CH 185

“Huh? I felt something moving inside just now.”

"Really? Is it about to hatch?" Bernard asked with a surprised gaze as he put his hand on the purple Dragon Egg.

Then, he looked at Yu-Seong with the same surprised expression. He asked, "Hey, I feel it too. Is it just breaking out of its shell right now?"

"Kim Do-Jin, how was your egg?"

Do-Jin smirked at Yu-Seong’s urgent expression. Looking at the Dragon Egg, he said, "I also had that feeling, and it did hatch a few days after. But...not immediately. Just before hatching, the surface of the egg will start to crack.”

"Right now, perhaps it's just responding to our voices?"

"Probably," Do-Jin lightly answered as he tilted his beer glass once again.

Yu-Seong and Bernard looked disappointed, displaying similar expressions.

Meghan, who had been watching them with a strange gaze, suddenly asked Do-Jin, "By the way, Mr. Kim Do-Jin, why are you still here?"

"Oh, that's right. It’s your turn to answer now."

Yu-Seong remembered the question he had earlier, which he had forgotten about due to the Dragon Egg.

When Yu-Seong asked the question, Do-Jin froze for a moment. Only after a short and natural silence did Do-Jin speak while looking out at the terrace and slowly placing his beer glass down on the table. "I had some unfinished business.”

"I don’t believe that," replied Yu-Seong.

"It's true. Even if you don’t believe it, believe it. I trusted your lies earlier."

"I never lied in the first place." With a smirk, Yu-Seong shrugged his shoulders and asked, "Wait, were you really waiting for me...?"

"..."

Silence once again filled the air. It was at that moment when Yu-Seong looked at Do-Jin with narrowed eyes, amid the strange vibe. Naturally, his Character Understanding skill allowed him to sense Do-Jin’s feelings.

‘Bewilderment and…anger? Why would he be angry now?’

While Yu-Seng tilted his head in confusion, Bernard, who was watching from beside them, chuckled and tilted his beer glass. "You can tell at a glance that he was waiting for you, though I have no idea why.”

"Even if I say I wasn’t..." Do-Jin said with a deep sigh

After glancing at Bernard, Do-Jin shook his head. He showed no interest in continuing the conversation.

For Yu-Seong, it was better that way. He didn't want to deal with any unnecessary arguments between the two.

Speaking of which, why was Meghan sitting back and staying out of the situation? When Yu-Seong met her eyes for a moment, Meghan gave him a playful wink with a strange expression of joy on her face.

‘...Why is she so excited?’

Indeed, the world was full of inexplicable things.

Entirely lost in thought, they all naturally fell into a deep silence. As they didn't continue talking, each of them stared outside at the view from the terrace.

Suddenly, Yu-Seong remembered Eveheim, whom he had encountered on the alley. At that time, he had given up trying to recall the man as his vague memories made it difficult to trace. However, Yu-Seong was sure that Eveheim was definitely not an ordinary person.

‘He must be a character from the original novel, who would it be?’

If he had such a unique aura, he would have been described vividly in the original novel.

‘Come to think of it, even though he’s a man, he is very pretty looking.’

Yu-Seong remembered Eveheim’s long hair and the decadent darkness he exuded. As he sorted through a few keywords, his gaze began to tremble rapidly.

‘Wait, wait a minute. I think...I might know who he is.’

There was a character, a character that had such a description, in the original novel now coming to his mind.

‘The leader of the Demon King Worshipers… Godfather.’

As he laughed bitterly, Yu-Seong unknowingly tilted his beer glass to take a big gulp.

Theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread dot com ].

‘Come to think of it, I looked past that situation too easily. However, he did leave quite a strong impression.’

This was not like Yu-Seong, who had become more sensitive after going through several crises. The reason was simple.

‘It was the Godfather’s Perception Distortion skill.’

Perception Distortion was one of the Godfather's signature skills in the original novel, capable of scattering the target's senses and mind to leave them vulnerable.

‘It's practically a fraud skill, fitting for the ultimate villain of this world.’

Depending on the skill level, the Perception Distortion skill could destroy the target in various ways. It could range from making them unrecognizable even when passing by, to clouding their judgment like with Yu-Seong earlier, and even disrupting their senses and mana flow.

In fact, the Godfather was already considered to be one of the most powerful figures in the world.

‘Even though he’s a member of the Demon King Worshipers, the original novel depicted him as possibly being even stronger than the Demon King himself... ’

With such a fraudulent skill, it was no exaggeration to say that the Godfather was a force to be reckoned with. He was beyond anyone except the main character, Do-Jin.

‘Also, the Godfather used Korea's Tower of Heaven in the original novel.’

There was only one reason for this—his interest in Kim Do-Jin. Perhaps there was some sort of connection between extremely powerful individuals who transcended normal boundaries.

Despite not having fully regained his power as a returnee, Godfather's interest in Do-Jin was enormous.

‘According to the original novel, they were supposed to climb the tower together, but it all fell apart because of me.’

Yu-Seong had twisted one plan, but it seemed like there were no immediate effects to this.

‘Perhaps the encounter between the Godfather and I might be one?’

In the original novel, it was inconceivable for a third-class villain like Yu-Seong to even have a chance meeting with the Godfather, the King of Evil. However, it was only a small butterfly effect, so it didn’t seem that bad considering the significantly changed history.

‘Of course, I should keep a close eye on those...’

Despite everything that had happened, the Godfather had mentioned repaying Yu-Seong to some extent for his kindness. Needless to say, there was a possibility that it could lead to a positive outcome.

As Yu-Seong harbored such hopeful thoughts, a familiar and friendly face appeared outside the terrace. He called out urgently, "Yoo Jin-Hyuk, Chae Ye-Ryeong!"

Hearing the urgent call, the two walking side by side turned their heads to look at Yu-Seong. They beamed with a bright smile.

"Boss!"

"Yu-Seong hyung!"

It was a moment when Yu-Seong’s colleagues naturally started to join him.

***

Eveheim, the Godfather, could use his Perception Distortion skill to hide himself, making him nearly imperceptible to most people. However, he did not necessarily use the skill continuously while walking around. There were two reasons for this. Firstly, this place was not on Earth, but inside the Tower of Heaven.

‘I guess it's still a bit clumsy to operate the skill for now.’

In order to continuously use powerful skills like Perception Distortion, the Godfather had to constantly consume his mental energy due to the reset phenomenon. The resulting fatigue and stress were not something to be taken lightly. After all, viewed from a broader perspective, if annoyance was the first reason, the second reason was confidence.

‘Anyway, it doesn't matter if they recognize me or not.’

Eveheim’s appearance definitely attracted attention. Moreover, his small stature and sensuous charm naturally drew people toward him. Therefore, he inevitably got into various situations, but in reality, he believed that he could handle the majority of them alone.

Even if he had experienced the reset phenomenon, his power was at a level that could not be compared to that of ordinary players. If they bothered him first just because they thought he was easy to handle, there was only one option…

"Ugh... Just...kill me."

It was just a few hours ago.

After escaping with the help of Yu-Seong, one of the giant men had stumbled into an alley. He coughed up blood and begged for help as he was clutching onto the Godfather's robe with reddened eyes. His lower half had disappeared, and he was soaked in blood as he lay on the ground in agony.

Grabbing onto the end of the Godfather’s trousers, he pleaded, "Please... Just let me die..."

"If you were lucky enough to survive, shouldn't you have taken the opportunity to run away?" Eveheim said, casually brushing the man's hand away.

The reason behind their deaths was straightforward. Once Yu-Seong had left, those who remained had stumbled upon Eveheim alone, and in a fit of rage, they dragged him into the alley with the intent of resorting to violence.

From Eveheim's perspective, it was a legitimate act of self-defense. The unexpected factor was that Eveheim knew exactly how to make a person suffer before they died.

Eveheim exited the dark alley, leaving behind the man who would have died if left alone. Although he paused for a moment when he heard curses, resentment, and anger-filled voices from behind, they soon faded away. Already, there was a greater weight of hatred on his shoulders.

‘There's nothing to be afraid of.’

The Godfather smiled coldly as he completely left the alley.

Then, a massive man, even bigger than the group of men seen before, blocked Eveheim’s path. His enormous body was possibly bigger than two normal men combined. He also had sharp features all around his face, exuding a stronger, more ominous aura than Eveheim. In fact, he attracted more attention than even Eveheim himself.

Naturally, some of those who watched the situation smiled somewhat fiercely at Eveheim. Then, they couldn't help but flinch.

"How did it go? Were you successful?" asked the man in a surprisingly cautious manner.

"No. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned," replied Eveheim arrogantly.

Eveheim, who looked way weaker than the man, walked along the street naturally. The man who had just joined Eveheim naturally followed beside him.

"That would be a shame. You have gone all the way to Korea just for that guy, Kim Do-Jin..."

"Well, I did gain something, Jackson.”

“Oh…?”

“I met Choi Yu-Seong," Eveheim said, mentioning the name that caused Jackson's large eyes to sparkle.

"Is he the next candidate after Kim Do-Jin? He seems to have some useful talent," Jackson asked curiously.

"We'll have to watch him a little longer, but he seems rather intriguing," replied Eveheim.

"Usually, when you call someone intriguing, it’s meant as a compliment," Jackson remarked.

“And you seem to have more wounds than before.”

"Hahaha-! This reset phenomenon isn't so bad. It feels like I'm really using my body again."

As Jackson laughed heartily, Eveheim smiled wryly. Then, a blond woman leaning against a building on the other side of the village caught Eveheim's eye. She seemed somewhat provocative in her red dress, but when her gaze met Eveheim's, she naturally approached them and greeted them with a raised hand.

"Oh my, Godfather. We met sooner than I thought. Hello, Jackson," said the woman.

"Talia."

The two people were only the start; soon, others began to gather around them. Before they knew it, six people had formed a hexagonal shape around Eveheim as if they were escorting him.

If anyone who knew their faces had seen them, they would have recoiled in horror. The six Hexagram Masters, the true rulers of the Demon King Worshipers, had entered the Tower of Heaven.

As they all walked together, along with Eveheim, Talia, the second woman to join them, suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, Godfather, I heard an interesting rumor. They say there's a Dragon Egg on the 10th floor of the Tower of Heaven.”

Naturally, at the mention of such a keyword, everyone, including Eveheim and the other five Hexagram Masters, turned their heads to look at Talia. They were unable to hide their interest.