Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Gukbap and Demons
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“Eating well….”
It was something Kim Dayeon muttered without thinking.
Slurp.
Honestly, she’d been worried, but she hadn’t expected Go Yohan to devour the gukbap like this.
“I was wondering if I should’ve prepared steak or lobster instead.”
Another mutter that slipped out unbidden.
-As long as a meal provides nutrition, that’s enough for me. Gukbap is an excellent food. Compared to shoe soles or goblin meat, it’s a feast fit for kings.
Well, even without that, he wouldn’t have been picky.
“Sh-shoe soles? Goblin what? You talk like you’ve actually tried them.”
Kim Dayeon was dumbfounded.
She’d come to realize, moment by moment, that Go Yohan wasn’t some delicately raised young master blessed by the divine.
But even so, who actually ate shoe soles or goblin flesh?
-Shoe soles taste like jerky if you dry them well.
“……?”
-I’d rather not talk about goblin meat.
You’ve eaten it? Is that why you’re speaking from experience?
She shook her head.
“…They said it was middle school syndrome.”
That concept he’d created back then? Was that it?
But it was hard to dismiss it as mere fantasy.
‘It’s real, isn’t it?’
The power Go Yohan possessed was undeniably genuine, so she couldn’t treat it that way.
More than that, though.
“Haa.”
Who would look at Go Yohan, trapped in the Black Room, and think he was some middle schooler consumed by an inflated ego?
Cognitive dissonance. It was the biggest issue Kim Dayeon was grappling with.
Who would see that figure and imagine a massacre perpetrated by a malevolent ghost, or the great villain who’d ripped out the Association Chairman’s heart?
‘The Association’s orders are simple.’
The directive given to Kim Dayeon.
‘Learn everything you can. While he’s detained, uncover even the smallest details about him—his tastes, habits, anything.’
Even with those orders.
“…You were a demon, right?”
Kim Dayeon realized it wouldn’t be easy.
-Yes.
Veren and Geo—they’d said those two died because they were possessed by demons, or made deals with them.
Geo Guildmaster Choi Geo’s testimony carried solid credibility.
“…And the Chairman?”
-…….
For the first time, Go Yohan’s response was delayed.
-I have suspicions, but no certainty.
Barely.
“You did it based on suspicions?”
-I sensed malice. And people like that…
Clunk.
He set down the empty gukbap bowl, and it vanished as if erased.
-In some ways, they’re even more deserving of extermination than demons.
“…….”
Cognitive dissonance.
Just moments ago, he’d felt like a friend’s little brother, but in this instant, Go Yohan appeared as an indescribable monster.
“You… how do you know all this?”
Kim Dayeon asked.
The Association was actually pleased that she was conversing so casually with Go Yohan.
That’s why there’d been no additional personnel reinforcements.
-I’ve experienced it.
Go Yohan hid nothing, concealed nothing.
“Holy war….”
Go Yohan’s declaration came back to her.
“…Does God exist? No… you have a religion, right? Christianity? Catholicism? Or Buddhism…?”
Even when gates and players first appeared, such talk had popped up everywhere.
The end times had finally come, players were angels sent by God, and so on.
-Goddess.
Go Yohan said.
-I serve only Her, and this is solely a holy war for Her.
“…Goddess.”
She couldn’t comprehend it.
-There’s no need to understand. For She is…
Go Yohan said.
-Not your god.
His tone had shifted subtly.
“…….”
Kim Dayeon fell silent too.
-It won’t take long anyway. Just relax until then. Ask anything you’re curious about—I don’t hide or conceal things.
Go Yohan leaned back in his chair, as if that settled it.
-The Association will release me soon enough.
That made sense.
The storm of pressure on South Korea had vanished in an instant, like it had been washed away.
But no one was foolish enough to ignore it.
‘Silent pressure.’
Sometimes, that was the most terrifying kind.
Probably.
“Yeah, that’s right. You’ll be freed as soon as the new Chairman is selected. So… just hold on until then.”
It was the only thing Kim Dayeon could say right now.
*
*
*
“Kieeeek!”
A scream that couldn’t possibly come from a human echoed out.
“I was curious what kind of noise you’d make.”
In pitch-black darkness, white teeth gleamed.
It was an innocently pure smile that didn’t match the scream at all.
“Like a pig getting slaughtered? Tsk.”
The darkness blanketing the space seemed to get sucked into that mouth in an instant.
What emerged was a boy who looked about fifteen.
“Orcs at least squeal nicely.”
Playfully, the boy raised a single sword.
Stab.
He thrust it into the opponent’s lower belly.
“Kiek! Kieeeek!”
It was truly a beastly scream.
But its appearance was unmistakably human—no, it looked like someone afflicted with dwarfism.
Stab, stab.
He stabbed.
“Kieeeek!”
It screamed.
Slash.
He sliced, and it screamed again.
It seemed less like torture and more like a child plucking the wings off a dragonfly—light and casual.
“Dwarf, no… dvergr, was it?”
Kim Sion.
The apostle called Envira slouched in like a delinquent, resting his sword on his shoulder.
He’d been playful just a moment ago.
“But trash mongrels like you… daring to target the Captain?”
The cruelty in his eyes and smile was something even they, who had crawled out of hell, found hard to bear.
“Stop.”
Shadows rippled, and Yoon Seung-ah and Greed appeared.
“…….”
Hiding behind Yoon Seung-ah was Pride, along with Joo In-kyung.
There wasn’t just the one dvergr who’d been tortured until moments ago.
“Urk… Urk…”
“Aaack! Sp-spare me!”
Dozens of dwarves and dark elves, gripped by terror and fear.
They were demons.
Low-grade ones with only a single horn, but demons nonetheless.
They trembled.
These beings, who had once terrified all they encountered, were now dyed in fear themselves.
That was…
“Sp-spare…”
Even with three horns, it made no difference.
What filled them with fear wasn’t mere pain.
Demons who prided themselves on immortality.
“Enbi.”
“Yeah, sis.”
Splash!
Were dying—no, disintegrating before their eyes.
“Aren’t you leaving too many alive?”
Even with three horns, they couldn’t prostrate themselves before this power.
No, something beyond that.
“…Wh-why… are you….”
Sin.
The hierarchy of sins.
It was the absolute law of the demon world.
A single horn’s difference decided slave from master—an ironclad rule of that world.
To those who belonged there, it was crystal clear.
Humm.
The immense darkness dwelling within them—no, a sin that couldn’t be explained that way.
Yet strangely, even so, the hierarchy of sins didn’t activate.
And if not directly revealed, the aftershocks weren’t that great.
However, setting all that aside…
“Why… do you… follow… him….”
They possessed sins on the level of archdemons.
It was incomprehensible.
Invading this world, disguising themselves, they’d learned.
That everything called “Despair”—Travania’s name—existed here in another form.
And unlike in the past, he now moved with organized forces, forces that threatened even demons like them.
But this was too much.
These were…
“Why… demons….”
Demons.
Splurt!
In that instant, the dvergr who’d spoken had its head split in two.
“Who’re you calling demons?”
Kim Sion scowled irritably.
“Sis, do we really have to keep these alive? We’ve already set aside the ones who might know something, right?”
Following Go Yohan’s orders, they’d traced involvement in the Seongdong Black Gate and found where the dvergrs and dark elves were hiding.
They’d captured thirty alive.
Among them, the pentagonal-horned demon leaders had been separately secured by Yoon Seung-ah.
“Captain’s orders.”
“Captain? Has he contacted you? Is the Captain okay? Is he hurt anywhere? No… can we go rescue him? Wait…”
A grin.
“We’re not rescuing—we can go visit?”
“No.”
“…Tsk.”
“They’re useful.”
“What….”
At Yoon Seung-ah’s words, Kim Sion stood without further protest and stepped back.
“If the Captain says so.”
No doubts, no suspicions.
“Still, too many is too many.”
Kim Sion grinned at Yoon Seung-ah’s words, but it wasn’t his turn this time.
“Pride.”
The youngest among the apostles—she still had little experience against demons.
Her childlike appearance was why Go Yohan hadn’t deployed her yet.
“Leave six. Can you do it?”
“…Yes.”
Pride stepped forward cautiously.
At the sight, the demons’ faces twisted further.
Such humiliation to the very end.
Rumble!
The demons began squeezing out every last drop of their remaining power.
“Looks like you’ve still got some strength left.”
Greed said in her usual languid voice.
“If even one of you wounds Pride here, I’ll let you all live. Of course, you’ll spend your lives as slaves, but you should be grateful just to breathe.”
Those who revealed themselves were all monsters no triangular demon could handle.
But that young girl was different.
She felt faintly powerful, but that was it—no greater magic or sin could be detected, even if you scoured with your eyes.
“Promise….”
In that instant, the demon who spoke saw its vision go black.
Crunch.
Something torn out, ripped free.
And that was the end.
In the darkness-filled space.
“For demons to talk of promises and cling to hope.”
Greed shook her head.
“Truly pathetic.”
It happened in the blink of an eye.
All that remained there…
“Pride, I said leave six.”
“…Sorry.”
Only four demons left, staring blankly.
It was impossible to believe this was the vicious hunter who’d just been slaying demons.
The reason Go Yohan kept Pride leashed was that she still couldn’t fully control her own power.
And the next day.
“You ignorant and arrogant fools.”
Yoon Seung-ah’s shadow murmured.
“Experience the cost of absence keenly.”
A Black Gate opened in Seoul’s Mapo District.