Chapter 104: Four-Way Confrontation (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 104: Four-Way Confrontation (5)
Choi Seol-ah strutted down the palm-tree-lined boulevard. Men sitting on the open-air bar terraces lowered or raised their sunglasses to stare. Their female companions glared at the men, who were utterly mesmerized by her model-like walk.
"Hey, where are your eyes looking?"
"N-No, honey! It's just that the palm trees are so pretty..."
"Do you want to die?"
The origin of all this commotion, Choi Seol-ah herself, seemed completely oblivious. Her cheeks merely twitched in excitement.
"Heh, hehehe!"
A wicked smile escaped her lips. She was practically walking on air.
I'm definitely getting a bonus for this, right?!
Not only had she fulfilled her duties as a secretary, but she had also arranged some cozy private time for the Principal and her lord, Kang Geomma. The Principal might not say it out loud, but she had to be thoroughly pleased with how things were handled.
"Hehehe!"
Besides, the department stores in Hawaii were brimming with dazzle-inducing luxury brands—Lui Vuitton, Cha-nel, Her-mès, and more.
"It's been ages since I decked myself out in gold, and I'm getting that bonus anyway..."
She was going to go on a glorious spending spree today.
Tee-hee.
Hm?
Right in the middle of her high spirits, she spotted a short, squat figure staring longingly at a barbecue restaurant.
"Hey!"
Drool dripped continuously from the girl's chin—it was none other than Hontail.
Seol-ah called out to Hon with a sullen look. "What are you doing there?"
"Ah. Miss Boradori."
Hontail wiped her lips with the back of her hand.
Seol-ah gave her a pitiful look before glancing sideways at the restaurant. After a brief pause, she let out a sigh and scolded Hon.
"You do realize it's only been thirty minutes since we ate dinner, right?"
"Whoa, a whole thirty minutes have passed?!"
"...And thirty servings went down that gullet of yours."
"Must be something special about the number thirty."
"You..."
"Hawaii really is a total Lucky Bikini City—Ouch!"
Seol-ah caught Hontail's head between her fists and squeezed. Since Seol-ah was tall, Hontail's feet dangled and kicked uselessly in the air.
"I can't afford your food bills!"
"I-I'm still a patient! My injuries from Avallon Island haven't healed yet!"
"Huh? That's on you too! You only came along because the Principal promised to buy you SSS-rank Korean Beef!"
Flinch!
"Don't you flinch at me!"
Hontail felt like her temples were going to get crushed. "Agh! Dragon-dying here!"
Snap.
A giant vein popped on Seol-ah's temple.
"You clearly haven't been punished enough! You think this is a game, huh?! You look like a stubby kid, but you're hundreds of years old on the inside, yet you follow anyone who offers you food?! Even a three-year-old child knows better nowadays!!"
"Let go! Let go of me and talk!"
"Say you won't eat meat! Hurry!"
"W-What does that have to do with meat?!" Hontail huffed, glaring up at her. "All that talk was just an excuse! You just want to save money to buy luxury designer stuff! You vain Star-Stang leech!"
"...This is why."
I hate sharp kids.
Just as Seol-ah was about to drag Hontail away, Hontail spoke up again.
"If you don't buy it for me right now, I'm going to the beach."
"The... beach?"
Where her lord and the Principal were...
"...How much do you know...?"
Taking advantage of the loosened grip, Hontail hopped down. She rubbed her sore temples and replied.
"Everything? I at least know that if I go there, Miss Boradori is going to be in big trouble."
"..."
"I had a momentary lapse in judgment."
Seol-ah squeezed out a subservient expression. "Fine. Eat to your heart's content. I'll buy it all."
Hontail marched into the restaurant with the triumphant stride of a victorious general.
As Seol-ah glared at the back of her irritating head—
"...!"
Seol-ah snapped her head around.
Ssssshhhh.
The densely lined palm trees swayed heavily in one direction. At the vanishing point of her vision, darkness surged.
If you go straight in that direction...
The Gehenna Gate.
Why did it have to feel so ominous right at a time like this?
"Something feels wrong."
While the Heavenly Sword and his classmates were visiting, the standing army guarding the Gehenna Gate had also been granted leave.
It was at Kang Geomma's request.
During the few days he himself was physically present in Hawaii, the demons beyond the gate should have noticed and remained quiet.
"An unusual current coming from the gate right when forces have withdrawn."
Seol-ah muttered with a rigid expression, looking down at her arms.
Goosebumps had broken out all over her skin.
This is at least the magic power of a Corps Commander level...
Half-human half-demons react sensitively to magic power. In certain situations, they excelled even beyond full demons in that regard.
Seol-ah rubbed her forearm and called a waiter over. "Here."
She pulled out a credit card and handed it to him.
"That kid who just walked in? She's going to eat about a million won worth of food. Pre-authorize it with this."
"A-A million won?!"
"I don't have time to explain. Just process it quickly."
"Y-Yes, right away."
After processing the payment, the waiter wiped the card on his apron and handed it back. Seol-ah's gaze remained fixed in the direction where that suspicious wind had originated.
Looking at her profile, the waiter swallowed hard.
"Um... if it's okay, could I get your number...?"
"Huh? If it comes out to more than a million won, just put it on a tab. I'll come back later to pay the rest. Also, that kid was discharged from the hospital not long ago. Don't skimp on the meat, just feed her."
"That's not why I asked... Um, I meant... I'd like to contact you personally."
"Contact me?"
Seol-ah blinked. Then she smirked and said, "Sorry, I'm already taken."
"Ah, I see. My apologies."
"No need to be sorry. Anyway, I'll be back later."
Seol-ah turned away, kicking up a cool breeze.
Taken.
It wasn't entirely wrong. After all, her body and soul belonged to 'someone.'
It just wasn't a romantic relationship.
Not yet. At least not for now.
* * *
[Blessing of the Apocalypse M 2nd Surpasses 70 Million Concurrent Users!]
[Despite Remarkable Achievement, Publisher and Developer Remain Silent, Piquing User Curiosity]
[Sweeps #1 Spot on Both Eapple Store and Giggle Market]
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– Wow, seriously f*ing insane
└ Is Blessing of the Apocalypse a god? Is Blessing of the Apocalyse a god? Is Blessing of the Apocalypse a god?
– Raking in all that money and still no official statement smh
└ You know how the Bitc*in developer's identity is unknown too, right? Guess this kind of mystery marketing is popular these days.
– I guess games destined to blow up just blow up...
– Hey, not sure if I should bring this up out of nowhere (might ruin the vibe so putting the rest in comments)
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– Continuing from above, I had some friends I played that game with, right? We used to go on raids together and stuff.
└ lol, did they quit the game at some point?
└ Nope. The opposite.
└ ??
└ I mean, they're online constantly.
└ That's how auto-battle games are.
└ True, but Blessing of the Apocalypse requires manual control now and then, so you can't leave everything to auto-battle. Someone has to be actively playing.
└ But... they keep killing things. They're in a raid. It's like they never sleep—their continuous playtime is something like 130.7 hours...
└ The scarier part is that, at some point... I started doing it too.
└ F*ck, I'm worried this game might suck me in... wor... ried...
...
......
⽹ CleanBot has detected a malicious comment.
– ? Where'd this guy go?
└ ??????
└ ???? What is this, seriously?
......
boss
⍰ This comment has been hidden by CleanBot for user protection.
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* * *
The Hawaii vacation, originally planned for three days, was extended to five.
Everyone seemed so relaxed that I suggested staying longer, and Ryozo agreed. She seemed to really like Hawaii too.
It was a famous resort spot back on Earth.
Hawaii in this world had the same natural scenery and charm of a vacation resort. The only difference was that visitors were fewer compared to Earth due to the variable factor known as the Gehenna Gate.
"First off, what happened with the Prime Minister matter?"
In the hotel lounge.
The secretaries gathered around Ryozo reported news from their home country one by one.
"He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial. However, it seems unlikely he will appeal. He still believes the Villain executives are out there."
"Good. Keep a tight lid on things just like that. Make sure we use this chance to drag out all the bastards tied up in the executive branch as well."
"Understood."
The suited secretaries diligently took down Ryozo's words.
"Let's wrap it up here for today."
"Apologies for intruding on your vacation, Principal."
"Good work, everyone."
Once the staff departed, I massaged Ryozo's shoulders. Looking at me, she gave a soft smile.
"Sorry. I've been doing nothing but work even after coming on vacation."
"What's there to be sorry about? I'm the one who feels bad for not being able to help."
Ryozo rested her hand atop my fist.
"We each do what we're good at. Honestly speaking, I could pull this off if I had about three hundred and forty-two Weapons."
Weapon would clutch the back of his neck if he heard that.
Before that, how could anyone find three hundred and forty geniuses like Weapon, and how could she quantify her own brainpower like this?
"On the other hand, what you do is something only you can do."
"I'm pushing Joaquin Graduate School so hard precisely because I hope for a world that runs just fine without me."
"I know your intentions well, but don't even say that as a joke. There is no world that runs just fine without you."
At least not for me.
Ryozo added quietly before scowling moments later.
"By the way, where has Choi Seol-ah been for the past two days?!"
"Probably shopping at the department store. See? Joaquin runs just fine even without Choi Seol-ah."
"She might look like that, but she keeps the faculty quite well in line. Her administrative skills are decently good too. She's oddly brilliant in strange ways."
Well, she does hold a master's degree in education.
I feel a renewed sense of betrayal just remembering that that idiot is a highly educated elite...
"Anyway. Just when I think she's doing well, she pulls this without fail. Just wait until annual salary negotiations."
The moment I could practically hear Choi Seol-ah's wallet freezing over—
BOOM!
A loud noise burst through the door, shattering reality. Rachel raided the lounge with a massive inner tube wrapped around her shoulders.
"Sword Demon Kun! Let's go to the beach!"
"Not right now."
"Let's go swimming!"
"I'm terrible at swimming."
"Then wanna hang out, just us non-swimmers?"
Another voice nudged Rachel aside.
"While popping open some bottled beer, perhaps?"
Medea, who had followed her in, was wearing sunglasses atop her forehead. Her tone was tantalizing. I shifted my eyes sideways.
"..."
Tap, tap.
Ryozo tapped a stack of documents against the desk to neatly align them. Then, brushing past my side, she whispered, "Go play. It's a vacation, after all."
Accompanied by an eye-smile.
"Got it? Make sure you have lots of fun."
"..."
It felt like the moment my feet touched the sandy beach, I'd better be prepared to take an arrow.
Just as I thought that—
My smartphone vibrated. I thought it was just mine, but it wasn't. Everyone blinked and checked their phones. In our shared bewilderment, I stared into the screen.
[This is the publisher of Blessing of the Apocalypse M 2nd.]
[Thanks to your passionate support, the 'Beta Test: Adarma Festival' has concluded with great success.]
[As a token of our gratitude, we are advancing the original schedule and announcing the official release of Blessing of the Apocalypse M.]
Bzzt, bzzzt.
I brought a hand to my eyes.
What was this? For a brief moment, I could see visual noise flicker before my bare eyes.
[Starting from this moment, 'Main Chapter: Gandhara' will commence.]
Yet through a field of vision being gnawed away by static, the final phrase—or more precisely, a resonant voice—rang out crystal clear:
〈Sincerely, Publisher कलियुग.〉