translation by mourningmoor
Then, with a cool gaze, he turned his eyes to Yoo Noah.
"Sunbaenim."
At that, Yoo Noah's lips, sipping wine, curved into a red smile.
"Reveal your affiliation, won't you?"
Yoo Noah, who had drained the last drop of wine, smiled and met his gaze.
"Of course, I'm affiliated with you, hoobaenim."
The black eyes, shimmering with a red hue, felt particularly unpleasant today.
At that moment, Bartholomeus burst into laughter.
"As expected of Jesquière. You are the hope and light of Armania. The prophecy was not wrong at all."
Still going on about the prophecy? The very prophecy that drove you mad and plunged the continent into chaos.
"I'm no longer the Grand Mage. As you can see, I'm a 21-year-old, sparkling genius idol singer. Unlike you, who lives as an old man swindling conglomerates with your meager abilities, I'm a hardworking young man of South Korea."
I took my hand off the table and glanced at the phone in my pocket. It had already been almost two hours since I left.
It's about time to head back.
"Well, Bartholomeus-nim, you must have more business with our sunbaenim than with me. You've been trying so hard to wake him up, after all."
I gestured towards Yoo Noah and continued.
"Enjoy the high-class wine and the Armanian feast, you two. I have a post-concert gathering to attend."
With that, I turned around.
Then, users in red uniforms hurriedly blocked my path.
Are you kidding me? How dare these mere dolls block my way?
"Get lost."
With a flick of my finger, five or six users stepped aside.
As I exited the banquet hall, Timothy Gordon was waiting with a worried face.
His hesitant expression was almost pitiful.
"Tell your master."
So, I kindly gave him the message.
"Tell him I left because the smell of food was nauseating."
I should have realized it from the start. The guest house of Troifle. The large painting hanging there. That painting depicted the Gray Swamp of Screams, known as the birthplace of the Demon King, the very place I call the 'Trash Swamp.' It wasn't a lake.
Wow. Yoo Noah knew about it and pretended not to?
I turned around and shouted into the banquet hall.
"If you're going to call a 21-year-old idol singer who just finished a concert, you should have laid out cup noodles of all varieties. You lack sincerity."
Then, I gathered my magical energy and moved my hand.
Timothy Gordon, realizing I was about to use magic, shook his head.
"Master has set up a barrier here, so teleportation is impossible. This place is undetectable by satellites..."
"Is that so?"
I sneered and created a blue flame of magical energy at my fingertips.
"Then I'll just destroy it."
As I extended my hand, a loud noise echoed, and the ground began to shake.
Startled, Timothy Gordon crouched down and screamed.
In an instant, the barrier shattered, and the house collapsed.
Everything except the banquet hall and the corridor I was standing in crumbled.
I looked around the banquet hall, now with a clear view due to the collapsed walls.
"This is payback for messing with me for 290 years."
Bartholomeus, still seated in the host's position, furrowed his brow.
"You'll need quite a bit of mana to repair the house."
Using such powerful magic after a long time felt refreshing.
The unpleasant emotions from earlier were washed away in an instant.
"Well, take care."
With that, I teleported away.
* * *
Bartholomeus looked at the completely collapsed house and laughed hollowly.
It was a perfectly designed barrier. Known as the 'Mechanical Mage,' he had created a perfect fortress by blending the science of this world with the magical energy of the other world.
But it was shattered in the blink of an eye.
He showed no sign of strain; in fact, he seemed to enjoy it.
At that moment, the Demon King stood up.
"Well, well. You really got hit hard by our hoobaenim."
The Demon King smiled contentedly and clapped slowly.
"That's why I can't take my eyes off you. You're truly impressive."
The Demon King, adjusting his attire, sneered and looked at Bartholomeus.
"That's why I said I'm not an easy opponent. Isn't that what your prophecy says? 'A power that cannot be contained.'"
Bartholomeus, recalling the prophecy, gritted his teeth.
A power that cannot be contained. That clearly referred to Jesquière. The power to darken half the world. That referred to the Demon King Daimon.
<‘The power that cannot be contained’ will be the key to open the door, and ‘the one who darkens half the world’ will lose his way. But ‘the prepared stone’ will find them, and glory will shine at last.>
Here, the 'prepared stone' was believed to refer to Bartholomeus himself. So, he desperately hoped. That the sealed Demon King would awaken, and the key, Jesquière, would open the door. That glory would come to him.
That's why he frantically searched for the Demon King's seal. Because the location of the Demon King's seal recorded in history books was fake.
He searched so desperately, but...
In the end, he died in a dungeon explosion. Well, he didn't exactly die. When he regained consciousness, he had crossed over to this world.
Bartholomeus, reaffirming his resolve, looked at the Demon King and said.
"Please persuade him."
But the arrogant Demon King only sneered.
Then, as if bored, he picked his ear and walked away.
"Our hoobaenim is sulking, so I should go comfort him."
"The Demon King must cooperate."
He shouted in a firm voice.
The Demon King, who had paused for a moment, cast a cold glance.
"Why should I?"
"Because you need to open the door to the other world to regain your body."
* * *
What on earth is happening to Ichan? The members' worries only grew.
Timothy Gordon had come to the Dallas concert venue's waiting room, and Ichan, who had said he'd be back soon, hadn't returned even after almost two hours.
"Shouldn't we report this?"
Jaewon kept saying this after returning to the dorm.
He seemed to think Timothy Gordon had kidnapped Ichan.
"Ichan isn't the type to just... let anyone take him."
Even Hanjoon, who said this, had anxiety in his voice and expression.
"It's... not possible, right? It shouldn't be."
Roa nodded as if Hanjoon's reaction was natural.
"Timothy Gordon isn't just 'anyone.'"
Even Roa, the most rational of the four, reacted this way, making Siu's face turn pale.
"What should we do? Should we report it? Who, who's good at English?"
"Ichan."
"You're not bad either, hyung."
"I can't."
"Then what should we do in this situation?"
Jaewon, who had been quietly listening to Siu and Hanjoon's conversation, let out a deep sigh.
"In times like this, we need Chani hyung to get answers quickly."
Everyone thought the same.
Then Roa spoke up.
"We're being so foolish."
The helplessness of not being able to do anything in such a situation brought an overwhelming sense of fear.
"Even though we've been trainees since middle school and don't know much about the world, how can we be this powerless? We don't even know the number for the American police."
Kim Chanyeong, the director, and Gyuhyung hyung said they would contact Timothy Gordon, but that alone wasn't enough to ease their anxiety. Feeling this anxious and still being unable to do anything made them feel even more foolish.
"I feel the same. I even started as a trainee in high school."
At Hanjoon's words, Siu also nodded.
"Me too. I've never even been to a bank myself at this age. The account I use now was made by the school, you know?"
Siu rambled on about how the bank came to their school with a car for a bank experience event. Jaewon, with wide eyes, raised his hand.
"Me too. My mom or manager hyung always did it for me. Now, the management team handles my taxes."
"Same here. I can buy things on my own, but I don't even know where my bankbook is."
Even Roa chimed in, and Hanjoon laughed hollowly.
"Wow. We really were fools."
Come to think of it, only Ichan seemed to handle everything properly.
Whether it was running around for part-time jobs during trainee days or studying hard about investments now.
"If Ichan comes back, I should learn about investments."
At Hanjoon's words, Roa nodded so vigorously it seemed his head might fall off.
"Yes. Me too. Starting with how to handle bank stuff."
"Great. Let's all go to the bank together this time."
"Alright. Let's escape being fools by following Chani hyung."
"Me too. I agree."
At that moment, the living room door opened, and Ichan entered.
"I'm back."
"Hyungnim!"
"Hyung-ah."
Roa and Jaewon immediately ran towards Ichan.
But they stopped short in front of him.
Both had the eyes of startled rabbits and swallowed dryly.
"Why?"
Ichan asked with a puzzled expression, and they both shook their heads in unison.
"Nothing. We thought you were kidnapped and were about to report it to the police."
"Me, me too. I was about to call."
At that, Ichan smirked.
"Do you even know English?"
"That's why we couldn't. We kept passing the buck."
Jaewon said, half-joking, half-serious.
Then Hanjoon approached.
"Wow. Our Ichan."
He reached out and ruffled Ichan's hair, adding.
"Did this smart kid get star powder in his hair? Why is it so shiny?"
Then he pushed Ichan towards the bedroom.
"We've all showered. You should shower quickly too. So we can decide whether to have a party or not."
Behind Hanjoon, Siu was smiling brightly.
Ichan furrowed his brows and glanced at the members before saying he'd shower and went into the room.
"Wow. That was surprising."
As soon as Ichan entered, Jaewon exclaimed.
"Was it just me? Did hyung just... sparkle?"
"I saw it too."
Siu nodded.
Then Roa spoke nonchalantly.
"Hasn't Ichan hyungnim always sparkled? He always sparkles. Isn't that what they call an 'aura'?"
At Roa's words, Hanjoon chuckled.
"Right. You've been sparkling lately too, Roa. Jaewon, you too. Siu, same with you."
"Hyungnim, you too. You're sparkling."
Then Jaewon grumbled.
"What exactly is sparkling about us? Only Chani hyung sparkles."
Hanjoon slapped Jaewon's back hard.
"Hey, you fool. We say it's sparkling because it is. This kid has no sense. Hahaha."
Or maybe Ichan has become some kind of goblin? Sparkling and glowing with a blue light?