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Chapter 25
1 hour and 30 minutes later.
While enjoying the smooth driving of Jeong-hoon and taking a brief nap, I arrived at the one-room apartment in Byeongjeom Station.
“We’ve arrived. Let’s end your escort here today.”
“It looks dangerous at first glance. Will you be okay by yourself?”
“It’s a lawless zone, but that doesn’t mean I’m so weak that I’ll be easily taken advantage of.”
I responded to Jeong-hoon’s concern with a relaxed smile.
If it were the past Kang Shin-hwa, I would have been trembling, walking into this place with shaking legs.
No, I would have already met Park Do-won waiting for me here and been extorted out of 70% of my daily wages.
“On the way here, I noticed several places where violence was being committed openly.”
“Well, that’s just a daily occurrence in the Red Zone.”
I responded nonchalantly to Jeong-hoon’s serious expression.
His demeanor suggested he had never visited the Red Zone since the great transformation.
That’s why his expression looks as dark as if he’s seeing a lawless area from a movie.
“Are you really okay?”
“Driving such a car in this neighborhood could attract bad guys from anywhere. Please go back quickly.”
“But…”
“The Black Cross Squad also frequently appears in Byeongjeom Station.”
I half-jokingly, half-seriously tried to scare Jeong-hoon.
The Black Cross Squad.
An organization with a complex origin from the start. Of course, there’s no disagreement that it’s a terrorist organization called the ‘Empire of Evil’.
Anyway, the Black Cross Squad violated public order outside the Special Awakener Persons Act and tormented the KSA.
And the Red Zone was the base and foundation where the Black Cross Squad’s milk and honey flowed.
“If anything happens…”
“Okay. I’ll call if something goes wrong, so don’t act like a boyfriend and just go back quickly.”
Thump! Thump!
I hit Jeong-hoon’s car trunk hard, urging his departure.
Then he tentatively pressed the accelerator and soon quickly drove away from the one-room complex, as if he had made a decision.
“Whew.”
Seeing the dilapidated exterior of the one-room building, a sigh escaped me.
Compared to the apartment I’m living in at Junghwa Station now, it was truly the extreme of life itself.
Around me, only a few streetlights on the verge of collapse were lit, and the stray cats lined up against the walls brightened their cold eyes.
The convenience store that should have been lit 24 hours had long disappeared with the great transformation.
If you need something at night, there are no taxis, so you have to walk 30 minutes to a store.
And that store is run by a violent organization, so the prices are a mess.
Water that costs 1,000 won in the White Zone sells for 10,000 won here.
It’s pure profiteering.
Everything was so messed up that I even doubted if they intended to sell anything at all.
Meooow-.
“You’re here again today?”
I looked at the cat on the wall making a friendly crying sound.
Its name is Kami.
It was a cat with impressive jet-black fur and two blue eyes.
“They didn’t even repair it.”
I looked at the traces of Park Do-won left on the one-room exterior and made a bitter expression.
I can’t understand how they charge 750,000 won in monthly rent for this one-room that’s about to collapse.
In the White Zone, the basic deposit for renting a room starts in the hundreds of millions.
In fact, this is why people like the previous me without money are constantly being pushed into the Yellow and Red Zones.
Without the ability to pay a high deposit, they end up finding a deposit-free one-room to live in.
As a result, monthly rent skyrockets.
‘Even in 2052, it was the same. They say that in 10 years, even the landscape changes, but here, it’s always been the same.’
I recalled this place in 2052.
Unlike the Line 1 Jije Station area that I’m considering for Gorim Chemical stocks and my next investment.
In 2052, this place was still a slum and simultaneously a breeding ground for numerous violence and crimes.
It even experienced fifteen outbreaks, earning the nickname ‘Land of Death’ among Awakener individuals.
‘Today, my connection with this place ends.’
After organizing my belongings, I probably won’t come back here again.
It’s not a place with good memories or nostalgia. Naturally, I won’t have any lingering attachments.
Tick. Tick.
And so, I headed to my old home on the 5th floor, following the old stairs without a single elevator.
* * *
[20200123]
[Daehan Bank / Balance 25 won]
“Wow, that’s pathetic.”
While organizing the scattered belongings, I found an old passbook.
The paper passbook, last reconciled on January 23rd, showed a balance of 25 won.
Not 25,000 won, but 25 won.
A number that fully reflected the life of someone worse off than those born into poverty.
“There’s nothing worth keeping.”
This was my conclusion.
The clothes in the closet had all turned into rags, filled with stretched-out clothes only good for cleaning rags.
The shoes in the shoe rack all had holes, mostly patched with clumsy stitching.
The refrigerator contained only a few half-drunk water bottles, and all stored food had spoiled.
In the bathroom, there were traces of not flushing to save on water bills.
“I should send these away now.”
I felt somewhat relieved.
If there was anything I wanted to take, maybe I would have had a slight attachment.
But everything here was something I could throw away right now without a second thought. And I found no keepsakes or traces related to my parents.
The personal items I had separately set aside are stored in a personal safe, so I can retrieve them later.
Click. Creak.
“Hm, is this beer the only memento?”
Drinking the smooth beer, I recalled one memory from this place.
A can of beer after work.
It was a kind of sacred ritual that concluded my day as a hard-working errand runner.
Even on days when the day was incredibly difficult and tomorrow seemed bleak.
It was my personal motivation that always made me decide, ‘Let’s do this!’
“I’ll bury the past here and now live with only a joyful present and a future full of anticipation.”
I made a pledge.
It was something I’d thought since returning, a goal I kept repeating to myself.
Reaching the pinnacle as an Awakener where no one can bother me.
Retiring gloriously after saving an unimaginable amount of money that nobody would dare to count!
In the past two days, I had earned a tremendous amount of money and saw the possibility of quick retirement.
It wasn’t just a fantasy in my head, but a realistic goal that was entirely possible.
“…”
Just then,
I slightly opened my eyes, sensing a considerable number of presences around me.
I don’t have a direct detection ability to sense presence with my talents.
But I could spread magical power around me and indirectly sense the flow.
The flow of magical power was getting tangled if nothing was disrupting it.
This meant someone hiding their presence was near the one-room apartment.
‘Did Park Do-won send them?’
There were naturally reasonable suspects.
Not just the organization Park Do-won led, but also several organizations claiming to be allied brother organizations.
‘It’s time for a cleanup. These guys aren’t going to go down quietly.’
I chuckled.
If it were the previous me, I naturally wouldn’t have sensed anything, and even if I had, I would have fled immediately.
‘But not anymore.’
I was full of confidence.
Now it was time to see who would become the prey.
Click.
I turned off the fluorescent light that was struggling to emit dim light.
‘Come in.’
And quietly waited for the moment.
The time for the hyenas hunting prey to bare their yellowed, smelly teeth.
* * *
At that moment, near Byeongjeom Station.
“Ugh! Urgh!”
“Didn’t I tell you to quietly go your way?”
“My arm! My arm!”
“Shouldn’t you answer me? Your arm? Want me to break it?”
Crack!
“Aaaaagh!”
A male Awakener who touched two passing women was screaming and writhing in pain.
“You should consider yourself fortunate that you’ll only be disciplined at the association’s investigation room at Namsan.”
“Krraaah! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”
“Insolent, so much so that even your fingers.”
Crack!
“Ugh!”
The man’s right shoulder and fingers were instantly fractured.
Though he was an E- rank Awakener who was somewhat proud of his abilities, he had unfortunately touched the wrong person.
“Krrrgh!”
As the terrified man fled, she wiped her hand with a disgusted expression and continued speaking.
“As expected, the Red Zone is unavoidable. Yun Byeol-i, so Kang Shin-hwa lives here?”
“Yes, branch manager.”
“Now that he’s no longer an F- rank but a D- rank, why? “
“This is confirmed as his current residence. Though he has moved frequently in the past.”
The two conversing were agents from KSA.
One was Yun Byeol-i, a C- rank Awakener who had already met Kang Shin-hwa once at Sindorim Station.
The other was Na Mi-na, the branch manager of KSA’s Seoul branch.
Kang Shin-hwa was the intended owner of the ‘Calais’ Chaos’ necklace he had obtained today.
As befitting the branch manager of KSA’s most important branch, she was an SS- rank Awakener.
“Monthly contract with Yanghwa guild?”
“Yes. It’s quite an unusual contract.”
“That means you can transfer to another place anytime you want, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“He’s certainly clever. Moreover, he even treated Jin Bo-mi, who KSA couldn’t handle… And even cleared the Sindorim dungeon alone. This is a typical super rookie characteristic, isn’t it? Hoho.”
Na Mi-na laughed.
This was because she remembered her own past growth after the Great Transformation, stepping on the Royal Road and rapidly advancing.
She too had grown continuously, day after day.
She had also grown from F- rank to D- rank, just like Kang Shin-hwa now.
This happened after hunting a boss monster named Kallus in a dungeon and absorbing energy from him.
Na Mi-na believed a special phenomenon occurred that would give Kang Shin-hwa significant upward momentum.
In other words, she saw that he, who had jumped to D- rank overnight, could continue to grow further.
If there’s a stock with rising future value, isn’t buying it when the price is low the right answer?
This was no exception for Awakeners.
Recruiting talented, multi-skilled individuals from the beginning. This was also a long-standing tradition of KSA.
Na Mi-na and Yun Byeol-i here were also individuals scouted by KSA in this manner.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been so greedy for someone? I’d like to carefully examine his abilities if possible.”
“I think the same.”
Yun Byeol-i nodded at Na Mi-na’s words.
While his current growth curve is already worth investing in, if they could see his abilities directly with their own eyes, his value would rise even further.
Just then.
Kwaaang! Clang!
“Aaaah!”
With the sound of breaking glass, someone screamed while flying in an arc from far away.
The distance to Kang Shin-hwa’s one-room apartment was about 200m from here.
The unidentified man who flew that long distance tumbled ungainly on the ground.
“Isn’t that a Black Hunter?”
The man was wearing the insignia of the violent organization ‘Black Hunter’ on his shoulder.
When Na Mi-na looked closely at his face.
“Isn’t this the boss?”
He was Lee Cheol-su, the boss of Black Hunter.
A man known as a C- rank Awakener.
He was stuck here, half-torn up.
“I, I, Kang Shin-hwa, you, you, XX… Urgh.”
Before he could even express his anger, Lee Cheol-su foamed at the mouth and passed out on the spot.
Something big seemed to be happening.
And in the next moment.
“Waaah!”
Another Awakener flew into the sky.
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