Chapter 228

Chapter 228

Eight years ago, Park Man-ho had forcibly shoved Zeon into Shaft 972 simply because he was in a bad mood after losing money at the gambling den.

Even though several people had already died in Shaft 972.

If Zeon had not awakened, or if he had not met Deioden, he would have lost his life back then.

At the time, it had been so painful he had vowed revenge. But a long time had passed, and during that time, Zeon had gone through countless events.

As Zeon experienced things so tremendous that what Park Man-ho had done to him could not even compare, he became stronger.

Naturally, the memories of that day faded, and the existence known as Park Man-ho was no longer a target of revenge for Zeon.

Park Man-ho was far too insignificant a being for Zeon to keep burning with hatred.

That was why Zeon had completely forgotten about him, yet unexpectedly, Park Man-ho had recognized Zeon and approached him.

Park Man-ho glared at Zeon with his eyes bulging.

His impression was fairly fierce, but it did not stir even the slightest feeling in Zeon.

Park Man-ho said with a dumbfounded expression,

“You crazy bastard! Good to see me? Have you completely lost your mind?”

“Why? I really am glad to see you.”

“You really have gone insane. Do you know how much trouble I got into because you disappeared on your own?”

“Liar.”

“What?”

“Why would someone like me have caused you any trouble? Back then, I was nothing more than an extra with no importance.”

“You fucking bastard. Did you oil your tongue? You talk smoothly now.”

Having nothing to say, Park Man-ho scowled.

At the time, Zeon’s disappearance had not caused him any trouble at all. Just as Zeon said, he had been an utterly insignificant existence.

Even so, the reason Park Man-ho was getting angry after seeing Zeon now was that he had lost quite a large sum of money at the gambling den today.

He was the overseer of the Mana Stone Mine.

Naturally, he siphoned off Mana Stones and pocketed a considerable amount of slush money.

The problem was that he had offered all that slush money up to the gambling den.

In such a situation, meeting Zeon made the anger in his chest surge all the way to the top of his head.

Why Zeon had appeared here again and where he had been all this time did not matter.

What mattered was that Zeon was standing before his eyes, and he needed someone to vent his anger on.

“You, come here, bastard! A bastard like you should be thrown into the shaft and made to mine Mana Stones for the rest of your life.”

“I’m not a miner anymore, though.”

“What a funny bastard. Once a miner, always a miner. As long as you’re a miner, you have to obey my orders.”

“That’s a miraculous line of logic. I do feel like I need to learn that kind of reasoning.”

“This bastard is smirking? Are you laughing?”

“Because it’s funny.”

“You fucking bastard....... You’re dead.”

Enraged by Zeon’s continued sarcasm, Park Man-ho swung his huge fist.

In name, Park Man-ho was a Grade E Awakened.

His fist contained enough destructive power to kill an ordinary person in one blow.

Park Man-ho did not truly intend to kill Zeon.

He planned to lightly discipline him and empty Zeon’s pockets. As a bonus, he would throw him into a shaft and suck him dry down to the marrow.

GRAB—!

But his pleasant imagination was shattered by a sudden pain.

The fist that should have smashed Zeon’s face had stopped in midair.

The thing that stopped his fist was Zeon’s palm.

As if he had struck a rock, the fist that had hit Zeon’s palm hurt.

At the unexpected pain, Park Man-ho’s eyes widened.

“You?”

Crrrreak!

At that moment, Zeon closed his palm.

As if caught in a press, Park Man-ho’s fist crumpled.

“Krrrgh!”

A groan escaped Park Man-ho’s mouth without him realizing it.

He strained to pull his fist free from Zeon’s palm. But with his strength, escaping Zeon’s hand was impossible.

In the end, he screamed loudly and said,

“Aaagh! It hurts, it hurts! Let go already!”

“Say it again. What were you going to do to me? Did you say you’d lock me in a shaft and make me swing a pickaxe forever?”

“Krrgh! Th-that was just a slip of the tongue....... That will never happen.”

Park Man-ho hurriedly shook his head.

The fist caught in Zeon’s hand felt as if it would be crushed.

Just from this alone, he could tell that Zeon was an Awakened.

And one above him at that.

No matter how much Park Man-ho had lost his mind to gambling, he could not dare throw a higher-ranked Awakened into a shaft.

Park Man-ho outright knelt.

“I’ll beg like this. Please spare me.”

“If I spare you, what will you do for me?”

“What?”

“That’s how it is, isn’t it? Where is there forgiveness without a price? Eight years ago, you threw me into a shaft where people were dying just because you were in a bad mood.”

“But you survived, didn’t you?”

“That was because I was lucky. You didn’t help at all. Now I think I should receive payment for that.”

One must never forget favors, but grudges had to be remembered even more.

Especially in cases like this, where they walked to you on their own feet.

Park Man-ho’s face twisted.

He had never imagined Zeon would make such a demand.

Even at that moment, Zeon’s hand was tightening harder around his fist.

Crunch!

The sound of bones cracking could be heard.

At this rate, every bone in his fist would break.

Park Man-ho hurriedly said,

“W-wait! I have something hidden away.”

“You, someone who lost everything to gambling, have something hidden away? You expect me to believe that?”

“Krrgh! It’s true! It was an awkward item to dispose of, so I left it alone, but I’m sure you’ll like it too.”

“Really?”

“Yes! It’s true.”

“Hmm!”

Zeon loosened the strength in his hand slightly with an interested expression.

Only then did color return to Park Man-ho’s face.

“So where is this item?”

“I put it in the gambling den’s secret vault.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true! I tried to sell it at the gambling den, but they lowballed me too much, so I threw it into the vault.”

Park Man-ho desperately made excuses.

“And what is this precious item you stored in the vault?”

“I don’t know either.”

“You don’t know?”

“Right! It’s an ore mined from the Mana Stone Mine, but it isn’t a Mana Stone. But it’s special.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true! You’ll believe me once you see it. That thing is really special.”

“Fine. Guide me there.”

Only then did Zeon let go of Park Man-ho’s fist.

Holding the fist that had nearly been broken, Park Man-ho shed tears. But Zeon had no intention of indulging his pitiful state.

“Lead the way already.”

“All right. Follow me.”

Park Man-ho moved with unsteady steps.

The place he headed for was a house on a shabby street at the outskirts of the Mana Stone Mine.

In front of the house sat people who looked like Awakened.

They recognized Park Man-ho and spoke to him.

“Hey, Park Man-ho! Did you borrow money already?”

“Heh-heh! This time, try to win some instead of losing it all.”

At their mockery, Park Man-ho bit his lip and said,

“Shut up and open the door.”

“Who’s the lump beside you? A new bankroll?”

“A bankroll is always welcome. Heh-heh!”

They did not even ask Zeon’s name.

They thought Park Man-ho had caught some ignorant greenhorn from somewhere. Such things happened constantly here.

When people addicted to gambling ran out of funds, they brought in a new bankroll and led them into the world of gambling. The gambling den then paid them a certain commission.

It was a structure that could only keep producing victims endlessly.

Cursing the Awakened, Park Man-ho entered the gambling den.

“Bastards worse than Vampire Bats.”

Zeon smiled as he followed him.

Park Man-ho himself was no ordinary villain, yet hearing him curse others as villains made Zeon laugh on its own.

“Waaaah! It came up.”

“Fuck!”

“Ten times. Ten times......”

The moment they entered the house, a scene unfolded that could never have been imagined from outside.

Countless people were gambling with bloodshot eyes.

Some were throwing dice, while others were focused on cards.

On one side, a roulette wheel was spinning, and on another, monster-like creatures resembling fighting dogs were being made to fight while people placed bets.

KRAAAK!

Krrrk!

The gambling den, where the monstrous cries of beasts mingled with people’s cheers, was filled with madness.

Even though Park Man-ho and Zeon entered, not a single person looked their way, all of them absorbed in gambling.

Park Man-ho looked at them with an envious expression, then headed inward.

The vault was in the deepest part of the gambling den.

It was a kind of rental vault.

In front of the vault were two bald men.

Their forearms, exposed up to the shoulders, were lumpy as if stones had been attached to them.

They were the twin brothers who owned the gambling den.

The twin brothers had run the gambling den in the Mana Stone Mine for a long time and made an enormous amount of money.

They were both Grade C Awakened, and among the strongest in the Mana Stone Mine. Thanks to that, they had repelled countless threats and protected the gambling den to this day.

The older twin saw Zeon following behind Park Man-ho and his eyes flashed.

“What’s this? You brought a greenhorn. A new bankroll?”

“Fuck, what bankroll? This bastard escaped from the mine a long time ago.”

“Really?”

“This bastard has no ordinary amount of money hidden away.”

Park Man-ho stood beside the twin brothers and shouted as if he had never been frightened.

“Is that true?”

“Can’t you tell from his clothes? The texture is no joke. They’re fucking expensive.”

“I suppose they do look that way.”

“I brought him here, so seven to three. Of course, I get seven.”

“Don’t make me laugh when you’re penniless. Six to four. Of course, our side gets six.”

“Fuck! Are you joking?”

“You’re the one joking. From the looks of it, you tried to rob him, got beaten up, and cried your eyes out. We’re taking the risk too, so we should get more.”

“You sons of bitches! Fine, you take six. But the four is definitely mine.”

“You should’ve said that from the start.”

The twin brothers chuckled darkly and raised their hands. Then their subordinates scattered throughout the gambling den surrounded Zeon.

“Hand over everything you have, kid.”

“That outfit looks good. I’ll take it.”

The Awakened surrounding Zeon threatened him.

“Tch! So this was your plan all along.”

Zeon wrinkled his nose and looked at Park Man-ho.

Hiding behind the twin brothers, Park Man-ho pointed his finger and shouted,

“You thought I’d hand my treasure over to someone like you? Don’t make me laugh, bastard! No matter how much you awakened, to me, you’re nothing more than a miner bastard.”

“You’re going to regret this.”

“Go fuck yourself. If I were going to bow my head to a bastard like you, I wouldn’t have survived this long.”

“Tch!”

Zeon gave up on talking any further and clicked his tongue.

At that instant, the Awakened of the gambling den pounced on Zeon.

“Smash him!”

“Kill him!”

Cold weapons like axes and blades flew toward him.

All the Awakened working at the gambling den were martial type, and not one of them showed even the slightest mercy in their hands.

It was not as if they had drowned only one or two people while working here.

Killing one person was nothing to them.

They had no doubt that this time too, they would easily achieve their goal. But things in the world did not always go according to their expectations.

FLAAARE!

Suddenly, countless balls of fire appeared around Zeon.

Zeon had summoned Fire Missiles.

At the sight of the Fire Missiles filling their retinas, the movements of Park Man-ho, the twin brothers, and the gambling den’s Awakened stopped cold.

They froze like stone statues, still in the posture of swinging their cold weapons.

That was because they had never expected Zeon to summon this many Fire Missiles.

‘Fuck!’

‘He’s a high-grade Awakened.’

The thought that something had gone wrong suddenly flashed through their minds.

Zeon looked at them and said,

“I only intended to take the item inside Park Man-ho’s vault, but I’ve changed my mind.”

“What?”

“Hand over everything you have.”

SHOO, SHOO, SHOO—!

Dozens of Fire Missiles were fired at the Awakened.