Together We Were Filthy, Let's Never Meet Again

Without knowing what Jang Jo-jun was truly thinking, Nick kept rambling on about this and that.

Watching him, the pure-white gem merchant gnawed furiously on a white handkerchief trimmed with lace, growling under her breath.

“That idiot! What’s he grinning about..!! That man is the enemy!!”

The pure-white gem merchant felt dizzy from Nick’s complete misreading of the situation. She was even a little angry that he hadn’t noticed the hidden dagger at all. Still, she couldn’t simply curse him out.

Jang Jo-jun’s face, spinning lies without the slightest change in expression, was chilling. It was as if he had been born to deceive. He nodded along enthusiastically to Nick’s words, eyes never blinking, and joined in on the effort to turn Bai Yu into Mei Ling.

‘Damn it… that stupid Trickster completely ruined everything..’

If the Trickster hadn’t lied about being on the good-gods’ side, Nick wouldn’t have suspected him so blindly. If Bai Yu had simply told the truth about his class and skills, Nick would have lined both men up and doubted them equally.

“This is all because of your champion! Isn’t it? Say something!!”

Finally, the pure-white gem merchant snapped at Mei Ling’s gem merchant, who sat in the middle staring blankly into space.

“Haa….”

Mei Ling’s gem merchant had no answer to give. Ever since she witnessed Bai Yu’s memories being erased and him becoming Mei Ling, her vision had gone dark. She could only feel utter despair at having been outplayed so completely.

‘The Trickster… since his lies were exposed… it’s a miracle he even made it back alive, Mei Ling.’

She had no choice but to admit the opponent had simply been better. Before the Trickster could even show his true worth, he had been pulled into Jang Jo-jun’s pace. The gap between them was simply too wide.

“Hmph..”

At that moment, Jang Jo-jun’s gem merchant, who had been watching Mei Ling’s gem merchant scold the other out of the corner of her eye, let out a derisive snort.

“The ones you two picked… they’re both idiots, aren’t they? I was worried about Jang Jo-jun for nothing.”

“Krrrgh! They’re not idiots, they’re just… a little pure!!”

“Damn woman… the one you chose must be the crazy one.”

Nick and Mei Ling’s gem merchants vented their frustration at Jang Jo-jun’s gem merchant, who was slowly getting on their nerves.

“Hahaha! Calm down, both of you. Thanks to Jang Jo-jun’s efforts, we got the ring without much trouble.”

When Jang Jo-jun’s gem merchant mentioned the Seal Ring, the other two turned their heads and fell silent. It was true that the various tools Jang Jo-jun had brought had helped them avoid disaster. They had seen most other teams fail without even getting close, so they had to acknowledge it. Without Jang Jo-jun, they would have wasted far more time.

“Huu… Fine. I’ll admit what needs admitting.. But the only time you’ll be able to laugh is right now. That drug your subordinate prepared? Nick won’t drink it.”

“Oh? From the way he trusts Jang Jo-jun completely, I’d say he’ll chug it right down.”

“Hohoho… Nick isn’t that much of a fool. There’s always a reason behind his confidence.. I was only angry because he seemed a little slower than your subordinate. I never thought he would fall helplessly to some Cultist.”

“Oho… So you’ve got a plan?”

“Of course. More than anything, Nick achieved almost everything he wanted without lifting a finger. He got the Seal Ring just by standing there, which already proves he’s superior to your subordinate from the start. The world moves to help him even when he does nothing.”

“Well… it’s true that Jang Jo-jun was born under a star that forces him to struggle. Still, I prefer a wildflower blooming on the plains over a greenhouse flower. They’re tougher… ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and more persistent.”

“Hmph.. No matter how you look at it, it’s still just a nameless wildflower… A single rose that’s properly cared for is far more valuable.”

“We’ll see about that.”

The three dolls turned their attention back to the screen.

They should have been happy about obtaining the ring, yet they couldn’t relax just yet. The fight between Jang Jo-jun and Nick wasn’t over.

******

As the pure-white gem merchant had admitted, Nick was a greenhouse flower. While Jang Jo-jun had clawed his way through twisted, miserable situations to seize power, Nick simply breathing seemed to make everything fall into place as if the world itself was helping him.

This was because the pantheon of good gods possessed an overwhelming amount of causality. There was a reason for it.

The current game was a forced second round created by Botamili’s sacrifice (cheat). It could be seen as the evil-gods side replacing their losing champion and restarting. Of course, the good gods hadn’t stayed idle. The clock hands that had been turned back right before the end imposed a fitting penalty on the evil gods while granting the good gods an appropriate advantage to restore balance.

Because the good-gods pantheon had nearly won the previous game, they began this round with far more resources (causality). The evil-gods side, on the other hand, was at a disadvantage in many ways.

Even with Kashnakus and Indikron working themselves to death, one of the three great evil gods had been banished to the reverse world and all lower deities had been sealed. Running a game under these conditions was extremely unfavorable for the evil gods.

The fact that the good-gods faction had far more players while the evil-gods side only had Jang Jo-jun made this obvious.

In other words, the evil-gods side could no longer simply pour benefits onto their subordinate without restraint. Of course, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Nick, who had grown without tension, was rich but merely a strong fool, while Jang Jo-jun, who had rolled through countless hardships, had become a poor but cunning man.

As always, you only know which is longer or shorter once you compare them.

******

“Anyway, I want to put some restrictions on that Bai Yu guy.”

“Restrictions?”

“Yeah. Restrictions. Since I can’t kill him, I was thinking of feeding him this… From what I can tell, he seems to rely on you a lot, so… could you feed it to him instead? It’ll probably be easier if he thinks you’re a woman…”

Without the slightest suspicion, Nick revealed his trump card to Jang Jo-jun. He believed Jang Jo-jun had appeared once again as a benefactor to help him. In Nick’s eyes, a benefactor was a kind of deus ex machina that showed up whenever a crisis or difficulty arose.

Nick thought the raid on Jeonyul Mansion had also gone smoothly thanks to this benefactor’s help, so he still hadn’t realized that Jang Jo-jun was a dagger pressed against his throat. He even believed that Bai Yu losing his memories was thanks to his own luck.

Nick relied on fate and luck to an almost excessive degree.

Meanwhile, Jang Jo-jun stared at the item Nick had taken out and pondered for a moment. It was a transparent plastic container holding a wriggling larva.

‘Mana increase of 200..? Hmm.. But the penalties are too severe. It looks disgusting, and it’s a parasite on top of that.. There’s no reason for me to take it..’

After receiving the container from Nick, Jang Jo-jun called out to Mei Ling, who had been waiting alone in the next room for their conversation to end.

“Mei Ling, take this.”

“Ugh.. What is that.. It’s gross..”

“This is something that can turn you back into a woman. I barely managed to get it by making a deal with Nick.. With this, you can return to your original body.”

“Huh.. But the penalties are huge...”

Mei Ling showed clear reluctance at the thought of becoming a woman again only to tire and get hungry quickly. Jang Jo-jun smiled and spoke.

“Don’t worry, Mei Ling. I have a way to treat it. I’m an apothecary, after all. All you have to do is turn back into a woman. I’ll handle the rest.”

“R-really..? Thank you, Jun..!”

Believing Jang Jo-jun was her true ally, Mei Ling bowed deeply to both Nick and Jang Jo-jun in gratitude.

Nick, knowing nothing, smiled at Mei Ling bowing to him. Watching her swallow the Witch Parasite without suspicion thanks to Jang Jo-jun’s persuasion, he thought he had won completely.

Meanwhile, Mei Ling, who had gulped down the wriggling parasite, kept retching as if her stomach was upset. Soon after, she fell asleep. Confirming this, Jang Jo-jun took a glass bottle filled with red liquid from his bag and handed it to Nick.

“Huh? What’s that?”

“Ah, this is a special fermented drink I made. A kind of elixir. It’s a gift to thank you for guarding the entrance alone. I wanted to give it to you before we left. And if you really are with the good gods.. I’d like to make a good impression. Here, take it.”

“Oh..”

Nick accepted the Memory Eraser Wine from Jang Jo-jun. The diligent Easterner had even prepared an elixir for him, and Nick found himself liking Jang Jo-jun more and more. He was even thinking of recruiting him as his personal apothecary if the chance arose. In Nick’s mind, Easterners were the type of subordinates who worked well.

“By the way, what kind of effects does it have?”

“It increases mana recovery… and it’s good for stamina. Especially good for men. You’ve got a lot of women to take care of, don’t you?”

Jang Jo-jun figured that someone like Nick would surely have many ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠women under him. That was why he deliberately brought up the stamina-boosting effect.

As expected, Nick did have many women. He shook the red liquid in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠glass bottle and smiled with satisfaction.

“This is quite the precious gift..”

“Hehehe. It’s nothing. By the way, Nick, this is still kind of a prototype.. Sorry, but could you drink it now and give me your honest opinion on the taste? I thought it was good, but a lot of people said it’s too bitter. I was planning to sell it to other players for points, but I can’t trust my own taste anymore.”

“I’m pretty strict when it comes to evaluations... but I’ll give it a try.”

Without suspicion, Nick tilted the bottle and prepared to swallow a bit more than a shot glass worth of the Memory Eraser Wine.

‘Got him..!’

Jang Jo-jun swallowed dryly and waited for Nick to drink the wine. The moment he downed it, Nick was finished.

However, just before drinking, Nick paused as if he had remembered something.

“Ah, right. Sorry about this. My teammate told me to always check things before eating, and I forgot until just now.”

“What..? Check?”

“Yeah. It’s not that I suspect you.. I’m just doing it just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in case, so don’t take it too personally.”

“Uh.. uh..?”

Jang Jo-jun was flustered. Nick had suddenly brought up his teammate and poured the Memory Eraser Wine from the bottle onto a silver plate he had taken from his bag.

“This thing turns black if the food has poison or is dangerous to the owner... Hmm..?”

The silver plate had become slightly cloudy. Because it wasn’t deadly poison but alcohol, it hadn’t turned completely black, but it had clearly lost its luster and darkened. Erasing memories could be helpful or harmful, so the plate couldn’t easily judge.

‘Damn it...’

Cold sweat ran down Jang Jo-jun’s back at the risk of his lie being exposed. He quickly made up an excuse.

“It’s probably because some of the ingredients I used are a bit unusual..”

“Really? Hmm.. Just in case, let me ask... Jun, are you... an apostle of the evil gods?”

At Nick’s question, Jang Jo-jun felt his heart drop. Still, he didn’t show it and shook his head vigorously.

“No, why are you suddenly suspecting me?”

“Well... I think I was too focused on Bai Yu...”

“Ha! Just give it back. I don’t want to give away the medicine I worked so hard on as a gift while being suspected. I even got the ring for you, and you still don’t trust me...”

Playing the victim was Jang Jo-jun’s specialty. He acted as if being suspected was unfair and got angry. Nick, who had been staring at the silver plate with a doubtful expression, backed down first. He figured there was no need to antagonize someone who might become a valuable ally.

“Sorry if I offended you. That wasn’t my intention.”

Nick apologized to Jang Jo-jun and drank the Memory Eraser Wine. Contrary to what his gem merchant thought, Nick was a much more straightforward and bold man. Valuing loyalty and trust, he couldn’t refuse Jang Jo-jun’s goodwill. That was how he had always made allies. And it had always worked out for him.

This time, however, he had simply picked the wrong opponent.

“Huh... where am I...”

“Hey Nick! You awake?”

Jang Jo-jun fed the memory-wiped Nick some lies and convinced him to drink the gender-swap whiskey. Oblivious, Nick drank it and soon grew drowsy, then read the book Jang Jo-jun had handed him while half-asleep.

Of course, once they left the mansion, the good gods would rush in and restore Nick, but it would clearly cost them a lot to do so.

Through this experience, Nick had learned exactly who the Cultist was and would become more cautious about trusting people, but Jang Jo-jun didn’t care. He had secured a solid victory.

“Whew, that feels refreshing. Let’s head home.”

Jang Jo-jun picked up the sleeping Mei Ling and the stiffened Nick and opened the mansion door.

Thus, Mei Ling obtained the Witch Parasite, Nick obtained the Book of Manti, and Jang Jo-jun left Jeonyul Mansion with immense satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Nick’s gem merchant had frozen like stone, while Jang Jo-jun’s gem merchant clapped her hands in delight.

* * *