For a long moment after he spoke, the chamber was quiet.

All the lords seemed lost in a daze of disbelief and shock. Well, except for Kim Eunji who seemed to already know this.

While the lords dissolved into hushed, frantic murmurs among themselves, Lee Lim ignored them, raised his glass to his lips and took a slow sip.

After a few more seconds passed, a stately man in his thirties wearing a white suit, a thin silver watch and a crisp white newsboy cap finally leaned on the table and asked, "Fine… we can't leave the King's Paradise however we want. We get it now. But at least tell us your plan then."

Lee Lim eyes darted from him to Kim Eunji. She nodded and looked to the group, then began. "Before we tell you the plan, there's two more people who need to be here."

"Huh? Two more people?" Hana blurted.

Every other person had the same confused look as her.

At that moment, the large doors to the Grand Hall opened and two people walked in. One was a young boy that was barely eighteen. He was dressed in a baggy, oversized tracksuit with a cap over his head, and he kept playing a game from a small tablet-like device in his hand.

The other person was a woman in her twenties. She had her black hair cut into a blunt bob and a pair of thick-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. She looked like she hadn't slept in a week, with dark circles under her eyes and her hands were tucked deep into the pockets of her faded grey hoodie.

For a few seconds, her eyes darted around the grand hall, but when they finally landed on the lords seated at the table, she froze because she could recognize them.

In fact, everyone could recognize each other.

The others seemed to be more interested in the young boy as they began to call his name and ask what in the world he was doing here.

Meanwhile, Hana narrowed her eyes.

"Is that you, Seo-yeon?" She blurted in surprise, her chair scraping loudly against the floor as she stood up.

"Hana?" Seo-yeon's voice caught in her throat as she slowed to a halt. Despite knowing everyone present, the person she was closest to was Hana. "W-what are you doing here?"

Rather than answer the question, Hana asked angrily. "Did that god also bring you guys here?"

Seo-yeon nodded to her friend.

Hana turned to Lee Lim and Eunji and alternated her gaze between them. "What the fuck is happening right now? Why are these guys here?"

Lee Lim didn't reply and just kept drinking his wine.

Eun-ji was the one who eventually spoke. "Sit down, Hana." She turned to Seo-yeon and the young boy then gestured to the empty seats. "Both of you, sit."

A few seconds of heavy, uncomfortable silence passed.

Hana's gaze lingered on Seo-yeon for a moment longer before she finally sat down hesitantly and crossed her hands waiting for an explanation.

Seo-yeon and the young boy followed suit.

Eun-ji drew in a breath and finally made the announcement. "Seo-yeon and Ji-hoon are to replace Soo-min and Tae-hyun."

"What?!" Hana's voice pitched higher as she looked at the young boy in the tracksuit. "I can understand Seo-yeon… but Ji-hoon? He's just a kid!"

"It's not our decision. It's the gods'. So shut up and get used to it," Eunji snapped. "Besides, those otherworlders you are so itching to kill are kids, too. Have you forgotten that?"

After Eunji spoke, Hana bit her lip. She clearly had a lot more to say, but it was pointless. Since it was the gods' doing, she had no choice but to accept it. All she could do now was try to find a way to protect her best friend, Seo-yeon, in this madness.

It was quiet for a moment, the weight of Eunji's words settling over the room like a physical pressure.

Then, Lee Lim finally broke the silence.

"As we all already know, there was originally meant to be only one antagonist that we were meant to kill. However, in the last month, for some reason, another antagonist appeared. This is real trouble, as they are both anomalies that the gods want us to get rid of. So, in order to make sure that we kill them both, along with all the otherworlders, I have brought the Red Bridge over to the Home of the Sculpted Ones."

"Oh?" The man in the newsboy cap arched a brow and leaned back in his chair.

It was quiet again for a short while before the lords began to murmur among themselves. All the lords, except Seo-yeon and Ji-hoon, knew that Lee Lim had authority over certain happenings in the realm, so they weren't really surprised.

Eventually, a lady with red hair tied in a ponytail spoke up. "As you have said, these antagonists are anomalies. For all we know, they may end up surviving the Home of the Sculpted Ones and even destroy the Red Bridge in the process. What are we going to do then?"

Lee Lim didn't answer immediately. He looked away from her to the side, and called out mentally.

'Admin Privileges…'

In response, a screen appeared in his vision:

[Activating Administrative Privileges…]

'How high is the cost to bring the Blue Bridge to King's Paradise?'

[Chance of Causal Backlash: Extremely High.]

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 'What a pain.'

Then he looked back to the other lords. "Since we cannot use our full powers outside the King's Paradise, I will bring them to us."

"What? How will you do that?" Min-hyuk asked.

"The Blue Bridge meant to take them back to their world is scheduled to appear in a Grade One territory. I am going to change its coordinates. I will bring the bridge here. That way, if they somehow survive the Home of the Sculpted Ones, they will have no choice but to face us if they want to return home."

***

[End of Volume: 1]

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