Chapter 246

Chapter 246

“Clean and pleasant to look at. It should’ve been like this from the start. Heh-heh!”

Old man Clexi looked around the street with a satisfied smile.

The street, now that Dongdaemun’s fanatics had disappeared, was quite quiet. Even so, old man Clexi liked this scene very much.

“Heh-heh!”

He hummed through his nose as he prepared for business.

When Dongdaemun had taken control, he had not done business at all.

It was because he had worried he might get into a dispute with the fanatics for no reason.

One avoided shit because it was dirty, not because it was frightening.

Fortunately, Zeon had returned before it was too late, and everything that had gone wrong returned to normal.

Thanks to that, old man Clexi once again keenly felt the preciousness of everyday life.

At that moment, someone spoke from behind him.

“You look to be in a good mood. Did something good happen?”

“It did. Something very good......”

Old man Clexi answered without even turning around.

He recognized the owner of the voice without looking.

He smiled and looked at the owner of the voice.

“You little brat! If you came back, you should’ve come here first. What were you doing, crawling out only now?”

“I was tired.”

The one who sat down without caring about old man Clexi’s scolding was Zeon.

Old man Clexi looked at Zeon with an affectionate expression.

“Well, of course you must’ve been tired. So, have you shaken off the fatigue from the journey?”

“I feel like I can live now. Do you have any food ready?”

“How does gukbap sound?”

“Sounds good!”

“Wait just a bit. I’ll bring it out right away.”

Old man Clexi reheated the broth he had boiled the day before and busily prepared the gukbap.

Zeon sat down and watched old man Clexi’s back.

For the past few days, Zeon had not left the house.

He had been tired.

It was not physical fatigue, but mental fatigue.

Zeon had rolled around on the bed and sofa without thinking about anything.

It had been the same for Levin and Briel.

Sometimes they stayed in their own rooms, and at other times they gathered together in the living room and spent time doing nothing.

The first to recover his energy was Levin.

Once he found his strength, Levin went outside and spent his time there.

Next was Briel.

As soon as Briel recovered from her fatigue, she shut herself in her room and began researching alchemy.

There was not enough time even to analyze, one by one, the materials she had obtained while crossing the desert.

The last one to get up was Zeon.

The first thing that came to mind once he regained his strength was delicious food. That was why he had come to old man Clexi’s shop.

He was waiting for the gukbap to come out when someone sat down beside him and said,

“One bowl of gukbap here too.”

The one who plopped down right beside Zeon without asking permission was Yu Se-hee.

Old man Clexi chuckled and said,

“Wait a little.”

“You know, right? A lot of meat, not much rice.”

“Hmph! Eat what you’re given. How old are you, and you’re still picky?”

“I take after you, Grandpa. What does age have to do with it?”

“That mouth of yours. You never lose a single word.”

Old man Clexi shook his head and sighed.

Yu Se-hee looked at Zeon sitting right beside her.

“You made it back safely. You have no idea how good I feel now that those fanatics have withdrawn.”

“Looks like you suffered quite a bit.”

“If you hadn’t come back, I might’ve exploded first. Still, we’re safe for a while. They’ll restrain themselves to some extent.”

“It won’t last that long.”

“They’re a race that makes life hard for all sorts of people.”

Yu Se-hee let out a big sigh.

The past few months had truly been hellish for her.

That was how viciously Dongdaemun had harassed her.

Dongdaemun had not directly touched the Dokkaebi Market, but it had focused its attacks on the surrounding areas and connection points.

It had been a strategy to wither the Dokkaebi Market to death.

The problem was that, even knowing exactly what they intended, she had no clear means of responding.

Just imagining what would have happened if Zeon had not returned in time and driven Dongdaemun out made a chill run down her spine.

“Thank you! You saved us.”

“It was nothing......”

“By the way, now that Lee Ji-ryeong is dead, there’ll be a major change in Neo Seoul’s power structure.”

“I suppose so.”

Zeon nodded.

Lee Ji-ryeong’s presence had never been small.

He himself was a Grade S Awakened, and he led a massive organization called the Pegasus Raid Team.

With Lee Ji-ryeong’s death, the Pegasus Raid Team was left suspended in midair.

Even key figures like Kelda and Bronson had lost their lives, so there was no one left to lead it.

The Pegasus Raid Team, having lost its leadership, began to fracture.

Some insisted that they should remain in the Pegasus Raid Team and rebuild it, while others sought to enter other factions.

Many had lost their lives to Zeon, but there were also plenty of survivors. Since all of them were elite Awakened, the authorities of each district moved to recruit them.

It was clear that the faction that recruited more of the Pegasus Raid Team’s Awakened would grow stronger.

Because of that, Neo Seoul was in an uproar.

Yu Se-hee asked carefully,

“What are you going to do now?”

“About what?”

“You’ve firmly imprinted your presence on Neo Seoul. Everyone must know about you now. Are you just going to stay still?”

“What if I don’t stay still?”

“Do you have no ambition? With your momentum right now, you could take control of the slums in no time.”

“I’m not interested.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“That’s a shame. If you had just a little more ambition, you could influence Neo Seoul’s entire balance of power.”

Just as Yu Se-hee smacked her lips, it happened.

“Stop tempting someone who has no intention and just eat.”

Thud!

With a blunt voice, old man Clexi placed two bowls of gukbap on the table.

“You won’t even let me talk. Tch!”

Yu Se-hee grumbled and picked up her spoon.

Zeon also smiled and began eating the gukbap.

He liked the feeling of the hot broth sliding down his esophagus.

“This is good.”

“It should be. I simmered the broth all day yesterday because I was going to start business again today.”

“You won’t tell me the ingredients even if I ask, right?”

“Heh-heh! It’s better not to know.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

Zeon rolled up his sleeves and began eating the gukbap in earnest.

It was food that could be tasted only here in the entire world.

Other colonies were not wealthy enough to make and eat gukbap, and their food preferences were different as well.

The only person who made Korean-style gukbap like this was old man Clexi.

At least among the people Zeon had met.

Once the hot broth entered his body, it felt as if his insides were clearing out.

Even though he had not drunk liquor.

Beside him, Yu Se-hee also ate the gukbap neatly.

In an instant, she emptied a whole bowl of gukbap clean. Then old man Clexi placed another bowl in front of her as if he had been waiting.

“Eat more.”

“Did you prepare it in advance?”

“You worked that hard. Would one bowl be enough to replenish you? There’s plenty, so eat more if you want.”

“This is enough.”

Zeon smiled and began eating the second bowl of gukbap.

“You look like you starved for days.”

“I only ate preserved food while I was at home.”

“Of course you’d get sick of eating only preserved food.”

“Where did you get the rice?”

“It’s something grown in a plant factory. I got it with difficulty.”

“I thought so.”

Neo Seoul was definitely a megacity.

It was an enormous city where twenty million people lived together, including the slums, but there was almost no area to grow plants.

Because of that, it operated plant factories that specialized in growing rice plants and fruit. But the quantity was far too small, so they almost never supplied the slums.

If not for old man Clexi, he would not have been able to eat gukbap like this.

Clack!

Zeon put down his spoon.

He had emptied the second bowl of gukbap too.

Zeon smiled in satisfaction.

His mood had improved after filling his stomach with delicious food.

Right on cue, Yu Se-hee also put down her spoon and murmured,

“Good.”

“Whose cooking do you think it is? Of course it’s good.”

“You should make it more often.”

“What do you mean, make it for you? I sell all of this for money.”

“Tch! You don’t even go easy on your granddaughter.”

“Why are you making a fuss after eating so well? If you’re done, just go back to the Dokkaebi Market. Don’t make my head spin.”

“I was going to anyway.”

Yu Se-hee stood from her seat.

Before leaving, she looked down at Zeon one last time and said,

“Thank you! I’ll repay this debt no matter what.”

“Yes.”

“If you need anything, come to the Dokkaebi Market anytime.”

“I will.”

Yu Se-hee tapped Zeon’s shoulder once, then left.

Watching her retreating back, old man Clexi made his characteristic smile.

“She must’ve been quite grateful. She’s not usually like that.”

“That can happen.”

“So, you’ve rested, your belly’s full, what are you going to do now?”

“Rest again.”

“Again?”

“For a while, I want to rest without thinking about anything. There’s also a lot I need to sort out.”

“Sort out?”

“Yes!”

“All right. Come by anytime you’re hungry. It’s free for you.”

“Thank you.”

Zeon thanked old man Clexi and left.

Perhaps because it was daytime and the sunlight was beating down hotly, there were almost no people on the street.

Thanks to that, Zeon could walk without anyone disturbing him.

The place he headed for was the desert outside the slums.

Whoooosh!

When he came out into the desert, rough sand-laden wind greeted him.

Zeon stopped for a moment and savored the sand touching his skin.

The grains of sand mixed into the wind circled around Zeon like living creatures.

Zeon used Sand Walk and moved to a place far away from Neo Seoul.

After confirming that no one was around, Zeon opened his subspace.

The inside of his subspace, which should have been full of sand, felt empty.

That was because he had used it all in his battle against Lee Ji-ryeong.

Srrrrk!

The sand around Zeon wriggled like living creatures and was sucked into his subspace.

Sand poured endlessly into the subspace. Thanks to that, before long, it filled the vast subspace.

Zeon looked at the subspace full of sand with a regretful expression.

Someone who did not know better would think it was a tremendous amount, but Zeon thought even this was insufficient.

Even during his battle with Lee Ji-ryeong, he had not been able to use one hundred percent of his ability because he lacked sand.

By a misfortune turned into a blessing, he had realized a new fusion Skill called Sand Gehenna and defeated Lee Ji-ryeong, but he could not expect such luck again.

He did not know when he would have to fight again in an environment with almost no sand, like Neo Seoul.

“It would be nice if there were a way to expand my subspace.”

Zeon frowned.

The subspace Zeon currently possessed was already a size that surpassed humanity’s limits. Expanding it further was almost impossible.

“I can’t help it. For now, I have no choice but to use it as it is......”

It was unfortunate, but there was currently no method.

It was then.

Woooong!

Zeon felt a strong vibration from inside his subspace.

“What is it?”

The place where the vibration was coming from was one side of his subspace, where he had gathered the items he had obtained from dungeons.

Zeon quickly found the source of the vibration.

It was the mineral the size of a child’s torso that he had brought from the secret vault of Park Man-ho, the mine overseer of the Mana Stone Mine.

Wooong!

The mineral was emitting a powerful wave, as if it were sobbing.

“What in the world is this......?”