Episode 77
Thump, thump!
Jeon opened his eyes to the sound of knocking at his door since morning.
Draping his robe over his shoulders, Jeon walked to the door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Hyung!”
He had thought it would be Goran’s gang, but unexpectedly, Rebin’s voice came through.
When Jeon opened the door, he saw Rebin.
Rebin stared at Jeon and said.
“You’re still alive?”
“What brings you here?”
“I heard a rumor that you crossed paths with Goran’s underlings, so I came to find you.”
“To help me?”
“To warn you.”
“About what?”
“May I come in?”
Jeon stepped aside, and Rebin naturally entered.
“As expected, this place is the best. It’s like a hideout.”
“What about your revenge?”
“I got my boys on it, but it’s not easy. Ever since he killed my family, he’s kept himself thoroughly hidden.”
“Is that so?”
“The bastard must have caught the scent.”
Rebin’s voice sank heavily.
Ever since that day, he had wandered the streets looking for the murderer.
His friends had stepped up to help him, and eyes and ears were spread throughout the slum streets. Yet the murderer did not appear.
As if it were a lie, he had stopped his killing spree and disappeared.
“Still, I will definitely find him. A dog can’t stop shitting; he won’t be able to keep his head down and stay quiet forever.”
“I suppose so. Anyway, what did you want to warn me about that you came looking for me since morning?”
“It’s about Goran.”
“Why Goran?”
“Hyung, you don’t know anything.”
“So what is it?”
“It’s about Goran’s ability.”
“Do you know something?”
“I don’t know the details either. But I have heard things.”
Only then did Jeon make an expression of interest.
“What is it?”
“When Goran became the ruler of Sinchon, there were an unusually high number of explosion accidents.”
“Explosions?”
“I don’t know the details, but because of that, several buildings nearly collapsed right then and there.”
It had already been twenty years since Goran seized control of Sinchon.
How exactly he had taken control of Sinchon at that time was not known with certainty. It was because most of the people present at the scene had died.
However, that legend alone was still branded as terror in people’s minds.
“I don’t know exactly what kind of ability it is, but it is definitely related to explosions. So be careful.”
“Thanks. That’ll be a big help.”
“Hyung, I’m sorry I can’t help you.”
Rebin did not want to make an enemy of Goran.
Even though he had awakened a special ability, he was still nothing more than a novice.
His rank was low, and he couldn’t utilize his own ability to a hundred percent.
Moreover, he had a duty to avenge his family.
Until he avenged his family, he couldn’t do anything else.
Jeon snickered.
“That’s plenty.”
“I sincerely wish you survive.”
“I hope you get your revenge too.”
“Yes! Let’s both do our best. I’ll be going now.”
Rebin slipped out of Jeon’s house covertly, as if afraid someone might see.
Left alone, Jeon muttered.
“An ability related to explosions…”
People usually thought that when you said Awakened, there were only four branches: magic, martial, sorcery, and those merged with machines. But as in his own or Rebin’s case, occasionally someone awakened into a different branch.
Perhaps Goran was one of those people.
“That is curious.”
In any case, it was something he would find out once he clashed with him directly.
He didn’t want to make a fuss preparing for it from now.
Jeon had a simple meal and then boiled some water.
What he took out from his subspace was a plant leaf.
But it wasn’t just any plant leaf—it was the leaf of a plant-type magical beast.
This thing took the form of a cactus and lured in other magical beasts passing by to devour them.
Uniquely, leaves grew all over its body, and when you brewed the leaves, the taste was out of this world.
At first, Jeon had approached it without knowing any better and nearly got devoured. After a thousand hardships, he had barely managed to take it down and save his life.
After studying the dead magical beast, he realized that its leaves had excellent effects when brewed into tea. So he had plucked all its leaves and carried them in his subspace.
Jeon poured boiling water into a cup and steeped the magical beast’s leaf. Immediately, a dense tea fragrance filled the room.
Jeon took his cup and approached the window.
Sipping the tea little by little, he looked down at the street.
The tea made from the magical beast’s leaves had the effect of calming the mind and enhancing mana.
Whenever he had time, Jeon brewed tea with the magical beast’s leaves and drank it.
All he felt was that it was a shame he didn’t have much left.
Just then, a man standing in the middle of the intersection entered Jeon’s field of vision.
He was a bald man with a physique like a gorilla.
The bald man was looking exactly at Jeon and smiling.
Jeon instinctively realized that the bald man had come looking for him.
The bald man aimed his fist at Jeon’s location.
The man’s fist was strangely made of metal.
‘Machine?’
It was then.
Boom!
An explosive roar erupted from the man’s fist aimed at Jeon’s house. Immediately after, the entire building shook as if it had been bombed.
Rumble!
Jeon looked at the man with furrowed brows.
“So it’s a shockwave.”
What the man had fired with his mechanical prosthetic arm was a shockwave.
Whether the shockwave was the man’s innate skill or the power of his mechanical prosthetic arm was unclear, but it was obvious he was targeting Jeon.
However, what the man didn’t know was that a barrier was cast on Jeon’s house.
The barrier created by the Watcher’s Eye protected Jeon’s house perfectly from external impacts.
Boom!
The man fired a shockwave again. But once more, his attack was blocked by the Watcher’s Eye.
No matter how many times he attacked, it would likely be the same.
The man’s shockwave couldn’t penetrate the Watcher’s Eye. The man had surely realized this fact as well.
Even so, without paying any heed, he fired shockwaves in succession.
Rumble!
The entire building shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
Jeon made an incredulous expression.
He had figured out the bald man’s scheme.
“The bald man is using his head a little, I see.”
Jeon’s house was protected by the Watcher’s Eye, but the other houses weren’t.
The houses above, below, and next to Jeon’s were in chaos.
Walls collapsed, and pillars cracked.
The people inside screamed in surprise at the sudden attack.
If shockwaves were fired a few more times like this, the entire building where Jeon’s house was located could collapse.
If the building itself collapsed, Jeon’s house wouldn’t be able to withstand it no matter how much protection it received from the Watcher’s Eye.
So it was clear that the bald man had changed his strategy as soon as he realized a barrier was cast on Jeon’s house.
“Tch, what a hassle…”
Jeon opened the window.
His house was on the eighteenth floor. It was at a height of more than fifty meters from the ground.
It was a height that would make an ordinary person dizzy just from looking down. But Jeon threw himself off without any hesitation.
His body fell at a terrifying speed.
Just before hitting the ground, Jeon’s speed rapidly decreased.
This was because infinitesimal sand particles too fine to be seen with the naked eye were supporting his body.
However, the bald man couldn’t know that.
Because Jeon concealed his form even before landing on the ground.
Having safely reached the ground, Jeon immediately pursued the bald man.
Tracking the bald man wasn’t very difficult.
Because as if showing off, he had left traces of himself everywhere.
Jeon was able to discover the bald man before long.
The bald man was standing in front of a building resembling a Colosseum.
As if telling Jeon to follow, he jerked his chin and went inside the building.
Jeon looked at the Colosseum for a moment.
It was his first time seeing the place, but Jeon knew exactly what the Colosseum was.
The arena operated by Goran, the ruler of Sinchon, was this place.
“As expected, he is Goran’s underling.”
He had thought so from the beginning.
Jeon entered the arena without a moment’s hesitation.
“Waaaah!”
“Kill him!”
As soon as he entered the arena, tremendous heat and shouts welcomed Jeon.
Countless people screamed with fire in their eyes, and in the middle of the arena, two people were fighting for their lives.
They were ordinary people with no abilities visible to the naked eye.
One wielded a sickle, and the other an axe, swinging at each other.
Their entire bodies were already stained with blood, and their faces were twisted in pain.
Even so, they attacked each other like madmen.
The desperate feeling that this was the end was palpable.
Jeon knew very well what had driven them to the edge of this cliff.
Jeon’s gaze turned to the highest place in the arena.
There, the bald man was looking at him.
Jeon immediately walked up to where the bald man was.
“You came.”
As soon as he arrived where the bald man was, a low-pitched voice welcomed him.
Jeon looked at the owner of the voice.
It was a large black man wearing a baseball cap and a leather jacket.
Behind his back, the bald man who had lured Jeon was visible.
The black man said to Jeon.
“We finally meet. Your name is…”
“Jeon!”
“Right! Jeon. This is our first time meeting?”
“I believe so.”
“You seem to know me?”
“Aren’t you Goran?”
“You know precisely.”
A satisfied smile formed at the corners of the black man’s mouth.
He was none other than Goran, the ruler of Sinchon.
Goran introduced the bald man standing behind him.
“This is my friend, Dolkan.”
“There’s no need for a separate introduction. Thanks to him, my house nearly collapsed.”
“But it didn’t?”
“Fortunately.”
“You seem quite sturdy.”
“Is that a disappointment?”
“Actually, yes. I had told him to knock it down.”
Goran laughed, baring his white teeth.
Dolkan spoke as if making an excuse.
“There was a barrier cast on the house. I fired several shockwaves, but it was unscathed.”
“Is that so? That’s quite a capable friend. I like capable friends.”
A heated gaze could be felt piercing through Goran’s sunglasses.
Jeon snickered.
“I’m glad to be acknowledged.”
“Have a seat for now.”
At Goran’s gesture, a subordinate brought out a chair.
Jeon did not refuse and sat in the chair.
Goran pointed with his finger at the two people fighting in the arena.
“Do you see them?”
“Yes.”
“They are those driven to the edge of a cliff. Can you feel the fear and desperation they emit?”
“Yes.”
“I like the scent of fear they emit. It excites people.”
“That’s a bad taste.”
“Bad taste? That may be. But once you get used to it, you won’t be able to break free.”
“I don’t know. I have no interest in this sort of thing.”
“You’d best not be so sure. Human values change easily.”
Goran laughed, tapping his own head with his fingers.
Jeon looked at Goran silently. Then Goran shrugged his shoulders and said.
“The atmosphere has gotten stiff. Let’s eat first.”
As soon as his words ended, people who had been waiting brought out food.
In no time, decent-looking food was laid out on the table.
Goran said, raising his fork and knife.
“It’s steak. Real steak made from real beef, not cultured meat. It should be worth eating.”
Even so, when Jeon did not raise his fork, Goran looked past the window at the wall of Neo Seoul.
“The guys in Neo Seoul eat this kind of thing. If you follow me, you can eat this every day.”