Chapter 62: The Great War of Good and Evil (1)

I had never read a

murim

novel. They never interested me, and the genre had already become old-fashioned by my generation. Old

murim

movies were occasionally uploaded to the internet, but due to their crude CG, they just became laughingstocks.

Mine was the generation where all seriousness was laughed upon, leaving a tiny niche for martial arts and their codes of honor. The genre was in decline.

The said declining world was snowing.

“...It’s cold!”

We, the expedition team of no hopes and dreams, safely entered the apocalyptic book’s world and were immediately greeted by a vast snowfield. Some adorable sounds were made as we stepped through the snow, but there was nothing cute about the cold biting at us.

“Everyone! Use your aura to protect yourselves!” I yelled.

The coldness would freeze everyone if they did nothing. The Viper immediately drew up his aura, but the Chemist and Medicine King couldn’t because they were supports.

“I-I-I...haven’t learned how to use aura...”

“

Achoo! Aaaaachooo!

I’m going to die! You’re going to kill this old man with this cold!”

It had been less than twenty seconds since we’d arrived in the apocalyptic book’s world, but their faces were as pale as corpses. Well, I had done all sorts of stuff to learn how to use my aura, so it was highly unlikely for any support Hunter to know how to use their aura.

“

Tsk.

”

I quickly acted to solve the situation.

“Sect Master, please take care of the Medicine King!”

“Alright.” The Viper picked up the Medicine King. He may be the king of light novels, but rather die than look weak and he was still a High Ranker built for combat. His purple aura enveloped the Medicine King in short order.

The Medicine King sighed in relief like an old man settling into a hot spring. “That’s a bit better...”

I nodded and then took the Chemist’s hand. “You’re with me.”

“P-pardon?”

“Give me your hand.”

I transferred my aura through our hands. My red aura, which I still didn’t know if it symbolized blood or fire, spread warmly over the Chemist.

She bowed. “Ah. T-thank you, Mr. Death King. But t-this is a bit ticklish...”

“I know it’s awkward. I feel the same, but this isn’t the time to worry about it.”

I looked around. The snowstorm surrounding us was as thick as fog. The issue of our body temperature was temporarily taken care of, but I wasn’t sure where to go next.

“The Indoor Librarian is a Constellation, so he used words like books and discontinued serialization. But this is a world, not a book. And we’re here to save it. You know that, right?”

The Chemist’s eyes widened slightly. “...Yes, we are. I may have taken this a little too lightly. I’ll try my best.”

“We just have to focus on our roles. I’ll protect you with my aura, but you and Mr. Medicine King should take the lead when it’s time to end the plague. Please remember that.”

“Yes, Mr. Death King.”

The snowstorm whistled past my ears. Squinting, I tried my best to figure out my surroundings.

The last two sentences of the

Heavenly Demon Chronicle

crossed my head: “A mysterious plague breaks out, killing the Heavenly Demon and wiping out the Heavenly Demon Cult and the other factions.”

They were simple and short and said nothing about the bone-numbing cold or the knee-high snow. It just said the world met its end.

Now we had to find out why the character named Heavenly Demon was going to die. And what was this plague that was driving humanity here to its death?

“Oh!” The Chemist suddenly squeezed my hand and pointed into the snowstorm. “Look over there, Mr. Death King! I think I saw people!”

Everyone looked where the Chemist pointed. She was right. They were hard to see because of the thick snowstorm...but I could see a forest of human shadows. It wasn’t just a couple of people—there were dozens, possibly even hundreds of them.

“Okay. Let’s head over there first.”

I took the lead. The wind continued to whip the snow into a frenzy. Through it, people were reduced to vague silhouettes. We stayed close together so we wouldn’t lose each other.

—Zombie, there’s something wrong about this. I can’t hear anything from there,

the Guardian said. He was looking around me, acting as an extra pair of eyes.

Is it the snowstorm?

—Maybe.

The Guardian squinted at the forest of silhouettes.

But that isn’t just the sounds... They aren’t moving at all. It’s like they’re sculptures, not humans.

Fortunately, the snowstorm didn’t last long. Once it subsided, it was much easier to see. That was the only upside—the sight it unveiled left us speechless.

“...What are these?” the Viper whispered, his words accentuated by puffs of white. “Why are they all frozen?”

Hundreds of people all stood frozen in the snowfield.

* * *

“...They are human,” the Chemist said, studying one of the frozen humans. With latex gloves on, she used a tweezer to tear off some of the flesh. “According to my

Life Analysis

Skill, it’s already been two years and three months since he died. An illness killed him, but it isn’t registered on my

Mobile Hospital

.”

“How strange!” The Medicine King put on his monocle and examined a frozen human as well.

Like how a combat Hunter utilized their Skills to fight, the Chemist and Medicine King used their support Skills to assess the frozen humans.

“They all died from the same cause, but it wasn’t the cold. The disease killed them, so they should be lying on the ground...but they’re all standing. How baffling. In times like this, Silicon Valley—”

“It’s highly likely that someone moved them here on purpose,” the Chemist interrupted. After the talk we’d had, she looked much more serious. “Although they all died from the same cause, their time of death is all different. He died two years ago, and she died three years ago. The only possible conclusion I can reach right now is that someone intentionally moved the corpses here...”

I narrowed my eyes. “Is this some sort of graveyard?”

“A graveyard, huh? It does look like a terracotta army from afar.” The Viper stroked his chin.

All of the frozen humans were in different poses. One of them was spreading her arms as she looked up at the sky. Another person was baring his teeth like an animal.

I took a look at the nearest one.

Show me the status window,

I thought.

Name: Jang Seongpa

Affection: —

Liked genre: —

Disliked genre: —

Liked character: —

Disliked character: —

Liked plot point: —

Disliked plot point: —

State of mind:

Light.

So this was how the character window of dead people looked. This “Light” in his state of mind was probably the last thought he had before he died. The corpse’s state of mind never changed, like the engraving on a tombstone.

We discussed the mystery we faced.

“A graveyard... Why is it made like this if it’s a graveyard?”

“I’m not sure, but they all have weapons on their belts.”

“Is there somewhere we can shelter? It’s warm because of your aura, but...”

“...Hahahaha!”

The sudden laughter in the distance made us instinctively duck, but whoever it was didn’t seem to notice our presence.

“The Heavenly Demon Cult’s rule ends today!” he shouted.

“Hah! Even a dog would laugh at that.”

There were actually two people. Their voices were quite distinct; one belonged to an old man, and the other was a young woman’s.

“As long as I am here, the Heavenly Demon Cult will remain the absolute ruler of

murim

. Buwolseon, it’s time for you to say goodbye to your meaningless dream of building the Righteous Faction’s

murim

,” the woman confidently declared.

“Nonsense!” the old man yelled. “The Blood Demon Unit your cult was so proud of already lost their heads to my ax. I also chopped off your rotten Demonic Head Elders’ heads and sent them to the otherworld! I have five hundred of

murim

’s elite by my side, so no demonic arts of yours can stop me!”

“Ha.” The woman quietly laughed. “For an old man, you certainly know how to talk. You aren’t strong enough to kill them, and my Blood Demons are on a secret mission, so they’re away right now.”

I held up my finger and gestured at the others to be quiet. They blinked.

“Let’s approach them quietly, okay?” I muttered under my breath.

They nodded. We slowly approached the forest of corpses, the frozen graveyard. The two voices slowly became clearer. It wasn’t long before we laid eyes on them. The woman was wearing a black martial arts uniform; the old man was in white.

“Worry about your people first, Wolseon,” the woman chastised. “You used to be the respected leader of

murim

, but look at yourself now. It’s pathetic. Where did all your prodigies from the Prestigious Clans go? You used to go on and on about them.”

“Ha! None of your business. They had to carry out an urgent secret mission, so they went all over the world!”

“You give out a lot of secret missions.”

“That’s because you ruined the world, woman! If that wasn’t for the Heavenly Demon Cult’s idiotic rule, the world wouldn’t have ended up like this!”

“If me and my people are idiots, what does that make you people? You handed

murim

to us. You’re worse than idiots.”

“Y-you wench!”

“If you have a problem with that, fight me, old man.”

They were having a very dirty fight. From the sound of it, the old man in the white outfit seemed to be from the Righteous Faction; on the other hand, the woman in black was part of the Heavenly Demon Cult. They pointed their weapons at each other.

“Forget it. I can’t watch a demon cult leader like you boast anymore! I’ll cut your head into two. One half shall be offered to the Jade Emperor and the other to Yama!”

“

Phew.

I want to end this too. Today, I’m finally going to finish the last survivor of the Righteous Faction and show the world that the Heavenly Demon Cult’s rule is still absolute.”

It had the feel of street talk, but it was still the typical start of a battle between two martial artists in

murim

. Now, all they had to do was wield their qi and exchange brilliant sword attacks. Then, everything would then become perfect.

However, I found one big problem.

—Zombie,

the Guardian blankly mumbled.

Why are they holding sticks...?

Indeed, the old man and the woman were holding thin sticks that were usually used to inflict physical punishment. That was what they were using for weapons. The splendid weapons that always showed up in

murim

movies were nowhere to be seen.

The pair seemed to feel embarrassed pointing sticks at each other because they awkwardly stared at each other for a long moment.

“...Buwolseon,” the woman in black cautiously ventured, “did you lose your Jade Ax or something? Why did you bring a piece of wood? You’re just a goon from the Namgung Clan and your only strength is your powerful ax swings...”

“B-be quiet!” The old man’s face reddened. “I could ask the same about you! Where is your Bloodbane Demon Sword? You used to treat it like it was your daughter! Did you throw it away somewhere? Why are you holding a stick like that!”

“Stick?” The woman avoided the old man’s eyes. “Excuse me. It may not look like it, but I carved this wooden sword myself. It contains the essence of the millennium-long Demonic Path. I bestowed the name of Demonic Heaven Saber to this weapon.”

“Did you really call a stick ‘Demonic Heaven’?”

“I can’t...?”

After a short silence, the old man quietly coughed. “

Ahem.

That’s too grandiose for a stick. Why don’t you just give it a more mundane name and call it a cane?”

“That just means that it’s a stick...”

“It is a stick, you idiot!”

The woman nodded, dispirited. “Okay. Since you say so, I’ll be satisfied with the Demonic Cane.”

“Damn you! Demon this! Demon that! “ The old man’s white mustache trembled in annoyance. “Why are you cultists always so anxious to name everything demon? Just your minions are Blood Demons, Sword Demons, Ghostfire Demons, and Moonlight Demons! That’s four types of demons already! Then their captains are also called the Four Demon Kings! Is the first word you ever learn demon?”

“Doesn’t it sound tasteful...?”

“Ahhhh! I can’t believe

murim

ever ended up in your hands, even if it was short!”

Meanwhile, the dark snow clouds were eating away the sunlight little by little. They were unusually thick, so the world was shrouded in a dense darkness.

“Hup!” The old man gasped. “D-Demon. This is not the time to fight among ourselves!”

The two immediately stood back to back as if they’d never fought.

Cold sweat rolled off the woman’s forehead. “Shit. The laws of nature have recently been unruly...”

“You wench! You were confident that it was going to be a clear day today!”

“There are times when my predictions are wrong. How am I supposed to understand the laws of nature? I just watched how the Ghostfire Demon King does it. “

“For goodness’s sake! A fortune teller off the street would make a better cult leader than you. I can’t believe I fell for your temptation and ruined such an important event!”

“Shut up and get ready to fight, old man. You’re wasting what little stamina I have left.”

Their conversation left me and the others baffled.

“W-what do you think is wrong with them...?” the Chemist whispered.

“Well, I don’t know ei—”

Just as I was about to answer, I heard a low growl. At first, I thought that it was made by someone from my group, but then I heard growling gradually coming from the left, the right, in front of us, and behind. I realized I was gravely mistaken.

The Chemist gasped in surprise and clutched my arm, her face pale as a sheet. The Viper and Medicine King looked equally worried and I was sure I was wearing a deep frown too.

Around one thousand frozen humans, which we had believed to be ordinary corpses, slowly...moved their limbs.

The frozen corpse right beside us rolled his eyes. His pupils were dilated and most of his eyebrows were gone. It looked like parts of his eyes had been eaten away, yet despite all of that, the corpse looked right into my eyes. When I saw his eyes, I realized what was going on.

“Fucking hell...” I gritted my teeth.

The description of

Heavenly Demon Chronicle

read:

Heavenly Demon Chronicle

Genres: Murim, fusion fantasy

Difficulty level: B

Required challengers: 2~4 people

※Serialization is currently discontinued.

Description: This is the world where people admire, practice, and master martial arts! The Heavenly Demon shows up and tries to unify

murim

, leading the Heavenly Demon Cult. The other factions rise against him and fight for the world’s future. ...Well, they would have done that if that hadn’t been for a super plague.

Reason for discontinuation of serialization: A mysterious plague breaks out, killing the Heavenly Demon and wiping out the Heavenly Demon Cult and the other factions. The end.

The corpses slowly moved. They were slow, but the sight of them moving was horror itself. Now I knew what the mysterious super plague that brought this world to damnation was.

“The super plague is a zombie virus?!” I shouted.

The corpse opened his mouth and roared. The sun was now completely blotted out, and around a thousand zombies charged us.