Chapter 251

〈 Chapter 251 〉 Part 1, Chapter 11, 21

Baeg Cheongyoung’s strategy appealed to me greatly, but unfortunately, it was a bit difficult to garner agreement from the others.

– He’ll be a villain in the future, but right now he’s a hero. Is it really necessary to go this far?

Even within the Blue Wind Sect, opinions were divided, and Baek Hee-a also deferred stating her opinion, saying she needed time to think.

So during that period, I sought out the old Horae Observatory site for my third reason for visiting China: recovering the Cube. Standing on a hill with Bonghyo, overlooking a vast plain, I asked him,

“Bonghyo, do you like *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*?”

“Sort of.”

A wistful smile hung on Baeg Cheongyoung’s lips as he stood beside me.

“I liked it when I was young. But after growing up, it wasn’t the same.”

“So it’s because Motae-gyeong is such a *Three Kingdoms* fan?”

All the heroes from our school had their names chosen by Motae-gyeong, most borrowing the courtesy names of famous generals from *Romance of the Three Kingdoms.*

“Yes. The moment I became Bonghyo and Xiao Lin became Unjang, we were ensnared by Motae-gyeong.”

“You still worked pretty hard under him though.”

“At least, I was his biological son. Once I became a monster, those feelings disappeared.”

“……”

The reason Baeg Cheongyoung relentlessly tormented Motae-gyeong was precisely because he is now a “monster.”

“…Motae-gyeong made the first mistake, so I won’t say anything further.”

“It’s fine. I don’t find my current self entirely bad.”

Baeg Cheongyoung, being the first monster created by Illusory Dragon, seemed to have an objective view of himself and was well aware of his own abnormalities.

“And living like this isn’t all that bad either.”

Still, Baeg Cheongyoung accepted his changed self. His life’s purpose revolved around Illusory Dragon, his lord, and Xiaolin, his half-sister.

“By any chance, are you lusting after Illusory Dragon or Xiaolin?”

“……”

Bonghyo covered his mouth with his black ox fan. It wasn’t out of embarrassment or being caught off guard; rather, it was an attempt to prevent the profanity about to spew from his mouth.

“Phoenix Sir, are you insane?”

“If holding back makes you ‘insane,’ then how bad were the curses you were about to hurl?”

“Should I proceed?”

I offered my ear to Baeg Cheongyoung, who whispered into it what he wanted to say.

Mutter mutter.

“…Huh?”

“Mutter mutter.”

“Are you messing with me?”

This guy actually said “mutter mutter” out loud. Baeg Cheongyoung chuckled mischievously as he stepped back from me, but then stiffened his expression as he lowered his black ox fan.

“How could someone like Phoenix Sir utter such vile words? Though you may not believe me, I harbor no lustful thoughts towards my lord or my younger sister.”

“And if you did? Honestly, they’re both beauties. Illusory Dragon can just reincarnate from Motae-gyeong’s body, and Xiaolin is currently…”

“Phoenix Sir.”

Baeg Cheongyoung was smiling brighter than ever.

“To me, my lord deserves loyalty, and my sister deserves familial affection. To call those feelings lust is quite insulting. I have never harbored such desires toward them, nor will I in the future.”

“…Sorry. I messed up.”

Baeg Cheongyoung scolded me seriously, and I readily admitted my mistake.

“In fact, I suspect Phoenix Sir might have had such feelings toward them.”

“…’Had’?”

“Yes. Well…”

Baeg Cheongyoung’s eyes pierced through me.

“You possess a past for us, something we’d call our future. In that place, you were lovers with them, weren’t you?”

“……”

I couldn’t respond to Baeg Cheongyoung’s question, which saw through my truth.

“Perhaps there’s some reason why you keep repeating the process of returning to the past… Would you allow me to speculate on that reason?”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

Moved by his earnestness, I unconsciously granted Baeg Cheongyoung permission to proceed.

“You returned to protect someone you love, didn’t you? From the past.”

“……Pfft.”

Laughter involuntarily escaped me.

“No, the opposite.”

“Huh?”

I placed my hand over my chest.

“Think of it as coming to the past to protect someone I love.”

“……Clearly, you’re hiding something, but… alright. I’ll stop prying here.”

Baeg Cheongyoung raised both hands and laughed heartily.

“Haa! The command of a monster is truly terrifying. My body moves against my will.”

“……What?”

What kind of ghostly nonsense was this? Confused, Baeg Cheongyoung cleared his throat and smirked.

“Hmph. There are two people next to me curious about whose pure-hearted bluebird your affections belong to. If I were in my right mind, I wouldn’t even ask such things.”

Realizing the full story, I understood.

“Illusory Dragon ordered you to probe me about who I love?”

“Yes.”

Baeg Cheongyoung answered my question straightforwardly, then added with a puzzled look,

“If you were going to inquire about this matter, these were Illusory Dragon’s exact instructions.”

Clearing his throat again, Baeg Cheongyoung relayed Illusory Dragon’s message to me:

“I will stand by your side, whoever you are…” Phoenix Sir, what does this mean?”

“Heh.”

Laughter escaped me naturally. As expected, the soul choosing to live on after abandoning its physical form had noticed the presence of ‘me’ within the Blazing Phoenix.

“Illusory Dragon, where are you now?”

“…He’ll be back soon. Wait in the study. Oh, while you’re here…”

Baeg Cheongyoung wore a meaningful smile.

“Would you care to observe the Black Scorpion?”

“……”

Absolutely not. This is not out of curiosity at all.

* * *

<5 PM, Beijing Central Party Monster Management Strategy Bureau Director's Office>

“I thought you were leaving early, but what a pile of work appeared.”

Illusory Dragon immediately tried to escape upon seeing me but was grabbed by the collar mid-air and thrown in front of me.

“Good job, Xiaolin.”

“Not at all.”

“…Why does the monster I created follow you better?”

Illusory Dragon stuck out his tongue at Xiaolin, who threw him. The corporeal Xiaolin wore a skin-tight rashguard swimsuit, prompting Baek Cheongyoung to cover her with a cloak out of pity.

“Did you do it again?”

“What, nobody else can see me anyway.”

“But I’m here, I am.”

“You understand, don’t you? You never told me not to.”

Illusory Dragon stuck out his tongue at Xiaolin. Since becoming a monster, Xiaolin seemed to have lost her sense of shame, as if the brakes on her inhibitions had failed.

“Anyway, you…”

Illusory Dragon scanned her up and down.

“You’ve lost some weight, haven’t you?”

“Ah, I just looked too bloated as a middle-aged man.”

Illusory Dragon slightly lifted his shirt to reveal a chiseled physique with defined abs instead of a potbelly.

“……You’re really enjoying your second life in someone else’s body.”

“Well, they say to satisfy women, you need good stamina. Huh huh.”

Illusory Dragon gave me a sleepy-eyed grin. With all the jowls gone and his features sharpened, he resembled a leading actor straight out of an 80s Hong Kong noir film.

“Did you get plastic surgery?”

“Was this my original face? Hard to tell when I look at my kids.”

Illusory Dragon pointed at Baek Cheongyoung and Xiaolin. Though they looked different, they somewhat resembled Illusory Dragon’s face at a glance.

“Ah… So Motae-gyeong really abused his body.”

“Young and already chasing so many women around must’ve had a reason. Face power, you know.”

A typical example of an unscratched lottery ticket. Simultaneously, anger surged within me towards the original for burying such a face under flabby fat and using it to charm countless women.

“Motae-gyeong is definitely a villain.”

“I’m considering changing my name altogether. What do you think about openly calling myself ‘Illusory Dragon’?”

“…If continuing to use the name Motae-gyeong becomes difficult, then that’s fine.”

“Huh huh. I was planning to change it anyway. There’s another owner of this name, you know.”

Illusory Dragon got up from his seat and unlocked a secret mechanism in the bookshelf of the director’s office. As soon as the soundproof barrier made of magic power was deactivated, passionate cries erupted from inside.

“Aaah! Stop! I can’t eat anymore… Kyaaa!!”

“…It’s getting harder to refer to him as ‘Black Scorpion.'”

Illusory Dragon shrugged and reactivated the soundproof barrier. Through the crack in the door, I glimpsed members of the Illusory Dragon Group indulging in Black Scorpion’s pleasures, but I deliberately showed no reaction. After all, regularly securing S-Rank cores isn’t exactly common. Instead, I asked something else.

“Entry in spirit form?”

“Yes. We only open the door to retrieve the core and then leave.”

Baek Cheongyoung pulled a different golden string attached to the wall of the director’s office. A ventilation grille opened slightly, and a black bead rolled onto the desk along a rail-like decoration embedded in the wall.

“This is how we’re handling the produced cores. Unfortunately, compared to the dozens born daily, S-Rank cores are rare—maybe two at most per day, sometimes none at all.”

“……Do you mean the rest are mostly D-Rank or E-Rank?”

“Yes. Occurring dozens of times a day… Hmm.”

“I see. So the frequency correlates with the number of cores produced.”

That explained why Baek Cheongyoung was searching for Rasputin’s member. Given that Black Scorpion, being a monster, likely has S-Rank durability, creating a monster using Rasputin’s would be extraordinary.

“Alright. Understood. I’ll bring Rasputin’s appendage for you. Baek Cheongyoung and Red Earth are coming with me.”

“Excuse me?”

My words shocked Xiaolin.

“Not me?”

“Yes. Considering taking a woman along seems risky.”

“Phoenix Sir, is this an insult to me? I am a warrior before being a woman.”

“Rasputin has a 100% success rate against women.”

As I briefly explained Rasputin’s abilities, Xiaolin’s expression contorted strangely with each detail.

“So, in short, you’re destined to lose to a penis—”

“Forgive me. Brother, please take care of Phoenix Sir.”

Xiaolin immediately backed down. Apparently, even as a warrior, she couldn’t tolerate defeat by seduction.

“…Phoenix Sir, would a man suffice?”

“Yes. Fortunately, Rasputin doesn’t swing that way.”

Baek Cheongyoung sighed in genuine relief.

“And me?”

Illusory Dragon, whose gender could be chosen freely, grinned ambiguously.

“Does it depend on whether I’m in this body or a female one?”

“Eh, um… perhaps not?”

“And you?”

Illusory Dragon’s finger pointed at my lower abdomen.

“Do you want to die?”

“No. It’s a reasonable question. Are you not concerned about yourself when worrying about Xiaolin? You’re living as a woman’s body, so theoretically, you could fall victim to his charm if forced.”

“……”

A valid point. I fully understood Illusory Dragon’s observation.

“Hmm… Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit uneasy about potentially succumbing.”

“Phoenix Sir should lead the operation, but for this mission, limiting participation based on gender seems prudent.”

“That’s true. If Phoenix Sir ends up beneath Rasputin and becomes the enemy…”

Baek Cheongyoung and Xiaolin clearly feared I might end up groveling under Rasputin. Their concern made me worry too.

“Hmm…”

It was uncertain whether Rasputin’s powers affected spirits. During his villainous heyday, the protagonist had rallied male companions to subdue him, after all.

The so-called “Harem Breaker.” For players forming harem-style groups excluding men, he was the ultimate nemesis.

“Here I am adhering to the original plot.”

“Alright. Let’s count it as saving a person. I’ll go cut off Rasputin’s thing soon. Meanwhile, Xiaolin, Baek Cheongyoung, could you excuse yourselves for a moment?”

“…Hmm. No, let us step aside. There’s a nice garden nearby where the two of you can talk privately.”

Illusory Dragon placed his hand on his chest. Gray magical energy began to swirl momentarily, and Illusory Dragon slowly emerged from Motae-gyeong’s body.

“Such a sight, isn’t it?”

“Don’t worry. While I’m out, he’ll basically just be sleeping.”

The embodied maiden Illusory Dragon spoke casually as she infused magical energy into Motae-gyeong’s body. While she was outside, he would remain motionless with his eyes closed.

“So, where’s this garden you mentioned?”

“My house.”

“My house?”

Illusory Dragon gestured toward Motae-gyeong’s body.

“Yes. My house.”

…I received an invitation to Illusory Dragon Manor.