Chapter 290

Chapter 290

Zeon asked Briel,

“To give to Gaia?”

“It’s a spirit. I thought an item containing an attribute might help.”

“You really like Gaia, don’t you?”

“Yeah!”

Briel nodded without the slightest hesitation.

Seeing Briel smile so brightly, Zeon thought it was a good thing.

It had only been three days since she met Gaia, but the darkness that had lingered on Briel’s face had completely lifted.

Gaia also liked having a friend like Briel.

If Gaia thought of Zeon as a guardian, it seemed to think of Briel as a friend with whom it could commune soul to soul.

‘Maybe the two of them were destined to meet.’

Seeing Briel so happy put Zeon in a good mood as well.

At that moment, Yu Se-hee asked,

“What’s Gaia? A new friend you made?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“Tch! It’s not like I want to know your friend either.”

Yu Se-hee snorted and looked at Zeon.

“So why did you come here?”

“Ah! I have something I want to sell.”

“Really?”

“It’s not something I should show here.”

“Then let’s go to my office.”

“Sure.”

After hearing their conversation, Levin and Briel said,

“Hyung, you talk with the Guildmaster. I’m going to look around the Dokkaebi Market since it’s been a while.”

“I’ll see if there’s anything I need too.”

“Yeah! I’ll see you later.”

After parting from Levin and Briel like that, Zeon headed to Yu Se-hee’s office.

As soon as they entered the office, Yu Se-hee smiled and said,

“Now then, why did our Sandmancer ask to see me in secret?”

“I’d like you to dispose of these for me.”

Zeon opened his subspace and took out several Mana Stones.

“What are these......?”

Yu Se-hee’s eyes trembled as she examined the Mana Stones.

That was because the Mana Stones Zeon had placed before her were no ordinary objects.

They were the Mana Stones of the Gray Ogre and Giant Spider.

Neither was a Mana Stone one could commonly see.

An enormous amount of mana could be felt from them.

“Don’t tell me these are all Grade A monster Mana Stones?”

“Yes!”

“Where did you get these?”

“I was lucky.”

“Lucky, my ass. If being lucky meant you could get Grade A monster Mana Stones, I’d walk around staring at the ground every day too. How did you get them?”

“I told you. I was lucky.”

“Tch! Fine. If you don’t want to say it, you don’t have to. So you want me to dispose of these, right?”

“Yes!”

Yu Se-hee toyed with the Gray Ogre’s Mana Stone and said,

“Grade A monster Mana Stones don’t circulate on the market easily, so they’ll sell for a high price. Even without us, you could get what they’re worth, but the fact that you’re entrusting them to me means you don’t want to step out front, right?”

“You know me well.”

“Well, it’s not like we’ve only known each other for a day or two. Good! We’ll handle these goods.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m working for money anyway. I’ll take the commission on my own.”

“Yes!”

When Zeon readily answered, a smile appeared on Yu Se-hee’s lips.

“I like how straightforward you are. You’re different from that picky little elf brat. Why did she fall so far? She’s young, but she already knows the taste of money. And who’s Gaia?”

“I’ll be going now.”

“You’re not staying longer?”

“I’m going to look around the Dokkaebi Market too.”

“Fine. Go ahead.”

Zeon closed the door and stepped outside.

By disposing of the Grade A monster Mana Stones, he had achieved his main purpose.

Now it was time to look around the Dokkaebi Market with ease.

The Dokkaebi Market’s scenery after so long was still the same.

The merchants were busily calling out to customers, and the customers were trying to bargain down even a single coin more. Naturally, voices grew louder, and he could often see people getting into fights.

Each time, the Guards rushed over and stopped the fights.

Even those sights felt amusing.

At times, Neo Seoul and the slums felt suffocating, but seeing scenes like this eased his heart.

Active commerce was proof that civilization was being maintained.

Using currency instead of barter was something other colonies or fortresses could not even dare imagine.

‘Do these people know how blessed Neo Seoul is, and how remarkable it is that a place like this exists?’

Those who enjoyed benefits never knew they were fortunate.

Zeon leisurely walked through the Dokkaebi Market, looking to see if there was anything he needed.

After making a full round of the market, he saw nothing he needed.

Since he had not expected anything in the first place, there was no disappointment either.

The things stored in Zeon’s subspace were all items he had obtained personally, and they were incomparably greater than the goods here. Naturally, the items here could not catch his eye.

“I should head back now.”

But Briel and Levin were nowhere to be seen, as if they had entered some shop. Unlike Zeon, they seemed to have found something they liked.

Zeon sat on a wooden chair to one side and waited for the two to come out.

About thirty minutes passed.

Levin approached Zeon with boys around his age.

“Hyung!”

“Yeah!”

“You know my friends, right?”

Levin introduced the boys who had come with him to Zeon.

“Yeah! It’s been a while. Have you all been well?”

“Yes! Hello, Hyung-nim!”

“It’s an honor to see you again.”

The boys bent at the waist in a ninety-degree bow when they saw Zeon.

Zeon looked flustered at their sudden behavior. Then Levin smacked their heads and scolded them.

“I told you not to do that. Hyung doesn’t like stuff like that.”

“But he’s Zeon Hyung-nim......”

“Fuck! I told you not to do it......”

To Levin’s friends, Zeon was an idol.

An incredible Awakened who lived in the slums, yet even the powerful figures of Neo Seoul could not treat him carelessly.

They wanted to become like Zeon too.

Zeon thought they were cute. But Levin’s expression as he looked at him was unusual.

“Why do you look so serious?”

“The truth is, these guys Awakened not long ago.”

“Really? Congratulations, all of you.”

“Aaron became a Grade E martial artist, and Dominic became a Grade D Mage.”

“Grade E and Grade D? Their Grades are good too. So what’s the problem?”

Zeon looked puzzled.

The fact that they were not Grade F alone was something to be grateful for.

On top of that, they were not mechanized Awakened who had to give up their human bodies. Just that was enough for them to live with decent treatment in the slums.

“The fact that they Awakened isn’t the problem. These bastards went and signed up for the Mana Stone Mine attack force.”

“Hm?”

“They only just Awakened and have no combat experience at all, but they volunteered for such a dangerous mission.”

“That is a problem.”

Only then did Zeon understand why Levin’s expression was so serious.

It was a mission to develop a new Mana Stone Mine.

Aside from the Kraken Zeon had confirmed, there was no telling what other monsters lurked around it.

The terrain made the Mana Stones easy to mine, but that also meant it was exposed to outside threats.

Securing the Mana Stone Mine would not be easy, and neither would protecting it.

Naturally, many people would die.

Because of that, numerous attack forces would be mobilized for the Mana Stone Mine campaign.

Of course, Neo Seoul’s attack forces would need to recruit far more people than usual.

Levin’s friends had carelessly volunteered for one of those raid parties and had been accepted.

Holding his head, Levin said,

“They’re crazy bastards. I never imagined they’d do something this huge without even discussing it with me.”

“Hey! We thought about it a lot before deciding.”

“If not for this chance, how would we ever get into an attack force? Everyone tells us to go gain experience, but where are greenhorn Awakened like us supposed to get experience?”

At his friends’ half-baked excuses, Levin’s anger exploded.

“So you just volunteered for an attack force? Fuck! Do you think they accepted you because they actually need you? They’re just going to use you as meat shields.”

Under normal circumstances, Neo Seoul’s attack forces almost never accepted lower-ranked Awakened from the slums.

That was because training inexperienced Awakened until they became useful required a great deal of time and money.

It was far more efficient to accept Awakened who had grown on their own in the slums.

There was only one reason such an attack force had accepted these lower-ranked Awakened.

They intended to use them as meat shields on the front line.

At least Dominic, a Grade D magic-type Awakened, was somewhat better off.

Since he was a magic-type Awakened, he would likely cast Magic from the relatively safer rear.

But Aaron, who had to directly clash with monsters on the front line, had a high chance of dying in his first battle.

The survival rate of martial-type Awakened thrown into their first battle was atrocious. And if the Awakened sent in had no combat experience at all, their chance of survival was nonexistent.

Aaron and Dominic had grown up with Levin since they were snot-nosed kids.

When Levin lost his family to the murderer, they had risked danger to gather information for him.

The information network Levin had independently built would have been impossible without Aaron and Dominic’s help.

Because of that, among all his many friends, Levin thought of the two as especially precious.

Yet, as if fate were playing a joke, both of them had Awakened on the same day and at the same time.

One as a martial type, and the other as a magic type.

Unfortunately, at the time, Levin had been suffering burnout after killing the murderer and had shut himself in.

Because of that, he had not known at all that the two had Awakened.

Levin learned the truth here in the Dokkaebi Market.

He found the two buying items necessary for Awakened and sensed something strange.

At first, they denied it. But when Levin pressed them persistently, they finally told him the truth.

“You crazy bastards! You’ve never even entered a dungeon, and you joined a Mana Stone Mine attack force? Withdraw right now.”

“We can’t. We already signed the contract.”

“Don’t worry too much. We’re not pushovers either.”

Seeing the two still refuse to reflect, Levin pounded his chest.

He felt so stifled that it was as if he had eaten a hundred sweet potatoes.

“Fuck! Which attack force is it? Come with me right now.”

“What are you going to do if we go together?”

“Cancel the contract right now.”

“We can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“Because we want to become strong too.”

“What?”

“We want to get strong and be treated like humans too. Like you.”

“You guys?”

“If we do nothing because we’re scared and inexperienced, we can’t grow, can we? We want to get strong like you and live like people. Not this life where every day feels like we’re being bled dry......”

“......”

At his friends’ words, Levin could say nothing.

They too were orphans like Levin.

Unlike Levin, who had lost his family midway through life, they had been born that way from the beginning.

The slums were cruel to the powerless who possessed nothing, but among them, they were even harsher to orphans.

Naturally, they had grown up even harder than Levin had.

Because of that, their desire for power was stronger than anyone’s.

Until now, they had only hidden that desire tightly because they had not Awakened.

“We’re sorry we volunteered for the attack force on our own without discussing it with you. But we can’t back down now without doing anything.”

“Please understand us this time. We thought it over and made our decision.”

At the two’s words, Levin let out a sigh.

“Haa! What am I supposed to do with you two?”

After thinking for a long while, Levin looked at Zeon.

“Hyung!”

“Say it!”

“If I send these guys to the attack force like this, they’ll die on the first day. I have to go with them.”

“Levin!”

“I can’t just let them die like dogs. I’ve received a lot of help from these guys until now. Now it’s my turn to help them. Don’t stop me.”

At Levin’s determined expression, Zeon clicked his tongue and said,

“I won’t stop you.”

“Huh, really?”

“Instead, I’ll help those guys grow.”

“H-How?”

“We just need to put them through the wringer.”

“Don’t tell me?”

“Yes! Just like how you were put through the wringer in the dungeon......”

At Zeon’s words, Levin’s face turned deathly pale.

Aaron and Dominic, who had no idea what he meant, blinked with innocent expressions.