NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 29 - Senior
Chapter 29 – Senior
Jin silently gazed at the middle-aged man.
The heated air spread waves of heat, making his hair flutter.
Amidst the swirling currents, he sensed something—an unmistakable scent of dense mana.
As someone who also wielded mana, Jin felt a certain resonance—not with his eyes, but with his body.
Something that couldn’t be explained by mere power alone.
The time accumulated within it, the passing years, and the essence of what one might call history—all of it settled on his skin like a searing imprint.
But rather than being overwhelmed by this unfamiliar sensation, Jin focused on what needed to be done.
Keeping his gaze fixed on the middle-aged man, he simply extended his arm back, gripping Gravis.
Then, he pulled the trigger.
Bang—!
Bang—!
Bang—!
Three consecutive gunshots rang out.
He personally blasted away the head of the monster, which had been blackened and charred, its life slowly fading.
It was the epitome of effortless execution—
Like using a ladle to scoop up someone else’s meticulously prepared feast instead of a spoon, Jin shuddered at the dopamine explosion that flooded his mind.
The fact that the quest was completed at the same time only made the rush twice as intense.
“Ah, shit.”
Jin clenched his eyes shut and grit his teeth.
It felt good—but also absolutely terrible.
The sense of achievement and reward being forcibly injected into him—
The raw, primal pleasure it brought, gifting him the will to continue living.
Like shoving ten bright yellow nutrient sticks into a withering plant.
Ensuring that he wouldn’t break along the way.
“Even if you didn’t pull this shit, I’d still see this through to the end…!”
Jin clenched his trembling fist tightly.
How much time had passed?
By exact measure, perhaps just a few ticks of the second hand.
But in his perception, it felt like an eternity—an overwhelming moment of ecstasy he had to endure.
Finally, Jin slowly opened his eyes.
Then, he offered an awkward smile.
“Oh. Were you waiting?”
The middle-aged man chuckled.
“What a peculiar fellow.”
“You’re one to talk…”
Jin started to retort as usual—
Then flinched.
His voice wavered ever so slightly, the end of his sentence rising uncertainly.
His gaze darted awkwardly.
Now that he thought about it, this middle-aged man—
Despite unleashing an incredibly powerful spell, he himself exuded no discernible presence.
Even now, with their gazes locked, he seemed like nothing more than an ordinary vagrant.
The only evidence suggesting otherwise was the monster, burned to a crisp.
Wouldn’t they call this “Hidden Depths” in martial arts novels?
Maybe the difference in level was so vast that he simply couldn’t perceive it.
Whatever the case, one thing was certain—
Jin was the weaker party in this scenario.
And in such moments, the key was reading the situation.
Had he said anything he shouldn’t have?
As he seriously traced his words back in his mind—
The middle-aged man spoke.
“Just act normal. Don’t overthink it.”
“Are you sure?”
“When have you ever watched your mouth around me?”
“…Fair point.”
Jin had always spoken in his usual mix of informal and semi-formal speech.
There was no need to suddenly change his manner of speaking.
As silence briefly settled between them, Jin stole a glance at the man.
A mysterious powerhouse.
An unpredictable variable in human form.
If push came to shove, Jin was prepared to spam Blink and escape at any moment—
But judging by the man’s relaxed smirk, he seemed amused rather than hostile.
Even so, Jin couldn’t let his guard down completely.
He maintained a readiness to draw upon his mana as he spoke.
“Did you get captured on purpose?”
“What?”
“Like… undercover work? A covert investigation?”
After all, even that guy who had blown his own head off to avoid capture had suspected Jin of being a government agent until his dying breath.
So Jin thought his deduction was reasonable.
But the answer he received was absurd.
“No? I already told you—I woke up and found myself here.”
“…Then why the hell did you stay chained up all this time?”
It was ridiculous to think that man couldn’t break free from his restraints.
Even Jin could have done it if he’d wanted to, and in fact, he had.
“Because I was curious. Watching those mongrels run around was quite entertaining.I figured I’d play along for a bit—but then I ended up witnessing something truly fascinating.”
The man grinned, while Jin pulled a sour face.
So, in short, he had been chained up voluntarily.
His words and actions all pointed to someone not quite right in the head.
Jin was just about to discreetly back away when—
“So. What’s your name?”
The sudden question caught him off guard.
Of course, it wasn’t difficult to answer.
In fact, it was almost welcome.
“Jin Evernight. Cool name, right?”
Jin blurted out his full name without hesitation, winking as he did.
A surname he had bought for 35 million credits.
He hoped it would stick well in others’ ears too.
But the middle-aged man’s reaction was strange.
“…Evernight, huh. Is that an alias?”
Jin’s expression stiffened slightly.
Did he somehow realize it was a fabricated identity?
Not that it really mattered if he did.
But the fact that the surname alone could lead to such a deduction was concerning.
As Jin seriously considered whether he should abandon the surname he had just begun to grow fond of—
The middle-aged man stroked his rough chin and continued speaking.
“If it’s not an alias, that’s surprising. I thought you were some estranged branch family member with a complicated past…”
Then he shrugged.
“Actually, it’d be better if you weren’t related to those bastards at all.”
He wore a strangely relieved expression.
Jin was no stranger to off-topic conversations, but this man was just as bad.
They simply stared at each other, talking past one another, filling the air with disjointed chatter.
Anyone watching from the outside would have tilted their head and wondered,
‘What the hell are they doing?’
The awkward standoff dragged on for a while, until Jin, being the younger of the two, was the first to snap out of his thoughts.
“…? Wait a sec. Hey. Hey, you!”
Jin snapped his fingers, calling for attention.
Only then did the middle-aged man blink and turn his gaze toward him.
“Hm? Did you say something?”
“I’m about to. So, what’s your name, senior?”
“I’m Lokan.”
Introducing himself as Lokan, the middle-aged man silently studied Jin’s face.
As if he was gauging his reaction.
Noticing this, Jin scratched his cheek and muttered,
“…You must be famous.”
It was the best response he could come up with, but even he knew it wasn’t exactly a great answer.
If Jin had cared less about staying within the safe confines of his little world,
and instead had shown a bit more enthusiasm for the vast world beyond—
His next question would have been this:
“Do you bear the name of Zahad?”
And if he had asked that,
Lokan would have slowly shaken his head.
He had long since discarded that name.
Zahad.
One of the Seven Great Houses.
A name that touched the skies of the Lost City.
Even the tallest skyscrapers had to tilt their heads back to see its peak.
Yet the man standing before him had thrown it all away.
And now, that madman was laughing.
Because the idiot in front of him truly knew nothing.
“What a fool.”
“What? Hey, just because you’re my senior doesn’t mean you can insult me— I mean, this great me— I mean! Me!”
…What could he do?
Run away?
Realizing he had no comeback, Jin swallowed his words.
Lokan, watching him with amusement, curled his lips into a smirk and asked,
“So, who’s your master?”
“I don’t have one.”
“…”
Lokan was momentarily speechless at Jin’s immediate answer.
“No master. And yet, you possess such an incredibly pure mana.”
He could tell just by looking.
Not only was it pure, but Jin wielded it without the slightest hindrance.
As if he were a blank canvas perfectly primed to hold the world’s greatest painting—
And yet, there was no mentor behind it?
“You’re saying you taught yourself?”
“More or less.”
Jin confirmed.
He couldn’t exactly talk about his status window, so this was the best he could say.
And while he hadn’t learned entirely alone, he had trained himself ruthlessly.
Had he not endured the pain that tore through his mind?
It wasn’t an exaggeration. It really hurt.
Enough to make him drool uncontrollably.
As Jin shuddered at the painful memories,
A sudden, hearty laugh rang out.
Lokan threw his head back, laughing so hard his throat was fully exposed.
Then, he wiped his lips and chuckled.
“A body blessed by mana actually exists. If the Seven Great Lords found out, they’d flip their damn tables. I’d almost feel bad missing the look on their faces.”
He murmured to himself, a strangely relieved expression crossing his face.
Jin, who had no idea what was going on, could only blink in confusion.
“Let’s… just laugh together.”
Jin mentally jotted down a profile on Lokan:
— Definitely not sane.
A homeless man with the stance of a master.
Though, he seemed a little out of it.
Maybe because this city was a dump.
There wasn’t a single old man who had aged gracefully.
As Jin muttered to himself—
Having laughed his fill and talked his heart out, Lokan added with satisfaction,
“It’s been so long since I laughed like this. That was quite the spectacle. Staying tied up was well worth it.”
“Well, if you had fun, then that’s fine.”
Jin’s reply was devoid of any enthusiasm.
He was just about to bid farewell and be on his way when—
“I don’t know what kind of picture you’ll paint from here on out, but adding a single line shouldn’t hurt, right?”
The moment Lokan took a step forward, he was suddenly right in front of Jin.
Jin couldn’t even react.
All he saw was a single streak of violet lightning crackling through the air before it slowly dissipated.
Then, Lokan’s voice seeped into his ears, dragging out each word.
“It’s nothing much. Just the basics…”
He didn’t hear the rest.
As if time had slowed to a crawl, Jin’s eyes fixated on the lone finger approaching him at a normal pace.
The moment that fingertip touched his chest—
BOOM!
A thunderbolt crashed inside Jin’s mind.
At that moment, the most violent tip in existence carved an unreadable message with reckless abandon.
I’m screwed…
His vision flipped upside down.
Jin barely clung to his consciousness after what felt like an eternity.
He was a mess.
His eyes were hollow and unfocused, his limbs sprawled wide like Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.
Tears trickled down as he stared up at the factory ceiling.
“Son… of a…”
Perhaps he had been so thoroughly soaked in pain that words failed to capture it.
Jin was utterly drained.
Even as his status window blinked incessantly in the corner of his vision, desperately demanding attention, he didn’t even muster the energy to get mad at it.
He lay there for hours.
Until the pale moonlight that had seeped through the factory windows shifted from the deep blue of dawn back to the glow of morning.
Jin, who had been as still as a corpse all night, finally sat up.
Running his fingers through his disheveled hair, he surveyed his surroundings, which had changed drastically.
The skinned corpses had turned to ash—
And the bizarre devices whose purposes were unknown had been smashed beyond recognition.
Clearly, this was Lokan’s doing.
Jin could only be dumbfounded.
“…Wait. Why the hell would you just leave me here? Because of you, I—”
His hoarse complaint trailed off.
His gaze, drifting aimlessly, landed on something flickering persistently in the corner of his vision.
Something that refused to be ignored.
“What. What. What the hell do you want now?”
As if it had just been waiting for his attention, his status window abruptly expanded before his eyes.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
「???」
NEO ?? ??? Zahad
??? ?? ???? ?????
?? ??? ?? ?? ????
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
You again?
Jin groaned, shaking his head at the unwelcome sight.
Then, his eyes widened.
“…Huh?”
He rubbed them and looked again.
A strange phrase stood out in the status window.
The moment he confirmed it, he instinctively shut his eyes.
In an instant, his inner world expanded like a vast night sky.
Jin turned his head frantically, searching—
His gaze roamed across nebulae and constellations, until—
There.
A new constellation that hadn’t been there before.
This wasn’t something Lokan had orchestrated.
Even he couldn’t have predicted this outcome.
Who could have known?
That the mana he had casually imparted as a lesson to a blessed body would become a turning point for someone desperately struggling against this world’s absurdity.
And now—
A small light had sprouted, and above it, an overwhelming thunderbolt loomed over Jin.
[Zahad]
The secret magic of one of the Seven Great Families roared with a silent thunderclap.