〈 The Power of Gluttony (3) 〉
A three-story house with a garden located in the outskirts of Seoul.
It was a luxurious mansion that looked expensive in terms of area and size, but strictly speaking, this type of residence was not very popular.
First of all, it is far from downtown and lacks infrastructure compared to downtown Seoul, and most importantly, it is disadvantageous to receive help from guardians in the event of an emergency.
No matter how much public security has improved in Korea recently, doesn’t that mean that all crime rates are zero?
Of course, it was true that there was little risk of exposure to large-scale terrorism that deliberately targets crowded places.
However, small misdemeanors are closer to everyday life than the large-scale incidents originally reported in the news.
In particular, such residences were literally the best prey for thieves who were rarely exposed to the outside world.
‘That’s the place.’
So, in most cases, one of two situations occurred when using a residence in that location.
The landlord is either an enlightened person who is confident in protecting his own safety and property, or he has the capital and power to hire such people.
Well, there were cases where people got in at a low price and held on for nothing, just hoping to get lucky.
Excluding the risk that something might happen at any time, it could be said to be the best in terms of cost-effectiveness.
‘Which side is it?’
A large garden surrounded by a high wall and a three-story house quietly standing in the middle of it.
The self-proclaimed ‘big thief’, who had recently begun to secretly gain fame in the underworld, licked his lips as he observed his target location through a telescope.
In fact, it could be said that he was unqualified from the point where a thief whose greatest virtue was stealth had a reputation, but as a new generation thief, he thought that was an old-fashioned prejudice.
In fact, aren’t there so many stories of phantom thieves loved around the world that you can’t even count them?
‘In the end, it’s okay as long as my true identity isn’t discovered, right?’
And he had absolute confidence in that.
Early entry into this world.
After being taken in by a teacher who noticed his unique skills and being taught all of his abilities, he was never discovered until he returned to Earth, and has shown a truly unrivaled behavior.
‘I want to feel that thrill again. No, it’s worse than that…!’
For him, this earth, where all the mysteries of the world intersect, was enough to stimulate his blood-thumping desire to compete.
Of course, if you really want the highest level of difficulty, you can go to a place like the Returners’ Association or the Blue House, but honestly, I was a little scared to try a place like that.
‘Let’s go sequentially. Let’s go sequentially. Once you become sufficiently familiar with the ways of the other world…’
So far, the number of luxury mansions has been in the double digits.
Considering that it had been less than half a year since he returned, he had worked very diligently.
‘Hahoe mask and phantom, what do you know? How are you going to catch me when I don’t even know where I am or what I’m doing? The Ability Management Bureau and the Association’s underworld clan have only recently begun to notice my existence.’
He is different from the minnows who were caught because of their lack of skills.
Even if the famous monsters came after him, he was confident enough to escape.
‘Then how is this hunting ground? Should I check my skills?’
With such confidence, he quietly approached the mansion using his famous skill “Ghost Walk”.
Other skills have already been activated at the same time, and not only the appearance but also the presence has been completely erased.
In this state, most awakened people would probably not detect his presence even if he passed by tap dancing right in front of his nose.
In this way, Daedo smoothly approached the wall of the mansion.
But the next moment, he unconsciously stopped walking due to an inexplicable feeling of discomfort.
‘…what?’
A sense of crisis that sends shivers down your spine and stimulates your instincts.
It was the first time I had felt this feeling since when I was still inexperienced and even before I had mastered the skill, I ignored my teacher’s advice and trusted only my unique skill and ended up in danger.
If it weren’t for the teacher who followed him back then, he wouldn’t be where he is today.
‘Tsk.’
At the same time, my pride was hurt.
The person I am now is different from when I was a child back then.
Although he couldn’t make a direct comparison as his teacher retired before he could properly rise to the top of his game, looking at his subsequent actions, wasn’t it a long time ago that he surpassed him in both skill and experience?
‘Yes, you can’t just brag about robbing easy places forever. Now it’s time to move on to the next step. ‘This incident is an opportunity to take a leap forward beyond the past.’
Of course, I had no intention of ignoring this sense of crisis.
He used all his sensing abilities and magical tools to carefully analyze the situation beyond the wall and judge the situation calmly.
‘It really is an enormous security barrier. That too is completely concealed. ‘Is this the cause of my discomfort?’
This level of security is the highest level so far.
Maybe it could be compared to a government building.
‘The defense cost of a single house in a suburban area is this…’
Curiosity bloomed inside him.
It was clear that quite a large figure must have been involved to be able to build defense facilities of this size.
There’s something going on, so they must have prepared for it like this.
‘Hide slush funds? Or is he hiding a lover at least? Or perhaps it was an attempt to hide a more heinous crime scene. drug? Human trafficking? ‘Organ trafficking?’
All kinds of dangerous thoughts came into his mind.
At the same time, I somehow had an intuition that I would be quite tired if I got involved in this.
‘If you think rationally, it would be better to step back now, but…’
His eyes, which he closed for a moment and then opened, showed a strange determination.
This was a crossroads.
Do you just remain as a widespread petty thief or do you become a thief of the century that only appears in stories?
And he had already made up his mind.
Of course, the equipment inside is dangerous, but there is a limit to the mysteries that have already been revealed.
It may have been a little difficult, but I couldn’t stop him at this level.
‘let’s go!’
He activated his unique skill “Wormhole”.
The ability to ignore all defenses and open a passage through space.
Although its effective range was not very long, it was his lifeline, optimized not only for infiltration but also for escape.
‘I’ll tell you every secret about what’s hidden inside!’
Just like that, Daedo confidently took a step forward and entered the interior of the mansion.
“……?”
I was trapped in the camp set up in the garden.
‘uh?’
Is a great forest like this?
The dense bushes and trees that could be seen well over a dozen meters in height were crowded and dazzled the eyes.
“…What is this?”
The voice I had been holding in without even realizing it came out.
He clearly deceived security and attempted to avoid the garden and enter the mansion.
The distance calculation was perfect and I didn’t notice any abnormalities during the process.
But if this happens, there is only one cause.
‘crazy! Space distortion at a level that even ignores my “wormhole”? No, I couldn’t detect it even from outside…!’
With alarm bells ringing in his head, he knew intuitively.
What he figured out in advance was only the tip of the iceberg.
And without even knowing it, he fell into conceit and voluntarily walked into a trap.
Puzzle!
I tried using the “wormhole” again, but only white sparks flew in the air, and no matter how many times I tried, no passage was created.
‘Ugh, this is… divine power? Was this what covered the outside of the trap?’
Since my last resort is blocked, I have no choice but to find a way out somehow.
However, even though I jumped with the wind and climbed to the top of the tree, all I could see was the vast, endless sea of trees.
An incredible level of competition.
In order to build a barrier like this, you had to be at least an archmage or someone who had reached the level of transcendence.
No, it even includes divine power, so maybe two or more transcendental beings joined hands…
‘A barrier of this level is just for the garden of a house? What on earth is this place doing? Could this be the headquarters of a secret organization that dreams of overthrowing the country?’
If you think about it, it was similar.
It was the home of a force opposing a group seeking world domination.
Of course, there is only one official member belonging to it.
As if trying to prove that his reputation was not in vain, Daedo moved quickly to find a way out of the barrier.
No matter how elaborate the trap is, nothing in this world is perfect.
However, even though there is nothing perfect in the world, I only felt painfully that there were things that were infinitely close to perfection.
“haha-.”
As time passed, my stamina and energy quickly decreased, as if I was being sucked into something.
Even though I stayed up all night and a week, my healthy body became as limp as wet cotton in less than a day.
“…Ha ha ha ha ha! Crazy… this is ridiculous. “What kind of crazy people created this kind of magic scene in Korea?”
A plant that was peacefully staying in its place suddenly comes alive and attacks.
I couldn’t relax even for a moment because of the magic trap that was triggered unexpectedly.
The monsters made of blood that were constantly pursuing me were suffocating me with the thick smell of blood.
Even though I barely tried to catch my breath, I couldn’t even fully rest, let alone sleep, because of the curses and nightmares that filled the space.
Let alone finding a way out, just holding on is too much.
No, honestly, I was at my limit now.
Surviving for almost a day was almost a miracle.
“What a fucking piece of shit… I’m in a place like this…”
Whispering—
in my mind slowly becoming cloudy.
He was able to clearly realize this in his deep regret.
The place you entered was not a moderately difficult level-up dungeon.
It is the worst demon cave in history, designed and designed by extremely high-level people.
***
“Um, are you done? It took longer than I thought. “The guy who came in this time is quite skilled, isn’t he?”
I slowly sipped my coffee and quietly closed my eyes as the intruder’s reaction slowly faded away.
Then, inside the barrier, a man in a state of exhaustion and death was seen being captured by Blood Spawns, blood demons.
‘Hmm… what will that guy do? It looks quite useful.’
At that level, he went far beyond the level of a simple petty thief.
I’m not sure about force, but if it’s limited to infiltration ability, with thorough preparation, keeping the target off guard, and a little bit of luck, it might be possible to fool even the transcendental for a while.
‘It would be a waste to just kill him like usual.’
This has happened a few times before, but each time my choice was the same.
To prepare for an emergency, go through an interrogation process and clean up the behind-the-scenes organizations and people involved who know about his actions.
There was no hesitation in the process because none of those who shared the location of the planned crime were innocent.
‘If it were really innocent, it would have gone to the extent of trying to remember.’
Meanwhile, several magic tools that the man was carrying suddenly came into view.
Mixed in among the items being taken out one after another from the subspace pockets for safety inspection, it definitely caught my eye.
That’s right…
“These are the things I sold.”
To be precise, they were some of the magic tools purchased through the Hubert Company and sold through the clan.
Of course, it wasn’t that strange.
The stable supply of magic tools was progressing smoothly thanks to the explosive demand, and thanks to this, both the Hubert Company and the clan that benefited from it were able to easily rise to their current positions.
Even though the clan was a shadowy force, it was able to grow to the point where it was said that it ruled the Korean night, and it was all thanks to the trade in magic tools added to its moderate line.
If it had not been oiled in advance like that, no matter how cooperative it was, it would have been difficult to avoid being hit with all sorts of sanctions and its power being weakened.
‘…Okay, I guess we can send it to the clan. Make it a vampire, subordinate it, and even ban it for various reasons.’
Transformation into a vampire on Earth is inefficient and requires a huge amount of power, but a person of that level of talent could easily endure that.
In fact, that was an insignificant restriction to Heinz II, who could receive blood as much as he wanted without mental contamination.
“Okay then, that problem is solved.”
Immediately after deciding what to do with the intruder who dared to invade his land.
I looked around at other places once again, nodded slowly and smiled contentedly.
‘Okay, things are going smoothly.’
Kang Hwan-gye’s situation was going exactly as expected.
Since everyone knew the severity of the situation, there was no need to use complicated measures.
‘In the first place, this is a problem for everyone living in the Ganghwa world.’
There were some who did not believe the truth and had doubts until the end, but an incident that happened not long ago completely reversed that reaction.
Dark clouds mixed with dark magic energy covered the sky of Beijing.
It was so distinct that it could be observed throughout the surrounding Hebei Province, and it was so sweeping that unusual air currents could be felt even in more distant areas.
As the fact spread through informants, through personal connections, and even through videos left by Jinwu Island magicians who were keeping a close eye on Beijing, everyone’s sense of crisis soared to an extreme.
Afterwards, it was not that difficult to quickly coordinate the consensus and move on to the next step.
‘As quickly as possible, gather together a small number of elites as strong as possible and attack the demonic cultists in Beijing.’
Even at Shaolin Temple, which had already suffered significant damage, a one-armed monk personally participated.
If the former martial arts group, now that they know about this situation, does not step forward and persists, regardless of whether it is a righteous or evil military, its cause and reputation will inevitably suffer great damage.
‘Of course, there are some who come out passively until the end to seek profit rather than such things.’
They won’t last long and fall apart once everything is settled.
Either by the hands of the Moorim Alliance or by my hands.
“Is there time left?”
A plan that is progressing step by step.
In the meantime, what I had to do was decided.
Chin – patter –
Following the busy gestures, things began to pile up on the table one by one.
These are all items that give off an unusual energy.
‘Let’s try to do it right.’
Prepared to use the “Power of Gluttony” most efficiently.
These were elixirs from Outerica and the Kang Hwan World, as well as various other worlds obtained from Earth.