[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-m-quitting-everything-and-selling-cola":3,"chapter-i-m-quitting-everything-and-selling-cola-i-m-quitting-everything-and-selling-cola-chapter-40":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","I’m Quitting Everything and Selling Cola",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},223466,492,"Chapter 40","i-m-quitting-everything-and-selling-cola-chapter-40",40,"\u003Cp>Chapter 40. The First Secret Plan (4)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the unconscious Serena woke up again, the first scene she saw was an ominous altar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An altar probably built from piled bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An unidentifiable magic circle drawn on top of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even an old man with a spider beard kneeling in prayer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ah.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She should've just stayed unconscious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What wealth and glory was worth waking up for?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She couldn't give up on life like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right now the old man was distracted, absorbed in prayer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If heavenly luck followed, maybe she could slip away?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You're awake?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Serena's hands and feet were fixed to the wall with thick shackles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment the chains moved and made a heavy sound, the old man opened his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I've just finished preparing too.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"U, uh... uh...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man smiled brightly and placed his finger on Serena's cheek.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps her tongue was paralyzed with fear—words wouldn't come out properly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this was the last chance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The final opportunity to persuade this old man and return home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What should she say to stop this madman?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Um, um, excuse me, sir...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mm?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What's going to happen to me now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Didn't I tell you earlier? These cute spiders will pass through your ear canal into your brain...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nonono, I remember that! So... am I going to die now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you afraid of death?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man's eyes softened gently as if handling a naive granddaughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Being born as prolifically as weeds and withering as fleetingly as fallen leaves—that's humanity's fate. You're getting a special opportunity. A soul offered as tribute...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Um, then... how about you being offered as tribute instead of me, sir? I'll send you off wholeheartedly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I still have many things I want to do. Hehe...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man showed a flustered expression as if hearing such a proposal for the first time in his life, but fanaticism wasn't something that could be broken with a three-inch tongue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No more nonsense, come here. It won't hurt.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Eek! Eeeeeek!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man's beard scatteredfwishand crawled along his fingertips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The small spiders were about to pass over Serena's goosebump-covered cheeks and enter her ear canal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah, she was going to die helplessly like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ambition to continue the family line and be reborn not as a first-generation noble but as an emerging noble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The desire to someday become a noble who could live arrogantly and speak loudly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It would come to a futile end here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She'd devoted her whole life to success and advancement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unexpectedly, it wasn't that regrettable or disappointing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The weight of the dream she'd tried to achieve even at the cost of her life wasn't that heavy before death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The regret that sank in her chest and remained without flowing away was of a different kind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She missed her family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her caring father and dignified mother, her brother who always caused trouble, even the workshop uncles who'd worked day and night under Serena.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They'd probably be very sad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why hadn't she cherished them more, spent more time with them?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why had she struggled desperately for recognition in the vain social circles, wearing a fake smile?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead of being cooped up in the workshop fiddling with machines, she should've just spent a bit more time with them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'How foolish...'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why did these thoughts always come when it was too late?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tears rolled down Serena's cheeksdrip drip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Clunk\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Excuse me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The door suddenly opened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man immediately became furious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who is it! To interfere at this crucial moment! I said no one should enter!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The space was so dim that she couldn't see properly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Serena lifted her tear-blurred vision, trying to find the owner of the voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sorry, you look busy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jurgen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was his voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, goosebumps more prickling than carbonation rose on her entire body that had drooped with resignation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Why was he here?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Could it be, had he come to rescue her?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Serena denied her own thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That couldn't be.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the outlaws' headquarters shoved in some corner of the Demon Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, a powerful criminal organization with even a priest-level Dark Mage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The profit didn't match diving in to save just one person, Serena.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, wasn't Jurgen just an excellent engineer, not a Knight or Alchemist?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Serena came to an answer after rational calculation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"J, Jurgen, were you... captured too?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No, I came to rescue you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spider that had been burrowing into Serena's ear canal was retrieved and returned to the old man's beard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hehe, living long, I see all sorts of things. How did you get all the way here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Order's priest, Gerak, let out a hollow laugh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those Black Fang Gang bastards who couldn't properly catch even one intruder making it all the way to the altar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The youthful recklessness of appearing alone before an Order priest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fact that the reason for all this was merely 'to rescue someone'—it was all utterly ridiculous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You saw the Order as easy too. Well, it has been quiet for a while.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if shooing away dust, Gerak waved his hand and raised 'Divine Power.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike naturally existing Magic Power, the Dark Mage's power is obtained by offering tributes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As evil as it was, miracles could be manifested with even small amounts of Divine Power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The miracles of fallen divinity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Become dust while savoring your insolence.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Skitter-skitter-skitter—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cabin's shadows, the corners where sight didn't reach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A 'gap' connected to the abyss opened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A swarm of tiny spiders pouring out like a flood—from Serena's perspective, it looked like darkness flowing and spreading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If one swung a sword or magic, they could block it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But an attack from poisonous spiders swarming from all directions was like having to block formless liquid without spilling a single drop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There was a commotion because of an uninvited guest. My apologies.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment Gerak, naturally thinking he'd dealt with the uninvited guest, was about to turn around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What I hate most is cleaning. It's nothing but troublesome.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hot heat rose behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No matter how much I clean, they keep appearing from somewhere—absolutely tiresome.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A translucent barrier was spread around the body of the man who should have been rolling on the floor being devoured by spiders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spiders that rushed toward their prey burst into blue sparkspop popand scattered the moment they hit the barrier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Especially Dark Mages, trash like you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A strange light appeared in Gerak's black eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He realized the man in the blue flames that licked the air and burned space was no ordinary person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Long experience told him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At minimum, that man wasn't facing a Dark Mage for the first time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant he was an expert who'd killed at least one Dark Mage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How glibly you speak, mere mortal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gerak took out the altar 'Spiderweb' and chanted a curse containing bizarre tones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh, Gluttony that devours all things, I offer your feast.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lumpy 'Spiderweb' writhed and spewed dark red light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An unpleasant wave that corrupted even into the soul overturned the man's body, carving the 'Mark of Tribute.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With this, that man was recognized as a tribute to the 'Devourer' that Gerak served.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was an irreversible curse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wherever he was, whatever he did, the space around him would be twisted and connected to the abyss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Holes in clothes, small cracks in the floor, even under the shadowed bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as 'gaps' existed around him, those places would become passages endlessly vomiting billions of minions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until the marked tribute was presented to Him. Forever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that it had come to this, Gerak decided not to take unnecessary risks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's only regrettable that I must abandon such a pure and beautiful supreme tribute.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't a fight worth that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He'd carved the mark on the threat, so he just needed to transfer body and mind with the curse carved into the Black Fang Gang and leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he was an Alchemist of that level, he'd also make a decent tribute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Instead, I'll at least offer you as tribute...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gerak, who had been smacking his lips regretfully, looked at the man and froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More precisely, he trembled looking at the leather bag the man was holding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An indescribable presence forcibly grabbed Gerak's perception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the slightly opened zipper gap, one eye was peeking out looking at Gerak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That alone was enough for Gerak to recognize the identity of what was contained in the bag.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn't help but recognize it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Y, you... wh, what is that... Where did you get that...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The existence inside that bag...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a fragment where the glory of Him who greedily devours all things was partially manifested.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was an entity of a different class from the 'minions' Gerak handled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the man must be a bishop of the Order, no, at minimum someone of cardinal rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A chill as if his body temperature had dropped 5 degrees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gerak felt heart-gripping fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gerak immediately bowed his head and trembled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A, are you... a brother of the Order?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Fwoosh\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The answer didn't come in words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, a sharp straight line pierced through the defenseless Gerak's crown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An ordinary human would die instantly, but the lifeline of a Dark Mage who'd given up being human was tougher than a leech.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gerak's entire body, his brain split, crumbled into a swarm of spiders starting from the head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'No, he's not from the Order. There's no way I wouldn't know. I don't know what's what, but I'm running!'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He'd made arrangements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fox digs two burrows, but a Dark Mage digs dozens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He'd carved the 'Mark of Transfer' on a Black Fang Gang member.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gerak's spirit and flesh would devour the host and be newly resurrected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gerak, searching for the most suitable host through the spiritually connected Black Fang Gang members to transfer his body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Realized that not a single spiritual signal was responding to the technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'There... aren't any? Not a single one...?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just 30 minutes ago, at least 40 of those vermin had been gathered at this hideout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hadn't felt anything wrong until now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did they all die without exception?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In just 30 minutes?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Aah...'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gerak, standing before the mortality he'd tried so hard to deny for two hundred years, felt a shudder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'...I'd forgotten.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The series of executions was chillingly familiar in method.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heretical combat methods beyond expectation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cold rationalism that didn't consider honor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mechanical preparation that didn't allow even a shred of counterattack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the scattered thoughts that lost their destination, Gerak muttered like a scream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'I, I must inform the Order!'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Retired from active duty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Order's enemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Dark Mage slaughterer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, the kingdom's hunting dog who was most like a Dark Mage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hanbin Ainsworth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Penelope, who'd come from early dawn to be stubborn, turned back quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Anyway, when luck follows her, she acts like she owns the world.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rexsnickeredrecalling the morning's events.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, there wasn't a hair's worth of evidence or justification, and all that young lady did was furrow her brow and spout useless bravado.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By now she must be running around trying to find evidence, but unfortunately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The connection between the Black Fang Gang and Rex was faint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Black Fang Gang probably didn't know they were working under Rex either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They'd only know that an unidentified noble was using tremendous funds to employ them like mercenaries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Would he have taken on a dangerously unpredictable Order member as a collaborator without such safety measures?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Heh heh heh, the information extraction must be finished by now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now once he received Y&P's precious business secrets, game over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The market share war would end in Keystone Company's perfect victory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"These fucking bastards, when's the contact coming?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Surely by now the contact planted inside the Black Fang Gang should be sending the classified data.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No contact was coming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was probably nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Rex waited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no matter how much he waited and waited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The contact never came.\u003C\u002Fp>",1992,"2026-05-29T14:34:06.789Z","2026-06-01T04:29:32.613Z",1,"novelbin.me","db530ed24b7a81693992f7a0e757d146f5326385371e612b0dc4fb286bea60fd","i-m-quitting-everything-and-selling-cola-chapter-41","i-m-quitting-everything-and-selling-cola-chapter-39",146,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-quitting-everything-and-selling-cola-cover.jpg"]