But Cale could not keep laughing.

“Khhk!”

Count Lupe’s groan of pain grew louder.

Supporting him, Cale hurriedly turned his gaze back to him.

“Are you okay?”

“Khh, O Worst One—”

Lupe grabbed Cale’s clothes.

The moment Cale met those eyes, filled with every kind of confusion, he saw Lupe’s gaze change in an instant.

The emotion surging up from the depths of his eyes was unmistakably rage.

“N-not only demonfolk—”

What?

Just as Cale leaned closer to hear him properly—

“It’s not only demonfolk......!”

With those words—

“Lupe!”

“Count!”

Count Lupe fainted.

[*He will remain unconscious until he recovers his memories.]

Seeing the new line appear on the quest screen, Cale frowned.

“What is this all of a sudden—”

“He’ll stay like this until he recovers his memories.”

“Hm?”

To the flustered Aurora, Cale explained the quest he had received.

“Ah—”

Aurora was still not fully used to the game system, so she did not immediately understand everything, but she grasped the important point right away.

“This means we’ve gotten a very important mission, haven’t we?”

“That’s right.”

Transparent Co.

It was a major weapon that could shake that place from outside the game.

And the Demon King of Ennui.

They had found a path to obtain the dagger that could bring him down.

“...But—”

Aurora’s expression changed.

It became more serious than before.

“Just now, Count Lupe said, ‘It’s not only demonfolk.’ That means—”

To Aurora, who could not quite finish the sentence, Cale answered calmly.

“It means there were other life forms involved in those experiments besides demonfolk.”

Count Lupe, no matter how anyone looked at it, seemed to be confused while drifting back and forth between his memories of the game and reality.

And when, in that state, he had clearly recalled a fragment of his real memories and conveyed it to Cale—

judging by the fact that he had addressed him as O Worst One, Dark Ghost Lupe must have been trying to pass along information that would benefit his boss, Cale.

“Mm.”

Aurora’s face showed her thoughts deepening.

“For now.”

Cale’s voice reached her ears.

She looked at him, eyes questioning.

“For now, shouldn’t we move Count Lupe first?”

“That’s true.”

Aurora reflexively echoed Cale’s words.

“......”

Then she saw Cale quietly looking at her with a puzzled expression.

“Ah!”

Aurora quickly found the answer.

The answer lay in Cale’s sickly complexion.

“Where should I move him?”

“Follow me.”

Aurora scooped Count Lupe up in her arms, and Cale led the way.

It was an excellent division of roles, and by the end of that division of labor, Cale was able to lay Count Lupe on a bed and sit across a table from Aurora for a conversation.

“It seems the Demon King of Ennui is searching for ‘Dark.’”

Oh.

Hearing Aurora’s words, Cale’s expression brightened.

The Demon Realm.

When he had gone there, Cale had planted a bomb in the Demon Realm in the form of the God of Chaos’s secret force, Dark, and then returned.

And now the result of that was that the Demon King had become interested in Dark.

“That will make it easier to drive a wedge between the God of Chaos and the Demon King.”

“Hehe. Exactly.”

“Hahaha!”

Aurora and Cale burst into laughter with remarkably similar expressions.

“......”

Beside them, Count Lupe lay there quietly unconscious.

Glancing at him, Cale let the laughter leave his face.

“How is Choi Jung Gun?”

Choi Jung Gun.

A Wanderer and the ancestor of Choi Han and Choi Jung Soo.

He had been struck by the corruption of chaos, and his body was currently being covered in gray.

He did not have much time left.

“He’s the same.”

Aurora’s expression hardened as well.

That said, it was not especially worse either.

Choi Jung Gun was currently being protected while a magic circle slowed the progress of the corruption.

If he left that magic circle, then even as a Single-Born, he would die within a week.

“That’s a relief, at least.”

Cale stared into empty air for a moment and organized his thoughts.

‘For now, the things I need to do—’

Eruhaben Miru’s “Birth of Evil.”

Go to Primordial Night, the holy land of the God of Chaos.

‘Go to the holy land and unseal the Fear of Chaos skill too.’

Meet a saint—or someone like one—who knows how to use the power of chaos, and get a way to purify Choi Jung Gun.

‘And I should steal one holy relic from the God of Chaos’s holy land so our Blue Wolf can recover his power too.’

The Blue Wolf, god of the beastfolk. He was planning to steal a divine relic from the holy land for him as well.

Which meant Cale—

‘Needs to smash it.’

He intended not merely to smash the God of Chaos’s holy land in the Demon Realm, but to leave it utterly devastated.

If that happened, it would ultimately deal a tremendous blow to the God of Chaos’s faction inside this NaSoJeol game.

‘How many gains is that, exactly?’

From a single task, he would get no fewer than four benefits.

‘And now there’s one more thing to do.’

Recover Count Lupe’s memories.

That task too would bring at least three benefits.

‘Hit Transparent Co., hit the Demon King too, and keep our richest man in the Demon Realm, Count Lupe.’

Especially in the Third District, the gains Cale stood to get might be enormous.

“...Could I swallow up... a transcendent corporation?”

At Cale’s low murmur, Aurora looked puzzled.

The only being who could react to those words was—

-Huff, huff!

-Hey, Fire! What’s wrong with you?

-Huff, huff, a transcendent corporation means... transcendently rich...! A gold bar! A transcendent gold bar...! Huff, huff!

—none other than that miser, the Fire of Destruction.

But the miser had just suffered severe psychological damage and was in no condition even to pull himself together.

“Heh—”

Cale merely laughed softly to himself.

“Mm.”

Aurora let out a quiet sound, but Cale paid no attention.

‘And—’

Instead, he thought of what he had to do next.

More precisely, of the ultimate goal he needed to reach.

‘In the end, all of this leads to one conclusion.’

The Absolute God.

Stop the god that would be born in New World inside this NaSoJeol game.

And destroy the hunters.

‘If that alone happens, then nothing will be dangerous anymore.’

It would mean the threatening elements endangering the world Cale lived in, Nameless 1, would disappear.

‘Then I can go back to the Roan Kingdom, rest, and when I have time, try raising an orchard.’

Mm.

That was an excellent plan.

“Without fail......”

“Hm?”

At his soft murmur, Aurora reacted once more.

Grin.

Cale smiled and spoke gently.

“I intend to achieve my goal no matter what.”

“Ah—”

Aurora nodded with an awkward smile.

‘...What exactly is he planning to destroy?’

Looking at Cale’s sinister smile, she had the strange feeling that she had just glimpsed one side of a secret room she should never have opened.

She deliberately looked away from his face.

Watching her, still smiling, Cale thought: 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

‘Right. After that, I won’t bother with anything else.’

The God of Chaos, the divine realm, the Demon Realm, the heavenly realm—

none of that was any of Cale’s business.

Whether they beat each other to death or not had nothing to do with him.

All Cale wanted was for his home, and the place where the people around him lived, to be safe.

“Mm. How are you planning to proceed from here?”

At Aurora’s cautious question, Cale looked toward the door.

“I think I need to go out for a bit.”

The Third District.

It looked like he would need to go back there for the first time in a while.

[Recovery Rate 96.91% (Time Remaining: 3 days 20 hours 7 minutes)]

[Birth Ceremony Progress 50%]

[Reward Grade Undetermined]

He would have to make good use of the little time remaining until Eruhaben Miru was born.

Just then—

“But is it really okay for Count Lupe to be absent like this?”

Mm?

“Is it fine if people find out he’s in this state?”

At Aurora’s question, Cale quietly looked down at the unconscious Count Lupe.

This guy’s build—

*****

“So you want me to wear a mask and pretend to be this bastard?”

“Yeah. We’ll resolve everything before Eruhaben Miru is born, so it won’t be for long.”

Cale made the request boldly.

“We’ll leave the final part of the tutorial to another boss from the Third Evil for the time being. I just want you to go to the Third Evil and act as ‘Lupe’ if something comes up, just in case. It won’t be hard at all. Just think of it as going there to rest. Our bear cub said he’d handle all the annoying stuff.”

Of course, he added a long explanation as well. The Heavenly Demon let out a snort of laughter.

“You want me to wear a mask, act in someone else’s place—”

The way he murmured it made it sound as though he wasn’t in a very good mood.

‘Mm.’

So despite how bold he looked, Cale got a little nervous.

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

But the Heavenly Demon accepted the request much more readily than expected.

As far as Cale was concerned, there was no one better suited for this job than the Heavenly Demon.

‘He’s the most free, after all.’

At that moment, the Heavenly Demon asked quietly,

“Are you planning to take over all of the Eight Evils?”

“Mm. Not exactly take over. I do intend to make them all cooperate together, though?”

To Cale, that was basically the same thing, and the Heavenly Demon gave a faint smile at his reply.

With expressions growing more numerous on his face lately, he informed Cale,

“I’m planning to make one of the Eight Evils into a Demonic Cult branch. Excluding the Third Evil and the Seventh Evil you chose.”

“Huh?”

“Keep that in mind.”

After saying that, the Heavenly Demon turned his back on Cale and walked away.

Still dazed, Cale watched him retreat and muttered softly,

“...What a windfall?”

If it was a Demonic Cult branch, then that meant it was on his side, didn’t it?

Since the Heavenly Demon was saying he would handle it on his own, Cale had no reason to refuse.

Toward the Heavenly Demon’s receding figure, Cale shouted energetically,

“The First Evil is connected to the Wanderers! Exclude that one!”

The Heavenly Demon raised a hand.

At that cool gesture, Cale sent out words of encouragement.

“Good luck! Not just one—take two, no, take them all if you want!”

The Heavenly Demon’s hand dropped.

For some reason, irritation seemed to radiate from his back.

Whether that was true or not, Cale called Alberu and Rosalyn over.

*****

Cale turned on his tablet and sank into the sofa.

“You want to visit the home of Honorary Chairman Han Taeksoo’s secretary?”

Choi Sun Hee, the president of Sun Co., swallowed hard.

“More precisely, his chief secretary.”

Han Taeksoo, the honorary chairman of Transparent Co.

How many secretaries did he have under him?

The man Cale was targeting was the chief secretary, Han Taeksoo’s closest aide.

Chief Secretary Kang Geunmok, who had apparently served him for fifty years.

“So he isn’t a hunter?”

“No. He’s from the Third District.”

Strangely enough, Kang Geunmok was not a hunter.

“Hoh.”

Honorary Chairman Han Taeksoo, who might not even be human.

The corners of Cale’s lips curled upward.

“I should meet Kang Geunmok.”

“His loyalty is famous. Do you really think a man like that will tell you the laboratory password?”

At Choi Sun Hee’s cautious question, Cale smiled.

“Well, we’ll find out once we try, won’t we?”

Gulp.

Choi Sun Hee involuntarily swallowed.

“...You aren’t going to kidnap the chief secretary, are you?”

At those words, Cale’s eyes changed.

“Kidnap him? We would never do something like that!”

Cale denied it far too loudly.

“......”

“......”

And Alberu and Rosalyn simply smiled while reading information about Chief Secretary Kang Geunmok on their tablets.

It was then.

At the top floor of Sun’s building, where the four of them were sitting—

“Breaking news!”

A breaking news bulletin had appeared on the television they had left on.

Cale, who had heard the information ahead of time and had deliberately been waiting for the news, flicked his gaze toward the announcer on the screen.

In a firm tone, the announcer said:

“It has been officially declared that Honorary Chairman Han Taeksoo, the founding chairman of Transparent Co., will run in the next presidential election!”

This was something most citizens had already known.

But an “official declaration” was different.

“Let’s watch Honorary Chairman Han Taeksoo’s press conference!”

As soon as the announcer finished speaking, the TV was about to switch over to the press conference hall.

Cale and his companions all turned their attention to the screen.

Han Taeksoo.

They were curious what he would say, and they were also curious to see the face of the chief secretary who would be near him.

“Ah!”

At that moment, the announcer let out a rare cry of surprise.

The TV screen did not switch to the press conference hall.

“B-breaking news!”

The announcer stumbled slightly, then continued in a calm tone, though the surprise still had not left her face.

“Mary, Senior Aide to President Anlomann—”

The announcer faltered for a moment, then squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again before continuing.

“Has reportedly been named a suspect in a murder case!”

Anlomann, the three-term president and hero.

Mary, his senior aide, who had accompanied his every move and was also a highly capable figure.

She had suddenly been named a murder suspect.

“...What the hell happened all of a sudden—”

Alberu spoke.

“It’s pretty obvious Transparent Co. is behind it, though.”

“That’s right. It’s obvious.”

Rosalyn said it flatly.

“A large number of human remains have been discovered on the grounds of a closed elementary school! The remains are in bizarre forms, and it is being assumed that Senior Aide Mary is behind them!”

As the announcer continued speaking, Rosalyn added,

“Wasn’t Anlomann’s side investigating Transparent Co.’s corruption and human experimentation? It looks like the atmosphere is that the senior aide got saddled with all the blame while investigating that.”

“That does seem likely.”

Alberu agreed.

“If the senior aide ends up like that, Anlomann is going to be in serious trouble.”

He spoke seriously to Cale.

“Let’s grab Kang Geunmok first.”

Cale’s gaze was still fixed on the television.

“We will continue to relay any additional breaking updates as they arrive. Now, let’s connect to the press conference hall and hear Honorary Chairman Han Taeksoo’s speech!”

The announcer’s much steadier voice passed by, and Honorary Chairman Han Taeksoo appeared on the screen.

“My beloved citizens—”

Honorary Chairman Han Taeksoo looked to be in his seventies.

Cale’s gaze passed over him and settled on the person barely visible at the edge of the screen.

Han Taeksoo, drawing everyone’s attention.

And the only person who could stand behind him and still appear on television.

A man Han Taeksoo kept so close and cherished too much to be merely a chief secretary.

Chief Secretary Kang Geunmok.

Cale watched the man closely, a dry old tree of a figure with a cold and stubborn face.

“Let’s move.”

*****

On a moonless dark night.

A night when people could not sleep because of everything being said about Han Taeksoo and Anlomann.

Beep.

Kang Geunmok, having briefly stopped by his home, opened the front door.

Protected by every kind of magic, the house was safe enough to be called a fortress to Kang Geunmok.

And then he took one step inside.

“!”

But he did not take the next step.

He stopped.

Looking into the living room sunk in darkness, he opened his ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) mouth.

“Who is it?”

It was then.

“!”

He flinched and tried to turn his head.

But before he could—

“Why are you home so late?”

A voice came from right beside him.

“I thought I wasn’t going to get to see you today.”

A voice carrying a trace of laughter reached Kang Geunmok’s ears, and he felt a hand seize him by the throat.

“Let’s have a little talk.”

It was Cale, saying they should talk while grabbing him by the neck first.