Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 1
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1. Preface
“Alliance Leader.”
Had I been dreaming for a moment?
As my mind cleared, I heard the familiar voice of the Divine Physician.
It seemed like we had quite a long conversation just yesterday, yet I couldn’t shake the strange impression that it had been ages.
At that moment, I realized.
‘The time has come.’
The shadow of death that had been creeping closer had finally enveloped me completely.
“You’ve regained consciousness. Are you able to speak?”
I tried to open my mouth. But neither my lips nor my jaw would move.
Naturally, no voice came out either. I could only dimly see the Divine Physician’s face and the bedroom ceiling. I could barely feel anything through touch.
It was strange that my hearing remained perfectly intact amidst all this.
“Alliance Leader.”
I couldn’t make out the Divine Physician’s face clearly, but I could tell his voice was trembling slightly.
“This humble one’s inadequacy has led you to this state, Alliance Leader.”
Why would that be your fault?
“In the future, when I go to the Underworld, I will surely serve you again.”
Then I heard countless voices from afar.
“Alliance Leader!”
“Alliance Leader! Please wake up!”
“You must not pass away, Alliance Leader!”
Their voices were filled with deep sorrow.
Even in this final moment, I couldn’t hide my embarrassment. What was so great about me as an alliance leader that these people, who had suffered all kinds of hardships because of me, were crying?
I could even hear wailing sounds. It seemed they had realized there was no hope from the Divine Physician’s words.
‘That’s enough.’
Honestly, it was closer to feeling sorry than embarrassed.
Even I thought I was a person with a truly terrible temperament. Though it was said to be a side effect of my Family Clan’s Secret Arts, still, as someone who had reached the position of Martial Alliance Leader, I should have shown at least minimal dignity, setting aside solemnity…
I couldn’t manage even that.
Well, at this point, there’s no use talking about side effects or anything else. Maybe it was just my nature all along.
‘Still, thank you for crying for this pathetic alliance leader…’
Just then, I heard whispering voices.
“Finally going, finally going.”
“Damn it! I prayed to the gods for ten years, and that detestable bastard managed to hold on all those years.”
“A man tougher than tiger sinew.”
Thank you…
“But what if that bastard suddenly gets up again? He did that a few times before, didn’t he? When he fought the Demon Immortal too, he kept getting up just fine.”
“Shh! That devil might hear us!”
…Look at those bastards I should kill.
Rage surged through me and my eyes trembled. My hearing was so intact that I could hear even the sound of ants crawling, allowing me to catch every whisper from those who disliked me.
Those bastards were definitely the ones who had been kicked out of key positions for war corruption. Given the situation, I showed mercy by not executing them immediately and just making them work to death, but now at the moment of someone’s death, they’re running their wicked mouths?!
“Don’t underestimate the Mad Demon’s vitality. Come now, let us pray wholeheartedly for you to die well.”
I paused for a moment as I was about to curse inwardly.
‘Mad Demon…’
Crazy demon.
It was the infamous nickname that those ungrateful bastards, as well as my enemies, had given me.
‘Well, I suppose I’ve accumulated quite a lot of bad karma.’
Even if I were called something worse than Mad Demon, I should accept it calmly.
People say that though I have a fiery temperament, my Spear and Sword were always pointed toward evil.
It’s not entirely wrong, but in the end, that too was just part of my duties. I never even wanted the grand position of Martial Alliance Leader in the first place.
Life is like that. You can’t live doing only what you want to do, and no one gets everything they desire.
In the end, I was just an ordinary man with a bad temper who happened to be slightly better at martial arts than others.
‘Still.’
My Family Clan came to mind.
Though it was a life pushed forward by others and the world, it was the only light I could grasp.
‘At least I restored the Family Clan’s honor.’
That was enough.
Now the world would never again point fingers at my house, at my Family Clan.
Well, some scoundrel might emerge in future generations to ruin the family, but that’s not something I can be responsible for.
Thinking of my Family Clan, Elder Brother’s generous smile suddenly came to mind.
‘It’s not because you’re the Alliance Leader. At the very least, shouldn’t you live longer than this worthless elder brother? The Family Clan and brothers will take good care of everything, so don’t worry and take it easy with work.’
My heart swelled with emotion.
He was my benefactor who not only saved me when I was about to live worse than a beast, but also transformed our hellish Family Clan into paradise. If it weren’t for Elder Brother, I would have either died or given up everything and fled the Family Clan.
‘Still, the work we left behind in this world is quite decent, isn’t it?’
Not just Jianghu, but our Family Clan had come back to life.
That was more important to me.
‘I’ve done enough.’
Yes, this much is enough…
Gasp!
Suddenly my vision went white and tremendous chest pain surged up.
‘Kuk!’
I felt my mouth gaping open. Even my ears, which had been hearing well, became muffled.
I knew what this symptom meant.
‘Demon Immortal!’
Five years had passed since the end of the twenty-year war with Sacred Blood Palace.
For those five years, the Demonic Energy left behind by Sacred Blood Palace’s master, Demon Immortal Neung Hyeong, had constantly gnawed at my life, and now at this final moment, it was causing this chaos again.
The voice of Neung Hyeong, who had been the worst enemy of my life, echoed like a hallucination.
“I’ll wait. Until you come.”
Oh, really?
You just wait right there. If this is a rematch in hell, then I welcome it too, you bastard!
I endured through sheer spite and stubbornness, burning with rage toward him, but this insane pain doubled or tripled with every blink of my eyes.
A scream burst from my gaping mouth.
“Aaaaaahhh!”
“Alliance Leader!!”
After screaming for a while, I suddenly felt the world growing dark.
And then…
“Huh?”
I blinked without realizing it.
What is this place?
I stood blankly in a space where not a trace of light could be found. Even though it was a space without light, I could see myself wearing the Alliance Leader’s Dragon Robe.
As if nothing had happened, the pain disappeared and my dulled five senses came back to life.
What’s going on? Did I skip the Sanzu River and arrive directly in the Underworld?
Then, I heard an eerie voice.
“You’ve finally come.”
Like an echo from a cave, a voice in such a low register that no human voice could ever produce.
Every hair on my body stood on end.
“Who are you?”
The darkness vibrated and produced that terrifying voice again.
“I have waited far too long.”
“What?”
“My ego as an intermediary was on the verge of collapse. Now I will prepare for the descent of God through you.”
It was a series of incomprehensible words.
I had no leisure to interpret those words. As soon as the words ended, I felt the sensation of darkness closing in from all directions.
For a moment I instinctively tried to throw a punch, but I soon realized it was meaningless.
I could instinctively tell that this was not a place where someone belonging to the living world could enter. In any case, my death was inevitable.
‘For a scene to witness before death, this is excessively desolate.’
I slowly closed my eyes.
The darkness that had been closing in from all sides crushed me completely.
Along with the sensation of my entire body being crushed, my consciousness was severed.
* * *
People often have times when it’s difficult to contain their anger.
They might get angry at parents who scold them to study instead of playing around during their most vigorous years, or their accumulated frustration might explode when watching their child, who seemed exceptional when young, become more of an idiot with each passing day.
Sometimes resentment surges when it feels like the world doesn’t recognize your hard work, and sometimes irritation suddenly wells up when your once-beloved spouse makes smacking sounds while eating.
On the other hand, there are people who get angry for absolutely no reason at all.
This happens when someone is born unable to control their anger, or when deteriorated mental states like excessive depression trigger rage.
I didn’t belong anywhere.
I wasn’t a sensible person, but I wasn’t someone born with anger management issues either. Yet I was full of rage.
Even someone like me had to feel bewilderment rather than anger in this situation.
“What a mess.”
I blinked my eyes and there was an unfamiliar woman in front of me.
Was she just past her prime years? Her features were refined, but her expressionless face radiated a cold aura.
“Were you really only this much of a person?”
Who? Me?
“Who are you…”
Bang!
She slammed the table, making the drinks and food on it shake.
The young woman shot up to her feet.
“As of today, our relationship is over. I’m disappointed, Young Master Murong.”
The woman who turned away with a cold attitude gave off a strong fragrance. It was a scent that somehow felt dark and gloomy.
‘But wait, Young Master Murong?’
I unconsciously frowned.
‘No matter what, I’m the leader of the Martial Alliance, so why “young master”?’
Though I became the youngest leader of the Martial Alliance, I was still over fifty years old. It wasn’t a title I should be hearing from a girl who was barely around twenty.
“Really, eating manners with rice soaked in… huh?”
I tilted my head while grumbling.
“Ah. Aah.”
Huh?
“Aaah. Aah”
…?
“Aah! Aaak!”
No matter how many times I tried making sounds, the sense of wrongness didn’t disappear.
“What’s this? Why does my voice sound like this?”
I touched my throat and was startled once again.
Huh? Where did my beard go?
When I touched my chin, I felt only sparse, barely grown stubble.
That wasn’t all. My chin, nose, and hair were all not mine.
In my panic, I looked down at my hands and my eyes widened instantly.
“What is this now!”
Where had my hands gone, scarred from brutal training and countless real battles?
Despite being a man’s hands, they were neat enough to put most women’s hands to shame. At first glance, they could easily be called delicate jade hands.
Goosebumps rose on my skin.
‘This isn’t my body?’
I instinctively shot up to my feet, but my body swayed for a moment.
“Gasp!”
My legs had no strength in them.
Without realizing it, I gripped my knee and felt a kneecap the size of a fist. I could barely feel any muscle or flesh that should have been wrapped around the bone.
Even my elbows felt cold. I was so skinny that my clothes stung against my skin every time they brushed against me.
Am I a wooden puppet? Why are my limbs in this state?
‘Did some witch drain my life force?’
But I don’t have any memory of that…?
In my bewildered state, I suddenly noticed the bronze mirror placed on the shelf below the window.
“…!!”
In the bronze mirror, a strange young man was looking back at me.
Pale complexion with dark circles under his eyes. He was so thin that his cheekbones and jawline were completely exposed.
Though his appearance wouldn’t be out of place being called handsome, he was so emaciated that the person himself looked irritable and depressed.
“…Me?”
A face that was both familiar and strange.
I stared blankly at the bronze mirror, then pushed up my eyebrows with my finger and stretched my lips left and right.
It moved exactly the same way.
“Th-that’s supposed to be me?”
This can’t be real!
“Is this a dream? No, it’s not? But I already…”
I died.
The moment I realized that, all the hair on my body stood on end and my heart pounded like crazy.
That’s right. I died.
Didn’t I die from illness after failing to completely remove the demonic energy that Demon Immortal Neung Hyeong left behind?
‘This can’t be happening.’
I frantically rushed out of the room.
I don’t know why I did that. I just felt like I had to get out of this place.
“Huff, huff!”
I burst out of the second floor VIP room of Juru and went down to the first floor. I was out of breath from just that little bit of running, but now wasn’t the time to worry about such things.
I heard someone calling me from behind.
I let it go in one ear and out the other as I threw open the door to the first floor of Juru.
Clang!
As I came out the door, I could see the sun setting far away over Western Mountain.
The sky was tinged red. The weather was quite humid yet cool.
“Where is this?”
It wasn’t a familiar neighborhood.
There were quite a few people coming and going on the street. It looked like the downtown district of some city.
All kinds of people. Their expressions, gazes, and emotions were all different.
Seeing their faces made everything feel real.
“Didn’t I die?”
No, setting aside whether I died or not.
“…Why am I in someone else’s body?”
That rude girl definitely called me Young Master Murong.
But I am from the Moyong Clan, aren’t I? Moyong Cheon is my name, isn’t it?
But it wasn’t like I had returned to my past self either. I had been skinny before, but I had never been so gaunt that I looked sickly like this, and most importantly, didn’t my appearance look different?
“What kind of ridiculous nonsense is this…”
Just then, someone grabbed my arm from behind.
“Oh my, Young Master. Please look at us for a moment.”
I was led into an alley by the hands of strangers. I had neither the strength nor the mental capacity to refuse.
And so I returned from death.
In the body of some unknown, emaciated young man who looked so sickly that it wouldn’t be strange if he died at any moment.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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