The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 130.

Chapter 130.

Chapter 130 . Dances With Wolves

Once Stage 2 ended, Seol Jihu relaxed a bit more . With his newfound leisure, he naturally began to grow curious about things he couldn’t pay attention to before .

‘Who hosted the Banquet?’

There was a reason the question changed from ‘how’ the Banquet was hosted to ‘who’ hosted the Banquet . Looking back, there were more than one or two suspicious points . The recent ‘exchange’ was a good example .

He thought it would be impossible for everyone to be satisfied with the exchange . Although some might find items they were interested in and successfully trade for them, Seol Jihu believed there would be more than a few who didn’t . Of the remaining 100 or so people, he predicted at least half would fail .

Yet in reality, almost everyone except three or four people were able to trade successfully . The rewards Earthlings wanted were limited in scope — to weapons, armor, and such — but everyone’s wishes had to be different even by a little .

So how could so many people make successful trades? It was almost as if the rewards were designed to be this way .

Of course, it could still be a coincidence . After all, there were over a hundred people who received rewards . Still… without some sort of an outside force helping to create this situation, it seemed close to impossible .

Seol Jihu had a strong hunch that an unknown existence interfered in the matter, and clearly, this existence had to be the host of the Banquet .

That was how far he went . Just as Ian mentioned, as long as he didn’t have a definitive proof, any believable deduction would only be a hypothesis .

He felt like he could find clues to confirming his suspicions if he could enter Stage 3, but he didn’t know how . Seol Jihu sighed with frustration .

Then, he went to find a certain Priest who was resting . Although conquering the Plaza of Sacrifice became easier as more people returned with the Dissonant Wish, that didn’t mean it suddenly became a walk in the park . As Seol Jihu always fought on the front lines, there were more than a few times when his life was in danger .

The person who saved him each time was the Priest Kazuki invited .

It was common sense for a Priest to support a Warrior during battle, but Seol Jihu felt like she was paying attention to him to an almost excessive degree . Of course, it was entirely possible that he was mistaken . But if this weren’t the case, it didn’t make sense for the healing or protective spells to always come in at critical moments .

Plus, the Priest was suspicious in more than a couple areas . She not wanting to reveal her identity could have been because of a privacy reason like Kazuki said, but there definitely was something else .

A Priest’s spells weren’t infinite . It was normal for a Priest to run out of saved spells over successive battles or a prolonged fight .

When Maria used her eight stored spells, she had to restore them by making offerings, and she would pant when she ran out of them after her sixteenth spell .

But this mysterious Priest was strange . She poured out one holy spell after another when it came to Seol Jihu, yet she didn’t show any sign of running dry of them . And because she used chantless casting, Seol Jihu couldn’t pick up any clues from her voice . 1

Everything about her was shrouded in a veil . Solely based on the abilities she had shown, Seol Jihu wouldn’t hesitate to believe she was a Unique Ranker .

Suddenly, Seol Jihu remembered the gentle touch from when he lost consciousness during his battle with the Orc Champion .

‘Who is she?’

To be honest… .

‘Just who is she to care about me so much…?’

Every time he felt her gaze underneath her hood, she felt like a mother bird worriedly gazing at her child who had just learned to fly .

A part of him wanted to rush up to her and pulled down her hood . Although it would be incredibly rude, he had a baseless feeling that she would forgive him . Of course, he couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing to his benefactor, so he simply expressed his gratitude .

“Thank you for taking care of me . ”

In response to Seol Jihu’s courteous bow, the robed Priest silently nodded her head and reached out as if to stroke his head . Seeing this, Seol Jihu bent down subconsciously .

‘Huh?’ He paused instantly and blinked his eyes .

He had subconsciously tried to put his head against her hand . He found it strange how his body reacted automatically .

Seol Jihu stared at the Priest with a flustered look . Seeing how the Priest had retracted her hand and was taking tiny steps back, it seemed she was flustered as well .

“Hm, hm . ” She then let out a low cough before turning around . Perhaps uncomfortable with the youth’s fixed stare, she made a slight bow before quickly leaving .

“… . ”

Seeing the Priest getting farther away, Seol Jihu rubbed his chest with a disappointed look . They were only slightly acquainted, so why did he feel so wistful?

Seol Jihu didn’t know .

*

Once afternoon came around, only half of the participants remained on the field . With the permanent opening of the Plaza of the Dissonant Wish, those who had no reason to stay had left – to either Paradise or Stage 3 .

The Alliance team didn’t rush things as entering Stage 3 wasn’t based on a first-come, first-served basis . But because they were tired of the Banquet, a part of them wanted to go back to Paradise as soon as possible .

Kazuki finished cleaning up the campsite and reminded everyone of what to do after exiting Stage 2 . Only then did he bring up leaving through the Plaza of the Dissonant Wish .

When they walked past the long pathway and the reward room, they finally arrived at their destination — a room with a circular red portal on top of an altar .

Kazuki stopped and looked back at the team .

“I won’t say good job yet . ”

Things weren’t over until they were out of the Banquet . He was reminding them not to let their guards down .

“In case anyone manages to enter Stage 3, the rest of us will be waiting outside, so don’t worry about that… . ”

Kazuki furrowed his brows in the middle of his speech . He was bothered by Hugo, who was smirking while stuffing his battle-axe into his pants .

He had already said the same thing before coming in anyways . Shaking his head, Kazuki turned back .

Next, when he entered the portal, he felt his body sink .

Splash!

The sound of water splashing rang out, and Kazuki immediately realized what had happened .

“Puha!” Spitting out the water and standing tall, just as he expected, he found himself back in the oasis he used to enter Stage 1 . He had returned to Paradise .

Bitterness shone on his face as he brushed off his soaked hair .

‘Third time’s the same, huh… . ’

Soon, more splashing rang out . Kazuki turned back and performed a head count . Six people had entered the red portal .

‘One, two… . ’

“Osu! You’re back! Kazuki Hyung-nim!”

While Kazuki was counting, a familiar voice struck his ears .

Sakamoto Jun was waving his hand from outside the oasis .

“You… . ” Kazuki asked in a fluster, “You were alive?”

“Yes! I got eliminated in Stage 1! I thought I’d die while waiting!”

Sakamoto Jun shouted proudly . Well, it was a good thing he was alive… .

Kazuki’s eyes narrowed . The Alliance team had a total of seven people, but two were missing . No matter how long he waited, they didn’t show up .

*

Seol Jihu steeled his mind from the moment he stepped onto the portal . Remembering how it was while entering the Banquet, he prepared for impact as soon as his vision turned red .

However, the impact he was expecting didn’t arrive . Instead, he smelled a somewhat salty air .

‘?’

Seol Jihu’s tightly closed eyes opened slowly . When he realized he had been transported to another area, his jaw immediately dropped .

He had heard that if he were sent back to Paradise, he would return to the place he entered from . However, the place he was currently in wasn’t the Salt Desert’s oasis . Moreover, the salty smell in the air carried the scent of the ocean .

Immediately raising his spear, he stood alert . He couldn’t sense anyone nearby, but he examined the room nervously . Only after carefully scrutinizing the place several times did he slowly put his spear down .

He was in a room with a desk and a bed . Beyond the small window on the wall, he could see an open sea . Realizing that this was probably the mysterious ship signaling the coming of the Banquet, Seol Jihu was convinced .

He had entered Stage 3 on his first attempt; the same Stage Kazuki and Dylan failed to enter twice before .

The problem was this . He couldn’t find the door out .

But as he had experienced something similar in Stage 1, he decided to wait calmly .

‘I read that Stage 3 is a battle royale… . ’

He was thinking about all sorts of things when he caught sight of a plate of bread sitting on the table . Even a glass of wine was placed next to it .

Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t eaten lunch yet . Being a glutton that he was, Seol Jihu rejoiced and reached for the bread before going ‘Ah!’ and retracting his hand . Although it did look tasty, he couldn’t just eat something so suspicious .

He took out some dried meat from the black belt Teresa had secretly given him . The hunger and thirst he experienced while escaping from the laboratory remained as a trauma, making him develop a habit of bringing ample food and water wherever he went .

‘Tasty . ’

Seol Jihu looked around the cabin room while chewing on the dried meat . Realizing there wasn’t anything else, he sat down on the bed and began to wait .

How much time passed by?

Splash- Splash- While only the sound of waves crashing against the ship rang out… .

Click! A familiar sound rang out .

A part of the flat wooden walls slightly came apart . It now looked like a revolving door .

As he was tired of waiting around, Seol Jihu got up from the bed excitedly .

It was then…

‘Hm?’

The door began to spin on its own .

When it turned 180 degrees and the other side of the wall came into his view… Seol Jihu flinched seeing the huge characters written on the wall .

He had never seen these characters before . But Synchronization seemed to be taking place, as they began to wriggle in the next moment .

Not long afterwards, the strange characters turned into a recognizable word and Seol Jihu could easily read what it said .

‘Wo…?’

Just as he read the word that had turned Korean… .

Sparkle! The word suddenly shone .

Seeing a bright light for an instant, Seol Jihu’s eyes dimmed . He looked as if he was entranced, and his arms drooped down as well .

“… . ”

Seol Jihu left the cabin room in a daze .

Walking like a puppet, he made his way through the dark ship . Opening the door at the end of the corridor, he walked down the staircase that followed .

Almost like someone who had his soul sucked out of him, he walked non-stop .

It wasn’t until he reached the bottom of the staircase that he stopped .

Click!

Another click rang out, and light returned to his dim eyes .

“…Ah . ”

Snapping out of his daze, Seol Jihu blinked multiple times . He felt like he had lost consciousness after reading the character, but he couldn’t remember it well .

He felt like he had a dream .

‘What happened?’

Seol Jihu stared at the staircase with a confused look . It looked like he had walked down to the basement, but he couldn’t see a door at the end of the staircase .

It must have disappeared immediately .

The only exit was a door that he could see in front of him .

The mysterious power that brought him here was obviously telling him to open it .

Despite understanding this, not knowing what was beyond the door made him hesitate . But he obviously couldn’t just stand there forever .

After hesitating for a long time, Seol Jihu walked toward the door . Taking a deep breath, he pushed his left hand forward . Rousing his mana to activate the Blessing of the Circum if needed, he slowly pushed the door with his spear .

And when he carefully stepped in…

Zing–! A powerful, acute pain struck his brain .

“Keuk!”

His eyes widened automatically, and his waist bent back . Struggling from the powerful pain, Seol Jihu clutched his head .

It was information .

Just like when he experienced Synchronization and just like when he saw the stone stele in Stage 2, new information was being jammed into this brain .

And just like always, the pain soon disappeared . But Seol Jihu didn’t straighten out his back and stood there, frozen .

He was in utter shock at the rules of Stage 3 .

‘Wh… what?’

The rules this time weren’t as complicated as before, but they were several times more shocking .

At that moment, rustling rang out . Seol Jihu raised his head, and nine doors entered his vision . Including the door he had used to enter, there were ten in total .

And in front of each door was a person groaning while massaging their temples .

They seemed to have noticed the situation too, as they looked around the room and fixed their posture .

Soon… . A total of ten people gathered in one place .

Technically, Seol doesn’t even know the Priest’s gender because Korean doesn’t have gendered pronouns . I gave the Priest a gender because a) it’s pretty obvious by her mannerism b) it makes text flow much better; this section makes specific note of how Seol doesn’t know her gender . Since this is quite obvious, I’ve omitted this part from the translation .

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