The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 79

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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 79. “I hate living like that.” (3)

Cho Hong didn’t return to the office right away. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say she couldn’t.
After their conversation ended, Seol Jihoo turned away as if entranced. He didn’t leave together with her, didn’t say a word. In the quiet way he vanished from sight, Cho Hong felt an unspoken pressure.
“Damn it.”
After lingering around the building for a while, Cho Hong finally climbed the stairs with long strides.
When she took a deep breath and opened the door, Seol Jihoo was already packed and ready to leave. Cho Hong stared at him in stunned silence as he methodically stuffed things into his bag.
“You….”
“…….”
“Hey. What are you doing?”
“I have somewhere to go.”
Seol Jihoo spoke without turning around. Cho Hong’s eyes widened before a hollow laugh escaped her.
“You’re not seriously…? No, you wouldn’t be.”
“Wouldn’t be what?”
“You’re just angry and making a protest, right? I get it. Look, calm down and sit here. Let’s talk about this. Yeah?”
Seol Jihoo let out a scoff.
“What are you talking about? You think I’m going to charge headlong into enemy territory alone?”
That would be a relief, at least. Conflict flickered across Cho Hong’s face. Either way, Seol Jihoo slung his bag over his shoulder and picked up his sword. There was no other reason he’d be dressed like this if he wasn’t about to leave.
“So where exactly are you going?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“What?”
“I’ll handle it myself. I want to try doing things on my own.”
Seol Jihoo moved past her. With her eyes squeezed shut, Cho Hong grabbed his arm.
“Are you really going to do this?”
“Do what?”
“Wait, hold on. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“That’s not the issue.”
Seol Jihoo stopped and opened his mouth.
“You did tell me. The problem is you lied about it.”
Cho Hong faltered. His eyes were as cold and sharp as the office air around them. She clenched her teeth and cried out.
“You did the same thing!”
“…….”
“I know I worried you, but you did too!”
“At least I gave you warning beforehand.”
His words cut like a blade.
“And I never lied.”
Cho Hong’s face went pale. Having wrenched his arm free, Seol Jihoo stepped through the door.
“Hey, where are you going!”
He descended the stairs without a word.
“Seol! Hey!”
Her anguished voice echoed, but he was already out of sight.

Seol Jihoo hired a carriage. He offered silver coins on the condition they go as fast as possible and wait until his business was done, and the hesitant driver’s eyes lit up at the sight of the money. The distance wasn’t so great. There was no reason to refuse.
Thanks to that, he managed to cut the journey down to eight hours, but by the time he arrived in Ramman Village, dawn was already breaking. Still, with time being of the essence, he rushed forward and pounded on the door.
“Village Chief! Village Chief!”
In the dead of night, and with such a racket too. The Village Chief, who had only just managed to fall asleep after struggling with riddles all day, wrenched the door open. Seeing the unexpected visitor, his expression turned bewildered before he snapped irritably.
“Have you no manners to speak of!?”
“Village Chief.”
“Quiet! Do you know what time it is?”
“I’m… I’m sorry.”
Seol Jihoo bowed in apology.
“But.”
He couldn’t quite find the words. Reading the panic in his bearing, the old man’s anger softened.
“…Something seems to have gone wrong.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“So you’ve come to collect a debt, then.”
“Not exactly… I really need your strength, Village Chief.”
The old man’s eye twitched knowingly. The young man before him was the Earthian who had uncovered his secret. Compared to how things had been when he methodically questioned him then, his attitude was entirely different now. There had to be good reason for it.
“Come in. And please, keep your voice down.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
“Sit here. Catch your breath, and explain calmly. Problems may be urgent, but if the solution is rushed, no answer will emerge.”
Seol Jihoo settled into the chair the Village Chief indicated. After a moment, he steadied his breathing and began to speak.

“That’s a foolish plan.”
It was the Village Chief’s first words after Seol Jihoo finished explaining.
“I understand you couldn’t mobilize the military. But still—infiltrating recklessly with a handful of elite fighters to destroy a facility? Either you’ve underestimated the Parasite, or you’re simply an idiot.”
It was a harsh judgment, and not unfair.
“Successful infiltration requires reconnaissance beforehand. Without detailed intelligence, you rushed in unprepared—of course it failed. Tsk.”
Seol Jihoo wanted to protest, but he swallowed his anger. The old man wasn’t wrong.
“Still, the appearance of the Mutant Orc was genuinely unexpected. I can understand accepting the compromise in the heat of the moment.”
The elderly man cleared his throat and continued.
“In any case, you came seeking me because of the Ludium, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
Seol Jihoo spoke quickly.
“I’m begging you. I know it’s a precious treasure, but—”
“Precious? Not particularly.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“An uncut stone would be different. This Ludium has already been refined—it’s lost its value as raw ore. And since the nest is gone, there’s no real use for it anyway.”
Seol Jihoo blinked.
“So you’re saying there’s no reason you can’t give it to me.”
“Thank you!”
Seol Jihoo bowed deeply in gratitude.
“Think nothing of it. Consider it payment for an old debt. Though I suspect my thanks are premature.”
The old man smiled faintly.
“Right then. Let’s say you take the Ludium. What’s your next move?”
“That would be…”
His words caught in his throat.
“Listen. I’ve said it before—wouldn’t it help to actually calm yourself?”
The old man spoke, regarding him with weary eyes.
“You’re pretending to be composed, but inside, you’re burning with impatience.”
“I’m not—”
“Aren’t you? No. I can see it. No matter how you act, your current behavior strikes me as quite rash.”
The word “rash” hit Seol Jihoo like a hammer to the skull. He understood what the Village Chief meant. He closed his eyes and gathered his thoughts.
“Coming to me in your haste was a good choice. But don’t you think there might be something to gain besides the Ludium?”
With that hint, it finally dawned on him. His mind grew clearer.
“Now that you mention it… you were once a mage of the Delphine Kingdom, weren’t you?”
“Heh heh.”
“And you served at the Research Facility as well.”
“I was there for years. I know the layout well enough.”
The old man stood, a wry smile on his face.
“Now we’re getting somewhere worth discussing.”
The Village Chief turned and retrieved a small box and some papers from where Seol Jihoo had seen them before.
“First, let’s sort out the situation.”
Once a renowned mage, the old man’s body had withered, but his experience and knowledge remained intact.
“You’ve already lost your chance—or rather, perhaps you never had one to begin with. The Parasite couldn’t have been ignorant of your attempt.”
He moved his pen across the paper as he spoke.
“Since the operation failed, security will have doubled, at minimum. The same plan won’t work again. To succeed, you need to strike where the Parasite doesn’t expect it.”
“Is there such an opening?”
“This Ludium, for one.”
Click. The old man opened the box. Inside lay a chunk of dark, dull ore, roughly the size of a child’s fist.
“I mentioned before that it’s consumable, didn’t I?”
“Yes.”
“It wasn’t always this small. When I fled the Research Facility with it, it was the size of a boulder.”
The old man spread his arms wide.
“So haven’t you wondered about something?”
“What would that be?”
“Look at me. An old man, weakened, in poor health. How do you suppose I managed to slip past the Empire and Kingdom’s rigorous security, steal such a massive Ludium, and escape safely?”
Now that he thought about it, something didn’t add up. Even with the seal on the facility, the Ludium’s value at that time would have been immense. It couldn’t have been stored carelessly—so how had the old man gotten away with it?
“The answer is magic, then. Magic is always magnificent.”
“When you speak of magic…”
“Have you ever heard of a Teleportation Magic Circle?”
Seol Jihoo’s eyes widened like saucers.
“What if we didn’t have to struggle crossing the Border Region at all, but could move directly into the Research Facility instead?”
“Is that even possible?”
“I escaped that way myself, so yes. Don’t you think it would catch them completely off guard?”
He clenched his fist. If this was true.
The old man set down his pen and opened his mouth.
“Let me explain my thinking first. Look at this.”
The paper was now covered entirely with drawings and annotations—it looked like the internal blueprint of the Research Facility.
“The Research Facility consists of four floors total: two underground levels and two above ground.”
The sketching was quite good. Seol Jihoo listened intently, impressed.
“I’m not skilled enough to use Warp or Teleport on my own, but once a magic circle is installed, that changes. Years ago, I visited Haramag under the guise of research, and I installed the circle in a hidden shelter deep within the Aden Mountain Range.”
“So using that circle, we could get inside the Research Facility.”
“Exactly—assuming the shelter and circle are still intact. With the Teleportation Magic Circle, you’d arrive at…”
The old man drew a circle on the paper.
“…the first secret chamber on Underground 1st Floor.”
“The first one?”
“I’m a meticulous man.”
The old man scratched at his nose.
“I prepared a second shelter as a contingency. But we can talk about that later.”
Tap, tap. He tapped the paper with his pen.
“In any case, there shouldn’t be any need to go up to ground level.”
“Why not?”
“The experiments were conducted in secret, despite being nominally public. The ground level was used for lodging and other purposes, but all the actual experimental work happened underground.”
Seol Jihoo nodded.
“So we’ll need to search Underground 1st and 2nd Floors, but my thinking is your comrade is likely on Underground 1st Floor. If Underground 2nd Floor was entirely experimental labs, then Underground 1st Floor would’ve been the waiting area—where we kept subjects.”
The old man continued.
“Any plan should be simple. Ideally, explainable in a single sentence.”
He set down his pen and traced a line with his finger.
“Use the circle to move to Underground 1st Floor, use the Ludium to accomplish the objective, then return to the shelter and use the circle to escape. That’s the essence of what I’m proposing. Do you follow?”
Seol Jihoo looked at the Village Chief with eyes full of longing. He’d felt only despair, but now everything seemed suddenly clear—a weight lifted from his chest.
“Are you… a god?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
The Village Chief, his nose bridge reddening slightly, continued.
“Your plan had far less chance of success than this one. But…”
He hesitated a moment before speaking again.
“I need to be honest about the risks. There are three serious concerns with this plan.”
The old man held up three fingers, then folded down his ring finger.
“First: the condition of the shelter.”
“Condition?”
“Both the Aden Mountain Range and the Research Facility’s shelter—we don’t know their current state. I hid them well, but the future is uncertain. In the worst case, you could arrive directly in the midst of Mutant Orcs.”
Seol Jihoo’s expression hardened.
“We can only hope that doesn’t happen. Unfortunately, there’s no contingency for that scenario. If it does occur, you must escape immediately. Understood?”
“Yes.”
“Second: the matter of the Teleportation Magic Circle itself.”
The Village Chief folded down his middle finger.
“Regardless of how skilled the mages in Haramag are, the circle’s operating time is at most thirty minutes. Even that will fail instantly if energy runs dry or the mana connection is intentionally severed.”
“So we need to complete the task within thirty minutes.”
“Exactly. The crucial point is that after thirty minutes pass, the circle shuts down automatically whether mana remains or not. And once a circle is depleted, it requires seventy-two hours to recharge. Do you grasp what that means?”
“Could we extend the duration?”
At Seol Jihoo’s question, the Village Chief stroked his chin.
“Well… this may sound like an excuse, but Teleportation Magic is incredibly advanced. Even in the Empire, few could use it with their own power alone—most rely on circle formations like this one. To be frank, I’m not confident I could improve it beyond this.”
“Then there’s nothing to be done.”
Faced with the old man’s candid admission of his limits, Seol Jihoo sighed. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t help—it was that he couldn’t.
“And finally, there’s this Ludium.”
The Village Chief folded down his index finger.
“Against Mutant Orcs of the standard variety, it should prove effective for control.”
“So it won’t work on higher-tier ones—I should be careful.”
“That’s only natural. As you can see, it’s far too small. Though I’d say it should be usable for about thirty minutes.”
Seol Jihoo tilted his head. What was the problem?
“You’ll have to make a choice here.”
The old man spoke up.
“Use it to destroy the facility. Or use it to rescue your companion. This is separate from the duration I mentioned.”
“Both?”
“Don’t even dream of it. Fundamentally, you’re dealing with two unstable variables overlapping. One wrong move and you’ll accomplish neither.”
Chase two rabbits and you’ll lose them both. Pick one and focus.
“Understood.”
“Good. Then…”
The Village Chief provided a few more details, then exhaled deeply.
“I think I’ve told you everything I can.”
Seol Jihoo opened his mouth, but no words came. He wanted to thank him, yet the unexpected windfall was so enormous it left him speechless. He’d never imagined possibilities like this would open up.
“Heh heh. Don’t you think this is a bit excessive for a simple debt repayment?”
“It is. Now I’m the one in debt.”
“How do you plan to repay it?”
“How should I repay it?”
At Seol Jihoo’s counter-question, the Village Chief shrugged.
“Well… let’s think about that later. Take your time.”
“Thank you.”
“What thanks?”
The old man chuckled softly.
“I can’t collect a debt from a dead man. Just make sure you come back alive.”

Seol Jihoo climbed into the carriage as soon as he left the Village Chief’s house. On the way there, he’d been anxious, but on the return journey, thanks to the old man’s words, he felt calmer.
As his mind settled, Cho Hong was the first thing that came to him. Belated guilt washed over him.
He hadn’t actually felt betrayed. He understood why she’d tried to deceive him.
But when he’d heard the circumstances, he’d been angry with her. Hurt, perhaps. Wounded. For reasons he couldn’t quite name… in any case, it had stung. It was an emotion too nebulous to pin down.
‘Cho Hong must have been suffering too.’
Looking back now, his own reaction seemed unfair. He’d handled it wrong. When she’d told him his long-time companion’s fate was uncertain, how must she have felt? He should have been more considerate.
‘Did I go too far…?’
At least he could go back now. With that thought, Seol Jihoo held tight to everything the Village Chief had given him.

By the time he reached Haramag, the morning sun was already high. After paying the balance, Seol Jihoo rushed toward the building. Though he hadn’t slept and felt somewhat fatigued, he wanted to show her the results quickly.
The moment he opened the third-floor door, his eyes met Cho Hong’s. She’d been pacing back and forth, and her steps froze. Her anxious face twisted sharply.
Unexpectedly, Cho Hong didn’t speak. He’d expected her to snap at him the moment he walked in, but instead she just stared, silent and tense. In that strange, heavy silence, they simply gazed at each other.
Cho Hong was the one who broke the quiet.
“…Where the hell have you been.”
Her voice was low, tightly controlled. There was anger in it. Seol Jihoo closed the door and stepped inside cautiously.
“You waited?”
“Yeah. I waited like hell. You bastard.”
Cho Hong’s voice grew rough, even trembling. She clearly wanted to shout, but was desperately holding back.
“So, does it feel good now that I’m giving you a taste of your own medicine?”
“What medicine?”
“You’re not trying to turn this back on me! You two-faced son of a bitch!”
At her outburst, Seol Jihoo puckered his lips.
“That’s not how I meant it.”
“Not how you meant it? You? Is that really what you’re saying?”
“I’m sorry.”
Without hesitation, Seol Jihoo pressed his palms together in apology. There was a sound of her swallowing, then Cho Hong turned away, took a small breath, and roughly wiped her eyes with her clenched fists. Now it was Seol Jihoo’s turn to be shocked.
“Hey. Why are you crying? You’re really Cho Hong, right?”
“I’m not crying! Back off! You bastard!”
When Seol Jihoo gently pulled her into an embrace and patted her back, Cho Hong twisted her shoulders and batted his hand away. But there was no real force behind it.
“I’m sorry. Yeah?”
“Damn it. You think I lied because I wanted to? You don’t know what you put me through.”
“You’re right. I was too narrow-minded.”
Seol Jihoo continued to apologize, while
“And dammit, stop doing that. You’re always grinning like an idiot, and then suddenly you turn serious—do you have any idea how much that scared me?”
Cho Hong poured out her anguish like a dam bursting.
“Okay, okay. I won’t do it again.”
“Damn it. What a bastard. And he doesn’t even know how I feel.”
“There, there. Is our little one upset?”
“Stop joking around. Before I really beat you to death.”
“All right, all right. Let’s just sit down. Come on, sit and talk.”
Seol Jihoo had to work hard to soothe her. Cho Hong rested her head against his chest, her breath coming in sharp sniffles. She wasn’t crying—only her eyes had reddened slightly.
Even a woman of steel is still human, still a woman. The stress had been mounting lately, and now that Seol Jihoo had given her reason for concern, everything she’d been holding back came pouring out.
“So.”
After a moment, Cho Hong glanced up at him.
“Where did you go?”
“Ramman Village.”
“Why Ramman Village?”
“Before that, there’s something I want to ask you.”
Cho Hong hesitated for a moment, then nodded. At this point, there was no use hiding anything.
“What did you decide to do?”
“We agreed to meet again today… for now, anyway.”
“A strategy meeting? When?”
“It’s already started, you idiot. And I’m stuck here because of you. What is this?”
“Then we should go right now.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
Cho Hong trailed off.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what to do. Every meeting ends the same way: we need to rescue them, but there’s no way to do it.”
The sentiment struck him as painfully familiar, and he let out a long sigh.
“So why are you just sitting here suffering in silence? You should tell me about it.”
“You’re the one being ridiculous.”
At his teasing remark, Cho Hong let out a small laugh.
“Fine, while we’re on the subject—do you have any brilliant ideas?”
“Yes.”
He answered without hesitation.
“…What?”
Cho Hong’s expression went blank. Seol Jihoo rose to his feet.
“Wait…? What did you just say?”
Creak—the door opened, and bright sunlight poured in, flooding his figure. Turning back to where Cho Hong still sat, he smiled faintly.
“Let’s go. Time to bring them back.”

(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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