Chapter 5

“When I received the letter saying that the Heavenly Demon had returned, it would be more accurate to say that I wished I could have died right there.

Forty years ago, I had walked across blood-soaked ground, climbed over countless mountains of corpses, and finally cut off that bastard’s head.

And yet, I was told he had been reincarnated.

Our clan, along with every other clan, sent messengers to confirm this unbelievable truth. They all died.

Only one person returned alive and told us that everything was true.

Even then, whether it was the Heavenly Demon’s intention or not, the moment he finished speaking, he vomited blood and died.

The heads of the various clans didn’t even have time to gather together.

They immediately mobilized everyone they could spare from their respective clans.

From our clan, the elite members most skilled in poison and hidden weapons went to the front.

My son and I were among them.

My wife tried to see me off with a determined expression, without shedding a single tear.

But there was nothing she could do about her trembling hands.

It seemed as though she wanted to say something.

Anything at all.

But neither of us said a word.

We both knew that the moment we opened our mouths, everything inside us would collapse.

Soon, my son came out of his room as well.

Heh…

That boy’s eyes were bloodshot, yet he was smiling as he held his barely one-year-old son in his arms, rocking him affectionately.

My daughter-in-law had been desperately holding back her tears.

But the moment she saw that scene, she collapsed onto the floor and tears began streaming down her face.

Only my innocent grandson, unaware of what was happening, laughed brightly enough to make the entire wooden veranda ring with his laughter.

That was the last laughter ever heard from our clan.

And so, we threw ourselves against the Heavenly Demon with everything we had.

That brutal battle lasted for more than a year.

My son lost one eye…

And I lost one arm and one leg, bleeding far too much.

I already knew that was how it would end.

From the beginning, I had thrown myself into battle with the intention of sacrificing myself.

If I did that, the talented younger generation coming up behind us would have a slightly higher chance of reaching the Heavenly Demon.

I will never forget the moment my son screamed.

He had lost an eye himself, yet he was weeping bitterly as he stared at my missing limbs.

I barely managed to grasp my son’s hand as he stared helplessly at the blood pouring from my wounds.

That fool…

Why did he have to cry so much?

If I could have saved the one eye my son had lost, I would have gladly told him to take my remaining leg as well.

I had already prepared myself to die.

But I wanted my son to survive.

How long would that innocent, smiling grandson of mine wait for his father?

But I knew that if things continued like this, even that would be impossible.

I forced my broken body to stand and took one step forward after another.

I wanted to contribute whatever little strength I had left and see this through to the end.

Far away, at the summit, the Heavenly Demon stood there, barely visible.

The masters who charged at him were mercilessly cut down and sent flying.

Yet they continued charging forward without end.

Their courage was truly remarkable.

But the one who was trembling…

was the Heavenly Demon.

Despite being capable of blowing everything away with a single gesture—

heh…

he was shedding tears of blood.

I was already dying.

And only after letting go of everything did I finally see it.

I knew instinctively.

That man didn’t want this.

“That was when my breath stopped, and I came here.”

“……”

The only information So-hee had been given about this work was its synopsis and the life record of the person requesting reincarnation and regression.

If she wanted to know anything beyond that, she had no choice but to hear it directly from the person himself.

The web novel I Became the Immortal Heavenly Demon was a story about a kind protagonist who suffered one unjust ordeal and hardship after another.

Eventually, he made the wrong choice and became the Heavenly Demon.

After being killed, the protagonist repeatedly reincarnated and struggled to defy the fate that would eventually turn him into the Heavenly Demon.

The client’s important emotions, circumstances, atmosphere, goals, and other details were especially useful to So-hee.

Much more so than the brief synopsis of the work itself.

“Was that too heavy?”

“No. Thank you for telling me.”

She gently shook her head.

Tang Je-ik sat down in the chair and let out a long sigh.

Then he gazed into empty space.

“The Heavenly Demon…”

He paused.

“He probably didn’t want to become what he was either. But somehow, reincarnation kept happening, and fate must have continued leading him toward becoming the Heavenly Demon.”

“……”

A reincarnation client couldn’t know what happened after their own death.

And since the information provided to So-hee ended at exactly that point, she couldn’t say anything more either.

“And my son must have died as well…”

Tang Je-ik took a long breath.

“And my clan must have been destroyed.”

He slowly exhaled.

“I only want to return so I can protect the people I love.

If I raise the Heavenly Demon from childhood, before he becomes the Heavenly Demon… who knows?

Perhaps, at the very least, he might spare me and my clan.”

“…I understand what you mean.”

So-hee nodded.

But Tang Je-ik instead gave a small, self-deprecating laugh.

“Isn’t it a terribly selfish decision?”

“No.

“You only have one chance to go back. You can’t simply throw it away.”

So-hee meant every word.

It wasn’t an opportunity that came twice.

The more rationally and selfishly one approached the decision and determined its direction, the higher the satisfaction with the reincarnation process would be.

“I’ll make sure the preparations don’t take more than a week.”

“Do as you see fit.”

Tang Je-ik picked up the water dropper beside him and poured a thin stream of water into the inkstone.

Then he took the ink stick and began grinding it in slow circles.

Scrape, scrape.

The clear water gradually darkened as it absorbed the ink.

So-hee rose from her seat, allowing him some time alone.

She gave him a small bow before stepping outside.

Then she headed toward the front desk.

“This is seriously too much.”

After reading the Standards for the Reincarnation of Supporting Characters and Extras, So-hee slammed the booklet shut.

The conditions were so restrictive from every direction that she felt as though she could barely breathe.

Still seated in her chair, she weakly dropped her forehead onto the table.

“You can’t undergo reincarnation for personal reasons? The protagonists can do it just fine…”

“The protagonists’ reincarnation is something the author intended from the beginning.”

“I wouldn’t complain if those were the only conditions.

This isn’t allowed because of this, that isn’t allowed because of that.

Are they basically telling us not to even try?”

“I believe those restrictions are also mechanisms designed to prevent chaos within the novels.”

So-hee kept her cheek pressed against the desk and muttered.

“There’s a reason the motel regulations are as thick as an encyclopedia…

This is forbidden, that is forbidden, everything is forbidden…”

She flipped through the book listlessly while lying there.

Then, among the countless tiny prohibitions, one word suddenly caught her eye.

“Permitted.”

So-hee blinked.

“…An opportunity is given to completely change the original story into an entirely new one…?”

Even as she read the passage she had discovered, she couldn’t believe it.

With all those prohibitions, restrictions, and minimum requirements imposed on supporting characters…

there was actually something like this?

As So-hee excitedly read through the detailed conditions, the Moon Jar clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. Don’t get your hopes up over something impossible.

That doesn’t apply to Tang Je-ik’s case.

And anyway, no sane supporting character would ever do that.”

So-hee had already been painstakingly reading through the endless conditions.

Her shoulders immediately drooped again like a deflating balloon.

“I knew it.”

“It’s exactly as it says. It is merely an opportunity.

I have often seen supporting characters undergo reincarnation successfully, but I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen that succeed.

No. It cannot be done.”

“Ha…”

So-hee slammed the book shut.

“Then wouldn’t it be better to simply prevent these opportunities from existing in the first place?

Why give people an opportunity if it’s practically impossible?

And why even create a motel?”

“Because if only protagonists were given the opportunity, people would complain that it was unfair.”

So-hee’s dead fish-like eyes suddenly lit up.

“What do you mean?

Then…

the conditions are strict, but technically, you gave supporting characters the opportunity to undergo reincarnation too?”

“Something like that.”

“Wow…

Isn’t that seriously unfair?

Even without those conditions, whether supporting characters can undergo reincarnation depends on the motel manager’s abilities anyway.

You said my grandfather lived here for two hundred years because he couldn’t fill that gourd.”

The more So-hee thought about it, the more unfair she felt.

She began breathing heavily through her nose.

“So.

You’re dissatisfied?”

“Of course!”

“Then what are you going to do about it?”

“…What?”

For a moment, So-hee was rendered speechless.

She stared blankly with her mouth slightly open.

The Moon Jar’s mechanical voice continued without the slightest change in pitch.

“If you cannot change the situation, then you must follow it.

If you are dissatisfied, don’t undergo reincarnation.

You can simply dissolve.”

“No, but the situation we’re given in the first place is so…”

“If you don’t like it, become the protagonist.”

Then all of those complaints would disappear.

So-hee opened and closed her mouth several times, unable to think of anything to say.

In the end, the Moon Jar was right.

She could complain all she wanted, but she couldn’t change the situation.

Not unless she rose to a position where she could change everything herself.

If you had no power, you had to follow the rules.

The anger boiling inside her head gradually cooled.

She already knew that the opportunities and conditions were heavily tilted toward one side.

And she also knew that this imbalance was the very balance of this world.

Embarrassed that she had allowed her emotions to consume her for a moment, So-hee’s face flushed red.

“I’m sorry for saying all that.”

“Then what should you be doing now?”

“…Focusing on preparing for the regression.”

So-hee straightened her body.

Then she looked toward the hotel through the glass doors in the distance.

The protagonists, wearing proud expressions, continued entering one after another.

And if nothing went wrong, they would soon be stepping through the reincarnation doors as well.

Without a single failure.

So-hee’s perfect source of motivation.

A short while later, a man dressed impeccably in a suit appeared at the hotel entrance.

It was Chun-rok, the general manager of the hotel.