Chapter 46 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon and Our Clothes (1)
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Hell Train. The morning rush-hour subway is commonly called the hell train.
*Ding-ding.*
With a low mechanical chime, the doors slid open, revealing a car packed tight like a can of sardines.
"Eek."
Passengers locked eyes with the Heavenly Demon—who had his hair tied up in a topknot and wore his faded gray Radiant Demonic Blood Battle Robe—and recoiled in unison.
As he stepped slowly inside, a huge empty circle astonishingly formed in the subway car, where there hadn't even been standing room before.
"Ughhh."
The Heavenly Demon, who had never known fatigue in his life, let out a massive yawn.
"A harmful contraption for martial artists, it seems."
That harmful contraption was, of course, the TV.
Lately addicted to trashy dramas, he had rushed back to his rooftop room after work, binged until dawn, and repeated it for ten straight days now.
Even someone with the Heavenly Demon's ironclad stamina felt sluggish after ten sleepless nights.
"Uncomfortable."
Standing there with arms crossed, his head protruded prominently above the crowd. With his height well over six feet, it nearly brushed the subway car's ceiling.
The people riding the subway at this hour were mostly students and office workers.
They stole glances at him, all sharing the same thought.
'Why does this weirdo show up every morning rush hour?'
Muscles more intimidating than those of any Awakener on TV, hair like a lion's mane, and tattered robes straight out of some comic from decades ago...
'Subways are full of crazies anyway.'
That's right. In their eyes, the Heavenly Demon was just another nutjob wandering around in cosplay every morning.
-Next stop...
The announcement chimed, and the doors opened.
"Urk!"
Kim Myeong-gu, a middle-aged man, gagged the moment he boarded, hit by a pungent stench.
A perennial middle manager, he had dragged himself to work with last night's drinking binge still souring his stomach.
"What the hell? Did someone dump vinegar in here?"
He looked up and spotted an enormous statue. Rubbing his bleary, hungover eyes, he reached out and touched it.
"Huh? A statue in the subway?"
As he stroked the statue's forearm, Kim Myeong-gu tilted his head. It felt too soft and warm for stone. Looking up, he met blazing, fiery eyes staring down at him.
"Gah!"
Now he saw it—this massive "statue" was actually a man in robes.
"S-s-sorry."
He bowed repeatedly, but got no response.
Looking up again, the man stood stock-still with wide-open crimson eyes. On closer inspection, the guy was asleep with his eyes popped open.
'What's this? A taekwondo instructor?'
Seeing the robed man dozing with eyes wide, Kim Myeong-gu blinked.
'Head's nodding off—must've had a few last night. Makes sense; martial arts dojos are dying out these days anyway.'
In a world overrun by Awakeners, martial arts and physical training had become pointless.
No ordinary human, no matter how hard they tried, could withstand a flick from a 9th Grade Awakener's finger.
That realization sparked pity in Kim Myeong-gu for the wide-eyed, dozing man.
'Huh... come to think of it...'
Thanks to no one approaching this area, Kim Myeong-gu stood comfortably even in the hell train.
'Nice and breezy, thanks to him.'
He sidled right up to the lone-standing man and grabbed the overhead strap.
"Mmm."
But then the wide-eyed man scratched his head.
Suddenly, a dense jungle unfurled before Kim Myeong-gu's eyes. Glossy red curls like coiled snakes emanated a subtle odor...
"Bluuuugh!"
In the end, Manager Kim Myeong-gu caused a massive pukefest on the subway.
Inside Bbok Bbok Interiors.
Jang Chaewon sighed as she saw the Heavenly Demon tidying and cleaning the shop.
"You're early."
A few days ago, she and the Heavenly Demon had completed Pure Abyss God's divine request. Since then, her eyes had grown duller with each passing day.
"I was looking forward to it. So looking forward. But it turned out to be crap. And I went sniffing it like a dog..."
She sometimes muttered nonsense or spritzed perfume from her handbag onto her nose.
"Huh?"
Only then did Jang Chaewon notice the Heavenly Demon's odd expression while he grumbled.
Whatever was bothering him, he mop-wiped the floor with a fierce scowl. But his face was so naturally menacing it barely registered.
"How's the subway these days? More comfy than the bus?"
At her words, the Heavenly Demon paused his vigorous mopping.
"It's unfit for riding."
"What? Why?"
"Full of strange humans."
"Huh?"
Jang Chaewon blinked, and he pointed to some battered straw sandals hanging in the corner of the storeroom.
"While this lord briefly emptied his mind, some lunatic puked on my feet."
"P-puked? Why?"
"No idea. Stuck right next to this lord and hurled out of nowhere."
Scowling fiercely, the Heavenly Demon gestured to the strewn sandals.
"Thanks to that, this lord had to wash his treasured Golden Star Tang Sandals multiple times."
'Tang Sandals? Aren't those like leather shoes?'
Jang Chaewon stared at the sandals hanging in the storeroom.
Come to think of it, the black straw sandals shaped like beach flips exuded a strange sheen.
As her gaze fixed on the Golden Star Tang Sandals, the Heavenly Demon boasted proudly.
"For reference, the Golden Star Tang Sandals, like the Radiant Demonic Blood Battle Robe, resist water and blades, boost leaping power, and always keep the feet fresh..."
"Y-yeah. Sounds great."
Well, life has its ups and downs. Jang Chaewon brushed it off with a smile and opened her laptop.
Three days later.
Jang Chaewon arrived at the shop and gaped.
The Heavenly Demon was mopping barefoot—again?
"What? Not again?"
Veins bulged on his forehead as he mopped.
White steam practically rose from his head; he was clearly suppressing serious rage.
"What's the deal? Does your subway only carry hungover salarymen?"
Incredibly, for three straight days, he had commuted with puke on his shoes.
And the culprits were ordinary subway riders suffering inexplicable vomiting fits.
"The humans of this world must have a habit of puking when standing in enclosed moving objects."
Gripping the mop with a resigned expression, the Heavenly Demon gazed at the Golden Star Tang Sandals hanging inside the storeroom.
"Or perhaps they catch a vile disease that compels them to puke at the sight of this lord's Golden Star Tang Sandals."
"No way. There's gotta be a reason."
Sensing something off, Jang Chaewon approached him.
"People really puke just seeing your shoes?"
"Indeed."
"Like, even standing this close?"
She pressed up against him as if in a subway car.
But the closer she got, the stronger the odd smell—like poorly washed laundry gone sour.
"What's wrong?"
"Uh, no, it just reeks a bit."
She sniffed lightly at his robe.
"Did you mess up the laundry? Though no one would puke over a smell..."
"Is that so."
Tilting his head, the Heavenly Demon raised his arm. His coiled red hair sprang into view before Jang Chaewon's eyes.
"...!"
It was like the glistening tongue of a living reptile.
No—like some unknown creature from beyond Earth writhing to burrow into her eye.
"Aaah! My eyes!"
She had found the culprit.
The Heavenly Demon's glossy red armpit hair. That was the serial puke-inducer on the subway.
"My eyes?"
The Heavenly Demon blinked and approached. But Jang Chaewon's vision still burned with the afterimage of those thick, coiled strands.
And with his armpit wide open, the sour stench intensified.
"Ugh..."
She steadied her staggering body and rubbed her eyes.
They welled up like after a tearjerker movie—or a direct faceful of tear gas.
"You... you..."
Suppressing a gag, Jang Chaewon clenched her fists.
"What the hell happened there?"
"What do you mean? Explain precisely."
"Your armpit! It wasn't like that before! Why does it have a freaking ponytail growing out of it?!"
Only then did the Heavenly Demon glance down at his own armpit. Glossy red hair over a handspan long swayed there.
"Hmm. Strange. Why has the hair grown so long?"
"Put your arm down already... I'm gonna die."
Shaking his raised arms made the smell and red tufts launch another biochemical assault on her nose and eyes.
"Perhaps from that Gigant Pep."
Pondering, the Heavenly Demon recalled something and nodded.
"A few days ago, I butchered a massive Gigant Pep. Seems a lot of blood splattered around here."
"Gigant Pep?"
"The big black centipede thing. Appeared in front of this lord's home."
"Gigant Pep?"
"Similar name. Anyway, after dismantling it, this area's been a bit itchy..."
Jang Chaewon blinked.
Gigant Pep blood was known to be toxic. But for the Heavenly Demon, it acted like hair growth tonic?
"Whatever. Trim it or something. It looks ugly and stinks."
"Refused. This lord feels no discomfort."
"What? So you're gonna walk around like that?"
Recalling the hidden tuft, Jang Chaewon shuddered again.
"Think of the poor people who saw that monstrosity up close. They had no choice but to puke. You can't harm others."
"Must this lord damage his own body for that?"
"Not body—hair. I don't know if your world has that 'body, hair, skin from parents' philosophy, but here, bushy pits are gross."
"What's that to this lord?"
"Hey, spare a thought for your fellow subway riders."
Deep in thought, the Heavenly Demon narrowed his eyes.
"Understood. This lord shall devise a solution."
"Good call. Trim it right after work today."
"No trimming."
Gazing down at his Radiant Demonic Blood Battle Robe, the Heavenly Demon beamed with pride.
"Just cover it with clothes, no?"
"Huh? Well, yeah, but..."
"Truth is, this Radiant Demonic Blood Battle Robe hides various secret functions. I simply had no need before."
"So... cover it with the robe?"
"Exactly."
Arms crossed confidently, the Heavenly Demon declared.
"Tomorrow, this area shall be thoroughly concealed."
The next day.
Emerging from his rooftop room, the Heavenly Demon strolled slowly to the subway station.
He checked his reflection in the mirror near the turnstile and examined his Radiant Demonic Blood Battle Robe.
"Hup."
Channeling inner energy, he gradually infused it into the robe enveloping his body.
*Pop-pop-pop.*
With bursting threads, the fabric stretched smoothly, gradually wrapping tighter around him.
"This should suffice."
In the mirror, the wide-sleeved battle robe exposing his arms had transformed into a thin garment fully sheathing his body.
"In the martial world, the Radiant Demonic Blood Battle Robe is known as optimized for close-quarters combat."
A smug smile played on his lips as he glanced at the mirror.
"But in truth, it's a multipurpose garment convertible to assassin's garb."
Continuing to infuse inner energy, the combat-optimized form shifted.
Soon, the robe-like garment evolved into silent assassin's wear that even swallowed the whoosh of wind.
"Perfectly concealed."
Raising his arm before the mirror, the Heavenly Demon headed to the platform.
His prediction was spot-on.
No one in the subway car approached him or puked anymore.
But the atmosphere felt off.
Before, some had glanced his way. Now, no one even looked.
'They recognize this lord's majesty.'
A huge circle formed around him.
As if he had deployed mighty protective energy—no one entered within two meters.
-Doors opening.
*Ding-ding.*
"Mommy!"
"Eek!"
And that wasn't all.
At each station, boarding passengers screamed or fled in terror.
'What the...'
Arms crossed, the Heavenly Demon couldn't comprehend the situation.
Inside Bbok Bbok Interiors.
"Good morning."
Jang Chaewon arrived at the shop beaming with energy.
Her eyes met the mopping Heavenly Demon's, and she dropped her coffee and notepad entirely.
"Don't come near me!"
As he approached, she flinched and backed away.
"What... what are you up to now?"
"What nonsense. I'm cleaning."
Even his nonchalant expression terrified her, like spotting a ghost in water.
"Your clothes! I mean, your clothes!"
He was indeed clothed. But this was more indecent and grotesque than naked.
A taut scrap of thin fabric clung to his body.
It vividly revealed not just his bulging muscles, but even the worm-like veins beneath.
"Ah, first time seeing it, eh? Shocking."
"W-what? What?"
"Heh heh heh. Fair enough."
"D-don't laugh. I've seen plenty."
Offended, Jang Chaewon snapped, and the Heavenly Demon looked amazed.
"Even this world has such things?"
Stealing a peek at his upper body—scattered with vein-like worms—she looked away. She'd seen pecs aplenty, but never ones so massive yet grotesquely curved.
"No. Probably n-not."
"Heh heh heh. As expected. Even in the martial world, multipurpose transformable garments are rare."
Arms akimbo confidently, the Heavenly Demon struck a pose.
"The Radiant Demonic Blood Battle Robe can morph into assassin's garb like this. Made for not just brawling, but stealth and infiltration. It even blocks all minute sounds from fabric and flesh."
"That's what that noise was?"
Jang Chaewon averted her teary gaze from him.
"That's not clothes. Change it back now."
"Not clothes—assassin's garb."
"Fine, whatever. Change it back."
"You told me to cover the exposed part. Why the back-and-forth?"
Jang Chaewon wanted to smack his head but couldn't lift her face.
"You wore that to work?"
"Of course."
"Agh."
She sighed deeply, as if the ground had caved in.
The morning commute must have turned even more hellish.
No one could face those vivid muscles head-on.
"No kids on the train, right?"
"What are you on about?"
"Worried my bad judgment crushed some growing child's dreams."
"Explain clearly."
"Forget it! No need—just change back. Now!"
Prodded by Jang Chaewon, the Heavenly Demon smacked his lips reluctantly.
*Pop.*
Infusing inner energy again, the clinging fabric reverted to wide-sleeved battle robe.
But the afterimage lingered; she couldn't look up.
"Can't you wear the new clothes I bought you before? I got plenty."
"Refused."
Thinking back, he insisted on custom tools even for tiny gadgets.
"You're not saying... you rejected other clothes all this time because you had no custom fit?"
"Not quite, but training suits aside, they tore with the slightest move."
Jang Chaewon let out an "Ah." She hadn't considered it.
At roughly 190 cm tall with inhuman bulk, off-the-rack clothes didn't fit.
"Sorry. Didn't think of that."
"No matter. This lord needs only the Radiant Demonic Blood Battle Robe."
Steeling herself with a deep breath, Jang Chaewon met his eyes.
"Fine. My bad. I'll gift you the best custom outfit ever."
"Custom outfit?"
Her eyes sparkled huge at his question.
"Yeah. There's a top tailor right near our shop!"
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