abcnovels
Chapter 166 (Part 1)
Chapter 166 (Part 1)
Chapter 166: Grim Reaper Cult (Part 1)
Jeffrey couldn’t even properly meet the eyes of the two people staring at him.
Reddening with embarrassment, his neck turned bright red.
“Did you really threaten the prophet?” one of them asked sharply.
“Th-that is…,” Jeffrey stuttered.
“Just a simple answer, did you or did you not?”
Jeffrey, lips quivering, finally hung his head low.
“Yes, I did. I am sorry.”
“Haah.”
“Hah.”
Both uttered a sigh of exasperation at the same time.
“There’s a reason for it. I can explain everything…,” Jeffrey hurriedly added.
“Didn’t we just listen to the recording? You said it was for my daughter.”
“That’s right. I did it with the intention of providing Christine with information…”
“To threaten the prophet is crossing the line,” Nathan rebuked, his voice firm, disappointing Jeffrey who had expected some support.
“Didn’t I repeatedly tell you? The prophet is like the goose that lays golden eggs. If you try to slit its belly, you’ll lose the gold.”
“…”
“And you resorted to threats to squeeze information out of such a figure? Were you really going to ruin our relationship with him?”
“It was a matter of life and death for Christine. If it could prevent such a tragedy, what better could there be…”
“The prophet already told Christine that sharing more could change the future. You knew that because you overheard the conversation.”
“…”
“Yet, you still decided to threaten. It was a reckless and ignorant decision.”
“I have no excuses. I am truly sorry….”
“Apologies should be made to the prophet, not me,” Christine interjected with a cold voice.
“What were you thinking, Mr. Jeffrey?”
“I’m sorry….”
“My father hasn’t done anything commendable either.”
“What? Me? You mean me?”
Nathan was taken aback as the blame suddenly shifted to him.
“You ordered Jeffrey to follow me, which led to this mess.”
“I did that to protect you…”
“Do you think I’m a fool? It wasn’t to protect me. You had him follow me because you didn’t trust me. It’s not like Korea is as dangerous as Nigeria. What danger could possibly be there? And I told you clearly, didn’t I? That I would go alone. But you didn’t listen, and look where that got us. Am I wrong?”
“…”
Nathan had no rebuttal and, like Jeffrey, could only remain silent.
“Haah… We are better prepared, thanks to the prophecy. Heck, we wouldn’t even know about this if it weren’t for the prophet. How can we face the prophet now? Even if we get past the 11th round, what about the next one? How can we strategize if we can’t hear the prophecies?”
“Don’t worry too much about this. I will personally apologize to the prophet.”
“Jeffrey should be the one to apologize first!”
“Yes, yes. I will apologize. Mr. Christine. So please calm down. I’m really sorry, it’s all my fault….”
“Then do it quickly. And don’t talk to me anymore. I don’t want to hear it.”
With that, a clearly upset Christine left the scene.
Behind Jeffrey, who was dumbstruck by her departure, a clucking sound could be heard.
“Tsk tsk, why did you mess with the prophet? You shouldn’t have touched him.”
“I didn’t realize it would come to this. I am sorry.”
“It’s not something I should apologize to you about.”
“I will call the prophet right now.”
“Is a call going to fix this? Really?”
As Nathan stood up from his seat, he said,
“You need to go and personally apologize. Buy a gift to soothe the situation as well.”
“In person?”
Startled, Jeffrey watched as Nathan opened the door.
“What are you doing? Pack your bags. We’re going to Korea together.”
—
Back at home, Ryu Min thought about Jeffrey.
‘What could he be doing now? Given Christine’s reaction, she won’t let him off easy.’
When he was threatened with a dagger, Ryu Min had two phones in his pocket. He turned one on to record and threw the other as a decoy, ensuring the existence of the other was not discovered.
Later he asked Ma Kyung-rok to give him Christine and Nathan’s phone numbers to send the recording.
‘It must be a bitter pill to swallow. Falling out of favor with the one you secretly love.’
Jeffrey would now surely understand.
What happens when you mess with the prophet.
Tsk tsk, Ryu Min rubbed his neck.
The first player to have ever held the neck of the top-ranked player.
‘An assassin, huh? Not that strong, though. Was he really thinking he could protect Christine with that kind of strength? Tsk.’
It wasn’t painful.
Just disgusting.
Still, he was somewhat satisfied as it was an opportunity to demonstrate the prophet’s authority.
‘Nothing is as foolish as being blinded by love.’
At that moment, a text message arrived on Ryu Min’s phone.
From another love-blinded person.
[Min Juri: Min, do you follow any cults?]
‘Why ask about cults all of a sudden? Could it be?’
Ryu Min pretended not to know and continued the conversation.
[Ryu Min: None. Why?]
[Min Juri: Good. Then come with me somewhere. Can you make some time?]
[Ryu Min: Where?]
[Min Juri: If I were going to tell you that, I would have told you already! Lol. It’s a secret!]
[Ryu Min: Alright. I’ll see you at the convenience store in 10 minutes.]
[Min Juri: Okie dokie.]
‘Something feels off…’
Though she didn’t specify which cult, he had a hunch.
‘It’s that place…’
Still, he thought it might not be too bad to check it out once.
He was curious about how it was set up.
As Ryu Min prepared to leave, his younger sibling approached him.
“Hyung, where are you going?”
“To meet a friend.”
“Can I go meet a friend too?”
The word ‘friend’ shifted Ryu Min into alert mode.
“Which friend?”
“A friend I met in an online game. He lives in Seoul. He suggested we meet up and hang out at a PC café, but I kept making excuses.”
‘So it was a gaming friend.’
Recently, having been cooped up at home, he got into gaming and apparently, he made a friend.
Though Ryu Min had known about the gaming hobby in previous regressions, he hadn’t heard about this friend before.
Seeing Ryu Min’s contemplative look, Ryu Won added,
“We planned to hang out at a PC café. Okay? It’s safer now, and you said I could go out.”
After some thought, Ryu Min nodded, seeing no reason to refuse.
“Alright. I’ll allow it.”
“Really? Oooh yeah!”
“Just don’t stay out too late.”
“Got it.”
“Read my texts right away when I send them.”
“Got it. Hehe! I better contact them to meet today. Thanks, bro! Have a good trip!”
As his sibling excitedly made plans, Ryu Min smiled.
‘Does it make him that happy?’
But then, his expression turned serious for a moment.
‘Hmm. Just in case.’
Tap, tap, tap—
Ryu Min quickly typed out a text message.