Chapter 1

**Title: Heavenly Demon's Massage - Chapter 1 (1/309)**

**Heavenly Demon's Massage - Lebito**

**<Heavenly Demon's Massage Chapter 1>**

**Prologue**

In the days when martial prowess and chivalry still governed the world, there was a man known as the Heavenly Demon.

It was said that his strength could match a thousand men.

It was said that his fists could pierce the heavens.

His power could shatter rocks with mere momentum,

And with a single step, he could traverse a thousand miles.

People, filled with fear and reverence, called him the supreme being who stood alone, transcending the rules of the martial world.

They called him the Heavenly Demon.

However, the Heavenly Demon, who had once been so renowned, suddenly vanished one day, and his whereabouts could no longer be found.

After a thousand years had passed,

In an era where the words "martial prowess" and "chivalry" had become mere fantasies,

"Ah, teacher, wait, just a moment!"

"Ah, I told you to stay still."

"Ku, kuhaaah!"

Jang Tae-han, once a figure of fear and reverence, the Heavenly Demon.

After suddenly falling into the martial world and then returning to the modern era, he began to make a name for himself as the best masseur in South Korea.

* * *

"Umm?"

Jang Tae-han opened his eyes in bed.

He saw a familiar ceiling, one he thought he would never see again.

'What's going on?'

A sky-blue ceiling, stained in various places.

Staring blankly at the largest and most distinct stain, Jang Tae-han sat up.

"Could it be... I've returned? Again?"

Jang Tae-han tried to recall.

Just a moment ago, he had been sitting cross-legged on a cliff at Baegun Mountain.

But this place... was the room he used to live in.

Not the room of the Heavenly Demon Jang Tae-han, but the room of Jang Tae-han, a fourth-year student in the Sports Medicine Department at Pyeongodae University.

Looking around, he saw familiar sights.

A cheap table, a dusty monitor, a used game console he had bought with great effort, a pile of laundry in the corner, and a leftover cheese pizza he had kept for dinner...

A place that had become so faded in his memory that it was barely visible even in his dreams, yet here it was, exactly as it was the moment he disappeared.

'This isn't an illusion...'

His mind was clear, without a trace of confusion.

This meant he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating.

If so, he had truly returned.

Jang Tae-han slowly got up from the bed.

Suddenly feeling a sense of alienation, he looked down at his body.

His body was the same as it had been before.

Not the body of the Heavenly Demon Jang Tae-han, but the original body of Jang Tae-han.

The body that had been trained to the extreme was gone, and the dantian, which had once been full of energy, was now empty.

"Phew... I thought this might be a dream."

There was no evidence of his time as the Heavenly Demon.

In this state,

It seemed as if everything that had happened was just a dream.

After suddenly falling into the martial world and living for sixty years,

He had survived countless life-and-death situations, and the traces of those experiences were etched into his body.

But now, those traces were gone.

The scar from the through-and-through wound on his right palm, the sword marks on his chest, and the grotesque scar on his dantian, which had been like a brand, were all gone.

All the scars that had proven his struggles had vanished.

"Haha... hahaha..."

The feeling of futility outweighed the joy of returning.

It felt as if all his hard work had been erased.

Jang Tae-han couldn't help but laugh.

"Haha. It's just that my departure was sudden, and so was my return. That's all."

However, this was a body that had survived multiple episodes of madness.

Jang Tae-han laughed once to clear his mind of杂念.

In any case, this was something he had longed for.

Returning to his original era.

Jang Tae-han was a modern man.

No matter how well he had adapted to the martial world and risen to the position of a revered Heavenly Demon, that world was still a different realm, and he was still an outsider.

In the early days, he had prayed every night to wake up in his bed, and after reaching the level of a master, he had pursued the legend of ascending to immortality with the hope of finding a way back.

Of course, he hadn't wished for such a sudden return, but...

What did it matter? In any case, this was the world where he was supposed to live.

'If I need strength, I can train again.'

In a way, this could be a good thing.

Rebirth, rejuvenation, or even youth restoration.

Many masters had wasted their lives chasing after such mythical notions, but now, Jang Tae-han had truly achieved rejuvenation.

He chuckled and sat cross-legged.

'Hmm...'

His eyelids twitched.

'There is still some, though it's rare.'

The qi (氣) floating in nature.

By absorbing this into his body and cultivating it through meditation, storing it in the dantian, one could develop inner strength (內功).

Although the qi he could sense was far less than in the martial world, it wasn't completely absent, so there was no need to be disappointed.

After all, this was just a small room in a city.

"Ts. It's still uncomfortable."

He unfolded his legs and sat on the bed.

After a brief moment of concentration, he could already feel his stamina being drained.

In this state, proper cultivation of inner strength would be impossible.

The road ahead was long.

A bitter laugh escaped Jang Tae-han's lips.

* * *

*Vroom...*

At that moment, a vibration came from the desk.

The sound of a smartphone vibrating.

...It had been a long time since he had heard this sound.

Immersed in a sense of nostalgia, Jang Tae-han picked up the smartphone.

"Hmm."

He suddenly remembered.

His financial situation had been quite dire at the time.

The message indicated that his checking account balance was insufficient to even pay for public transportation.

That wasn't all.

Above it was a message from his landlord, reminding him that the rent for the previous month had not been paid.

"Hmm. Is this also a form of entertainment?"

Though momentarily shaken, he laughed to clear his mind of worries... but that didn't fill his empty account.

What should he do?

He had no immediate plan.

He might have had some ideas back then, but after sixty years, what thoughts could remain?

"Hmm?"

Ka-tok!

Suddenly, a clear alarm sounded from the smartphone.

It was a notification for a new KakaoTalk message.

The name "Seong-hyeon" was saved.

He quickly remembered who it was.

Choi Seong-hyein.

A long-time friend who had been with him through high school and even entered the same university.

He scrolled through the previous messages.

...He remembered.

It was about a massage shop in a sauna he knew, asking if he was interested in working there part-time.

The pay was quite good, with both hourly wages and performance bonuses.

'Massage...'

It must have been around the time he first entered university.

The qualification for massage therapists, which had been exclusive to the blind, was now open to the general public, and Jang Tae-han had spent about three years preparing and obtaining the certification.

So, as Choi Seong-hyein suggested, working there wouldn't be a problem.

However,

Jang Tae-han looked down at his hands.

These hands had been stained with so much blood.

The idea of the Heavenly Demon giving massages seemed so out of place, so simple, and so alien.

Jang Tae-han lifted his head again.

His hesitation didn't last long.

"Well, it's not the time to be picky."

No matter what, he needed a job.