CH 283

“Pardon?” Paimon’s unexpected answer baffled Gi-Gyu. “You will sync with me?”

Paimon gave his permission a bit too easily. It would’ve made sense if he didn’t know what “sync” meant, but he knew well what it entailed. It would connect him to Gi-Gyu forever and force him to become Gi-Gyu’s subordinate. The undying loyalty he would feel toward Gi-Gyu would ensure Paimon could never disobey or betray him.

Essentially, Paimon would lose his freedom.

Paimon asked, “It would mean that you will become my master in every sense, wouldn’t it? Isn’t that what sync means?”

Gi-Gyu was nonplussed. He had actually contemplated killing Paimon so that he could sync more smoothly. At this point, he couldn’t help but be suspicious of Paimon’s true motive.

‘Could it be that he found a way to destroy the sync connection?’ Gi-Gyu wondered. After all, Paimon had done something similar to Andras’ restrictions.

Or did Paimon already have a consciousness ready inside him to fool Gi-Gyu?

Gi-Gyu shook his head. That thought didn’t make sense because he now could tell which of Paimon’s consciousness was real. Paimon had to know this as well. After all, he had already synced with Paimon’s fake consciousness before destroying it.

“What are you up to?” Gi-Gyu asked, realizing he wouldn’t figure out Paimon’s true intention on his own.

“You wanted to sync with me, and I agreed to it. I don’t understand what the problem is here.” Paimon smiled.

Gi-Gyu got a bad feeling about it.

Paimon must have felt the change in Gi-Gyu’s emotions because he stretched his arms and announced, “Let’s stop playing around. You’re superior to me. You have been from the beginning. Furthermore, I can’t defeat you no matter how much effort I put into it. The whole world will be at your feet someday, so becoming your ally early on is the smart thing to do. Don’t you agree?”

Paimon smiled again and continued, “And I am very interested in your power. Even when you were my enemy. I tried many things to figure them out, but even my best conjectures were nothing more than guesses. The best and only way to learn about your power is to experience them myself.”

Paimon was undoubtedly curious about Gi-Gyu’s ability to sync, but something still didn’t feel right. Gi-Gyu didn’t know Paimon very well, but he did know the demon was an intelligent creature. So, it didn’t make sense that Paimon would choose eternal servitude without a fight.

So why?

“If your question is answered, will you sync with me?” asked Paimon. The smile on his face disappeared, replaced by something somber.

Gi-Gyu replied, “Yes. So please tell me.”

Syncing with Paimon was inevitable, as Gi-Gyu literally had no other option. However, he wanted to get rid of this nagging feeling before going ahead with it. Also, time was of the essence, so he had to be quick.

Paimon seemed to understand Gi-Gyu's dilemma. He announced, “I, too, am running out of time.”

Everyone in the room became confused.

Another smile appeared on Paimon’s lips as he added, “I’m telling you that I will die very soon.”

***

“Say hello to him, Min-Su.” Old Man Hwang patted Min-Su’s back.

“H-hello?” Min-Su bowed awkwardly.

Paimon exclaimed, “Oh! I can feel that you have an unusual talent.”

“He’s your direct descendant, Lord Paimon,” Old Man Hwang explained.

“It makes sense… This boy certainly feels very different. I can feel my power in you too, but this child is different. He has even more of my presence in him than Hwang Chae-Il.”

Paimon looked genuinely interested. “Is this a form of ancestral regression? I have never seen it in person before. And a regression of my former self who has a clone of my own power… How interesting.”

Paimon’s eyes sparkled. He crouched to get to Min-Su’s eye level and began chatting with the boy.

Gi-Gyu was watching their interaction but wasn’t paying attention to their conversation.

‘I can’t believe he will die soon.’

Paimon had announced he would die very soon. At first, Gi-Gyu considered the possibility that Paimon was lying, but it turned out that this wasn’t the case.

‘Now that I’m synced with him, I know he was telling the truth.’

With Paimon’s permission, Gi-Gyu had synced with him. Now that he was connected to the demon, Gi-Gyu knew for sure that Paimon didn’t have much time left.

‘Just how did he last this long in his condition?’ Gi-Gyu was shocked when he learned that Paimon didn’t have a shell; to be precise, he had it, but only its shape. Paimon’s shell was cracked and wrecked, which meant he should have been dead. Ostensibly, he was using all of his existing powers to hang onto his life just a while longer.

‘Does it have something to do with Andras’ restriction?’ Gi-Gyu wondered, but Paimon hadn’t explained anything yet.

Paimon did ask Gi-Gyu for one favor. The sync would force him to tell Gi-Gyu everything, so he asked for a bit of time before he spilled the truth. Paimon wanted to tour Eden and study the newly improved technology first. And he also wanted to meet Min-Su, his descendant.

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Gi-Gyu agreed to this request. He gave Paimon two days. Gi-Gyu was busy taking care of Eden's repairs anyway.

‘He only has a week left to live.’ Gi-Gyu thought. He wondered if he would learn everything before the week was over. Losing two days wasn’t great, but he felt Paimon deserved some time with Min-Su.

‘Besides, I don’t have to hear everything from his lips anyway.’ This was partly why Gi-Gyu had given Paimon two days. He could simply use the sync to read Paimon’s memories.

However, his assumption turned out to be completely wrong. Gi-Gyu closed his eyes and tried to read Paimon’s memories again.

-Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

-Oh! The quality of pyrite is exceptional!

-Ohhhhh! This is…!

So many scenes appeared in Gi-Gyu’s head, but…

‘They are all useless to me.’ 

Paimon’s memories were filled with meaningless scenes and comments. If Gi-Gyu were a blacksmith and could understand the weapon-making process, this would have been marvelous.

Gi-Gyu had no time to watch Paimon making weapons and exclaiming over rare materials. The problem was that Paimon’s head was filled with such memories. Because Paimon had lived a long life, there were too many useless memories. All the memories he could access for now either had Paimon screaming like a madman while hammering something or Paimon showing interest in rare items.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed. Suddenly, he turned toward Paimon. He could feel Paimon’s emotions; he was currently furious.

Smack!

“Ackkkk! How could you do this?!” Paimon screamed angrily and stuck the back of Old Man Hwang’s head.

“I-I’m so sorry…” Old Man Hwang bowed and apologized awkwardly. Paimon looked much younger now, so the way he treated Old Man Hwang looked highly inappropriate.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Gi-Gyu asked Paimon angrily. He sensed the demon calming down a little, but there was still some anger inside him.

Paimon looked into Gi-Gyu’s eyes and explained, “This child, Min-Su, has a talent rivaling mine. I can’t believe just how badly this foolish man educated him. If Min-Su weren’t as talented as he is, everything would have been ruined.”

“This won't do.” Paimon visibly calmed down before continuing. His anger was quickly replaced by passion. “I will need to spend a whole week with this child.”

Gi-Gyu seemed perplexed. He coldly replied, “That’s not possible. I understand where you’re coming from, but the information about Andras is more important at the moment. I was being generous when I gave you two days. You must know about the situation better than I do.”

“I do.” Paimon frowned. “But you’re underestimating what this child can do for you in the future. Hmm… Well, it’s understandable since you are so ignorant.”

“...”

“Then give me just two more days—four days in total. Let me spend that time with this child. Afterward, I will give you all the information you want. I promise.”

Paimon tilted his head before putting his hand on Min-Su’s head. “Just four days. That’s all I’m asking. It’s tough for me to ask you this because of this boiling loyalty forced upon me. You understand, don’t you?”

In the end, Gi-Gyu bit his lips and agreed, “All right…”

Gi-Gyu didn’t do this just because Paimon had demanded it. Old Man Hwang stood behind the demon, awed and expectant despite having been just smacked by Paimon.

‘And Min-Su looks so happy.’ 

Min-Su had seen his grandfather get smacked, but he seemed more excited about spending time with Paimon. Gi-Gyu felt like he owed Min-Su at least this.

Looking at Paimon, Gi-Gyu demanded, “But you have to promise me to give all the information…”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. We don’t have much time, so let’s go, my descendant.” Paimon picked up Min-Su and left.

Gi-Gyu looked at Old Man Hwang, wanting to converse with him.

But the elderly blacksmith begged, “I-I’m sorry, but could you please excuse me? I want to follow them so that I can learn. P-please… I’m begging you.”

The smack didn’t lessen Old Man Hwang’s desire to learn from Paimon.

“All right.” Gi-Gyu ultimately agreed to that too. “But you mustn’t neglect Eden’s restoration.”

“O-of course not! Don’t worry about a thing!” Old Man Hwang answered and ran after Paimon.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed deeply before he began walking. He couldn’t help feeling bitter about how things had turned out.

***

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed again and plopped down on the sofa.

“Kekeke,” Lou laughed at him. His injuries must have healed a lot because his bandage layers looked thinner.

“Don’t laugh at me.” Gi-Gyu looked at Lou. Suddenly remembering something odd, he asked, “By the way, why is Paimon doing this?”

“What are you talking about?” Lou was busy munching on potato chips.

“I mean, I synced with him, right? I am completely certain I connected to his consciousness. It wasn’t a trap or anything, so I just don’t get it. This is too strange. Sometimes, it looks like he’s obeying me, but then…”

Even though Gi-Gyu had synced with Paimon, the demon hadn’t changed much. All of his other Egos addressed him so respectfully, but not Paimon. This demon also didn’t call him “Grandmaster” like the others. Paimon had even refused his request.

‘And he called me ignorant.’ Gi-Gyu sighed again. Could it be that he hadn’t successfully synced with Paimon? Or did he fall for some kind of trap?

“Kekeke,” Lou giggled, clearly finding Gi-Gyu ridiculous.

Gi-Gyu knew better than anyone that the sync was a success. He did not doubt that Paimon now belonged to him.

“I am so sick of being called ‘Grandmaster,’ but I wish Paimon would call me that,” Gi-Gyu muttered.

“He has always been like that. He is a narcissist and sneaky bastard.” Lou didn’t seem worried about this situation. “He has always been an incredible talent. It took me a long time to make him call me master. Weird guy, that one.”

Gi-Gyu had learned a bit about Paimon’s past through Lou’s data, and he had to agree. Paimon didn't change at all. The only reason he became a seatholder was to gain access to more and better material for his experiments.

“I heard many demons respected him, so I didn’t think his personality would be like this,” Gi-Gyu replied.

“Don’t you know what it means to be respected by a demon?” Lou looked at Gi-Gyu. “It just means that he’s powerful. He created powerful weapons to empower others and himself. That was the only reason why he was respected.”

His eyes darkening a little, Gi-Gyu asked, “Are you sure he won’t betray me? The way he’s acting right now, I feel like he might stab me in the back someday.”

This worry could change how Gi-Gyu acted toward Paimon.

‘I might still have to kill him someday…’ 

“Don’t worry about it. He may be a little freer than your other Egos, but he still belongs to you.” Lou ate another chip before adding, “As long as he’s synced with you, he can’t betray you.”

Lou returned to focusing on his potato chips. Ha-Rim had attacked him recently, so there was much they needed to talk about as well.

Lou continued, “You said Paimon promised to tell you everything, right? Then don’t worry. He always keeps his promise.”

“Okay then.” Gi-Gyu closed his eyes from fatigue and nodded.

***

Four days had passed.