Chapter 318: Evil God's Game (2)

Translator: DreamscribeHaving made his wish, Alons was overcome with anticipation.

For a noble, appearance mattered.

Because no matter how much one armored oneself in luxury and splendor, if the base was nothing to look at, one was looked down upon. Alons knew that fact better than anyone.

Jinwoo nodded and snapped his fingers.

[The wish is granted.]

At that, Alons's whole body began to swell.

Wracked by tremendous pain, Alons screamed and thrashed about. But his eyes were full of ecstasy. Thinking that this pain was proof of his transformation toward beauty, he found himself laughing.

After a short while, Alons's body was complete. It had been changed into the appearance Jinwoo had 'customized with special care'. Alons looked into the mirror.

"Aah!"

Could even an Emperor look like this?

A man so handsome it was intoxicating stood before his eyes.

He gazed endlessly at himself in the mirror. He felt as though he might be sucked into the mirror and fall for his own self.

"Hahahaha! This is me...!"

-haha!

-this is fun

-hehehe!

-hahahaha

Voices that seemed almost mocking came from all directions.

The eyes that had appeared around him were watching Alons with contempt, and the mouths were brimming with sneers. A nose that appeared on the ceiling wrinkled as if smelling something disgusting.

Alons stepped outside with a confident stride. The nobles stopped where they were walking and all turned to look at him. Seeing them flinch, Alons let a smile play on his lips and began to walk with an arrogant bearing.

Everyone is looking at me!

Every eye is fixed on me!

Feast your eyes on this beautiful form!

Thinking that, he walked proudly.

"Wh-what is that."

"Bleurgh!"

The moment he passed by, the nobles either gagged or clamped their hands over their mouths.

Jinwoo grinned.

He had indeed granted the wish. But if he just granted it plainly, he wouldn't be the Evil God.

Only Alons's reflection in the mirror had been changed into Leon's appearance, while the body Jinwoo had painstakingly customized into something hideous had been bestowed upon him. On top of that, with every single step he took forward, he grew more and more hideous. Bit by bit he was shedding his human form and becoming an ugly monster.

The wish to become the most beautiful in the world had been granted. He looked beautiful only in his own eyes, but in any case Jinwoo had granted the wish without fail.

Besides, since there were all sorts of standards for beauty, surely a form like that could be called beautiful enough somewhere in this world?

-hahaha!

-nice

-so fun

The wish was granted!

The reactions from his viewers were good, too. At first they couldn't even manage simple communication, but now, little by little, he was beginning to sense their wills.

It was proof that, amid the enjoyment, their resentment and rage were slowly fading away.

So much fun!

Jinwoo, of course, was enjoying himself too.

Alons, now an incredibly handsome man (?), pressed forward without hesitation.

Seeing people turn pale or freeze up at the sight of him sent a wave of joy through him. He believed everyone was envying him. There were also those who screamed or recoiled in horror, but Jinwoo concealed it with illusion magic.

Screaming faces became faces gasping in admiration.

Faces twisted in horror became faces lost in love.

That was how it looked to Alons's eyes.

-go. let's go in

-inside

-show us. show us your face

The voices that kept coming were familiar by now and bearable to listen to. If anything, they were proof that he had become someone special, so he felt smug.

'Behold my form! And praise me!'

He strode confidently toward the mansion.

That damned bitch and that bastard were holding a banquet in his house. It was a lavish banquet that ran for a full three days. A banquet thrown for the sole purpose of squandering everything Alons had once owned.

It had originally been his house, but barely a month ago he had handed over the deed.

He had tried to hold out and refuse to leave to the very end, but the noble brought in troops, beat him bloody, and he was driven out in a pitiful state.

He had barely managed to get a hotel room and was drowning himself in drink when he ended up in that state.

When he reached the front gate, the sound of festive music drifted out.

The soldiers guarding the front gate started to stop him, then flinched. At the sight of him, they even moved to draw their weapons.

Jinwoo didn't want to let Alons's illusion shatter.

"Want to join in too?"

Jinwoo doled out a little Authority and Sacred Power to the vengeful spirits watching Alons.

[The Evil God has bestowed Authority, triggering a viewer participation event. Feel free to sponsor and join in!]

*Eye 1,971,3... sponsors Alons with surging confidence.

*Mouth 3,342 sings of the ugliness of his appearance.

*Hand 2,334,2... applauds in anticipation.

*Hand 2,312 approaches the hostile gatekeepers. A group event has been created.

Sponsorships poured in toward Alons.

Black hands sprouting from Alons's body reached toward the gatekeepers.

The hands that had received a share of the Evil God's Authority could only affect beings who had accumulated Evil Karma. There had to be at least enough Evil Karma to amount to having killed one person. Such a being could be toyed with at will. That level was Evil Karma Rank D- or higher.

If they touched a soul with no Evil Karma, they could exert no influence and simply passed through. If anything, a beneficial buff was applied to good beings.

Unfortunately, the gatekeepers' souls were filthy with heaps of accumulated Evil Karma. The instant the hands touched the gatekeepers' bodies, their armor bubbled and boiled, then melted away.

"Aaaargh!"

"Gyaaaagh!"

Dark red blood and chunks of flesh began to ooze out from the gaps in the armor. They collapsed before the gate as horrific lumps, but Alons didn't notice. To him, it looked as though the gatekeepers were kneeling, entranced by his beauty and dignity.

The gate rusted and crumbled, but it looked as though the gatekeepers were politely opening it for him.

"Gold coins, fill my pockets to the brim. Keep overflowing forever."

Alons quietly spoke his wish.

Gold coins kept generating in his pockets. To reward the well-mannered gatekeepers, he pulled coins from his pocket and scattered them toward them.

Within Alons's illusion, the gatekeepers it conjured crawled along the ground and began scrambling to scoop up the coins. Alons sneered at them.

-lol

-haha

-idiot!

Alons swayed for a moment. His head ached and his vision tinged red, but it soon returned to normal.

Alons stepped over the pool of blood as if it were a red carpet, passing through the front gate and inside. The moment he passed, the gold coins turned into lumps of flesh and stained the floor.

The guards came rushing out.

Most of them were retired soldiers.

For aging soldiers who had reached a state where they could no longer wear armor, serving as a noble's guard was the highest honor.

Soldiers who could live within the central region of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire, beyond the Dimensional Barrier, were exceedingly rare. Only high-ranking officers who hadn't become nobles, or soldiers chosen by a noble, could manage it.

"Insane...!"

"Monster!"

Seeing the carnage at the front gate, the guards hastily drew their weapons and leveled them at Alons.

Alons's ever more hideous appearance no longer even resembled a human shape. His skin sloughed off, and from dozens of holes bored all the way to the bone, watery discharge oozed out.

A monster that looked as if it had crawled out of a nightmare was creeping sluggishly toward the mansion, seeping forward as it came.

The guards couldn't stop Alons.

*Foot 4,432,2... clears the way.

*Foot 2,421 pitches in.

*Foot 2,322,3... joins in.

The guards who had been about to attack were startled as their surroundings suddenly darkened. Slowly, they raised their heads and looked up. Enormous feet were descending toward them.

SQUELCH!

Before they could even react, the feet crushed the guards underfoot like ants, the entire soles driving deep into the ground.

The guards' bodies vanished without leaving so much as a shape behind.

Their souls were torn to shreds by the hands that rose up from Alons's shadow.

Everyone who tried to stop him was reduced to pulp and died.

In this participatory game, the vengeful spirits were shedding at least a little of their rage and hatred. That rage and hatred turned into enjoyment and flowed into Jinwoo.

The courtyard connected to the mansion was melting away and the guards were dying in gruesome fashion, but Alons walked on gracefully.

He felt as good as if he were dreaming.

Watching the nobles blush or gasp in admiration at the sight of him was utterly exhilarating.

Yes! This is what a truly enjoyable life is!

I've held out all this way for this very day!

Alons had forgotten that the price of the contract was enjoyment.

THUD! THUD!

Alons strode confidently into the grand mansion where the banquet was underway. The nobles who recoiled in horror at the sight of him were pinned to the walls or fused with the floor by the hands that burst forth. They howled in agony and screamed for help, but to Alons it all sounded like nothing more than praise.

Alons stepped into the corridor leading to the central hall. He looked into a mirror in the hallway and grinned. A man handsome enough to make even himself swoon was gazing back at him with a radiant smile.

-so fun

-gross

-nasty

Now, at last, it was time for Alons to meet the ones who had brought him pain.

Jinwoo focused and watched Alons through the Information Window. The banquet hall had descended into chaos. In the central region of the Kalsus Dimensional Empire, the safest place in the world, and in a noble's mansion no less, the nobles were being turned into bloody pulp.

"M-monster!"

"Hkk!"

"Kyaaaagh!"

As Alons entered the central hall, everyone screamed, paralyzed with terror. He didn't even give the escorts the nobles had brought a chance to step forward.

Hands seized their legs and buried them in the floor, and feet descending from above crushed them. Mouths laughed endlessly, mocking them.

Jinwoo kept showering the vengeful spirits with Authority.

Alons spotted Lailani, the one who had betrayed him.

Beside the woman stood the loathsome Baron Greiso. Alons approached the two of them at his leisure.

"Lailani, do you know who I am?"

Alons wore a beautiful smile as he peered into Lailani's face.

He looked forward to her reaction.

He had changed so much that she wouldn't recognize him.

What would happen if he made her fall for him first, then slowly revealed his identity? Surely she would be shocked and regret having betrayed him.

He would toy with her thoroughly until then, then cast her aside at her most wretched moment.

'Turning her into a bug would be fun, too.'

Alons gave a sinister laugh.

As for that Baron Greiso, he would turn him into an earthworm living in a heap of dung. Alons trembled with excitement.

Jinwoo nodded.

"Now things are about to get really interesting."

-finally...

-here comes the truth

-so fun!

At Jinwoo's words, voices laden with anticipation rang out.

Alons, it's time to wake from the dream now.

Jinwoo had said he would grant the wish, but he never said he would grant it as asked. Nor had he mentioned how long the wish would last.

One must always be careful with contracts.

Of course, it wasn't as if Alons had ever had any way to avoid the contract.

Jinwoo snapped his fingers.

[The illusion begins to break.]

*Mouths cheer in unison.

*Hands applaud.

*Feet stamp in excitement.

Jinwoo raised a beer and toasted to Alons's hideous form. Then, when he set it down on the floor, the beer kept duplicating and flowed into the mouths in Alons's shadow.

"Kyaaaagh!"

A scream brimming with terror.

Lailani screamed at the sight of Alons and stumbled backward. That sight registered clearly in Alons's eyes.

Was she being shy?

At first Alons thought so, but when he saw the look in Lailani's eyes, full of fear and revulsion, he realized something was wrong.

Why that kind of look?

It should have been full of affection and adoration.

Alons grew anxious.

"Lailani, I am none other than...."

Lailani couldn't even make out Alons's words.

Because they sounded like the most horrific wailing.

As she backed away, Lailani bumped into a large mirror that decorated the banquet hall.

"Kyaah!"

The mirror tipped forward and came crashing down over Lailani.

Shards of the mirror lodged into Lailani, and a few pieces slid all the way up to Alons's feet.

Alons lowered his head and looked at the shattered mirror.

"Wh-what?!"

In the broken mirror, he saw his own monstrous form.

"N-no!"

Alons bolted in a fright to another mirror standing in the banquet hall. In that mirror, an overwhelmingly handsome man still appeared.

A handsome man so striking that just looking at him was intoxicating.

That was his true appearance.

It had to be some kind of mistake.

Just a mistake.

It was just as Alons thought this and felt relieved.

Crrk.

A crack ran through the mirror, and blood seeped out.

The cracked mirror showed his true form.

A face melted away to expose the bone,

Eyeballs that looked ready to fall out.

From the dozens of holes bored into the bone, pus dribbled down, giving off a horrific stench.

His arms and hands were hideously twisted, and his legs had split into several, so that he looked just like an insect.

A monster.

The most horrific monster Alons could imagine was staring back at him from before the cracked mirror.

Alons touched his face with his hand. The monster reflected in the cracked mirror touched its face with a hideous hand. He vividly felt the sensation of the tentacles emerging from his fingertips coiling around his face.

"Gy-gyaaaaaaaaargh!"

Alons screamed.

-hahaha!

-this is it!

-so satisfying!

Jinwoo grinned and snapped his fingers.

[The power of the wish grows stronger.]

He breathed even stronger Authority into Alons.

From now on, everything Alons thought and said would become a wish.

Lailani, Baron Greiso, and the countless nobles attending the banquet trembled in fear as they stared at Alons's hideous form.

They couldn't even flee. Eyes clinging to the doors, walls, ceiling, and floor were watching them. Ears had appeared and were listening to their every sound.

"D-don't look! D-don't look at me!"

[The wish is granted.]

The instant Alons blurted those words out, the wish was granted.

"Kyaaaagh!"

"Gyaagh!"

The banquet hall filled with screams. The eyes of every noble who heard Alons's voice simply vanished. The wish for them not to look had been granted.

"Ch-change me back the way I was!"

[Warning! Undoing a wish is a breach of contract.]

"I-I don't care! Change me back, now!"

[The wish is granted.]

Amid horrific pain, his body began to find its original form once more.

He had returned to that old, scorned appearance, but he felt relieved. Even in the cracked mirror, he looked normal. But right away, his skin began to melt off again.

It couldn't be!

'A-am I turning back into a monster?'

[The wish is granted.]

Merely thinking that was enough to turn him back into a monster.

'Th-there must be a way to use a wish to get back to my original form.'

He struggled to think as positively as he could. But there was no way for him to avoid negative thoughts.

Whenever he had a negative thought, the wish was instantly granted.

As time passed, Alons grew more and more wretched.

The nobles in the banquet hall, too, were swept up in Alons's wishes and plunged into a terrible hell.

Sinking into despair, Alons looked at the back of his hand, where at least some skin still remained. He could see the Evil God's mark engraved there. That was the symbol that granted his wishes.

Concentrating his mind as hard as he could, he thought of a wish.

'Back to normal! Please!'

The moment he thought that, his appearance reverted to normal.

After confirming his appearance, he immediately clawed frantically at the mark on the back of his hand with his nails until it was gone. He had given up the power of the wish.

"I-it worked!"

Now, no matter what he thought, no wish was granted.

In that instant, as if time had stopped, everything around him turned gray.

Jinwoo, who had been gleefully watching the whole thing through the broadcast, popped a piece of boneless fried chicken into his mouth, rose from his seat, and moved to stand before Alons.

"So you reversed your wish, and even gave it up? That's a breach of contract."

"I-I don't want to d-do this anymore. I, I just... I-I'll give up."

Jinwoo listened to Alons and nodded.

"I see."

"Then, um... is it all over?"

"No."

Jinwoo was an Evil God who kept his promises.

Alons seemed to have completely forgotten what the contract said.

The price of the wish was enjoyment.

So Jinwoo had stripped away every bit of enjoyment Alons might have felt and filled him with nothing but pain and despair. And giving up a wish came with an even greater price.

"You'll have to pay the price for breaching the contract."

"Wh-what is the p-price?"

"Your soul."

That was the price of breaching the contract.

*****

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