The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 131

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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 131. Dance with the Wolf (2)

The room resembled a rotary intersection stretching ten paths in all directions—a circular space of roughly thirty-five hundred square feet.
The notable features were a long rectangular banquet table laden with all manner of delicacies positioned at the room’s center, and the vast emptiness above, shrouded in profound darkness.
The ceiling was obscured by a darkness so dense it seemed to swallow all light.
Click.
A sound echoed through the space. Seol Jihoo turned instinctively and watched as the door sealed itself shut, merging seamlessly with the wall.
With that, all ten doors vanished.
In other words, the moment they entered, the space had transformed into an airtight chamber.
For Seol Jihoo, who understood Stage 3 allowed escape, this was utterly unexpected.
“We’re trapped in a panic room.”
Amid the stunned silence, a leisurely voice drifted through the air. Seol Jihoo’s gaze sharpened as he identified the speaker.
It was the man with the slicked-back hair, running a hand across his forehead.
‘That man.’
How could he not know him? The one who posed as a mediator between both factions at the first gathering, then exploited the cover of night to sacrifice members of the weaker group and orchestrate their movements.
In a sense, the very catalyst who had ignited the powder keg that was Stage 2.
“Don’t just stand there gaping. Why don’t you sit down?”
The slicked-back man gestured toward the table.
“I’ve gone to the trouble of laying out a banquet. It’s only proper you taste it.”
Whether he’d forgotten his own actions or simply didn’t care, he glanced casually left and right before claiming the seat of honor with utter composure.
The two men beside him exchanged looks and sat as well, marking themselves as his accomplices.
They’d moved together before, no doubt.
Seol Jihoo, muttering inwardly, catalogued those who’d entered Stage 3.
More familiar faces than he’d anticipated.
There was Ora Hee with her perpetually expressionless features, Audrey Bastler with dark shadows beneath her eyes, the scarred Large Man who was the white-headbanded girl’s brother, and the Priest whom Kazuki had invited.
‘So he came after all.’
The Remaining Two were also faces he recognized. He’d never spoken with them directly, but they’d participated in every run of the twenty consecutive clears.
Soon all ten were seated at the table. Under normal circumstances, such a spread would have made his eyes gleam with hunger, but Seol Jihoo’s expression remained clouded.
He sat so lost in thought that he barely registered the Priest taking the seat beside him.
He suspected Stage 3 held clues to the banquet’s secret—the words he’d seen in the Captain’s Quarters, Stage 3’s condition for success, and these ten who had entered it.
Tracing the connections between these three elements, the thread seemed almost within his grasp, yet just out of reach.
Then the slicked-back man spoke.
“At least it’s certain this ship is Stage 3.”
He picked up a wine bottle, turned it over in his hands, then smiled faintly and uncorked it. As he tilted the bottle, a dark red liquid poured out in a steady stream.
“A toast.”
He raised his half-filled wine glass and brought it slowly to his lips, as though celebrating their arrival at Stage 3.
“You’re quite late.”
The slicked-back man dabbed his mouth after taking a light sip.
“I thought you’d come sooner. I was bored to tears waiting in the Captain’s Quarters for days.”
“What convenient talk.”
Ora Hee, cutting into her steak, let out a soft laugh.
“Thanks to you, the guards grew more vigilant.”
She speared a piece of meat with her fork and brought it to her mouth with practiced elegance.
“We had quite the ordeal getting out, you know.”
“Oh, really?”
The slicked-back man chuckled, seemingly delighted to have someone to talk with.
“I’m almost starting to feel sorry. What happened to Stage 2?”
“Don’t know.”
Ora Hee swallowed and replied without hesitation.
“They’re managing on their own. It’s none of my concern anymore.”
“So that means—”
The slicked-back man continued.
“Everyone here is in the same situation, aren’t they?”
Ora Hee said nothing. She simply lifted a white cloth and tapped her lips delicately.
To the casual ear, it sounded as though they’d sacrificed someone to clear Stage 2—a lie, in other words.
Seol Jihoo watched the slicked-back man’s eyes move subtly and kept his expression neutral. Whatever his reason for spreading the deception, Ora Hee must have her own thoughts on the matter.
He couldn’t give this man any opening to grow suspicious.
The slicked-back man surveyed the table and let out a quiet laugh, his head bowed. “Heh-heh-heh.”
“I was wondering why things felt so thin. But don’t resent us too much. Latecomers have it rough—that’s just how the world works. The fast ones win.”
Listening to him spout bullshit that didn’t even hold water, it was clear he felt not a shred of guilt for deceiving six people and turning them into sacrificial lambs. The way he puffed out his chest suggested he was actually proud of it.
“Anyway, where are the other three?”
Ora Hee, focused on carving meat, tossed out the question almost casually.
“Ah, those friends?”
The slicked-back man’s mouth curled upward.
“Who knows….”
He glanced at his companions seated on either side, then grinned wickedly.
“What do you think happened?”
Watching the three of them chuckle quietly, there was no need to ask further. The answer was written plain.
“But look, it doesn’t really matter what happened to them. What I want to say now is this.”
The slicked-back man quickly composed himself and continued.
“Stage 2 is Stage 2, Stage 3 is Stage 3. Let’s keep them separate, yeah? And honestly—there’s not much difference between you lot and us, is there? The only thing that matters is who came in first and who came in later. That’s it. Right?”
As he glanced sideways and posed the question, Ora Hee shrugged.
“Anyway, since we’re in this together now, let’s do our best. Everyone knows the condition, right?”
The slicked-back man then shifted into his main point, speaking with deliberate weight.
“Survive in this room….”
He drew out the words, his eyes rolling thoughtfully once more.
“That’s right? So we’re all cooperating for now.”
Tap.
Before he could finish, a small sound cut through—the clink of a knife against a plate.
Ora Hee tapped the knife against the plate, tap-tap, and opened her mouth.
“There’s something you haven’t mentioned yet, isn’t there?”
The slicked-back man’s eyes widened. Ora Hee still hadn’t set down the knife.
“Don’t play dumb. You must have seen the word written on the wall before leaving the Captain’s Quarters?”
“…I feel like I’m the only one talking here. Like I’m getting a raw deal.”
“You monopolized the escape method for Stage 2 and want to lead the charge into Stage 3—so this much is fair.”
After a brief pause, the slicked-back man seemed to find her point reasonable and spread his hands with a grunt.
“Fine. I’ll go first. The word written on my door was….”
He licked his lips with his tongue.
“…Wolf. I’m the Wolf.”
Ora Hee lowered her head slightly.
“What about you? No, wait. Let’s go around one by one.”
The slicked-back man spoke, but Ora Hee said nothing. She sat in thought, fingers moving absently, the rhythm of the knife against the plate growing gradually faster.
‘Wolf?’
Confused by what this meant, Seol Jihoo activated his Nine Eyes. The instant he looked back toward the slicked-back man to confirm his color—
Pop!
‘!’
His vision suddenly warped.
The wavering air, crumpling like paper gently folded, drew itself into a screen that unfolded before his eyes.
‘What—’
Through Seol Jihoo’s eyes, now as wide as a candle flame, a scene played out: the slicked-back man and five others moving in the dead of night with careful stealth.
— Hurry!
Six people cornered by the smaller faction were overpowered and thrown into the Plaza of Sacrifice—
— Good. Now….
then they entered the Distorted Plaza of Desire, collected their rewards, and ambushed three of their own group, murdering them.
The three at the table chuckled as they gathered the dead’s compensation, and the scene faded.
Though startled by the sudden vision, it felt strangely familiar—like revisiting an old dream.
But why had this phenomenon emerged so abruptly—
Tap. The sound of the knife broke his train of thought.
“Ah—.”
Ora Hee’s head tilted back slowly.
“Now I see.”
Watching a smile finally bloom across her expressionless face, Seol Jihoo understood instinctively.
The reconnaissance was over.
Sensing the shift in mood, the slicked-back man exchanged glances with his two companions.
“So that’s why she said what she said… This is interesting. Stage 3.”
His sinister smile deepened.
‘That woman?’
Now that he thought about it, at the third banquet, a woman named Baek had revealed that she’d murdered eight out of nine people in Stage 3, sparing only one defector.
Before long, as Seol Jihoo recalled the name ‘Baek Hyejoo,’ he realized something had shifted.
“It seems a bit different from back then.”
The moment Ora Hee grasped the Knife lightly.
Flash!
Thud!
Light burst forth.
Before a single blink could register, the Knife was embedded in the slicked-back man’s throat. Everyone except Seol Jihoo scrambled backward, widening the distance.
It had happened in the span of a heartbeat. He knew the Quick Blade was her specialty, but his eyes couldn’t follow the motion.
Even the two men beside him couldn’t react. The speed was truly staggering.
“Th—!”
One of his companions flared in rage a beat too late, but he forced himself to stop. Ora Hee had already released the Knife and brought the Blood-colored Rapier to his companion’s throat.
The blood dripping from the blade carried a sharp, metallic reek—a scent dangerous enough to make muscle fibers contract of their own accord.
“Stay still, will you? Unless you want to die before he does.”
Ora Hee had finally revealed her true nature. As the slicked-back man glared with bulging eyes, she smiled wickedly.
“You’re playing games.”
“You… you….”
“Deception should know its limits.”
Ora Hee’s mocking tone suddenly shifted, her expression turning subtly cold.
“You know what? The Mafia game—or should I call it the Wolves of Tabula? Seems like a mishmash of different things, but whatever, I like it.”
Tap-tap. She touched the man’s chin with her blade’s tip as she continued.
“The important thing is that this Stage 3 bears a striking resemblance to the game I mentioned—that is, the Paradise Game.”
The slicked-back man still stared. His eyes were so wide they looked ready to split, but he couldn’t open his mouth—the fear was too great.
“Ah. You’re wondering why I stabbed you?”
As if reading his gaze, Ora Hee displayed that characteristically unpleasant smile of hers.
“If you have a brain, think. You call yourself a Wolf, but what? Your condition is just surviving? Everyone cooperate together?”
“Ugh…!”
“Your lie’s too obvious. Idiot.”
A chilling laugh escaped her.
“You’re not a Wolf at all. You’re a Villager in game terms.”
“Agh….”
“Or maybe you’re a Mouse? Then your condition wouldn’t be ‘survive’—it’d be ‘survive alone.’ That’s the Mouse’s win condition.”
The slicked-back man’s pupils, already fading, trembled.
“Well… not that it matters. For what it’s worth, I’m a Hyena.”
Ora Hee spoke with genuine pleasure.
“At first I didn’t understand what any of this meant… but once I read the conditions, it clicked.”
“Khrk!”
“I reckon my role’s some kind of Thief. In the regular game, I’d just have to make Contact—but looking at the Stage 3 conditions, it seems I have to kill you lot to join the Mafia, the Wolf team.”
“Krrrgh!”
The slicked-back man, who had clung to life with stubborn tenacity, suddenly vomited blood. His Knife-pierced neck went slack.
Once Ora Hee confirmed his death, she turned her head away as though her business was done.
“Are you lot going to stay put?”
She addressed those who had retreated and were watching from a distance.
“Whatever your Class is, you’d better make Contact with the real Wolves soon. Before the game ends.”
“Contact?”
The Large Man asked.
“Make an Appeal. Show them you’re on their side, not their enemy.”
“…I don’t understand any of this.”
The Large Man hefted his Chain Sickle.
“So we just kill these two bastards since they’ve done wrong?”
“Simple, and I like that.”
As Ora Hee chuckled, the two men who had been cowed by her finally waved their hands in desperate panic.
“Wait, wait!”
Whoosh!
Before they could finish speaking, the Chain Sickle came whistling toward them and buried itself in one man’s face. Simultaneously, an Arrow pierced the other’s skull.
Both men’s bodies crumpled in succession.
They were dead.
Ten had become seven in an instant.
Ora Hee regarded Audrey Bastler—who had just fired the Arrow—with an expression of surprise.
“Heh. After a few days of training, look at you—an obedient little dog.”
“…….”
“What were you?”
“The same as you.”
Audrey Bastler, her voice pitched low, asked quietly.
“Let me ask you one thing.”
“?”
“It seems like someone at your level could’ve flipped this whole game upside down.”
As she let the question hang, Ora Hee tilted her chin. “Hmm.”
“There’d be a thrill to that, sure….”
She glanced sideways at Seol Jihoo, who sat alone at the table,
“but it won’t work. This Stage 3 has the answer already decided.”
“Answer already decided?”
“The ending of this game. The outcome’s already fixed.”
She shook her head, looking at the Priest standing behind the young man’s chair.
“A job that’s a cross between bodyguard and doctor is on the same team as a Wolf. How do you win against that?”
Ora Hee’s gaze continued,
“Besides….”
sweeping across the remaining people until it settled on the pair of man and woman.
“The fact that killing those three doesn’t even end it.”
The moment their eyes met, the two of them waved their hands frantically.
“No, no! That’s not it!”
“We participated in the clear all the way to the end!”
Watching the two frantically protest, Ora Hee touched the ends of her hair as if pitying them.
“Fine. Just tell me what words you saw.”
At that, the man and woman fell silent. Their mouths moved soundlessly, eyes darting back and forth. As if something stuck in their throats.
“I was about to say earlier,”
Audrey Bastler, who had been watching quietly, spoke up.
“There’s a strong smell of blood on you two.”
The man flinched; the woman’s head snapped up.
“What, what did you say?”
“I said the stench of blood is thick. Who did you kill?”
“That’s ridiculous!”
The woman cried out, her face twisted with injustice.
“No, something felt off about it. A door appeared right after you two entered Stage 3, didn’t it?”
“Well, yes, but what’s strange about that?”
Audrey Bastler snorted.
“Then it’s you two. The last ones to come in.”
Both of them still looked baffled.
“You, you too—”
“Ah. I was lying.”
“Pardon?”
“I waited quite a long time.”
At that, the Large Man and Ora Hee both nodded.
“Right. The Distorted Plaza of Desire was constantly active, so the fact that you didn’t leave immediately and stayed in Stage 2 means there had to be a reason for it, doesn’t it?”
Only then did they realize they’d been led into a trap, and the couple’s faces drained of color.
“Do, do you have evidence?”
“Evidence? My ability and what you just said is the evidence.”
“That’s just suspicion! Do you have physical proof?”
Desperate not to admit anything, the woman cried out. Audrey Bastler snorted again.
“If you insist, we could search your bodies. If three or more Distorted Desires show up, then I’m right, aren’t I?”
The trembling expression vanished in an instant, replaced by an ashen pallor.
“That, that’s—”
She tried to shout something, but her face contorted and her mouth gaped uselessly.
That was when it happened.
Thud!
The table suddenly trembled violently, and all five of them turned their eyes at once.
In the next moment, they saw an Ice Spear on the table, releasing thin wisps of cold steam,
“…….”
and a young man with his head slightly bowed, slowly pressing both hands onto the table.
Seol Jihoo, who had been sitting quietly alone all this time, was slowly rising from his seat.

(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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