After Saving The Universe A Thousand Times: Chapter 12

Chapter 12: All Gods’ Descent 12

When Dong Jin leaned back on the sofa again, the atmosphere in the suite had already lightened considerably.

Seeing this, he didn’t have time to lament the five minutes of lifespan he’d just lost from throwing that poker card. Seizing the moment, he said, “It seems that everyone has calmed down.”

“I didn’t expect you all to be so concerned about this matter. Since that’s the case, allow me to explain briefly.”

“But before I do, I’d like to ask you all one question—what exactly are you in such a rush for?”

For a moment, no one in the suite responded. Unbothered, Dong Jin continued, “You’re rushing to have your subordinates plant bombs all over the city in six days, eager to blow up the city and leave this hotel. But what happens after you leave? Will you just roam around, hiding your identities?”

As some of the supernatural beings began to ponder his words, Dong Jin unleashed his tried-and-true persuasion technique: “From my perspective, treating the humans in this hotel as nothing more than disposable tools is a waste—it’s putting the cart before the horse.”

“I don’t need them to spend six days planting bombs. What I want is to use six days to tame those criminals, to make them live and die for me, to defy their very nature and instincts for me, to cast aside reason and overturn the world.”

“When they willingly lay down their lives for us, they will bring us everything we desire. At that point, six days won’t even be necessary—one day will be enough to bring this city to its knees.”

“So, my dear long-living beings, are you willing to give me six days of patience?”

What could these supernatural beings, dazed by Dong Jin’s hidden terror and the allure behind his chilling words, say? They could only swear that they had plenty of patience.

After all, Dong Jin wasn’t wrong. Just six days in exchange for a group of die-hard followers? With their long lifespans, they could certainly wait.

At that moment, the tense atmosphere at the tea party finally relaxed completely.

And just then, Dong Jin, the mastermind behind all the chaos, began to bring up old grievances:

“Didn’t someone mention the matter of the main card bill earlier?”

Upon hearing this, the supernatural being with the severed arm, who had just struggled to stand up, immediately wished they could lie back down and play dead.

They cursed themselves for having said too much earlier. After all, it wasn’t even their money—what did it matter how it was spent? So why had they felt the need to bring it up?

Before they could come up with an excuse to deflect the topic, Dong Jin merely brushed it off: “The hotel owner summoned us here without warning. Isn’t paying a price to avoid disaster to be expected?”

Everyone present thought Dong Jin was angry about being pulled into this place without consent.

Only Dong Jin and the viewers outside the livestream knew that when he mentioned “paying a price to avoid disaster,” he wasn’t referring to that at all.

In reality, what Dong Jin meant was that he intended to spend the rich man’s money to wipe out the disasters that the supernatural beings would bring to this city.

Of course, there was no need to explain that to these malevolent beings.

“After saying all that, let’s have some wine. This is a century-old red wine I specially had someone buy yesterday, and now it should be just right for drinking. Why don’t you give it a try?”

The issue of the main card bill had actually been brought up by Wuli in the first place.

But given the current situation, Wuli certainly couldn’t press the matter any further, so they had no choice but to lower their posture and push the decanter on the table toward Dong Jin, hoping to shift his attention.

Dong Jin accepted the decanter without objection.

But instead of pouring himself a glass, he merely glanced at the label on the old, blurry wine bottle. His gaze then moved from the butterfly-shaped corkscrew lying beside it to the intact cork that had been removed.

After a long pause, with Wuli’s expression already beginning to stiffen, Dong Jin finally asked with a half-smile, “Did you pick this wine and have that human buy it, or did they choose it themselves?”

Wuli felt something was off with Dong Jin’s sudden question, but suppressed the irritation and answered:

“I’m not from this world, how would I know how to choose wine? I heard there’s a human on the tenth floor who’s quite skilled in this area, so I had him select the wine and send it over.”

Upon hearing this, Dong Jin had to force himself to think of something sad to stop himself from laughing out loud.

—Because the wine was fake.

Never mind that a century-old red wine shouldn’t smell so lacking in acidity, but the cork, which had supposedly been steeped in time for so long, shouldn’t be so dry, nor could it have been removed so easily and intact by a butterfly corkscrew.

Who knows whether the person who bought the wine for Wuli had done it on purpose or by accident, but they’d actually managed to deliver a counterfeit to a fearsome supernatural being.

Before he could figure out the details, Dong Jin first had to ask: “Wuli, did you pay for this thing?”

At this moment, even Wuli realized that something might be wrong with this so-called century-old fine wine. With a sullen face, Wuli silently stared at the still unfinished wine in their glass, having secretly decided to thoroughly investigate the human who delivered the wine.

If that person really dared to fool Wuli… they may not be able to defeat Dong Jin, but surely they could take down a mere human, right?

By now, as Dong Jin casually toyed with the decanter, he no longer needed Wuli’s answer—the look on their face made the answer clear beyond doubt.

To this, Dong Jin could only sigh internally: How bold!

To dare deliver such wine so openly—clearly, they were taking advantage of the fact that these supernatural beings were new to this world and didn’t know better.

Dong Jin suddenly recalled the first night when he had wandered down the tenth-floor hallway and happened to encounter a human whose profession was a swindler.

Could it be that this was the guy who tricked Wuli?

Thinking of this, Dong Jin realized that the tenth floor where he was staying not only housed a thief who had stolen his phone but also a swindler bold enough to scam these supernatural beings out of their money. And adding himself to the mix, sneaking in like he did…

With such talent gathered, who wouldn’t marvel at the crouching tigers, hidden dragons ¹ on the tenth floor of this hotel?

Perhaps because the fake wine incident was too absurd, the supernatural beings in the suite found themselves in a state of doubt.

On one hand, they furtively glanced at the untouched bottle of wine, feeling that perhaps something really was wrong with it. On the other hand, they were overly confident, convinced that no human would dare to pull off such a trick and deceive them.

Caught between suspicion and self-assurance, Dong Jin, who had initially been at the center of attention, was now almost forgotten.

Almost, but not entirely.

At least, Kale, who had been quietly sitting on Dong Jin’s left, hadn’t been distracted by the fake wine in the slightest.

And Kale’s first words made Dong Jin, who was idly sniffing the wine in the decanter to judge its true vintage, inwardly flinch.

Kale’s words were: “I thought you didn’t drink alcohol.”

It sounded like a simple remark—except for the fact that Dong Jin didn’t smell like alcohol today.

But the problem was, he did.

To cover the scent of the luminol reagent, Dong Jin had deliberately taken out the high-proof whiskey from his room before attending the tea party, and used its strong smell to mask himself.

Kale had been sitting so close to him, there was no way they hadn’t caught the scent of the whiskey.

Under such a strong alcoholic scent, no one would think that Dong Jin didn’t drink alcohol.

But before Dong Jin pointed out the red wine was fake, Kale had always assumed he didn’t drink. It wasn’t until Dong Jin inadvertently revealed his knowledge of wine that Kale quietly overturned that assumption.

With this in mind, Dong Jin tried to recall what Kale had been doing when he went to retrieve the poker card.

That card had been slightly stained with the reagent from his fingertips. Remembering Kale’s ever-watchful gaze at the time, Dong Jin couldn’t help but wonder just how much Kale had noticed in all that silence.

—Kale really can’t be allowed to stay.

—He must be dealt with before the seventh day.

The more Dong Jin realized how difficult Kale would be to handle, the more he maintained the casual rhythm of swirling the decanter, replying as if indifferent, “I’m a gambler through and through. Have you ever seen a gambler who doesn’t drink?”

If you haven’t, then you’re seeing one today.

Because what I gamble with is always my own life, I don’t need something like alcohol to cloud my already limited reason.

Upon hearing this, Kale turned his head slightly to glance at Dong Jin.

His half-long, slightly curled red hair fell onto the sofa.

With his obscure golden eyes, at that moment, Kale looked like a fading oil painting, worn by the passage of time—carrying an inexplicable contradiction of both warmth and cold solitude.

—Much like everything Kale had done until now.

Dong Jin couldn’t read Kale’s thoughts, nor could he predict when Kale’s interest in him would fade. So, to avoid any internal conflict, Dong Jin chose to end things as quickly as possible.

He really didn’t want to see what would happen if this restrained madman fully unleashed their nature.

An oil painting, once faded, should decay with dignity rather than drag things out until someone finally tears it down to use as firewood.

As Dong Jin and Kale engaged in this silent, unnoticed clash, the second tea party swiftly came to an end, even shorter than the first.

After all, everyone’s minds had already drifted far away.

This time, the voting results were identical to the previous round, and Dong Jin retained his position as the leader.

The moment the results were announced, both he and Kale left the room one after the other.

As a result, Dong Jin didn’t see what happened behind him. The supernatural beings, who had been completely distracted earlier, now seemed glued to their seats, with no one showing any intention of leaving.

It wasn’t until Dong Jin and Kale’s figures disappeared that this tea party, which was supposed to have ended, truly began its main event.

“Those two killing gods finally left. While they were here, I didn’t dare say half the things I wanted to.”

The female supernatural being, who had been unusually quiet today, exhaled deeply, then returned to her usual chatty self, unceremoniously complaining to Wuli:

“Wuli, what’s wrong with you? Is this wine fake or not? You’ve lived for so long, and you still got tricked by a human? Isn’t that embarrassing for us supernatural beings? If you don’t handle it, I’ll deal with that damn swindler for you.”

“…It’s still uncertain whether it’s real or fake. I’ll have someone check,” Wuli, under the scrutinizing gaze of the other ten supernatural beings, tried to defend himself, only to give up in defeat, adding:

“If it turns out to be fake, you won’t need to do anything. I’ll personally make that guy understand what a supernatural being really is.”

“Let’s leave the wine issue for now. What exactly happened in the auditorium a few days ago? Sure, Dong Jin was the leader at the time, and what he said today made sense, but something this big shouldn’t have been handled so recklessly…”

At this point, the supernatural being who had lost an arm chimed in.

As soon as they spoke, someone else also wondered aloud: “Wasn’t Kale there too? What was he doing?”

The female supernatural being, who had spoken first, was the one to answer this: “…He was laughing.”

“What?” A supernatural being, seemingly not having heard clearly, asked again.

“I said, when Dong Jin blew up the auditorium, Kale was laughing. When Dong Jin said he wanted to play a game, Kale was still laughing.”

“It’s said that a bomb exploded right beside him, yet Kale didn’t even dodge. He just sat there and continued accompanying Dong Jin’s performance.”

This development was so absurd that the supernatural beings were once again left speechless.

It was a long while before someone finally mumbled, “…So, no matter what Dong Jin does, Kale just goes along with it?”

Initially, these supernatural beings had been hoping that Kale would balance out Dong Jin’s power, but after hearing this, some of them gave up entirely.

Expecting Kale to restrain Dong Jin? They might as well go home and daydream.

While the supernatural beings were secretly holding their little meeting, Dong Jin had already reached the stairwell of the 33rd floor. He glanced briefly at the locked door.

There was someone behind the door.

Clearly, it was Duo Ge waiting for the outcome of the tea party.

It seemed that even though this watchdog had been tamed, he still retained the instincts of a stray dog, scavenging wherever he could. The moment he sensed his master’s fall from power, this former stray would waste no time in looking for a new owner.

Fortunately, Dong Jin had already used Duo Ge to eliminate the thief problem, and today, the auditorium bombing incident had been completely wrapped up.

This meant that his plans were almost finished, and from now on, he no longer needed a knife or a dog that bites.

With this thought, Dong Jin’s gaze swept over Kale, who had also paused for a moment because of his own hesitation.

Dong Jin was quite certain that, for a split second, Kale had coldly glanced at the locked wooden door.

Without a doubt, this strongest of supernatural beings had also detected Duo Ge’s presence. He had probably known about him all along but just hadn’t cared until now.

Kale was a mad dog who could go berserk at any time, while Duo Ge was a stray dog ready to bite his master at any moment.

Since the two had now crossed paths, why not let them fight it out?

In a quick flash of thought, Dong Jin positioned himself in the blind spot of the door’s view and mouthed the name “Duo Ge” to Kale, as if offering the name of the person behind the door as an explanation.

At the mention of the name, the crease between Kale’s brows deepened noticeably.

Meanwhile, Dong Jin, who had no intention of cleaning up the mess afterward, cheerfully strolled past the door. As he stood by the elevator, waiting for it to arrive, Kale, who should have parted ways with him at the corner, suddenly asked, “Are you going in?”

Dong Jin followed the sound and looked over.

He saw that around the corner from the elevator was a suite, which happened to be Kale’s residence.

Dong Jin was familiar with the place.

Lately, he had been searching all over the Feng Mo Hotel for the “door” but hadn’t even caught a glimpse of it. Apart from the ordinary rooms, which weren’t worth exploring, there were only two places he hadn’t thoroughly checked.

One was the locked rooftop of the hotel, and the other was Kale’s room.

Based on Kale’s recent attitude, the latter didn’t seem very likely.

If the “door” had been in Kale’s room all along, unless Kale wasn’t in the room that night, the lie about him being a supernatural being would have been exposed right away.

Even though the odds were slim, Dong Jin still made a gesture of acceptance, stepping forward slightly.

When he reached Kale’s door and glanced around, confirming the “door” wasn’t there, he heard the sound of the elevator arriving behind him. With a smile, he said, “What a coincidence, the elevator’s here. Maybe next time.”

“Next time, perhaps you can come sit at my place.”

Of course, there likely wouldn’t be a next time.

After saying that, Dong Jin paid no mind to Kale’s reaction and briskly returned to his own room on the tenth floor.

By the time he got there, Duo Ge was already waiting outside his door.

Dong Jin didn’t say much upon seeing him.

He had heard rumors about Duo Ge acting like his confidant and throwing his weight around in front of the other villains in the hotel. But since Duo Ge hadn’t dared to reveal his ambition in front of him, Dong Jin had no interest in pointing it out.

As long as Duo Ge wasn’t a nuisance yet, he’d make use of him while he still could.

And now was the perfect time for Duo Ge to serve his final purpose.

“Sir, do you have new instructions?”

In the face of Duo Ge’s fervent gaze, Dong Jin indifferently asked, “Where did you get the stairwell key?”

Duo Ge still couldn’t figure out how Dong Jin always managed to see through his movements.

So, he could only answer truthfully: “That thief on the tenth floor made a copy for me privately. I bought it from him a long time ago. He’s made keys for every door in the hotel that doesn’t use an electronic lock, including the stairwell key.”

Dong Jin’s eye, hidden beneath the bandages, moved slightly.

Because the door leading to the hotel rooftop just happened to not use an electronic lock.

No, that couldn’t have been just a coincidence.

Whether it was the thief or the con artist on the tenth floor, they were likely clues carefully designed by the Supreme Universe early on in this instance. But due to differences in personality, while most trial-takers were steadily following the clues step by step, Dong Jin had already rushed wildly to the source, seizing everything by force.

“Give me all the keys.”

Considering Duo Ge might not survive until tomorrow, Dong Jin didn’t bother with any indirect tactics and instead issued a straightforward command.

Although Duo Ge was a bit confused and even reluctant, he still handed over a bunch of keys to Dong Jin.

Seizing the opportunity, Duo Ge reported that there were still a few troublemaking villains who refused to listen and were difficult to deal with, attempting to hinder the upcoming fireworks show. It seemed he wanted to get permission to eliminate these individuals.

Dong Jin, upon hearing this, casually handed Duo Ge a cup of freshly brewed cold tea and nonchalantly replied, “If your personal force can’t handle it, why don’t you call the police? Do I need to teach you how to dial the emergency number?”

Duo Ge was utterly shocked.

At that moment, his mind raced with thoughts like, “Do you not realize we’re villains? How can villains call the police?” But knowing that most of the hotel’s villains were busy setting up the fireworks, he had nothing more to say.

In the end, he silently picked up his phone, editing a list of names to report, and quietly walked out of Dong Jin’s room.

Just as he finished editing and pressed send, ready to take the elevator back to his own room, the elevator doors in front of him slowly opened.

A figure with red hair and golden eyes gradually came into focus.

Even at this moment, Duo Ge still didn’t realize the danger looming over him.

He thought Kale had some business with Dong Jin and respectfully stepped aside to let him pass. However, Kale merely glanced at the end of the hallway where Dong Jin’s door had just closed a short while ago, then those dark golden eyes settled on Duo Ge once again.

Or rather, they focused on his throat.

By noon on the fifth day of the instance, when Dong Jin opened his door again, he found Duo Ge’s severed head quietly placed in front of it.

The author has something to say:

Dong Jin’s caution was not unfounded; Kale truly goes insane when he loses control. 

As for Duo Ge, he didn’t die for hiding behind the door on the 33rd floor; he died because he stepped into Dong Jin’s room first.

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Translator Notes

1. Talented individuals in hiding[↩]