Chapter 69
The scent of a mature woman rushed into his nose.
It was the first time a woman had leaned her face in so close.
Jeon maintained his composure with effort and asked,
“Do you know Old Man Klexi?”
“Do I merely know him? I’m burning with desire to catch and kill him.”
“Is it that bad?”
“If only I could.”
Yu Sehui’s eyes gleamed coldly.
Not a trace remained of the playful demeanor with which she had been pressing the merchants just moments ago.
Had Jeon been an ordinary person, he would have been unable to even breathe properly under her overwhelming presence.
Fortunately, Jeon was no ordinary person, nor was he weak enough to be overwhelmed by such a gaze.
Yu Sehui also realized that Jeon was no ordinary man.
Above all, there was no way Old Man Klexi would hand a precious card over to someone who was a nobody.
“How did you meet Old Man Klexi?”
“If I said it was a coincidence, would you believe me?”
“It seems you have no intention of telling me.”
“As expected, you don’t believe me.”
“It’s not you I don’t believe—it’s Old Man Klexi. That man would never, ever hand a precious card to someone he met by chance.”
“He certainly is devious.”
“You don’t seem much different from him?”
“Me?”
Jeon made an expression of grievance.
Yu Sehui carefully studied Jeon’s face.
She had to concede at least one thing.
It was that she could not read his inner thoughts just by looking at his face.
To that extent, Jeon was thoroughly hiding himself.
She might have been able to find out using her unique skill, but she didn’t want to go that far.
Because it was such an extraordinary skill, the backlash from using it was considerable.
If he had come recommended by Old Man Klexi, he was at least not someone who would harm the Dokkaebi Market.
“What is your name?”
“It’s Jeon.”
“Where do you live?”
“Are you running a background check on me now?”
“Yes! Are you not going to answer?”
“I live in the Ant Nest.”
“Sinchon?”
“Yes!”
“Then I’ll be seeing you often. Got it. You can go now.”
Yu Sehui waved her hand as if shooing away a fly.
Jeon bowed his head slightly to her and said,
“Then……”
Yu Sehui watched Jeon’s back as he disappeared into the crowd with sharp eyes.
The Black Lion spoke quietly.
“Shall I have him followed?”
“No! Old Man Klexi has likely already put a tail on him. Since we can just share information, there’s no need to waste precious manpower.”
“Understood.”
The Black Lion nodded.
He knew Old Man Klexi just as well as Yu Sehui did.
He knew how meticulous and tenacious Old Man Klexi was.
Yu Sehui moved on.
“The atmosphere inside and outside the colony has been chaotic lately. Didn’t a pack of Flame Wolves attack an armored bus a few days ago?”
“Yes! Demonic beast packs are appearing closer and closer to Neo Seoul. It seems the rumors that Neo Seoul’s demon-repelling power is weakening are true.”
What distinguished Neo Seoul from other colonies was the existence of its demon-repelling power.
For reasons unknown, a powerful energy permeated Neo Seoul.
This energy frightened demonic beasts and prevented them from approaching.
Thanks to this, humanity escaped the threat of demonic beasts and was able to develop Neo Seoul.
Neo Seoul amplified this demon-repelling power through magic circles to strengthen its effects.
The range of the strengthened demon-repelling power reached dozens of kilometers.
Thanks to this, not only Neo Seoul but also the slums were safe from the threat of demonic beasts.
Because of the demon-repelling power, humanity bought time and was able to develop the city as it was now.
But for some reason, Neo Seoul’s demon-repelling power was gradually weakening.
People pointed to the fact that demonic beasts were appearing closer and closer to Neo Seoul as evidence.
This was something unimaginable in the past.
To hunt demonic beasts, teams had to venture far from Neo Seoul.
But now, demonic beasts could be seen not far from Neo Seoul.
The saying that demonic beasts feared approaching Neo Seoul was becoming outdated.
Yu Sehui looked into the distance at the skyscrapers rising as if to pierce the sky beyond the massive wall.
There, the powers that ruled Neo Seoul resided.
“What on earth are they doing inside for Neo Seoul’s demon-repelling power to be weakening? Have they already forgotten the lesson of that day?”
Her voice was filled with deep concern.
＊＊＊
Jeon left the Dokkaebi Market and walked along Yeonnam Road.
Meeting Yu Sehui, the owner of the Dokkaebi Market, had been unexpected.
Jeon thought Yu Sehui was incredibly strong.
‘When she cast lightning magic, there wasn’t even a one-second delay.’
Usually, casting magic required some preparation time.
Magic meant, at its core, the materialization of a mental image.
Bringing the picture drawn in one’s mind into reality—that was precisely what magic was.
It naturally took time to materialize a mental image into reality.
For those with outstanding talent, that time was extremely short, but for those without, it inevitably took much longer.
But in Yu Sehui’s case, no such gap in time could be felt.
She had called down lightning into reality the instant she desired it. And she had done so with just enough force to make Taeo and Brixton retreat without getting hurt.
The fact that she could wield lightning magic, the most destructive kind, without inflicting a single wound on either side was enough to know how extraordinary her talent was.
He didn’t know what Yu Sehui’s Awakened grade was, but she was clearly at least B-rank.
At that level, there would be almost no one in the slums here who could stand against her.
More impressive than that was the Black Lion, whom she had kept as a guard.
The Black Lion radiated an intense energy that had even given Jeon a slight start.
Aura filled his body to the brim, to the point of overflowing and naturally emanating outward.
In the slums, the Black Lion was the first combat-class Awakened of such formidable strength that Jeon had ever seen.
The Black Lion had awakened a sense of vigilance in Jeon, who had inwardly looked down on the slums to some degree.
This much alone was sufficient gain.
Jeon thought he had done well to visit the Dokkaebi Market.
He felt that if he continued to make use of the Dokkaebi Market, he would be able to sufficiently grasp the situation in the slums.
“Hoo!”
Jeon, having returned home, took off the robe he was wearing.
The house was still empty.
Because apart from a bed and a sofa, nothing else existed.
The light bulb flickered unsteadily.
This was because the electricity supply was unstable.
But if only a small mana generator arrived, the situation would change.
If he could generate his own power, he would be able to use not just lights but various other devices.
In a way, only then would he truly be enjoying civilization.
Jeon sat on the sofa and waited for the mana generator to be delivered.
They had said they would send it today, so it would arrive before long.
It was then.
BOOM!
With a tremendous explosion, the building shook as if it would collapse at any moment. The window glass also shattered and flew into the house.
Jeon furrowed his brows and rose from his seat.
Beyond the broken window, he could see a devastated intersection.
In the middle of the intersection, a truck was burning.
It was clear that it had exploded from someone’s attack.
This was a common occurrence on this street, so Jeon had tried not to mind. But the moment he saw the symbol drawn on the destroyed truck, that became impossible.
The symbol engraved on the truck was the Dokkaebi emblem.
The Dokkaebi emblem was the symbol of the Dokkaebi Market.
A Dokkaebi Market transport vehicle had been attacked.
‘If a vehicle were coming here at this time…’
In that instant, Jeon felt an ominous premonition.
He threw his body straight out the window.
His home was on the eighteenth floor. Yet he leaped without a moment’s hesitation.
Just as Jeon’s body, falling at a terrifying speed, was nearly reaching the ground—
Sand piled up on one side of the street shot up like a pillar and gently caught his body.
He had used sand to mitigate the impact.
But no one saw this.
Because everyone on the street was too preoccupied watching the burning vehicle.
Jeon urgently pushed through the people and approached the vehicle.
Fierce flames were blazing up from the vehicle.
Because of this, people couldn’t easily approach.
Their faces were filled with greed.
“Fuck! There’s definitely something valuable in there!”
“If only the flames would die down a bit.”
They had no intention whatsoever of extinguishing the flames.
They were preoccupied with how to get close and steal the cargo.
No one cursed them out.
Because the slums themselves were that kind of place.
Jeon pushed through those people and approached the vehicle.
The fierce flames engulfed his body. But they couldn’t affect him in the slightest.
Jeon finally arrived in front of the vehicle.
The first place he inspected was the driver’s seat.
In the driver’s and passenger’s seats, two bodies were already melting.
One of them was the merchant from the Dokkaebi Market with whom Jeon had made the deal.
A long cut was clearly visible on the merchant’s neck.
It was clear they had been killed before the vehicle exploded.
Jeon furrowed his brows and went to the cargo bed.
The cargo bed’s doors were wide open, spewing fierce flames.
Though his vision was obscured by flames and smoke, Jeon clearly saw that the cargo bed was empty.
“Ha!”
Jeon let out a sigh.
It was clear that the mana generator being delivered to him had been stolen.
Since the merchant was dead, it was impossible to receive compensation from him.
“Which bastards would dare……”
His eyes turned sharp.
He had wanted to live quietly if possible.
That was why he had tried to let most things slide.
But having his mana generator stolen was not an incident that could be dismissed as just another trivial matter.
He had to find the attackers, punish them, and recover the mana generator.
First and foremost, it was imperative to identify the attackers who had stolen the mana generator.
Jeon examined the area around the burning vehicle.
He found a piece of metal not even a few steps away.
It clearly wasn’t debris from the vehicle.
On the surface of the metal piece, scorched by fire, the letters “FB130—” were written.
The rest couldn’t be seen, but even this much was enough to serve as a clue.
Someone had attacked the vehicle, killed the merchant and his subordinate, then stolen the mana generator. And they had destroyed all evidence by blowing up the vehicle.
Even if the Dokkaebi Market sent investigators, they would think the mana generator had burned with the vehicle; they would never imagine someone had stolen it.
It was only because Jeon had arrived before the flames completely consumed the transport vehicle; had he been even slightly late, the truth would have been completely incinerated.
Jeon turned his back on the flames and moved on.
There was no use asking the people blinded by greed.
What happened in the underbelly of this street had to be asked of those from that world.
Fortunately, Jeon knew such people well.
Jeon headed toward the dark, damp parts of the street.
At a glance, it seemed disorderly, but even here, addresses existed.
It was just that the way addresses were determined was so unusual that unless one had lived here for a long time, they were hard to find.
Jeon racked his memory as he walked.
After passing through several alleys, he arrived at a warehouse on the first floor of a large building.
Jeon opened the warehouse door without hesitation and entered.
“What?”
“Which bastard enters without permission?”
Rough reactions came immediately.
Men with an unusual air sat here and there inside the warehouse.
They revealed killing intent toward the uninvited intruder. But the moment they saw Jeon’s face, the killing intent vanished instantly.
“Huk!”
“Him?”
Their faces turned ashen.
The warehouse was the haunt of the Red Skull.
The ones who turned pale upon seeing Jeon were none other than Josanghyeok and his subordinates.
Josanghyeok, the leader of the Red Skull, stammered.
“H-huh, sir? Why are you here? W-we haven’t done anything wrong to you……”
Jeon said to the stammering Josanghyeok,
“I have something to ask. Can you spare a moment?”
“Of course.”
Josanghyeok nodded at lightning speed.