Chapter 132: Remaining in the Mountains

Ji-ho, who was waiting under the tree, raised his body.

“You’ve finally arrived.”

His stomach, which had been nauseous after being subjected to the swift delivery by the Demon God, had completely settled down while the group climbed up.

“Ji-ho, hast thou sufficiently recovered thy stamina?”

“Yeah, thanks to you. Thank you.”

The Demon God responded to Ji-ho’s gratitude.

“Weak, true to Ji-ho. Make sure to strive in physical training from now on.”

“…….”

Ji-ho managed to gather his dispersing gratitude.

He had to calm down. The camera was watching.

But the resolution to calm down was brief.

“With what thoughts on earth did you follow us to the mountain?”

“Kuaaa! In the first place, you were the one who suggested drawing lots!”

At the Demon God’s provocative remark, Ji-ho finally exploded.

“We did, indeed.”

“Why? Did you forget that too?”

Remembering only what he wanted to remember.

Ji-ho was well aware of the Demon God’s selective memory.

Naturally, he thought he had forgotten about drawing lots too—

“No? Because that was fun, I remember it well. Making three winning lots to deceive you, Ji-ho— ah, not this.”

“What?!”

As soon as Ji-ho was shocked, the Demon God quickly went inside the bushes.

“Come out! I said, come out!”

And this entire scene was being captured by the eyes of the production crew and the camera lenses….

“Pantheon really gets along well.”

“D-Does it look like that? Thank you very much.”

At MC Oh Sung-hyun’s laughing remark, Yoon-seo bowed his head.

Fortunately, perhaps thanks to the Demon God’s active role, the production crew also viewed the chase between the Demon God and Ji-ho favorably.

“Because I had heard that Sun-woo was peculiar, you see.”

“Ah, I heard it too.”

Oh Sung-hyun and the PD seemed to have heard some talk, furthermore.

“Sun-woo Hyung is indeed peculiar. Is such talk circulating?”

“Even if we don’t know everything, rumors in this industry are extremely fast. They say he is peculiar yet interesting.”

“Yes, he is interesting indeed.”

“They also say he is a decent person despite being young.”

“A decent per—”

That might be open to dispute.

However, Yoon-seo did not go out of his way to voice it out loud.

“Earlier, I thought the rumors were wrong because of his attire. I misunderstood, thinking his personality wasn’t decent. Hahaha.”

That is open to no dispute; it is not a misunderstanding.

Yoon-seo put away his inner thoughts well this time too.

Like this, departing again harmoniously thanks to the misunderstanding.

The Demon God, who had appeared at some point, climbed the mountain at the front of the line.

“Ji-ho? How about coming over here and trying to catch me? If thou catchest me, I shall apologize.”

“Haa, haa, Sun-woo, you.”

For Ji-ho, it was impossible.

In the end, they arrived as they were at their destination, the cabin in the mountains.

A wooden cabin that seemed like it would only exist in a landscape painting, with smoke rising from the chimney.

“You see it over there, right?”

And, the cabin’s door opened.

***

While the PD went over to the natural person living in the cabin and explained briefly.

“Hieeeek.”

Looking at Ji-ho, who had passed out, the production crew smiled.

“Originally this should be normal. What is the identity of that friend over there?”

It is the Demon God.

Standing nonchalantly despite the hike that was difficult even for the production crew, he looked around—

““Huh.””

Not looking around, but approaching the natural person abruptly.

“Sun-woo Hyung!”

Letting even Yoon-seo’s shout pass through one ear.

“Is it thou? The one who lives here?”

When the natural person stared at the Demon God, the PD spoke.

“Is it as I explained? His way of speaking is strange. His behavior is strange too. But he is not a bad youth.”

True to a broadcast PD, he assessed the guest quickly.

The Demon God ended up somewhat displeased at the PD’s explanation.

“I am not? I am bad, though?”

“Indeed…. Strange.”

The Demon God was assessed at once even by the natural person who had lived in the mountains for a long time.

The natural person, said to be in his 60s, looked older having faced the mountain wind.

But his eyes were clear and his voice was warm. Regardless of time, a good nature was glimpsed.

“Did you say you are Sun-woo?”

“Will you worship?”

“Would you like to eat persimmon?”

“I would like that.”

Inside the conversation that was somehow talking past each other, a persimmon was handed over.

When the Demon God ate it, it was surprisingly sweet and delicious.

Nom, nom.

Leaving the Demon God, who had grown quiet eating his persimmon, on the side, the others also came and greeted the natural person.

“Hello, I am Yoon-seo. I came along with Sun-woo Hyung who is eating persimmon.”

“Haha, you must be suffering much.”

At the warm comfort, Yoon-seo’s heart ended up touched.

Is it because the natural person truly knows sadness.

Warmth was contained even in words lightly passed.

“…….”

Yoon-seo, who came to the side after finishing the greeting, stared at the Demon God indulging in the persimmon over there.

If they met a person who experienced true sadness and could offer comfort, he thought Sun-woo Hyung might feel something too, but.

“Failure alert.”

“Pardon?”

Ji-ho whispered quietly beside him. It was Ji-ho, who was sober, objective, and negative.

“Do you see him chewing and eating even the seeds?”

“I, I see it….”

Crunch, crunch.

The persimmon’s seeds must be extremely hard, so how on earth was he doing it.

“Sorrow for a Sun-woo like that? Can it actually work?”

“It has nothing to do with eating seeds, though.”

“It means he is that abnormal.”

That was true.

A person who eats persimmon seeds would somehow have strange emotional lines too.

“Ji-ho Hyung? Do you want it to fail?”

“It’s good if it works. Then we shoot the advertisement, which is good, and apart from that, it’s good for Sun-woo too. But I’m talking about probability.”

“Ugh.”

Watching the Demon God pondering whether he should eat even the stem, a dark shadow was cast over Yoon-seo’s face.

“Sun-woo Hyung! Spit, spit it out.”

***

Can Sun-woo Hyung do well? Might he commit disrespect instead?

Yoon-seo began shooting around the cabin with such worries.

First, they went inside the cabin and captured its interior with the camera.

Simple yet worn household goods. A hearth, a wooden bed, a few philosophy books, a radio, and a photo frame.

The frame was turned upside down, so they couldn’t see what photo was there.

“Have you lived here for 10 years?”

“Before I knew it, it became like that.”

The natural person raised his eyes and looked far away. Whether he was looking at the 10 years of time, or his lost family, others had no way of knowing.

Among the production crew that had grown quiet for a moment, Oh Sung-hyun opened his mouth lively like an MC to change the atmosphere.

“Then is there anything we can help you with?”

“Haha, anything to help? There isn’t much, shall we go out?”

One of the points of Na-Jayeon is the hardship experienced while helping with the natural person’s work.

Since Oh Sung-hyun was used to such work, the guest, Pantheon, was the point of this episode.

Ji-ho and Yoon-seo showed what the production crew wanted.

Ji-ho, who was tasked with sorting wild herbs—

“Huh? Is this correct?”

“You shouldn’t throw that away, though.”

“Um, what about this?”

“That is a poisonous herb.”

“Ugh!”

He threw away the wild herbs and gathered the weeds well. In between, he even mixed in poisonous herbs he had found somewhere.

“Ji-ho Hyung, you shouldn’t attempt an assassination. Dark mage is just a music video concept.”

Suddenly, Yoon-seo appeared and began to sort the herbs properly.

Perhaps because he cooks often, he distinguished even herbs he normally hadn’t encountered.

“Tsk. Yoon-seo, what about your task? What did you do with that?”

But at Ji-ho’s question, Yoon-seo also wore a shy expression.

“About that…”

Splitting firewood, which he had challenged out of curiosity. He was curious because they said it was extremely hard work when seen on broadcasts.

“It was truly hard. So I passed it on.”

“Passed it?”

Crack! Looking back at the spot where the cheerful sound came from, the Demon God was splitting firewood.

“An axe is used in this manner. Like this!”

He was splitting wood well enough to say such words. Not to mention the whole logs the natural person had brought, he even made tree branches fallen on the ground into tiny pieces in an instant.

“Is it because it’s physical work. He is good.”

“Still, he needed a knack. Amazing, right?”

While Ji-ho and Yoon-seo watched, admiring for a moment, the natural person also approached beside the Demon God and opened his eyes wide.

“Amazing, Sun-woo.”

“Naturally.”

“Chopping wood must be difficult for someone who hasn’t tried it.”

“It is something I have done many times. I mainly used a sword, but when needed, I did not choose.”

“?”

The period when he roamed the universe waging war. The Demon God could handle all sorts of weapons. He used to choose weapons according to his mood of the day.

Thus, this much was bound to be easy. He could do it even if told to devote himself solely to splitting firewood until the sun set.

“But, you see.”

“?”

The Demon God pointed at the pile of firewood.

“Is there not already plenty? Is there a need to pile up more here?”

Firewood was piled up to the level of a small hill. It was an amount that looked quite generous for a natural person living alone to use. It was to the extent that one wondered if he overflowed if calculating up to the unsplit firewood.

“Hahaha, because I will be here for a long time.”

“Hmm, I doubt that is the reason?”

“Pardon?”

The Demon God suddenly went beside the pile of firewood and lightly tapped one of the stakes supporting the weight.

Instantly, the firewood collapsed with a rumble.

“Sun-woo Hyung!”

“Sun-woo.”

Yoon-seo and Ji-ho, who were listening to the conversation, ran over straight away. As expected, Sun-woo-style disrespect was committed. He was disrespectful as easily as breathing, so it was amazing that he had been fine until now. Was the lot good.

The natural person also stared at the Demon God in bewilderment—

“Diligently stockpiling will not fill the void.”

“!”

The Demon God was seeing through. He was storing too much firewood and dried herbs. It was excessive to be called necessary for life in a small cabin.

Since the natural person, who was said to be living here for 10 years, couldn’t fail to know that. If not necessity, what is the reason he stores? In this case, it was the void.

A void caused by loss.

“Is it empty to the extent that it must be filled like that?”

Even the question thrown without context could be understood by the natural person involved.

“Ah….”

The face he had been hiding upon meeting outsiders was revealed. A face emptied out somewhere.

“Indeed. I know it won’t be filled with this.”

“Yes. There probably wasn’t any task to help with in the first place. Because maintaining an emptied existence wouldn’t take much.”

Although they didn’t know the context, as expected, the production crew and members also caught on.

Yoon-seo and Ji-ho whispered to each other.

“How does he know when he himself can’t really feel such emotions?”

“Exactly. Is he perhaps a well-managed psychopath?”

“Can it be called managed—?”

“Yeah, dismissed.”

He was a Demon God they still didn’t know even after knowing him for a long time.

But to the natural person, other things weren’t important. Another point of the Na-Jayeon program was the lives the natural people unleashed.

The stories held in alone leaked out upon meeting outsiders after a long time. Furthermore, the Demon God had even seen through the natural person’s inner thoughts.

The natural person sat on a boulder.

Nonchalantly, the Demon God sat down together beside him and listened. Like the night that always listens, only at this moment did he erase himself and focus on the natural person.

The arrogant and ominous existence was also an exceptionally reliable and peaceful existence when on someone’s side.

Within that existence, the story began.

“This mountain is also the place where I lost my family.”

In other words, it was also a place he actually wanted to leave.

“I don’t remember who among the family asked to go hiking. Only that we all departed happily, only good memories remain.”

Because the memories after that are too burdensome.

A mountain that wasn’t even high. But because the weather turned bad, this place became scary too.

It was truly scary. Fearing something would happen to everyone.

And after a day passed, he realized an even scarier thing had happened.

“I asked the rescue workers. If everyone was okay. They had no words. They said they were fine after a long while, but I had already realized.”

It wasn’t everyone. He was excluded from among them.

Only his family left, and he remained.

“That is why I remained here.”

He wants to leave so much, but cannot. His family left, but he cannot leave.

He must remain. There is no reason.

“It is merely a guess, but you are not yet at the age to know loss, Sun-woo.”

“Loss?”

“Yes, loss. Because sadness comes after loss.”

The Demon God closed his eyes for a moment. Loss. He reflected on the things he had lost.

Power? It didn’t matter because he would recover it. Godhood? Status? Likewise.

And what came to mind next was indeed the faces of his subordinates. ‘Is that so.’

The Demon God remembers selectively. But he hadn’t forgotten all the scenes of his subordinates departing. He preserved them well.

Why did he do that. He had thought he already accepted parting. The heart that made him preserve those memories so preciously. Was that sadness.

The Demon God opened his eyes. He acquired [Sorrow].

“Indeed.”

The Demon God stared into the new yet familiar emotional line, then abruptly threw a question.

It was a truly out-of-the-blue question. “Do you perhaps hear the voices of your family in this mountain?”

“How did you know? I hear them. Of course, it must be an auditory hallucination created by my heart longing for my family…_”

“What do they say?”

“They tell me to go down and live well, and.”

But this time, the natural person couldn’t continue the rest of his words.

Of course, it didn’t matter. Because the Demon God already knew the remaining words.

“Do they not get angry, asking why you survived alone?”

“Ah! How did you know that, Sun-woo?”

The natural person opened his eyes wide.

“Whew…, because it is created by my heart. I am also scolding myself.”

“Would that be so.”

That would not be words created by your heart. A strange existence is whispering.

The Demon God decided on a night outing.

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