The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 184

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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 184. A Justified Reason (1)

“You have no idea how difficult it was. We couldn’t afford even the smallest mistake, so everyone’s nerves were razor-sharp the whole time. Every few hours another crisis would hit, and each time my insides would burn black with panic. If his breathing faltered for even a moment, my heart would drop into my stomach….”
As Lee Seol-ah recalled that week, her complexion grew steadily darker.
“And your grandfather—he practically lived on all-nighters. It was truly, absolutely hellish. I barely did anything except run errands and watch, but just witnessing it all drained me completely. Of course, my brother suffered the most, but….”
‘The master….’
Seol Jihoo gazed down at his forearm, bristling with acupuncture needles.
It was as he’d suspected—Jang Maldong had indeed used the needles.
[Tell Tsuji Yuki this.]
[From this moment forward, if I see even a single acupuncture needle drawn in my presence—I’m severing ties with all of you.]
Yet when Kazuki had pressed him to do the same before, he’d refused so absolutely.
Breaking his vow to save himself filled him with gratitude, though he felt a faint prickle of shame.
“How did the Federation manage to save me?”
“I’m not sure what the princess told them, but they actually brought an Elixir.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Your grandfather was shocked too. He said he never imagined the Federation would give something like that without any questions or conditions….”
“Can you tell me more details?”
“Well, I didn’t see the treatment process directly myself, so… After they finished treating you, I only heard them mention that there was some medicine left over, so they’d treat Rusheria’s daughter as a courtesy….”
Lee Seol-ah let out a troubled groan.
“Just tell me what you saw and heard. That’s enough.”
At that, Lee Seol-ah’s expression shifted from discomfort to sudden determination—she retrieved a gown and pulled it on.
She pulled the hood down so only her mouth was visible, then let both arms hang loosely.
Then she opened her mouth in a low voice.
“Not only did we confirm the extinction of Undying Diligence, but we also verified the liberation of the divinity of Vile Humility. On top of that, crushing armies into oblivion—for a human who’s accomplished such an impossible feat, an Elixir is hardly a waste. The value of saving him more than justifies it. This is the unanimous conclusion reached by the Federation, inclusive of the Beast Tribe Alliance.”
Her voice was deliberately pitched low.
Seol Jihoo recognized that Lee Seol-ah was mimicking someone from the Federation.
“And?”
Still hooded, Lee Seol-ah nodded and crossed her arms.
“We’re grateful you prepared his body well enough to accept the Elixir. Thanks to that, the treatment went smoother than expected. In any case, just as you did your best within your limits, we did the same with ours. Whether he awakens or not depends entirely on this human’s will.”
“Anything else?”
Then she let her arms drop again and tilted her head back, gazing up at the ceiling.
“Though honestly… for ten years the Federation unleashed thousands of thunderbolts, five races poured incalculable blood into this, and yet failed. But a human who’s been here barely more than a year accomplishes it in a single battle. It’s incredible to contemplate, but bitter too. What exactly has been wrong with our Federation all this time?”
“Did they really say all that?”
Lee Seol-ah pulled off the hood, then caught herself and spoke hurriedly.
“Yes! Oh, and they asked me to pass this message to you when you woke up—that with this, you’ve settled the debt from the Tomb.”
[Either way, thanks to you we lived too. Four of us. What’s your name?]
[It’s Seol. Thank you for telling me. I’ll remember it.]
Seol Jihoo’s mouth fell open slightly.
He thought he knew who’d come from the Federation.
[It’s Michael.]
‘That connection back then….’
Who knew it would circle back like this.
Ian had been right.
Fate was indeed perverse—a single choice could yield completely opposite results.
‘Ian….’
At the memory of that warm smile and white beard, his mood turned heavy.
He couldn’t muster the courage to ask if he was still alive.
Teresa, Priehi, Arbor Myuto—even Yan Santus had visited with soldiers.
But Ian had not come.
“Is there anything else you’d like to know?”
At the slightly excited tone, Seol Jihoo stopped digging at the ground.
He managed a faint smile.
“No. Thank you for telling me.”
He couldn’t be certain, but after the Federation’s treatment, he seemed to have fallen into a coma.
For fifteen weeks in Paradise time, he’d remained in a state of unconsciousness with only minimal consciousness preserved, until he finally awoke.
Thinking about it that way, it seemed he’d been blessed by fortune after all.
They said comas could sometimes last decades or more.
“Don’t mention it. Well then, now that….”
Suddenly Lee Seol-ah’s bright voice faded into the distance.
“Now?”
Seol Jihoo looked up to see the girl standing before the door, breathing deeply as though the moment she’d been waiting for had finally arrived.
“Seol-ah, wait a moment.”
Before he could say ‘Everyone’s asleep, so let’s do this later,’ Lee Seol-ah had already yanked the door open.
And then,
“Everyone, I’m awaaaaaake!”
She bolted out of the room, her shout ringing through the halls.
Seol Jihoo watched helplessly as Lee Seol-ah’s figure receded down the corridor at full sprint.
Her voice echoed and reverberated through the hallway.

A storm descended upon the Intensive Care Unit.
By the time the sun had barely crested the horizon, visitors had flooded in—the result of Lee Seol-ah’s enthusiastic announcement spreading through everyone within earshot.
As a result, save for the time Jang Maldong spent removing his acupuncture needles and Seo Yuhee’s brief examination, Seol Jihoo found himself repeating the same words and receiving the same remarks from dawn until the sun stood high in the sky.
‘This is exhausting….’
Even pleasant praise grows tiresome after hearing it three or four times.
The profound emotion he’d felt upon waking and conversing with everyone had vanished without a trace within three hours.
Besides, his body—barely recovered in its sensations—was already protesting with fatigue.
And yet he couldn’t turn away people who’d gone to such trouble to visit.
It was utterly chaotic.
“Toot-toot! Toot-toot! Carpe Diem leader Seol! The war hero returns! Toot-a-rooney!”
Hugo had been at it since morning—holding his halberd backward and blowing on it like a trumpet, producing those absurd tooting sounds.
Remembering how Hugo had thrust the halberd deep between his own legs every other time he’d appeared, Seol Jihoo couldn’t help but feel deeply unsettled by the sight.
“Thank goodness… truly… I didn’t know what I’d do if you didn’t wake up….”
Teresa wept.
Seol Jihoo let out a bitter smile as he watched her continuously wipe away her tears.
She seemed to believe he wouldn’t remember, but Seol Jihoo had a crystal-clear recollection of every outrage she’d committed during each of her visits.
Was it from the sixth visit? The eighth?
Teresa would stare down at him intently, then suddenly bend forward until their noses nearly touched.
At first, without sensation, he hadn’t understood what she was doing. But after their noses made contact four times in succession, he finally realized she was kissing him.
Beyond the sheer absurdity of it all,
he’d been curious about what she kept muttering while she seized every opportunity to kiss him. Only once his hearing returned could he finally hear her.
– This is the five-hundredth time… why won’t he wake up?
– Surely the prince’s kiss woke the princess… so why not the princess waking him?
– Should I use my tongue?
– I’ll try up to exactly one thousand times, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll have to try kissing somewhere else.
‘Somewhere else?’
The memory made his blood run cold, and Seol Jihoo trembled.
She’d shamelessly toyed with him while he couldn’t so much as twitch, and now she had the audacity to wipe away tears and play innocent.
What could he even say.
‘She’s far too cunning….’
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
Just as he was debating whether to admit he knew everything, a measured voice cut through his thoughts.
Agnes was watching him with an unusually serious expression.
“I’d very much like you to answer it.”
Seol Jihoo instinctively sensed the question would be about his Future Sense.
So he was preparing his invincible defenses—that he didn’t know, that his memory was hazy—when,
“Perhaps,”
Agnes stepped closer.
For some reason, tilting her head slowly side to side.
“Were you completely unconscious while you were lying here?”
Seol Jihoo flinched.
Why was she asking that?
“Why do you ask?”
“Because another rather unfortunate epithet was added not long ago. Someone’s gotten me into the habit of checking my titles once a day, and the day I arrived here….”
“W-what epithet?”
Seol Jihoo hurried to ask, clearly caught off guard.
“…I’m not sure myself.”
Agnes’s voice had grown quiet.
She pushed her glasses up slowly with her middle finger.
Seol Jihoo swallowed hard as he watched her glasses catch the light with a sharp glint.
Truth be told, he’d thought about plenty of things while lying in bed.
There wasn’t much else he could do.
But he lacked the courage to confess that out of sheer boredom, he’d even composed a little tune—”Ting~ Ting-ting-ting Tang~ Tang-tang-tang~ Ting-ting Tang-tang Frying Pan Bottom!”—and hummed it to himself several times.
“No, I’m afraid I don’t know.”
So he’d played dumb.
“Hmm… I see.”
Agnes’s suspicion was obvious, but she seemed to take his patient status into account and withdrew without pressing further.
As Seol Jihoo and Teresa exchanged a simultaneous sigh of relief at hearing Agnes mutter, “Damn it. Then who on earth is it?”
“Time’s up. We’ll end visiting hours here for today.”
A sharp clap rang out.
It was Seo Yuhee, who’d noticed Seol Jihoo’s exhaustion.
When she added that they should run a detailed physical examination just to be safe, everyone except a select few filed out of the Intensive Care Unit like the tide receding.
Though Cho Hong and Teresa, among others, stayed behind as if they hadn’t heard.
“You don’t seem to have a fever… How are you feeling otherwise?”
“I’m fine. A little drowsy, perhaps.”
“Your Status Window—any significant physical decline or unusual messages?”
“My physical abilities have all decreased. But the Status Window says it’s temporary, not permanent. It looks like I’ll recover gradually.”
“Thank goodness. The Elixir really is the Elixir.”
Seo Yuhee pressed a hand to her chest and managed a wry smile.
The fact that the Status Window remained unchanged despite absorbing such potent healing essence could only mean one thing—the Elixir had devoted its full power to recovery.
“No odd sensations anywhere? Nothing that hurts, but feels strange?”
“I’m a bit hungry, actually.”
Seol Jihoo smacked his lips and looked at the pile of gifts visitors had brought, stacked high beside the bed.
Spotting soft bread, he brightened and reached out, but Seo Yuhee quickly caught his hand.
“No. Your stomach will be very contracted right now. If you eat the wrong thing, you could get stomach cramps.”
“Just one piece should be okay, though…”
“First we’ll rinse your stomach with salt water, then some porridge. Once you’re discharged, your sister will cook you plenty of delicious things. All right?”
“Yes, I understand.”
Watching Seol Jihoo smile brightly, Seo Yuhee’s heart constricted fiercely.
“…Let me treat you. Would you like to lie down comfortably?”
Seol Jihoo reclined without hesitation.
He had an idea what she was about to do.
Seo Yuhee hadn’t merely fed him supplements and washed his body—she’d looked after him in countless ways.
For instance, lying in bed for extended periods inevitably weakens the body. Seo Yuhee had anticipated this and deliberately moved his limbs through exercises to prevent his muscles from atrophying.
“Relax your body.”
What she was about to do now was part of that same care—chiropractic treatment.
As Seo Yuhee skillfully twisted his body, Seol Jihoo’s joints cried out in sweet relief with each movement.
‘Ah, that feels wonderful.’
“Were you a doctor?”
“No. I just have a physical therapy license. Cross your arms over your chest and try to sit up, just your upper body, would you?”
Seol Jihoo obeyed without question.
Seo Yuhee wrapped her arms firmly around his back, pressed her body close, and slowly lowered him back down.
Just as his back was about to touch the bed, she tensed her arms with all her strength.
Crack-crack-crack!
A pleasant pain spread across his shoulder blades and upper back, drawing a soft groan from Seol Jihoo.
It was as if his entire body was unraveling with electric relief.
But there was something even more pleasant.
‘Ah…’
The warmth radiating against his face was so cozy it was almost overwhelming—he was on the verge of drifting to sleep.
‘So good…’
“Whew… huh?”
As Seo Yuhee straightened up and reached to wipe away her sweat, her eyes widened.
Even though she’d released him and straightened her back, Seol Jihoo’s face had somehow stuck fast to her shoulder and come up with her.
‘This feeling… I know it…’
Seol Jihoo kept his face buried against her chest, his lips puckered like a carp’s, his whole face threatening to crumple from the intensity of the embrace.
Seo Yuhee smiled awkwardly and began gently stroking his hair.
Cho Hong and Teresa, who’d stayed behind, both opened their eyes wide as saucers.
They even let out exaggerated coughs, as if to make sure they were heard.
Yet the two of them remained oblivious, pretending not to notice.
“Wait—Seo Yuhee. That’s treatment? What kind of treatment involves touching someone’s lower back and backside like that? I didn’t expect this.”
A sharp protest erupted immediately.
“Hey. You going to keep your face buried there? That’s rude, damn it. No matter how unavoidable—”
Cho Hong stopped mid-sentence and clamped her mouth shut.
But Seol Jihoo caught that slip and shifted his gaze.
“Unavoidable?”
He asked while still pressed against her.
Then he felt Seo Yuhee’s body twist subtly, as if to slip away and fetch something.
Seol Jihoo clung to her with surprising determination, unwilling to let go.
After a brief struggle, Seo Yuhee finally surrendered and admitted the truth.
“Life Force?”
Lee Seol-ah hadn’t mentioned that detail, so Seol Jihoo couldn’t help but be shocked.
“That’s—that can’t be right.”
“It’s fine.”
Noticing Seol Jihoo was about to burrow deeper into his questions, Seo Yuhee shook her head.
“My body recovered long ago. There’s no problem with my mobility or daily activities.”
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a lie.
She was simply omitting details and telling only part of the story.
But if she told him everything, Seol Jihoo would likely suffer from guilt.
And if guilt weighed on him, his recovery would slow—so she deliberately held back.
“There was some risk, true. Did you not hear that the Federation treated me as well?”
“I did hear that, but… it’s still Life Force.”
Seol Jihoo pressed on.
“I’m worried it might have shortened your lifespan…”
The question struck Seo Yuhee as so endearing that she couldn’t help but laugh.
Seol Jihoo stared blankly at her as she chuckled.
“It hasn’t. I’ll say it again: I’m fine. What you need to be careful about is yourself, Jihoo.”
“Me?”
She stopped laughing and placed a hand on the crown of his head, her expression turning thoughtful.
“Receiving someone else’s Life Force isn’t a simple matter. For example—yes. If you suddenly transfuse blood into a critical patient who’s lost too much, do they get up right away?”
No, they don’t.
“Right? The blood has to circulate through the vessels and become part of the patient’s body—that takes time. Life Force works the same way. It’s functioning for now, but for your body to adapt and truly make it your own… I think it will take considerable time. And there could be side effects during that process.”
‘Side effects?’
“Have you been feeling an urge to keep clinging to me?”
Seol Jihoo flinched.
How did she know?
“Don’t be embarrassed. It’s one of the side effects. Since it’s originally my Life Force, it instinctively tries to return to me. In that process, the energy is pulling your body of its own accord.”
Seol Jihoo tilted his head in confusion.
He understood what she meant.
But thinking back, he’d felt that same impulse several times even before receiving the Life Force.
‘What does that mean?’
“So when you feel the urge, don’t fight it forcibly—just let it be. With a side effect this minor, even if it takes a while, it should naturally fade if you leave it alone. If you keep suppressing it, there’s no telling how it might change… you understand?”
Maybe. Perhaps there’s no choice.
Seol Jihoo muttered inwardly to himself, then pretended to think for a moment before letting out a long sigh.
He made an effort to look reluctant as he opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry. Because of me…”
His words said one thing, but his body was honest.
Because,
‘Finally.’
He had legitimate reason now.
Joy comes after hardship, after all.
For reasons he couldn’t quite name, all the suffering he’d endured during the war seemed to melt away like snow.
“Don’t apologize. I’m so grateful you’re awake.”
Seo Yuhee hugged Seol Jihoo tightly and murmured against him.
“I’m so glad you’re alive. Really…”
She even pressed her cheek against the crown of his head and rubbed gently.
Two pairs of eyes swept up and down the two figures intertwined and swaying together in each other’s embrace.
Cho Hong, who had already been shooting them narrow looks, let out a derisive snort tinged with indignation.
“Unbelievable.”
Teresa opened her mouth, her face suggesting she’d seen enough of this spectacle.
“Cybil.”

(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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