Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 62

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 62
Chapter 7. Poison and Minister
* * *
The Archery Training Ground was quiet.
Unlike the crowded Swordsmanship Training Ground, there had never been many students practicing archery in the first place.
The second exam was a month away.
Most students prioritized improving their existing martial arts over learning new ones.
“Have you come to learn archery?”
As the three entered, the archery instructor—who had been conversing with the students already present—approached them with a look of surprise.
A man of unremarkable height with a lean, solid frame and a plain expression.
The instructor who had introduced himself during orientation and asked them to call him Instructor Baek.
“Unless I’m mistaken, you three aren’t archers.”
Instructor Baek’s gaze fell on Yeon-woo.
“You, though—yes. You’re the student who cleared the Illusion Formation first. Was it Gwan Yeon-woo?”
“It’s Yeon-woo Lee.”
“You entered under the Gwan family name, so you should be called Gwan Yeon-woo.”
Yeon-woo frowned slightly, caught off guard.
“…Is that so?”
But she was Yeon-woo Lee. Or wait—that was before death, so now she was Gwan Yeon-woo, wasn’t she?
The instructor watched her murmur to herself in serious contemplation, then chuckled lightly and asked all three of them, “So. You want to learn archery? Though in just a month, it’ll be hard to handle a bow with any real skill.”
“I don’t particularly want to learn archery.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Teach us how to fight against someone who uses a bow.”
“Hmm.”
Instructor Baek’s eyes lit with interest.
“You came to the archery instructor and asked how to take down an archer?”
His expression grew noticeably darker.
“…!”
Baek Yeol-han, who had been listening to the exchange between Yeon-woo and Instructor Baek, was taken aback.
‘Oh… I see…’
The idea of getting advice on fighting archers had seemed reasonable, so he’d followed along without thinking. But now that he thought about it, wasn’t the man facing them an archer?
‘Isn’t this… really rude?’
It was like asking someone eager to teach you how to shoot to instead reveal their own weaknesses!
“U-um, Instructor, that’s not what we meant—”
He was scrambling to apologize when—
“Ha ha! That’s right! Well said!”
‘Huh?’
He’s not… angry?
“An archer knows an archer’s weaknesses best. The Director asked us all to answer freely. There’s nothing wrong with this approach.”
Instructor Baek stroked his chin and nodded approvingly.
“Very well. I’ll teach you. How warriors like you, who use close-range weapons, should handle opponents wielding mid-to-long-range weapons.”
At Instructor Baek’s generous reply, the faces of all three brightened.
“However.”
Instructor Baek raised a finger.
“Closing in only works when you can avoid it in the first place. Trying to charge when you can’t even dodge or block incoming arrows is absurd. So, follow me.”
Instructor Baek led the three of them onward.
Yeon-woo immediately followed in his wake, and Sa-ma Hyeon and Baek Yeol-han exchanged a brief glance before following them as well.
Instructor Baek brought them to a corner of the training ground.
A spot some distance from where the archery students were practicing.
Instructor Baek retrieved something from the Weapon Stand and distributed what he’d brought to the three of them.
What he gave them were three leather balls, each about the size of a child’s fist.
The leather, tanned and shaped into a sphere, was surprisingly heavy—whatever was packed inside had weight to it.
“Throw these at each other,” he said.
“I’m sorry?”
“…?”
Instructor Baek handed the leather balls to the three bewildered students and explained, “In rotation, every quarter hour, one person stands still while the other two take turns throwing. The thrower aims to hit, and the target—well, obviously—tries to evade or deflect.”
Yeon-woo tossed the leather ball lightly up and caught it.
“This looks like it’d hurt if it hit you.”

“It’ll hurt. So you have to dodge.”
“This actually helps?”
Baek Yeol-han studied Yeon-woo intently.
His gaze lingered on the furrow between her brows, as if troubled by something.
Then he smiled and nodded.
“Of course. If you can see it, dodge it, and respond to it, then closing the distance becomes nothing.”
“Mm.”
Yeon-woo looked down at the leather ball.
“This is too easy, though.”
She’d wanted advice on closing the gap, not this.
“Fundamentals are always necessary. Trust me, it’ll help. Today, the three of you can do this for about one Double Hour, then we’ll call it. Evening’s coming soon anyway.”
Since she’d been sparring all morning after the initial training, there wasn’t much time left to learn from the instructors.
For that reason, throwing the ball didn’t seem particularly interesting, but Yeon-woo nodded nonetheless.
“Understood.”
He was teaching for a reason, after all.
‘Grandfather did it that way too.’
Everything—every game, every movement—had held a lesson.
“Then I’ll be supervising the other students. Call if you need anything.”
With that, Baek Yeol-han left the three of them alone.
He’d been heading off to instruct the students who trained with the bow as their weapon.
“Look at this!”
There was a grunt, and then Baek Yeol-han returned, hauling a basket.
It was packed with leather balls—the ones Baek Yeol-han had distributed.
“There were tons at the Weapon Stand, so I brought them. Otherwise we’d spend the whole time hunting them down.”
“A wise thought. So your head does have some use after all.”
“Would you care to elaborate on that remark with perfect clarity?”
“It means I acknowledge you.”
“Huh?”
Acknowledge? Was that good?
Leaving the bewildered Baek Yeol-han behind, Yeon-woo turned toward the wall.
“I’ll go first.”
“Okay, sure!”
“Very well, my benefactor.”
Sa-ma Hyeon picked up a leather ball.
But facing Yeon-woo with his back to the wall, his nerve faltered.
“I can really throw it? You’re sure?”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
“With all my strength?”
“Yeah.”
“You can… dodge it, right?”
Yeon-woo’s brow furrowed sharply.
“Want me to throw it at you instead?”
At you?
“No, no! I’ll throw it! I’m throwing!”
Sa-ma Hyeon tossed the ball lightly.
And so, after one Double Hour.
“Huff— hah— huff…”
“Wheeze! Wheeze! Wheeeze!”
Baek Yeol-han looked down at Sa-ma Hyeon sprawled flat beside him, frowning.
“Why are you breathing like that—huff—so hard—huff—?”
“Too—wheeze—hard—huff—strength—huff—dying—huff!”
Never mind that his Small Crown had gone crooked; watching Sa-ma Hyeon gasp miserably, Baek Yeol-han shook his head.
‘I mean, I’m exhausted too. He hasn’t even learned martial arts—he must be barely hanging on. The real question is…’
Baek Yeol-han’s gaze shifted to Yeon-woo.
‘…that one.’
Yeon-woo was casually bouncing three leather balls off the wall—thunk, thunk, thunk—playing with them.
Following Baek Yeol-han’s instructions, the three of them took turns throwing once per interval, cycling through.
At first, pity had made them hold back, unable to throw with real force.
As a result, Yeon-woo had dodged everything, even growing bored.
And then it came time for Yeon-woo to throw.
“Aaaargh! No! No, no, nooo!!”
Baek Yeol-han nearly died.
He truly felt as though death itself had come calling.
If he didn’t dodge, the leather ball would streak toward him with ruthless precision, and his body moved of its own accord.
Instinct.
Had it not been for the instinct his body had developed through years of Martial Arts cultivation, he would have been in real danger.
‘The few times I took a hit, my vision swam.’
It felt like being struck by a stone, not a leather ball at all.
And yet.
‘He’s taken dozens of them.’
And what of the reverse?
Baek Yeol-han swallowed hard.
‘We couldn’t land a single shot. We were bored the entire time.’
We threw with all our might, except that first try.
What was this helplessness? What could it be?
“…And if we return empty-handed, there’s nothing but rice balls to eat. It drains my spirit entirely. As the saying goes, children must eat well and sleep well to grow, and yet here we are.”
Sa-ma Hyeon rubbed his stomach dolefully.
At the mention of food, Yeon-woo, who had been throwing the ball against the wall, turned to look at the two of them.
“Want to come to my room and eat?”
“…!”
“!!”
Sa-ma Hyeon and Baek Yeol-han turned to stare at Yeon-woo simultaneously.
Yeon-woo bounced the ball against the wall with a soft *ping* and spoke.
“Actually, it’s too much for me to eat alone anyway, so this works out perfectly! You two can just eat with me!”
Baek Yeol-han and Sa-ma Hyeon exchanged a glance for a moment.
“Is… is that really all right?”
“It would be my honor.”
Hm?
Baek Yeol-han looked over at Sa-ma Hyeon.
Sa-ma Hyeon had already risen, straightening the Small Crown on his head as he spoke with renewed vigor.
“The provisions allotted to a student belong to the student. The meals distributed to our benefactor are certainly more abundant than one person alone would consume. I shall be honored to share the responsibility.”
Baek Yeol-han’s gaze fell low.
‘Shameless.’
When he’d first learned the Dormitory housed only rice balls for meals, he’d been devastated. Baek Yeol-han still remembered how Sa-ma Hyeon’s expression had twisted not just with disappointment but bitter frustration.
Yet Baek Yeol-han could not forget that look.
Still, Baek Yeol-han was no less reluctant to refuse Yeon-woo’s offer—those rice ball lumps were hardly appealing.
“If you’re willing to share, I’ll accept gratefully.”
“Then let’s go! I’m starving!”
Yeon-woo tossed the ball aside and seized both their hands, dragging them forward.
So thrilled at the prospect of eating, he hauled them both along—*thump-thump-thump*—toward the Dormitory.
“Whoa—!”
Baek Yeol-han, pretending not to resist, was yanked forward with such tremendous force that he tumbled right along with them.
Glancing sideways, Sa-ma Hyeon was already fluttering like a scrap of paper.
But moments later.
*Snap-tap!*
“Oh!”
“Ah!”
The hands of the two young men, reaching eagerly for the food with chopsticks, were harshly struck away.
“Don’t eat.”
Yeon-woo’s gaze, fixed upon them, had turned ice-cold.
“If you eat this, you’ll die.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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