Chapter 345

“Ha! So the reason those cockroaches have been swarming around lately was to secure a high-rank healer?”

The ruler of the South District, Xiaolun, wore an incredulous expression.

Recently, he had been receiving reports about unfamiliar people frequently appearing in the South District. But he hadn’t considered it particularly strange.

The South District was not an area isolated by walls or barriers. Numerous roads connected it to every part of Neo Seoul, allowing people to travel freely at any time.

So outsiders entering the district was nothing unusual.

Awakeners and residents based in the South District also crossed into other districts frequently for work.

The problem was that the people appearing lately were fanatics of Dongdaemun.

These fanatics had not crossed over directly from Dongdaemun.

They were originally residents of Neo Seoul who had been influenced by Johan and converted into believers. They operated throughout Neo Seoul on Johan’s behalf.

The Dongdaemun believers currently appearing in the South District were exactly those kinds of people.

Neo Seoul residents who worshipped Johan.

The real issue was that no one knew how many such people existed.

There was a reason Xiaolun referred to them as cockroaches.

Xiaolun asked one of his subordinates,

“How powerful is this high-rank healer supposed to be?”

“From what we’ve gathered, the healer awakened directly as an A-rank.”

“Ha! No wonder Dongdaemun’s cockroaches are going crazy trying to find them. At that level, people would believe it even if they claimed the healer was a Saintess.”

A sinister gleam flashed in Xiaolun’s eyes.

No matter how many Awakeners existed, there were never enough.

And rare existences like healers were even more valuable.

Healers were so rare they were practically like endangered species on the verge of extinction.

To begin with, very few people awakened as healers, and raising them required enormous time and effort.

And even after painstakingly nurturing them, the results were usually mediocre.

No matter how much they were treasured, most only reached C-rank or D-rank.

The healers within the South District were no exception.

Even so, they were treated like priceless treasures.

Because even a C-rank or D-rank healer could save people on the brink of death.

That was why whenever someone awakened as a healer, every district rushed to secure them.

But this time, the healer was A-rank.

And not merely an A-rank—an ultra-high-grade healer who started at A-rank from the very beginning.

At that point, reaching S-rank was practically guaranteed.

The subordinate spoke carefully.

“If an A-rank healer falls into Dongdaemun’s hands, the power of those fanatics will expand tremendously.”

“The expansion of their influence itself isn’t the real issue. The real problem is if another district secures the healer.”

“Then should we also…?”

“Secure the A-rank healer. I’ll provide as much support as necessary.”

“Understood.”

“Remember this well! If it looks like we can’t secure them, then make sure nobody else can either. You understand what I mean, right?”

“Of course.”

The subordinate lowered his head as he answered.

Xiaolun waved his hand dismissively at him, signaling him to leave.

After the subordinate departed, Xiaolun muttered to himself while alone.

“If something good exists, naturally it should belong to me. And if I can’t have it, then nobody else should either. I’ll destroy it first…”

Zeong Sangmo was an Awakener living in the East District.

A D-rank martial fighter.

The most common class of all.

If one gathered all the Awakeners in the East District, the majority would probably be people exactly like Zeong Sangmo.

Because of that, he wasn’t particularly valued within the East District.

There were simply too many people who could replace him, so he was only assigned ordinary missions.

Zeong Sangmo had always resented that.

He believed he was not being treated according to his true abilities.

At that moment, the ones who approached him were believers of Dongdaemun.

After being influenced by them, Zeong Sangmo willingly became one of Dongdaemun’s believers.

Dongdaemun provided him with generous support, and thanks to that, he quickly managed to secure important positions within the East District.

Then, not long ago, Zeong Sangmo received a secret order from Dongdaemun.

Find the Saintess.

If he secured the Saintess, he would rise to a higher position within Dongdaemun and, as a result, continue climbing successfully within the East District as well.

Blinded by greed, Zeong Sangmo searched throughout Neo Seoul together with several fellow believers.

At first, he mainly searched the East District, his own territory.

But after finding no clues whatsoever, he gradually expanded his area of activity.

That was how he eventually found himself inside the South District.

And now, Awakeners of the South District had surrounded him.

The South District Awakeners sneered at Zeong Sangmo.

“Well now, why’s an Awakener from the East District wandering into the South District?”

“Is there some reason I can’t?”

“If you were just visiting, there wouldn’t be a problem. I go to the East District all the time myself. But if you came here looking for the healer—or rather, the Saintess—then that’s a different story.”

“How did you know that?”

Zeong Sangmo’s eyes shook violently.

He was so startled that he even forgot to deny it.

Seeing his reaction, the South District Awakener smiled with amusement.

“Heh-heh! So my guess really was right.”

“Damn it!”

Only then did Zeong Sangmo realize his mistake, but it was already too late.

The South District Awakener sneered again.

“Lord Seth Price will be very interested to hear this. One of his own subordinates became a fanatic of Dongdaemun and is working for them.”

“Shut the hell up!”

“Why should I?”

“You bastard!”

Unable to contain his rage, Zeong Sangmo charged at the sneering Awakener.

Slash!

His sword shot directly toward the South District Awakener’s neck.

But the South District Awakener was no easy opponent either.

He immediately pulled out an axe and smashed Zeong Sangmo’s sword aside.

Clang!

With a metallic crash, Zeong Sangmo’s blade was knocked away.

Panicked, Zeong Sangmo shouted to his men,

“Kill that bastard!”

“Wipe those bastards out!”

The South District Awakener also barked orders to his subordinates.

“Uwaaah!”

“Die, you fuckers!”

Boom!

The Awakeners from both sides collided violently.

Blood sprayed everywhere, and screams filled the air.

The number of wounded rapidly increased, and some even died.

The problem was that battles like this weren’t happening only here.

Similar clashes were erupting all across Neo Seoul.

***

Because of the fights between Dongdaemun’s believers and the Awakeners of each district, the atmosphere throughout Neo Seoul became viciously tense.

City Hall attempted to maintain order by dispatching troops to key locations to prevent clashes, but it was impossible to cover the entirety of Neo Seoul.

In areas beyond City Hall’s reach, conflicts between Awakeners continued erupting nonstop.

“Haa… What a complete mess.”

Mandy let out a deep sigh.

Whenever chaos erupted in Neo Seoul, the people who suffered the most were the City Hall officials.

No matter how big or small the problem was, they had to identify its cause and come up with countermeasures.

That was why they were always the first to be mobilized and dispatched to the scene.

Mandy had been summoned in exactly that manner.

Being a Supervisor didn’t come with any major privileges.

Whenever there were no special assignments, she ended up dragged into tedious work like this.

The place where she was currently stationed was the border between City Hall and the North District.

A battle between Awakeners had broken out here as well, resulting in quite a few casualties. That was why City Hall had dispatched Awakeners to maintain order.

“No, seriously, has everyone suddenly gone insane? What the hell is this chaos?”

One of the City Hall Awakeners dispatched alongside Mandy grumbled irritably.

Having been dragged out instead of resting peacefully, his expression was extremely foul.

At least Mandy understood why she had been dragged out here, but the other Awakeners didn’t even know why this chaos was erupting across Neo Seoul.

Naturally, they were furious.

Mandy let out a small laugh and replied,

“Looks like the Awakeners collectively lost their minds.”

“But fights are breaking out everywhere! Isn’t this basically terrorism? Shouldn’t we be intervening properly then?”

“How are we supposed to intervene any more seriously than this? Just take it easy.”

“What do you mean, take it easy?”

“Just look at the fact that they dispatched us. That alone tells you what the higher-ups are thinking.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

The Awakener who had been complaining looked puzzled.

“Think about it. If they truly intended to stop the clashes between Awakeners, would they have sent us? They would’ve deployed elite troops throughout the streets or sent official warnings to every district.”

“Ah! Now that you mention it…”

“This is all just for show. They simply want it to look like City Hall is responding… In reality, City Hall has no intention of truly stopping them. So we just stand around pretending to do our jobs, then quietly head home.”

The Awakener looked at Mandy with admiration.

“Mandy-nim, you’re really smart. How do you figure all that out?”

Mandy chuckled softly.

Anyone could figure it out if they thought about it a little.

At least, anyone who understood even a little about Neo Seoul’s balance of power.

But most Awakeners had no interest in such matters.

If Mandy had not met Zeon, she probably wouldn’t have understood any of this either.

Because she understood the truth behind the current situation through Zeon, she could easily guess City Hall’s intentions.

City Hall always desired balance.

They did not want any district to become too weak, but neither did they want one to become too strong.

What they wanted was equilibrium at an appropriate level.

That also applied to the slums.

City Hall did not want any single force within the slums to expand overwhelmingly.

Especially not Dongdaemun.

Religious fanatics were like sparks that could fly anywhere unpredictably.

If things went wrong, the flames they started could engulf all of Neo Seoul, which was why City Hall always kept a close eye on them.

If possible, they would have preferred to uproot Dongdaemun entirely. But religion had a tendency to grow stronger under oppression.

If Dongdaemun believed they were being persecuted, they would unite even more tightly, and that would only make the problem worse.

That was why City Hall preferred to control them at a moderate level.

Just like now.

At that moment—

Boom!

An explosion erupted not far from where Mandy and the City Hall Awakeners were stationed.

Another fight between Awakeners had broken out.

“Fuck!”

“Why does it have to happen near us of all places…?”

Just as the City Hall Awakeners were about to rush over, Mandy stepped in front of them.

“Wait a moment.”

“Why?”

“Let’s take it a little slower. There’s no reason for us to get dragged into the fight too.”

“…”

“It won’t be too late even if we arrive after it’s over. All we need is a record showing we were dispatched.”

Mandy’s words immediately relaxed the City Hall Awakeners.

If they witnessed the fight directly and refused to intervene, that would become a problem. But if they arrived after the fight had already ended, then the situation was entirely different.

All they had to do was pretend to handle the aftermath a little.

“Then should we rest a bit before going?”

“Come to think of it, I haven’t gone to the bathroom once today. I’ll be right back.”

“Take your time.”

The City Hall Awakeners chatted and laughed casually.

Mandy smiled as she watched them.

One day earlier, Zeon had sent her a letter using the Eyes of Argos.

In a technologically advanced city like Neo Seoul, sending an old-fashioned letter seemed absurdly outdated, but there was no better method for maintaining secrecy.

The letter explained that the person Dongdaemun was searching for was a newly awakened healer.

It also detailed Zeon’s predictions regarding how each faction would react because of this matter.

The reason Zeon told her all of this was simple.

He wanted her not to interfere actively.

He had even said that City Hall itself would not truly wish to intervene either.

‘Zeon-nim said the Mayor and Seo Taeran would probably use this opportunity to shear the sheep.’

Just as he said, every district and even Dongdaemun had grown explosively through dungeon raids and various profit-driven enterprises.

There was no way Jin Geumho or Seo Taeran would quietly watch them continue growing smoothly.

Amazingly, everything was unfolding exactly as Zeon predicted.

‘The scariest person really is Zeon-nim. Everyone’s dancing in the palm of his hand.’

A chill suddenly ran down Mandy’s spine.

Mandy made a firm vow to herself.

‘Whew… I absolutely must never become that man’s enemy.’