Seol Gwi didn't so much as flinch at the Mad Demon's irritated outburst. He replied in a voice even colder than before.
"If you're not going to the Thousand Days Hall to torment the cadets, then there's no problem, is there? Why the temper?"
He tossed the remark without lifting his eyes from the documents. His tone shifted to one of rebuke.
"The things you've done have been so outrageous that I default to suspicion. Maybe you should have conducted yourself better."
As if to say that reaping what you sow was no idle proverb, Seol Gwi continued to lecture the Mad Demon. Like an older brother scolding a wayward sibling—the nagging made the Mad Demon's blood boil, yet she couldn't utter a word in protest.
Not a single thing he said was wrong. All she could do was sigh and swallow her anger.
In the end, the Mad Demon played her final card.
"I've told you what I came for, so I can leave now, yes?"
Only then did Seol Gwi look up from his papers and meet her eyes.
"Fine. I'll file it as an official matter and have it reflected accordingly."
"How long will that take?"
"A few days for the formal process, but take this and carry it with you."
Seol Gwi handed the Mad Demon a token—proof of her status as a Thousand Days Hall instructor. With this, she could move freely within the Thousand Days Hall.
The Mad Demon snatched the token and was turning to leave when—
"In the future, please inform me before you act. I'm begging you."
Seol Gwi's voice carried a note of genuine plea. But the Mad Demon spun on her heel and swept out of the study as though his words weren't worth acknowledging. Seol Gwi watched the door she had vanished through and sighed once more.
BANG—!
The study door slammed shut, and the Mad Demon strode toward the Thousand Days Hall, still grinding her teeth in unspent fury.
"Hah......! Cadet Four Hundred, Ha Jin. That brat is making yours truly go this far!"
She clenched her fists. Enduring that insufferable Seol Gwi's lectures and jumping through tedious procedures just to secure a measly instructor position.
"He'd better count his lucky stars!"
The Mad Demon bowed her head. She was not, by nature, the type to get this entangled over a single cadet. Most of the time, her interest flared and then cooled just as quickly.
But Ha Jin was different. He had caught her off guard, provoked her curiosity with incomprehensible behavior, and even made her take action.
No one had ever done that before. And so the Mad Demon couldn't help but feel anticipation.
'Listen well, Ha Jin. In return, yours truly will put you through the wringer.'
A smile crept across her face—chilling and strange. Not born of anger or vengeance. Closer to the twisted elation of a craftsman who had found the finest raw material.
"Yours truly will forge you into the greatest warrior the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect has ever known."
Her violet eyes glittered with madness.
***
Meanwhile, even after the Mad Demon had left, Seol Gwi remained seated for a long while. His mind was consumed entirely by the Mad Demon's unpredictable behavior.
'Why would that prideful Mad Demon volunteer to be a Thousand Days Hall instructor?'
No matter how he turned it over, it was unbelievable. She had swallowed her pride and endured his pointed remarks—all for a mere instructor position.
'Why?'
Seol Gwi turned his eyes back to the documents on his desk. The list of cadets who had passed this session. He traced his finger down the names assigned to the Thousand Days Hall, one by one.
'Is there someone in the Thousand Days Hall who caught the Mad Demon's eye?'
A few cadets who had passed the admission trial with reasonably high rankings stood out, but none seemed significant enough to warrant the Mad Demon's personal interest. Then his gaze stopped on one name.
-Cadet Four Hundred, Ha Jin
'Ghost Hand's disciple......'
Seol Gwi's brow creased deeply. The fact that Ghost Hand's disciple had ranked as low as four hundredth, and that he had chosen the Thousand Days Hall of all places—none of it added up.
'Is he following in his master's footsteps? Ghost Hand was a Thousand Days Hall alumnus, after all.'
But that hypothesis alone couldn't explain the Mad Demon's eccentricity. The Mad Demon personally volunteering as instructor because of one disciple of Ghost Hand? Preposterous.
Unanswered questions chased each other in circles. Like a hopelessly tangled ball of thread, the deeper he dug, the more lost he felt.
In the end, Seol Gwi let out a deep sigh. Resolving all these mysteries seemed virtually impossible. His shoulders only grew heavier.
***
Ha Jin, lying on the infirmary cot, suddenly felt a chill race down his spine and opened his eyes involuntarily. He sat bolt upright.
'What is this feeling......?'
His heart was pounding—as though someone far away were aiming a sinister curse squarely at him. An unsettling, deeply unpleasant sensation.
Ha Jin furrowed his brow and climbed off the cot. The inexplicable unease was considerable.
'I can't just lie around with this feeling. Maybe I should go train......?'
Just as he was about to step out of the infirmary, the door swung open. It was Chae Un-ryang.
"Oh! Cadet Four Hundred! Perfect timing!"
Chae Un-ryang spotted him and called out with a relieved expression.
"How are you feeling? I realized I hadn't told you—today is the Thousand Days Hall's first orientation session. You'd better get going before you're late."
Chae Un-ryang patted Ha Jin's shoulder encouragingly. Ha Jin mulled over the instructor's words.
'First orientation? Like an introductory session?'
Orientations were, after all, crucial for helping newcomers adapt quickly to a new environment. If he was going to survive in the harsh Thousand Days Hall, he needed to get the first button right.
"Thank you, Instructor. Where should I go?"
"The Thousand Days Hall is to the left!"
"Thank you!"
Ha Jin offered a quick clasped hands greeting, then broke into a run down the left-hand path. Before long, a steep uphill slope stretched out before him.
'Hm...... Walking would take too long.'
He deliberated briefly. Thanks to the spiritual medicine from the Mad Demon, the cracks in his mana wellspring had healed to some degree.
'Maybe I'll use just a little magic?'
Ha Jin glanced around, then chanted softly.
"Haste."
A light speed-boosting spell. Well within his current mana capacity. A wind wrapped around his body, and his pace visibly quickened.
The uphill climb that would normally have left him gasping felt as effortless as a stroll on flat ground. Thanks to this, Ha Jin arrived at the Thousand Days Hall's main gate right on time.
"Whew, wind magic is still a bit much, though."
Perhaps from the aftereffects of the acceleration, his foot caught slightly at the end and he stumbled. After catching his breath at the gate, Ha Jin slowly pushed the door open.
CREEEEAK—!
The heavy door swung inward, and the broad training yard filled with assembled cadets came into view. They appeared to be Thousand Days Hall cadets who had come for the same orientation.
'Looks like over a hundred. That's quite a crowd.'
Still, among this many people, the truly fearsome types had all been siphoned off to the Transcendence Hall, hadn't they?
The monster-level talents and the fiercely ambitious would have mostly applied to the Transcendence Hall. That meant this place was likely to be relatively peaceful.
In other words, there shouldn't be anyone here who'd be trouble from the get-go. Feeling somewhat reassured by this reasoning, Ha Jin was walking forward when he spotted a familiar face. Do Gyeong.
"Hey!"
Ha Jin waved in greeting and naturally drifted to his side. Do Gyeong confirmed it was Ha Jin and offered a practiced smile. They had already blended into the formation.
"You made it."
Do Gyeong studied Ha Jin's complexion and asked with a note of concern.
"Are you alright? When you collapsed coughing blood during the trial, I thought something terrible had happened."
"I've recovered well. I'm fine now."
Ha Jin answered nonchalantly, and Do Gyeong let out a relieved sigh. Then he casually murmured about the upcoming schedule.
"You must have missed some announcements, so let me fill you in. I hear the Thousand Days Hall starts training from day one, so your physical condition is important. Glad to hear you're in one piece."
Ha Jin sighed at this. Training from the very first day? Was this...... the Demonic Sect way? Apparently the orientation wasn't the end of it.
Still, the Thousand Days Hall was supposed to be more relaxed compared to the Transcendence Hall.
'What kind of training will it be? As long as it's not the kind of insane stuff you see in martial arts novels—standing under waterfalls or scaling cliffs bare-handed—I'll be fine.'
That sort of thing seemed more fitting for the Transcendence Hall, didn't it? While Ha Jin was painting a peaceful future in his mind—
A martial arts instructor strode out from the front with an authoritative gait. He swept his gaze across the assembled cadets and bellowed.
"Attention! The content of the second-stage trial has been changed. The second-stage trial will be conducted as a cooperative exercise between the Transcendence Hall and the Thousand Days Hall. Details will be provided shortly."
A ripple of murmuring ran through the cadets. In an instant, the atmosphere in the training yard shifted completely.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"A cooperative trial with the Transcendence Hall......?"
The majority of cadets present were visibly startled, unable to hide their dismay. The Thousand Days Hall was widely perceived as a safe zone. And now the very people they most wanted to avoid were being brought in.
Ha Jin felt the same. His mind went momentarily blank.
'What did he just say?'
He had chosen the Thousand Days Hall precisely for its safety and calm. And now, from the very start, that plan was being shaken to its foundations.
"Please reconsider!"
"How does this make any sense!"
Amid the flustered cadets' murmurs, the instructor's sharp rebuke cut through.
"SILENCE! Hold your tongues!"
The training yard's mood snapped into order in an instant. The instructor continued with a hardened expression.
"And there is someone I must introduce today. One of the Demon Lords has come to serve as a guest instructor here at the Thousand Days Hall."
Before those words had fully settled, a woman emerged from the far end, her steps unhurried and deliberate. Ha Jin saw her and doubted his own eyes.
Jet-black hair. Violet eyes. And the unmistakable, overwhelming presence. Wait—why does she look so familiar? It can't be—
As the woman drew closer and her face came fully into view.
It was the Mad Demon.
'What are you doing here?'
The other cadets were no different. Memories of the first-stage trial's horror came flooding back, and their faces drained of color.
"Why is the Mad Demon here......?"
"A guest instructor? Her? That's impossible!"
The Mad Demon strode to the center of the training yard and stopped. Then, with supreme confidence, she addressed every cadet present.
"Surprised to see yours truly, I'm sure. I understand. The reason I'm here is simple. It's because of that one—Cadet Four Hundred, Ha Jin."
At this single declaration, the air in the training yard dropped another several degrees.
Every last gaze—over a hundred pairs of eyes—swept past the Mad Demon and converged on Ha Jin. Standing at the dead center of those stares, Ha Jin froze solid.
'Excuse me? No, what does that even—no, what kind of nonsense is this?!'
So this was what the Mad Demon had meant by "having her own plans." As expected, no mortal could predict the Mad Demon's actions.
'Then again, this might not be so bad.'
Ha Jin had already agreed to become the Mad Demon's disciple. If the Mad Demon was physically closer, it would mean even more opportunities to grow. Above all, he might be able to receive the Boundless Heart Method sooner.
'The heart method for mana recovery—I need to get it.'
What needed to be obtained must be obtained. The corner of Ha Jin's mouth twitched upward.