Chapter 464: A Secret Conversation
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 464: A Secret Conversation
Creeak—
The moment I opened the office door, my eyes met a pair of cold, placid violet eyes.
Behind her gaze, a subtle killing intent lingered.
“...What is it?”
“Why? Can't I come see you if there's nothing wrong?”
“That's not what I meant.”
Despite Lucifer's sharp tone, I smiled, pretending not to be bothered. She stared at me intently before suddenly reaching out her hand.
For a split second, I debated whether to dodge, but I decided to calmly offer my face.
Thwack!
“...Lucy?”
“Hold still.”
Lucifer furrowed her brow and prodded at my face.
She did this from time to time, but that didn't make the current situation any less bewildering.
Why is she suddenly acting like this?
“...Tsk. Just what have you been up to, getting marked by all the weirdos?”
Lucifer muttered to herself as she studied my face.
The moment I thought she was acting stranger than usual today...
Whoosh!
“?!”
She suddenly closed the distance and pressed her lips against mine.
I felt a hot, soft sensation.
She naturally wrapped her arms around my neck, slipping her tongue between my closed lips and continuing the kiss with an uncharacteristic aggression.
Caught off guard, I inwardly gasped.
Lucifer, who was surprisingly shy and even hesitant to hold hands in public, was ambushing me with a kiss in the hallway?
My surprise at her sudden action was brief, as the thought that this might be an opportunity flashed through my mind.
I started to respond, naturally wrapping my arms around her waist. It would definitely be a pain if Lucifer found out I'd been alone with Wi Ryeong-ah.
So I had to make the first move.
As we continued to kiss, I swept Lucifer up into my arms.
Then, without a moment's hesitation, I walked down the hall and opened the door to the on-call room.
Thump—
I gently laid Lucifer on the bed and immediately threw off my shirt.
I had just finished having sex with Lee Serin, but my dick was already hard again, standing proudly as if nothing had happened.
It was because of Lucifer's unique scent—sweet yet stimulating.
“Hyun-woo.”
But her eyes as she looked up at me were as cold as ice.
“Looks like rolling around with another woman just now wasn't enough for you, huh?”
“...You knew?”
“Of course. Did you think I wouldn't?”
At Lucifer's cold voice, my dick wilted.
“Get off.”
With the atmosphere changing 180 degrees in an instant, I slowly pushed myself up.
Then I awkwardly gathered my clothes and put them back on.
“You reek. Go wash up, quickly.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
I headed straight for the shower attached to the on-call room.
When I came out exactly ten minutes later, Lucifer was sitting in a chair, drinking coffee.
It was a can of Maxx.
After a moment of gauging her mood, I sat down across from her.
“Ahem, so what brought you here?”
“A few things. That's why I need you to call the Administrator.”
“The Administrator?”
“We can't talk where others might be listening.”
Lucifer glanced at the empty air.
“As a rule, unless you're in the middle of a test, both residents and players have to pay a fair price each time they summon an Administrator. For the 1st floor, 1,000 WP should be enough.”
“...Capitalism to the bone.”
Having to pay WP just to summon someone—it was a truly vicious system.
Ting—
「Would you like to summon the Administrator?」
「Y/N」
「Y」
「-1,000WP」
Fwaaat—!!
At that moment, a cluster of shimmering light appeared in mid-air, and from beyond it, someone emerged.
A small, adorable body, soft, gleaming white fur, and sparkling eyes.
“How dare a mere player summon me.”
Tap—
Landing on the desk with a nimble movement was none other than a marten.
And it was a suspiciously cute marten at that, with white fur reminiscent of an albino and a green scarf wrapped around its neck.
“You've got some nerve for a low-floor player!”
The marten stood up on its hind legs and chattered at me.
Its arrogant tone didn't match its small, cute appearance.
“That's enough chatter.”
“Hm?”
“I want to block the Constellations' gazes for the next hour. I will pay the price.”
At Lucifer's words, the Administrator's gaze snapped toward her.
He puffed out his chest and raised his voice.
“A mere player trying to blind the eyes of the great Constellations! The nerve of you—”
“Hey.”
Sshhhhaaa—
In that instant, a cold, heavy killing intent spread in all directions.
The pressure was so intense it felt like the very air was freezing.
As a former highest-ranking deity, her killing intent was at times so sharp and profound that it gave even me goosebumps.
“Just do as you're told.”
“...”
Struck head-on by Lucifer's killing intent, the Administrator began to tremble uncontrollably.
Its pale face was pitiful, but I also found it a little cute.
Taking advantage of its distraction, I started fiddling with its limp tail.
“Y-Yessir...!”
Tap, tap, tap.
As if desperate to get away, the Administrator began operating a panel with its tiny paws.
Ting—
「Will you pay 5,000WP?」
「Y/N」
“5,000 WP?”
“E-Even if you glare at me like that, I can't give you a discount! Not a single penny! I don't make a profit on this either!”
Even as it spoke, it kept glancing nervously at Lucifer, which was quite cute. I gently scratched under its neck with my fingertip, and its trembling subsided as if it had relaxed a little.
“N-Not there...”
'What do martens eat? Do they eat nuts?'
I would later learn that martens are surprisingly formidable predators, eating mice, squirrels, red squirrels, and birds, as well as roe deer, water deer, and even young wild boars.
「Y」
“Gasp?! A low-floor player paying 5,000 WP in one go...?”
“You got your money. Now hurry up and get lost.”
“Y-Yes, ma'am...!”
Urged on by Lucifer, its tiny paws moved twice as fast as before.
Soon, an opaque barrier spread out from the ceiling, completely enveloping the on-call room.
“W-Well then, I'll be on my way!”
Whoosh—
The moment its job was done, the Administrator fled through the rift like an arrow.
An Administrator should be quite powerful, but it seemed to have a timid personality.
Still, it hadn't done a sloppy job. The presence of the Constellations that always lingered around me had completely vanished.
“But is this really okay?”
It was safe to say the Constellations were the viewers and the players were the streamers.
In effect, a streamer had just cut their broadcast without any warning. The viewers obviously wouldn't be happy about it.
And if they were all malicious viewers who thought they were the ones in charge, there was nothing more to say.
“It doesn't matter. If they don't like it, they can leave on their own.”
Lucifer continued firmly.
“I've told you before, you don't need to walk on eggshells just because the Constellations sponsor you. It's mostly the lower-ranking deities who like obedient players.”
Her words made a certain amount of sense.
After all, big-time streamers tended to let their viewers' backseat gaming go in one ear and out the other, or just ignore it completely.
“Anyway, we don't have much time, so I'll get straight to the point. What on earth happened?”
Although she didn't specify a subject, it wasn't hard to figure out what she was asking.
“This?”
Fwoosh—
A black flame flickered to life at my fingertip.
Seeing it, Lucifer's eyes trembled slightly.
As a strange silence fell, I gathered my thoughts and began to speak calmly.
From the fact that I had entered the Tower of my own free will to my ability to travel between worlds. I had debated whether to tell her, but I decided there was no reason to hide it.
Even though I tried to shorten it as much as possible, the story went on for nearly thirty minutes.
And when I finished, Lucifer tapped her fingers on the desk and narrowed her eyes.
“An Another World Dating App...”
“I understand it's hard to believe. I would've felt the same.”
“...No, I believe you. Otherwise, there are too many things that just don't make sense.”
The Black Flame (黑炎) was an Authority I gained by contracting with Lucifer.
And for a player to obtain a stronger Authority, they had to either receive power from their contracted Constellation or fulfill specific conditions.
But I had bypassed that process, raising the grade of my Black Flame solely through the power of the dating app.
I was a rule-breaker, in a sense.
Fortunately, the System didn't seem to have noticed yet, but if I were ever found out, it wouldn't be strange at all if I became a top-priority surveillance target.
“...Can I ask one more thing?”
“What is it?”
Lucifer stared at the desk, hesitating for a moment before forcing the words out.
“...Why did you break me out of that prison?”
“What?”
I tilted my head at her question.
I didn't quite grasp the intent behind it.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Being able to go to other worlds means you have no reason to be attached to this one, right?”
“...Well, I guess so?”
“Then was there any need to risk your life to save me? If you hadn't contracted with me, you would have been killed by the 'Serpent' that day.”
The Serpent.
The First Tempter.
Its true name was the Serpent of Eden, the one who tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. It was the Constellation that appeared to block my path the moment I tried to save Lucifer from the Abyss.
I had fought a life-or-death battle against the Serpent's avatar and eventually managed to defeat it, but the creature revived as if to mock me.
It was certainly weak compared to its reputation as the enemy of all mankind and the source of all evil, but it was an undeniable fact that it was still stronger than I was at the time.
Besides, just as Lucifer said, if I hadn't contracted with her, the one who survived that fight would have been the Serpent, not me.
Thinking back on it now, it was an incredibly reckless act.
But even if I could go back to that moment, I wouldn't have run away.
The reason was simple.
“Does a man need a reason to help a beautiful woman?”
“...So any beautiful woman will do?”
Lucifer glared at me with a prim expression.
“Speaking of which, just how many other women do you have in these other worlds?”
“...Not that many.”
When I subtly turned my head away, the side of my head prickled as if someone had shot an arrow at it.
I wanted to escape, but there was nowhere to run in the small on-call room.
“Huuu...”
Lucifer let out a heavy sigh, one that seemed to be tangled with a complex mix of emotions. Noticing that she was exercising superhuman patience, I immediately stood up and went to her side.
“Would you like to have dinner, just the two of us? I heard there's a nice restaurant nearby.”
“Sit.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
I quickly sat back down.
Lucifer pressed her temples and narrowed her eyes.
“You'll get wrinkles if you...”
“Who do you think is causing this?”
“...”
“Haa... Do you have any idea how dangerous every single one of the Constellations interested in you is?”
“...More or less? Oh, right.”
Just then, I remembered the mission I had received from the 'Dweller of the Swamp'.
“By any chance, do you know anything about a Constellation called 'Silence for Fate'?”
“What? Why all of a sudden?”
“Well...”
I explained the details of the mission to Lucifer. At the same time, I took out the 'Wolf Kin's Serum' I had received as an advance payment.
After hearing me out, Lucifer fell silent for a while, seemingly lost in serious thought.
“...There's no time limit on the mission itself, right?”
“Right. But he did urge me to hurry.”
“Then it's fine. He's not expecting you to be able to do it in a short amount of time anyway. Just think of his nagging as a mutt whining and ignore it.”
Lucifer let out a short sigh and continued.
“But... haa, this has become a real headache...”
“Why?”
“That bastard... he's Odin's son.”