Chapter 148: Mask (2)
“A mask… you say?”
“You’re aware that one of my hidden identities is that of one of the Fourth Elders of the Seven Elders, right?”
“Yes, that much I know…”
Even Cheon Yura had been dumbfounded and at a loss for words when she first learned that truth.
“That identity is something I crafted very slowly over several decades. Thanks to my nominal role as the administrator of Iron Steed Prison Cave, I was able to deceive the old geezers of the Cheon Clan for a long time.”
But Cheon Yura didn’t really need to go to such lengths.
What she needed was simply a dual identity to indulge in a bit of mischief.
“Set aside your identity as the Young Cult Leader for a while and approach the young disciple as just another member of the cult.”
“Is… is that really okay?”
“If you have an identity you’d like, your father will prepare it for you.”
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult had the means to prepare any identity whatsoever.
Cheon Yura hesitated briefly, but the idea of a dual identity was a tempting offer she found hard to refuse in her current situation.
“Th-then…”
Cautiously, she spoke aloud a form she had once dreamed of in the past… and still longed for deep inside.
“Hm. That’s perfectly fine.”
Upon hearing Cheon Yura’s wish, Cheon Taejong quietly nodded.
“‘Moonlit Sword Flower.’”
And so—
One of the dark and embarrassing stories Jin Yeomyung had once heard from the Heartless Demonic Empress raised its head… far earlier than in the original timeline.
***
Time in the Naming Hall flew by in a blink.
It was only natural—this place was notoriously busy and constantly short-handed.
‘I still need to check on the subordinates from the Thousand-Day Pass, find a solution to the Underworld King’s Unit, and deal with the old geezers from the Heavenly Thunder Corps… I’m drowning in work.’
However, since I took the position of Vice Pavillion Master, the internal workings of the Naming Hall had slowly started to change.
“G-good heavens…”
“Is this… a dream?”
“Who would've thought I'd live to see the day?!”
The record keepers of the Naming Hall couldn’t close their jaws at the sight unfolding outside.
At the entrance of the Naming Hall stood a line of over ten burly young men, waiting their turn.
They were none other than the incoming recruits for this quarter!
I gave them a meaningful smile.
“Welcome to the Naming Hall, ‘senior brothers.’”
“J-Jin Yeomyung!”
“Thank you for the welcome, Vice Pavillion Master!”
They were my senior classmates—graduates of the Thousand-Day Pass from this very quarter.
I looked over each one of them and smiled in satisfaction.
“Good, very good. Our senior brothers who graduated with honors from the Thousand-Day Pass, to think that you would volunteer to join the Naming Hall… this Vice Pavillion Master is truly overjoyed.”
“……”
The gazes of the graduates who looked at me were starting to rot.
But regardless of what they were feeling inside, the overworked record keepers of the Naming Hall lit up with excitement.
“T-they’re all from the Thousand-Day Pass?!”
“Just thinking about how good they'll be at their jobs makes my heart race!”
As one of the Seventeen Parties of the cult, the Naming Hall had a total staff of nearly three hundred.
Yet among them, those with prestigious backgrounds like the Thousand-Day Pass numbered no more than a few dozen.
If you included the rare cases like Gwak Hoe who had been tricked into joining, it was a miracle if five or six graduates from the Thousand-Day Pass entered the Naming Hall in a year.
And now, more than double that number had entered all at once!
Thanks to the brilliant maneuvering of their young Vice Pavillion Master!
‘At this rate, I should be able to put out the worst fires.’
Of the twenty-six total graduates from this quarter at the Thousand-Day Pass, I managed to pull twelve into the Naming Hall.
Naturally, the Pavilion Master of the Thousand-Day Pass—angry over being robbed—blew his top and demanded to know what the hell I thought I was doing… but that was his problem to deal with.
“Young Master, what kind of sorcery did you use?”
Gu Chil, who was kneeling beside me with his head bowed, asked cautiously.
“Sorcery?”
“No offense, but those guys were seniors in their final year, weren’t they? You’re not in the same cohort, so it’s not like you had many opportunities to talk to them… how did you persuade them?”
I smirked and lifted my nose with pride.
“There’s always~ a method. But hey, your hands are touching the ground again.”
“L-Loyalty!”
The servant who once dared to insult and flee from his master was, once again, paying the price.
“Alright, seniors—no, I should now call you official record keepers of the Naming Hall.”
Gulp!
Tension visibly tightened their shoulders as I calmly reminded them of their new place.
“If you wish, you may transfer to another department. No one will stop you if you think the work here is too tough. However!”
Gulp!
“If you do transfer, you’ll have to explain to the other departments why you joined the Jiwoong Society in the first place.”
At that, a thunderous response erupted from the seniors.
“We’ll never transfer!”
“We will devote ourselves utterly, with all our bones and flesh!”
The Jiwoong Society.
A private faction within the Thousand-Day Pass, originally centered around the Second Order Han Muyeon.
After Han Muyeon was exiled for treason, everyone associated with the Jiwoong Society faced utter ruin. Forget safe graduation—they were treated like walking corpses.
Those on the brink of execution—I had saved them all using the power of the Jin Clan.
“I, for one, dislike seeing someone's future completely blocked because of one poor decision in the past. That’s why I’m giving you this chance.”
Of course, that wasn’t it at all—it was just the easiest way to secure elite manpower with minimal effort!
“……”
“Still, there will be consequences for your choices. Anyone who underperforms will personally learn from me what a living hell is. Understood?”
“Y-yes, sir!”
I was satisfied with how disciplined they looked.
“Good, Gwak Hoe.”
“Yes, Vice Pavillion Master!”
Gwak Hoe, who had somehow become my devoted follower, stepped forward, full of spirit.
“You’re the senior here, so make sure you train the new recruits well. Think you can handle it?”
“O-of course! Leave it to me!”
He must’ve been feeling proud to be trusted, as his eyes sparkled brightly.
***
And with the most urgent recruitment finally complete, the Naming Hall finally found a moment of peace.
I savored my slightly looser schedule and once again racked my brain to come up with a solution for the Heavenly Thunder Corps and the Underworld King’s Unit.
But… no matter how much I pondered for several days, I couldn’t come up with anything sharp or effective.
“They’re all so closed-off in nature that if I make a wrong first move, everything could collapse.”
What should I do? Isn’t there some brilliant solution?
That was when—
“Ah, please! I’m begging you to change my nickname!”
“No matter what you say, it’s against regulations!”
It had been a while since I’d heard an argument break out between the record keepers and a client.
‘What the hell is that about now?’
Normally, if someone was being a nuisance, I would’ve just had them sent upstairs. But this one seemed to be dragging out longer than expected.
“I’m seriously begging here. Think of it as saving someone’s life and just fix it for me!”
“How could a nickname possibly endanger your life?!”
“I’m telling you, it can! In my family, it can!”
Curious, I made my way down to the first floor.
Even the most difficult petitioners didn’t usually throw tantrums while talking about their own lives being at stake.
“What’s going on here?”
“Ah, V-Vice Pavillion Master! Well…”
Do Gyeonmyeong, one of the twelve new recruits who had just joined, looked over with a troubled expression.
“I told you to send over anything significant, didn’t I?”
“W-well… it’s because of that petitioner’s identity…”
“What about it?”
“If we mess up, it might bring trouble down on your head…”
Hmm?
They’re worried about my well-being despite knowing my identity?
That kind of consideration was praiseworthy… but just who the hell was the person they were dealing with?
Just then, the disheveled young man who had caught my attention earlier lit up when he spotted me and dashed over.
“Ah! You—you’re the Vice Pavillion Master?!”
“…I am, yes.”
“Please, I’m begging you! My clan head said he’d cut off my head himself if I don’t get this nickname changed! Please! I’m desperate!”
“……”
I stared at the young man’s face, feeling a strange sense of familiarity.
His hair was dry and ragged, clearly not cared for, but his face itself was quite handsome.
If he’d gone to a courtesan house, he would’ve sparked a maternal instinct in the girls—he was decent-looking enough for that… and yet…
Why did he seem so familiar?
The realization suddenly hit me, and I was taken aback.
“…Wait. You… are you Cheon?”
At the same time, the young man’s hand, which had been gripping my shoulder, froze. He seemed to recognize me too.
“…Jin Yeomyung?”
The guy who had been staring blankly as he spoke my name suddenly burst into tears and lunged at me.
“My friend—!”
“Back off, you bastard!”
I scowled and shoved him off coldly.
So Cheon.
A direct descendant of the Hidden Shadow So Clan, and back when I still called myself the Flowery Young Master, he had been one of my drinking buddies.
Of course, the fact that he hung out with me at the time meant he was also considered a disgrace by his clan.
“What the hell have you been doing to end up looking like a beggar?!”
He used to be a pretty clean-cut pretty boy. What the hell happened to him?
“Well, you see, it’s a long story—!”
So Cheon tried to cling to me again, starting to cry.
“Hey.”
But knowing his true nature, I calmly formed a blade of sword qi with my hand and warned him.
“Unless you want your wrist cut off, get your hand off me.”
“……”
“You still haven’t kicked that nasty habit of yours, have you?”
“W-well, about that…”
“I’m gonna count to three. Three… one.”
“Hey, what the hell, why so sudden?!”
He flinched and quickly backed off.
And in his hand—was my coin pouch, which he had somehow already lifted from me.
Jingle!
“……”
“……”
A deathly silence swept through the room in an instant.
With a blank expression, I shouted toward the room.
“All martial officers of the Naming Hall, heed the command of the Vice Pavillion Master!”
“Yes, sir!”
Ching! Chaaang!
In an instant, aside from the record keepers, all of the stationed martial officers of the hall drew their blades and shouted.
They were in charge of the Naming Hall’s defense—an elite unit, all first-rate or higher.
“The bastard who just stole the Vice Pavillion Master’s coin pouch—don’t kill him, but subdue him.”
Sensing that this man’s identity wasn’t ordinary, the martial officers hesitated for a moment.
“I’ll take full responsibility for what happens next.”
“Yes, sir!”
With that, the officers charged So Cheon.
“W-wait! I’m a petitioner! A guest, I tell you!”
His feeble protest didn’t work on the martial officers at all.
Thwack! Thud! Smack!
“Gah! Gkkhhkkk!”
***
So Cheon.
In my past life, he had hung around with me and was treated as a disgrace, but—
In truth, he would later become an incomparably massive figure compared to myself.
The problem was the direction of his fame… was precisely the kind I never wanted to be involved with.
I read out the title that had been registered under his name.
“So Cheon, the Great Wind Demon Bandit.”
Twitch!
So Cheon, now beaten and subdued by the guards, trembled on his knees in front of me.
“It’s been a while, and you’ve earned yourself quite the flashy title, huh?”
“I-it’s nothing compared to the great Demonic Heaven Dragon of the world…”
“Shut your mouth.”
“Yes, sir.”
So Cheon promptly closed his mouth.
Now my head hurt trying to figure out how to deal with him.
‘Since he’s from the Hidden Shadow So Clan too, I suppose this counts as an inevitable connection…’
But this—this was not how I wanted to reconnect with him.
‘This bastard is a future king?’
I let out a sigh and shook my head.
Obviously, nicknames like “King” among the Five Kings of the Central Plains were never given to mere nobodies.
And yet… this guy was the one exception. No, he really did become great, but…
So Cheon, the Bandit King.
Or sometimes, So Cheon, the Gambling King.
Born of the assassin lineage of the Hidden Shadow So Clan, he was the man who would one day become the greatest thief under heaven.