Chapter 250

Chapter 250

The first place Zeon and Briel visited after entering Neo Seoul was Mandy’s apartment.

“Welcome.”

Mandy, dressed in pajamas, greeted the two with a surprised expression.

She had never expected the two of them to make such a sudden visit without warning.

“You seem to be doing well.”

“Hi!”

At Zeon’s and Briel’s greetings, Mandy looked dazed and offered them chairs.

“What happened? You came without even contacting me.”

“Sorry. We haven’t heard from Levin......”

“It’s already been over fifteen days since he entered here, and he hasn’t contacted you even once?”

Mandy widened her eyes in surprise.

She was the one who had issued Levin a month-long entry permit.

Since he had not contacted her afterward, she had simply assumed he was doing fine. Naturally, she was surprised to hear that he had not contacted them even once.

“Yes! Do you happen to know where he went?”

“Wait a moment. Ah! He said he’d be staying at a hotel in the West District.”

“The West District?”

Zeon frowned.

The West District was ruled by Kim Hyun-soo, who was called the Western Overlord.

Even within Neo Seoul, which could be called the pinnacle of human civilization, the West District was the place that boasted an especially advanced machine civilization.

Most of the Awakened there were mechanized Awakened of Korean descent.

Because of that, the West District was a place where a pure human like Zeon drew even more attention.

“He said he’d stay at a hotel in the West District?”

“Yes! He definitely said that. But he didn’t say which hotel. Still, there aren’t that many hotels, so finding him shouldn’t be difficult.”

“I understand.”

When Zeon rose from his seat, Mandy followed and stood up.

“I’ll go with you.”

“There’s no need.”

“The West District is a pretty rough place. Of course, I’m not worried about you, Lord Zeon. But if I go with you, we can skip a lot of troublesome procedures. I may not look it, but I’m still a Supervisor of Neo Seoul.”

“Then I’ll be in your care.”

“Wait a moment. I’ll change clothes and be right out.”

Mandy quickly changed and came back out.

Briel looked at Mandy with a curious expression.

“You’re completely different.”

“What is?”

“You’re completely different from Eloy.”

“Of course I am. Eloy is rougher and stronger than I am. Compared to her, I’m nothing but a coward.”

“Mandy is strong too.”

“Hm?”

At the unexpected words, Mandy looked puzzled.

“Anyway, Mandy is the one actively leading your life. Being strong doesn’t just mean having physical strength. Living your life that way, taking the lead yourself, is also strength.”

“Haha! That’s a pretty mature thing to say. Thanks for comforting me.”

“It’s not comfort. I’m just saying what I feel.”

At Briel’s blunt answer, Mandy smiled silently with her eyes.

‘The one who grew the most was you.’

When she had first met Briel, the girl had been so cold.

Her distrust of humans had been her foundation, and she had also been deeply suspicious.

Because of that, she had bickered with Eloy every day.

Back then, Mandy had been beneath the surface of consciousness and could not take the lead, but she had heard every conversation with Eloy.

Thanks to that, she had been able to keep watching Briel’s growth.

Mandy had not known that watching someone else grow could be this enjoyable.

Briel still had more than a few traits Mandy did not like. Even so, perhaps because her inner sense of intimacy had grown quite a bit, the girl seemed a little cute now.

The three walked down the street shoulder to shoulder.

Briel still had not adapted to Neo Seoul, and she kept looking around with her eyes wide open.

She looked like a country bumpkin who had come up from some remote backwater.

The Briel who had spoken so maturely to Mandy had vanished, leaving only a dazed elf seeing a massive city for the first time.

“Wow! What kind of building is that......?”

No matter how much she had matured, she was still a child.

“The West District is this way.”

Mandy led the two of them.

Zeon silently followed behind Mandy.

He had entered Neo Seoul a few times already, but he still could not get used to its ultramodern civilization.

The three walked for a long while before arriving at the West District.

Mandy said,

“If we cross this stream, we’ll be in the West District.”

“A stream flows through the city? Is there that much water?”

At Zeon’s question, Mandy shook her head.

“It’s not that abundant. The water in this stream has been reprocessed from wastewater produced in Neo Seoul. After flowing through the stream once, it goes through another reprocessing process and is supplied back to each household.”

Nothing was carelessly thrown away in Neo Seoul.

Most things were recycled and supplied back to households.

A massive recycling plant existed beneath Neo Seoul. Everything discarded there was melted down and reused.

Water was the same.

Since water was the most necessary thing for survival, they were especially careful and purified it with Magic.

Thanks to that, Neo Seoul had been able to remain standing until now.

A fairly large bridge had been built over the stream separating the West District and the Central District.

CLANK! CLANK!

Once they crossed the bridge and entered the West District, the sound of metal striking metal came from all directions.

It was the sound made when mechanized Awakened moved.

True to its reputation as the holy land of mechanized Awakened, the West District was filled with all sorts of machines at work.

There were workshops that made all kinds of mechanical prosthetic bodies, and even shops selling lubricating oil that allowed components to move smoothly.

Countless shops related to machinery were scattered everywhere.

The smell of metal and oil wafted constantly from the street.

“Disgusting!”

Briel frowned.

To an elf who loved purity, the smell of oil was as irritating as poison.

Her nose and throat stung so badly she could not endure it.

In the end, Briel took something out of her pointed hat.

Mandy looked curiously at the object Briel had taken out.

It was a transparent bottle.

The small bottle was filled with a clear liquid.

Briel hurriedly drank the liquid.

“Kaaah!”

Once she drank the liquid, her insides felt much calmer.

Mandy asked Briel,

“What potion is that?”

“A mind-body stabilizing potion.”

“What?”

“It’s a potion that blocks external stimulation and stabilizes the mind and body, exactly as the name says.”

“Where does something like that exist?”

Mandy thought Briel was lying. But Briel was serious.

“I made all kinds of things, and this just happened to come out. I was going to throw it away because it was useless, but I ended up using it like this.”

“You’re seriously amazing. How do you make things like that?”

Mandy was genuinely impressed.

Briel might think it was nothing, but a potion like that had quite a lot of uses.

It seemed especially useful when clearing dungeons.

Some dungeons were filled with terrible stenches.

They were places Awakened avoided entering because they could not endure the smell. But if they drank the potion Briel made before entering such a place, they could proceed with the clearing without being affected.

“Can you make more of that?”

“No. I don’t plan to.”

“Ah, why?”

“The effect is too poor for the cost. It doesn’t even cover the labor.”

“What kind of elf is that calculating?”

“Humans all live that way. Are elves not allowed to?”

Briel’s counterquestion left Mandy speechless.

The Briel before her was no longer a pure elf. She had become a being as calculating as a human.

For some reason, Mandy felt saddened that Briel, a High Elf, had changed like this.

While Mandy chewed over that bitter feeling, they arrived at the first hotel in the West District.

The hotel’s name was Mechanic Paradise (Mechanic Paradise).

It was literally a mechanical paradise.

She did not know who had named it, but it was quite direct.

From the entrance, Mechanic Paradise gave off a thick smell of oil.

This hotel’s main customers were not pure humans but mechanized Awakened. Because of that, all kinds of facilities and convenience devices for mechanized Awakened were densely installed.

When Zeon’s group entered, the hotel concierge looked puzzled.

It had been quite a long time since a pure human entered this hotel.

Not only the concierge, but every Awakened in the lobby focused their gaze on Zeon’s group.

“What is this? Why are pure humans entering this hotel?”

“Never seen those guys before.”

“Who are they?”

“Did they come from another district?”

The faces of the Awakened looking at Zeon’s group were filled with curiosity.

Not everyone in the West District had mechanical bodies.

Excluding the Awakened, people had ordinary bodies.

Pure humans probably outnumbered mechanized Awakened by tens or hundreds of times. Even so, the reason the Awakened were surprised to see pure humans was that this hotel, true to its name, was a place for mechanized Awakened to rest.

Here, services for mechanized Awakened were offered all in one place.

On the third basement floor, they sold arms, legs, mana pumps, weapons, and other parts developed for mechanized Awakened.

On the second basement floor, parts were replaced or installed, and on the first basement floor, optimization work was carried out.

This was how Mechanic Paradise provided services perfectly tailored only to mechanized Awakened. Naturally, ordinary people had no reason to come here.

Especially if they lived in the West District.

That meant these people were guests from outside.

At that moment, one of the Awakened sitting in the lobby stood up.

CLANK!

A heavy metallic sound rang through the lobby.

A large mana gun was attached to his left arm, and his right arm had been replaced by a massive mechanical prosthetic arm reminiscent of a log.

A huge chest reminiscent of a large monster and slightly hunched mechanical legs.

Overall, he was an Awakened who resembled a gorilla.

THUD! THUD!

He approached Zeon’s group with heavy footsteps.

“Hey, kids! Where are you from? This isn’t a place for you. You don’t qualify to enter this place with such worthless bodies. Heh-heh!”

He mocked Zeon’s group.

At that, the other mechanized Awakened joined in.

“If you really want to come, attach a mechanical prosthetic arm first. Then we’ll acknowledge you.”

“To attach a prosthetic arm, you have to cut off your arm first. Want this hyung to cut it off for you?”

“Oh! That sounds fun.”

Thud, thud!

The mechanized Awakened rose from their seats and surrounded Zeon, Briel, and the others. Even then, the hotel concierge and Guards did nothing.

The people who should have stopped trouble from happening were standing by and watching.

The mechanized Awakened surrounding Zeon were notorious in the area for being low quality.

Most of the time, if someone looked even a little easy, they openly picked a fight.

To them, Zeon, Briel, and Mandy were perfect targets to harass.

They were pure humans, and they did not look very strong.

Mandy frowned and said,

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Oh! Looks like the pretty one is angry. Shall this oppa comfort you?”

“Back off while I’m still saying it nicely.”

“You’re pretty even when you’re angry.”

Mandy took her identification card from her chest and showed it to the Awakened.

Mandy Sistine, Supervisor of Neo Seoul City Hall.

The letters identifying her as an official affiliated with City Hall were clearly written there.

Supervisor was by no means a low position.

It was a high enough position that most people could not even meet her eyes.

At the very least, it was not a status that would be mistreated wherever she went.

The Awakened who had picked the fight widened their eyes and looked at the identification card. At first, they seemed a little surprised, but soon they burst into loud laughter.

“Puhaha! What the hell is this?”

“Keke! If you’re going to forge something, at least make it look convincing.”

“Supervisor? City Hall has a position like that? Fuck! Why didn’t I know?”

At their mockery, Mandy’s face turned bright red.

The gorilla-like Awakened shook his lower body back and forth in front of Mandy and said,

“I changed everything else into machinery, but I kept that part as it was. Once you taste it, you’ll never forget it. What do you say? Why don’t you...... Kuweck!”

CRASH—!

At that instant, an explosion sounded from the face of the Awakened who had been making obscene gestures.

“Keep it in moderation, you gorilla bastard! For fuck’s sake, your cock’s probably smaller than my pinky......”

The woman fuming with her fist still extended was Eloy.

Eloy, who had been submerged below the surface, had been unable to endure her anger and popped out.

Before Zeon and Briel could stop her, Eloy crooked her finger.

“Come at me, all of you! Sons of bitches.”