“…Where is this place?”

“At least it’s not the Demon Realm.”

“Demon Realm?”

“…Yeah, it exists, the world of demons.”

The two weren’t unfamiliar with the term “Demon Realm.”

It was a concept that occasionally appeared in web novels, webtoons, and movies.

But they never expected that word to pop up in real life.

As Jeong Gyeoul said, this place was different from the Demon Realm.

Unlike that gloomy world, the blue sky welcomed Jeong Gyeoul and her companions.

“…Is this the Heavenly Realm?”

The world of the celestial beings that demons sometimes talked about.

They recalled hearing about a Celestial-Demon War that happened long ago.

If it’s not the Demon Realm, it’s normal to think of the Heavenly Realm.

But…

Thanks to Cha Seo-rin, they learned about the existence of the Realm of Immortals, where divine spirits reside.

They couldn’t tell if this was the Realm of Immortals or the Heavenly Realm.

‘…Which one is better?’

Would the celestial beings, who could be considered angels, be kinder?

Or would the divine spirits, who could be considered immortals, be kinder?

Whatever it was, they hoped to meet the better side…

But Jeong Gyeoul knew herself too well.

“Everyone, be careful. No matter where we are, no one has ever had a good outcome after getting involved with me.”

“…Huh?”

As they were staring at Jeong Gyeoul, wondering what she meant…

“…?”

A monstrous magical power reaction, seemingly on the level of a calamity, suddenly appeared from somewhere.

“Damn, a calamity-level monster right from the start?”

“Ru, run away!”

“It’s too late! We should erase our magical presence and hide…”

The two were on the verge of panic.

A calamity-level monster was something you might see once in a lifetime on Earth.

A disaster that could only be barely handled by multiple S-Class heroes.

They had just arrived in this strange world and were already facing a calamity-level monster.

It appeared out of nowhere, like a bolt from the blue, without any warning.

*Thud—*

A monster with a deer-like body, a cow’s tail, and horse hooves and mane was flying through the sky.

Its back was a mix of five colors.

It looked like a horse running through the sky.

You could almost hear the sound of its hooves.

“…What is that?”

It was different from any calamity-level monster they had seen on Earth.

Even disaster-level monsters didn’t look like that.

A form they had never seen before.

As Jeong Gyeoul and Shin Hyeon-joo were dumbfounded,

Cha Seo-rin stammered and spoke up.

“…A, a, a, a qilin?”

“A qilin? That long-necked thing from the zoo?”

“No! The divine beast qilin!”

The divine beast qilin.

Something immediately came to mind.

“That, the friend of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Vermilion Bird, the qilin you’re talking about?”

“…You’re a bit off, but yes, that’s correct.”

After finishing her explanation, Cha Seo-rin looked at the qilin with awe.

“…Still, it’s a monster, right? And it looks delicious.”

Jeong Gyeoul’s blasphemous remark was easily ignored.

The qilin and the lin.

A hornless male and a horned female were walking together in the sky.

A sight you couldn’t see on Earth.

After the qilin’s short airshow,

Cha Seo-rin seemed to return to reality.

“You said there’s a Demon Realm, right? Then this must be the Realm of Immortals. The world of immortals, perhaps.”

“…I think so too. Let’s assume it’s the Realm of Immortals and proceed.”

“…What’s the Realm of Immortals? Why do only you two know about it?”

Shin Hyeon-joo looked like she was about to cry.

She had fallen into a strange world with two strange people.

But those strange people seemed to know about this strange world.

And they even seemed to have adapted.

The feeling of being an outsider, like a two-eyed person in a one-eyed village.

A sense of anxiety that she might be abandoned washed over her.

Noticing Shin Hyeon-joo’s state, Jeong Gyeoul patted both of their backs.

“I know what you’re worried about, but don’t worry. No one has ever had a good outcome after getting involved with me, but no one has died either.”

Jeong Gyeoul left behind words that could be taken as comfort, an attack, or a curse.

She said they needed to scout the area and soared into the sky.

There were no villages or cities in sight.

‘Do immortals just hole up in the mountains and train? Not a single city in sight?’

Could it be that there’s no civilization in the Realm of Immortals?

While looking around, she felt something strange.

‘Is the sun setting…?’

The sun wasn’t moving or being obscured.

But she felt like the sun was setting.

Like pressing the wait button in an RPG game to fast-forward time,

it quickly started to get dark.

In just about 5 seconds, day turned to night.

‘This place is weirder than the Demon Realm…’

Cha Seo-rin and Shin Hyeon-joo were probably panicking, so she came back down.

Sure enough, they were startled by the sudden darkness.

Cha Seo-rin showed impressive quick thinking by lighting a fire with a talisman,

but Shin Hyeon-joo still seemed to be in a state of shock.

“There’s a cave over there. Let’s spend the night there.”

“…Is this night?”

“I don’t know, but the sun’s gone down… so it must be night, right?”

They had never been to or heard of the Realm of Immortals.

Cha Seo-rin clearly knew more about it.

But she had to answer the chicks’ questions one by one.

Mental management is a virtue of a great chick leader… no, a great hero.

The academy students were called owls,

but Cha Seo-rin and Shin Hyeon-joo were weaker.

They were little chicks.

***

After lighting a fire in the cave, Jeong Gyeoul provided drinking water using magic.

It was a much more comfortable and relaxing rest compared to their first time in the Demon Realm.

She thought about sharing stories of her first trip to the Demon Realm, talking about lattes and such,

but she realized those stories were closer to frustration and despair than happiness and hope.

So she gave up.

As she said earlier, a great chick leader… no, hero needs to manage their mental state.

“We don’t need a watch, so everyone rest up. Save your energy, and let’s move at dawn. Whether we find people, immortals, a village, or a city, let’s find something.”

“…Okay.”

“How can you be so calm, Jeong Gyeoul?”

“Well, I’ve been through this kind of thing many times.”

“…You’ve been through this many times?”

“Various things happen in the hero industry that ordinary people don’t know about. I just happen to always be on the front lines, which is a bit of a pain.”

Jeong Gyeoul felt regret about how things had turned out.

‘Is it my fault these two got dragged into this?’

Thinking about it, there were no major incidents when she was holed up in the academy.

After starting to travel between dimensions like this, the Satan Church was child’s play.

Of course, it was the Satan Church’s leader who opened the floodgates,

but when she was at the academy, her range of activities was limited, so the scale of incidents wasn’t this big.

It was only natural for Jeong Gyeoul, who carried all the world’s bad luck and unfairness, to feel a sense of debt to the two.

In fact, the two were also Awakened Ones.

They might not have the ability to protect themselves… but at least they could take turns on watch.

But Jeong Gyeoul decided to take on all the dirty work while staying in the Realm of Immortals.

And she would definitely bring them back alive.

Then the two would remember this as a package tour of the Realm of Immortals, a Jeong Gyeoul tour,

and she could blow away her sense of debt and guilt.

While resting in the cave,

“…?”

Two powerful magical presences were detected.

And they were flying towards the cave.

The energy felt was all transcendent-level or higher.

She raised her magical power, preparing for any possible trouble.

‘I hope they’re not hostile.’

It was a visit from the Demon Realm’s lord, or perhaps someone even higher.

Even Jeong Gyeoul couldn’t help but be tense.

Cha Seo-rin and Shin Hyeon-joo weren’t insensitive enough to sleep through such a flow of magical power.

They also got up and started to be on guard.

[What are these? Not humans?]

[Has another human ascended since Jang Sam-bong?]

The two beings, conversing with each other, descended to the cave entrance.

No, it was hard to call them humans.

They had no magical power or circuits.

To be precise, the magical power in the air was circulating through their bodies.

Unlike ordinary Awakened Ones, who store magical power in their bodies and release it through circuits,

they had a strange energy filling their entire bodies.

Magical power was just used like air.

The source of their power seemed to be that strange energy.

[Look at the magical power coming from that woman in the middle. I’d believe she’s a reincarnated Buddha. She’s accumulated so much magical power without any spiritual training. She’s practically a monster.]

[The Great Sage Equal to Heaven? Not quite.]

[What do you know, talking like you’ve seen it yourself?]

[I assisted when Lord Philmaon was dealing with Sun Wukong.]

[…You’re lucky to be alive.]

“…Who are you?”

[Oh, it talks. Maybe it’s not just a monster in human form.]

[If it entered the Realm of Immortals, it can’t just be a monster, idiot.]

[…I’m also a lower immortal who’s entered the Jade Clear Realm, you know? Watch your words.]

[Oh, you really have no filter in front of a higher immortal.]

“If you’re higher and lower immortals… then you’re among the 27 immortals of the Three Pure Realms…”

Cha Seo-rin opened her mouth in shock.

The two immortals reacted to her words.

[Oh? Are you a practitioner?]

[Not really, all three of you have no spiritual power. You’re just breathing magical power.]

[Should we open them up and see?]

[That’s a good idea. Especially that woman in the middle, I’m curious about her insides.]

Jeong Gyeoul and her companions were on the verge of being dissected as soon as they entered the Realm of Immortals.