The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 114

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 114. Role-Playing

“Waaaaaaahhhhh!”
A wail steeped in anguish echoed through the room. Having been flattened like a squid not once but twice, everything she’d held back until now came pouring out in a single explosive torrent.
And so the newly arrived woman found herself bearing the weight of tremendous fury, yet she endured it quietly, as though she were a person of considerable patience.
“I’m so sorry… I truly apologize….”
The woman bowed repeatedly in contrition, and Maria, having thoroughly vented her anger, huddled in the corner, still seething.
The way she clutched the Cross suggested she was debating whether to cast a protective barrier with it, but she couldn’t afford to squander her stockpiled spells carelessly, so she simply gritted her teeth instead.
Seol Jihoo considered offering some comfort, then decided instead to lean against the wall. Now that he understood the situation, he needed time to think.
‘Why?’
It was a rule that had applied identically, without exception, throughout the four previous banquets.
Why had it suddenly changed?
‘…There’s no way of knowing.’
If there were an entity presiding over these banquets, he’d seize it by the collar and shake it mercilessly.
He’d harbored grand aspirations of uncovering the mysteries of what people called an inscrutable banquet, but now the whole endeavor lay in ruins from the start.
The only consolation was that he hadn’t been separated from Maria.
‘Get yourself together.’
Seol Jihoo slapped both his cheeks hard enough to make an audible sound. He felt the weight of watching eyes upon him but paid them no mind.
‘Full stop.’
He abandoned his plan premised on moving as a team. He abandoned the notion of unraveling the banquet’s secrets. All of it—discarded.
The primary objective in this moment was survival.
Stay alive, escape, reunite with allies—only then could he contemplate what came next.
The moment he focused on one thing at a time, the chaotic fog clouding his mind lifted considerably.
Seol Jihoo surveyed the room slowly. No matter how many times he looked, it was a barren space. The peculiar detail was the complete absence of any exit—no holes, no doors, nowhere to escape.
That was far from good news.
After observing the room once more with meticulous care, he opened his Nine Eyes. The moment his vision flooded with brilliant color, Seol Jihoo gasped.
‘Gold?’
The entire room shone with golden light. Everywhere his gaze fell, golden waves rippled and shimmered.
He barely suppressed a sound. The radiant hue tempted his guard to lower, but Seol Jihoo promptly tightened his wavering resolve. His experiences had long since dispelled any notion that the Golden Law was simply beneficial.
Cause and Effect.
One receives according to what one does, in measure equal to the doing. Cause and result always bear proper reason. Therefore, the key lies in what is done and how it is done.
Then what did it mean that this place shone gold?
There must be a reason. A reason for the Golden Law to manifest here.
Depending on how one acts, couldn’t one obtain something beyond mere survival?
Seol Jihoo closed his eyes to concentrate his thoughts. So absorbed was he that he failed to notice the Pale Girl resting her head obliquely against his knee, watching him intently.
As the young man immersed himself in this new problem, the population of the room increased steadily. What had been a chamber of merely four inhabitants after two entered soon swelled to seven in barely a few hours.
Reactions varied widely—some were flustered at being separated from their companions, others wandered the room with leisurely curiosity.
In any case, since all were Earthians who had drunk the waters of Paradise, no one panicked outwardly, though an undercurrent of mutual wariness soon pervaded the space.
Among them, two drew the most sidelong glances.
First was a woman with neat, shoulder-length natural dark hair. Judging by the silver composite armor and a well-crafted longsword at her waist, she appeared to be a warrior.
Her features bore a sharp, irritable cast, yet her expression remained utterly blank. Not a flicker of emotion crossed her face. By comparison, Kazuki’s expression seemed positively animated.
The other was a woman with long brown hair bound in a high ponytail, identifiable by the bow slung across her back and the quiver strapped to her thigh—clearly an archer.
She wore an almost constant smile, though one so disturbing it couldn’t be called pleasant by any stretch of imagination.
Her eyes were slitted like a serpent’s, her pupils gleaming with an unsettling gleam. Had she simply flicked her tongue out, one would have instantly pictured a venomous snake. Danger seemed to radiate from her very being.
‘What the…?’
The moment Seol Jihoo opened his eyes, he was seized by quiet alarm. Every single one of the six figures in his field of vision was female.
The sharp-featured Short-haired Woman, the White Headband Girl, the Expressionless Woman, the Snake-eyed Woman, the Good-natured Woman who had steadfastly endured every indignity and offered apologies, and Maria—
None individually qualified as a stunning beauty, but the simple fact of sharing a chamber with women of various nations created an oddly surreal sensation.
Though nothing felt particularly strange or awkward—just… subtly peculiar, perhaps.
‘No men coming in?’
As though in answer to his thought, a figure abruptly plummeted from empty air.
Thud!
A wet, heavy sound splattered across the floor. Seol Jihoo, who had brightened at the sight of short hair, suddenly went ashen.
He slowly touched his cheek and found his palm smeared with red liquid.
“Heh… heh heh heh….”
A hollow, lifeless laugh escaped his lips.
“I’m in… I’m in….”
The man lying prone on the ground bristled with dozens of arrows embedded in his back, like a porcupine. Apparently he and his companions had competed over the entrance and somehow managed to force their way inside.
Dozens, perhaps hundreds of people he must have fought through to arrive here. By all rights he should be celebrating, but the man’s face was contorting with each passing moment.
His fingernails scraped the floor so hard they nearly broke, and then he forced his mouth open with tremendous effort.
“Some… someone….”
Seol Jihoo was rising from his seat when he felt a hand seize his collar. Maria shook her head firmly.
“Don’t go near him.”
“What?”
“It’s already too late.”
“But—”
Seol Jihoo looked at the man again and found himself at a loss for words. From his deeply bloodshot eyes streamed tears mixed with yellow pus.
“Healing wounds is out of the question now… The poison has spread evenly throughout all his organs. The merciful thing to do is let him go peacefully.”
Attempting clumsy treatment would only prolong the man’s agony.
“No… no, I can’t….”
Perhaps the man had heard Maria’s words. His limbs thrashed about desperately.
“I barely… barely made it in….”
He struggled to rise, but his arms and legs soon went limp, beyond his control.
“I can’t… I can’t die….”
His voice came in faltering gasps.
“I have to… find medicine and go back….”
His body curled tight as a shrimp.
“Mother….”
Sorrow swelled up and tears came pouring down.
“Mother… Mother….”
For some time he wept, calling for his mother. Then his eyes grew dim. His voice cut off abruptly, and the trembling of his body ceased all at once.
‘The moment he entered….’
He was dead.
Seol Jihoo touched his bitter mouth. He wished he could have closed those eyes gently, but the poison made even that impossible.
It seemed the sorrow wasn’t his alone—the Short-haired Woman and the Good-natured Woman also bore signs of sympathy.
Of course, not everyone felt the same way.
“Hehehehe!”
The Snake-eyed Woman’s shoulders shook as she kept her head down.
“Pathetic. What a spectacle. Mama~ Mama~.”
She jeered as if it were the funniest thing in the world, causing the Short-haired Woman to furrow her brow. Not that it mattered to her.
“I was wondering how some weakling got lucky enough to make it in here~ I suppose it’s a blessing he’s already dead in this place?”
She tilted her head up, snickering, and licked her lips with her tongue.
“Anyway, whoever he is, what a bastard. If you’re going to kill someone, at least do it cleanly. But smearing poison all over their body like that—there’s nothing left worth looting.”
Her tone suggested she would have already finished looting the corpse if not for the poison.
“Too bad~ Such a shame~.”
The Short-haired Woman was about to speak as she watched the Snake-eyed Woman continue her muttering when—
Click!
Suddenly the sound of rusty gears meshing echoed through the room, followed by a violent tremor that swept across it.
Seol Jihoo, who had half-risen, turned his gaze to the wall opposite. About two meters tall and a meter in diameter—a section of what had been white until moments before now protruded outward in a neat rectangular shape.
A door. This meant Stage 1 had begun.
“It seems this room could be exited once eight people had entered.”
The one who spoke first was the Short-haired Woman. She cleared her throat and opened her mouth.
“Since a door has appeared, I don’t think anyone else will be coming in… What do you say? Since we’ve met like this, perhaps we could introduce ourselves properly….”
The Short-haired Woman couldn’t finish her sentence.
The Expressionless Woman, who had been sitting the entire time, brushed off her clothes and stood up.
“Oh, there’s no need to stand on ceremony.”
The Short-haired Woman smiled and tried to engage her, but the Expressionless Woman gave no response and turned away. The Short-haired Woman blinked as she watched the Expressionless Woman stretch her arm toward the door.
“Excuse me.”
“…….”
“Excuse me. The one in the silver armor?”
Creak. The door opened. The Expressionless Woman simply left the room.
The Short-haired Woman’s gaping expression was apparently amusing enough for the Snake-eyed Woman to chuckle. When the Short-haired Woman frowned, she burst into loud laughter.
“Ahahaha! Go on, let it show. Really let it show.”
“What did you say?”
“Listen, you stupid bitch. Is this the Neutral Zone? Or did you think we came on some college retreat? Huh?”
“No! I was just—”
“What? After introductions, should we do a talent show? Some ha-ha, ho-ho together~.”
Under the barrage of harsh criticism, the Short-haired Woman’s neck trembled.
“Do what you want. Have a campfire, dance in fives, whatever. I don’t care.”
With her sharp expression deepened by a sneer, the Short-haired Woman seemed entirely flustered.
“Wh-what!”
She raised both hands in exasperation, but the two figures had already vanished from sight.
“This is absurd!”
She glanced around as if seeking agreement, and the Good-natured Woman offered an awkward smile.
A brief silence fell, and she spoke softly.
“Should we… go too?”
The Short-haired Woman opened her mouth as if to protest, but as one person, then another stood, she eventually followed suit and rose as well.
In truth, there was no reason to linger in this room, and they needed to follow those two who had gone ahead.
After all, among the eight—or rather, seven of them—those two’s equipment looked the most expensive. The Expressionless Woman’s gauntlets in particular appeared to be finer quality than Seol Jihoo’s.
“Mm… This doesn’t feel good.”
Maria, who had been watching each person leave, spoke quietly.
“Let’s follow for now, and if it seems wrong, the two of us can slip away.”
“Slip away?”
“Trust me on this. My instincts have never been wrong. There’s something….”
Maria trailed off. Seol Jihoo neither agreed nor disagreed. Though things were unfolding differently than expected, watching how events developed didn’t seem like a bad idea.
They entered a space similar in size to the previous one. The bare room held one door in each direction—front and sides—excluding the way they’d come in.
‘The rooms are connected to each other.’
Seol Jihoo felt a sudden curiosity about the structure of this place, but forced the thought away.
Just staying alive demanded full focus. There was no telling what might happen next.
The Expressionless Woman stood in the center of the room with composed dignity, her face deep in thought—so much so that the Short-haired Woman who had chased after her didn’t dare speak carelessly.
Soon the Expressionless Woman looked up and strode purposefully toward the front. The instant she flung the door open,
Shwip!
A massive spear flew straight at her. Seol Jihoo reflexively moved to throw his own spear, but the Expressionless Woman was twice as fast. Her hand flashed to her waist, and suddenly a gleaming sword blade glinted in the light.
By the time Seol Jihoo blinked, his vision cleared to show a skull arcing skyward and the rest of the skeleton’s body collapsing to pieces. The Expressionless Woman stood in place, Longsword in hand.
Thud!
The skull that fell to the ground rolled away. It was a truly devastating Drawing Cut and Speed Sword.
It wasn’t over. The Expressionless Woman vanished inside like the wind and, moving alone, instantly dispatched every other skeleton that wandered the room.
“Whew!”
Even the Snake-eyed Woman, who had been watching leisurely, couldn’t hide her shock and let out a whistle.
“Wow… you’re alive. Hey, what’s your name? I feel like I’ve heard it before.”
Despite the greeting, the Expressionless Woman walked forward without acknowledgment. The Snake-eyed Woman observed her intently, then chuckled and clasped her hands behind her head.
“There’s another one ahead~.”
Her steps halted. The Snake-eyed Woman continued with a grin.
“Just one. Stuck right at the door.”
The Expressionless Woman, facing forward, gripped her sword hilt tightly. Seol Jihoo watched in admiration as a sharp, blue flame kindled along the entire blade.
He knew firsthand how difficult it was to overlay refined energy across a weapon’s length—something only those who had mastered Aura could achieve.
Soon the Expressionless Woman drove her Longsword through the closed door with full force.
Crack-crack-crack!
The blade shattered through the door and wedged itself inside. As the Expressionless Woman twisted the hilt and withdrew, thick blood dripped from the sword edge.
When the door swung open, a dark, horned creature crumpled to the ground with a thud.
“Right?”
The Snake-eyed Woman giggled. The Expressionless Woman moved on in silence.
Seol Jihoo, filled with admiration for her swordsmanship, suddenly realized something. The Expressionless Woman was fighting alone. Not that she seemed to mind much….
‘I should help.’
He couldn’t just freeload. So he grasped his spear and hurried after her, moving carefully in case she’d turn to look back.
“Oh~ Look at him! Lucky Blue-Eyes, getting help without even asking. What a good boy!”
The Snake-eyed Woman had spoiled the moment. Just as the Expressionless Woman was reaching to open the front wall’s door, she turned her head slightly and glanced back.
‘What the….’
Meeting her blank eyes, Seol Jihoo’s throat went dry. What could a person possibly endure to strip away emotion so thoroughly?
A moment later, the woman’s lips parted slightly.
“I’d prefer not to be disturbed.”
Her voice, emotionless and low for a woman, carried a faint hoarseness.

(To be continued)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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