In front of the largest building towering over the center of the city.
Humanity, using the Core Stream as its energy source, had achieved tremendous development centered around cities.
“It's amazing. There aren't any people outside the city, but here…….”
There was a great difference between knowing something and experiencing it.
Through the knowledge implanted in her mind, Lena knew that cities were places where people gathered and lived.
But she had never imagined that this was what having so many people would feel like.
Everywhere they went was noisy, and everyone seemed to be shouting.
Even during the brief walk here, they had passed countless vagrants, drunks, and people fighting one another.
The City of Pleasure. Castle Gaudium.
Guided by the man, Kang Hyeon-woo and Lena entered the largest and most extravagant building.
[Castle Lord guarantees fairness! Welcome to the City Lord's Casino!]
The interior was packed with countless machines, deafening noise, and people collapsed after getting high on cheap drugs made from modified Core Powder.
CLICK.
Suddenly, every light in the casino went out, and the music stopped.
TA-DA-DA-DA-DA!
With a magnificent fanfare, a single spotlight in the distance illuminated someone.
“Citizens! My customers! It is good to see you again today.”
A tall man in an old-fashioned white suit and black sunglasses walked through the crowd.
“Th-the City Lord……!”
“Castle Lord!”
“City Lord……! Your grace! Your mercy!”
“The Lord will be eternal……!”
People dropped to their knees and prostrated themselves on the floor, praising the City Lord.
Enjoying the sight with a sinister smile, the City Lord gave an exaggerated yet courteous bow.
“Oh, my……! I shall listen to anything you have to say. This is Gaudium. It shall be filled with pleasure.”
TA-DA-DA-DA-DA!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Fireworks exploded along with the fanfare.
At the same time, hologram monitors hanging from the ceiling lit up.
[10,000,000 Free Cores!]
Everyone who had been prostrating themselves on the floor reached into their clothes at once and pulled out their devices.
“Oooooh! Ten million Cores……!”
“Thank you, City Lord.”
“Hehehe. This time…… for sure!”
Their faces were filled with ecstasy.
Before anyone realized it, all the casino lights had come back on.
The people quickly scattered toward the empty gambling machines around them.
“Heh heh. Do they not look just like cockroaches?”
The City Lord watched them scatter with a sinister smile.
“You're still a City Lord.”
“Still……? Ah, you met Seed in Port Mine?”
“…….”
Kang Hyeon-woo stared silently at the City Lord.
The City Lord shrugged.
“Well, from what I hear, that city was blown apart quite spectacularly.”
“Assassin, Jino.”
“Good to see you, Senior SIN. Has it been 101 years?”
***
Kang Hyeon-woo and Lena headed toward the elevator with Jino.
“Hmm……. You with a little girl, Senior. That is difficult to imagine.”
Jino smiled as he looked at Lena.
“Why did you call me?”
“Haha, there is no need to rush.”
DING.
The elevator opened, revealing a vast office space.
“Please, sit. I hear you still enjoy single malt? Allow me to serve you the real thing.”
Jino approached a display cabinet and poured a glass of dark brown liquor from a glass bottle.
“One of the first-stringers stationed all the way out in a backwater like this. Surprising.”
Kang Hyeon-woo quietly took a sip and savored the liquor in his mouth.
Jino shrugged.
“I have always been a coward, you know. You remember, do you not? That is why I became an assassin.”
Jino had mainly handled reconnaissance in Dungeons.
In High-Level Dungeons, a single wrong step could wipe out an entire party.
That was why scouts became increasingly important the higher the Dungeon Grade.
Jino was the best among the scouts who identified threats inside Dungeons.
Of course, Dungeon reconnaissance was not his only specialty.
He also displayed exceptional skill in intelligence wars against other guilds.
And occasionally, he handled work befitting his codename, Assassin.
“Still, it is good to see you like this, Senior. For the past few decades, no one has understood me even when I talk about the old days.”
“It's none of my business, but what is this city? You claim to be a coward, yet you're running it in the most dangerous way possible.”
“Haha. Information circulates wherever there is money and drugs. At our level, money no longer means anything. You know that well, do you not?”
“Port Mine. Was the single malt information you obtained the same way?”
“Haha, I cannot deny it.”
Jino knew everything, from Kang Hyeon-woo's attack on Port Mine several days earlier to the fact that he had been served single malt.
“Then tell me why you provoked me.”
‘Phase Intervention.’
THUD.
Mana spread outward, pressing heavily down on the surrounding area.
“Wow……. It has been nearly a hundred years since I last saw Phase Intervention. Haha. Somehow, you seem to have grown even stronger. I am laughing because it is absurd.”
“If you make me ask one more time, I'll kill you.”
“Haha. I would like to propose a deal.”
“Details.”
“The whereabouts of the traitor to humanity, Beast, and Senior Caroline.”
“……Their whereabouts.”
Jino smiled as Kang Hyeon-woo quietly repeated the words.
“Consider this a complimentary service. Haha. Senior Caroline has been missing for quite some time.”
“Payment?”
“In exchange for the whereabouts of those two, I would like you to handle two requests. As it happens, you might be able to deal with both at once this time.”
“I could kill you here and now, or torture the information out of you.”
“Of course. But then you would waste time without obtaining the important information.”
“Important information…….”
“The price of my life is the ‘reason.’”
Jino leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his drink.
“Humanity's final day. Why were you caught in the Energy Storm, Senior?”
“……Are you saying it wasn't an accident?”
“Heh heh. If you are curious…… I would appreciate it if you handled my requests.”
Kang Hyeon-woo and Lena rose from their seats.
Kang Hyeon-woo slowly walked toward the elevator at the entrance, then turned around.
“You use the Awakening Support System and the network, right?”
“I am a City Lord. Of course I do. Why do you ask……?”
“None of your business.”
As long as Jino could give him a star rating and a review, that was enough.
Thinking that, Kang Hyeon-woo raised a hand.
“Send me the details.”
SNAP!
DING!
Kang Hyeon-woo and Lena stepped into the elevator.
***
“Do you know that man, Mister?”
“An old coworker.”
Lena frowned.
“He doesn't seem like a good person.”
“You haven't even existed for very long, and you can already tell things like that.”
In a world that had already been destroyed anyway.
“There are no good or bad people.”
Outside the castles, the ruins were a battlefield where the poor, Scavengers, and small self-sufficient groups fought to survive.
Inside the castles, people trapped within Shinhwa's technology and way of life fought their own battles for survival.
[Merpa Casino! We provide the ultimate experience!]
An advertising hologram even larger than the one for City Lord Jino's casino brightly illuminated the street.
“……Everyone just acts according to their circumstances.”
“I don't really understand.”
“None of your business. We're moving.”
“Where are we going?”
“We need somewhere to stay first.”
.
.
.
“Wow…….”
Lena entered the hotel and stared around with her mouth open.
Countless people came and went through the magnificent lobby of the hotel in the middle of the city.
When they approached reception, an attendant greeted them with a friendly smile.
“Welcome. How may I assist you?”
“A room.”
“Please scan your ID with this scanner.”
Kang Hyeon-woo pulled a small, old-model device from inside his clothes.
Seeing it, the attendant continued speaking politely without losing her smile.
“Under Shinhwa Company's policy, citizens who possess IDs may face restrictions on facility use depending on their credit and Grade. Regardless of how many Cores you possess.”
At a glance from the attendant, security personnel in black suits began approaching Kang Hyeon-woo's group very slowly.
After the destruction of the world, Shinhwa had classified people.
Mercenaries held the highest social status, with Grades divided according to their respective roles.
Using the criminals outside the cities, where looting was rampant, as justification, Shinhwa restricted people's activities within cities according to Grade, regardless of how much money they possessed.
BEEP-!
The scan finished, and a holographic screen appeared in front of the attendant.
[Search Complete]
[Codename : SIN]
[Grade : Unavailable (Locked)]
[Funds : Unlimited]
[Affiliation : Shinhwa Company]
“Th-this, this is…… My apologies, sir.”
The flustered attendant trembled slightly and glanced toward the approaching security personnel.
“You have been assigned a suite on the top floor. Please enjoy your stay.”
Kang Hyeon-woo headed toward the elevator with a languid expression.
The security personnel immediately approached the attendant.
“What was that? He looks like a beggar.”
“W-well…….”
“Huh? Unavailable? What's that? I've never seen anything like this before.”
The attendant wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
“It means he's affiliated with Shinhwa headquarters. If any of you ever see something like this, never…… never disobey them or treat them rudely.”
“……Headquarters? Looking like that, and he's from headquarters?”
The security personnel stared blankly as Kang Hyeon-woo's group entered the elevator.
***
“You can see the entire city!”
Upon entering the suite on the top floor, Lena exclaimed in amazement and looked around.
“Mister. If you have this many Cores, why do you sleep outside?”
“Because what I need is outside.”
An unspoken arrangement.
Something like that.
Shinhwa maintained his status and gave him unlimited money.
In exchange, it meant he was not to step forward in the world or interfere with them.
The fact that no one had come looking for him in the past hundred years was proof enough.
“There are even teleportation services between cities…….”
Banks could teleport anything a person had deposited with them anywhere in the world.
Of course, people could travel by teleportation as well.
“Teleportation is effectively the same as dying and being born again.”
The principle was to disassemble the atoms here and reassemble them there.
Kang Hyeon-woo, who could sense Mana, realized that it was death and creation.
“I don't really understand.”
“You don't need to.”
Kang Hyeon-woo pulled a device from inside his clothes and activated it.
A message icon flashed at the top of the hologram.
[(Anonymous) : Illegal transaction expected at midnight inside a Special Anomaly controlled by a criminal organization. 1. Recover the goods involved in the transaction. 2. Identify the organization's Master. See location below. The promised reward can be confirmed inside the Anomaly.]
It was a message from Jino.
Kang Hyeon-woo sank into thought as he looked at the city lights beyond the window and the dead land stretching past them.
.
.
.
A warehouse on the outskirts of the city.
Using Fly magic, Kang Hyeon-woo and Lena climbed onto the roof of a nearby building and watched the target location.
Lena whispered softly.
“I can strongly sense traces of Mr. Bear inside there.”
“Good.”
“Did a portal to another world like last time appear inside there?”
“No. They built that building over the portal.”
Normally, a Dungeon returned the Stream to normal once its insect-type monsters inside the caves were dealt with.
However, some High-Level Dungeons had no restrictions on movement or time, meaning they did not erupt, and some even contained resources.
Such Dungeons were deliberately left uncleared and maintained so their resources could be harvested or they could be used for various other purposes.
They were places both Shinhwa and criminal organizations would covet.
Naturally, security was tight.
Even at a glance, dozens of Awakened were gathered in groups around the building.
‘If Jino has been leaving this alone…….’
It meant there was nothing particularly profitable inside.
Whether the criminal organization used the Dungeon as a hideout or a vacation home, he did not care.
But if he made a commotion by trying to wipe them out, every criminal organization in the city would resist, leading to bloodshed.
‘And the Resistance would take advantage of the chaos to act as well.’
If he caused too much trouble and headquarters decided to replace the City Lord, it would be fatal.
The criminal organizations understood each other's circumstances as well, so they implicitly avoided crossing certain lines.
Even so, Jino apparently wanted to know about this particular transaction.
‘That's why he sent me.’
One of the Final Seven.
If Kang Hyeon-woo succeeded, all the better. Even if he failed, it would be easy for Jino to distance himself.
It was a request with absolutely no downside for Jino.
‘Phase Intervention.’
‘Classification.’
‘Mesmerize.’
A magic barrier formed around the warehouse.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Before the gang members could even notice anything was wrong, they all succumbed to Mesmerize and collapsed to the ground.
“Let's move.”
“What happens to the Stream of this magic when we go inside?”
“It'll be cut off.”
“Then isn't that dangerous?”
“It doesn't matter. If they follow us inside, it'll become their grave.”
Kang Hyeon-woo opened the warehouse door, revealing a brightly glowing portal.
“Is it going to be like the place from last time?”
“None of my business.”
Kang Hyeon-woo and Lena stepped through the portal.
.
.
.
“Wow. So this is what cold feels like……!”
A blizzard raged across the frozen land, making it impossible to see even a short distance ahead.
‘Identify.’
[S-Grade Magic Skill (Identify) used.]
[Dungeon Grade : A]
[Dungeon Progress : 99%]
[Clear Count : 3,530]
[Objective : Destroy the Altar]
As expected, unlike the previous Dungeons, there was no time limit, nor were there any curses or restrictions on support-system use.
‘Shield.’
A sphere of light formed around Kang Hyeon-woo and Lena.
“Oh! It's warm again!”
“That should be enough.”
“Straight ahead from the direction we're facing when we come out. Right?”
“You remembered well.”
“Hehe.”
Kang Hyeon-woo and Lena walked through the blizzard.
“There's something over there!”
Through the slightly weakened snowstorm, an enormous ice palace appeared.
“Wow. Look over there.”
A massive statue stood where Lena was pointing.
‘?’
Kang Hyeon-woo had been about to walk past it when something felt strange, and he approached the statue.
‘……!’
The statue depicted someone fighting a monster.
A very familiar figure throwing punches with knuckle-dusters on her hands.
“……Caroline.”
The statue had the likeness of Caroline, one of the Final Seven.