The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 130

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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 130. Dancing with the Wolf

With Stage 2 behind them, the tension that had gripped Seol Jihoo’s chest loosened, if only slightly.
As his mind found room to breathe, curiosity—neglected until now—began to stir.
‘Who hosted the Banquet?’
The shift from ‘how’ to ‘who’ wasn’t arbitrary; it had its reasons.
Looking back, there were more than a few things that didn’t add up. Take the recent Exchange, for instance.
It was obvious that an Exchange couldn’t satisfy everyone.
Some had found what they wanted and succeeded in trading for it, but just as many—for various reasons—hadn’t managed to do the same.
Out of more than a hundred people, he’d estimated at least half would fall into that category.
Yet when the dust settled, nearly everyone except three or four people—Alliance Team members included—had succeeded in their Exchange. Even accounting for the fact that Earthian rewards were limited to weapons and equipment, individuals’ desires varied widely enough that this seemed impossible.
How could so many people have succeeded?
As if everything had been predetermined to unfold in precisely this way.
It was easy enough to overlook as coincidence, and the outcome was certainly desirable, but without some guiding force at work, the probability bordered on impossible.
Seol Jihoo found himself growing convinced that an unknown will had intervened, and that this force likely belonged to the one who had hosted the Banquet. He reached this conclusion carefully, in silence.
His thoughts stopped there. As Ian would say, no matter how plausible the reasoning, without proof it remained mere speculation.
He sensed that Stage 3 might offer clues to support his hypothesis, but without knowing the entry conditions, there was no point pursuing it.
Swallowing his disappointment, Seol Jihoo found the Mysterious Priest resting after treatment, now that the twentieth clear was complete.
As more people brought back Twisted Desires, the team’s momentum had grown, yet the progress hadn’t been easy. Seol Jihoo, always fighting on the front lines, had come close to losing his life more than once.
Each time, the Priest whom Kazuki had invited had arrived just in time to save him.
It was natural for a priest to support the vanguard warriors during combat, but this one’s devotion seemed excessive—watching only him as if he were the sole focus during each clear.
It might have been paranoia, but there was no way Holy Spells and status-recovery incantations could arrive so perfectly, so consistently, otherwise.
In truth, the Priest harbored more than a few mysteries.
The refusal to reveal identity could be attributed to privacy concerns, so that was fine enough.
The Priest’s spells were not infinite. As clears progressed, the reserves should dwindle naturally.
Uriel Maria had consumed her prepared offerings to replenish her spells after her eighth clear, and by the sixteenth, even that was exhausted; she’d had to gasp for breath.
But the nameless Priest was different. Specifically toward Seol Jihoo—the moment even a small wound appeared, Holy Spells were lavished without restraint, yet the supply showed no signs of running dry.
Even attempting to discern gender from the voice casting the spells proved futile; Silent Casting rendered everything a mystery.
This was ability and skill so absurdly broken that even calling them high-rank seemed generous—they deserved to be called transcendent.
Suddenly, the memory surfaced: during his struggle with the Orc Champion, when consciousness had slipped away, soft hands had touched his face with tenderness.
‘Who are you?’
To be honest.
‘Just who are you to…’
Whenever those eyes from beneath the hood fixed upon him, he felt like a mother bird watching her fledgling—the one who’d grown just enough and fluttered about clumsily, her gaze equal parts worried and concerned.
Part of him wanted to rush forward and rip that hood away without ceremony. It would be terribly rude, and yet some baseless certainty whispered that the Priest would forgive him regardless.
But he couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing to his benefactor, so instead he resolved to offer only polite thanks.
“Thank you for watching over me.”
In response to his respectful bow, the Priest in the genderless robe nodded silently. Then, as if to commend his effort, a hand rose quietly, reaching out as though to ruffle his hair.
Seol Jihoo unconsciously lowered his head.
‘Wait—’
He froze mid-motion, blinking rapidly.
Had his body just moved on its own? As though responding naturally to the Priest’s action, it felt deeply strange.
Seol Jihoo stared in bewilderment. The Priest, too, withdrew his hand and stepped back hesitantly—clearly just as flustered.
“Mm, mm.”
A low cough escaped. The Priest turned away, offering a quick bow before the boy’s steady gaze became too much to bear, and hurried from the spot.
……
As the Priest’s figure grew distant, Seol Jihoo’s expression fell. He reached up and absently stroked the crown of his own head.
Why did he feel such longing for someone he’d never truly known?
Even Seol Jihoo couldn’t say.

By afternoon, the number of people remaining in the Meadow had dwindled to less than half.
The Plaza of Twisted Desires was now constantly active. With nothing left to keep them, they departed.
Either back to Paradise or onward to Stage 3.
The Alliance Team took their time. Stage 3 entry wasn’t first-come-first-served, and some were simply tired of the Banquet and wanted to return to Paradise.
Only after Kazuki had organized the Campsite and communicated all necessary instructions did he finally suggest they head to the Plaza of Twisted Desires.
After passing through the long corridor and beyond the rewards chamber, their destination finally came into view. Just as the conditions had stated, a red elliptical portal shimmered into being above the altar.
Kazuki stopped and turned to face the team.
“I won’t say you’ve suffered enough.”
It wasn’t over until it was over. The warning meant they couldn’t let their guard down until they returned to Haramag, since there was no telling what might happen next.
“Once we move to Stage 3 from here, those who couldn’t enter will be waiting outside, so don’t worry….”
Kazuki’s brow furrowed as he spoke. Hugo, who kept stuffing his Combat Axe into his pants and grinning like an idiot, was getting on his nerves.
It was something he’d already said before they entered anyway. Kazuki shook his head and turned his body.
The moment he stepped through the portal at the head of the line, he felt his body plummet.
Splash!
The instant his body hit the water, Kazuki’s instincts kicked in.
“Ptooey!”
As he spit out water and pushed himself up, his suspicion was confirmed.
The Oasis they’d arrived at when entering Stage 1 came into view. They hadn’t reached Stage 3—they were back in Paradise.
A bitter expression crossed Kazuki’s face as he shook out his water-logged hair.
‘The third time too….’
Soon, a rapid succession of splashes echoed as others fell in, and Kazuki quickly counted heads.
Six teammates had entered through the red portal.
‘One, two….’
“Hey! Welcome! Kazuki!”
A familiar voice reached Kazuki’s ears as he took stock of the numbers.
Sakamoto Jun was sitting in seiza outside the Oasis, waving his hand.
“You.”
Kazuki asked in astonishment.
“You were alive?”
“Yes! I was knocked out spectacularly in Stage 1! I thought I’d die waiting!”
Sakamoto Jun spoke with his usual gift of gab. In any case, it was fortunate he was alive, but….
Kazuki’s eyes narrowed.
Come to think of it, the Alliance Team had seven members in total.
Two of them were nowhere to be seen.
No matter how long he waited, they didn’t appear.

Seol Jihoo had made up his mind the moment he stepped through the portal. He braced himself for impact as his vision flooded with red, remembering his previous entry.
But the collision he’d anticipated never came. Instead, he caught the scent of stale, faintly briny air.
‘?’
Seol Jihoo’s eyes snapped open and his face went slack. It took him a moment to realize he’d shifted to a new space, and then his mouth fell open.
He’d been told that transferring to Paradise meant returning to your initial entry point. But the room he now stood in was neither a salt desert nor an Oasis—it was an interior chamber.
More than that, the air carried the tang of salt and the unmistakable smell of the sea.
He immediately raised his guard, scanning all directions. No particular presence registered, but Seol Jihoo’s eyes were alert as he examined every corner of the cabin methodically. Only after checking multiple times did he carefully lower his weapon.
The interior resembled a ship’s cabin, with a desk and bed visible. Through the small porthole beyond lay a vast expanse of open sea, which made him realize this must be inside a massive vessel—a prelude to some kind of gathering. At that moment, Seol Jihoo’s suspicion hardened into certainty.
He had succeeded in entering Stage 3 on his first attempt, something others had failed to achieve after multiple tries.
The problem was that he couldn’t see an exit. However, having had a similar experience in Stage 1, he decided to wait calmly.
‘I read that Stage 3 is an Individual Battle.’
While lost in thought, he suddenly noticed food placed on the desk. There was soft-looking bread and what appeared to be a bottle of wine.
It was about time for a meal anyway.
Seol Jihoo, with his hearty appetite, reached out eagerly before pulling his hand back. As appetizing as it looked, he couldn’t just eat anything without caution.
Seol Jihoo took out some Jerky from the Black Belt that Teresa had slipped to him without Priehi’s knowledge. The severe thirst and hunger he’d endured during his escape from the laboratory had left deep scars, and he’d developed the habit of always carrying extra rations and water.
‘Delicious.’
As he chewed the dried meat and continued surveying the cabin, Seol Jihoo eventually tired of it and settled quietly onto the bed to wait.
How much time had passed?
Slap—slap—.
He listened to the sound of waves striking the hull.
Click!
A familiar sound reached his ears.
Part of the flat wooden wall suddenly came loose. It appeared it would rotate like a revolving door if pushed by hand.
Seol Jihoo, already bored from waiting, sprang from the bed as if on cue.
That was when it happened.
‘Huh?’
The wall door began rotating slowly on its own.
As it spun a full 180 degrees and the opposite wall swung into the cabin,
Seol Jihoo caught sight of large characters written on the wall and flinched.
They were letters he’d never seen before. As Synchronization proceeded, the lines began to blur and shift.
It didn’t take long before the geometric characters transformed into a two-letter word. A word Seol Jihoo knew well.
‘Wolf…?’
The moment he read the characters transformed into Hangul,
a flash—
light burst forth from the text without warning.
Caught off guard by the sudden gleam, Seol Jihoo’s pupils went hazy at once. They turned dull and vacant as a dead fish’s eyes, and both his arms went limp at his sides.
“…….”
Seol Jihoo stumbled out of the cabin in a daze. Moving like a puppet, he trudged through the dark belly of the ship. He opened the door at the end of the corridor and descended the stairs that led downward.
He walked without pause, as if possessed by something, like a man whose soul had been scooped clean.
His feet stopped only when he had descended the entire flight.
Click—
The moment another sound echoed, light flickered back into his vacant pupils.
“…Ah.”
Seol Jihoo, coming to his senses, blinked rapidly in succession. He’d lost consciousness the moment he saw those characters, and now his memories were fragmented, hazy.
It felt as though he’d merely dreamed.
‘What just happened?’
Seol Jihoo looked back at the entrance with a bewildered expression. Seeing the stairs, it appeared he’d descended into the ship’s lower decks. But the door at the bottom of the stairs had vanished. It was gone.
The only exit remaining was the single door directly ahead.
Some unknown force had drawn him to this place—which surely meant he was meant to open that door. He understood as much, but uncertainty gnawed at him; he couldn’t know what might emerge or what awaited inside, so he hesitated to reach for it.
Yet he couldn’t simply stand here forever, either.
After wavering and second-guessing himself for a long while, Seol Jihoo pulled his ear away from the door. He took a deep breath, stepped back, and brought the Bracelet on his left wrist to the fore.
He gathered his mana, ready to invoke Ter Succum’s blessing at any moment, and gently nudged the door open with the tip of his spear.
And the instant he stepped carefully inside—
Zing—
A horrific, searing pain crashed down upon his brain.
“Kgh!”
His eyes flew open as if they might tear, and his body doubled over. Wracked by excruciating agony, Seol Jihoo clutched at his head.
Information. New information.
Just as it had been when he underwent Synchronization. Just as when he saw the monument on Stage 2.
New data was being forcibly poured into his mind.
As before, the pain vanished cleanly in an instant. Yet Seol Jihoo could not straighten his back; he remained frozen like a stone statue, because he was reeling from the shock of the Stage 3 conditions.
‘What…did that say?’
It wasn’t as intricate as the requirements of the previous stage, and it was shorter, yet the content was orders of magnitude more shocking.
Then, from within the chamber, came the sound of movement. Seol Jihoo’s head snapped up.
His field of vision revealed nine doors. Ten in total if he counted the one he’d come through. And before each door stood a person, hands pressed to their temples, groaning quietly.
Noticing what was happening, they began to look left and right in turn, gradually straightening their postures.
A moment passed.
Ten people in total had now gathered in this single place.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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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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