Welcome to Sin City
The announcement echoed through the cabin. “Attention, passengers. We are now entering Nevada airspace.”
I opened my eyes.
Finally, Nevada.
Over ten hours on this plane. Even the flight to Argentina had felt endless, but planes were simply too slow.
Come to think of it, the American company Rayden had reinterpreted warp technology, hadn’t they? A global network of spatial movement gates. If memory served, it would be commercialized around 2036 or 2037.
Hold on. If I invested in Rayden now, I could accelerate the rollout of spatial travel technology.
I’d have to think that through more carefully later.
When I turned my head, Nyx was staring out the window.
“Enjoying the view?”
“How utterly desolate.”
“Not to your liking, Goddess of Night?”
“Hmm. It is not unpleasant, yet it falls short of your description.”
The desert lay beneath the veil of night. As the Goddess of Night, Nyx suffered no hindrance from darkness, but the landscape itself was the problem. Nothing but sand, stretching to every horizon.
“This is nothing like what you promised.”
“The real spectacle comes later. Be patient.”
“I hold no disdain for nature’s wonders, yet they do not suit my aesthetic sensibilities.”
Once we reached Las Vegas, her eyes would widen. She truly had no patience.
I raised my voice slightly, chiding her. “The Ennead ruled over desert lands as well. Doesn’t that feel familiar?”
The Ennead—the Egyptian pantheon, the divine lineage of the sun god Ra, just as the Olympians were the divine lineage of Zeus.
“The nation that worshipped those gods, Egypt, was also full of deserts.”
“You know one thing and remain ignorant of two.”
“What?”
“Egypt in those days was a land of abundance, covered in lush greenery.”
So Egypt’s territory hadn’t always been desert. Centuries of agriculture had drained the land’s vitality until it turned to sand.
“Your common sense is lacking.”
I’d brought up the Ennead for nothing and was now being scolded.
“Look over there.”
“Attempting to divert my attention will avail you naught—”
Nyx suddenly fell silent.
Beyond the glass, brilliant lights shimmered in the distance. Even from afar, the city of eternal night radiated presence. Towers of glass and steel rose between rivers of multicolored illumination.
“Well?”
“How beautiful. Jewels rising through the folds of night.”
“Welcome to the city of pleasure and indulgence, Goddess.”
I chuckled.
* * *
The moment we cleared immigration, a dazzling array of slot machines greeted us. Tourists with wide eyes claimed empty seats and pulled the levers. I’d visited before my regression, yet the sight still felt surreal.
“The City of Sin truly lives up to its name.”
“Do so many commit sins in this beautiful city?”
“Here, ‘sin’ refers to human desire.”
America and Europe were rooted in Christian cultural values. Medieval religious doctrine had branded human desire as sin. Among the seventy-two demons of Pandemonium, the highest-ranking ones governed mortal desires—the Seven Deadly Sins.
Sin City. A place that stirred the original sins overseen by the demon gods.
“I see. That makes sense.”
“…You actually understood that explanation?”
“Behold. The desires of mortals seethe throughout this city.”
Nyx traced an elegant arc with her hand.
In that instant, the light and shadow woven into the city scattered into countless waves. The concrete metropolis melted into those waves. Between the flowing, dissolving streets, countless colors of desire bloomed like flowers.
“What is this…?”
“Hehe. I am simply sharing the vista I see with you.”
Visualizing human desire. So this was the world as perceived by a conceptual god.
I had only meant to show her the glittering night view of Las Vegas. Nyx was seeing something entirely different.
A dull throb pulsed behind my eyes. The blessing of Greed, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, reacted to the intensified human desires around us. Dark-red mana spread beneath my feet. The power of Greed, stirred by the tide of emotion flooding the City of Sin, began to slip from my control.
At that moment—
Thousand Eyes
A cool sensation enveloped my hand, snapping my mind back into focus. Nyx had taken my hand and was holding it tightly. The headache that had been tormenting me faded.
I immediately suppressed the blessing of Greed and drew a deep breath.
“Forgive me. I forgot about that blessing and made a mistake.”
“No, it’s fine. Thanks to you, I had an interesting experience.”
When I closed and reopened my eyes, the boundaries of the world that had collapsed returned to normal.
An experience I hadn’t anticipated. Beyond the realm of completion—on the verge of becoming a constellation—I had still never witnessed emotion itself in this way.
The Protogenoi. The world seen by conceptual gods who embodied the very nature of existence was like this.
I stroked my chin. The higher concept Nyx had shown me—the ability to perceive even the wavelengths of emotion. Since I had also received a blessing related to sin from Baal, if I grew accustomed to this sensation, I might awaken the true power of Greed.
Or perhaps I should use my sponsor as an excuse to contact the demon gods who governed the Seven Deadly Sins?
“What are you thinking so deeply about?”
“Ah, nothing.”
It wasn’t a problem I could solve immediately. I cleared my thoughts and met Nyx’s gaze.
“Are you all right after seeing that?”
“What do you mean?”
“The desires of mortals. I wondered if they looked ugly to you.”
“Hehe. I do not deny mortal desire. Rather, do I not cover it with darkness?”
The night that concealed all forms. Yes—Nyx was the being who governed darkness, the constellation that was night itself.
“If my skirts make humans more honest, that too would be a delightful thing.”
“When you put it that way, you really sound like a goddess.”
“Hehe. I am a Protogenos who governs nature, after all.”
Nyx lifted her chin proudly.
The sight I had just witnessed. I would have to think about the blessings of the Seven Deadly Sins later. For now, I forced the lingering image from my mind and walked ahead. Nyx fell into step beside me.
“I would like to hear why we came here.”
“We’re here to find the Black Market.”
“The Black Market?”
“Yes. An underground auction house run by the Black Network.”
The Black Network. A coalition of criminal organizations spanning the globe. The Chinese Triads, the Italian Mafia, the Mexican drug cartels, and other major syndicates from around the world, all bound together under one banner.
“The same people we met when we brought Enrique?”
“Those car enthusiasts were just small fry. Local gangs. To even approach the Black Network, you need at least a nationwide organization.”
The criminal groups I had mentioned earlier operated on a global scale and were well-known.
“They sound quite dangerous.”
“They have their own rules. As long as you don’t cross those lines, you’re fine.”
An ironic web that connected the world’s largest criminal organizations. What held the Black Network together was trust. That was also why Association President Kim Woosung possessed a Black Market access card. The Black Network was a necessary evil that kept criminal syndicates in check.
The moment we left the airport, a line of taxis waited outside. I opened the door of the nearest one and said, “Paradise.”
The taxi sped along the road in silence and stopped on the street of gambling that had earned Las Vegas its title as the City of Sin.
“From here on, don’t let your guard down.”
“Do not treat me like a child. I have lived far longer than you.”
“Must be nice being so old, Grandma Nyx.”
“You insolent thing. You never miss a chance to tease.”
Nyx shot me a glare.
The instant we stepped out of the taxi, stares gathered around us—not at me, but at Nyx who had followed behind. Her beauty was so striking that even celebrities would pale beside her. She was, quite literally, a goddess—beauty itself sculpted into human form.
“Wow.”
“Never seen her before.”
“She must be some kind of celebrity.”
People began taking photos and searching the internet. If we lingered, someone would try to strike up a conversation.
“Hehe. Many praise me.”
“In a sense, it is praise.”
I swallowed a sigh. Drawing attention was annoying, but in Las Vegas, Nyx’s presence was necessary. That was why I had kept her materialized.
I activated Thousand Eyes. Various mana signatures visualized across my retinas. Still, it was nothing compared to the visualized storm of emotion I had seen earlier.
“Stay close.”
I walked toward the place where the mana waves twisted unnaturally. A casino nestled between skyscrapers. Fitting for Las Vegas, where gambling was legal, the establishments operated openly.
“This is it.”
I stopped in front of a shabby building that clashed with the surrounding glamour. Entering the alley, I found a rusted iron door. Two men in suits stood before the firmly shut door, their eyes sharp as they stared at me.
“This area is off-limits.”
“Is there anywhere in Las Vegas you can’t enter?”
“That depends on—”
The man’s words cut off as his gaze shifted to Nyx beside me. He fell silent, seemingly struck speechless by her beauty.
“Do you know who she is, yet still speak that way?”
“No. I don’t know her.”
“Wow, the Black Casino sure has gotten lax. Ignorance is bliss, huh?”
The men flinched at the word “Black.”
Exactly. This wasn’t an ordinary casino. It was an illegal establishment run by the Black Network, where players could use their abilities to gamble. I had used Thousand Eyes to read the unique mana patterns of the casino. Naturally, those who visited Noir Casino concealed their identities.
The two men glanced between Nyx and me, then sighed.
“Understood.”
They stepped aside. The rusted door creaked open, and we slipped through the gap.
“Was it truly wise to force our way in like that?”
“It would have been more troublesome otherwise.”
“Oh? And what was your second method?”
“Forcing our way through.”
Good thing the first method had worked. Thanks to Nyx’s radiant appearance, we had entered the Black Casino without issue. Using the Black Card here would have risked exposing my trail.
At the end of the pitch-black corridor lay an even more dazzling spectacle of light—and people.
“This place will be more fun.”
I murmured the promise to Nyx.