“Here… we… go!”

Zhu Gang energetically carried large bags of cement.

‘Just how many of these bags are still there? It’s practically endless!’

Even though Zhu Gang was a martial artist possessing a physique far surpassing that of average men his age, his life still remained a tough slog.

The reason for that was simple enough.

Slap! Plop! Plop!

One by one, cement bags began piling on the specially-constructed

jige

on Zhu Gang’s back.[1]

“What the…?”

Slap! Plop! Plop!

Even before he could say something, ten-plus cement bags piled up on the jige first.

Zhu Gang frowned deeply. “I’m still a human being, you know…?”

“Nah, you can do it, fella. You can do it!”

“Come on, now. Don’t say that. I’m…”

“No. You can do it.”

Words weren’t getting through, it seemed!

While most proficient laborers could lug around three, maybe four cement bags in one go, the demon cult's 'workforce', including Zhu Gang, could carry a dozen of them.

‘Gimme a break. I’m dying here!’

Being a martial artist didn't mean one's body was made out of solid forged steel, though! The more one pushed one's body, the sooner it'd break. And past a certain point, even a martial artist would fall ill.

Unfortunately for Zhu Gang, these bastards seemed to think of martial artists as all-purpose slaves that would never break, no matter how severe the work was!

“Urgh…!”

Zhu Gang let out a pained groan while sliding himself into the packed jige's straps. However, his eyes were still burning sharply.

‘Only a little more to go, and then…!’

It was reality, not hard labor, that drove many people insane. No matter how tough or unforgiving the work was, people could endure if they had ‘hope.’

Hope that this sh*tty work could improve their reality somehow!

This was why salarymen endured life within large corporations infamous for saddling their workforce with a hellish amount of work.

Depending on one's outlook on the future, the same amount of work would feel different. That was why…!

“Here we… go!”

Zhu Gang powerfully got up to his feet. This level of hard labor was nothing to him.

‘After all, our demon emperor is also doing his best, isn’t he?’

Anyone with functioning eyes should be able to see it for themselves. The demon emperor was clearly a lot busier than when the demon cult had just entered South Korea.

The demon cult elders were getting pummeled every day… Including today, too. The premise was that the end result would be bleedingly obvious if the teachers didn't know their subjects well. So, the demon emperor had been thoroughly pounding those poor old men every single day for a while now.

It’d never be easy for folks at that age to learn something new. Worse still, the method of learning was quite humiliating for them, too. They got beaten up, kicked around, and kissed the dirt so many times that even Zhu Gang felt sorry for the elders’ plight!

Even then, these elders didn’t express dissatisfaction. Actually, they were clearly burning even brighter in the flames of motivation!

Seventy-plus-year-old senior citizens were readily dusting themselves up, their eyes sparkling like three-year-olds! As if they were actively enjoying getting beaten up and rolling around in dirt so much!

Was it because the elders had gone mad? Of course not!

“No one has witnessed this demonic art before!”

“I had no doubt the demonic art imparted to us by the demon emperor would be nothing short of extraordinary, but this thing goes way beyond that!”

“This demonic art…! With this, the demon cult can finally achieve everlasting glory and domination!”

This training should be tough and painful for those elders. However, they saw hope from the demonic art the demon emperor had given them. They now could believe that their future, and the demon cult's future, could change with this cultivation method.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

‘Things must’ve been hard for them, too.’

Zhu Gang also despaired from his situation. It wasn't just him, though, but pretty much every demon cult member was stuck in the same mindset as him. However, when he thought about the situation a bit more, their despair should be nothing compared to what the elders must've felt.

At least the regular demon cult believers like Zhu Gang had a choice. They could abandon the cult to live an ordinary life or join another sect. Even if doing so wouldn't be easy, the options were still available.

However, the elders couldn’t do that. How could they abandon a sect they had devoted their entire life to? It was impossible. And choosing to lead a new life at their advanced age was just as impossible. As such, their despair must’ve been even worse.

Their future had no hope of improving. Their situation was only getting worse. And they had no choice but to accept this reality and cling to the old glory.

Zhu Gang had only spent around two decades of his life in the demon cult, yet he still felt this much despair. That was why he could never adequately guess how much worse it was for the elders who spent most of their lives with the cult.

But now, the demonic cultivation method developed by Kang Jin-Ho landed in front of these elders. Forget calling it the demonic art, it should really be called Hope, instead!

Seeing these dirt-covered elders forgetting about saving face and grinning like hopeful kids filled Zhu Gang's chest with all sorts of emotions.

‘Maybe… Yeah, that must be it.’

A cruel life with hope for the future was supposed to be

better

than a cushy life with no hope, now wasn't it?

“Okay, here we go!”

Zhu Gang strengthened his legs and energetically rushed up the staircase of a building under construction.

“Hey, man! Take it easy, will ya! You’re gonna break the jige!”

“No can do! We gotta finish as soon as possible!” Zhu Gang replied while putting the jige down. He stood up straight and wiped the streaming sweat off his brow.

When he thought about it, this work he was doing would go on to change his reality, didn't it? After all, the demon cult believers were supposed to settle in this village once everything had been finished.

For now, not many things had changed or improved.

Zhu Gang and his peers hadn't gotten any stronger. And they weren't certainly living a better life in Korea, either. As a matter of fact, they could devote fewer hours to training these days. All things considered, their lives could be seen as worse off compared to the past.

Even then, no one complained anymore. Well, not as much as before, at least!

Even though the atmosphere had grown volatile enough to erupt at any given moment, all the dissatisfaction dissipated instantly at the sight of the demon emperor working hard for their sake.

What these people wanted wasn't a cushy, comfy life, but a life with a future. Even if that life was so much harder and less forgiving than before!

“Hey, everyone! Drop whatever you were doing and come downstairs!”

“Mm?” Zhu Gang peeked his head out over the empty side of the building when he heard that call. He looked at the ground below and asked the messenger. “What's going on?”

“Not sure! But the higher-ups say today will be your last day here!”

“...Say what?”

The last day? Zhu Gang scanned his surroundings in confusion.

This building's structure had been more or less finished, but the exterior and interior fittings still had a long way to go.

Even he could tell more work was still needed, but… Today would be Zhu Gang's last day?

Although slightly confused, Zhu Gang didn't get flustered. In fact, his heart began pounding faster in excitement instead.

He had already heard that this construction work wouldn’t be permanent, that he’d only be doing it temporarily. There were a lot of preparations to be made to get the training regime ready, the demon emperor said. So, the demon cult believers should assist with the construction of their living areas in the meantime.

That was the demon emperor’s command. So, to say they would no longer work here?

‘...Does that mean things are about to start for real?’

Zhu Gang hurriedly called out to his fellow cult members. “…! Come on! Let's go downstairs!”

“Yeah, let’s!”

It seemed others also had guessed the same thing as Zhu Gang, judging from how they rushed down the stairs. Zhu Gang followed them as well, his heart rapidly filling up with excitement and nervousness.

Other demon cult believers working on various construction sites also rushed outside of their buildings. Once everyone had gathered at the central plaza, the sheer scale of the number of workers finally revealed itself. However, not every demon cult believer was here.

Cult members with skills related to construction weren't the only folks brought in to work on this construction project. Even those with nothing better to do were roped in to deal with sundry chores

since that would be better than just sitting around sucking on their thumbs.

Even then, there still was a surplus of workers. In the end, they also were dispatched to other areas to work. If those people were also here, the overall number would have been even greater!

“Okay, now everyone, listen up!” The site manager loudly addressed the crowd. “Thank you for all your hard work! I just received word that they want you back in the HQ!”

Someone shouted alongside the site manager to translate Korean into Chinese. Almost immediately, everyone responded by heading toward the exit of the construction site.

The site manager watched in slight awe at the sight of the demon cult believers uniformly filing out of the exit and walking along the winding road through the mountainside. It was as if he was watching a massive horde of ants.

“Site manager? If they leave, how are we supposed to finish our work today?” The interpreter cautiously asked.

The site manager shrugged coolly. “Let’s wrap up the scheduled additional work first and then worry about that. We’re supposed to receive new workers tomorrow, after all.”

“Hmm… How long do you think we’ll need until wrapping this project up?”

“How long, eh…?” The site manager mulled his answer for a bit. “I guess about the same as how long we spent to get to this point?”

“Huh? Even though we’re almost done?”

“That’s the funny part, isn’t it? You see, a project of this scale should’ve taken a lot longer. But those fellas have been working crazy-fast, haven’t they?”

“Well, yes. That’s true.”

The site manager chuckled hollowly while glancing at all the buildings densely packing the vicinity. As these structures weren’t tall or imposing, it wasn’t easy to appreciate the scale of what happened here. However, as the site manager, he knew he was a part of something truly remarkable.

The estimated construction time had been halved by at least half a year.

It was very difficult to work on many buildings at once in a large housing complex construction project. The norm was to start on one corner of the complex and gradually build one structure after another.

Other obstacles and unforeseen reasons could add up to negatively impact the time required to complete the project.

However, these Chinese workers had somehow managed to shorten that estimated time. And by a lot, too! They quickly built one house and moved on to the next one even before the cement could dry.

People seemingly immune to fatigue continued to work away without a rest. With such scenes simultaneously happening in many parts of the site, how could the construction project not finish much sooner than expected?

Team managers supposed to supervise them keeled over from overwork, so what more could be said about their inhuman speed at this point?

The site manager chuckled ruefully. “We're gonna need a lot of time to finish the interior fittings and all the exterior stuff. Besides, those aren't the only remaining things on the to-do list, now are they? We still have all the

really

-important stuff to take care of, too.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Still, those folks saved us a lot of time, that’s for sure.”

“By the way, manager?”

“Yeah?”

“Just who were they? Do you know?”

Now that was an obvious question to ask, wasn't it? However, the site manager didn't reply and quietly listened.

The interpreter continued to mutter away. “I think they were all Chinese. Not Korean Chinese either, but… You know what I mean. I know lots of Chinese are working in construction, but it's still my first time seeing so many of them in one place.”

“Hmm…”

“Also, weren't they a bit too strong? I lost count of how many times they surprised me. The more I think about this, the more I'm convinced they were not ordinary pe…”

“Hey, man,” the site manager suddenly cut the interpreter off.

“...Yes, manager?”

“Stop worrying about them. And erase them from your memories, okay?”

“I'm sorry? But why…?”

“Didn’t I tell you already? Don’t let any of this story get out of here, or do you want a reminder of how much the penalty for breach of contract is?”

“...No, no need, manager.”

“That's why I'm telling you to forget all about it, okay? We saw nothing in this place.”

The site manager shuddered a little while saying that. This project was the first time he had to be secretive about what he was doing.

Back when things were done more…

haphazardly

, the higher-ups would routinely steal from the budget and order their subordinates to keep their mouths shut about all the shoddy construction.

But the whole project being a secret? And telling someone about it was unilaterally forbidden? The site manager could swear that such a thing had never happened before, at least not in his long career.

‘I have no idea what we’re doing here.’

The funny thing was, he wouldn't want to talk about this place even if the higher-ups smiled warmly and told him it was okay to blab his mouth. That was because his instincts told him not to get involved with the people behind this project.

...And then, there was the man named Lee Hyeon-Su, or whatever his name was, who sometimes showed up on the site to inspect the proceedings.

The look in that man’s eyes gave the site manager such creeps that he might have nightmares if he wasn’t careful!

Those eyes that stared at the site manager like a venomous snake…! Merely recalling those eyes seemed to shave away at the site manager’s lifespan.

‘It doesn’t matter to me, right?’

The site manager’s job was to construct this place. And get paid handsomely for it. It shouldn’t matter whether the employer was a human or alien as long as people got paid what they were promised.

“Stop worrying about unnecessary stuff and focus on what we need to do later, okay?” The site manager gruffly chided the interpreter. “Things will get hectic once more when new people show up tomorrow.”

“Eiii, come on now. It’s not like this is my first rodeo, manager.”

“I don’t want to hear that from a guy who can’t get his act together! Why aren’t you back at work, anyway?!”

“I’m on my way! Geez!”

After his surroundings had gotten quieter, the site manager sighed at length.

‘Huh. I sure got myself involved in some weird things.’

There was still plenty more work to be done. The construction itself was about 80% finished, but the actual progress should be around 50% after accounting for the sudden switch in the workforce and the new people requiring time to be brought up to speed.

Even so, the site manager thought they had overcome one massive hurdle. How should he describe this feeling, then? Like… He had been wading inside a hazy dream only to finally wake up in reality?

“Well… I hope they pay me one hell of a bonus after this.”

The employer seemed loaded, after all, so why not?

Judging from the meals provided to the workforce or the various materials and financial support for the construction, the person behind this project had to be gobsmackingly wealthy. Since that person spent money like water, the… 'gift' handed out to keep people's mouths shut should be rather considerable, too.

“That should be enough, I guess.”

The site manager slid his hand under the safety hat and scratched his head while heading back to the construction site.

“...What the hell! Hey, you dumb prick! Get rid of that pile properly!”

And just like that, the village for the demon cult believers gradually neared completion.

1. A jige is a traditional Korean tool used to carry large quantities of heavy materials. ?