Chapter 5
When I received the letter saying that the Heavenly Demon had returned, it would probably be more accurate to say that I wanted to die right there on the spot.
Forty years ago, we had crossed blood-soaked lands and climbed over mountains of corpses before finally cutting off that bastard’s head.
And yet, he had reincarnated.
Naturally, not only our family but every other great clan found the news impossible to believe. Messengers were immediately dispatched to confirm the truth.
Every single one of them died.
Only one man managed to return alive.
He told us that everything was true.
And perhaps even that had been the Heavenly Demon’s intention, because the moment he finished speaking, he coughed up blood and died.
The heads of the clans did not even have time to gather together.
Each family mobilized every person they could possibly spare.
From our clan, the finest elites skilled in poison and hidden weapons were sent to the front, including my son and me.
My wife tried to see me off without crying, wearing a determined expression.
But there was nothing she could do about her trembling hands.
She seemed to want to say something.
Yet neither of us could bring ourselves to speak.
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.
Hah...
His eyes were completely red, yet he was smiling as he lovingly held his son, who had only just turned one year old, in his arms.
My daughter-in-law had desperately held back her tears until then.
But the moment she saw them together, she collapsed where she stood and began shedding tears.
Only my little grandson, too young to understand anything, laughed so loudly that his giggles echoed across the wooden hall.
That was the last sound of laughter ever heard in our family.
And so, we threw ourselves at the Heavenly Demon with everything we had.
That brutal battle continued for more than a year.
My son lost one of his eyes...
And I lost one arm and one leg, while bleeding far too much to survive.
I already knew something like that would happen.
From the very beginning, I had entered that battlefield prepared to sacrifice myself.
If I did, perhaps the talented young martial artists rushing forward behind me would have even the slightest greater chance of reaching the Heavenly Demon.
I will never forget the way my son screamed that day.
He had lost an eye himself, yet when he saw my missing limbs, he broke down crying.
He did not know what to do as he stared at all the blood pouring from me.
I barely managed to reach out and take his hand.
That foolish boy.
Why did he have to cry so much?
If sacrificing my remaining leg could have restored the eye he had lost, I would have gladly told them to take it as well.
I had already accepted my own death.
But I desperately wanted my son to survive.
How eagerly must that innocent little grandson of mine have been waiting for his father to come home?
Yet I knew that, at this rate, even that would be impossible.
So I forced my broken body upright and moved forward one step at a time.
I wanted to contribute even the smallest bit of strength and see this battle through to the end.
Far in the distance, I could barely make out the Heavenly Demon standing at the summit.
The masters charging toward him were mercilessly cut apart and thrown away.
Yet despite that, more and more continued rushing at him without end.
Their courage truly was remarkable.
But strangely enough...
The one who was shaken was the Heavenly Demon.
That man could send everything flying with a single gesture, and yet...
Hah.
He was shedding tears of blood.
Only after I was already dying...
Only after I had let go of everything...
was I finally able to see it.
I understood instinctively.
That bastard did not want any of this.
“At that moment, my breathing stopped... and I ended up here.”
“......”
The only information Sohee had been given about this work was its synopsis and the life record of the person requesting reincarnation, regression, or transmigration.
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 told the story of a protagonist who had originally been kind, but after suffering countless injustices and hardships, made the wrong choices and eventually became the Heavenly Demon.
After being killed, the protagonist repeatedly reincarnated and struggled to escape the fate that kept leading him back toward becoming the Heavenly Demon.
The short synopsis alone was not enough.
The client's emotions, circumstances, atmosphere, goals, and other important details were all extremely valuable information to Sohee.
“Was that story too heavy?”
“No. Thank you for telling me.”
She lightly shook her head.
Dang Je-ik sat back in his chair and let out a long sigh.
Then his gaze drifted into the empty air.
“The Heavenly Demon... probably didn't want to become the person he was.”
He paused.
“But somehow, reincarnation kept happening, and fate continued dragging him toward becoming the Heavenly Demon.”
“......”
A client requesting reincarnation, regression, or transmigration could not know what happened after their own death.
Naturally, the information provided to Sohee also ended at exactly that point.
So there was nothing more she could say.
“And my son is probably dead...”
Dang Je-ik slowly exhaled.
“My clan must have been completely destroyed as well.”
He released another long breath.
“The only reason I want to return is to protect the people I love.”
His voice lowered.
“If I take care of the Heavenly Demon from the time he's still a child, before he ever becomes the Heavenly Demon... who knows?”
“Perhaps he might at least spare me and my family.”
“...I understand what you mean.”
Sohee nodded.
But Dang Je-ik gave a faint, bitter laugh instead.
“Isn't that an incredibly selfish decision?”
“No.”
Sohee answered sincerely.
“You only have one chance to go back. You can't afford to waste it for nothing.”
She truly meant it.
This was not an opportunity that came twice.
Thinking as rationally—and even selfishly—as possible before deciding on a direction was the best way to increase a client's satisfaction with their reincarnation, regression, or transmigration.
