A strange fragrance of wine seeped through the crack in the tavern door.
Green sniffed the air. Amid the wine's drifting fragrance, he faintly sensed the Laws of another Void.
Through the door, which stood slightly ajar, he saw several tables surrounded by five or six humanoid beings. Each sat in a chair, a wineglass filled to the brim in hand, eagerly chatting with the others.
"Did you know? The Origin River is about to face the Great End. A whole lot of old fossils who'd been hiding away have emerged. They say there are dozens of Half-Ninth-Level Lifeforms who've reached the Void Omnipotent Level across the entire Void!"
A man holding a wineglass took a swig, then spoke loudly, his face flushed.
"That information of yours is already outdated. Let me tell you what's happening now!" said another man, middle-aged and dressed like a hunter. His right hand was a scarlet shell, shaped like an enormous lobster claw. He first dismissed the previous man's information, then lowered his voice mysteriously.
Although he acted as if he were trying to keep the information secret, his voice didn't drop at all.
Clearly, he wanted to show off what he knew, too.
The Ninth-Level Lifeforms beside him heard this and turned their attention to the middle-aged man with the lobster arm.
With everyone watching him, the middle-aged man wore a pleased expression before beginning to share what he knew.
"Let me tell you, more than half of those dozens of Half-Ninth-Level Lifeforms who've reached the Void Omnipotent Level aren't native beings. They're old monsters among us Ninth-Level Lifeforms. Those old monsters have lived through one Void Reincarnation after another, and used special methods to disguise themselves as natives. The Origin River Void Will never noticed them!"
"Two of those old monsters have