The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 116

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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 116. First Movement

‘That person….’
Now that he thought about it, there was one more.
When Seol Jihoo had entered, he’d seen two people—one was the short-haired Lara Volf, and the other was this white-haired girl.
She’d remained so silent, never opening her mouth, that he’d completely forgotten her existence. The girl in pure white—her hair as pale as if snow had fallen, her clothes the same color—was so absorbed in something that she didn’t notice the young man’s careful observation.
After a moment, the corners of the girl’s eyes curved like a crescent moon, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
‘Is she laughing?’
What was she looking at to smile like that? Seol Jihoo’s eyes narrowed as he glanced in the direction the girl was facing.
Challe Sophie enduring pain as she received treatment, and Lara Volf sunk in despair. Then the Expressionless One with arms crossed and Snake Eyes grinning widely.
The one suffering, the one mocking, the one watching and enjoying.
Suddenly he remembered Kang Seok bursting into giggling laughter in front of a middle-aged man writhing under the guilt of abandoning his wife and daughter—and it rubbed him the wrong way.
‘Doesn’t match her appearance….’
Only then did she seem to feel his gaze. Her slender face turned slightly. Their eyes met. Those eyes, marked by delicate crescents, blinked once or twice before she quietly lowered her hand.
Her thin, pale lips trembled slightly—she had definitely been smiling.
The girl didn’t avert her eyes. She tilted her head slowly, then straightened it abruptly, and raised her slender hand, waving it gently.
‘Is she calling me over?’
He didn’t deliberate long. It seemed worth speaking with her, so he moved forward.
Since the girl sat apart by herself, he had to walk a bit farther than expected. Though it was still just across a room.
The girl, who had been sending glances his way, finally spoke.
“I think you might be misunderstanding something.”
Her voice flowed out calm as a gentle melody, yet sounded hollow and vacant.
“I was laughing, yes, but not at those two or their situation. It wasn’t mockery or amusement at the scene itself.”
The girl openly admitted she’d been smiling but defended herself clearly. Seol Jihoo realized the girl had sharp instincts, and felt slightly sorry.
In truth, even if the girl had laughed, there was nothing he could really say about it. He could disapprove inwardly, but the moment he voiced it, he’d be overstepping. At least that’s how Seol Jihoo thought.
“It’s fine. I wasn’t planning to criticize or meddle.”
At that, the girl bobbed her head as if to agree and smiled.
“You were staring so hard at everything.”
Watching her hollow smile, Seol Jihoo observed the girl more closely. Up close, her cheeks were pale—more than pale, almost ghastly. Her waist looked so thin and fragile it might snap if gripped, and illness seemed written plainly across her features.
“If you don’t mind my asking…”
Seol Jihoo asked abruptly.
“Could you tell me why you were laughing?”
It was a question born of pure curiosity rather than accusation.
The girl looked ahead again, then lowered her voice considerably.
“It looked like a game.”
So she’d felt it too. Seol Jihoo laughed bitterly.
“It does, doesn’t it?”
“It really does.”
Since Seol Jihoo himself had thought that the Expressionless One must enjoy this as a hobby, he couldn’t help but agree.
“I was wondering why he eliminated so many people, and then I never expected to see role play at this age.”
“…What?”
“I’ve never even done it as a child.”
The girl smiled faintly. Seol Jihoo replayed their exchange in his mind. He sensed that their conversation was somehow misaligned.
“Role… play?”
Seol Jihoo tilted his head.
“Like a puppet theater?”
“No. They’re all acting naturally, so they wouldn’t be puppets….”
“?”
“Ah… wait. They’re not in imagined roles or playing characters—they’re acting according to their true nature…. Yes, that’s right. You couldn’t call it conventional role play.”
Watching the girl suddenly absorbed in her own thoughts, Seol Jihoo wondered whether he should continue the conversation or let it drop.
He couldn’t tell if he was too slow to understand or if the girl was talking nonsense.
Her rather languid eyes glanced at the young man. From his question just now, the girl realized he hadn’t understood.
“I think this situation—no, this whole stage—is likely intentional.”
What was she talking about now?
“Conflict was bound to occur.”
“Why?”
When Seol Jihoo asked immediately, the girl opened her mouth but showed signs of distress.
“Hmm— I understand it in my head, but it’s difficult to put into words. Opposite extremes, I suppose. Symmetry, perhaps. I’m not sure.”
She scratched her lip with her index finger, looking troubled, then suddenly pointed at herself. “For example.”
“If I were an altruistic person.”
Seol Jihoo stared at her. The girl smiled brightly.
“Why not? I’m actually very kind.”
……
“Anyway, if I’m altruistic, then that person over there is calculating.”
The person the girl pointed to was none other than Uriel Maria.
“What did you say?”
Though he questioned it aloud, Seol Jihoo’s words caught in his throat at once. In truth, there was no better way to describe Maria than “calculating.”
‘How did she know that?’
Had she overheard them talking about slipping away together? Or was it because of the refusal to grant protection?
“So.”
While several theories flickered through Seol Jihoo’s mind, the girl clenched her fists and tapped them together.
“She and I are opposites of each other.”
Seol Jihoo regarded the girl with a complicated expression. Now he understood what she meant. But understanding and accepting were two different things.
“And—”
Soon the girl’s index finger turned toward Lara Volf,
“If that person values mutual cooperation and helping each other when they interact,”
then she pointed at the Expressionless One.
“That person is a self-centered lone wolf.”
Seol Jihoo’s face was uncertain. Something about it rang true, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that such sweeping judgments were impossible to make.
The girl’s second finger moved next to Challe Sophie.
“If that person is gentle,”
and she pointed at Snake Eyes.
“That person seems ruthless to me.”
“Ruthless?”
“Yes.”
The girl nodded,
“The smell of blood on him is overwhelming.”
She covered her nose with her hand.
“He’ll die young at this rate…”
Incomprehensible murmuring followed. The more she spoke, the harder it was to pin her down.
‘Well, let’s see about that.’
Seol Jihoo let out an inward laugh and activated the Nine Eyes. The moment he checked Snake Eyes’ status window with the green Normal Observation,
“!”
His breath stopped.
His eyes trembled uncontrollably as he confirmed the trait “ruthless (cruel and vicious at heart)” among his characteristics.
And that wasn’t all. Lara Volf, the Expressionless One, Challe Sophie—all of them matched the girl’s assessments well enough. Maria went without saying.
‘This can’t be… real…’
“Think about it.”
Seol Jihoo turned to the girl, his eyes wide as saucers.
“Four pairs of people gathered here whose natures are like oil and water—could conflict not arise and harmony prevail?”
Seol Jihoo found himself nodding unconsciously.
“In other words, it’s not random. It’s intentional. That’s what you’re saying.”
“It’s too much of a coincidence to be mere chance.”
“Then…”
Seol Jihoo, lost in thought, pressed on.
“What is that intention?”
For the first time, the mouth that had been chattering without pause fell silent. Of course, just because she was a girl didn’t mean she knew everything.
“I don’t know.”
The girl confessed softly.
“The word ‘puppet theater’… for some reason, it bothers me.”
Though she’d thrown out the words carelessly, the girl seemed to be taking them seriously now.
“I think we’d need one final puzzle piece to be certain…”
She trailed off, stealing glances at the young man. Seol Jihoo stared blankly and pointed at himself.
“Me?”
In that instant, he remembered—the man who’d died the moment they entered. If the girl’s hypothesis was correct, that man surely had been his counterpart.
“Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
The form of address had shifted subtly, but Seol Jihoo didn’t mind much. Somewhere along the way, the young man had become absorbed in the conversation with the girl.
“That whenever five people gather, one is always guaranteed to be garbage.”
“I’ve seen it a few times on the internet— wait. Is it possible I’m garbage?”
“Surely not.”
The girl denied it without hesitation.
“I’d prefer it if you were a treasure.”
“The opposite of garbage, then.”
“Yes. And that creates an interesting situation.”
Seol Jihoo’s expression grew curious.
“The four pairs of opposites you mentioned earlier—their abilities are weighted heavily to one side, aren’t they?”
It was true. When sorted by inclination, by right and wrong, Uriel Maria, the Expressionless One, and Snake Eyes possessed considerable skill, while the other three did not.
“If you were on that side too, it would be despair itself. But if not, then you’d be the sole exception in this space.”
…….
“We might even understand the intention of whatever entity designed this situation.”
The girl clasped her hands together as she continued.
“That’s why I’m truly curious.”
What kind of person Seol Jihoo might be.
“Someone who tears open wounded relationships, sows division through scheming, watches for openings like a coward, and exploits conflict.”
Or else.
“Someone who heals wounded relationships, mends division through words and deeds, embraces everyone like a leader, and guides them forward.”
In that moment, Seol Jihoo felt as though his head had been struck by a dull hammer.
“Your status window—couldn’t you show it to me just once?”
The girl made her earnest request, but Seol Jihoo heard nothing.
A phrase he’d completely forgotten.
Yet words he’d heard before, carved deep into his mind.
Guides them forward.
‘Wh…?’
A strange sense of déjà vu suddenly gripped him—similar to what he’d felt at the Lake near Big Stone Rock Mountain. That frustrating sensation, like a sneeze caught between happening and not.
Before, he’d carelessly let it slip away. But this time, driven by sheer determination not to lose it again, Seol Jihoo desperately fumbled through his own mind.
The role play the girl had mentioned,
the Symmetry,
the intention,
and finally, the Golden Law he’d seen at the beginning—the moment he recalled them all,
‘Ah!’
Five keywords connected as one, and suddenly a new picture took shape.
Like a single ray of dawn breaking through the dark clouds drifting in his mind.
After stumbling forward blindly until now, a thin thread of a path leading to the answer had finally appeared.
Of course, he couldn’t claim certainty. It was only a possibility.
Yet one thing had become clear.
Seol Jihoo could now see his role among these six people with unmistakable clarity.
No ability, but altruistic.
Ability, but calculating.
No ability, but striving for mutual connection.
Ability, but self-centered.
No ability, but gentle.
Ability, but ruthless.
And.
Ability, but undecided.
‘It’s telling me to decide now, isn’t it.’
Two paths lay open to choose. The answer already existed. The Nine Eyes was pointing him toward which way to go.
Think of it that way—
‘Can I actually do this?’
Only then did the gravity of the situation become clear. And how difficult the task before him truly was.
Setting aside their total unfamiliarity, the Expressionless One and Snake Eyes—leading those two unpredictable souls was no small feat.
Seol Jihoo closed his eyes to calm the hammering in his chest.
The Village Chief’s words suddenly echoed through his mind.
[It was such an era.]
[In the face of survival, right and wrong meant nothing.]
[The righteous and the wicked. Saints as pure as angels and witches as vile as demons. All gathered under one banner, all resisting with one heart. Yet they couldn’t last even five years before defeat, before annihilation.]
And with that, his resolve finally settled.
This is no time to wonder if he could manage it.
It is what must be done.
A moment passed. Then his eyes flew open.
‘Let’s try it.’
As Seol Jihoo gazed upon the six figures, his pupils shimmered with a light as luminous and fluid as stars scattered across the night sky.

Meanwhile, at that very moment.
—?
A certain ‘being’ seated upon the Corrupted Jade Throne shuddered, her body trembling slightly.
With one hand pressed against her temple, her eyelids rose slowly.
The being, half-awake, gazed leisurely at her surroundings.
What spread before her vision was a vast cosmos. Centered upon Paradise, where her true self dwelt, stretched an incalculable multitude of stars forming the Milky Way.
From the very beginning, gods and humans perceived reality in dimensions that differed both materially and spiritually.
The Divine Sight read information of stars—above all, the movements and shifts of constellations.
—Certainly….
A tingling sensation had rippled through her. If it had registered with the senses of the being who consumed the Main Deity herself, it could not be a trivial matter.
Yet when she fixed her gaze upon where she had sensed the disturbance, there was nothing that caught her attention. Though it did seem as though the stars had clustered somewhat more densely than before….
The star at the center did not shine.
Stars already dead posed no threat, no matter how they gathered.
—Hmm….
Perhaps she had sensed it wrongly.
A deep sigh escaped her lips, and her eyes closed once more. Soon the being seated upon the Corrupted Jade Throne—the Parasite Queen—fell into deep slumber.

(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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