The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 93

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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 93. Addiction (2)

While visitors trickled in one or two at a time, Ayase Kazuki stood alone in silence, leaning against the wall.
‘Noisy place….’
It was loud, certainly, but there was something remarkable about it too.
‘I heard he was a Level 2 Warrior.’
Most of the people gathered here were competent Earthians. Judging by their visits to check on him, it was safe to assume they had some connection. In other words, this spoke volumes about the network of an Earthian named Seol.
‘Hmm?’
Kazuki, turning to leave, fixed his gaze on the doorway. Through the half-open gap, a woman stood gazing intently inside.
‘That woman!’
Kazuki was taken aback, tilting his head in confusion. She wasn’t simply observing the room—she was staring hard at someone specific. Her gaze seemed somehow unsettled. It carried less sorrow than worry, something closer to concern.
‘Who is she looking at?’
Following her gaze, Kazuki’s eyes landed on a young man sitting on the bed. He was speaking with a cheerful, smiling face, occasionally bursting into hearty laughter. His body had fully recovered, and his mental state appeared sound as well.
‘There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with him….’
The moment Kazuki looked back toward the doorway, their eyes met. He quickly uncrossed his arms and bowed respectfully. The woman, offering a faint smile in return, gave a small nod before quietly turning away.

With Ayase Kazuki’s departure setting the precedent, others began leaving one by one.
Seol Jihoo’s return was cause for celebration, but it was difficult to call it a purely happy ending. The death of Edward Dylan, a Level 5 Arch Shooter and leader of the team, remained an unalterable fact.
Losing their leader and highest-ranking archer was no trivial matter. It was like losing the captain of a ship at sea. The Carpe Diem would inevitably weaken, and in the worst case, they had to be prepared for dissolution. No sane client would entrust a commission to a team consisting of only three warriors.
So those with sharp instincts quietly slipped away or avoided the gathering, until only three remained.
When the earlier bustle gave way to sudden silence, Seol Jihoo felt a creeping loneliness. He found himself thinking how nice it would be if Dylan were here with them. The thought made his spirits sink.
“Why are you sitting there looking so glum?”
Cho Hong, displeased with his attitude, called out sharply.
“Shoulders back. Chest out, proud and tall. The operation succeeded. We rescued three and saved three more. On top of that, you dealt a serious blow to the Parasite. Do you have any idea how much of a stir this is causing in Paradise?”
“That’s right, Seol. You have no reason to feel guilty. If anything, you should be proud. I know I am, and Dylan would have been grateful too.”
Hugo added his voice.
“…Dylan…”
Seol Jihoo, who had been listening quietly, began to speak with difficulty.
“I hope he’s… doing well?”
“If you’re talking about the Penalty… I’m not sure.”
Hugo scratched his nose.
“It won’t be easy. The time spent in Paradise and the disorientation from memory loss are directly proportional to the sense of loss.”
“I see…”
“But if it’s him, he can overcome it. I believe in Dylan.”
Hugo spoke with conviction.
“What matters is that Dylan returned to Earth as a human. For now, let’s focus on that alone.”
The words—that Dylan would be capable of handling this—struck something deep. Seol Jihoo truly hoped it would be so. No, Dylan would definitely be able to overcome any Penalty. He convinced himself of this.
A brief silence fell, and Cho Hong spoke up.
“What are you going to do from here on?”
Seol Jihoo was caught off guard. Was she asking about the future of Carpe Diem? If anything, he would have been the one asking that. He hadn’t expected Cho Hong to bring it up first.
“Hugo and I have decided to return to Earth for now.”
Cho Hong continued.
“I guess we’re just exhausted. I want to rest properly and take time to clear my head.”
“Are you disbanding?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Cho Hong let out a short laugh and waved her hand dismissively.
“I just said we’d take a break after this big job. Don’t jump to conclusions.”
Cho Hong clearly had no intention of dissolving Carpe Diem. That was enough for Seol Jihoo. He relaxed inwardly.
“By the way, I need to tell you something.”
Hugo, who had been reaching into a basket, suddenly remembered something.
“Miss Foxy asked me to pass along a message. She said if you ever come back, you should go to Earth.”
“Miss Foxy… you mean Kim Hanna?”
He asked in surprise.
“That’s what she said. I was shocked too. I never imagined you’d made a contract with Shin Young.”
“No, I didn’t contract with Shin Young.”
“You didn’t?”
“No. Shin Young did ask me to contract, but I declined. It’s just a personal contract between individuals.”
“Declined? So you contracted with Miss Foxy personally?”
“That’s the situation.”
Hugo’s eyes went wide, and he set his motionless hands to work. He drew out a ripe fruit and marveled at it.
“Wow… turning down Shin Young. Though I suppose that makes sense—she’s a Gold Mark.”
Crunch. He bit into the fruit and suddenly began giggling.
“Anyway, she said she was absolutely shocked.”
“Why? What else did she say?”
“It’s not that… heh! Don’t take this the wrong way, but how is it you’re surrounded by nothing but crazy women?”
‘Crazy women?’
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Cho Hong, catching the same confusion as Seol Jihoo, posed the question. Hugo chuckled and gestured toward the young man with his chin.
“Think about it. Four of Paradise’s Six Crazy are stationed around you.”
“Four of the Six Crazy? Let me see. Miss Foxxy, Yeriel Maria, Claire Agnes… wait? That’s actually right? Really?”
Cho Hong, counting on her fingers, burst into delighted laughter.
“One’s your contractee! Two are visiting patients! Hah! You’re in real trouble, kid. One of these days they’ll find you as a corpse in some back alley, won’t they? Hahahaha!”
Cho Hong laughed with abandon, slapping his back repeatedly.
“And who’s the fourth one? Oh! Cheonji! Boss Cheonji was there too! Whahahaha!”
Yet for some reason, Hugo—the one who’d brought it up—wasn’t laughing at all.
“…….”
Instead, his face held a mixture of awkwardness and discomfort as he stared at Cho Hong. His mouth moved soundlessly, as if he wanted to tell her something, but he only clicked his tongue and bit into his fruit.
“…Be careful. Especially of those closest to you. I mean it sincerely.”
Hugo murmured as he chewed, and Seol Jihoo forced a smile.
“Even so, calling her that is a bit… the language is pretty harsh.”
“Harsh? What do you mean harsh? I’ve traveled with her for years. If anything, it’s way too gentle. Her nickname is the Butcher Girl, the Butcher Girl. Not the Combat Girl.”
“The… the Butcher Girl?”
While Cho Hong clutched her stomach, laughing as if she might die, the two men continued their quiet exchange.
“Didn’t I tell you? She puts on a complete act in front of you.”
“Cho Hong putting on an act? Come on. I almost got hit today too. Though it was my fault, of course.”
“That’s exactly what I mean by acting! The anger you see her show is nowhere near the real thing. She needs to be at least ten times worse before you’d think, ah, she’s really fired up today. That’s when you’d know.”
‘Ten times? Ten times worse?’
Seol Jihoo couldn’t believe it. Activating the Nine Eyes, he opened Cho Hong’s status window.

[Cho Hong’s Status Window]
[Information]
Summoning Date: 2015. 09. 18
Mark Grade: Red
Gender · Age: Female · 22
Height · Weight: 170.2cm · 58.6kg
Condition: Excellent
Class: LV 4. Holy Spearman
Nationality: Hong Kong (Area 7)
Organization: Carpe Diem
Aliases: Gosktop, Butcher Girl, Six Crazy, Blue Trap, Joong

‘What…?’
It was true. Seol Jihoo was about to ask Cho Hong what those aliases really meant when he glanced at the shattered drawer. A chill ran down his spine.
“Ah—I haven’t laughed like that in a while.”
Cho Hong laughed until tears came, wiping them away with the back of her hand. She dried her cheeks with swift strokes and continued.
“Anyway, you’re going too, right?”
“Huh?”
“Earth. You need to go to Earth.”
Seol Jihoo opened his mouth blankly. It felt like an ambush.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? You have to go, don’t you? Your contractee is calling.”
“Um… let me contact them first.”
“What are you talking about? How are you going to contact anyone from here to Earth? Why? Do you have unfinished business?”
“The princess invited me to the palace.”
“So what? You can go there after you come back from Earth.”
Unable to find a response, Seol Jihoo hesitated. Sensing something odd, Cho Hong raised one eyebrow.
“Wait a minute. You’re not… trying to avoid going, are you?”
“No?”
The denial came reflexively, but he couldn’t hide the slight tremor in his voice. Unaware of it himself, Seol Jihoo only belatedly noticed his fingers moving as if playing piano, and quickly hid them beneath the bedsheet.
Truth was, I wanted to say I didn’t want to go. For reasons I couldn’t name. Just the thought of leaving Paradise stirred something—a visceral refusal, you might call it. Beyond the tightness in my chest came an inexplicable unease.
But I couldn’t say that outright. They’d ask why, every last one of them. I hated lying, but I didn’t want to tell the truth either.
‘…No, that’s not it.’
Come to think of it, I did need to make the trip. The access environment still wasn’t stable enough, and more importantly—Earth was simply more convenient for researching the fundamentals of Mana Spears and Qi Circulation Technique. The moment I reframed it, my mind settled.
‘Right. To live in Paradise….’
“Of course I have to go. I’ve got things to handle anyway. Might take a while, though.”
“…Okay. Yeah, you should. Don’t worry about anything—just get there and back safely.”
Cho Hong, who’d been harbouring doubts, let them fall away at my straightforward answer.
Seol Jihoo smiled faintly. Just thinking about coming back and mastering the Mana Spear and Qi Circulation Technique had him already excited.

Carpe Diem’s direction was set. The three of us decided to rest and take time to gather our thoughts. Since Cho Hong and Hugo were heading back today anyway, Seol Jihoo had no reason to linger.
He asked Cho Hong to fetch his bag, then reached out to Kim Hanna via Communication Crystal.
‘She’s not picking up….’
But the connection didn’t go through. Probably hadn’t made it back to Earth yet.
He changed into clothes Cho Hong had found for him and left the Intensive Care Facility. Since it wasn’t a regular hospital, there was no discharge paperwork to handle—but he did need to pay the treatment fees.
‘My body’s recovered pretty well, hasn’t it?’
Seol Jihoo cracked his neck and swung both arms in wide circles, marveling at the sensation.
And truly, his physical condition was better than he’d dared hope. The wounds had healed cleanly, as though they’d never been. Even if it was all in his head, the flow of Mana through his channels seemed stronger. His energy felt more refined, more harmonious—as if he’d swallowed some precious medicine.
Yet he had no memory of the priest who’d treated him. He’d done nothing but sleep since seeing that light, day and night without pause. All that lingered was a hazy sense of someone tending to him with meticulous care, watching over him round the clock.
‘Who could it have been?’
With the dual purpose of settling the bill and offering thanks, he made his way to the reception desk—only to hit an unexpected wall.
“They returned to Earth, you say?”
“Yes. They said there was an urgent matter.”
“At least tell me their name—”
“I’m sorry. I can’t share that without their permission.”
What’s more, he didn’t need to pay anything. They’d insisted absolutely that he mustn’t. When he persisted, the receptionist finally conceded that, at minimum, he ought to offer a single gold coin. Seol Jihoo’s face went pale.
‘Just… how remarkable a person are they?’
In the end, he went through the departure procedures quietly and found himself standing before the Warp Gate. He’d made up his mind to go, yet still hesitated….
‘Don’t expect anything. Not one thing. Absolutely nothing.’
After repeating this to himself like a vow, Seol Jihoo stepped into the blue-lit sea.

The return to Earth.
He’d done it once before, but Seol Jihoo couldn’t shake a sense of strangeness. It wasn’t that the return itself felt unfamiliar—it was the clean, bare room that unsettled him.
‘How long was I there?’
As he looked around with an awkward expression, his eyes caught on a phone lying dark and silent. He stared at it through half-lidded eyes. Having already steeled himself countless times, he didn’t reach for it right away. Whatever I see will only disappoint me anyway.
But I couldn’t avoid turning it on if I wanted to contact Kim Hanna. I clicked my tongue, stuffed the phone back in my pocket.
‘Feels like morning….’
When I opened the window, brilliant sunlight poured in, and I squinted. Hot air pressed through thickly. Early May. Too sweltering to call it spring still.
‘I’m really back.’
As I watched the neighborhood houses and cars moving on the road below the hill, I suddenly grabbed my wallet. Like a colt stung by a whip, I bolted from the row house and tore into the convenience store by the roadside.
“Ahh!”
The moment I bought and drank the cola, I felt like I’d won the world. Who knew carbonation could prick the throat so pleasantly? Throw in a cigarette from the convenience store, and only then did it truly sink in—I was home.
I emptied the cola can cleanly and burned through a cigarette in the dim alley, and my chest finally felt at ease. I wanted to eat all manner of delicious things, but there was something I had to do first.
I pulled out my phone and pressed the power button with my thumb. My eyes locked onto the screen as it loaded. The moment it came to life,
Bzzzzzzz!
The phone went haywire with vibrations. Despite the gaps between them, it must’ve buzzed a dozen times or more. My eyes went wide as I checked the missed calls and messages. My jaw slackened.
‘Mom… and Brother too?’
The missed call list was mostly spam, but there were two calls from my mother and one from Seol Woo-seok recorded.
‘What… what’s going on?’
Nobody was chasing me, yet I panicked. Seeing the timestamps, quite a bit of time had passed, and there was a moment’s temptation to call back.
But thinking it through, it didn’t seem like a good idea. They’d almost certainly ask where the money came from, and I hadn’t prepared an answer yet. So there was only one person I should call first.
‘That last time I came back was April 17th, wasn’t it?’
I remembered how upset Kim Hanna was that I hadn’t answered. Scrolling through the call log, I saw several numbers I’d never seen before around April 17th. Judging by the times, there was no doubt.
But this, too, was hardly going to be easy.
My heart pounding, I pressed down on it and hit the call button.
Beep—!
Before the monotone dial tone could even ring once,
— Yeo.
I jerked the phone away from my ear. I hadn’t caught it clearly, but I could’ve sworn I heard words like “dog” or “bitch.”
Chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp!
Seol Jihoo stared at his vibrating phone with the intensity of a sparrow confronted by a bird of prey, its relentless chirping demanding his attention.

(To be continued)

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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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