Chapter 251
“Cocky little ……”
One of the awakened ones took the bait from Eloi’s provocation and threw a punch.
The mechanical fist itself was a terrifying weapon. But without a shred of fear, Eloi rushed in and wrapped both arms around the awakened one’s fist.
She locked her arms tightly around it and braced herself against his ribs and neck with her legs as leverage.
Crack!
“Graaah!”
The mechanized awakened one’s arm was ripped right out of its shoulder socket.
The metal frame tore apart like paper, and severed wires flailed wildly in the air. Various oils gushed out from the torn shoulder joint like blood.
Shaking the mechanical arm she now held, Eloi spoke.
“What? So you can still feel pain through the machine parts?”
“You fucking bitch……”
“What are you, a parrot? Is that the only thing you know how to say?”
“I’ll kill you.”
The mechanized awakened one, his arm torn off, charged at Eloi like a raging bull.
“Hmph!”
Eloi scoffed.
In the past, she might have found him somewhat threatening.
No matter how talented she was as a half-elf and martial-type awakened one, a mechanized awakened one’s brute-force attacks were difficult to handle.
But she wasn’t the same person anymore.
After ranking up with Zeon’s help, a charge at this level posed absolutely no threat to her.
Eloi stretched out her hand and grabbed the mechanized awakened one by the head.
Thunk!
“Urk!”
Despite the overwhelming size difference, the awakened one’s charge came to a complete stop.
Disbelief filled his face as his head was held in place.
In fights between humans, physical size was everything.
If your build overwhelmingly surpassed your opponent’s, you could crush lighter humans through sheer strength alone.
There was a reason heavyweights dominated lightweights.
That was why he believed most rank differences could be overcome through sheer mass and power.
But at this very moment, that belief was being shattered.
By a slender woman.
No matter how much strength he exerted, Eloi’s arm did not budge in the slightest.
The corners of Eloi’s lips twisted upward.
“What? You thought hanging a bunch of metal scraps on yourself meant you could easily crush someone like me? Too bad for you. I’m a little heavy.”
At that moment, Eloi’s body weight was over ten times heavier than usual.
Mass Increase.
It was a skill she gained after consuming the Orc Lord’s magic crystal.
There was no way her body could weigh less than a mechanized awakened one made of metal.
“Grrrk!”
The mechanized awakened one’s face twisted.
At that exact moment, Eloi’s palm slammed into his chest.
Booom!
An enormous shockwave struck the mechanized awakened one’s chest.
The specially crafted metal body crumpled like scrap metal, and the engine supplying mana shattered apart.
“Cough!”
The awakened one’s massive body collapsed forward.
Eloi casually pushed aside the head of the falling awakened one.
Boom!
The awakened one crashed heavily onto the floor.
Without sparing him another glance, Eloi looked toward the other two awakened ones.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to fight?”
“Fuck!”
“What the hell are you?”
The awakened ones hesitated to rush in, instead exchanging glances with one another.
At that moment, Eloi leapt forward.
Craaack!
Her knee exploded into the face of the awakened one on the left.
Because her mass had increased tenfold, the awakened one’s face caved in completely.
Still airborne, Eloi spun her body and smashed her elbow into the other awakened one’s temple.
A thunderous impact rang out as he collapsed.
His eyes rolled back instantly—the blow had knocked him unconscious in one hit.
That was how powerful Eloi’s attacks were.
Not only had she advanced to A-rank, but she had also gained the absurdly overpowered skill Mass Increase.
Every single strike carried destructive force comparable to an awakened one’s skill.
No matter how heavily mechanized they were, they couldn’t withstand her attacks.
Especially since she specifically targeted the head—the one area they couldn’t mechanize.
There was no way these sluggish mechanized awakened ones could handle Eloi.
The mechanized awakened ones collapsed one after another with heavy thuds.
Looking down coldly at the unconscious awakened ones sprawled across the floor, Eloi spoke icily.
“I told you already. I’m the City Hall supervisor.”
She glanced around.
The mechanized awakened ones who had sided with the three men stood there awkwardly.
They had been completely overwhelmed by Eloi’s power, far beyond anything they expected.
Eloi swept her gaze over them.
“Anyone else want to try?”
“……”
“Good. Stay quiet and keep your heads down. Just because you’ve strapped chunks of metal all over yourselves doesn’t mean you can’t die.”
A few of the mechanized awakened ones looked enraged, but none dared to charge forward first.
They had been utterly intimidated by Eloi’s strength.
It was then—
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Amid the sound of applause, someone descended the hotel staircase.
It was a gentleman dressed sharply in a suit.
His thick eyebrows and deep-set eyes left a strong impression, and his hair was combed back so perfectly that not a single strand was out of place.
That only made him appear colder.
Applauding as he approached Eloi, the man spoke.
“Remarkable. The Choi brothers are notorious outlaws around here, yet you subdued them so easily.
Truly impressive.”
“And who are you?”
“Ah, forgive my late introduction. My name is Kim Mooyoung, the owner of this hotel.”
“The owner? Of this hotel?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not a machine, though?”
Even at Eloi’s provocative remark, Kim Mooyoung didn’t show the slightest trace of displeasure.
“Yes! I’m a pure human.”
“No, how does a pure human run a hotel in the West District?”
“Running a hotel has nothing to do with being awakened.”
“Then run it properly. Letting people like those guys in lowers the quality of the hotel.”
“My apologies. This happened while my attention was occupied elsewhere. I’ll make sure something like this never happens again. As an apology, dinner will be on me. For the City Hall supervisor as well.”
Kim Mooyoung bowed politely as he spoke, causing Eloi to look flustered instead.
She had never expected to meet someone like this in the West District.
He was the type of gentleman who made others uncomfortable by maintaining perfect manners and etiquette even in a complete mess of a situation.
At that moment, Zeon stepped forward.
“Then we’ll accept.”
“Now that I think about it, I never learned your name. If it’s alright, may I ask for it?”
“Zeon.”
“Zeon, you say……”
For an instant, Kim Mooyoung’s eyes sharpened.
The moment he heard the name Zeon, he realized who he was.
As if he had never been tense in the first place, Kim Mooyoung burst into hearty laughter.
“Haha! This is truly an honor. I never imagined I’d meet Zeon-nim at our hotel.”
“I should be the grateful one. But is there really a place here where we can eat? No matter how I look at it……”
This was, after all, a hotel mainly for mechanized awakened ones.
It didn’t seem like there would be food suitable for ordinary humans.
Kim Mooyoung laughed loudly.
“Haha! The West District is still a place where humans live. Pure humans outnumber mechanized awakened ones by hundreds or thousands of times. Naturally, we always have food prepared for humans.”
“That’s a relief.”
“This way, please. There’s a restaurant for humans on the top floor of the hotel.”
Kim Mooyoung led the three of them toward the elevator.
The elevator carrying them shot up to the top floor in an instant.
Just as Kim Mooyoung had said, there was indeed a restaurant for humans on the hotel’s highest floor, and several people were already enjoying their meals there.
Kim Mooyoung seated the three of them at the best table.
It was a window seat overlooking the entire West District.
As he sat down, Kim Mooyoung spoke.
“Our hotel is especially known for its steak. We use real beef rather than cultured meat.”
“Then we’ll have that.”
“Understood.”
Kim Mooyoung called over the manager and ordered four servings of steak.
Like Kim Mooyoung, the restaurant manager was also a pure human.
Brielle asked curiously,
“There aren’t any mechanized awakened ones here?”
“Haha! As I mentioned earlier, this restaurant is for pure human guests. Customers would likely feel uncomfortable if mechanized awakened ones were serving them. That’s why every employee here is a pure human.”
“I like that.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Brielle-nim.”
“Huh? You know me too?”
“Of course. Brielle-nim is always by Zeon-nim’s side, isn’t she? It would be strange not to know.”
“I see. Hehe!”
Brielle giggled brightly.
The fact that someone recognized her made her both amused and happy.
Kim Mooyoung was extremely skilled at entertaining people.
He naturally guided the conversation and controlled the atmosphere with ease.
After quite a while of meaningless small talk, he finally brought up the real topic.
“But what brings the three of you to the West District? I can’t imagine there’s anything here that would interest you.”
“We came looking for someone.”
“Someone?”
“Yes. A man named Levin……”
“Ah! Levin-nim? I’ve heard of him. But why are you searching for him in the West District?”
Kim Mooyoung asked with genuine confusion on his face.
It truly looked like he knew nothing.
“Levin came into the West District searching for someone.”
“Ah, so that’s why you started by searching the hotels.”
“Would it be possible to check whether Levin stayed here?”
“I’ll ask the manager to confirm it, but as far as I remember, he hasn’t. If a pure human had stayed here, there’s no way I wouldn’t know.”
“Is that so?”
“This hotel’s primary clientele are mechanized awakened ones, so pure human guests naturally stand out.”
“That makes sense.”
Zeon nodded.
The explanation was believable enough.
A short while later, the manager brought over the guest registry.
Levin’s name was nowhere to be found.
“As expected, he’s not here. I’ll contact the other hotels to see if he stayed elsewhere.”
“Thank you. But I’m curious why you’re being so kind to us.”
“Haha! One of you is the Sand Mage, another is the City Hall supervisor, and then there’s this beautiful young lady as well. I have more than enough reason to treat you kindly.”
Kim Mooyoung replied with a pleasant smile.
Zeon stared quietly at Kim Mooyoung’s face.
‘He’s obsessed with pure humans.’
Since earlier, Kim Mooyoung had repeatedly used the phrase “pure human.”
In the West District, where mechanized awakened ones dominated, he showed an excessive fixation on pure humans.
Yet Kim Mooyoung himself seemed completely unaware of it.
He took immense pride in being a pure human, and that feeling naturally revealed itself during conversation.
Zeon directed another question at him.
“Then how did you become the owner of this hotel?”
“You’re wondering how a pure human ended up in this position, aren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“I have a personal connection with Kim Kyungsoo, the representative of the West District.”
“You both have the surname Kim. Are you brothers, by any chance?”
“Haha! Kim is the most common surname among Koreans. We simply share the same last name—we’re complete strangers.”
“Then how did you become acquainted?”
“My mother was a healer. She treated Kim Kyungsoo-nim once when he was injured. That connection led him to look after me.”
“A healer? Can healing even work on mechanized awakened ones?”
Zeon looked puzzled.
When mechanized awakened ones were damaged, people didn’t call it an injury—they called it damage.
Damaged parts could simply be replaced with functioning ones, so there was usually no need for healers.
Healers were already rare enough, but they were even rarer in the West District.
Instead of answering immediately, Kim Mooyoung lifted his wine glass.
The crimson wine swirled gently inside the transparent glass.
With deep eyes, Kim Mooyoung gazed at the wine as red as blood.
A cold smile formed at the corners of his lips.
“That was back when red blood still flowed through his veins—before he abandoned his human body.”