Chapter 64
Neo Seoul stood tall in the middle of a desert sea, like an island.
The city existing in the middle of the desert, just like Las Vegas of old, was none other than Neo Seoul.
What made Neo Seoul special was that a mountain existed there.
Bukhansan, which had served as the lungs of old Seoul, had been preserved wholly intact for some reason.
Thanks to this, the citizens living inside Neo Seoul could fully enjoy the greenery of Bukhansan and the fresh air.
To the north, they used Bukhansan as a barrier, and to the south, they erected massive walls to protect the city.
Within such a stable environment, Neo Seoul developed rapidly.
With the combination of magic and science, skyscrapers hundreds of stories tall—unimaginable in the past—rose in abundance.
This was an unavoidable choice for Neo Seoul as well.
Safe land was limited, yet the population kept growing. Survivors who had lived through the Great Cataclysm flocked to Neo Seoul in search of safe haven.
To accept them, they expanded space underground and endlessly built structures toward the sky. Even so, there was a limit to how many people could be accommodated.
In the end, Neo Seoul locked its gates.
It was judged that accepting any more people would make the city unsustainable.
Thus Neo Seoul was closed off, but survivors continued to gather.
They made their dwellings beneath the walls of Neo Seoul.
At first, it was merely the size of a village, but as time passed, it grew to a scale rivaling Neo Seoul itself.
Building houses atop existing ones and adding further extensions, the slums transformed into something like the Kowloon Walled City of old Hong Kong.
Due to the maze reminiscent of an anthill and the haphazardly stacked structures, sunlight could not properly penetrate even in broad daylight.
For some reason, demonic beasts did not even come near Neo Seoul, and thanks to that, over a period exceeding a hundred years, the slums grew to a scale rivaling Neo Seoul.
To enter Neo Seoul, one absolutely had to pass through the road cutting through the center of the slums.
The slum dwellers called this road the Road to Heaven.
Because it was the only path leading into Neo Seoul.
But the Road to Heaven was not beautiful or splendid like its name.
Rather, it was wretched and gloomy.
This was because all those who had tried to follow the Road to Heaven into Neo Seoul had met miserable ends.
Only a handful of people could enter Neo Seoul via the Road to Heaven.
And they were all either citizens of Neo Seoul or people who had been issued passage permits.
Anyone else was attacked the moment they approached the city gates.
Rattle!
An armored bus, tattered like a rag, revealed itself on the Road to Heaven.
Groan!
The engine of the armored bus, broken to the point where it was a wonder it still rolled, let out ragged breaths like a person on the verge of death.
People nearby the Road to Heaven watched the armored bus with curious gazes.
It had been a long time since an armored bus had returned in such a ruined state.
At that moment, the armored bus stopped and someone got off.
It was a man wearing a dark-red robe pulled down low.
The man exchanged a few words with someone inside the bus, then turned around.
The bus departed for Neo Seoul, and the man left alone stepped off the Road to Heaven and entered the slums.
"Who's that bastard?"
"Looks like we could get some money if we shake him down."
The men gathered in one corner of the slums exchanged glances.
The men had extremely thuggish eyes and faces that were apparent at a glance.
They swaggered as they approached the man who had gotten off the armored bus.
"Hey!"
"Wanna talk for a sec?"
The men surrounded the man who had gotten off the armored bus, creating a murderous atmosphere.
It was called a conversation, but the atmosphere was actually threatening.
"Is there something you need? I have no intention of talking with you."
"Cocky bastard. You came back from the mana stone mines, right? How much did you earn?"
"Hand over all the money you earned and we'll let you go. Heh heh!"
The men drew the knives at their waists and pointed them at him.
Then the man who had gotten off the armored bus brushed back the hat he had been wearing pulled down deep.
At that, the man's face was revealed.
Long hair hanging down to his shoulders and skin tanned brown by the sun. He was an impressive man with quite handsome looks and a refreshing smile.
But the most impressive feature was his deep eyes, as if black gems had been embedded within.
He was none other than Jeon.
Jeon spoke with a smile.
"A welcome party the moment I return. As expected, there's no place like home."
"What's he saying?"
"Did this bastard get shot in the head?"
The men's expressions twisted ferociously.
They might have been a great threat to ordinary people, but they could not evoke the slightest feeling in Jeon.
On the contrary, he felt good, as if he had truly returned home.
The shantytown where he was born and raised was this kind of place.
No laws, no order.
The strong took everything, and the weak had nowhere to vent their grievances even after having everything stolen from them.
A savage world where the strong possessed everything.
The shantytown was that kind of place.
Long ago, Jeon had been the lowest of the low in this place.
He couldn't even breathe heavily, nor could he show himself before the strong. He had lived here like a cockroach for eighteen years.
Back then, he couldn't feel that this place was like hell. But returning after a long time and receiving such a welcome made him laugh instead.
The knife-wielding men furrowed their brows even more.
"This son of a bitch is giggling?"
"Let's just kill him and take everything."
The men thrust their knives directly into Jeon's abdomen.
Their knife work was skilled, not something done once or twice. But their knives could not leave a single wound on Jeon's body.
The blades were blocked by the robe.
"What? An item?"
"An... Awakened?"
The men's pupils shook.
No matter how fearless their bottom-feeder lives were, they knew to fear Awakened.
Even the lowest F-rank Awakened could annihilate them with a single pinky finger.
'Fuck! We're screwed.'
'Run!'
Just as the men were exchanging glances.
Jeon lightly kicked the shin of the man right in front of him.
But the aftereffect was by no means light.
Thwack!
"Guaaack!"
The man's shin broke and bent in a bizarre direction.
The other men who witnessed this fled in different directions.
Loyalty to comrades did not exist among them.
But before they could even take a few steps, they were all caught by Jeon.
Jeon instantly caught up to every single one of the men as if using a clone technique and delivered a blow.
"Guwack!"
"Kek!"
The men's screams echoed through the street. But no one came out to look.
The men rolled on the ground clutching their broken legs and arms.
Jeon crouched down in front of one of them.
At that, the man pleaded, forgetting his pain.
"Ugh! P-please spare me."
"It's my first day back in my hometown; I can't just go around killing people indiscriminately."
"Thank you."
"But give me everything you have."
"Huh?"
"Didn't you hear me? I said give me everything you have."
At Jeon's threat, the man stared blankly, forgetting his pain.
"Don't even think about hiding anything. If I search you and find something, I'll break your other arm too."
"Kugh!"
In the end, the man gave everything he had to Jeon, sniveling and crying.
Jeon robbed the other men of everything they had in the same manner.
He felt no guilt whatsoever.
It was only natural here.
They had charged in without gauging their opponent's level; even if they died, they would have no excuse.
Since he hadn't taken their lives, they would manage to survive on their own.
Jeon left the men behind and moved on.
The shantytown hadn't changed one bit.
It was exactly as it had been, as if time had stopped.
Buildings packed so tightly that sunlight could not enter, and people moving listlessly through the streets.
Due to insufficient electricity, lights were out in most homes.
He felt gazes stealing glances at him from the windows of darkened houses.
The people living here had a devilish knack for sniffing out those who smelled different from them.
They could recognize people who did not carry the muggy, musty smell unique to the shantytown.
Jeon was one such person.
A person who did not belong in the shantytown.
That was why they were wary.
Jeon knew this as well. But he didn't care.
Because he had already expected as much.
Jeon walked on, savoring the atmosphere of his hometown.
The place he was headed was Sinchon, in the western district of the slums.
There were many places in Neo Seoul that inherited the place names of old Seoul, and Sinchon was one of them.
But only the name was the same; the appearance of old Sinchon could not be found.
Another name for Sinchon was the Anthill.
The Anthill was one of the worst areas in the shantytown.
Because it was where the most wretched of the shantytown gathered.
Because of that, even the people of the shantytown rarely approached this place.
This was Jeon's hometown.
He didn't know if he had been born here, but he had always lived here for as long as he could remember.
Jeon stopped in front of a shabby building.
It was a tall building exceeding thirty stories.
Heaven knows how many times additions had been made; the exterior walls differed on every floor, reminiscent of a patchwork quilt.
An old building constructed in the early days of Neo Seoul that could collapse at any moment. This was where Jeon had lived.
Jeon looked up at the building briefly, then went inside.
Though it was over thirty stories, there was no elevator.
Jeon walked up the stairs.
Arriving step by step, he reached the eighteenth floor.
In the past, he had cursed a lot while climbing these stairs. But now, his breathing wasn't even slightly labored.
Having finally arrived at his target floor, Jeon walked to the room at the end of the hallway.
Room 1820.
It was where Jeon had once lived.
While living here, he had coincidentally obtained a mana stone.
He had killed a neighboring resident who broke in trying to steal the mana stone, and because of that, he had to flee to the mana stone mines.
He had abandoned it out of necessity, but the fact that this place was Jeon's home had not changed.
Jeon turned the doorknob.
But it wouldn't turn.
It was locked from the inside.
He had no choice but to knock on the door.
Bam! Bam!
"What? Who the hell is it?"
Shortly after, someone opened the door, huffing and puffing.
It was a giant of a man over two meters tall, covered in all kinds of tattoos.
He glared at Jeon with a scowl.
"Why is a brat like you banging on someone else's door without fear?"
"Then what are you doing in someone else's house?"
"What?"
"This is the house I used to live in."
"What nonsense is this crazy bastard spouting? In the Anthill, where do you find 'your house' or 'my house'? If a place is empty, you just come in and live there."
The giant man scowled.
He had taken over this house merely three years ago.
The person who had lived here before was killed while dealing drugs.
After that, the man had come here and lived ever since.
Jeon said with a smile.
"I know that too. But now that the homeowner has returned, I'd appreciate it if you could vacate as soon as possible."
"You son of a bitch...."
Suddenly, the man scanned Jeon's entire body with lecherous eyes.
A smile formed at his lips, and a lewd light rose in his eyes.
"Well, you're quite good-looking. Alright! Just come in."
"Are you vacating the house?"
"I said come in first."
The man grabbed Jeon's hand, pulled him in, and locked the door.
He blocked the door and said.
"Heh heh! Drop your pants and turn around. Then I'll let you live."
"Tch! I'll have to fix the door."
"What?"
Bam!
At that moment, Jeon's fist slammed into the man's abdomen.
The man was flung outside without even being able to scream.
Because of this, the hinges broke and the door shook precariously.
Jeon thought it was fortunate that the door hadn't been completely destroyed.
The man clutched his stomach and vomited everything inside.
Once breathing became easier, the man wiped his mouth and stood up.
"You're dead. Do you know who I am?"
The moment the man tried to approach huffing and puffing, Jeon's figure disappeared from his sight.
The place he reappeared was right beside the man.
Jeon had moved at an incredible speed that the man's eyes couldn't follow.
Jeon grabbed the man's head and slammed it directly into the wall.
Boom!
With an explosive sound, the wall shook and debris flew in all directions.
"Kuuugh!"
The man could only groan, unable to even scream from the agony.
Jeon spoke quietly.
"I'm not the least bit curious about who you are. All I want is for you to vacate this house just like this."
"Ugh!"
"Answer!"
"Yes!"
Only then did Jeon release the man.
Perhaps pleased with the man's answer, Jeon smiled and turned around.
Closing the precariously hanging door, he muttered,
"I've finally come home."