After realizing that there was something going on not just with Heavenly Yuah but also the company, I immediately sought out Team Leader Seo.
There was no one else who could inform me about what was happening within the company.
After calling Team Leader Seo, I began gently coaxing for bits and pieces of information from them.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t overly secret information, and I was able to unravel my doubts rather easily.
As information trickled in, my sighs of lament only deepened.
“So, you’re saying the president comes from the Cheon Entertainment side?”
“Yes, they were someone who worked at Cheon Entertainment.”
“Isn’t the president of Cheon Entertainment Yoo-a?”
“That’s true on the surface. But, the president was the person who managed the company. They will continue to oversee all matters related to Yoo-a going forward.”
Firstly, President Joo Seok-cheon, who assumed the position of president at Flame, is someone who supported Heavenly Yuah at Cheon Entertainment. In other words, while Heavenly Yuah was nominally the president, it was President Joo Seok-cheon who practically operated Cheon Entertainment.
Thus, it feels more accurate to say that Cheon Entertainment expanded into Flame rather than Flame recruiting employees from Cheon Entertainment.
It seems things have been off from the start.
“Ah, by the way, I recall Yoo-a also being a shareholder director.”
“Yoo-a as a shareholder? How much?”
“That requires separate confirmation, I think.”
“Is there any way you could find out more about the company’s shareholding structure?”
“Hmm… just a moment.”
Furthermore, it was revealed that Heavenly Yuah also held shares in the company.
Things are getting more bewildering by the minute.
Given the near-certain relationship between S&M, the company’s investor, and Heavenly Yuah, and the fact that even the president is from Heavenly Yuah’s circle, she owns shares too?
What does this all mean?
“Ah, the finance department contacted me. They say it’s fine to share the shareholding structure. Here are the materials sent from there… Oh, it’s here. The major shareholders of the company…”
The company seems to have no intention of hiding the shareholding information.
Does this mean there’s nothing suspicious?
Given that they openly disclose the shareholding situation, it seems they are confident that there’s nothing questionable.
I, not being a shareholder and the company being private, would have almost no way to find this information, but thanks to them sharing, I discovered it more easily than expected.
“…Is this the company’s current shareholding structure?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Wow, Yoo-a. You own more shares than I thought.”
The shareholding structure of Flame looked like this:
Sunny Investment: 30%
S&M: 25%
Heavenly Yuah: 20%
Cheon Financial: 15%
Joo Seok-cheon: 10%
“This Cheon Financial is clearly Heavenly Yuah’s shareholding, right? Adding President’s shares… No, more importantly, what…”
It’s already established that S&M, which has deployed guards even within the company, has some relationship with Heavenly Yuah. Otherwise, the over-the-top protection by the guards wouldn’t make sense, especially considering that Rick, the head of the guards, revealed that he knew Heavenly Yuah beforehand.
Moreover, Cheon Financial, as its name suggests, is clearly a company deeply tied to Heavenly Yuah. Perhaps it’s a financial corporation responsible for managing her personal assets.
And the President’s shares cannot be considered independent of Heavenly Yuah either.
The only unclear figure is Sunny Investment, which holds the largest share.
“What’s with this S&M? What does it stand for? So… this cursed… Sun & Moon?”
Sun & Moon and Sunny.
It’s crystal clear that Sunny Investment is closely tied to S&M.
“So, the entire shareholding structure of the company… is connected to Heavenly Yuah.”
At this point, it’s pretty evident: this is Heavenly Yuah’s company.
No wonder revealing the shareholding structure was done with such confidence—there’s nothing they need to hide and they can openly disclose it.
“Not to mention Sun & Moon. This is clearly referring to 日月.”
Most shockingly, the true nature of S&M.
Thinking back to when the Heavenly Demon New Religion was originally known as the Sun & Moon New Religion, represented by the sun and the moon, this makes perfect sense.
And I have to accept it.
That both S&M and, more specifically, the New Religion, are somehow linked to Heavenly Yuah.
Though this isn’t the New Religion I was familiar with—it’s evidently a similar force that has rooted itself in this world.
“Now this makes sense—why the building feels so characteristic of Heavenly Demon. It’s actually Heavenly Yuah’s style.”
Once it became clear that Heavenly Yuah is the actual owner of the company, the peculiar, all-black design became easier to understand.
It seems it’s simply designed according to her tastes.
In that case, this place is kind of like the Korean branch of the modern New Religion.
No wonder it felt a bit off—like I was sticking my head into a tiger’s mouth.
“…I really don’t know what to think anymore.”
At this point, perhaps there’s no point in over-thinking anything.
It might be easier to just accept that this woman is the Heavenly Demon and that the New Religion exists in some form different from what I know about the Martial Forest.
All the time I spent gritting my teeth and observing, trying to find differences between the Heavenly Demon and the New Religion, now seems futile.
*
I’m quite adaptable.
Were it not for that, I wouldn’t have survived the last fifty years in the Martial Forest, which is incomparably more savage than modern times.
Moreover, I’ve persisted for thirty years while watching the New Religion’s activities, even making the elite of the Central Plains shake their heads in disbelief.
This is truly not an accomplishment just anyone can achieve.
“Well, it feels a bit reminiscent of the New Religion, eventually…”
What can you do?
I’ll just have to adapt and keep living.
Fortunately, Flame, which resembles the modern Korean branch of the New Religion, isn’t likely to be the chaotic organization the New Religion of the Martial Forest is.
After all, such organizations can’t exist in today’s world.
Above all, I’m a contractual actor, not directly tied to the New Religion.
The guards working at the company are the ones who are directly under it, while I’m more like a guest expert hired externally, meaning the New Religion’s role towards me is more protective rather than exploitative.
Compared to the Martial Forest, it’s significantly better terms.
In fact, acknowledging this reality made things easier in some ways.
Especially when dealing with Heavenly Yuah, it became glaringly clear what to do and what not to do.
Our company’s chef, Shotgun Mom, takes one day off per week.
On those days, employees either fend for themselves in the kitchen or go out to eat.
For cases like mine and Heavenly Yuah’s, just going out to eat solves everything, and dining with her doesn’t bring any extra worries.
Especially if we opt for duck soup or smoked duck, it’s like everything goes smoothly.
But offering something innocuous like tonkatsu or spaghetti to Heavenly Yuah leads to conflicts right from the start.
She detests both dishes.
Especially spaghetti—it’s a total landmine.
If anyone is planning to go on a date with her, avoid any kind of spaghetti, be it Fettuccine Alfredo, Spaghetti Carbonara, or Vongole.
I’ve also found a secret, lesser-known sulfur duck hot pot place that I consider a trump card for when she’s in a bad mood.
“Sulfur duck hot pot? It’s truly a rock-solid menu.”
There’s no way this ultimate Heavenly Demon countermeasure won’t hit her preferences.
Familiarity with the Heavenly Demon has benefits even in daily life. For example, today, when I had some free time and started playing a soccer game in the lounge.
Initially, I was playing alone, but soon Heavenly Yuah approached, grabbed the controller, and we started a competitive match.
It seems normal at glance, but since I’m versed in “Heavenly Demon Studies,” I already felt a strong sense of unease.
Playing games or similar activities with Heavenly Demons tends to be perilous.
Back in the Martial Forest, I’ve played games with the Heavenly Demon extensively.
For instance, Go is one of the most commonly played games alongside Mahjong and Chinese chess.
Given my long association with the Heavenly Demon, I’ve played numerous rounds of Go with them.
Although the Heavenly Demon is intelligent, they’re strangely weak when it comes to competitive games, suffering one-sided losses from the start.
That’s all fine.
Games are games. And our Heavenly Demon isn’t the kind to brutalize me just because they lost a game.
But this woman is incredibly persistent. She’ll keep challenging you until she wins in an Indian rain-dance sort of mentality—and gets mad if you let her win on purpose.
Meaning: she’ll relentlessly challenge you until she triumphs through genuine skill.
In those moments of extreme frustration, she has the tendency to arch her eyebrows and then…
Oh, thinking about it gives me shivers.
Analyzing Heavenly Yuah’s gaming skills while reminiscing about the past revealed they were, indeed, terrible.
Roughly comparable to Barcelona thrashing a team like Pohang Steelers despite all systems being fully operational.
This level of incompetence is akin to cursed fingertips.
But don’t dare win against her.
I’ve experienced countless times what happens after defeating the Heavenly Demon in a game.
“Neymar! Goal!!! You see, Pohang can’t win, right?”
“That’s right, my arrogance got the better of me.”
“Heek!”
Let her win the first game narrowly, and everything flows smoothly.
A Heavenly Demon who wins the first game becomes more generous and doesn’t throw a tantrum even if they lose the next games.
This not only spares you from an infinite loop of failure but also helps avoid future mishaps.
After the first game, we alternated between winning and losing for a few more rounds.
As predicted, even when I won, she only showed mild regret—none of the usual Heavenly Demon antics appeared.
In a way, this felt more like entertainment rather than a game, but what’s the harm?
Heavenly Yuah isn’t just a senior actor—she’s the owner of this company.
It’s normal to cater to the owner for smooth and pleasant social life.
Moreover, compared to the Heavenly Demon from the Martial Forest, she’s truly a goddess.
So, I didn’t feel particularly wronged.
“Hmm~ I had a great time today. We should do this again.”
“Ah, yes.”
As such, today was a good exercise in social skills, but upon watching Heavenly Yuah leave humming a tune after finishing the game, a sudden memory surfaced, leaving me with a strange feeling.
I clearly recall that before practicing the Heavenly Demon’s martial art, she used to laugh genuinely like that.
The young heavenly demon back in the day was not such a stern individual.
If only she didn’t have the burden of becoming a deity-like figure to uphold the Heavenly Demon New Religion…
Could our Heavenly Demon have been capable of laughing so easily, had she not needed to master the Heavenly Demon’s powers?
Perhaps, given her tender heart, she could.
If Heavenly Yuah were the Heavenly Demon who hadn’t mastered the Heavenly Demon Martial Arts in this world without martial arts, my assumption that she might have grown up this way might not be entirely wrong.
“But what use is all that now?”
A day filled with unnecessary thoughts left me feeling down for no real reason.
