions.
Meanwhile, Yu Sowol extended a hand toward the flowerpot.
Shhhhh—
Azure energy flowed from Yu Sowol’s hand.
Before long, the energy seeped into the soil in which the Hair-Growth Herb was growing.
Wriggle. Wriggle. Wriggle.
Amazingly, the Hair-Growth Herb began growing at a tremendous speed, almost as though it were feeding upon Yu Sowol’s energy.
Rather than the phenomenon itself, Wi Seorak was more surprised by Yu Sowol’s actions.
Until now, she had carefully tended to the Hair-Growth Herb every day as though it were the most precious thing in the world.
Why had she suddenly forced it to mature?
"Demon Brain, I have a question for you."
Yu Sowol plucked the Hair-Growth Herb’s fruit as she addressed Wi Seorak.
Wi Seorak bowed his head and answered solemnly.
"Yes. Please speak."
"How long do you believe it will take for the Divine Cult to unite the martial world?"
The question surprised Wi Seorak once again.
Until now, Yu Sowol had merely displayed some interest in unifying the martial world. She had never spoken so directly about it.
After all, she had defeated every noteworthy master during her first appearance in the martial world, after which her interest had waned.
For some reason, however, she was now expressing interest in unifying the martial world in the truest sense.
"If we combine the power you possess with the Divine Cult’s forces, unifying the martial world will not take long. However...."
"However?"
"This time, the imperial family will intervene directly as well."
"The imperial family...."
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was a gathering place for those who had been rejected and marginalized.
It was nothing less than a thorn in the imperial family’s side.
Worse still, the cult was founded upon an ideology that threatened the very foundation of imperial authority. The two were effectively mutually exclusive.
It espoused the highly dangerous belief that all people were equal beneath the one true Heaven.
There was no need to explain whom that "Heaven" referred to.
"Yes. More importantly, since you broke the previous emperor’s neck, there is a high probability that the imperial army will mobilize."
"To summarize, unifying the martial world itself will not be difficult at present. However, we must also consider public sentiment and the conflict with the imperial family."
"Conflict with the imperial family does not concern me. Public sentiment, however, does."
War devastated the lives of the people.
Yu Sowol knew that perfectly well.
However, what mattered most in war was having a just cause. A war without justification had to be avoided at all costs.
Only recently had she realized that there were some things force could accomplish and others it could not.
Yu Sowol rolled the fruit between her fingers before dropping it back into the flowerpot.
"What is the situation in the Western Kingdoms? Did you not say before that they would attempt to keep us in check?"
The "Western Kingdoms" referred to every nation outside the Central Plains.
The only nation sharing a land border with the Central Plains was Mountain, the land of the dwarves.
Even that border was effectively meaningless because a colossal mountain range stood between them. Every other country lay across the sea.
There was only one land route connecting the Central Plains to the rest of the world: the Forest of Four Seasons.
As a result, the Central Plains had endured civil wars for centuries but had rarely ever suffered an invasion by foreign powers.
"Yes. I previously expressed concern because the navies of the Western Kingdoms are far more powerful than that of the Central Plains. However, the Western Kingdoms are currently embroiled in conflicts among themselves."
"Because of the movements of the fairies—the elves."
"Yes. If the elves and dwarves enter into full-scale conflict, the Western Kingdoms will be unable to act freely."
"Then now is the perfect opportunity."
"Yes, O Heaven."
Wi Seorak struggled to conceal the excitement surging within his chest.
How long had he waited for this moment?
The frustration had nearly driven him mad.
Yu Sowol gazed down at the Hair-Growth Herb for a while before closing her eyes.
’I originally intended to take my time, but....’
She could not allow Grylls to be placed in danger again.
She had to reach him and help him before that happened.
This incident had finally strengthened her resolve.
Yu Sowol slowly opened her eyes and made a vow.
’I will find you, no matter what.’
Then she spoke.
"Tell me when the time comes for me to act."
"Do you mean...?"
"Yes."
Yu Sowol raised her head.
Warm sunlight streamed through the window and shone upon her.
"A new sun and moon shall illuminate the world."
The sleeping giant had begun to awaken.
***
As the giant sleeping within the Central Plains prepared to announce its awakening—
"So... ’The garbage you illegally dumped has caused us harm. We therefore demand compensation.’ Will that work?"
"My brother will completely ignore it."
"True. He’s the bastard who settled a whole bundle of Byeokgokdan with a single banana. Then what should I write?"
"’If you dispose of the garbage peacefully, there will be no bloodshed.’"
"You lunatic. That’s a threat. Besides, we can’t beat them."
Grylls was drafting a letter to send to the gorilla troop.
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