The Second Coming of Gluttony Chapter 126:
Chapter 126 . Seol Jihu (3)
Silence filled the air . The spectators watched on with varied expressions – Seol Jihu’s comrades with stiff faces, the 32 minority members with nervousness, and the 78 majority members with curiosity .
The majority’s silence could be seen as a tacit agreement of Audrey Basler’s words . Although they weren’t agreeing with her openly, what she said must have caught their interest .
That was simply how the human psyche worked . The moment they were directly involved in a problem, the fairness of the situation no longer mattered . Only gains and losses were important .
“Don’t think too badly of me . ”
Audrey Basler knew this too well .
“Ask them if you want… . Ah! Of course, they might feel disgusted since they have to give up their rewards, but deep inside, I’m sure they’re happy to have a chance of survival . ”
She said whatever she wanted… .
“Anyways, talk among yourselves and come to a decision . ”
And came up with the terms of agreement herself .
Seol Jihu stared at her intently . Snake Eyes smiled ferociously, and asked, “What’s up with those eyes?”
“… . ”
“Why are you glaring at me like that?”
“…The 78 people from the majority side and the 32 people from the minority side need a symbiotic relationship . ” Seol Jihu finally opened his mouth . “With one side missing, the other side cannot conquer the Stage . ”
“Mm~”
Basler dragged out the end of her sentence and smiled with her eyes . An ominous feeling welled up inside Seol Jihu, and his mood quickly sunk . He wasn’t sure if Basler was doing this on purpose or if this was just her personality . Regardless, she really seemed to be a borne provocateur .
“Really?”
Seol Jihu was about to ask, ‘What do you mean?’ However, his complexion quickly stiffened . He realized the cause of his previous ominous feeling .
What came next wasn’t something that should be said in this place . However, Audrey Basler’s mouth didn’t stop .
“You might find out… tomorrow morning . ”
…In the end, she said it . Cackling to herself, while staring at the 32 minorities .
“… . ”
She shouldn’t have said that .
If she knew how the 32 people, the victims of the previous incident included, felt; if she knew why this conference was called for, she shouldn’t have said that even as a joke .
After all, that was equivalent to kicking away the chance they barely managed to clutch on to .
Seol Jihu slowly tilted his head up and stared at the sky .
“Kekekeke! Huh? You’re mad?”
Did she really think that? Or was she doing this on ‘purpose’, fully knowing the consequences behind her words?
[Where’s all the killing and backstabbing and, you know, the fun stuff? It’s gotta be more **** than this!]
Perhaps, it was both . Considering the Status Window he saw in Stage 1, she was more than capable of doing so .
[I can guarantee you one thing . ]
Suddenly… .
[Even if you don’t do anything, there will be people who curse you . The more famous you get, the more hate you will receive . Some people will even resent you . That’s not the end of it . There will be a ton of people who are going to try to use you . ]
Words he had heard in the past brushed past his head .
[Because you’re trying to jump ahead . ]
Despite how horrible she was, Seol Jihu still thought it was worth it to try and lead her .
Although he failed magnificently the first time, he tried to learn from it and searched for a way to improve . However it was the same in Stage 2 .
“Hey~ Are you mad~?”
In truth, he knew the reason . Just like Kim Hannah said, the world wasn’t so simple and clear . And he thoroughly realized this through the Banquet .
“Aigo, what are we gonna do~? Our Prince is really angry~”
Giving one did not guarantee receiving one . Stealing two did not require giving two either .
“Okay, I was too harsh . Stop being so angry . Here! Let’s shake hands and makeup . ”
It was the same with human relationships . There were those who expressed gratitude for a show of goodwill, but there were also those who considered it a right . There were people like Oh Rahee, who were quick to understand, and people like Audrey Basler, who ignored everything .
“Prince~?”
Thus, the world wasn’t a Golden Rule . If the world operated under the law of equivalent exchange, then it would be dyed golden .
“Are you ignoring me?”
So what should he do? If words didn’t do any good, what method should he use?
“What are you so worried about?”
The answer was simple . After all, he was looking at it every single day .
“It’s easy . Just come to a decision by tomorrow morning, and we can do things your way . ”
He shouldn’t be waiting or searching for the Golden Rule… .
“You understand me, right?”
He had to become the Golden Rule .
“Did you get that?”
He had no intention of playing the role of an ‘ally of justice’ . He wasn’t trying to become someone who was strong against the strong, and weak against the weak .
“Ah, this **** is ignoring me like some mutt on the streets . ”
It was just that… if the world was like this… if this was the world he lived in… .
“How boring . ”
Although he might be late, he would have to adapt to it properly .
“No emotions~ No fun~ I’m out . ”
Before he noticed, the sky of the vast field was shining in a golden light .
‘The Golden Commandment . ’
…Right . Everything according to the Golden Commandment .
[Your ‘Chaotic’ level of cognition… . ]
And thus… .
[…changes to ‘Golden Rule’ . ]
[Moderate (Actions and thoughts are sensible; hard-working) / Awakening / Golden Rule (To treat others as they have treated you)]
The moment his standard was set… .
“Sit . ”
Seol Jihu threw off his mask .
“…Hm?”
Audrey Basler’s steps halted .
“I’m not done talking . ”
She turned back . A look of ecstasy spread on her face, almost as if she was thinking, ‘He’s finally reacting’ .
Without a doubt, she was enjoying the situation . Fine . Then he had to enjoy it as well .
“Oooh~ Getting feisty, eh?”
“I said, sit . ”
When Seol Jihu walked forward, Audrey Basler’s head slowly tilted up . The youth stopped right in front of her . When he glared down, Audrey Basler’s serpentine eyes curled like crescent moons .
“Scary, scary . You gonna hit me?”
“I won’t say it a third time,” Seol Jihu said in a low voice .
“Kik!” Blink, blink . Basler closed and opened her eyes twice before snorting, “I don’t want to!”
As if she found the youth to be laughably funny, her face distorted venomously . She yacked, “I was going to let it slide, but you must really be out of your mind . ”
It was then…
“Who the **** are you to tell me what to—!”
Thwack! Basler suddenly plunked down as her eyes widened . Unable to withstand the instantaneous shock, she fell on her **** and pressed her temples at the pain flooding in .
Looking up with a scowl, she saw the youth’s fist . Only then did she realize what happened .
She was flustered only for a moment .
“Hey!”
“That bastard…!”
A few of her comrades tried to step forward but stopped when Basler signaled them with her hand .
“Wow… . ” With her **** still touching the ground, she slowly opened her mouth, “Confident, eh, Prince? It must be nice to have so many friends!”
The smirk never left her face . “You finally showed your true colors… . Fine, I’ll bark like you want me to do . I don’t see why not . ”
“… . ”
“What? You want me to wag my tail too? Like this?” She got on her hands and knees and began to shake her **** .
“The one in the minority like the poor old me have to do this to survive… . ” She sneered while emphasizing the word ‘minority’ .
“This isn’t enough? You’re not satisfied? You really want me to bark?” She then opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, pretending to bark .
Knowing why she was doing this, Seol Jihu replied with a calm smile, “Sounds good . Do it . ”
“Huh?”
“Bark . ”
Audrey Basler’s eyes widened .
“Since we’re doing this, let’s do it right . Ah, how about you pee as well? With one leg up, of course . ”
“…What?”
For every problem, there was a bottom line that could not be crossed . Audrey Basler’s mischievous face contorted indescribably .
“Ha!” She paused completely . She then dropped her head and slowly got up . “Hiyaa… . You have quite the taste!”
“You wanted to act like a dog, didn’t you? I’m just giving good suggestions . ”
“You must really think you’re something special because I keep calling you Prince… . Oi . ” Playfulness disappeared from her expression . One of her eyebrows perked up . “You sure you can handle it?”
“?”
“Looks like you’re greatly mistaken here . We’re not staying still because we’re afraid of you . We’re afraid of them – the Triads, Umi Tsubame, and Carpe Diem . Got it?”
Seol Jihu smirked .
“Huh? You think it’s funny? Sure, go ahead, laugh all you want . But things will be different once we go back to Paradise . ”
“Really?” Seol Jihu crossed his arms leisurely . “If it’s just you, I think I alone am more than enough . ”
“Oh?” Basler rejoiced as if she had been waiting for these words . “Is that your pride as a man? Looks like you have **** . Then you wanna fight? Without anyone interfering from our teams, of course . ”
She stealthily distanced herself and raised her guard up like a boxer . Seeing this with a vacant look, Seol Jihu threw away his Ice Spear and lightly dusted his hands .
“Ha . ”
Audrey Basler chuckled .
“You must have seen a lot of mo-” She quickly lowered her upper body and finished, “-vies!”
Then, she abruptly bolted to the side before charging forward in an ambush .
She shot forward like a ray of light, but in the next moment, her proud face became blank . Along with the sound of the air bursting, the youth, who had been standing in a defenseless state, instantly rushed in .
‘When…!?’
Thwack! With a clear striking sound, Basler’s head forcefully turned . Her body also tilted and she spun in the air . But before she could mutter out a single cry, her left eye turned hot .
“Keuk!”
As expected of a high-level Archer, she didn’t fall . However, she had already lost her balance .
“Wai—”
Next, another dull blow struck her head . A short cry rang out . In the end, she stumbled down once again .
She quickly lost her composure . With her head drooped low, she fell into despair . She couldn’t believe what was happening . She knew the youth was strong, but how could an Archer lose out in speed to a Warrior of the same level?
That was simply impossible .
“You…!”
As if she couldn’t accept the result, she tumbled up and brought one hand to her thigh .
Pang! The sound of the air bursting rang out again . Seol Jihu shot forward twice as fast as before and kicked her hand, which was pulling out a dagger .
The kicked hand flailed in the air, and she could see Seol Jihu with his right hand pulled back .
“Kyaaak!”
When his punch landed, Basler covered her eyes as if her vision had been muddied .
Regardless… .
“If, like you say, we sacrifice… . ”
Seol Jihu spoke calmly and didn’t stop punching .
“The 32 people… . ”
Her nose was smashed in, causing blood to spurt out .
“Only 30 out of the 78 people can leave . ”
Her cheekbones sunk in… .
“And the remaining 48 will have to fight again… . And what?”
And fresh blood flowed out from her burst lips .
“I’ll find out in the morning?”
A straight filled with rage shot out . It smashed her mouth, and three or four teeth trickled down .
“The **** is that supposed to mean?”
Seeing her lowered head, Seol Jihu struck her head . Basler once again fell to the ground .
It seemed she hadn’t lost her consciousness as she staggered up . However, she tripped over her own feet and fell on her **** once again .
“Auu… auuuu… . ”
Basler’s comrades, who thought she was simply playing around, realized the gravity of the situation . They exchanged quick glances with each other .
“Oi! That’s enou—”
“Mhm, that’s enough out of you too . ”
Hearing an interfering voice from a close distance, the man who was taking out his weapon froze . He could feel someone wrapping their arm around his neck .
When he creaked his head back, he saw a neatly dressed man biting down on a cigarette .
“Don’t think you interfering in a one on one fight is cheating?”
Before he noticed, the members of the Triads had all gathered behind him .
“Don’t you agree, friend?”
Hao Win winked at the man he had his arm around and puffed out a smoke . The man furrowed his brows .
“But he’s going too f—”
“Hah?”
At that moment, something black tore through the white smoke and stopped right in front of his face .
“What was that?”
Hugo had shoved his face with his hand over his ear . Crack . When he heard the man grit his teeth, he nodded his head and exclaimed .
“Aha! You want to get beaten up?”
Hic! The man hiccuped . Hugo and the Triads were both famous for their cruelty .
“Ka, Kazuki!”
He called Ayase Kazuki, who usually held a moderate position .
“Hm?”
But when he saw Kazuki loading his crossbow with bolts, he couldn’t help but close his mouth shut .
As a result, Seol Jihu was able to do what had to be done without any interference .
“Get up . ”
“Huaaa… . ”
An airy sound came out . Because Seol Jihu had repeatedly struck her face, her hair was disheveled and her face was plastered with blood .
“Get up . I don’t want to hear you making excuses later, like you tripped or something . ”
“Keu… Keuhuhu… . ”
“Not getting up?”
Seol Jihu stomped forward and snatched her ponytail up .
“Auuuu!”
After forcefully picking her up by her hair, he lightly pushed her body . Snake Eyes bobbed back and forth before she took a few steps back .
This time, it wasn’t to distance herself for battle . It was out of complete fear .
Thwack!
“Kuk—”
When he struck the back of her neck, a breath-severing sound came out . Basler no longer remembered how many times she had fallen .
“Get up . ”
Her knocked down body twitched . When the youth’s footsteps got close, her arms and legs flailed in desperation .
Basler swam through the grass field before barely managing to flip herself over and hugging Seol Jihu’s ankle .
“Sph… spware me… . ”
Because of her broken teeth, the sound of a flute rang out with her words .
“I’m sowwy… . I’m sowwy… spware me… . ”
With her eyes dyed from bluish-red bruises, she begged for her life while reeking of blood .
Seol Jihu spoke calmly, “Get up . ”
Hearing his cold voice, Basler grimaced . Tears of blood continued to fall from her eyes .
“I’ww… I’ww do ash you shay… sho… pweash… . ”
“… . ”
“Barw! I’ww barw! Wan! Wan, wan! Wan, wan, wan!”
She even barked for real .
Seol Jihu was about to pick her up by her collar when a conspicuous light caught his attention .
‘Her color…!’
When he checked her color in Stage 1, she had been yellow – Attention Required . It remained the same until now when it suddenly began to change .
From yellow to colorless .
This wasn’t the first time someone’s color changed . He had seen Teresa’s color change from colorless to gold .
However, this was the first time he was seeing a color of danger change .
Looking down with a fixed gaze, Seol Jihu squatted down . He raised her chin with his index finger until they met eyes .
Seeing the eyes completely succumbed to fear, he could guess why the color changed .
“Was this really necessary to get you to understand?”
“… . ”
“Why couldn’t you have just listened when I spoke nicely?”
“… . ”
“It’s not like I told you to go die alone . ”
“… . ”
“It was so that everyone could live . ”
Basler was trembling intensely and barely managing to look at him in the eye . But when she heard the calmness in his voice, goosebumps suddenly shot up on her body . She couldn’t believe she was looking at the same youth she saw in Stage 1 .
“Let’s be honest . You knew it too . ”
He most certainly wasn’t speaking to just Audrey Basler . Seeing Snake Eyes nodding her head crazily, Seol Jihu stood up .
“Let me add one more condition . ”
He looked back at the majority faction and wiped the sweat on his forehead . Because of the blood and flesh covering his hand, a line of blood was drawn across his forehead .
“Audrey Basler and her five teammates . We will consider them as part of the minority faction when we’re forming the teams . ”
He was basically saying he would split up Snake Eyes and her team so they wouldn’t have any other intentions .
“Also… . ” Seol Jihu continued, “If anyone has a better idea, I’m open to discussion . ”
He was telling them to speak out now if they had any problems .
Suddenly, a muffled cackle rang out . Oh Rahee had her head dropped with her hand over her mouth . Her shoulders shook for a while before she finally got up . She walked toward the youth with light steps before scrutinizing him from top to bottom .
When she kept staring at him, Seol Jihu opened his mouth first .
“Is there a problem?”
“No, no, it’s not about that . ”
Hnnng . With a long hum, Oh Rahee shrugged .
“I want to be in the first team that enters the Plaza of the Dissonant Wish . Is that okay?”
Looking at Audrey Basler, who was shaking like a bug, she burst into laughter .
“I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying that the first button has to be fastened right . In exchange for going in first, I’ll make sure to bring them all out . ”
Seol Jihuh took a deep breath . With her statement, the conference had come to a decision . With Oh Rahee, one of the strongest members of the majority faction agreeing, the scale had been tipped in his favor .
“We can decide during the team conference . ”
She seemed to completely agree with all his conditions . And as long as she didn’t violate any rule, Seol Jihu had no qualms with letting her go first .
“Should I take her?” Oh Rahee asked as she glanced at Snake Eyes . She seemed to be saying she would keep an eye on her . Surely, it was a sign of goodwill .
“No . ”
However, Seol Jihu shook his head . Trusting Basler just because her color changed was a foolish thing to do .
“We will take Audrey Basler . ”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course . Chohong!”
Chohong raised her hand as if she had been waiting for this moment . She quickly approached them while dragging her intimidating Thorn of Steel on the grass field .
“Please . ”
“Yeah, yeah . I just gotta take care of her until the end of the Banquet, right?”
As Seol Jihu had already asked for help, she agreed right away . She picked up her mace and rested it on her shoulder before glaring at Basler who was still on the ground .
“The **** are you glaring at me for? Drop your eyes . ”
Seeing Snake Eyes bite her lips, Chohong let out a chuckle before suddenly turning serious .
“Oi . ”
“… . ”
“Drop your eyes, **** **** . You want me to blow your head off?”
The crazies often recognized each other . Feeling Chohong’s chilling, madness-drenched aura, Basler gulped hard .
Soon, she lowered her gaze along with her head .
Chohong grinned .
“Look forward to it . I’ll personally take care of you until the Banquet ends . ”
Chohong dragged Audrey Basler’s sagging body away . Having watched the scene play from beginning to end with keen interest, Oh Rahee asked with a meaningful smile .
“What’s your last name?”
“…Didn’t I tell you?”
“You only told me your given name . So? Kim Seol? Yi Seol?”
Seol Jihu’s eyes spun at the abrupt question . He then let out a long sigh before opening his mouth .
“No . ”
“?”
“Seol is my last name . ”
“My name is… . ”
After picking up the Ice Spear, Seol Jihu took a look around his surroundings . Most people had not gotten up from their seats .
Another thing that changed was the atmosphere .
Kazuki with a calm face, the 32 minority members with flustered expressions as if they didn’t think Seol Jihu would go this far, and the 78 majority with tired looks .
“My name is…”
Facing the numerous gazes that were all pointing towards him… .
“Jihu . ”
The youth smiled lightheartedly .
“I’m Seol Jihu . ”
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