Chapter 454.: The Second Coming of Gluttony 4
Sung Shihyun was thrown into the air by the power of the explosion.
His body drew a curve, swaying like a tattered piece of cloth in the air.
His eyes were out of focus, blank.
Only the sky filled his vision. Gray clouds drifted slowly before his eyes like a panorama.
‘I….’
His mouth slowly closed. His eyes, looking fixedly at the sky, also lost their vitality.
Perhaps it was because he was close to his death that everything that happened to him since he first entered Paradise began to flash through his mind.
Sung Shihyun quietly closed his eyes.
Sung Shihyun, the first Invited to receive a Gold Stamp, and the next in the line of the elites from Area 1, following Baek Haeju and Seo Yuhui.
In March 2013, he was named the top graduate in his class in the Neutral Zone and joined the ranks of the ‘Irregulars’ by successfully completing an impossible mission alone while beating others by a landslide.
Even after graduating from the Neutral Zone, nothing stood in Sung Shihyun’s way.
The Daughter of Luxuria, who became an Executor in the shortest amount of time in the history of Paradise, accompanied Sung Shihyun and helped him grow. Of course, his own talent was remarkable, too.
As he began to earn contribution points and achieve greater success, he grew more and more fond of Paradise.
He still remembered exchanging some of the rewards he earned on his first expedition for money and buying several bowls of abalone porridge, which cost more than 20000 won a bowl, on his way home.
[Shihyun, where did you get the money to pay for all this…?]
[Aw, come on, Mom! You gotta try something like this once in a while. And don’t worry! I make a lot now.]
[I know you got a job, but still, this is….]
[I’m telling you, it’s nothing. You have no idea how successful I am.]
And he was successful in Paradise.
Sung Shihyun had an aptitude for all that was useful in Paradise, and he quickly blossomed into one of the strongest Earthlings in Paradise with the help of his comrades, combined with his own efforts.
It was only natural that he fell in love with Paradise. In Paradise, he was given infinite opportunities to change his life, which had been considered a failure on Earth. He especially liked that he could obtain rewards commensurate with his efforts.
But as is often the case with those who greatly surpass their peers, he too became a target of jealousy.
Those who envied Sung Shihyun were too afraid to face him head-on, so instead, they began plotting against him in secrecy.
When he first experienced their malice, he felt as if he had been hit in the back of his head with a rock.
It began when he set out on an expedition to a site near the Parasites border.
It was widely known that there were ancient ruins in that area, but most Earthlings dared not approach it because of a nearby Parasites fortress.
So, Sung Shihyun destroyed the fortress first before heading to the ruins.
It was then that he ran into an expedition team trying to set foot inside the ruins.
They fought over the right to explore, and in the process, insults and punches were exchanged.
For Sung Shihyun, who had destroyed the Parasites fortress, only to have his reward almost taken away from him, the fact that he kicked the expedition team out without seriously hurting them was already an act of benevolence.
But when he returned from the expedition, he discovered that he had become a scumbag who claimed possession of the ruins by force.
The rumor spread quickly, and no one listened to his protest. Not even an article was written that shed light on his position.
But that was okay. Sung Shihyun didn’t need everyone to like him. He was fine as long as he got what he rightfully deserved.
Baek Haeju told him these things happened all the time, that he shouldn’t pay much attention to it. Seo Yuhui told him that he should bear with it. So he did. He chose to consider it a price for fame.
But his mystery haters were not only persistent but also malicious.
Everything he said and did, which would not have been a problem had it come from anyone other than Sung Shihyun, became exaggerated in rumors circulating all around Paradise.
One day he decided to visit one of the organizations that wrote a wrong article about him. The organization apologized and promised to conduct a more thorough investigation before publishing an article, at which point he returned home.
But the next day, Sung Shihyun had become a thug who threatened the said organization with force.
Once Sung Shihyun became preoccupied with what others thought of him, he unknowingly began to place restrictions on what he should or shouldn’t do, and his patience quickly began to run out.
It was around that time he learned about the kind of rumors that were circulating regarding Baek Haeju, who made significant contributions for Paradise, and Seo Yuhui, who sacrificed herself more than anyone else for Paradise.
Sung Shihyun didn’t want to be like the two.
No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out what he had done wrong. But since everyone seemed to hate him so much, he decided to give them a reason for it.
At last, Sung Shihyun whipped out his sword, despite Seo Yuhui’s attempts to stop him.
His first target was the informant organization that ran an inaccurate article about him. He beat them up, and once he got a name for who ordered them to write such an article, he proceeded to destroy them as well.
That was the beginning of an all-out war.
The more persistent his opponents became, the more tenacious Sung Shihyun became.
He found the expedition team that first framed him and killed them after cruel torture.
He captured those who had come to assassinate him, tortured them, and brutally killed all teams and organizations associated with these assassins for everyone to see.
In the process of carrying out his revenge, Sung Shihyun changed. He also earned various nicknames.
Disappointed by his cruelty, comrades left him one after another. But Sung Shihyun didn’t care about that. It wasn’t like nobody wanted him.
Even after becoming a member of Sinyoung, Sung Shihyun’s attitude remained the same. No, in fact, it got worse. Sung Shihyun had nothing to be afraid of, with such a powerful organization supporting him.
He wasn’t any less cruel to his comrades. If he didn’t like the way they looked at him, or if he heard them talking behind his back, he threw a fit. It wasn’t until he saw them kneel before him and beg for their lives that he felt any better.
It didn’t take long for everyone to become afraid of Sung Shihyun.
Years of harassment and unfair criticism directed toward him quickly began to diminish.
This gave Sung Shihyun confidence that everything he did was right, that he was right.
But that was before he heard that his mother had passed away.
She died in a car accident.
It was a common cause, but the way it happened wasn’t common at all.
A car drove onto the sidewalk and hit his mother on her way home from work. The driver, a foreigner, went missing immediately after the accident. Everything about this incident reeked of Paradise.
Sung Shihyun returned to Earth as soon as he heard the news.
He stood for hours in front of his mother’s smiling portrait.
Even then, his anger was directed at those responsible. He had no intention of defecting.
But everything changed when Yun Seohui and others from Sinyoung arrived at the funeral.
[It seems there has been a mistake on our part. I’m sorry we couldn’t protect her.]
[But you should have paid more attention. She’s your mother, after all.]
[You have to understand. We did our best, but you know better than anyone that you have enemies everywhere. There are at least 10 organizations that I know of.]
[You dummy. Why weren’t you more careful?]
Sung Shihyun watched Yun Seohui bow to his mother’s portrait before stepping outside the funeral home, but immediately stopped when he heard voices coming from the outside.
[Did you see his face? It was quite a sight.]
[I feel bad for the deceased, but at the same time, I feel a little bit relieved too. He’s been such a pain in the ass.]
[Right? Maybe this will bring him down a notch or two. I don’t know who it was, but I’m thankful to them. That’s right, there’s something I heard before coming here.]
[Oh, that? Yes, I’ve heard it too, but it’s an unconfirmed rumor.]
[But it’s true that Director Park has been holding grudges against Sung Shihyun ever since the bastard beat him up.]
[Well, yes, but….]
[So Director Park talked to the guard team in charge of Sung Shihyun’s mother, and….]
When Sung Shihyun heard that, he felt something snap inside him.
Should he kill Director Park? Should he do the same to his family? Perhaps he should just destroy Sinyoung.
Countless thoughts flashed through Sung Shihyun’s mind, but in the end, he shook his head.
Director Park wasn’t the actual culprit. And, given how meticulous he was, he would have already wiped out all the evidence.
…No, the truth was, he didn’t care about evidence.
He was sick of all this.
Sung Shihyun emptied his head of everything.
He decided to do what he had always done.
The opponent crossed the line. Now, it was his turn to do the same.
After the funeral, Sung Shihyun returned to Paradise. He secretly crossed the border into enemy territory.
He faced the Parasite Queen.
[Power.]
And he spoke.
[I want power.]
[The power to destroy all Earthlings.]
The Parasite Queen accepted his demand.
Seeing Sung Shihyun’s potential, the Parasite Queen offered him two privileges. The first was that the Parasite Queen would personally turn him into a parasite. The second was that she would create a vessel for him to use, even if it took her some time, in case a vacancy emerged in the position of the Army Commanders.
Fortunately for Sung Shihyun, when he successfully completed the two procedures, Undying Diligence died.
After absorbing the divinity of Diligence into his body, Sung Shihyun entered the nest specially prepared for him by the Parasite Queen. He promised himself that, on the day he came out as the First Army Commander of the Parasites, he would keep the vow he made at his mother’s funeral….
Koong!
Sung Shihyun fell from the sky and rolled across the ground.
WAAAAAAAH!
Cheers erupted from everywhere.
They couldn’t help it. The First Army Commander of the Parasites, the defector of humanity, who had lured Seol Jihu into a trap and killed him, thus facilitating the fall of Paradise, had finally fallen.
Seol Jihu withdrew his spear and calmed his breathing.
The fact that he had finally reached the state of perfect harmony, and the power of his own Reinforced Sword Qi surprised him, but instead of staying complacent, he quickly glanced around.
Seol Jihu’s eyes subsequently narrowed.
‘Vulgar Chastity and Unsightly Humility are….’
…Gone. He couldn’t sense them anywhere. They had vanished without a trace.
Apart from Sung Shihyun’s divinity, which was rapidly diminishing, the only divinity he could sense nearby was that of Abhorrent Charity.
Seol Jihu quickly shook his spear over his head. Teresa saw his signal and shouted for her soldiers to gather.
It was then.
All of a sudden, the roaring cheers stopped.
Sensing the heat coming from in front of him, Seol Jihu turned his head forward.
Surprisingly, Sung Shihyun was standing up. There were holes in his chest and abdomen, but his eyes were still burning furiously.
“Kuhuk!”
Blood spurted from Sung Shihyun’s mouth.
His legs were shaking. Even standing still was a challenge for him now.
Nevertheless, his one remaining hand held on tightly to the white longsword.
“…”
Seol Jihu turned and faced Sung Shihyun, who was now staggering.
The Army Commander’s injury was fatal, but he was still alive. His divinity struggled desperately to revive its vessel. But the harder it struggled, the faster it was burned down by Seol Jihu’s mana left inside him.
“Huuuu….”
Moments later, a long sigh escaped Sung Shihyun’s mouth.
He slowly raised his head and looked at Seol Jihu with eyes full of spite.
“You….”
Sung Shihyun’s lips quivered.
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