Beyond the Eternity

For my polite greeting, I received no response. The Demonic Werewolf's piercing yellow eyes continued to glare at me in silence, burning with hatred. It wasn't surprising. After all, I was the one who had abducted him and sealed his voice with a skill.

Naturally, anyone would resent me if they were in his position, but I ignored the hostility in his gaze and continued to smile mockingly.

"Oh my, why are you glaring at me so passionately? Is it because I left you all alone? I'm a rather busy fellow, so try not to hate me too much."

"...!!"

"Mmm, are you trying to say something? You should really speak up so people can hear you."

"...!!"

The Demonic Werewolf trembled intensely with suppressed, accumulated rage. A satisfied grin tugged at my lips. I had pushed him far enough, but there was no way I'd unseal his voice.

He possessed an incredibly troublesome skill that I had no intention of letting him use against me.

It was the same skill that made him so infuriatingly difficult to capture. He wasn't just any ordinary werewolf; he was the leader of the notorious 'Coin Farm Organisation.' He'd captured countless Seekers and forced them to fight, with the intention of extracting coins from the Constellations that watched for their amusement.

Throughout the Seoul Dome, there were several such farms, guarded by Demonic Werewolves.

And this one here? He was the head of them all.

The party had systematically dismantled the farms, aided by Moon Jiyeon and the Outcast King, Park Yewon.

Jung Yunhee and Lee Suhye had been the first to track him down and attempt his capture. But thanks to his maddeningly elusive skill, he had always slipped through their fingers.

Until now.

Still smiling, I activated one of my two personal skills.

...

[The personal skill, 「Black Box」, has been activated.]

[The authority, 「Greed」 ,is now in effect.]

...

Fragments of the Demonic Werewolf's thoughts began to flow smoothly into my mind.

「 This bastard... I hate him. I hate him so much. 」

「 I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. 」

「 Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. 」

「 I'll rip out his throat and chew his stupid face. 」

「 Who the hell is this bastard? He came out of nowhere and swept me away! 」

「 What kind of bloody skill does he have? Is it transmutation? There's something strange about this… 」

「 Dammit. I can't escape. I can't even kill myself. This humiliation... 」

A soft chuckle almost escaped my lips.

This wolf bastard was really something. He had captured so many people and restrained them in the same way, yet now he was whining about being treated with far more gentleness.

The sheer hypocrisy was rather laughable.

Someone like him didn't deserve any pity. If anything, he needed to bullied to build some character.

...Ah, what's this?

The Demonic Werewolf narrowed his eyes at me.
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「 He doesn't look that strong. Heck, I can't even sense any spark of mana in his body. 」

「 How pathetic. I can't believe I lost to someone like this. 」

「 He must have used some historical artifact from a Constellation to knock me out when I wasn't looking, then bound me with some strange skill. 」

「 How annoying. If only I could break free from these chains… 」

This bastard. I felt the veins in my temple throbbing.

He had the audacity to insult me in his thoughts? Still, I forced myself to maintain composure. Someone like him wasn't worth the effort of losing my cool.

"For someone who got captured so easily, your gaze is far too arrogant for my liking," I said with a smirk.

「 ... 」

"And don't bother trying to break free from those chains. You can struggle all you want, but it won't change the result."

「 Wh-What? How did he know?! 」

"Don't look so surprised. I can read your thoughts, you idiot."

「 You bastard, you don't know who you're messing with. Just wait, I'll rip you apart and feast on your bones!! 」

I yawned out of boredom. "Well, good luck with that."

「 You...! You dare...!! 」

"By the way, I'm curious. How was your life as a coin farm manager? It might have been good being the dog of the Constellations. Isn't that right, Han Minjae?"

The Demonic Werewolf, Han Minjae, widened his eyes in shock.

「 How... how could you have possibly known my name? 」

"Are you still looking down on me? Did you truly believe you're that special? Not only do I know your name, but I also know a lot of things about you too."

"Your father's name was Han Songwoo, and your mother's was Oh Mihyun. Born on December 11th, 1991. You joined a gang during high school and became a petty gangster. It was the same story when you barely managed to scrape your way into a public university.

"At some point during the Main Stories, you made a deal with a Demon and gained the power of a Demonic Werewolf. Then you created the Coin Farm Organisation and slowly spread your influence throughout the Seoul Dome."

「 ... 」

Han Minjae could only remain silent as his entire life story was narrated by me like some cheap novel.

Looking at his shocked face, I wore a satisfied expression.

"Really now, how can one person be so pathetic? Even that bastard, Kim Minhyuk, is better than you. Well, the gap between you and him isn't much. You're both utter trash."

He frowned. 「 Who is Kim Minhyuk? 」

"Nobody important."

「 Damnit. Stop reading my thoughts, you damn bastard! 」

"If I stop reading your thoughts, how would we communicate?"

「 Release my voice so we can communicate normally! 」

"No."

「 What? Why not? 」

"I don't wanna."

「 You son of a bitch! Release me this instant! 」

"Oh? And why would I do something so irrational?"

Han Minjae sat up and wore a confident smile like he had something hidden within his sleeve.

「 Don't you already know? Like you said, I formed a Star Contract with a Demonic Constellation. However, the demon in question is no ordinary Constellation. Have you heard of the Devouring Black Wolf? 」

"Devouring Black Wolf?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow.

「 Yes. I am the Avatar of the Devouring Black Wolf. 」

His yellow eyes gleamed with arrogance, as if revealing this title would send me cowering in fear.

If I were a normal person, his pathetic attempt to intimidate me might've worked.

The Devouring Black Wolf. The true name of this Constellation was Fenrir, the first-born son of Loki and the giantess Angrboða. He was the older brother of the World Serpent, Jörmungandr, and Hel.

In the novel, Fenrir was described as an unstoppable force, one that had devoured countless heroes and nightmares across dimensions and stories. He would play a key role in the events of the Ragnarök Story, where he was fated to slay the God King, Odin.

Yeah, he was definitely a terrifying existence, but so what?

I wasn't about to lose sleep over a legend, especially not when I wasn't tied to Asgard in any way.

I tilted my head nonchalantly, "So? What's so special about him?"

「 Foolish human. You're rather arrogant. Would you be able to survive the wrath of a god if something happens to me? 」

I snarled,

"I think you're the arrogant one here. What makes you think that a god would care about trash like you?"

「 I'm his avatar. Of course, he would care about me! 」

"Correction: you're one of his many reincarnations. Sure, you might be a bit stronger and more cunning than the others, but you don't possess any heaven-defying talent that would even catch the attention of the stars. Hell, you can't even survive without selling your soul or your precious coin farms. Do you really think a High-Ranking Constellation would give a damn about someone like you?"

「 Son of a bitch! You won't get away with this! 」

"But I already have, haven't I? Or haven't you noticed? You've been missing for days, yet you haven't heard a peep from your Constellation. Am I right? Doesn't that only confirm the truth of my words?"

「 ...! 」

Han Minjae's glare intensified dangerously. It felt like he was trying to bore a hole through my head.

That only widened my smile.

"Ah, what's this? Did I hit a nerve or two? You must be angry, right? I'm sure you've known this truth all along. Ha ha ha! Maybe that's why you've managed to survive for so long and rolled across the dirt like an overgrown pig."

「 Damn you! I swear on my soul, you won't have a quick death!! 」

Laughter bubbled up from my chest. "That's good. That's really good. Hate me. Curse me. Resent me. Make sure you do all of that while you still have a chance."

「 Are you going to kill me? Hmph. Go ahead! I'd rather die than beg for my life! I'm not afraid of death! 」

"Kill you? Nooo~ Why would I ever do that? If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have wasted my time bringing you down here. I've got things planned for you."

「 Wh-Wha... Wh-What... do you mean by that...? 」

"Why are you pretending like you don't know? Of course, I'm going to experiment on your body. How could I waste such a fine specimen in front of me?"

「 ...!!! 」

His face turned pale like a zombie, and his body trembled over. For the first time, something other than hate and shock crossed his face.

Fear.

There might be a few brave individuals who weren't afraid of death. Those were the fierce type, but nobody wanted to become a damn lab rat.

That fate was far more terrifying and gruesome than death.

Clap!

I clapped my hands together, and Han Minjae flinched like a distressed girl, his eyes wide with horror.

"Now then, let's begin, shall we?"

「 Wait! Wait! Wait! Let's talk this out! 」

"I don't wanna~"

「 I'll give you anything you want! Uh, you like coins, right? If I give you coins, you'll let me go, right?! 」

"Hmm. Depends on how much you offer."

Han Minjae gave an awkward smile. 「 I see. So he likes money. Ha ha. Who doesn't like money? 」

"You do know I can hear you, right?"

「 Shit! How about this? 」

Han Minjae focused his thoughts, and a notification appeared.

Ding!

[You have received 50,000 coins from the Walker, Han Minjae.]

[50,000 coins has been added to your account balance.]

I stared blankly at the message. Han Minjae, seeing my silence, mistook it for shock and quickly asked, 「 How is it? That's a lot of coins, right? 」

"Not enough."

「 Sorry, what did you say? 」

"It's not enough. 50,000 coins isn't a great amount. Surely, that's not all you have, right?"

「 50,000 coins is a small amount? What kind of bullshit is that?! 」

"If you don't give me something acceptable, I'll start right away."

「 Fuck! 」

Seeing that I wasn't budging, Han Minjae reluctantly transferred the rest of the coins he had saved up.

Ding!

[You have received 73,460 coins from the Walker, Han Minjae.]

[153,460 coins have been added to your account balance.]

50,000 and 153,460 coins. Add them together, and you get a total of 203,460 coins.

This werewolf bastard hadn't even done any Stories, yet he had made over 200,000 coins by orchestrating fights between others for the Constellations. While we were getting our asses handed to us, this bastard was causing misery and enjoying himself like royalty.

I took a slow, deep breath to calm my throbbing heart, then looked at him and said, "Yo, I have a question "

「 Won't you release me already? 」

"If you answer my question, I'll think about it."

「 Fine. What is it? 」

"How many coins did you make in a day?"

「 5,000 coins. 」

"Only 5,000 coins?" I frowned. "If that's the case, then the numbers don't add up."

「 I made 5,000 coins a day using my coin farm. There are some hardcore Constellations that enjoy those kinds of events, so I receive a steady amount of 5,000 coins daily. Sometimes, I earn more than that from the Constellations like 7,000 coins or more. I also manage many other coin farms, taking a small portion, exactly 30% of their earnings, and letting my underlings keep the rest. It's nothing but good business. 」

"So it was just about business, right?"

「 Of course. Is there supposed to be another reason? 」

Han Minjae looked at me as if he were confused. I shook my head in response, "No. That's good enough."

As expected from someone who had sold his humanity, everything had become transactional in his perspective. He had truly become a demon.

I laughed. The Demonic Werewolf frowned in displeasure and spoke impatiently through his thoughts,

「 Why are you laughing? I gave you what you wanted, now release me! 」

"Of course. Of course. I'll release you, I'll definitely release you..."

Then a cruel smile curled on the corners of my lips.

"...Only when I'm done with your body."