Chapter 247
A powerful chill and refreshing sensation swept through Zeon’s body, as if he had just been drenched in cold water.
Since it was the first time he had ever experienced such a feeling, Zeon stared intently at the mineral inside his subspace.
“They said this was discovered in the tunnel where the top-grade magic stones were mined, right?”
If it had been excavated from a magic stone mine, then naturally it should have been a magic stone. However, this mysterious ore possessed none of the characteristics typical of ordinary magic stones.
The mineral had already returned to its original plain appearance, as though it had never emitted those powerful waves in the first place.
“So it wasn’t my imagination… but why did it react at this exact timing?”
Zeon frowned.
Changes never happened without reason.
Something must have stimulated the mineral and caused that reaction.
“Was it because of my mana?”
Just in case, Zeon infused his mana into the ore.
But the mineral showed no response whatsoever.
“Did it simply change because the time was right? Or was it some outside factor…”
Even after looking around, all he could see was endless sand.
There was nothing particularly unusual in sight.
“I don’t know.”
Zeon shook his head.
He was curious about the mineral’s secret, but he did not feel like digging into it right now.
The past few days of rest had relieved his physical and mental fatigue, but he still lacked the motivation to actively pursue anything.
If the ore had continued emitting waves, it would have been different, but now that it had quieted down, he found himself thinking, Do I really need to uncover its secret right now?
“Forget it. I’ll think about it later.”
Muttering to himself, Zeon closed his subspace.
Then he headed back toward Neo Seoul.
As soon as he entered the slums, Levin called out to him.
“Hyung!”
“Hm?”
“Were you out somewhere?”
“Yeah. What about you?”
“I’m meeting some friends for the first time in a while.”
Levin smiled as he pointed toward the boys standing nearby.
The boys, who looked around Levin’s age, reacted excitedly upon seeing Zeon.
“That’s the Sand Sorcerer hyung?”
“Hyung! I’m your fan!”
Zeon looked bewildered by Levin’s friends making such a fuss.
Levin laughed.
“Haha! These guys are all fans of yours. They said they were deeply impressed after seeing you fight.”
“It’s true, hyung!”
“We respect you!”
Hearing kids around Levin’s age address him with such exaggerated honorifics felt both amusing and burdensome, so Zeon waved his hand dismissively.
“You don’t have to add all those formal titles.”
“But…”
“Just call me hyung comfortably.”
“Yes!”
In the end, Levin’s friends agreed to simply call him hyung.
Zeon turned back to Levin.
“I’m heading home. What about you?”
“I still have things to talk about with these guys.”
“Alright. Then I’ll head back first.”
“Yes, hyung. See you later.”
Levin smiled as he watched Zeon walk away.
The moment Zeon completely disappeared from sight, Levin’s expression turned cold.
He looked at his friends and asked,
“So that bastard committed murder again?”
“Yeah. Everyone’s keeping quiet about it, but it’s obvious he killed someone again.”
“Where?”
“Well…”
For some reason, his friend hesitated to answer.
“Why?”
“The murders happened in the Western District.”
“The Western District? You mean Neo Seoul?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck!”
Levin’s face twisted.
Neo Seoul was not part of his usual territory.
People from the slums were rarely allowed into Neo Seoul proper.
No matter how rare Levin’s awakened ability was, entering Neo Seoul would not be easy.
If he revealed his awakened ability, he could probably receive an official ID card. But then he would become a recruitment target for the various districts.
He could also sneak in using his ghostification ability, but if he were discovered, the consequences would become impossible to handle.
That was not what Levin wanted.
Levin questioned them once more.
“You’re certain that bastard is committing murders in the Western District?”
“I heard it from Awakened people belonging there. They say there’s a serial killer breaking into homes, murdering people, and mutilating the corpses to decorate them.”
The friend who answered worked as a porter in the slums.
Whenever Awakened people went dungeon raiding or hunted magical beasts, he followed them around as a porter and handled miscellaneous tasks.
He carefully listened to the conversations of the Awakened, and whenever he found useful information, he passed it along to his friend Levin.
Which meant there was a high chance this information was real.
“Then I’ll have to enter Neo Seoul.”
“How are you going to get in? There’s no way.”
“No. There is a way.”
At that moment, someone came to Levin’s mind.
If it was her, she could definitely get him into Neo Seoul.
“What way?”
“I’m going somewhere. You guys keep gathering information on that bastard. Got it?”
“Yeah!”
“Good work. Use this to buy yourselves something good to eat.”
What Levin handed his friends was a magic stone no bigger than a fingernail.
It was something he had obtained while hunting magical beasts during his travels through the desert alongside Zeon.
Levin had already gathered quite a large number of magic stones, so he could afford to hand out something like this as payment.
“Seriously? You’re giving us this?”
“Are you insane?”
His friends stared at Levin in shock.
To Levin, it was something he could obtain anytime, but for people living in the slums, it was a treasure they could go their entire lives without ever touching.
There was a reason murders happened over magic stones.
“If you keep bringing me useful information, I’ll give you more. For now, be satisfied with this.”
“Thank you! We’ll keep gathering information on that serial killer.”
“I’ll work hard too.”
Leaving behind his repeatedly grateful friends, Levin started walking away.
Suddenly, he pulled a radio communicator from his pocket.
It was the kind of communicator dungeon raid parties mainly used inside dungeons. He had taken it while raiding dungeons alongside the Pegasus Raid Force.
Levin used the communicator to contact someone.
“Noona!”
—Huh? Who is this?
A startled voice came through.
“Mandy noona?”
—Levin?
“Yes! It’s me, Levin.”
—What’s going on at this hour?
The owner of the voice was Mandy.
Levin was relieved that it was Mandy rather than Eloi.
Mandy was much easier to ask favors from.
“Could you help me get into Neo Seoul?”
—Why Neo Seoul?
“You know the ‘dog bastard,’ right?”
—The murderer who killed your family?
“Yes! That bastard showed up inside Neo Seoul.”
—Hoo… Alright. I’ll get you a pass that lets you stay for about a month. Come to the entrance now.
“Thank you, noona!”
—Just hurry over.
“Yes!”
Levin hurried along.
After walking for around thirty minutes, he saw the massive gate leading into Neo Seoul.
Mandy was standing in front of it.
Levin waved his hand and shouted,
“Noona!”
“You’re here.”
“Sorry for bothering you…”
“It’s fine. We’re close enough for this… Here, take this.”
Mandy handed Levin an entry pass.
“Thank you.”
“If I’d had more time, I could’ve gotten you a pass valid for a hundred days, but right now, one month is the best I can do.”
“This is more than enough.”
“You sure you don’t need help with anything else? Where are you planning to sleep?”
“I can stay at a hotel in the Western District. I have plenty of magic stones, so staying for a month won’t be a problem.”
“Alright. Contact me anytime if you need help.”
“Yes!”
The two of them entered Neo Seoul together.
The moment Levin saw the inside of Neo Seoul, he froze speechless.
He was overwhelmed by the sight of the gigantic city.
He had seen it many times from the outside, but witnessing Neo Seoul from within was beyond imagination.
As if understanding his reaction, Mandy patted Levin on the shoulder.
“Welcome to the pinnacle of civilization in this world.”
Deep furrows formed between the brows of Serian Moliana, ruler of the Northern District.
“That sensation just now was definitely…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Wait a moment, Borin!”
Serian raised her hand, stopping Borin—the captain of the Blue Leaf Special Operations Unit—from speaking further.
Borin looked at Serian with a puzzled expression.
Serian frowned deeply as she recalled the sensation from earlier.
“That feeling was definitely… Or was it just my imagination? Didn’t you feel it too, Borin?”
“What are you referring to?”
“That powerful wave from earlier.”
“A wave?”
Borin tilted her head.
She had been dining together with Serian for the past thirty minutes, yet she had sensed no unusual changes or waves whatsoever.
“I apologize. My senses may not be sharp enough… but could you perhaps describe what kind of wave it was?”
“It felt warm… and nostalgic.”
At some point, Serian’s eyes had grown moist.
It was a type of resonance she had never once felt since coming to Earth.
It felt almost like someone’s call, or perhaps a warm breath. The strange wave had shaken her heart completely.
“Borin!”
“Yes!”
“I need to know the source of this resonance. Please investigate it for me.”
“Understood. However…”
Borin looked troubled.
Since it was Serian’s order, she had no choice but to obey, but the request was so vague she had no idea where to even begin.
More importantly, she herself could not sense the resonance Serian described at all.
Trying to trace the source of something she could not even perceive was practically impossible.
Sensing Borin’s concerns, Serian offered guidance.
“The resonance came from south of Neo Seoul.”
“The south… then it’s the slums.”
“Yes. I think it originated in the desert outside the slums, so start your investigation there.”
“Understood.”
Borin thought that was at least somewhat fortunate.
It was still as difficult as searching for a needle in the desert, but at least now she knew where to begin.
“If you need support, tell me anytime. I’ll help however I can.”
“For now, I’ll investigate with only the Blue Leaf Special Operations Unit. If we move any more forces than that, Lady Ilay will definitely start interrogating us.”
Ilay was the second-in-command of the Northern District.
She constantly kept a close eye on every internal movement within the district. If they accidentally drew her attention, there was a high chance they would become entangled in troublesome matters.
“Alright. Handle that issue however you see fit.”
“Thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me. I should be the one apologizing for making such shameless requests.”
Serian smiled bitterly.
If conflict broke out between herself and Ilay, the ones who would suffer were the demi-humans living in the Northern District.
For their sake, she had no choice but to continue tolerating Ilay somehow.
“At times like this, I truly miss the shade of the World Tree. Beneath the World Tree, all races stood together as one.”
“The World Tree… I don’t really know what that feels like.”
“That’s only natural. The World Tree withered away when Kurayan was destroyed.”
The World Tree had been one of the great pillars supporting Kurayan.
When Kurayan collapsed, the World Tree vanished alongside it.
The elves and demi-humans born on Earth had never even seen the World Tree before. That was why they could not understand what it felt like to stand beneath it.
That fact saddened Serian deeply.
‘If only I could see the World Tree again on Earth… I would gladly give my life for it.’