The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 12

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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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Chapter 12. Historical Record

“Are you insane? Open it, now!”
“Why should I? This is my door. Opening and closing it is my choice.”
“What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have any idea how we even got here?”
“Oh, I see. But here’s the thing—apparently I’m such a pathetic, selfish bastard, according to certain people.”
Shin Sang-ah ground her teeth at Kang Seok’s mockery. She could guess exactly why he was acting like this. He was still bitter about their fight in the Great Hall a moment ago. She took a breath and forced herself to continue.
“I’m sorry. I’ll apologize for what I said in the Great Hall. Just open it. It’s not just me in here—what did all these people do to deserve this? Life isn’t a game.”
“Oh… that’s quite a change from when you were running your mouth in the Great Hall. Do you actually mean it?”
“…Yes.”
“Well, since you’re begging like that, I suppose I have no choice. Fine. Prove it to me, then.”
“Prove?”
“I’ll let four of you in. You stay back.”
Shin Sang-ah’s mouth fell open. What kind of person does this? But Kang Seok only looked relaxed.
“You… you…”
“What’ll it be? Monsters might be coming soon, you know~”
She hadn’t expected him to go this far. Her face flushed crimson. But the other three, except for Lee Seong-jin, were staring at her with such plaintive, pressuring eyes. Grinding her teeth, she took a step back, then another.
“Wow… now that’s self-sacrifice for the greater good. Real noble.”
Kang Seok said it with admiration and pressed the button. The metal grate rose, and they poured in immediately. Lee Seong-jin, who had been staring blankly at Shin Sang-ah, finally entered too, muttering things like “Sang-ah” and “sister”—but the passage sealed shut in an instant.
In that moment, Lee Seong-jin, who had been watching Kang Seok’s hand, suddenly jabbed at the button himself. Of course, nothing happened. Kang Seok let out a harsh laugh.
“Give it up. I told you. Only I can open it.”
Lee Seong-jin lunged at him. But it was a mismatched fight from the start. Subdued easily by Lee Hyung-sik and Jung Min-woo, the boy glared at Kang Seok, breathing hard.
“You bastard. You want to die that badly? What, you think that woman’s going to become your new sister?”
“Door… open it!”
“That’s my call to make. I kept my promise.”
……
“You did well. Go find another route. Do whatever you need to. Have a nice day.”
Shin Sang-ah couldn’t bring herself to leave. She glanced around the space, hoping for another way, but it was pointless. Most of them were either sitting still watching or didn’t care at all.
Finally, as she turned to go, empty-handed:
“Want me to let you in?”
Shin Sang-ah stopped. She whirled around and stared at him hard enough to kill.
“Do you actually enjoy playing with people?”
“Yeah. When else would I get the chance?”
Kang Seok said it without a shred of shame, gesturing casually.
“Don’t be like that. Come here. You saw it, right? I let them in. I keep my promises.”
At the word “promise,” Shin Sang-ah felt torn. She’d already come this far. Even if there was another route, she’d have to find it alone now. Better to get bitten by this madman once than wander lost. She made up her mind and turned back.
“…What do I have to do to get you to let me in?”
“Nothing major. Just apologize for what you said in the Great Hall.”
“I already… apologized.”
“No, no. I didn’t feel any sincerity in it. Besides, I don’t believe apologies that come from the mouth.”
“Then what do you want me to do?”
Shin Sang-ah pushed back against his taunting. His eyes, stroking his chin thoughtfully, raked over her body with something unsettling. Not as fresh as Lee Seol-ah, but her skin was pale and her chest curved nicely. Kang Seok smiled wickedly.
“First, take something off.”
“…What?”
Shin Sang-ah wondered if she’d heard him right.
“Take something off. I’m generous though—keep your underwear on.”
The patronizing tone of his generosity left her speechless, her mouth hanging open.
“If you did an apology dance while you were at it… what about Twerking?”
“You… you… you… bastard…!”
“Suit yourself. Get lost.”
Kang Seok shrugged.
Psychopath. Shin Sang-ah bit her lower lip so hard the marks of her teeth were clearly visible. A shame she hadn’t known before crashed down on her, and her body trembled. She felt tears burning her eyes.
But the memory of the moment she’d arrived and encountered that monster kept pulling at her. If she went back down and ran into one…
“What are you doing? If you’re not going to do it, get out.”
“…I’ll do it.”
“Then hurry up. Ten seconds to get your pants off. Starting now.”
The moment he actually began counting, Shin Sang-ah fumbled with her buttons. She hesitated as she lowered them, but with the numbers dropping fast, she stripped off her jeans, shaking. As her pale, rounded thighs came into view, Kang Seok let out a sharp whistle.
“Damn. Better figure than I expected. And cute underwear too.”
Shin Sang-ah shut her eyes tight, hoping to feel even a shred less humiliated.
“What are you doing? Still not taking it off? Another number… wait, wait wait wait! A monster, a monster!”
Kang Seok yelped suddenly and pointed at the staircase, backing away. Shin Sang-ah’s eyes went wide as saucers, and she shrieked and collapsed to the floor.
“Mom!”
Then, by conditioned reflex, she glanced back—but there was nothing. No monster, no anything. The staircase stood empty. Behind her, wild laughter erupted.
“Did you hear? Did you hear? She said mom, mom! Hahahaha!”
“Pfft, that’s hilarious. Eek! Mom!”
Lee Hyung-sik mimicked her voice, and Kang Seok, Jung Min-woo, and another burst into uncontrollable laughter. Tears pooled in Shin Sang-ah’s eyes, her face blank with despair.
“Sorry, sorry. Just messing with you. That was pretty cute, though.”
This is too much.
“Come on. Time to take off the top now, yeah?”
This is seriously too much.
Finally, Shin Sang-ah couldn’t hold it in anymore and broke down sobbing.
“You crying? If you cry, what’ll we do—get naked and dance before the monster comes…?”
Kang Seok, clapping his hands together in delight, suddenly stopped mid-word.
An unfamiliar shadow had fallen across the room.

It wasn’t anger from the start. He’d meant to ignore it all.
Seol had never been a saint, after all. Like anyone else, he was indifferent to other people’s problems—at best, he’d furrow his brow at injustice or think, *That’s a bit much,* and leave it at that.
If it was someone he knew, perhaps it would’ve been different. But he was never the type to take direct action for a complete stranger.
And yet.
When he saw Lee Seong-jin. More precisely, when Lee Seong-jin, lying crumpled on the floor, whispered in that small voice, *Please help me.* If that moment had overlapped with Seol-ah from the Great Hall—was that coincidence?
Something shifted in Seol’s chest. That tiny tremor, like a butterfly’s wing, swelled and cascaded into violent turmoil, crystallizing into rage.
So he rose to his feet.
Like that first day when he’d had the dream.
As he’d experienced in the Great Hall.

[Innate ability ‘Future Premonition’ activates.]

Following what his emotion commanded.
“What? You want in on this too….”
“Stop. Open the door.”
Kang Seok looked up at Seol with a confused stare. He hadn’t realized—Seol was taller than him.
“I’ll open it. On my own terms.”
“Open it.”
Kang Seok’s mouth shut. His face twisted in pure bafflement.
“You on something? Who the hell do you think you are, ordering me around?”
“Open it.”
Kang Seok’s complexion hardened.
For reasons he couldn’t name, it was difficult to meet those eyes straight on. His knees tingled without explanation. It was hard to articulate, but—he was afraid. If anything, it felt like standing at the edge of a line he shouldn’t cross.
As his hand moved instinctively toward the button, suppressed defiance stirred. Why should I listen to this bastard?
Because he’s got a Gold Mark? Bullshit.
Kang Seok lifted his chin.
“I don’t want to.”
His mouth twisted into a slow, mocking smile.
“You little punk. I was trying to be nice to a fellow Invitee, but you’re some kind of self-righteous bastard, huh?”
When Seol raised his hand, Lee Hyung-sik and Jung Min-woo stirred to act. But Kang Seok raised his own hand to stop them.
“What? You gonna hit me? Go ahead. If the Gold Mark gentleman wants to hit me, then this pathetic Silver Mark should just take it quiet, right?”
……
“But you should know this: the more you do this, the more I absolutely won’t open that door!”
Crack. Seol’s fist found Kang Seok’s nose. Lee Hyung-sik and Jung Min-woo cried out in shock, clutching their own noses—they’d been hit too, the speed so terrifying they hadn’t even seen it coming.
“You bastard!”
Crunch-crunch-crunch. Seol’s grip twisted Kang Seok’s wrist with such crushing force that his knees buckled. Seol dragged him by the arm and forced his hand down on the button. The door slid open.
“Come in.”
Shin Sang-ah, standing there like a hollow shell and not even thinking to pull her pants on, hurried inside. Only then did Seol release Kang Seok’s hand.

[Shin Sang-ah has arrived at the 2nd Floor Waiting Area.]
[Tutorial first mission, ‘Great Hall Escape,’ complete. 12 survivors remain.]
[A message from the Guide has arrived.]
[Tutorial second mission, ‘Trap Breakthrough,’ begins now.]

A new message appeared, and the lock on the door at the end of the corridor disengaged. Once all survivors had gathered, the system would automatically advance, regardless of time remaining.
“Ungh, ahhhhh!”
Kang Seok, who had been writhing in agony down the corridor, managed to haul himself up against the wall. Clutching his broken hand, he shot Lee Seol-ah a look brimming with resentment.
“You…!”
Kang Seok, about to shout something, turned away abruptly.
“Remember this, you bastard.”
He vanished through the door with the bag in hand, and Lee Hyung-sik and Jung Min-woo slipped away after him.
Yun Seo-ra, who had been standing quietly, finally moved as well.
“Thank you… thank you so much….”
Shin Sang-ah, tears streaming down her face, broke into sobs. Lee Seong-jin bowed his head in gratitude.
Yet Lee Seol-ah felt deeply uncomfortable accepting their thanks. She knew her actions hadn’t sprung from her own pure will.
What made it worse was that her rage hadn’t faded. She wanted nothing more than to strike something, break something, anything to release the fury building inside her.

[Sender: Guide]
[1. Proceed through the Annex on the 3rd floor and regroup at the 4th floor, Class 3-1 of the Main Building within the allotted time.]
[2. Time Remaining: 01:57:56]

Two hours. A Time Limit Mission. Lee Seol-ah’s eyes flashed as she checked her mobile phone.
“Hey, listen!”
Lee Seol-ah strode forward purposefully. Hyun Sang-min hurried after her, carrying both bags.

[Area 1. The second mission begins.]

A mechanical voice emanated from the translucent screen. Before the sizable display, several people gathered to watch.
“Now the second mission’s underway… this is going to drag.”
“Twenty-four deaths in the first stage? Does that even make sense? What’s wrong with this cohort?”
Geo-han, his head shaved, clicked his tongue in frustration, and the woman in the purple gown muttered her agreement. But the moment the formally dressed woman in front turned to glance at them, silence fell.
“This is shameful. If Area 1’s performance in the March mock assessment is like this, how are we supposed to survive until September!”
Geo-han, determined to have the last word, jerked his head back and forth as if afraid the woman might turn around again.
“What’s the situation in other regions? Has anyone heard?”
“I have.”
A fair-skinned young man with curly hair raised his hand.
“Heard it on the way back earlier… judging by speed alone, Area 2 and 7 are battling for the lead.”
“2 and 7? Europe’s what it is, but what’s wrong with those brutes?”
“What do you expect? We all know how they operate. The Inviters coordinated from the start, captured every Contractor right after it began, and they’re using them as sacrifices whenever they need to progress.”
The young man exhaled a sigh.
“What about 2?”
“Perfect execution. A French girl named Odelet Delphin is in control. And she’s doing it purely on ability. Defeating the first-stage Ghost by special privilege was the deciding factor—and she did it in front of everyone.”
“Wow, what’s her Mark grade?”
“Silver. And she’s already opened the path to the Computer Room right when the second mission started. Blitzing through it. I’d say she finishes in under an hour? About fifty minutes?”
“Wow, a monster. Europe really brought in someone special. Anyone else notable?”
“Area 5’s putting up a decent fight too, but… it’s nothing remarkable. Either way, they started the second mission 30 minutes ahead of us.”
Geo-han groaned.
“Damn. If this keeps up, won’t Area 1 have nobody left by the time the Tutorial ends?”
“That won’t happen. There’s the Gold Mark holder. And it looks like he’s got a student’s diary too, so he’ll manage something.”
“Think so?”
“The one who chased off the Ghost with just a look.”
The young man spoke encouragingly, but Geo-han stared at the screen with disappointment. On-screen, Lee Seol-ah was crossing the Rope Bridge and entering the Annex.
“But that guy looks angry or something… wait, what? Why’s he acting like that all of a sudden?”
The young man let out a sharp exclamation.
Despite the name “Trap Breakthrough” suggesting caution, Lee Seol-ah didn’t even glance at her mobile phone before plunging straight in.
“…Can we really trust that guy?”
Geo-han nudged the woman in the suit.
“Say something, Kim Han-na.”
“Keep quiet.”
Kim Han-na snapped at him with irritation. One more poke and he’d be dealing with the hysterical tantrum of a spinster—clear as day.
Geo-han smacked his lips and rose from his chair. Watching was only making his blood boil; he needed some air.

Geo-han returned after loafing about for roughly fifteen minutes, chain-smoking the whole time,
Clang! Clang!
He sighed at the loud metallic racket coming from inside. Some fool must have triggered a chain trap. Shaking his head, he opened the door.
Crash!
Then, in an instant, he second-guessed himself, tilting his head.
Truth be told, the second mission seemed hardly difficult to Geo-han. A seasoned Earthian could play through it carelessly and clear it in under thirty minutes.
But the one executing the mission wasn’t an Earthian—it was a civilian. An ordinary person who’d never seen war.
The core condition was simple: you had to deactivate the traps beforehand with the given resources, or rely on luck. But then,
‘Evade, block, and strike them down?’
And furthermore—destroying every trap along the way, even the ones that didn’t need to be triggered, smashing through them all like an Earthian would.
Geo-han’s expression flickered with disbelief as he leaned urgently toward the monitor. Three iron spears had just been fired at Seol-ah from the ceiling and both sides simultaneously.
Crash, crash-bang-bang!
Twirling an Iron Club like a windmill—who knew where she’d gotten it—the successive impacts rang out as silver flashed.
The result was immediate. The spears from the sides flew into empty air at the same instant the one from above grazed past Seol-ah and lodged in the ground. The woman in the violet robe, who had been watching with bated breath, lurched to her feet.
“Did she…! Get hit?”
“No. She evaded it.”
Geo-han, who had been observing intently from up close, corrected her.
“I’m certain. She struck down what came from both sides in an instant, and it looked like she was about to deflect the one from above too….”
“Looked like?”
“…I’m not sure. Her body couldn’t quite keep up. Anyway, I definitely saw her head snap to the side in that split second… Hell, Kim Han-na! What in the world is that girl doing?”
Geo-han exclaimed in astonishment, bewildered by his own words.
Kim Han-na, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke.
“What was the fastest clear time on the second mission?”
“The fastest? Seong Si-hyeon, obviously. The legendary 29 minutes 38 seconds.”
Geo-han nodded proudly at that, and Kim Han-na, her head bowed low, simply sighed.
“…This is insane.”
“What’s insane?”

[Area 1. Second Mission Complete.]

Everyone’s face went blank.
16 minutes 24 seconds.
A new Historical Record was being set before their eyes.

(To be continued in the next episode)

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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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