Second Chances (KPop Demon Hunters)-Chapter 66: The Demon Realm

A/N: Rumi and Jinu go to the demon realm~
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"Hey Jinu?"
Blinking, Jinu looks up to see Rumi fidgeting over something. She has this… uncertain look on her face.
"Yeah? What's up?"
"… Will you take me down to the demon realm?"
Oh. Pausing briefly, Jinu compartmentalizes all of the initial thoughts that such a request brings to mind. After a moment, he tilts his head to the side.
"It's not exactly a vacation spot, Rumi."
Gaining more confidence, Rumi straightens up.
"That's why I want to see it. I mean… even if it turned out my dad didn't come from there and never got to see it himself before he died, I still am part demon. I guess I just… I'm curious where you spent the last four hundred years. I want to know what we've been fighting against all this time."
Jinu hums before coming to a decision.
"You weren't fighting against the demon realm. You were fighting against Gwi-Ma, and he's gone now. Still… if you really want to see it, we can go check it out. I've stopped in a few times now and the rest of the Saja Boys have been doing well. We can see what sort of progress they've all made."
Rising to his feet, he holds a hand out to Rumi, which she takes with a grateful look.
"Thanks. How do we do this, exactly?"
Rather than respond with words, Jinu grins and then promptly yanks Rumi up against his chest, holding her tightly to him in a way that steals the breath from her lungs. Then, before she can really react, he slips them both right through the Honmoon, and also the floor, down into the demon realm.
Of course, seeing as he's the only one of the two of them that can fly, he continues to hold Rumi even as they both start to float down to the ground below.
"Jinu!"
"Ahaha! Careful now, I'm trying not to drop you."
"Ugh, you jerk! Mira was right, Zoey really has been a bad influence on you."
Jinu scoffs at that.
"Don't be ridiculous. You and I both know that I was a 'troll' long before Zoey taught me what the modern definition of the word was."
That brings Rumi pause, even as the two of them finally land atop Gwi-Ma's old empty Throne. Letting her go, Jinu gives Rumi a wicked grin.
"She merely adopted the dark. I was born in it… molded by it!"
Rumi's jaw drops open.
"Jinu are you quoting Bane at me?! We haven't even gotten around to watching the Batman Trilogy yet!"
Jinu shrugs.
"If there's one thing the internet has taught me, it's that it's filled with people who are all using references to things they've never actually seen. Why should I have to restrict myself? It's a fun quote. And applicable!"
Groaning, Rumi pinches the bridge of her nose. But before she can reply, someone else clears their throat.
"Welcome back, Jinu. I see you've brought the Queen with you as well this time."
Oops. Jinu grins sheepishly as Rumi whirls on the new arrival. Mystery stands there, eyes hidden behind his massive fringe. Once Rumi is properly facing him, he bows low at the waist.
"A pleasure to meet you, Your Grace."
When Rumi whips her head to him, Jinu looks up at the Rainbow Honmoon in the sky and starts to whistle innocently.
"Jinu… what have you done?"
"Ohh… nothing much."
"Why is Mystery calling me 'Queen' and 'Your Grace'?!"
"Well… you were always saying how you didn't want to be called Princess. So I just thought I'd give you an upgrade!"
With that, Jinu's eyes snap back down to meet Rumi's as his lips curl into a wicked grin and he sketches out a much more flamboyant and over the top bow than Mystery's had been.
"Welcome to your realm, O' Demon Queen."
Straightening up as Rumi stares at him, gobsmacked, Jinu looks around appraisingly.
"I know it doesn't look like much, but with some hard work and elbow grease I'm sure we can-!"
"Jinu."
"Yes my Queen?"
"I'm going to hurt you now."
"Are you sure I couldn't interest you in some music instead, Your Grace?"
But Rumi has already summoned her saingeom. Good then that Jinu has summoned his bipa. He laughs as she lunges at him… and then yelps when she teleports the rest of the distance and brings her sword down in an overhead swing.
"Eep! You know Rumi, you never would have even found out about it if you hadn't demanded we take a trip down here together!"
The following can't really be called a fight, truth be told. More like a massacre as Rumi chases him all over the top of the flat pyramid. But hey, at least Jinu's Spirit Bipa lets him defend himself a bit better. He blocks more than a few of Rumi's strikes with it, in between ducking and dodging and teleporting away.
Alas, in the end there can only be one fate for one as contemptible as he. Ultimately, Jinu finds himself laid out on the ground prone with Rumi primly sitting on his back, one leg crossed over the other and using him as a throne.
"Mystery."
Despite being Jinu's construct, the Saja Boy makes no move to help him as he approaches and bows again.
"I am here, my Queen."
Huffing, Rumi runs her fingers through Jinu's hair as she thinks for a moment.
"Alright… fine. Give me a status update on the demon realm. What's everyone even doing down here?"
From his prone position, Jinu clears his throat and calls out.
"You know, I could also tell you all about that."
"Hush Jinu. I'm speaking with my Majordomo right now; I have no need for my Court Jester at this time."
Whoa, hey now. It was Court Musician at the very least! And damn it all, now Mystery was getting all smug, his shoulders squaring and his chest puffing up visibly at hearing that he was the Queen's 'Majordomo'. Jinu rolls his eyes but can't help the way the corners of his mouth are turning up in a smile now that Rumi has decided to play along.
"Of course, I would be glad to update you on things. First-!"
"Actually… sorry, but before that, I have to know… please lift up your hair so I can see your face."
Mystery pauses but then shrugs and nods and pulls away his heavy fringe. Rumi just stares for a moment.
"Huh… two sets of eyes. That explains the discrepancy. Alright, thank you. Please give your ."
Letting his fringe fall back over, Mystery jumps straight into things.
"At this point in time, the demon realm is separated into three different categories. Abby is in charge of those who are working on earning redemption and the touch of the Rainbow Honmoon. So far, there have been a handful who have proven themselves worthy of the Honmoon, and it has in turn blessed them with its power."
Rumi sucks in a breath at that.
"Truly? They're like Jinu? Do they have their souls back?"
Mystery bobs his head up and down.
"Yes my Queen, they do. In turn, they have decided to support Abby in continuing to help the others in his care. Meanwhile, Baby is handling the rest of the demons, those who are unwilling or incapable of seeking redemption. He keeps a close eye on them and makes sure none conspire to try and break through the Rainbow Honmoon. Some eventually come to see the error of their ways, others become Faceless, but the majority are simply being kept under watch."
Rumi makes a noise in the back of her throat as she processes that. Mystery takes that as an indication to finish up.
"Finally, Romance handles the Faceless who have come about from those demons who have given up. He directs them in their tasks appointed by… your Court Jester."
Jinu can scarcely believe his own construct is holding back a laugh as he gazes down at him. Truly, how low can a demon fall? Still, he thinks Mystery gave a pretty good . And there's no way Rumi will care about the Faceless and their tasks anyways.
She'll definitely be more interested in what Abby or Baby are doing. The first because he's literally managing to redeem demons, and the latter because he's the first line of defense if any demons try to pull a Gwi-Ma any time soon.
Yeah, there's no way-
"Tell me more about the Faceless. Jinu has explained how they worked in the past, but it sounds like it's different now that Gwi-Ma is dead."
Jinu huffs a little petulantly, even as Mystery answers without hesitation.
"It is as you say, Your Grace. Before, the Faceless were by and large made up of humans who made deals with Gwi-Ma and then eventually lost all hope under his control. Turning to despair, they gave up their former identities, willingly surrendered all capacity for thoughts and memories, and became Faceless, a subtype of demons that any other demon, but Gwi-Ma most of all, can control."
Again, Rumi makes a noise in the back of her throat to show she's listening.
"However, now that Gwi-Ma is gone and there is a path to redemption, the number of former humans turning into Faceless has dropped to zero. Instead, every new Faceless since the Demon King's demise has been a demon Gwi-Ma himself created. Once they realize they will never sup upon a human soul again, many of them despair and turn into Faceless instead."
Yeah, it was what it was. Jinu certainly couldn't bring himself to feel guilty over them and Rumi shouldn't either. Which of course is why she can't help herself.
"I want to see them. The Faceless. What is Romance having them do anyways?"
Jinu opens his mouth in a panic, but of course Mystery beats him to it.
"They are operating the Network on your behalf, my Queen."
"Wait what? What Network?"
Ah… hoisted by his own petard.
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"Jinu… what the fuck?"
The good news is, Jinu is no longer prone and being used as an impromptu throne. The bad news is, he's now standing next to Rumi as they stare out at a barren plain… filled with rows and rows of Faceless all sitting cross-legged and working away at their own laptops. Romance is among them, directing the Faceless, who at this point number around two hundred or so.
"In my defense… you were the one who said I needed to get off of social media because I had an addiction."
"And you took that and decided to start a DEMONIC BOT NETWORK?!"
Jinu winces, even as Rumi just stares out at the sight, seeming baffled.
"How does that even work? How are they even getting access to the internet down here?"
Wrinkling his nose, Jinu tilts his head to the side in confusion.
"What do you mean? The internet is just everywhere, isn't it?"
"… No Jinu, it really isn't. The internet, at least in the human world, is basically just a bunch of massive cables at its core. And I don't see any of those down here so how the hell are the laptops connecting?"
"Wi-Fi?"
"That's not how it works!"
"Well… I mean, I did have Romance use demon magic to bypass a lot of the hard parts. And Bobby didn't ask any questions when I said I needed to buy two hundred laptops so…"
"He should have. He really, really should have."
Rumi groans, running a hand over her face. Then, she teleports down into the midst of the Faceless, right next to Romance. Jinu blanches and hurriedly teleports next to her just in time to catch most of her opening question to the construct.
"-is Jinu even having you all do down here?"
Romance lights up.
"Ah, our dazzling and gloriously beautiful Queen! Welcome~"
Jinu huffs, only mildly threatened by the construct's flirting. Romance is, after all, an aspect of Jinu himself at the end of the day. Still…
"Keep it in your pants, Romance."
After delivering that deadpan order, Jinu gives Rumi an amused glance, seeing how surprised she looks.
"The last time around, Romance tried his best to seduce Mira so you might not have gotten a chance to see what he was really like."
After a moment, Rumi just shakes her head.
"Right, okay, whatever. Back on task please. What is the purpose of this… this demonic bot network."
Grinning, Romance gives a flourishing bow.
"Why, to spread the gospel of Polytrix Plus, of course!"
The deadpan look Rumi gives him has Jinu laughing sheepishly as he runs a hand through his hair.
"I mean… you had to have guessed it by this point, Rumi."
Huffing, Rumi shakes her head… but he thinks she does find it all at least a little amusing judging by the way the corners of her mouth keep threatening to quirk up. Still, that doesn't stop her from being all business about things.
"This stops now. Dismantle the network, shut down the social media accounts. We'll donate all of these laptops to some school or something up top once we've made sure there's no demon residue or whatever on them.
Jinu pouts but doesn't try to countermand the order. He actually can't as it so happens. Sure, the remade Saja Boys might be his constructs, but he'd put Rumi in charge as more than just a joke. He didn't trust himself with the sort of power Gwi-Ma once had, but he did trust Rumi with it. If anyone was worthy of ruling the Demon Realm, it was her, not him.
Romance tilts his head to the side, even as he waves a hand and the Faceless all get to work under his control.
"Very well, Your Grace. What shall we do with the Faceless once your edicts are completed?"
Rumi considers that for a moment before looking around.
"… Set them to building some actual houses for the demons who are being redeemed under Abby's program. We'll send down some building supplies and other amenities. Eventually, I wouldn't mind doing some supervised field trips up to the surface with the best behaving demons who are blessed by the Honmoon. But until then, we'll focus on making things down here more comfortable."
And there it was. This was why he'd put Rumi in charge. Jinu can't help but smiling softly as he watches Rumi do what she does best, lead. He'll still be smiling later when she complains to Mira and Zoey about what she'd caught him doing. After all… it was pretty fucking funny.
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A/N: Poor Rujinu shippers had no idea they were up against a literal demonic horde.
Also, yes this does mean Zoey really said "You're just my type!" in the previous timeline to a demon with two sets of eyes hidden under his fringe. She's our little monsterfucker after all, heh.
Feedback is GREATLY appreciated, every comment helps me shape a story like this one!
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