The Demon In You

"Next question."

Hyunjae flat our refused to answer her very first question.

"It's the most important one!" Rian protested.

"Yeah, but I don't want to answer that one now," Hyunjae replied. "Otherwise this novel will end before it even started. Let the mystery stretch."

Rian rolled her eyes.

"Fine!" she conceded. "Why was that demon calling you 'Demon Lord'?"

"Because I am the Lord of all Demons," Hyunjae yawned. "Those things which you see latched on to other humans? They report to me everyday."

"So...it's your fault that I see these things?" Rian asked.

"That...I don't know," Hyunjae admitted. "It is a mystery as to why you see demons. However, I can assure you that you're not the first Demon Seer I have encountered."

"Demon Seer?" It was the same term So Min's demon used.

"A person who can see demons," Hyunjae explained. "I have met a few before. This ability seems to awaken in very few people. It is a mystery why some people can see demons."

"So, my demon, Lambark also reports to you?" she pointed at the light ash demon standing next to her bed.

"Yes," Hyunjae answered.

"As if you ever read any of our reports," Lambark snorted. "You throw them in the garbage!"

"Only when I see typos in them," Hyunjae shot back. "Your one is full of spelling errors."

Lambark glowered at him. Rian ignored their banter.

"Lambark," she barked at it. "Leave. I have some urgent matters to discuss with him."

Grumbling under its breath, Lambark vanished in thin air. Rian suspected that it was pressing its ear against the door from outside.

"Moving on," she pressed loudly. "Why was that demon trying to kidnap me? Who is this Boram?"

"Not answering," Hyunjae refused. "Gonna ruin the mystery of this novel."

"What are we? A gag novel?"

"Well the writer entered a WPC on a whim and ended up making this novel without any idea of how to proceed with the rest of the story. So she decided to turn it into a gag novel."

(A/N: Next chapter will feature the funeral of the ML ._.*)

Rian sighed and fell back on the pillow.

"There is, however, a pressing matter which requires attention," Hyunjae's tone suddenly turned serious. "And only a Demon Seer can aid us in it."

Rian looked at him quizzically.

"Recently, a lot of demons have been going astray," he explained. "They are now rebelling against their human hosts."

"Rebelling?" Rian shot a look at Lambark, who was looking away.

"Yes," Hyunjae said. "In the demon world, they are not allowed to leave their human vessels. They are bound to them until the human dies. Once, the human dies, the demon is also slated to die. Otherwise, there will be millions of stray demons roaming around the earth, harming other human beings. Which is why that law was made."

"However, recently the demons have been gaining power through illegal methods. They've been dabbling into the dark arts and are eating their vessels' souls to gain power. By eating away their human counterpart's soul, they are imbuing themselves with unstable energy which can give them momentary powers to live without human vessels. In the process, they possess their vessels and make them do unspeakable things. The humans, in their hour of despair, give in to their dark d.e.s.i.r.es. As they grow darker, so do their demons."

"But the ritual is temporary," he continued. "It does not guarantee a full life. The demon will eventually die without a human vessel unless it eats the soul of other human beings. They do this by attacking other humans straight on, feasting on their inside organs. As the human dies, they eat the escaping soul and gain more time for themselves."

His words sickened Rian. Demons can do all these heinous things? She only knew them as entities which spread negative thoughts within people and make human beings do the dirty deeds. She did not even dream that they can do worse things themselves.

Then again the demons are evil beings. If they can spread bad omens through their words, then they are capable of doing even worse things on their own.

"And the one behind all this is...Boram," Hyunjae revealed.

"How is he doing all this?" Rian whispered.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But we need to stop him. Problem is, to purify a demon, we need to have solid evidence that the demon is eating their vessel's soul. To explain it in simple terms, we need an evidence to show that a possession is going on. Gathering the evidence can take months or even years. By that time, it will be too late. Just because a demon is dark in color doesn't mean he is possessing his human vessel. It may be due to the fact that he was successful in influencing his host. After all, that is his job."

"Hence, we need a Demon Seer to help us gather that evidence," Hyunjae concluded.

"But if you are the Demon Lord, then you're able to see them as well, right?" Rian asked. "You can see the shifts in their colors! Why don't you do it?"

"Because...I have no demon," he said. His voice was heavy now, as if remembering some painful memory. "A person who lost his demon, cannot judge a person with a demon. In my case, the ritual won't work if I try purifying the demon without any evidence backed up by a Demon Seer. Hence, I need you."

Rian was truly confused now. "But if you're the Demon Lord, doesn't that make you a demon?" she asked.

"No...it's a complicated backstory and our author is on a thousand word limit," Hyunjae laid backwards as he said it. "Anyways, I have a more urgent matter to attend to. So Min's funeral."

The last words made Rian felt a little guilty. Amidst her ongoing questions, she almost forgot about So Min's funeral. The CEO should be handling that but instead he was stuck with taking care of her.

"Sir, you should go on," she told him. "I'll be fine. I'm feeling better already."

He nodded.

"Shua will be here soon with some food and clothes for you," Hyunjae informed her, as he got up. "The doctors didn't find anything wrong with you but they insisted on keeping you overnight."

"Thank you for your kindness," Rian said gratefully. "You saved my life and also admitted me in the hospital. I cannot thank you enough. I'm indebted to you."

"Not really," Hyunjae said. "I've cut off the hospital fees from your next month's salary. Five hundred dollars to be exact. You don't have to feel inebted."

Rian felt as if someone knocked the daylights out of her.

"F-f-five hundred..." she counted in her hands. "F-f-five..."

"I gotta go, Ms. Oh," Hyunjae waved her goodbye as he left the room.

"Aren't romance novel's CEO's supposed to pay for their female leads?" Lambark asked in astonishment as it reappeared.

Rian shot him a look. "Romance novel, my foot!" she exclaimed. "Let's just murder him, steal all his money and turn this darn novel into a thriller!"

(A/N: Isn't it already a thriller? ^^')