Chapter 65
The interior was far more spacious than it appeared from the outside.
That was because Jeon’s house had been built back when the slums were first formed. The houses from that early period were old, but correspondingly large.
More recently constructed homes were so cramped that they’d be packed tight with just a couple of adults inside. There was nothing to be done about it—available land for building was strictly limited.
He had no idea how many times the owner had changed while Jeon had been on the run. Needless to say, none of those successive occupants had properly maintained the place.
A terrible stench permeated the entire house.
The smell of drugs, the coppery stink of blood, and countless other foul odors mixed together, assaulting the senses.
The first priority was eliminating the foul odor that had accumulated layer by layer over the years.
Jeon first opened the windows wide to ventilate. Even so, the smell did not dissipate easily.
Jeon took out a One-horned Great Deer’s musk sac from his subspace.
The One-horned Great Deer was a demon beast over three meters tall. Near its reproductive organs was a musk sac, an organ that emitted a peculiar fragrance.
Cutting off a small piece of the One-horned Great Deer’s musk sac and placing it in water generated an invisible gas, which was highly effective at eliminating all sorts of foul odors.
Jeon filled a washbasin with water and added about a third of the musk sac. The water immediately bubbled and boiled, producing the gas.
While the gas was being generated, Jeon put all the household items into his subspace.
The furniture, covered in filth and worn beyond repair, could not be reused. It was better to discard it and bring in new things.
Fortunately, Jeon’s subspace contained quite a number of miscellaneous items he had obtained while wandering the desert.
One of them was the Vampire Tree obtained near the lake where he had hunted Leviathan.
The Vampire Tree was a tree, yet also a demon beast.
When a living creature passed nearby, it would extend its branches to bind the prey and drain its blood.
Once caught by the Vampire Tree, one would be bled until death.
Jeon had killed the Vampire Tree and kept a considerable amount of the wood.
The wood itself was a valuable resource.
Using the Vampire Tree for the frames and covering them with sand angler leather, he quickly fashioned a decent-looking bed and sofa.
With the remaining Vampire Tree and sand angler leather, he repaired the broken door.
By then, the air inside the house was completely purified.
The foul odor that had tormented his nose disappeared, and a refreshing fragrance filled the house.
“Good!”
There was still much left to repair, but at this rate, he felt he could rest comfortably for the time being without a care in the world.
Jeon lay down on the bed he had made himself.
It was quite soft, and sleep came creeping in.
Jeon surrendered himself to the demon of sleep without resistance.
He fell into a deep slumber.
He didn’t know how long he had slept.
When Jeon opened his eyes again, the outside had grown dark.
The slums, silent as the grave during the day, began to come alive at night.
Starting with the lights coming on in the electronic billboard on the outer wall of the building across the way, billboards throughout the slums brightly illuminated the shabby back alleys.
A billboard depicting crossed guns and knives meant there was a weapons dealer there, while a red billboard with lewd pictures meant a red-light district had set up shop.
The building lit up especially brightly was a casino.
People who hadn’t been visible during the day now filled the streets.
Drug addicts openly dealing narcotics, people lining up to enter cheap bars, and prostitutes tempting passersby.
Bang!
An explosion rang out from somewhere a few blocks away, as though a huge fight had broken out. And yet, not a trace of fear or dread could be found on anyone’s face.
Because such things were everyday occurrences here.
The slums were a place where people lived, too.
Where people lived, vested interests inevitably existed.
Moreover, this was a super-densely populated area where as many as ten million people had gathered.
Naturally, the vested interests were equally massive.
Wars between organizations vying to seize those interests broke out several times a day.
Here, demon beasts were not the threat.
The most dangerous things in the slums were the humans themselves.
It was then.
Bang! Bang!
Someone pounded roughly on Jeon’s door and shouted.
“I know you’re in there. Get out here, you bastard!”
Jeon easily recognized the owner of the voice.
It was the man he had kicked out.
The man wasn’t alone.
He had brought a group of over a dozen people.
The man belonged to an organization called Red Skulpa.
Red Skulpa was a small-scale criminal organization based in Sinchon.
Although its scale was not large, it was evaluated as no pushover since it was comprised of mad dogs.
The boss of Red Skulpa was Jo Sang-hyeok.
He was an F-Class Martial Combat Awakener.
Jo Sang-hyeok stood with his arms crossed, looking at Unit 1820.
The door didn’t budge an inch even as his underlings pounded roughly. It definitely looked like it would break with one good hit.
Jo Sang-hyeok asked the man.
“Did you reinforce the door? What’s with it?”
“C’mon, Hyung-nim. Where would I get the money for that? It’s the same door that was already there.”
The man’s face was flushed bright red.
He had pounded on it with the resolve to break it, yet the door was perfectly fine, and he was exhausted from his own efforts.
It was then.
The door that hadn’t budged despite all that pounding opened without a sound.
And Jeon revealed himself.
“What is it?”
“It’s this bastard! This bastard barged in out of nowhere, claiming it was his house, and beat me up!”
The man screamed loudly at Jeon.
Jo Sang-hyeok furrowed his brow.
He didn’t like the sight of the man tattling like a child. But he was still his organization member.
If he let the opponent go after his member had been beaten, his prestige wouldn’t survive.
He had to let them know that anyone who touched him or his members would bleed. That was the only way people wouldn’t look down on him.
Jo Sang-hyeok stepped forward.
“Who are you? Why did you touch my guy?”
“I’m the homeowner.”
“What?”
“He was squatting in the place I used to live. So I kicked him out.”
“You call that a reason?”
Jo Sang-hyeok made an incredulous face. But Jeon was serious.
“Why wouldn’t it be? If the original owner has returned, the illegal squatter should obviously leave.”
“You got any proof this is your house?”
“No.”
“Are you messing with me? You’re saying it’s your house with no proof?”
“Yes!”
“You son of a bitch, really…”
In the end, Jo Sang-hyeok’s anger exploded.
His underlings sprang into action first at his rage.
“Make this bastard kneel.”
“You puny little shit…”
Just as they were flexing their burly muscles and surrounding Jeon.
Thud-thud-thud!
Suddenly, a series of violent impact sounds rang out in succession.
Then the men who had surrounded Jeon collapsed like sandcastles.
Their eyes were rolled back, and foam frothed from their mouths.
“Were you an Awakener?”
Jo Sang-hyeok’s eyes shook.
It was impossible for an ordinary human to subdue over ten burly men in an instant.
Jeon shrugged.
“Obviously.”
“Ha! Fuck. You were acting all high and mighty because of some pissant ability?”
“I wasn’t acting high and mighty.”
“What's your class? Show me your rank, bastard!”
“If I reveal my rank, you’ll die.”
“What?”
“You’ll die.”
“This bastard is bluffing…”
“Does it sound like a bluff?”
Jeon smiled.
In that instant, Jo Sang-hyeok felt his entire body go cold.
It was a biological response that only manifested when sensing mortal danger.
He hadn’t felt this way since the life-or-death war against a rival organization not long ago.
Jo Sang-hyeok instinctively realized that Jeon’s level was no trifle. He wanted to step down and walk away.
But he couldn’t.
Because he had his pride.
“Fuck you!”
Jo Sang-hyeok swung a large fist.
As befitting a Martial Combat Awakener, his fist contained tremendous power. But in Jeon’s eyes, it looked far too weak.
Jeon dodged Jo Sang-hyeok’s fist and struck his chest with a light blow. But the aftermath was anything but light.
Crash!
“Kuegh!”
Jo Sang-hyeok let out a sound like a slaughtered pig and was sent flying. His chest was caved in.
It was a wound severe enough to kill him instantly if Jeon hadn’t held back.
He was only alive because he was an Awakener.
Jo Sang-hyeok felt pain as if his entire body was being torn apart by a single punch.
A sensation as if all his muscles were unraveling and his organs were melting.
The focus disappeared from his eyes, and he couldn’t see anything.
It was quite a while before his senses returned.
“Kuh-hack!”
He vomited nearly a bowlful of blood, and the paralysis in his body loosened.
Then Jeon came into his view.
Jeon had crouched down to meet his gaze.
Unfathomable black eyes stared intently at him.
The moment he met Jeon’s eyes, Jo Sang-hyeok’s pupils trembled violently. Just looking into those eyes felt like his brain would melt.
It was a phenomenon caused by the difference in rank.
Only then did Jo Sang-hyeok realize.
His opponent was a high-ranking Awakener who wouldn’t even deign to look at the likes of him.
‘D-Class? No… perhaps even C-Class or higher.’
The highest class he could imagine was C-Class.
Even an F-Class could create a small organization like his, and E-Class Awakeners commanded several such groups.
Starting from D-Class, one could even be scouted into Neo Seoul.
Jo Sang-hyeok’s ultimate goal was also to enter Neo Seoul.
Leaving this shithole to enter the brilliant world of civilization was the dream of all slum dwellers.
Jeon was someone who more than qualified to enter Neo Seoul. He didn’t know why such a person had crawled into this dump, but it was clear that he was someone Jo Sang-hyeok couldn’t oppose.
Jeon asked.
“Do you still have a problem with me living in this house?”
“N-No, there’s no pwoblem.”
“I thought so. I won’t care what you do. Just cooperate so I can live quietly. Can you promise that?”
“I pwomise.”
“Then that’s settled.”
Jeon smiled and stood up.
He could kill someone of Jo Sang-hyeok’s level with a flick of his pinky. The reason he didn’t was because he knew that even if he killed him, others would crawl out like cockroaches to take his place.
It was far more convenient to keep Jo Sang-hyeok alive, who understood fear, and have him manage the area.
After some time, Jo Sang-hyeok and his underlings regained their strength and got up.
Jeon spoke to them as they were about to leave.
“You’d best not blab about today to anyone. When your mouth itches to talk, remember this.”
Instantly, a massive orb of fire formed around Jeon’s body.
“Huh!”
Jo Sang-hyeok and his underlings’ eyes widened as if they would tear.
‘A Magic-class, and a Flame-attribute Awakener at that.’
Magic-class Awakeners were treated as more precious than Martial Combat Awakeners even at the same grade.
They were further subdivided by magic type, but Flame-attribute belonged to the stronger axis.
Along with Lightning-attribute, Flame-attribute magic boasted the greatest destructive power.
That was why Flame-attribute Magic Awakeners received precious treatment even in Neo Seoul.
“I’ww absowutewy keep my mouf shut. Don’t wowwy.”
Jo Sang-hyeok answered with slurred pronunciation.
His tongue was still paralyzed from the tremendous shock.
Only then did Jeon smile in satisfaction and dispel the fireball.
“You must be busy, but leave your address before you go.”
“Addwess?”
“You don’t want to?”
“N-No.”
Jo Sang-hyeok quickly wrote down his address.
Jeon checked the address and said.
“You may go now.”
“Thank you.”
Jo Sang-hyeok and his underlings bowed their heads deeply to Jeon and hurriedly ran down the stairs.
Once outside, Jo Sang-hyeok began beating one of his underlings mercilessly.
It was the subordinate who had brought them there.
“You bastawd! What, you said he was nothing? That guy is nothing?”
“I’m sorry—ugh!”
“We awmost died because of you. And what?”
“I was wrong. Please spare me.”
Jo Sang-hyeok stomped on the pleading subordinate repeatedly.
He vented all the humiliation he had received from Jeon onto his subordinate.
The subordinate who had once been the owner of Jeon’s house lost consciousness, trampled wretchedly.
Jo Sang-hyeok wheezed as he looked around at the other underlings.
“Keep your moufs shut so today doesn’t weak out. If it gets outside, you bastawds die, and I die too.”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
The underlings answered hurriedly.
Jo Sang-hyeok looked at the building where Jeon lived with a contorted face.
‘Fuck! Of all places, why did a monster like that have to crawl into my territory.’
A sigh escaped him involuntarily.