NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 30 - Ride
Chapter 30 – Ride
The world of Lost City is an era of extreme technological advancement.
However, as technology progressed, morality regressed in an inverse proportion, leading capitalism to succumb to the pitfalls of materialism long ago.
Simply put, as long as you have money, there’s nothing you can’t do.
For instance, if you offer enough money and lifespan, you can engrave an artificial mana circuit without any enlightenment.
Even a complete novice, unfamiliar with even the basics of magic, can use fundamental common spells just by inserting the relevant data chip.
Virtual sex through VR, DNA modifications, and cyberware enhancements for physical abilities aren’t even worth mentioning at this point.
And that’s not all.
Rumors now circulate that brain chemistry can be hyper-activated to artificially produce psychics.
Truly, it is a world where money reigns supreme.
But does that mean everything has been conquered?
Not quite.
Just as Earth in 2024 failed to conquer baldness (if you missed your timing), there are still technologies that even Lost City’s advancements cannot replicate.
Foremost among them is the Arcane Magic of the Seven Great Houses.
A glorious legacy passed down from the Age of Light and Roses!
The eternal pride of the Purists!
Of course, there are murmurs of skepticism.
Some claim that even Arcane Magic isn’t what it used to be.
Recently, on the dark web and similar spaces, posts such as—
“Selling Arcane Magic. Leaked.”
—have surfaced, hinting at illicit transactions of dubious data chips.
However, upon closer inspection, most of these are scams.
And even when they are genuine, they contain nothing more than the lowest-grade spells.
Even those were leaked, not recreated.
Thus, the value of Arcane Magic remains unshaken.
And now, one of them had fallen into Jin’s hands.
His reaction?
“Wow. Zahad.”
“Wow. Lightning.”
That was it.
Had any Purist happened to witness this moment, they would have been utterly outraged.
This was Arcane Magic, for god’s sake.
Ar! Cane! Ma! Gic!
They would have raved all night about history, tradition, power, and value, their eyes bloodshot with fervor over Zahad’s greatness.
And Jin?
After yawning non-stop, he would have responded sleepily—
“Look, sir. No matter how much you say, I still can’t just install it, alright?
I have to build up proficiency, not just feed it experience points.
I’m disappointed too, you know? Why didn’t the guide explain this properly?”
That was his verdict.
At the end of the guide he had skimmed, there was actually a section detailing the new constellations (hidden) obtained in the game.
Unlike other perks that grew through experience points, hidden perks evolved through proficiency accumulation.
It had been explained meticulously over three paragraphs.
The guide was flawless.
It was simply that someone hadn’t read it all the way through—or rather, couldn’t.
But Jin didn’t have the time to dwell on that.
He just silently thought to himself—
“Turns out, even the guide’s author didn’t know everything.”
Ultimately, Zahad’s Arcane Magic was a long-term task for Jin to gradually build up.
Which might actually be for the better.
With XP costs increasing every time he lit a new star, if he also had to master Arcane Magic the same way, his progress would have been utterly crushed.
That would’ve been a complete mess.
…Wait, am I already a mess?
Shrugging off the thought, Jin turned his gaze inward.
A near-perfectly constructed pathway of mana appeared before him.
And at its core—his heart.
The origin and terminus of all paths, where a small, violet sphere had taken root.
[Polar Radiance]
It was the power gifted by Zahad’s Arcane Magic.
The moment he touched it—zap!
Sparks flared, its temperament as fiery as a Maltese on steroids.
“Ow, damn…”
Jin grimaced at the sharp sting.
No matter how many times he tried, it reacted the same way.
It seemed like building a connection with it would take time.
Clicking his tongue, he let out a low sigh just as the brightening sunlight seeped into the factory.
Come to think of it, he had lingered in this unpleasant place for far too long.
It was time to leave.
Stretching his limbs, he prepared to move.
***
Would you believe it if I told you there were three pieces of bad news?
Jin didn’t want to believe it.
But what could he do?
That was the reality.
First, his two million credits had vanished.
No matter how much he searched, they were nowhere to be found.
Unless the money had suddenly grown legs and run away, something had clearly caused it to disappear.
His best guess?
The monk who took the credits had turned into a fused monster, and when he got struck by Lokan’s spell, the bills were burned to a crisp.
The “banknote barbecue” theory seemed the most plausible.
As of today, Jin had officially declared black magicians his sworn enemies.
Though, that wasn’t the most pressing matter at hand.
“…Where did everyone go?”
At first, he thought only the money was missing, but—no, the people were gone too.
The area where the homeless had been hanging around was now empty, as if it had been a lie all along.
The lingering static of mana on his skin confirmed it—Lokan must have taken them away.
But why was he the only one left behind?
Jin had no idea, but either way, he was alone.
Realizing this, he quickly exited the factory.
Then, he halted.
The unfamiliar scenery ahead gave him pause.
An open sky, a long, stretching road.
Cars passing by now and then.
…A highway?
Jin blinked in confusion.
He’d expected to wake up in some deserted lot or a dockyard.
Instead, he was greeted by this?
He’d felt something was off ever since Lokan mentioned being caught in Sector 43, but this was beyond bizarre.
On top of that, not a single car was parked near the factory.
He’d lost his money, the people had disappeared, and now he didn’t even know where he was.
Which meant—
“Time to hitch a ride…”
Jin stuck out his thumb.
A truck sped past.
“…Shit.”
His fake, polite smile vanished as he let out a frustrated curse.
He’d lost count of how many times this had happened.
Not a single driver even slowed down.
If anything, they hit the gas as they got closer, zooming past in a blink—
“What now…”
Jin let out a deep sigh.
What would it take to stop these cold-hearted drivers?
Should he drop his pants?
Flash them his Excalibur?
Then again, considering his luck, they’d probably just run him over.
His sigh deepened.
And as if things weren’t bad enough—
Grrrrr…
Grumble…
His stomach let out a loud growl.
The added misery made his situation feel even more dire.
Jin felt desperation creeping in.
Time to take drastic measures.
He stripped.
Not his pants—just his shirt.
Driven by hunger rather than shame, he yanked off his thick bomber jacket and the T-shirt underneath, standing bare-chested.
Then, he waved his arms and shouted at an approaching vehicle.
“Please! Stop—!”
A masterpiece of sculpted muscle on full display.
From a distance, his advertisement was clear—LOOK AT ME.
And surprisingly—
Screeeeech!
A car slammed on its brakes, leaving tire marks on the road.
“Oh!”
Jin’s eyes widened in astonishment.
As the window rolled down with a soft whirrr, he caught sight of the driver.
A woman.
She lowered her sunglasses slightly, revealing her eyes.
She took a brief glance at him before speaking.
“…Get in.”
Her name was Natasha.
She introduced herself as a trucker.
The owner of a 3.5-ton mid-sized cargo truck, she looked perfectly at home blowing a cloud of smoke through the half-open window.
She glanced toward the passenger seat and spoke.
“Eat slower. You’ll choke.”
“Mmf… Kay…”
“Got it,” Jin’s response came out as a garbled mess, muffled by the mouthful of cheeseburger.
Without caring how it sounded to anyone else, he simply resumed his meal.
From the cheeseburger to the fries, from the fries back to the chicken nuggets—his hands and mouth stayed busy.
Now that he thought about it, hadn’t he skipped at least three meals between yesterday and today?
Maybe that was why he could actually feel his body absorbing the nutrients like a sponge.
It was a sensation that only an Irregular, someone whose body constantly strengthened itself even in unseen ways, could possibly understand.
Regardless, Jin finished what looked to others like a meal of utter destruction.
Though, unfortunately, it hadn’t quite filled him up.
After all, Natasha had only bought a single meal set.
Feeling unsatisfied, Jin sucked the last bit of seasoning off his fingertips, then belatedly turned toward the driver’s seat.
“…Sucks for you, huh? You didn’t get to eat.”
“Yeah, no kidding. Didn’t expect to be giving a ride to a damn vagabond.”
“Ahem. Anyway, thanks. You saved my life.”
Jin, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious, turned his head away.
That’s when his gaze happened to catch the rearview mirror—where a shirtless man was reflected.
“Oh. Uh. My bad.”
It finally dawned on Jin that he’d prioritized eating over getting dressed.
Panicked, he hurried to pull on his T-shirt—
“First, I feed you, and now you’re taking away my eye candy too?”
Natasha spoke as she turned her head toward him.
“Did you forget why I let you in?”
“…Ten more minutes, then?”
“I’m kidding. Just put it on. I already got a good look.”
Her dimples deepened as she flashed a cool, effortless smile, brushing off the ash from her cigarette.
Then, as she put the cigarette back between her lips and faced forward again, the question naturally followed.
“Why are you covered in blood?”
“Hm? Oh, that.”
Just as he popped his head through the collar of his shirt, Jin glanced down at the bloodstains on his clothes and let out a bitter chuckle.
No wonder no one else had stopped for him.
“This world’s a shitty place, that’s all.”
“I won’t argue with that.”
Jin said it, Natasha nodded, and that was it.
She didn’t bother pressing for details, didn’t pry about what had happened.
She simply took another long drag from her cigarette.
Vrooooom—
The truck rumbled down the highway.
The road stretched ahead in a straight, even path, and the scenery passing by seeped into his mind at a slow, steady pace.
Before he knew it.
Without even realizing it.
Old, buried thoughts resurfaced in Jin’s head.
Who am I?
What is this world?
Can I ever go back?
Dark hands shoving at his back.
Somewhere in the distance, the crash of black waves echoed.
Bzzzt—
With a trembling hand, Jin rolled down the window and stretched his arm out.
He closed his eyes and focused on the wind brushing past his fingertips.
I’m alive.
I’m here.
I’m alive.
I’m here.
I am…
He repeated it over and over, and at some point, the sound of waves faded away.
Cold sweat clung to his skin as he steadied his breathing, resting his elbow against the window frame.
Natasha, who had been silently watching, finally spoke.
“So, you’re from Downtown?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Perfect. I was heading that way anyway. I’ll drop you off there.”
Jin’s face lit up.
“Seriously? That’d be amazing.”
“Then show me those abs again to say thanks?”
“Here! Bonus round!”
Not just his abs, but his well-developed pecs too.
At this point, it was basically a mini strip show.
Jin, hit with a sudden wave of self-loathing, quickly pulled his shirt back down.
“Goddamn it…”
Then, looking back toward the driver’s seat, he asked,
“So where are you headed?”
Natasha shrugged.
“Sector 48. Got some loose ends to tie up.”
“Loose ends?”
“As you can see, I’m moving some cargo.”
She gestured with her thumb toward the truck’s cargo bed.
Jin nodded, accepting the explanation—until a thought struck him.
“Wait a sec.”
“Didn’t you slam the brakes when you picked me up? What if your cargo got wrecked?”
“Oh, it’s fine. It’s stur—”
VROOAARR!!
A deafening engine roar swallowed her words.
“…The hell?”
Jin frowned and turned to check the side mirror—
BANG!!
A gunshot rang out, shattering the side mirror into pieces.
Then came the furious shouting.
“HEY, YOU BITCH! PULL OVER!”
“RESCUE THE BOSS!!”
“YOU’RE FUCKING DEAD, YOU CRAZY WHORE!!”
Jin’s expression twisted.
What the hell…
What kind of mess had he hitched a ride on?
At that moment, his status window flickered into view.