The next day, Willas, who arrived in the waiting room first, waited for Roman with an excited face.
‘Are we finally going to meet?’
Yesterday evening, Willas had a lot of trouble sleeping. It was because of the shock Roman’s soldiers gave him. Just like the warriors of Valhalla, they showed a militant and combative force, and the sword technique that drove the opponent into a corner could not be classified as a low-level sword technique. As a priest of Valhalla, he was sure of it as he had seen many strong individuals.
If the strength of soldiers was derived from Roman, Roman could be a man who was as strong as the rumors said.
‘Roman Dmitry. Are you a sleeping dragon who never got the chance to shine, or are you a hero who likes to show off?’
The sure thing was that he would get to check it himself.
Willas took a sip of tea.
It wasn’t the appointment time yet, so he waited calmly, and the time came as the door opened.
“Young Master Roman has come.”
Tak.
He put down the teacup.
His heart was pounding intensely.
Finally. Who is Roman Dmitry?
The moment he finally checked the man who had just arrived,
“…Oh.”
Unknowingly, he let out an exclamation.
The unwavering walk and his attitude of naturally looking down on Willas, along with a relaxed expression—Willas, who developed an observant eye after meeting a lot of people, was convinced of one thing by looking at Roman.
‘He’s definitely a person accustomed to living his life as someone powerful.’
It was true.
He now thought Roman Dmitry could have actually defeated Homer. He just somehow believed it.
And then, he went to the main point.
“Is it true that you defeated Homer?”
“It is true.”
Roman’s answer was blunt, as if it wasn’t a big deal.
Seeing Roman’s reaction, Willas gulped.
“You don’t seem to understand the complexity of what you have done yet. Homer isn’t just someone strong who was ranked 49th, but he was someone who was expected to get Rank 30 or higher soon enough because he had reached 4-Star. And you killed such a man. You, who are only 25 years old, Roman Dmitry. Do you understand what that means?”
Actually, Homer’s defeat wasn’t that shocking now. What was shocking was that the one who had defeated Homer was only 25 years old. That was also what made Willas come to Dmitry.
“The strong man who defeated Homer at the age of 25—It is shocking that you have reached the level of 3-Star in just your 20s, but if we check and you turn out to be 4-Star, then undoubtedly, you are the greatest talent in the entire history of the Cairo Kingdom. Therefore, as the temple of Valhalla, we decided that it was necessary to determine whether that is true or not.”
“I understand what you mean.”
Roman leaned back on the chair and crossed his legs.
“You are going round and round about saying that what I have done is something which doesn’t make sense. Say it clearly. As a priest of Valhalla has come to Dmitry, doesn’t it mean you have a clear purpose?”
“Yes.”
He had to be straightforward now. Without wasting any more time, it was time to confirm the truth. Thus, Willas said, “Firstly, before confirming the truth, let me tell you about the ranking process. Ranked Matches are divided into official and unofficial ones. In Official Ranked Matches, your strength is proved by getting permission from the Valhalla Temple and defeating your opponent in front of them. Winning or losing in the Official Ranked Match will set your rank right away, and although the Ranking will be announced early next year, an ID will be given to prove that you are ranked. If you had defeated Homer in an Official Ranked Match, you would have been given an ID as proof, and it would have been announced to the world that a new 49th Ranker was born in the Cairo Kingdom.”
The problem was the match between Roman and Homer was an Unofficial Ranked Match. Unlike Official Ranked Matches, Unofficial Ranked Matches’ results were only spread through words from the mouths of normal people.
“‘Unofficial Battle’ is a term that was created due to sudden confrontations against Rankers. If someone defeats a Ranker in an Unofficial Match, the position would be moved ahead by one level after one year due to the vacancy. An unofficial victory can never bring the winner into the Rankings. But after the confrontation is over, if it is proven that the man is strong and deserves to be ranked, then he will be placed into the Rankings that will be given after the other rankers are pushed ahead.”
The conclusion was simple. Roman defeated Homer in an Unofficial Ranked Match. If what Willas said was true, it meant that he would get the 100th rank, not Homer’s.
“Actually, there is no way to prove that you are the one who defeated Homer. Since the Valhalla Temple only believes what it sees, it cannot believe the mouths of others even if hundreds witnessed it. Therefore, to check the qualification unofficially, we use an Aura Meter. It provides proof simply. If we use this meter and you pass the criteria we set for the Ranker, you will be ranked as someone worthy of the last rank in the Rankings. Still, at this time, unlike the official match, no ID will be issued. It is impossible to know when things change and when the list of Rankers is announced. Thus, the lowest rankers, that is, those around Rank 100, are bound to fall prey to others, so we give them a safety time.”
The explanation ended with that.
Now, it was time to check the truth with Aura Meter.
Looking at Willas, who wanted an answer, Roman asked, “Is there any reason one has to rank like that?”
“Well, if I were to be ranked down as a Ranker, I would say it’s worth it. For someone who is in the position of a swordsman, I would think it is worth it. It’s something that helps one spread their name in the world. Even if there are no special rewards, wouldn’t it be worth taking the risk for the sake of honor?”
Grin.
Roman smiled. He remembered that even in Murim, there was a ranking system just like this. And as he saw many people risking their lives for it, Roman understood Willas. However, spreading one’s name far and wide in the world and showing their abilities could not always be considered a good thing. When one showed others their abilities, the eyes that followed them would create variables.
Nevertheless,
“I don’t like having credentials verified through ways like an Aura Meter. Rather, bring me a new opponent. It doesn’t matter if they are ranked higher than Homer. As you said, I will prove my qualifications by defeating the Ranker before a priest of Valhalla.”
Roman—No, Heavenly Demon Baek Joon-hyuk was a person who had no hesitation when he spoke his mind.
Still, that was a flustering answer for others.
Willas had met many people in his life, but this was his first time meeting someone who was this bold.
‘What does he think Ranked Matches are?’
A Ranked Match was no child’s play. Often, people risked their lives to get their name on the ranking list. It was an honorable place to be in for a swordsman, and naturally, many died for it. The implicit rule of not killing the opponent during the duel was meaningless. When strong people who had equal skills fought, the battle would intensify, and the sword failed to show mercy to the opponent.
Thus, people said that Rank 30 Fernando was a true gatekeeper. He never once turned down the challengers and always proved himself by accepting the fight.
On the contrary, there were cowards who made names but then didn’t accept a single challenge. Those sorts dropped down the Ranking as the years passed, and they never wanted to fight. Still, they cleverly fought in the last year to hold on in the Ranking.
Nevertheless, even the strong ones didn’t always welcome fights. They worked hard for the sake of wealth and fame, so dying in the hands of someone else because of a challenge wasn’t something they could accept.
Then, hearing Roman’s words, Willas said, “Actually, as you said, initiating a new Ranked Match is the best way to prove your strength. However, a Ranked Match isn’t so simple. It isn’t possible to proceed with it just because you want to, and for an Official Ranked Match, the opponent’s consent has to be taken, and the time has to be scheduled as well. Think about it from another perspective. Are there any strong people in the North-East region of Cairo? No. That is also why the proclamation of your name rose higher, as finding an opponent there was close to impossible.”
“Right, such a pity.”
If there was no opponent, an Official Ranked Match was obviously impossible.
Finally,
“There is only one way.”
Willas continued, “Take the test through the Aura Meter; with that, Mr. Roman Dmitry will be promoted as a Ranker in the Cairo Kingdom.”
Aura Meter—Contrary to the grand name, it was a simple thing. It had the shape of a sphere and the size of a fist. Willas showed it to Roman and said, “The method of testing your Aura is simple. If you infuse mana into the Aura Meter, it will change color according to the mana. 1-Star is red, 2-Star is orange, 3-Star is yellow, and 4-Star and above is green. For reference, you, Roman, have defeated Homer, who was 4-Star, so you need to get a minimum of 3-Star, which is yellow, to take the last place in the Ranking. In that, too, it must be dark yellow. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
There was nothing special about it. The only thing one needed to do was just infuse mana.
Roman received the sphere from Willas. He hadn’t seen the sphere anywhere else, and he thought it was interesting.
‘Unlike Murim, the Salamander Continent is a world where magic has developed. Considering that there is a tool to measure even the power of someone, magic cannot be overlooked. What kind of an existence is a mage? Are the mages like the shamans of Murim or superhumans who have reached the state of god?’
Roman looked at the Aura Meter. He couldn’t understand it, yet he also felt curious.
‘How will the Aura Meter react if I release Aura in the way the Aura Swordsmen of this world do?’
The way the Aura was used was different in the two worlds. If the Aura Swordsmen of Salamander manifested a huge amount of Aura at once, the swordsmen in Murim condensed their mana into a thin layer and refined it as well. That was also the reason everyone who saw Roman’s Aura was always astonished. Even when what Roman used seemed like a 1-Star Aura, its power was so astounding that his opponents were always overwhelmed and doubted if he really was using a 1-Star Aura.
Aura Explosion—It wasn’t that Roman couldn’t do it. He understood its principle, but he still didn’t use it as it was too inefficient for his battles.
‘It will be fun.’
For once, he judged it wouldn’t be bad to follow the way of the new world.
If the Aura Meter was crafted to measure the Aura Explosion, then Roman decided that he would have to do it like that as well.
How can a magic device even evaluate his power?
At first, he was just curious, and then, he thought this was a good chance to test it out.
“Start.”
Once Willas said that,
Grab!
Roman grabbed the Aura Meter and then began to infuse his mana into it.
Editor’s Note: We have finally reached 70 chapters of The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live a Normal Life. Although some may think this is weird, I just wanted to begin adding notes and my personal thoughts at the end of a chapter. Still, if many don’t like it, I will stop writing them. Also, we crossed 100,000 total views on the novel, which made me quite glad. We finally see MC measuring his level in the latest chapter, and it seems the will be pretty interesting.
