Chapter 411
The day after I contacted Owen.
I asked Manager Hyung in advance for his understanding that I would be out for a while.
"I have some personal business to attend to, so I think I'll have to go out this afternoon."
"Oh, we don't have any plans tomorrow, so I think it'll be okay. It's not something serious, right?"
"Haha, yes. I think I'll just have a quick dinner with an acquaintance and come back."
I looked at Manager Hyung's smiling face and controlled my expression.
Of course, Manager Hyung doesn't know anything.
How urgent the situation I'm in right now.
But I can't say out loud, 'I might face the Demon King!' here.
I have no choice but to say it as best as I can.
Thankfully, Manager Hyung nodded.
I then smiled with my eyes and showed my possessed instincts.
"That acquaintance is Owen?"
".........How did you know?"
"Hahaha! No, Karis, you've never said that you were going out to eat with anyone, but I thought you must be really close if you were going out to eat alone. And now that I'm looking at who else besides the members, I think it's Owen who we filmed together."
"You have great intuition."
"I'm already pretty great."
Well, I decided that there was no need to hide the fact that I was going to eat with Owen.
Because we're known to the public as a close friend who became close while filming
When I told the members that I had plans for dinner tonight, Kang Si Yoon said the same thing as manager hyung.
"How did you know?"
"Hey, if you pretend, you pretend. Who else would you eat with besides Owen and us?"
"...Isn't there Ken too?"
"Absolutely not. Ken is busy with his schedule right now."
He seems like a really smart guy at times like this.
However, looking at his usual behavior, he doesn't seem to have a high IQ at all.
There really isn't any special creature.
So, around 6 PM, I left the dorm and arrived at my studio.
Since I debuted as Seleste, my studio was practically an empty house.
'Owen said he'd be here at 7, so I guess I should clean up first.'
It's a pretty good thing to use my body while cleaning.
Seeing the dust being wiped away makes me feel good, and it also feels like my complicated mind is being cleaned up.
First, I need to classify what I can and can't talk about with Owen.
I know that
No, from Owen's perspective,
So naturally, I shouldn't talk about this system that I have.
Then I shouldn't say that I saw the phrase "The Demon King Awakened" in the system window..........
'I think it would be most reasonable to explain that I felt the same way Owen did back then.'
I exhaled as I turned off the vacuum cleaner.
Honestly, I can't be sure of the identity of the Demon King with the circumstances I have.
If there's one thing I wish for today, it's that Owen, who is close to the COC Entertainment people, feels something more distinct than me and points in the right direction.
If that doesn't work...
I have no choice but to fill out the system recovery chart and collect data.
When the clock was ticking toward 7 o'clock, the doorbell rang.
I opened the door and was met with Owen's smiling face.
"Come in."
"I came as fast as I could, hyung-nim!"
"Why did you pack so much?"
"I'm visiting you, hyung-nim, so it's rude to come empty-handed."
The heavy plastic bag Owen brought smelled like fragrant chicken.
I imagined Owen going into the chicken place and picking it up himself.
Of course, that couldn't be true, and it was probably someone from Jerene's group who bought it for him, but even so, imagining that picture made me smile even in this serious situation.
"It's so neatly organized. It's much better than our dorm."
"I cleaned up a lot because you were coming."
Owen placed the chicken on the kitchen table and walked around the living room.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and hummed.
"Isn't this your first housewarming party as I've come?"
"Unfortunately, that's not the case."
"Huh?"
I answered Owen's question while neatly arranging the chicken and drinks on the table.
"The current members came here once when the survival show was going on. That must have been the first time."
"Ah.........."
Owen immediately said in a tone of deep regret.
"I should have participated in
"Haha, but no one has been here recently. Oh, you're the first visitor this year."
"I guess I'll have to be satisfied with that."
Dinner was all set.
We got down to business while eating the deliciously colored chicken.
"So, hyung-nim, did you get that ominous feeling I told you about before?"
"Yes. It was very similar to the feeling you said on the boat back then."
"I don't know what's going on here...."
Owen munched on his chicken and gathered his eyebrows in the middle.
Owen's signature expression that naturally appears when something serious happens.
"I told you that there was a demon king among the people close to me at that time, so my hyung-nim who was far away didn't hear any noise. This time, Gocheok Dome was far from COC Entertainment, so why did you feel it and not just me?"
"I called you because I didn't get the feeling either."
I shouldn't said that I saw the Demon King awakening in the system.
That's why I said that I felt the ominous feeling that Owen mentioned, but I have to cover it up with something plausible.
"Did anyone from COC go watch the Cold Cup finals?"
"Well... Our members and Connex seniors didn't go near Gocheok Dome. We all gathered there because there was an in-house event that day."
"Then that doesn't make sense. Owen, didn't you say that you felt the same way as I did? According to my inferences so far, the Demon King should be right next to us to feel this way."
"Is it presumptuous of me to say this...?"
Owen carefully opened his mouth while tapping the chicken with his fork.
"Is there a possibility that the Demon King is in your group?"
"I didn't completely ignore that."
Actually, I felt uneasy about Kang Si-yoon several times.
There was also the incident where he mentioned the word Demon King after hearing Owen and me talking.
It's strange that he overcame the abnormal status so quickly...
However, the hypothesis that there is a Demon King within Seleste does not meet the prerequisites.
Whenever I completed a major quest, the members were always nearby, so why didn't I get a message like 'The Demon King has awakened'?
Owen nodded as if he understood what I said.
"I think what you said is right, hyung-nim. If there was a Demon King hiding within Seleste, you would have felt it a long time ago."
"So in the end, there's not enough evidence this time either...."
"...."
I sighed and shook my head.
I was worried, but it was the same situation again.
'Should I investigate the system a little more?'
My system would follow my orders even if I threatened it a little in an emergency situation like this.
It would voluntarily create a mission where I could acquire the necessary skills, or give me an item.
This time, if I were to ask for a hint about the identity of the Demon King, I think it would listen....
On the other hand, since the system was damaged by the Demon King's influence, it might not be able to do its job in topics related to the Demon King.
'Isn't it? Since the recovery rate is over 90%, it might be worth a try.'
While I was quickly thinking these thoughts in my head, Owen's two eyes continued to carefully examine my face.
"I understand for now, Owen. Oh, you drank all the water. Wait, I'll bring more."
"I can bring it."
"No. Customer, stay still."
When I got up from my seat and walked toward the refrigerator, Owen followed me.
When I told him to sit down, he was my younger brother who followed me around again.
Just when I thought he was really unstoppable, Owen opened his mouth.
".........I guess you're thinking of using the power of the system, hyung-nim?"
"..."
"Hmm? Ah, I guess I can't help it. At a time like this, when the road is blocked—."
What?
Wait.
I froze at the words that came out so naturally.
What did Owen just say?
And what did I say in response to that?
"...Owen, you."
I turned my head back slowly, stiffly.
Owen's face, standing behind me, showed no sign of panic.
In fact, he was blushing.
"You're special, after all. You've restored the system to this extent in two years. If I had let my guard down, I would have been in big trouble."
"Owen, what the hell are you saying!"
"You never disappoint me. You're amazing. This is why I'm taking on this adventure!"
Ominous.
This isn't the Owen I know.
Owen's voice doesn't have this unpleasant squeak.
The tone was always nice, like birds chirping.
The voice coming out of my brother's mouth right now was a bit strange.
Long-suppressed anger, joy, and excitement.
An unpleasant voice mixed with complex emotions was hitting my ears.
My body was shaking. My body, which had never been deeply tense no matter what situation it was in, was stiffening.
And as if to further fuel my fear, the system began to glow red.
[The Demon King awakens.]
[※Warning※ You have encountered the Demon King. You have encountered the Demon King. ※Warning※]
[Please get out of here quickly. Possessor-nim! If you keep going like this..…■□]
[About □■ Situation □□■ ■ Get out of the….]
The last of the unidentifiable characters, the warning message sent by the system disappeared.
The red light moved to swallow up my vision.
My two eyes looked at Owen, who was getting closer to me, no.
The Demon King who had taken control of his body.
"You don't know how long I've waited for this moment, Karis von Walden. You don't understand how long I've been imagining this moment and sleeping in this damn body."
The Demon King Seir took a step closer to me.
The overwhelming aura he gave off made my body tremble even more.
"Seir-!"
"Was the plaything fun? Well, it's time. Let's go back. Not this fake world, but the beautiful paradise we created."
With those last words, Seir strode forward and grabbed my neck tightly.
If my body had moved normally, I could have avoided it by putting some distance between me and him, but my whole body was frozen and I couldn't move my legs.
I felt like my airway was blocked.
It was truly an incredible evil power.
'...I'm losing control!'
I felt my eyelids become heavy like lead.
No, not just my eyelids. I felt my whole body being crushed.
When I could barely move my fingers without much resistance, I heard Seir laughing loudly.
He seemed to be saying something through Owen's mouth, but my consciousness was getting more and more dizzy, so I couldn't hear it.
'I have to hold on no matter what. If I lose my mind here...........'
However, regardless of my will, my two eyes closed.
Everything was sucked into an invisible void.
—