I Became the Omega in a Game - Chapter 40

Grauji parted his lips slightly, cigar resting between his fingers. He blinked twice.

Then—

“Pfft.”

A short chuckle escaped him.

With half-lidded eyes, he took a deep drag from his cigar, exhaling a cloud of rich, heady smoke.

“Haaah.”

The fragrant yet potent scent drifted around them.

“You’re right. No amount of gold could buy my time—if I don’t like the person.”

“So that means you do like me?”

Riche’s voice was bold.

Grauji didn’t answer. He simply stared at her, amusement flickering faintly in his gaze—but nothing more.

He was still lounging in post-coital languor, half-drifting through the conversation.

To him, this is just idle entertainment while he rests.

Riche understood the reality of her position.

And worse—his interest was fading. Fast.

“Well, this isn’t happening today.”

His words trailed off lazily, as if he were about to drift into sleep.

“Come find me another time. You saw for yourself, didn’t you? I’m pretty exhausted right now. Comes with the age, you know.”

As he rose to his feet, the way his lean body moved was reminiscent of a graceful panther. Every syllable he spoke dripped with playful mischief.

Riche scowled.

Yes, he was old—but could anyone really call this man an “old man”?

Absolutely not.

She thought of the director from the research institute back in her world. That man had been elderly but an insufferable prankster, always teasing others just to amuse himself.

And now, looking at Grauji’s smirking face—she felt the exact same energy.

She had never liked that director.

A sinking feeling settled in her chest—an unmistakable sense that she and this man would never get along.

Then, all at once, a wave of frustration surged through her.

Not even when she had been dragged into this world a year ago had she felt such a crushing sense of helplessness.

“How the hell is my return home dependent on him of all people?”

Tears of anger pricked at her eyes. And before she could stop herself, she muttered something in her native language.

Even after working tirelessly to master the language of this world, her first instinct was always her mother tongue. She had thought she was adapting well—but now, the reality of her situation struck her like a slap to the face.

She was stuck in a world where she needed someone else’s help just to exist.

And suddenly, she was sick of it.

“…What did you just say?”

Grauji had been casually dusting off his robe, already walking away, but now he turned back to her.

“Ah, I was just grumbling about how exhausting the trip back will be. Did you hear me?”

Her face remained perfectly composed as she lied.

Yes. Losing her temper and ruining her chances was not her style.

She was human—she had emotions, hormonal shifts, and frustrations just like anyone else. But she refused to let them interfere with her work.

In the next instant, she had already pushed her irritation aside, slipping back into cold rationality.

“Ah, I see.”

Grauji’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The deep blue irises, barely visible beneath his half-lidded gaze, gleamed behind his glasses.

And then—he smiled.

She had no idea why he was smiling, but she already hated it.

“Even his annoying smirk is just like the director’s.”

She returned his smile—while cursing him internally.

“Oh! By the way, there are wild beasts in this forest. Be careful on your way back.”

His voice was warm, his expression gentle.

Then he winked.

Riche watched as he turned and walked away, her fingers subtly twitching at her side.

And with a careful, precise motion, she lifted her middle finger at his retreating figure.

She could have tried harder to push for his cooperation—but no.

“No. If I fall for that smile and start clinging, he’ll just dismiss me completely.”

As much as she hated the thought, she would have to ask Laska to send a letter on her behalf.

* * *

At the very moment Riche was retracing the path she had come from, Grauji—whom everyone assumed had returned to the Mage Tower—was floating midair.
His gaze was fixed on Riche as she walked toward the end of the forest trail.
Even while simultaneously casting both Invisibility and Flying magic—layering high-level spells—he showed no sign of strain.

With his refined appearance, reminiscent of an elite office worker, some mistakenly believed he was merely a figurehead overseeing the general management of the Mage Tower. But such thoughts were the foolish delusions of the ignorant.

Anyone who truly knew Grauji said the same thing: The monster lurking in the Mage Tower.

Having lived for over a hundred years, he had become a serpent wearing human skin.

“Hmm.”

Riche exited the forest and boarded a hired carriage. As the carriage departed, Grauji’s Invisibility spell dissipated, revealing him suspended in the air. With an unreadable expression, he tapped his chin lightly—tap, tap.

* * *

“Don’t you think you’re treating me a little too much like an errand girl? I’ll have you know I’m a fourth-rank mage,”
Rebecca grumbled as she reappeared not long after returning to the Mage Tower. She had come right back after escorting Riche to the edge of the forest on Grauji’s orders.

“Who even is that woman? I thought she was some kind of princess or something.”

“Didn’t you notice anything strange about her?”

“Strange?”

Rebecca tilted her head after thinking for a moment.

“Not really? She seemed normal. I mean, it was a bit surprising how calm she looked even while standing next to me, but it just seemed like part of her personality.”

“Really?”

When Grauji’s eyes gleamed, Rebecca nodded curiously.

“Why do you ask?”

“She’s not normal.”

The smile vanished from his face, leaving only a cold expression. Rebecca flinched, then cast a sideways glance at him, suspicion creeping into her eyes.

She’d worked under Grauji for ten years now. He was the type to joke when things were serious and get serious when everyone else was joking—she’d been burned more than once by that twisted timing.

And here he was again. No matter how casual their relationship was when he didn’t have a lover, making her run after another woman right after sleeping together—well, that took some next-level dysfunction.

“She was kind of pretty for someone supposedly ordinary,” she muttered.

“That too,” Grauji replied immediately. Then, catching Rebecca’s pointed glare, he gave a sheepish smile.

Though his eyes curved gently, the upward twist of his lips was nothing short of wicked.

“I didn’t mean that.”

“Isn’t that what matters most to you?”

“You know how good my memory is, right?”

“Of course. You’re the guy who remembers a woman’s erogenous zones from ten years ago.”

“Exactly. So I haven’t forgotten. Her vocabulary, her pronunciation, her accent.”

Their conversation somehow stayed on track, even as it veered oddly off course.

“What are you talking about? Who is that woman?”

Ignoring the question, Grauji fell into thought, stroking his jaw with his index finger before flicking it.

“A dimensional traveler’s language.”

“Excuse me?”

Rebecca’s eyes widened at the completely unexpected words. Grauji looked positively delighted, a deep intrigue sparkling in his gaze.

“She spoke the same language as a dimensional traveler I met before I became… like this.Can you believe it? Isn’t it fascinating? To meet someone like him again—the one who opened the door to dimensional research for me.”

“You… you’re serious?”

When Grauji nodded, Rebecca’s previous doubts vanished, replaced by sudden urgency. She turned around abruptly, prompting Grauji to ask in disbelief,

“Where are you going?”

“To bring her back, of course!”

“What?”

“She’s a dimensional traveler, right? Dimensional research has been stagnant for three years now. Every time I submit a paper to the academy, they just go, ‘Again?’ and laugh at me. Everyone thinks I’m faking it!”

As Rebecca looked like she might actually chase Riche down, Grauji lightly tapped her shoulder with a calm expression.

“Come now, don’t let those old geezers get to you.”

“Tower Master!”

“What if you scare her off?”

“But—”

“Just wait. She’ll come back anyway. Considering she made it all the way here, someone must’ve given her a permit to enter. You should look into that instead.”

“Oh.”

“Where did she come from, what does she do, and why is she looking for the Mage Tower? Well, the last part, I can guess.”

Grauji’s sharp gaze narrowed into a sly smile. His eyes shimmered with a piercing blue light.
Neither his glasses nor his soft smile could conceal it—he was a man who had lived over a century, and his eyes held every moment of that long life.

Rebecca averted her eyes, unable to meet his stare, and Grauji, as if he’d never radiated such a chilling presence, started humming cheerfully.

“I should cast a wide-range detection spell over the whole forest. So if the little bird returns, we’ll hear a bright ding-dong, a bell of welcome.”