The Heavenly Demon Does Home Repairs

A few days later, in a high-rise apartment undergoing renovation.

Crack!

The ceiling plaster fell apart, white dust scattering everywhere.

Vroom! Crash! Smash!

Tiles in the bathroom shattered loudly, and the sanitary fixtures were dismantled.

It was a demolition project to strip down the apartment for a full renovation, but the sounds and chaos made it seem like the entire building was coming down.

Amid the dust and noise, a tall, shadowy figure emerged.

Towering enough to almost touch the ceiling, with hair like unkempt weeds, and glowing red eyes reminiscent of a robot from a movie—this was the Heavenly Demon, dressed in ragged work clothes over his traditional gray martial attire.

“This is absurd.”

Crossing his thick arms, he surveyed the demolition site with a cold gaze.

“Me, doing something like this?”

At that moment, Kim, the demolition supervisor, spotted him and shouted, “Hey, Mr. Chun! Why are you standing around? Get those debris bags down to the truck, now!”

The Heavenly Demon shot a fierce glance at him.

“My name isn’t Chun. That’s merely a title.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just move the debris. We’re on a schedule here.”

Kim didn’t even look at the Heavenly Demon as he went back to tearing down the ceiling plaster with a crowbar.

The meaning of Kim’s behavior was clear—disregard, disrespect, and outright belittlement.

The Heavenly Demon was experiencing, firsthand, the very concepts of disdain he had only ever understood in theory. A flood of emotions surged within him.

“This is preposterous.”

Once the undisputed ruler of the martial world, now he was treated like this?

“Haha…”

Unable to contain himself, the Heavenly Demon let out a booming laugh, his diaphragm powering the mighty Blood Demon Sky-Shaking Laughter technique.

“Hahaha… Hahack!”

But before he could unleash his full power, a mouthful of ceiling dust fell straight into his open mouth, causing him to choke.

“Cough, cough.”

After several minutes of coughing while crouched on the floor, he straightened up, shaking his head with a flushed face.

“Well, since my internal energy is gone, the technique doesn’t work anyway.”

Mumbling to himself, he began picking up the scattered debris.

Once he had gathered a large pile, the Heavenly Demon raised one of his massive legs vertically, displaying surprising flexibility for his size.

Wham! Crack! Thud!

With each stomp, the debris crumbled into dust, as if struck by a giant hammer.

He worked like a machine, smashing everything in his path. It resembled a bonus stage from an old arcade game, where characters destroy cars for points.

“Too slow.”

Looking up from his work, he watched Kim continue to hack at the ceiling with the crowbar, struggling to bring it down.

“What an inefficient method,” the Heavenly Demon muttered as he approached Kim.

“Step aside. I’ll take care of this.”

“Huh? What do you mean, take care of it?”

“This material is weak. There’s no need to use such a tool.”

Kim’s head filled with the warning Jang Chaewon had given him: “Don’t let him do anything but collect the debris. Absolutely nothing else!”

“W-wait, Mr. Chun, I got this…”

Before Kim could finish his sentence, the Heavenly Demon shouted, “Fist of the Demon! Rising Wind, Dragon Strike!”

With a leap, the Heavenly Demon hurled his fist toward the ceiling.

“Was that a… Hadouken?”

Kim blinked in disbelief. The Heavenly Demon’s punch looked eerily similar to the signature moves from old fighting games.

Smash!

His fist connected with the ceiling, shattering not only the plaster but the sprinkler system pipes above.

Shhhhhh!

Water gushed down from the broken pipes.

“Hm?”

The Heavenly Demon tilted his head, confused by the sudden downpour.

“Is this water meant to congratulate me for my success?”

“Arghhh!”

All the workers fled as water flooded the site, with Kim clutching his hair in panic.

“Mr. Chun! You broke the sprinkler pipes!”

“What are you talking about?”

“In these high-rise apartments, sprinklers are installed in the ceiling for fire safety!”

“Sprinklers?”

The Heavenly Demon, utterly confused, blinked as he processed the information.

“You… Hadouken addict!”

Back at Bokbok Interiors, Jang Chaewon stood up abruptly, yelling at the Heavenly Demon.

“How many times do I have to tell you? Why do you keep doing Hadoukens every time you go to a demolition site?!”

“You’ve got the name wrong. That was part of my demonic martial art…”

“I asked you to remove the sink, and you Hadoukened it. Then I told you to demolish the bathroom walls, and you Hadoukened the walls. Now, you’ve Hadoukened the ceiling?”

Chaewon waved her hands wildly.

“I told you to just pick up the debris quietly! Why did you have to smash the sprinkler system?!”

“I was merely helping,” the Heavenly Demon replied flatly. “I saw that Kim was struggling, so I lent a hand.”

“Doing nothing would be more helpful!”

“The battlefield is no place to abandon your allies. I won’t ignore a fellow soldier.”

“This isn’t a battlefield!”

“It’s just as intense,” the Heavenly Demon muttered, gazing off into the distance.

“And to think, Kim’s only 60 this year. I thought he was at least 100.”

“What?”

“He must have aged prematurely from doing hard labor. No wonder he’s so frail and prone to sickness.”

“Uh… Kim’s not even married yet…”

The Heavenly Demon’s eyes widened in surprise.

“At that age? Remarkable.”

“What are you even talking about?!”

Chaewon slammed her calculator onto the table and grabbed her hair in frustration.

“Do you have any idea how much damage you’ve caused?!”

She stood up and pointed at the Heavenly Demon, who sat there as still as a statue.

“That house you wrecked the other day? That was commissioned by Hosan—the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit—who wanted to live there with her human lover!”

“A fox spirit?”

“Watch your mouth. She’s not a mere yokai, but a Yoshin, a deity who oversees human love affairs!”

“A matchmaker, then.”

“Shut up. Anyway, we can’t fix the sprinkler system ourselves! We need to hire a specialized fire safety company, which costs a fortune!”

“Is that so.”

Chaewon’s eyes turned white with rage at his indifferent tone.

“Do you know how many complaints we’ve received because we had to shut off the water for the whole building? And if Hosan hears about this, we’ll be in big trouble! She’s got connections everywhere!”

Her teeth ground audibly as she clutched her calculator.

“Do you even know how much it costs to fix a sprinkler system? Huh? Do you?!”

“I do not.”

“….”

Nothing seemed to faze him. Yelling at this mountain of a man was like screaming into a void. It only bounced back, hitting her harder.

Chaewon rubbed her temples, thinking hard.

‘It’s like I’ve hired a liability, not a worker.’

He couldn’t even manage basic demolition tasks. At this rate, he was just dead weight.

‘Is he doing this on purpose to avoid work?’

Looking at the Heavenly Demon, who stood calmly with his arms crossed, made her blood boil.

‘You’re not getting out of this. I’ll work you until you drop!’

Then, an idea flashed in her mind—an image of the flooring he had utterly destroyed with just a light touch.

‘That’s it! This guy is perfect at destroying things!’

Just as the Heavenly Demon was about to turn and leave, Chaewon clapped her hands together.

“Wait, there’s something else you can do.”

Chaewon led the Heavenly Demon to a large metal door hidden in the back of a warehouse.

The door was made of a strange bronze-colored metal, with a hollow, keyless opening in the center.

“What is this?”

The Heavenly Demon examined the door closely, and Chaewon answered in a low voice, “This is our secret passage.”

“Secret passage?”

“Yeah. It’s an entrance that leads directly to the dungeon area. We’ve set the destination point near the variable dungeon’s boundary.”

She cleared her throat before continuing.

“We need this shortcut because officially entering dungeons requires an awakened license, taxes, and all sorts of other red tape.”

“A dungeon?”

The word was unfamiliar but rang a bell.

Recalling the knowledge passed down to him by the old ghost, the Heavenly Demon remembered it was a place where monsters from another world resided.

“So, it’s the place with creatures from other worlds.”

“That’s right.”

Chaewon’s gaze gleamed as she looked at the door.

“These are beings that don’t belong in this world.”

Her voice carried a note of melancholy, as if there were a deeper story behind it.

The Heavenly Demon, however, remained indifferent.

“If it’s so dangerous, why doesn’t the government manage it?”

“They do, through the Awakened Association. At least up to the Safe Dungeon areas.”

“What is a Safe Dungeon?”

With a sigh, Chaewon elaborated, “It’s a stabilized dungeon where the monster types and levels are fixed. Because it’s stable, the monsters can’t leave.”

“And the unstable ones?”

“Monsters can escape from those. The most dangerous dungeons are tightly managed by the Awakened Association, and entry is strictly controlled.”

“Then what is this place?”

“This is a shortcut that allows us to enter the dungeon region directly. The dungeons are far from the city.”

Still confused, the Heavenly Demon asked, “Why do we need to go to the dungeon?”

“For materials. Sometimes, for us to complete commissions, we need dungeon materials. I used to have spirit beasts gather them, but…”

Chaewon trailed off, looking at the Heavenly Demon.

“But now, it’s your turn to do it.”

“You want me to?”

“Yes, I’ll help you get used to it.”

The Heavenly Demon pondered her words before narrowing his eyes.

“So, to fulfill this commission, I need to retrieve something from the dungeon?”

“For the most part, yes.”

Chaewon slapped him on the back.

“Since you destroyed the spirit tree, this is your job now.”

The Heavenly Demon stroked his chin before nodding.

“Very well.”

Stepping into the dark passage felt like sinking into deep water, but a few steps later, the darkness gave way to a view of a desolate, ruined cityscape.

High-rise buildings, half-destroyed and skeletal, stood like eerie monuments to a bygone era, their architecture alien and unfamiliar.

“What a strange place.”

The Heavenly Demon stood atop a crumbling building, gazing out over the wreckage. To one side was a vast, overgrown forest, and to the other, an ominous foggy void hung in the distance.

“Hm.”

Taking a deep breath, he pointed to the shimmering, transparent barrier visible in the sky.

“What is that light in the sky?”

“That’s a shield. It’s installed at the boundary of the Safe Dungeon and the city. You’ll find it in other cities too.”

“The city, as well?”

“Yep. It keeps monsters from the dungeon from getting into populated areas. The Awakened put it up to protect everyone.”

“Ah, so that’s the shield.”

He remembered the information passed on by the old ghost about these protective barriers. Though it sounded strange, it made sense.

“There, that’s our destination.”

Chaewon led the way through the ruins, stopping in front of a large, dilapidated building. The roof was made of semi-transparent glass, and strange, oval-shaped metal objects were scattered around.

“This is the dungeon?”

“Yeah, it’s called the ‘Gas Station,’ an F-class open dungeon. The only open-type dungeon in the Safe Dungeon area.”

“Open-type?”

“Yep. No need to go inside. Just stand under the roof, and the Sidewinders will show up.”

“Sidewinders?”

As if on cue, a loud whoosh echoed, and a massive, snake-like creature with small wings appeared, slithering towards them.

“A snake, huh?”

“Think you can handle it?”

The Heavenly Demon smirked.

“You’re asking me to be a snake catcher.”

“It’s no ordinary snake. It’s a monster with a threat level of 50. Its hide is as hard as steel, and—”

Before she could finish explaining, the Heavenly Demon cut her off.

“Not even worth using my energy for this.”

With a Fist of the Demon technique, he leapt forward, red energy blazing from his eyes.

“Rising Wind, Dragon Strike!”

His fist crashed down onto the Sidewinder’s head.

Smash!

The steel-like hide shattered in one blow.

“Wow…”

Chaewon couldn’t hide her astonishment.

“You’re not just all talk. With that strength, you could probably take on a level 8 awakened.”

She also sighed in relief.

“Phew, at least you’re good for something after all.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Can you pull out one of its fangs for me?”

Nodding, the Heavenly Demon pried open the Sidewinder’s mouth, but the sharp fang crumbled to dust in his hand.

“It’s broken.”

“Come on! Can’t you be a little gentler?”

“That was gentle.”

“Let’s wait here. This dungeon spawns Sidewinders regularly.”

Ten minutes later.

“Rising Wind, Dragon Strike!”

“Again?! It broke again!”

“They’re much weaker than I expected.”

“Try hitting somewhere other than the head, then!”

“If you don’t crush the head in one strike, it’ll counterattack.”

An hour later.

“Success!”

Chaewon cheered as the Sidewinder fell, its head intact for once.

“Great. But the fangs are still too brittle.”

“What have you been doing?”

Chaewon stared, dumbfounded, as the Heavenly Demon broke the Sidewinder’s fang while trying to extract it.

“How are you even breaking it like that?”

“The material is too soft.”

The Heavenly Demon crushed the fang between his fingers, turning it into powder.

‘What… is this guy…?’

The fangs of the Sidewinder were known to be as hard as steel, prized for crafting weapons by the Awakened. Yet, this man crushed them like crackers.

“Didn’t you say you lost your power?”

“I did. I’ve lost all my internal energy.”

Shriek!

Suddenly, a loud screech echoed from above as a massive shadow descended from the sky.

“An X-Chimera?”

Chaewon’s eyes widened. The X-Chimera had the upper body of a lion, the wings of a bat, and the legs of a horse—a monster with a threat level exceeding 2,000.

Thud!

The creature landed and stared at the Heavenly Demon, as if marking him as its prey.

“What is this mishmash of creatures?”

“It’s an X-Chimera! It’s way stronger than the Sidewinder!”

Undaunted, the Heavenly Demon calmly walked toward the X-Chimera.

“Good. I won’t have to hold back.”

“Wait! No, don’t—!”

Before she could finish, the Heavenly Demon’s fist smashed into the X-Chimera’s face.

Splat!

With a single blow, the X-Chimera’s head flew off, leaving behind nothing but a lifeless body.

‘Whoa!’

Chaewon’s eyes sparkled with amazement. She had thought the Heavenly Demon was useless, but he was a powerhouse!

‘With this kind of strength, I can gather materials from even C-class dungeons!’

Her previous spirit beasts had been reluctant to hunt monsters, but the Heavenly Demon’s brute force was perfect for the job.

As the X-Chimera collapsed, a round object rolled out of its mouth.

“What’s this?”

The Heavenly Demon picked up the object. It was about the size of a pill, shimmering with a strange glow.

“That’s a relic.”

Chaewon grinned, approaching him.

“When you defeat dungeon monsters, they sometimes drop relics. This is one of them.”

“A relic, huh.”

A gleam flashed in the Heavenly Demon’s eyes.

‘Interesting.’

This world was truly strange, even by his standards. He felt like a primitive man dropped into a futuristic civilization.

No ordinary martial artist would have adapted as quickly as he had.

“Oh, and the X-Chimera’s relic…”

Chaewon clapped her hands as she remembered.

“It’s great for curing circulatory issues!”

“I see.”

“Don’t be disappointed. It’ll sell for a good price. Want me to sell it for you?”

The Heavenly Demon gazed at the relic in his hand, the glow reflecting in his eyes. After a moment, he shook his head.

“I’ll keep it.”