NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 33 - Blaze
Chapter 33 – Blaze
“…Sir? Sir?”
Jin opened his eyes to someone tapping his shoulder.
He swallowed dryly and blinked awake.
Where was this?
The vehicle had stopped, Natasha was looking his way, and the surroundings were pitch dark.
Then came her voice.
“Did you sleep well?”
Jin flinched.
It had been a long time since he’d heard that from someone else’s mouth.
Scrambling to wipe his chin, he asked in a hurry.
“How long was I out?”
“Not sure. Until we reached our destination?”
“Ah.”
Only then did he recognize the faintly familiar scenery outside the window.
What he had thought was just darkness was actually a chaotic mess of neon lights and suffocatingly packed tenement buildings.
He muttered.
“…Junk Plaza.”
“We passed Anekdote and kept going, and this was the best stop. Didn’t seem like a truck could get any deeper.”
“Jeez. You really went all out.”
Jin scratched the back of his head awkwardly, feeling like he’d received full service despite not asking for it.
And then—
“By the way, your sleep talk was cute.”
The offhand remark hit him in the back of the head like a hammer.
…Sleep talk?!
Jin’s face flushed as if he’d been caught peeing in public.
“W-What did I say?”
“That’s a secret.”
“Wait, if you weren’t gonna tell me, why even—”
He hadn’t expected to get hit with an outright ‘Not telling you.’
Jin stammered, at a rare loss for words, but only briefly.
With a light sigh, he shook off the last dregs of sleep and rummaged through his bag of cash.
Then, pulling out a thick wad of bills, he set it down on the dashboard.
“Thanks for the ride. Here’s for gas.”
“No need. I’m not taking it.”
“Aw, come on. Take it.”
“I said no.”
A brief struggle ensued.
Of course, Jin won.
There wasn’t a soul alive who could out-stubborn a Korean in this particular battle.
I mean, everyone’s had that experience at least once, right?
When a good drinking session ends, and people start slapping down cash or cards like some martial arts move.
Ah, forget it, this one’s on me.
Ssshh! I said I got it.
Hey! Bill, please!
Well, this was a slightly different case, but still.
It was all about the principle.
About ending things on a proper note.
Anyway, Jin successfully forced 300,000 credits—plus a little extra—into Natasha’s hands and smiled in satisfaction.
He ignored the grumbling about how it messed up the clean 9 million she had handed over earlier.
If that was such a problem, she shouldn’t have given him a ride in the first place.
Not that the logic made much sense, but at this point, the other person had no choice but to let it go.
“…Unbelievable.”
Natasha scoffed in exasperation.
Jin massaged his stiff neck before turning back to her.
“Since you’re here, wanna drop in and say hi?”
“Where? Anekdote?”
“Yeah.”
“No, I’ll pass.”
Contrary to his expectations, Natasha shook her head.
“I’ll be freelancing for a while. Got a few requests lined up through the Solo Intranet. And more importantly, I still have unfinished business with that guy over there.”
She gestured toward the truck’s cargo hold with her thumb, and Jin took the hint—
This was where they parted ways.
Of course, there was still one last formality to take care of.
“Your number.”
“Hm?”
Natasha blinked as Jin casually handed her an old-fashioned handheld terminal.
“This thing’s ancient.”
She said that, but she still keyed in her number without hesitation.
Though… wasn’t it taking a little too long just for that?
Jin tilted his head at the unexpected delay.
Then—
“Here.”
Natasha handed the device back.
When Jin glanced at the screen, he saw her full name displayed.
[Natasha Vermouth]
“Oh. Nice name.”
“It suits me, doesn’t it?”
“…?”
Jin looked up.
In his gray eyes, he caught the sight of a golden-haired, blue-eyed woman smiling faintly.
“Next time, let’s meet at Anekdote. You said they run a bar too, right? How about a martini then?”
Jin blinked.
Then nodded.
“Sure. But I don’t like alcohol. I’ll take a Coke instead. Anyway, take care on your way back. I’m off.”
He waved his palm lightly before opening the passenger door and stepping out.
The door shut with a thud.
***
The man in the bomber jacket disappeared into the darkness of the street without looking back—
Bzzzt.
Lowering the window, Natasha watched him go and murmured with a puzzled expression,
“…Did I just get rejected?”
***
A martini.
A cocktail made with gin and vermouth in a 6:1 ratio.
Something everyone who knows, knows.
A classy version of “Wanna come see my cat?”
Of course, Jin had no clue about that.
He simply disliked alcohol because it made him ravenous the next day.
And so, Natasha was the only one left confused by his ambiguous answer.
Maybe that’s why—
The engine of the truck buried in the darkness roared to life only after quite a long time had passed.
***
Surprisingly, Jin didn’t stop by Anekdote.
It was late at night for idle chatter.
…That was an excuse—he was simply too exhausted.
How tired must he have been to pass out so defenselessly in front of someone else?
Yawning every ten steps, Jin reached the motel, where he completely blacked out, only to sleep for longer than half a day before finally regaining consciousness.
Grrrgle.
And even then, it was hunger that woke him up.
Wait, hold on.
This is bad.
Still half-asleep, he clutched his growling stomach and bolted out of the motel, making a beeline for the nearest street vendor.
“The usual!”
A first-time customer suddenly shouting something like that would usually be bewildering, but the vendor, who had seen it all in the downtown streets, simply handed over some pre-made chicken skewers without a word.
And then, the magic began.
As soon as a skewer was handed over, it disappeared.
Over and over again.
It was like a black hole.
“You haven’t eaten in ten days or something?”
Hearing the astonished voice, Jin, his cheeks stuffed with skewers, nodded.
“Feels like it.”
Just because he had an oversized body didn’t mean he could survive on thin air.
Proper nutrition was a must for growth.
A body that dreamed of eternal evolution could never be called fuel-efficient.
And yet, it remained frustratingly indifferent to his lower half.
In any case, the vendor was the only one benefiting from Jin’s absurdly voracious appetite, as he devoured twenty 30cm skewers on the spot.
Passersby, seeing how deliciously he was eating, began gathering, curious to try for themselves.
Before long, a crowd formed, with people lining up for a taste.
…Wait.
Why is there suddenly so many people?
Only Jin, clueless about the reason, quickly paid and slipped away.
“Whew. That hit the spot.”
They say a full stomach brings a clear mind.
Feeling much more awake, Jin strode toward Anekdote.
There, he picked up Manticore and loaded a briefcase full of cash into the trunk, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders.
It was a bit of a shame he didn’t get to chat with Khalifa and Po.
For some reason, the shop manager was out, and the only bartender was briefing a male client on a job.
Not wanting to interrupt, Jin quietly left the store, leaving behind only a short text.
[Taking my bike.]
Immediately after, Jin started the engine.
There was no hesitation.
He already knew where he was heading next.
Bwaaaang!
Riding Manticore, he sped down the road, arriving at none other than North Downtown.
“…Already gone, huh?”
Frowning, Jin stared at the abandoned church.
He had been planning to utterly wreck the place if there was anything left, but it seemed they had caught wind of him and shut everything down in advance.
“Typical shady bastards.”
Clicking his tongue at the wasted trip—
“…Big D? That you?”
A cautious voice called out behind him.
Jin whipped around and saw Jeff approaching hesitantly.
Without thinking, he let out a thunderous roar.
“Hey, you bastard! Where the hell have you been?!”
“Whoa, damn! Why are you yelling?”
“Because—!”
To be fair, Jeff hadn’t really done anything wrong.
But for some reason, Jin couldn’t help but feel annoyed.
“Do you even know what kind of hell I went through?”
“H-how would I know?”
“…Fair point.”
Quick acceptance.
Somehow, Jin felt oddly deflated and added another remark.
“So, you don’t remember anything?”
A hesitant voice came in response.
As he listened carefully, it was more or less this:
Jeff had a huge gap in his memory.
Essentially, he’d been praying, dozed off for a moment, and the next thing he knew, he woke up lying in an undeveloped landfill on the outskirts of Downtown.
The other homeless folks who regained consciousness around the same time weren’t much different.
Everyone was busy patting themselves down, worried that their insides had been replaced with cheap implants while they were asleep.
“The others freaked out and ran… I didn’t see you anywhere, so I figured I’d check here. It’s been two days.”
Finishing his hesitant explanation, Jeff turned the question back at him.
“Where the hell have you been all this time? And what happened to the church? Where did the priest and the elders go?”
So, Jin explained.
The reality of the church that lured in homeless people with free meals.
The rather unpleasant truth.
“…Shit. Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.”
“Then that means the one who threw us back into Downtown was that insanely strong guy.”
“Probably.”
“But why didn’t he take you with him?”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Jin shrugged.
Why Lokan had left him behind was still a mystery, but judging by the way the guy acted, it didn’t seem like he had any particular reason.
After all, when dealing with a lunatic who let himself get captured just for fun, there was no point in trying to understand.
Anyway, at least he was safe.
Either way, they should steer clear of free meals from now on.
But hold on a second.
Now that he thought about it, this whole mess was because he had followed Jeff.
What the hell.
That guy had eaten way more than anyone else.
As such, their conversation carried on in that familiar, bantering way until Jin finally shook his head, muttered “whatever,” and revved up his bike, speeding off.
Watching him leave, Jeff was about to curse him out for ditching people like that—
But he stopped.
At some point, a few bills had found their way into his hand.
“The hell… What’s this for?”
By the time he thought of saying thanks, his fellow homeless man had already shrunk into the distance.
***
A few days passed.
During that time, Jin focused on what he did best.
Eating, sleeping, and taking care of business.
It made sense—after all, there was still quite a bit of time left before the two weeks that Khalifa had mentioned were up.
Wandering around aimlessly would only lead to trouble, so he spent most of his time lying on his bed, letting the days slip by.
Aside from meals and bathroom breaks, he barely moved at all.
The best part?
His status window was quiet for once.
Even that damn thing, which always popped up at the worst times just to mess with him, was staying silent.
Now this was what he called a real break.
For the first time in a long while, Jin felt true peace of mind.
The joy of being able to think about absolutely nothing.
The rare nights when he could sleep without blasting music.
Then came today.
After waking up late in the afternoon, he took a lukewarm shower and lazed around in bed for a bit.
Eventually, hunger drove him to get up, leave his motel room, and start walking.
At the end of that path was Rumpumpumpum.
Wednesday, 7 PM.
Second floor, right corner.
A place where an old speaker crooned an even older song.
He had arrived earlier than usual out of guilt.
The siblings were always the ones waiting for him first.
Not only that—hadn’t he run out on them in the middle of a meal recently?
And the week before, he had unintentionally caused a mess.
So today, he figured he’d treat them.
He filled the table up in advance.
A quick glance at the time—about twenty minutes left before they arrived.
Jin crossed his arms and let the lyrics wash over him.
Or at least, he tried to.
BANG!
A gunshot shattered the moment, ringing through his eardrums.
“…Huh?”
Jin sniffled and looked straight ahead.
A man stood with his back to him.
His arm was stretched diagonally, and at the end of it, the barrel of a gun was still smoking.
Jin followed the line of fire.
A corpse.
A bullet clean through the temple.
Blood sprayed out like a firework, staining the window.
Then came the scream.
“KYAAA!!”
BANG!
The forehead of the screaming woman burst open.
Her stiffened body collapsed to the floor.
As the shooter finished his rapid fire, he suddenly threw both arms up.
“A’Hhhhhh!!!!!”
A deafening roar.
At the same time, an overwhelming heat began to radiate from his body—
Jin, his breath slowing instinctively, drew Gravis.
BANG—!!
A thunderous gunshot ripped toward the man’s head.
「(Premonition!)(Emergency!) The Will That Spreads」──────
Subdue/Eliminate the Berserker.
*Reward: Perk XP 3,000
──────────────────
A status window flashed before Jin’s eyes.
At the same time, a massive blaze engulfed the entire second floor of Rumpumpumpum.