NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 355
Chapter 356
“As soon as we arrived, I was wondering what was so urgent, and it turns out you were thinking about that.”
Returning from a conversation with Riley, Yeon-woo was met with Nea’s sulky expression. It was expected, so he wasn’t taken aback.
Of course, Yeon-woo had no intention of hiding anything. There was no way to conceal things from Nea. After all, who could transfer a contract without the party inheriting it knowing about it?
“…Wow, you sure have a bold face.”
“I didn’t commit a crime, so there’s no reason to hide. I wasn’t trying to die while proceeding with this either, sis. It just felt really heavy to fight alone while bearing the contract myself.”
“Well, that makes sense. I won’t say much more. So, how long do you think it will take?”
“It won’t take long. Actually, I’ve already made some progress on it.”
“I see. Just let me know when you’re ready. If it worries you that much, it’s better to resolve it quickly.”
With a sigh yet understanding, Nea’s demeanor made Yeon-woo finally exhale in relief.
Until now, he wanted to pass on the contract but had no way to do so. But now that the results obtained from Nea’s cooperation in her research were making all sorts of nonsense possible, it was entirely feasible.
He hadn’t really thought he would die during the fighting until this point, except for when he fought against the Demon King of Shuyo.
That time was lucky. If Shuyo had a high level of intelligence, he would have surely complained.
“Thank you, sis.”
“A good wife supports her husband, you know.”
“But we’re not married yet.”
“Ahem.”
At Yeon-woo’s muttering, Nea pretended to clear her throat and blushed. In the past, she would shy away when introduced as a wife, but now she was starting to refer to herself that way. What a difference there was between her avatar and her real self!
“What are the kids up to?”
“They’re playing nicely with Momo and Dawn. To be honest, I’m a bit jealous since it feels like the kids have been taken away by the game.”
“Really?”
“Hmph, while my husband is busy working, and the kids are busy gaming, this is the plight of a housewife.”
You’re not even a housewife, the words nearly escaped Yeon-woo’s lips but stayed lodged in his throat. She’s technically on leave from her researcher role, even though she definitely is still a researcher.
Seeing Nea pretend to be upset, Yeon-woo comfortingly patted her back. It seemed obvious she was acting, but he learned that a good husband plays along with transparent performances. Not that they were married yet.
After getting enough attention, Nea eventually lifted her head from Yeon-woo’s embrace and spoke.
“Oh, it seems we have a guest. You said you’d be playing with the kids, so go check it out.”
“We have no guests? Fine.”
With confusion at Nea’s remark, Yeon-woo passed through the living room and entered the bedroom. It was effectively the playroom for the kids.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Excuse me. Welcome, Yeon-woo.”
Knocking on the closed door, an unexpectedly deep voice of an elderly man echoed. Had he heard that voice before? As he thought that, he peered at the open door to find a middle-aged man dressed in a white suit standing there.
“…Jiz?”
“Long time no see.”
As Yeon-woo called his name, the elderly man smiled warmly and lightly bowed. What on earth was this guy doing here…?
[Oh, you’re here!]
“?”
“Daddy’s here!?”
“Daddy!”
Hearing the familiar voices from inside, Yeon-woo could hardly believe his ears. The children, except for Dawn, rushed over and hugged him. Normally, he would happily welcome the kids, but now, he couldn’t for some reason.
“…What are you all doing here?”
[Just came to play!]
The mysterious guest Nea mentioned turned out to be Leviathan. He was holding a game controller in his tiny hands. Next to him, Dawn was simply sitting there with a bemused expression.
*
“You should have stopped him….”
“How can I stop the Demon King?”
Yeon-woo said that as he glared at Jiz in complaint, but Jiz was right. No matter how much Behemoth and Jiz acted as advisors for Leviathan, accepting that advice was entirely up to Leviathan.
“Why on earth are you here…?”
[I came because I wanted to play!]
“If you want to play, why come to our house?!”
It was absurd. No matter how friendly a Demon King Leviathan was towards humans, it couldn’t be a good thing if word got out that Demons were visiting their home.
As Yeon-woo rolled his eyes with that thought, Leviathan assured him, saying, [It’s okay! I brought a direct connection to your house, and no one knows!]
“That’s not the issue… Ugh, it’s pointless to grumble now that you’re already here.”
[Right, you need that mindset. I’m not here to do any bad deeds; I just came to see friends.]
“Fine, fine… But are you really just here to play?”
[Since I came to play, I thought I might bring something along as well.]
Thank goodness. At least he wasn’t just here to hang out. If it had been merely for leisure, Yeon-woo would have seriously considered reevaluating any dealings with Leviathan.
“Alright then, play first.”
Peeking in, he noticed a four-player party game was paused momentarily. It wouldn’t be right to stop the children from playing just because the adults were talking.
Leviathan liked people. While interacting with their kids, he had gotten friendly, so it was safe to believe he had no reason to harm them.
However, he was slightly impatient, which was a worry. He might ask if they could get angry over a party game instead of a serious game, and that was indeed a clueless statement.
‘Even Tae-oh, who usually appears calm…’
He was unusually strong at games, and his thoughtless remarks mixed with his speech could annoy the losing side.
“That’s gonna hurt, Demon King. Lucky me, I snagged the item.”
[Ughhh…!!]
…Or perhaps he did that on purpose. Nevertheless, party games are fun for that kind of chaos. Leviathan grunted, suppressing his frustration without being able to retort.
As long as everyone was enjoying it, Yeon-woo felt at ease calling Jiz over.
“Shall we have a simple chat?”
“Yes, that would be good.”
[You’re leaving me alone, Jiz!!]
Amidst the children gnawing at him from all sides, Leviathan screamed. He said he came to play but was already complaining. That was probably just Leviathan’s playing style….
*
“Thank you for the coffee.”
“Enjoy it.”
Jiz in the guise of an elderly man bowed to Nea, who was a mysterious beauty. The scene looked quite awkward, but Nea and Jiz greeted each other naturally, leaving Yeon-woo feeling uncomfortably out of place.
‘Hard to believe Nea is older than him….’
“Are you having strange thoughts right now?”
Noticing Yeon-woo’s irreverent thoughts, Nea sharply turned to look at him. He almost had to frantically shake his head. Nea mumbled that it was odd and, after placing her cup of coffee down, sat next to Yeon-woo.
“So, what did Leviathan bring with him?”
“It seems you want to know beforehand.”
“Of course I do. I need to be prepared, at least.”
It might be a prejudice, but he couldn’t imagine Leviathan brought anything normal along. Be it information or items.
“That’s fine. The Demon King didn’t issue orders to keep it a secret.”
“Talk about the convenience of dealing with an elder.”
Behemoth just wouldn’t listen, and Leviathan was completely unruly. Luckily, Jiz was easy to converse with, or it would have been unbearable.
As Yeon-woo waited for Jiz to speak while savoring his drink, Jiz stroked his mustache and began to speak.
“I hear you’ve formed an alliance with the Violence Cult?”
“Ah, yes. Until I kill Toyo.”
Figured it would be related to that, Yeon-woo nodded. However, he also thought it might be somewhat useless if it concerned the Demon King of Toyo. Since he had already thought of more countermeasures than ever before.
“I can guess what you are thinking. You can relax; this time it’s related to Hwayo.”
“Ooh….”
Jiz’s words were very welcome. Naturally. He had countermeasures ready for all the other Demon Kings, but he had nothing for Hwayo.
The only knowledge was that Hwayo was inexplicably strong, leaving him unable to prepare any strategies.
“The Demon King has been looking forward to sharing this with you, so I can’t tell you everything… but it will shatter common sense.”
“Is it really that significant?”
“Yes.”
Jiz nodded slightly at Yeon-woo’s incredulous tone. Just how tremendous was it that he’d speak like that?
He could sufficiently prepare himself mentally, but the deepening mystery had Yeon-woo tilting his head. Well, it would be best to hear the detailed info directly from the Demon King. With that thought organized in his mind, Yeon-woo spoke up.
“Speaking of which, what about Noel’s side? Is everything going well there?”
“Ah, you’re asking about the hero of Alkeion, huh? Well, there seems to be some suspicious happenings… that’s about all I can say.”
“Something’s happening in Alkeion?”
At Yeon-woo’s question, Jiz pondered while stroking his chin. Before regression, Yeon-woo hadn’t been particularly interested in incidents regarding Alkeion or martial arts. However, he was certain that what was happening now was out of the ordinary.
Before regression, he hadn’t thought about oddities, as the time was one of precarious peace.
“Can you share more details with me?”
Hmmm, after a brief contemplation, Jiz spoke with a serious look.
“Not only the Demon King of Alkeion but it seems even the Heavenly Demon is moving. Whether Toyo’s instigated war has influenced them, there are signs of sudden activity.”
“…What?”
Yeon-woo gasped at Jiz’s words, clearly taken aback. It was nothing short of saying that a grand war spanning three dimensions was about to break out!
(To be continued in the next chapter)