The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 141

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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 141. The Sukun Choice

Seol Jihoo felt tension rising in his chest.
He’d drawn a card from White Rose. The atmosphere had grown strange with Pi Sora’s intrusion, but perhaps this too was a calculated move.
What mattered was that Jangmaldong’s suspicion had been correct.
Having decided to focus on this point, Seol Jihoo asked quietly.
“A matter, you said?”
“I made it sound grander than it is, but it’s nothing special.”
Pi Sora leaned forward slightly, keeping her hand braced against the table.
“There’s something we’re putting enormous effort into planning on our end, and it looks like it’s going to be quite a large-scale expedition. We’re asking if you’d lend a hand.”
“In exchange for what?”
“Money? Equipment? We don’t need those. White Rose isn’t destitute.”
Pi Sora tilted her chin and gestured toward Bok Jeongshik with an elegant flourish.
“All you need to do is say yes, and he’ll bring those siblings he’s so fond of with him. He’s going to handle their clean transfer personally.”
In other words, the architect of this proposal wasn’t Pi Sora—it was Bok Jeongshik.
As the attention turned toward him, Bok Jeongshik laughed awkwardly.
“Well now, I wasn’t trying to pressure or pull any tricks. I just wanted to show off a bit in front of you, but… someone here ruined it all.”
Despite his lighthearted tone, he seemed to find himself inadequate and soon cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Now that it’s come to this, I’ll lay it out plainly. Not long ago, our guild purchased information about a ruin. We paid ten gold coins—a considerable sum.”
Seol Jihoo’s eyes widened slightly. Information trading was common enough, but ten gold coins was expensive—truly expensive.
In won, that amounted to five billion, five hundred million.
“You might say we’re mad, but the evidence the dealer provided was too solid. We had it appraised by respected mages, searched through library records, obtained the dealer’s permission, assembled an investigation team and conducted a survey—all of which gave us certainty.”
Bok Jeongshik adjusted his glasses.
“The ruin definitely exists, and if we succeed in clearing it, ten gold coins will seem trivial compared to the enormous treasure we’ll obtain. I saw the documents—and wow, don’t be alarmed—it’s a secret villa built by an ancient emperor for some unknown purpose.”
“How much more are you planning to tell?”
Pi Sora cut in irritably.
“What are you thinking, spilling every detail to this person?”
“All right, all right.”
Bok Jeongshik waved his hand and interlaced his fingers.
“In any case, given the situation… I understand this is an unprecedented transfer condition. But it’s a matter grave enough to determine the guild’s destiny, so I hope you’ll understand.”
He smiled wryly.
“Though given your nature, I doubt you will. So I’ll offer three additional conditions.”
“Additional conditions? I wasn’t told about this.”
Pi Sora’s voice grew sharp, but Bok Jeongshik ignored her.
“Even if we fail, I’ll keep the transfer promise.”
In other words, he’d let the siblings go simply for their participation.
“But this is a remote possibility. I hope you won’t get your hopes too high?”
Bok Jeongshik laughed lightly. He seemed confident the ruin would be there.
“And… you’re wondering if you’d be used as cannon fodder, aren’t you?”
He smiled as if he knew everything.
In fact, that had been his first instinct when he heard “let’s do this job together,” so it wasn’t an unreasonable suspicion.
“Sora will be commanding the expedition, and you already know she’s quite professional when it comes to work.”
As Jangmaldong nodded, Pi Sora’s nose tilted up so sharply it could have pierced the sky.
“However, I trust in Carpe Diem’s and Seol Jihoo’s reputation, so I intend to grant you veto rights during the expedition.”
“Excuse me?”
Fire ignited in Pi Sora’s eyes.
“Are you insane? Who do you think you are?”
“I’m the captain. Can’t I exercise authority to this extent?”
“Sir! I’m the expedition commander!”
“It’s Captain, not sir. And you’re saying you don’t trust a team led personally by him?”
“Grandfather, of course I trust him! But—”
“Be quiet. I’m not finished.”
Bok Jeongshik pushed forward firmly on this point, clearly unwilling to compromise.
“My apologies for raising my voice. I’ll continue. I will grant you veto rights, but as Sora mentioned, there’s potential for disorder. So if you exercise your veto, I can’t unconditionally guarantee the transfer.”
He was placing restrictions to prevent misuse.
Unless White Rose was naive, this was a safeguard they naturally had to implement.
“So I’d ask that before exercising your veto, you contact me or him directly. That way we can verify your contribution and assess the situation.”
In short, he was ensuring you wouldn’t be sent to certain death.
“One last thing.”
Bok Jeongshik continued.
“Since I’ve asked for cooperation on the condition of their defection, it’s difficult to share the expedition’s gains with you. However.”
“However?”
Pi Sora stared intently, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
“If the expedition succeeds, I’ll pay Carpe Diem a service fee appropriate to your standing. Out of my own pocket, of course.”
“Huh!”
A sharp breath escaped. But perhaps because Bok Jeongshik had emphasized his personal funds, nothing more was said.
Seol Jihoo, and even Jangmaldong, wore expressions of bewilderment.
“I’m not trying to show off, you understand.”
Bok Jeongshik lowered his head subtly, his fingers fidgeting.
“Now I wear this impressive title as the head of the White Rose Guild… but it wasn’t always like this. There were times when I struggled terribly.”
Jangmaldong’s face flushed.
“Why bring up the past?”
“Because it was you who helped me through those days.”
Bok Jeongshik spoke without blinking.
“When you retired, I can say with confidence I grieved more than anyone. And when I heard you’d returned, I rejoiced more than anyone else.”
After a brief silence, he continued.
“Anyway, please don’t think the third condition is excessive. I’d be grateful if you’d see it as my personal debt repaid.”
“…….”
“Sora, you understand too. Wasn’t it this man who turned you from a reckless troublemaker into someone halfway decent?”
“Why do you keep calling me reckless?”
Pi Sora shot back sharply, but she glanced sideways at Jangmaldong before turning away with a snort.
“To be honest, it’s also a bribe.”
Bok Jeongshik winked.
“Seol-ah and Seongjin trusted me and joined up, but I feel like I haven’t done right by them…”
As he spoke with furtive glances, Pi Sora bristled.
“What. Why are you looking at me?”
Bok Jeongshik exhaled slowly and smiled softly.
“After all, if the expedition succeeds, I need to send the siblings away too. I’m asking you to look after Seol-ah and Seongjin for me. Ha.”
Seol Jihoo regarded him with fresh eyes. He’d steeled himself per Jangmaldong’s warning before entering negotiations, but.
‘Really.’
These were conditions worth accepting.
Good enough to perk one’s ears up. So good it raised questions, but the smooth reasoning dulled the suspicion.
What more could one say…
‘Have I been wearing prejudice the whole time?’
Such thoughts were beginning to creep in.
Seol Jihoo sorted through the conditions one by one.
The White Rose wanted to work together.
If they merely cooperated, the siblings would be transferred for free regardless of success or failure.
They’d be granted veto rights in case they were used as expendable pawns or bait.
As for sharing the gains—that was difficult. But if the expedition succeeded, they’d receive a service fee befitting the team’s level.
‘…….’
Was there anything more to doubt here?
On the surface, no. But Seol Jihoo examined the conditions again with Descartes-like radical skepticism.
And then a new suspicion finally emerged.
Beneath all the pretty words, wasn’t the real goal to get Carpe Diem to participate by any means necessary?
In other words, there was a conspiracy lurking in this affair. And they meant to drag Carpe Diem into it as well.
Of course, he could be misreading Bok Jeongshik’s sincere goodwill.
“Good grief. I’ve played the fool so many times in my life… anyway. What do you say? What are you going to do?”
And so.
“Will you do it? Or refuse?”
The moment of choice had arrived.
He activated the Nine Eyes, and the room bloomed with countless colors.
Jangmaldong shone with the same brilliant gold as before. Bok Jeongshik, though…
‘Yellow?’
Caution advised.
‘Why?’
No matter how many times he looked, Bok Jeongshik—still wearing that affable smile—rippled with a murky, turbid yellow.
“Will you do it or not? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
The moment Seol Jihoo’s gaze shifted, his heart struck hard in his chest.
Pi Sora’s irritated face was painted in that vivid ocean blue.
‘Cyan.’
Sukun Choice.
Ira’s and Guula’s voices flashed through his mind.
[I’m not saying I’ll open all three pathways. Just the right one — I’ll open only that single direction.]
[The Right Pathway Opening requires all three to activate simultaneously, just as the left did.]
[I know. But I can handle this much resistance.]
He couldn’t fathom what Sukun Choice was, what Ira was bracing herself for, or why Guula had fought so desperately to stop it.
But now he was beginning to understand.
Pop!
A screen unfurled abruptly, just as it had in Stage 3.
A place he’d never seen. In a shabby space that resembled an abandoned house, a woman sat on the ground with her face buried in her knees.
[Sob… sob….]
The sound of her weeping carried a desolate, haunting quality.
When the woman slowly rose to her feet, Seol Jihoo’s eyes widened in disbelief.
‘Pi Sora?’
The unsteady woman was none other than Pi Sora herself.
She climbed onto a worn chair and grasped the rope that hung from the ceiling. Without hesitation, she looped it around her neck, her mouth splitting into a grotesque grin, and kicked the chair away with her foot.
Just as his breath caught, the screen vanished with a creaking sound as if it had been a lie.
The video had ended, but Seol Jihoo’s face remained blank — the shock of what he’d witnessed had left him hollow.
“Excuse me? Why is this person suddenly like this?”
Her bright voice jolted him back. Whether from the effects of Sukun Choice or something else, his mind felt dizzy and distant, caught between dream and waking.
“Come now, don’t be difficult. Seol Jihoo? You don’t need to answer right away — discuss it with your team first.”
“No.”
The words came reflexively.
“I’m refusing.”
His voice came out slightly hoarse as he delivered his refusal.
“Yes, yes?”
“You’re not going to do it?”
Bok Jeongshik and Pi Sora spoke at once, clearly startled — they hadn’t expected a flat rejection.
“Is there perhaps a condition you’re unhappy with… sir?”
Bok Jeongshik asked urgently, but Jangmaldong simply closed his eyes tight.
“Why— I don’t understand. Why don’t you want to do it?”
There were two reasons he wouldn’t go.
First was that Bok Jeongshik had appeared in yellow. Second was….
“I don’t think we should go.”
“What?”
Pi Sora’s eyebrows shot up.
“We shouldn’t go…? What nonsense is this suddenly — like you’re losing your mind?”
“It’s dangerous.”
Seol Jihoo, whose breath had been steadying, shook his head firmly.
“If we go, we might die. No — we will die.”
“What… what did you say?”
Pi Sora’s expression crumpled.
“We’ll die if we go? Sir! What is he saying? Grandfather! What is he talking about!?”
Pi Sora’s face had taken on the unmistakable edge of offense.
“What do you mean!”
Already on edge from the difficult expedition ahead and from Bok Jeongshik’s spineless behavior, his curse-like words had cut her raw.
“Wow, hilarious. Fine. If you don’t want to do it, don’t. Who are we to say — just forget it, and please help us. Did you think I’d beg you like this?”
“So, Sora—”
“Shut up!”
Scrape-scrape-scrape!
The sound of a chair dragging roughly filled the space.
“I should’ve known. You fit right in with those two idiots, so I’m the fool for expecting anything. They said you were the finest of the Three Saints, so I thought you’d have some nerve — turned out to be a waste of time. Fine. Don’t do it. We won’t ask again, so don’t you dare change your mind and say so later, understood?”
Pi Sora sprang up and hammered out her words like machine-gun fire, laying down an ultimatum.
“You have to read your negotiating partner before you make a deal. What a mess, seriously!”
She unleashed a torrent of venom, then stormed out through the door with a heavy kick.
Bok Jeongshik buried his face in his hands, while Jangmaldong quietly picked up his Fedora and pulled it down deep over his head.

After receiving Bok Jeongshik’s formal apology, Seol Jihoo and Jangmaldong left the White Rose.
They heard promises that if money or goods came in, they should reach out, and that they’d be welcomed back anytime if they changed their minds—but in the end, nothing materialized.
“You worked hard.”
As they boarded the carriage, Jangmaldong opened his mouth softly.
“I thought you’d scold me.”
“You did misspeak. What possessed you to say he’d die anyway?”
Seol Jihoo scratched his cheek with his index finger. Jangmaldong continued.
“It would’ve been better if you’d refused more gently… but either way, it was your choice.”
The word choice struck his chest oddly.
“I’ll offer advice, but I have no intention of second-guessing your decision. You refused, and that settles it.”
The scratching grew more vigorous.
“You’ll draw blood, you fool.”
Jangmaldong chuckled and shook his head.
“In any case, I paid the price for holding back. If you’d brought Cho Hong instead…”
The mere thought made him shudder.
“What would’ve happened if you couldn’t hold back?”
“You’d have gotten beaten down. One-sidedly.”
Just as he thought. Seol Jihoo smiled bitterly.
“She seems intense.”
“Intense is putting it mildly. Strong skill, great talent, but her temperament is… tsk.”
“From what I see with you, it doesn’t seem entirely like that.”
“Mm. Even so, a child with a fundamentally bad nature… well, it’s true. Her personality is rather peculiar. Her criteria for people are simple—enemy or ally. She divides the world into only those two categories.”
“Black-and-white thinking?”
“Exactly. That’s it precisely. I’ve told her repeatedly to fix it, but she’s still like that.”
Just then, the carriage jolted. After the crack of a whip, it began to move.
Jangmaldong clicked his tongue and let out a deep sigh.
“Let’s get some sleep. My energy’s drained, and I’m sluggish.”
“Sleep first, then.”
“All right.”
Jangmaldong closed his eyes.
Seol Jihoo gazed quietly out the window, lost in thought. The video he’d seen at the White Rose was still vivid in his mind.
‘Why was she smiling when she hanged herself?’
Ian had said that the Sukun Choice was a fate that could only be accepted, a destiny one could only yield to—as natural as breathing.
Then should he see Pi Sora’s death by hanging as her inborn fate?
‘I don’t know.’
He didn’t really care either way.
The only thing that weighed on him was the Lee siblings—Lee Seol-ah and Lee Seongjin. He’d come with such expectations, but returning empty-handed left a bitter taste in his mouth.
It was a feeling he had every time: nothing in this world came easy. The thought made his head and shoulders feel heavy.
‘The weight of a crown…’
As he was mulling over Ian’s words, Seol Jihoo suddenly felt something tickle his face. Black smoke.
Glancing sideways, he confirmed that Jangmaldong was sound asleep, then spoke in a hushed voice.
“Floone? You’re here?”
[I was wandering about, but suddenly your aura moved away.]
“I’m sorry. Next time you visit, I’ll let you stay and watch longer.”
[Yeah. I was going to sulk a bit, but I shouldn’t, should I?]
“Why not?”
[You look worn down.]
Seol Jihoo smoothed his face.
[What happened?]
…….
[Want me to take revenge for you?]
“Oh, no.”
Seol Jihoo shook his head frantically.
[It’s fine, so tell me.]
“It’s nothing much.”
[Why. What is it. I’m curious. I want to hear.]
As Floone pressed insistently and clung to the subject, Seol Jihoo smacked his lips.
“It’s about work. They asked me to go on an expedition.”
[An expedition? Where?]
“I’m not sure. They said something about an ancient emperor’s villa…”
An ancient emperor? A villa?
The black smoke dispersed, then shifted into the shape of a question mark. Seol Jihoo watched with fascination, and then—
Ah.
It suddenly transformed into an exclamation point.
Could it be Sacrificium?
“Sacrificium? What’s that?”
A villa’s name.
Floone answered simply.
The emperor’s, you say?
“Yes.”
An emperor is a title that only one who rules the Empire may claim.
“Is that so?”
Seol Jihoo, tilting his head, realized he wasn’t following the thread and asked a question.
“Floone. Why did you suddenly mention the villa’s name?”
It wasn’t as though there had been just one or two emperors throughout history. And if one were an emperor, it wouldn’t be strange to own a villa at a resort either.
Why had Floone said the name so immediately upon hearing the word?
That’s because the story of an emperor’s villa is quite a famous anecdote. It came to mind right away when I heard it.
“Really?”
Now that I think about it, how do you know about that? I heard that story when I was very young myself.
Only then did Seol Jihoo remember that Floone was someone from hundreds of years ago, and from the Empire—and his eyes widened.
“Floone. Could you tell me about it in more detail?”
Hmm. On one condition.
Floone, deliberating, set a condition.
“A condition?”
Yes. Telling you wouldn’t be difficult, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t go to Sacrificium.
What was this about now?
“Why?”
Because it’s a place you mustn’t go.
Floone spoke clearly and emphasized once more.
You absolutely must not go there. Especially not as a human.

(To be continued in the next installment)

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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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