The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 67

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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 67. Encounter (2)

The interior of Shin Young’s headquarters was far more luxurious than its exterior suggested. With a steady stream of people moving through the lobby, Seol Jihoo found himself unable to tell whether he’d walked into an upscale department store or a corporate office.
After wandering about uncertainly for a while, he finally spotted the reception desk. As he approached, a neatly dressed woman greeted him with a smile.
“How may I help you?”
“I’m here to meet someone.”
“May I have the name of the person you have an appointment with?”
“Actually, I don’t have an appointment. Could you call Kim Hanna for me?”
The woman’s eyes widened at his straightforward request.
“Team Lead Kim?”
“Yes. She’ll know if you mention Seol.”
The woman blinked silently, eyeing the young man’s clothing with uncertainty. Then her gaze fell upon the icy blue light radiating from him like cold mist, and she gave a small, understanding nod.
“Please wait a moment.”
Seol Jihoo had been worried they might turn him away without an appointment, but he relaxed when he saw the woman retrieve a Crystal.
“This is Park at reception. Is Team Lead Kim at her desk? The reason I’m calling is…”
The woman glanced sideways at Seol Jihoo.
“A gentleman named Seol, yes?”
She suddenly straightened in surprise and turned toward the staircase. Following her gaze, Seol Jihoo spotted a woman in business attire carrying a small bag hurrying down the stairs. It was Kim Hanna.
‘She’s fast.’
Pleased to see her, Seol Jihoo waved.
“Kim Hanna!”
“Hey. It’s been a while.”
Kim Hanna smiled warmly in return.
“What brings you here so suddenly?”
“I wanted to see you.”
“Wait, should we step outside? It’s a bit noisy in here.”
Kim Hanna spoke rapidly, grabbing his forearm before he could respond. The moment she turned away from the reception desk, the smile vanished from her face.
“Come on.”
She murmured it like an afterthought, pulling his arm. Seol Jihoo opened his mouth uselessly as he was dragged along helplessly.

Kim Hanna stopped her hurried pace when they entered a relatively quiet street.
She released his arm and planted both hands on her hips. She tilted her chin up toward the sky, then let out a long sigh.
Seol Jihoo could only stare blankly. He didn’t know the reason, but he had the distinct feeling he’d done something wrong.
“So.”
Kim Hanna turned to face him, her eyes narrowed.
“Not only did you come to the capital, but you’ve apparently walked straight into the tiger’s mouth with your eyes open. Should I take that to mean you’ve at least prepared some basic safeguards?”
Judging by the slight twitch in her facial muscles, answering “no” would likely spell trouble.
“I think we’re fairly well prepared.”
“…Is that so?”
Kim Hanna’s expression, which had seemed on the verge of erupting, softened somewhat. Seol Jihoo hastily continued.
“I’ve joined a team.”
“A team?”
“Carpe Diem.”
Kim Hanna stared at him with widened eyes. After studying him in silence, she parted her lips slightly.
“Well, that’s something. Carpe Diem has pretty strict entry requirements. How did you manage to get into a team known for being so exclusive?”
“You know about them?”
“Do I ever. They have Edward Dylan in the upper ranks—a Level 5 Arc Shooter. And there’s Cho Hong, along with Richard Hugo; both skilled warriors.”
Now it was Seol Jihoo’s turn to be surprised.
“Cho Hong’s surname is Qing?”
“Yeah. She came up through the Area 7 Independent League, I believe. Hong Kong national. It’s a pretty famous story—a priestess who took up the warrior’s path. For a Dual Class, she’s had reasonably good success.”
Kim Hanna, who had been rattling off information, asked again.
“In any case, you came to Shin Young without hesitation, trusting in Carpe Diem?”
“There’s more to it than that.”
“?”
“I’ve made connections with the royal family as well. I’ve built a network with Ian, the royal mage.”
Kim Hanna raised an eyebrow.
“You don’t mean Ian Denzel, do you?”
“Wow, you really don’t miss anything.”
Seol Jihoo was astounded.
“I didn’t want to get in trouble.”
Kim Hanna was about to call him out for lying when the young man waved the spear with a bright smile, saying “Look at this. The princess gave it to me,” and she closed her mouth instead. At a glance, it was clearly no ordinary weapon. She’d need a closer look to be certain, but it was absolutely not the kind of arm a novice warrior should possess.
“What do you think?”
Seol Jihoo straightened his neck proudly. Kim Hanna, who had been watching him with half-lidded eyes, slowly folded her arms and let out a soft laugh.
“Hmph. Quite full of yourself, aren’t you. Well, I’ll give you credit for at least bringing a helmet.”
“Just a helmet?”
“It’s not ‘just’ anything.”
Kim Hanna’s voice dropped lower. Despite the absence of nearby onlookers, she was taking extreme care with her words.
“Of all times, you show up on the day the eldest daughter visits….”
‘Eldest daughter?’
Seol Jihoo asked.
“You mean Yoon Seora?”
“No.”
Kim Hanna shook her head.
“Yoon Seora should actually be considered an ally. When the eldest daughter takes a genuine interest and reaches out her hand, the only person in Shin Young right now who could shield you would be the youngest. She has more than enough will to do it too. Setting aside questions of ability.”
Seol Jihoo looked utterly lost. Political undertones hung thick in the air, even if he didn’t grasp the details.
Just then Kim Hanna flinched and pulled a Crystal from her small bag. She grimaced.
“See? Contact right on schedule.”
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Not exactly….”
Kim Hanna pressed her forehead as if troubled and told him to wait a moment, then hurried away.
The atmosphere didn’t suggest she’d return soon. Seol Jihoo drew out a cigarette case and glanced around the area. Back in Haramag he’d smoked without concern, but something about Sheherazade’s tidy streets made him feel he shouldn’t.
As he looked around hesitantly, he noticed a small alley beside a building with a sign reading “Wind and Fairy Tea House” and stepped into it. The alley was decorated with a flower bed that was unusually small but beautiful and well-tended.
‘This is ridiculous.’
Every time he felt it—a sense of injustice without equal. He’d helped Shin Young, done nothing wrong, yet why did they seem so keen to pin something on him?
‘I should get stronger. At least wash away this filth.’
The moment he climbed to a higher rank, much would change. He’d consume Seonak, use his points, and above all, he’d activate the Mark. Though that was still distant….
Seol Jihoo lit his cigarette and exhaled smoke in frustration.
“Excuse me.”
A gentle yet composed voice spoke to him then.
“I’m sorry, but smoking is prohibited here.”
Seol Jihoo’s eyes snapped open and darted left and right. Where was that coming from?
“It’s private property, you see, and the flowers in this bed are unusually sensitive to cigarette smoke.”
The voice continued with a soothing, coaxing tone like one comforting a crying child. Seol Jihoo hastily removed the cigarette.
“I’m—I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
The moment he turned and a woman emerged from the side door of the building, and
“No, you don’t need to extinguish it. If you walk a little further from here, you’ll reach the Plaza…?”
The woman’s words suddenly stopped—these things happened at the same instant.
“Oh my.”
The woman covered her mouth with a slender hand.
Then.
A familiar scent brushed the tip of his nose.
As he gradually beheld eyes growing more vivid and refined, gentle and pure,
……
Seol Jihoo felt as though he were facing a quiet, boundless, vast and comforting sea.
‘Yoo Sun-hwa?’
No, no. The serene atmosphere seemed somehow familiar, but looking closer, it was different. More mature, perhaps.
The long, delicate lashes, the silken hair cascading to her waist, the deep crimson lips full as ripe fruit, the modest collarbone and shoulders bared to reveal skin tone, the pale apricot glow of her complexion, and the white dress that complemented it all.
Above all, there was an exquisite fragrance. A warm spring scent that made his eyes want to drift closed.
In that instant of recognition,
[We meet again, young prince.]
His breath caught.
“Ah.”
Seol Jihoo unconsciously let the cigarette fall.
A memory from childhood he’d completely forgotten.
But why?
Why did that day’s memory surface here, now?
In the rush of stimulation that rifled through his mind, Seol Jihoo activated the Nine Eyes on instinct. And he was startled all over again.
‘Why, why?’
I thought it was colorless when there was no light. But now her specialized ability, Common Observation, isn’t activating at all. No matter how hard I try, I can’t see her status window. This had never happened before.
That was when it happened.
“If you don’t mind,”
the woman lowered her hand slowly and pointed to a side door attached to the building.
“We have a separate smoking room inside. Would you use that?”
Seol Jihoo was about to nod reflexively at the graceful yet gentle suggestion,
“Hey, what are you doing there…?”
Kim Hanna, who had finished her call and ventured into the alley looking for Seol Jihoo, widened her eyes like saucers.
“You are….”
The woman turned her head slowly, and Kim Hanna’s mouth flew open in panic.
“I’m so—I’m terribly sorry.”
Seeing Kim Hanna bow her head so readily was a first.
“He only joined us in March this year, so he doesn’t know anything yet….”
A flicker of interest crossed the woman’s eyes.
“Is that so.”
The woman smiled softly.
“If you need a quiet place to talk, you’re welcome to come inside.”
“…Pardon?”
Kim Hanna replied with a vacant expression.
“But the Access Restriction Order—”
“Visits from guests are always welcome.”
The woman answered with a warm smile, folded her hands respectfully, and turned away. She stepped quietly through the side door. Her dress left her back fully exposed, yet there was nothing vulgar or common about her—only dignity in her gait and bearing.
“Phew!”
Seol Jihoo, who had been gazing like someone under a spell, snapped back to attention at the sound of Kim Hanna exhaling sharply.
“What’s wrong with you?”
He wanted to ask her the same thing. His questions piled up like mountains.
“Who is she?”
When he answered a question with a question, Kim Hanna sighed heavily, as if to say *of course*.
“There’s no way you two would know each other.”
“And what about that Access Restriction Order?”
“That’s not something you need to know.”
Kim Hanna cut him off flatly and licked her lips. Her expression was that of someone unsure whether she was dreaming or awake.
“Let’s go inside.”
“Go inside?”
“She invited us. We should accept. Do you know how rare an opportunity this is?”
She slapped both her cheeks sharply, then composed herself.
“And in a place like this, we can talk freely.”
“…Is that related to what you mentioned before about the Access Restriction Order?”
“Yes. This is really something to be amazed at. Thanks to you, I’m finally getting inside here.”
With that, Kim Hanna carefully disappeared through the doorway. Seol Jihoo hurried after her.

Inside was far more sparse than he’d imagined. Where there should have been tables and chairs, there was nothing.
“Looks like you’re almost ready to leave.”
Kim Hanna stepped in with an excuse me and asked with a commercial smile.
“Just need to decide where to go.”
The woman spoke with a faint smile and tapped lightly on the long counter running beside the main desk. Two chairs had somehow already been placed there.
Kim Hanna sat slowly and spoke.
“It’s unfortunate, but at the same time it’s an honor. I never thought I’d receive the last cup of tea poured by Seo Yuhi….”
‘Seo Yuhi?’
Seol Jihoo, seated beside her, swallowed hard. Seo Yuhi, Seo Yuhi. He repeated the name in his mind so he wouldn’t forget it.
Seo Yuhi laughed softly and opened her mouth.
“What kind of tea do you prefer?”
“Anything is fine.”
“And you?”
“Ah, me—”
Seol Jihoo, who had been about to seize this chance to introduce himself, found his words blocked by Kim Hanna’s outstretched palm.
“Just get him anything, too.”
Seol Jihoo stammered helplessly. Seo Yuhi, still smiling, spoke.
“Is he your lover?”
“What? That’s impossible!”
Kim Hanna bolted upright.
“Who would associate with someone like that? It’s just a contract relationship, purely contractual.”
She laughed brightly, denying it vehemently.
“I see. You two seem quite close.”
Seo Yuhi tilted her head curiously. When her gaze met the young man’s, she smiled knowingly.
No matter how many times he saw her, that smile fit her perfectly—and every syllable of her voice, every gentle gesture, every graceful movement sent his heart into convulsions.
Whether she was his ideal type, he couldn’t say. But if Teresa Hasse had struck him with instant, fierce attraction from their first meeting, Seo Yuhi inspired something different—a sense of familiarity.
The kind of presence that would gently accept even the harshest jokes, as though ready to wrap him in an embrace.
‘I’m getting ahead of myself.’
Nothing was certain. Seol Jihoo, who had been paddling alone through an ocean of imagination, smiled bitterly.
“Please wait just a moment. I’ll bring it right out.”
Seo Yuhi turned away, steeping the tea.
“No rush at all.”
Kim Hanna, speaking with formal courtesy, jabbed Seol Jihoo in the ribs with her elbow as his gaze remained fixed ahead.
“Talk.”
“Uh, what?”
“Not ‘uh, what’—I said talk. Now.”
Seo Yuhi stifled a laugh at Kim Hanna’s imitation, her shoulders trembling silently.
“Honestly, I still can’t wrap my head around it. Someone who barely left the Neutral Zone—how did you end up on the Carpe Diem team, get gifted a spear by Princess Teresa Hasse, and build connections with Ian Denzel?”
“Well… it’s a long story.”
“From start to finish. Don’t leave out a single detail. You can speak freely here.”
Seol Jihoo nodded and began his account slowly, starting from the moment he arrived in Haramag. As Kim Hanna reacted intermittently and listened intently, his own enthusiasm grew.
“I thought even a porter would be better than nothing, so I followed them, and wouldn’t you know it—there was the Carpe Diem team right there. We had a meeting, and then I went on a reconnaissance mission to the Forest of Negation…”
“What?”
Before Seol Jihoo could finish, Kim Hanna cut him off abruptly. She had been listening calmly, then suddenly flared up, leaving him bewildered.
“The Forest of Negation?”
“Yeah.”
“Wait, wait—are you serious? The Forest of Negation? You went to the Forest of Negation?”
At Seol Jihoo’s confirmation, Kim Hanna’s eyes went wide as lanterns.
“Hey!”
She suddenly shrieked.
“Are you out of your mind? You went to the Forest of Negation?”
Kim Hanna’s face contorted violently. Her lips trembled and her neck quivered. It was a reaction far more intense than anticipated.
“You, you… you promised me you wouldn’t go south….”
She was so shocked she couldn’t even finish her sentence.
“Do you have any idea what that place is!?”
As expected. When the scolding hit home, Seol Jihoo squeezed his eyes shut.
“It’s a borderland, a borderland! And it borders both the Federation and Parasite territory!”
“True, but the forest’s effect usually keeps people from trespassing.”
“Oh, wonderful! So you did a great job then?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“I’m losing it, I’m going crazy, I’m going insane. Do you have any idea how terrifying that place is? And just recently, a pack including Lioner the captain and females was spotted there…!”
She rambled on, then suddenly stopped, her eyes narrowing.
“Wait—the one who wrote the Forest of Negation report was Ian Denzel… don’t tell me…?”
Kim Hanna muttered to herself, then glared at him as if she might kill him.
“Listen, I did encounter the Lioner pack, but I—”
“Shut your mouth!”
A piercing shout shook the room.
Seol Jihoo glanced over at Seo Yuhi and saw her standing motionless, her back to them. She had been carefully steeping the tea, but now she was utterly still.
“You lunatic! A genuine madman! Do you have a death wish!?”
“…….”
“You fool! Even higher-ranked hunters wouldn’t risk that!”
Clink.
Just as Kim Hanna was about to explode, two teacups were set down. It was Seo Yuhi.
“Calm yourself, and please, have some tea.”
Kim Hanna grabbed the cup in her agitation and gulped it down. It wasn’t even hot—she drained it without hesitation.
“Huff, huff! I’m sorry, so sorry, for making such a scene…!”
Kim Hanna huffed like an angry bull. Seo Yuhi’s expression was subtle—something between annoyance and something else. The problem was that she was watching Seol Jihoo from the corner of her eye.
‘Why?’
Seo Yuhi’s lips tightened slightly.
“Would you like me to bring some ice water?”
“P-please. My chest is so—”
“Of course. Just wait a moment.”
Seo Yuhi spoke with complete agreement before turning away. Kim Hanna, catching her breath, asked a question.
“So you received all those things as a reward for your work in the Forest of Negation?”
“Well… not exactly.”
“There’s more?”
Seol Jihoo avoided her gaze.
“Look me in the eye and speak plainly. Don’t think you can hide anything from me. It’s nothing to learn through Shin Young’s intelligence network.”
…….
“You’re not going to tell me?”
“…Only if you promise not to get angry.”
He answered reluctantly, and Kim Hanna’s eyes flashed with fury. She slammed the table hard. Clang!
“Speak while I’m asking nicely. I’m beyond angry at this point.”
“When I was coming out of the Forest of Negation, I suddenly got contacted by the royal family.”
“Skip the preamble. Get to the point.”
Kim Hanna coughed and drained the remaining tea in one gulp.
“They said the Parasite had invaded Aden Fortress. So I joined the princess’s army at a midpoint and headed to the Aden Gorge….”
Pfffffff!
Kim Hanna sprayed tea everywhere. Before he knew it, he was drenched in a mixture of liquid and saliva, but that wasn’t the important part. Kim Hanna stared at him with a blank expression.
“…You participated in that too?”
He nodded.
“A Level 1 warrior? Wait, hold on.”
If Seol Jihoo didn’t know one thing, it was that Kim Hanna had also heard news of the defense of Aden Fortress.
More precisely, the victory report had been the talk of the entire human realm for days. It was exceptionally rare that the Haramag royal family—expected to abandon the fortress—had achieved a major victory. Against the Parasite, no less.
“A warrior one level below who volunteered as bait, successfully lured the Parasite forces, and in the gorge….”
Kim Hanna recited the report she’d read with mounting disbelief,
“Ha ha. Following the roaches was pretty scary.”
When Seol Jihoo laughed awkwardly,
“You insane bastard!”
She swung her hand with all her might. Smack! Seol Jihoo gasped as her palm struck his back.
“You’re insane! Insane! Are you completely out of your mind?! Really!”
Smack! Smack! Smack!
She didn’t stop pounding his back, her breathing ragged. As Seol Jihoo watched her clutch at her chest and grip the back of her neck, he was taken aback.
He was about to ask her to get that ice water—
But
Seo Yuhi stood motionless in the background, her arms hanging limply at her sides, her head tilted back as she stared at the ceiling in utter disbelief.
Soon after, she gripped the ice water cup she’d prepared as if it might shatter, then drank it down in one desperate gulp. Glug-glug-glug. Then she set it down with a loud thunk, and there was something unusually forceful in the gesture.
“…Hoo….”
Even a sigh escaped her.
Assuming she was upset by all the commotion, Seol Jihoo had to work hard to calm Kim Hanna down.
A moment later.
“You foolish soccer player….”
Kim Hanna covered her face and actually began to sob.
As Seol Jihoo scratched at his cheek, he flinched at the pointed stare Seo Yuhi had been directing at him all along.
‘Why is she looking at me like that….’

(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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