Chapter 49: Chapter 48
TL/ED: Hamsterminator
Solo Intranet.
Literally, a private platform used by Solos.
Its main function is discreet matching with clients.
Or for exchanging and trading information.
Here, "self-PR" is an optional area.
Listing information like: I’m so-and-so, I’ve done such-and-such work, and these are my results.
Even the people from Jin’s hometown, when ordering delivery food, don’t they click on the ones with the most orders or reviews first?
This is just how buyer psychology works.
You need to see something visible to build trust.
Therefore, proper self-promotion serves as a great tool to attract clients.
Many Solos often provided their information through a visualized data dashboard.
But in this world, there are people who don’t need such things.
Like an awl in a pocket. People like that.
They’re the kind who just do what they’re supposed to do, and others recognize them first. A different breed from the seed.
That’s how it was for Jin.
*
It’s a world without secrets.
A CCTV footage showing some Solo knocking down a Berserker, then going on to destroy a drug establishment?
It can definitely get around.
It’s even common.
It’s not like there are just a few Solos or mercenaries who upload combat videos for marketing purposes.
But hold on a sec.
This time, something’s different...
It’s not just a case of being good at fighting?
And that purple flash when subduing the Berserker?
Tempest, it was Tempest.
An unknown branch of Zahad awakened their ability!
This was a major incident that would turn Lost City upside down, with Downtown soaked in blood and Rumpumpumpum exploding again.
Gossipers shouted in unison.
Be on alert, people of the world.
A superhuman shrouded in lightning has appeared.
This is the rise of the next Solo King!
-Of course, none of that happened.
Still, it did stir up some talk.
Because a branch family member who has awakened arcane magic is considered a genius by the family itself.
Such a person being only a level 2 Solo?
They probably judged it as impossible.
The AI-based performance analysis system of the Solo Intranet skipped all the usual evaluation processes.
Thus, Jin achieved Solo Level 3!
And as a bonus, dopamine exploded.
While still dazed, Jin managed to hide the surge of delight rising from within.
Then he turned to Poe and asked,
“...I’m level 3?”
“That is correct.”
“Hmm. Uh, already?”
Jin scratched the back of his head.
It wasn’t that he disliked it, he was just flustered.
Honestly speaking, I’m not really a veteran, right?
Jin may seem simple, but when it comes to this sort of thing, he’s good at self-assessment.
Even he thought his growth rate seemed a bit steep.
He did worry whether this was really okay.
But that only lasted a moment.
If others think so, what can you do?
He decided to just think of it as a good thing.
No, he even took it a step further.
Just two videos and I’m level 3?
Man, being a Solo isn’t that big of a deal!
I’ve caught up to Fenrir, and you’re next, Eric!
Jin, who mentally pictured the wolf Beastkin and the helmet head in turn, chewed on a cookie.
Then he suddenly realized.
The stares around him were kind of odd.
Some were drinking casually without a thought, but others were watching him with intrigued eyes.
Hmm. I suddenly feel like I’m going to get indigestion.
So Jin said to Poe,
“I’m gonna finish this and head out. And update my terminal number.”
***
It was quite a while after Jin left when Khalifa finally appeared from the briefing room.
“Well then, good luck.”
She saw off the two Solos who exited the room with her, then walked toward the central table with a slightly tired face.
After briefly glancing around the now quiet shop, she spoke to Poe who approached her.
“Nothing happened?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary, but Jin did stop by.”
“Jin?”
“He said he came to inform us that he’s recovered.”
At that, Khalifa tilted her head slightly.
“...Recovered? Mama was freaking out, yelling that the patient escaped from the hospital. So whose story is right?”
“At the very least, his vital signs were all normal.”
“If it’s you saying that, then I’ll believe it.”
There was no room for doubt, this was the judgment of Poe, a top-tier android.
But Khalifa didn’t underestimate Mama’s skills either.
Sure, her personality was fiery, but when it came to ability, she was one of the top three healers in Downtown.
So the conclusion was simple.
Jin’s body possessed an unbelievable level of recovery ability.
Even just that alone placed him far beyond the category of an average Solo.
But what was even more surprising.
“Did you talk to him about the video?”
“Yes. As expected, he didn’t know.”
“I figured as much.”
Khalifa let out a shallow sigh.
She could easily imagine the face of someone who remained carefree, even as they were the center of all the buzz.
“So in the end, we’re the only ones who were surprised, huh?”
Poe handed Khalifa a glass as she gave a hollow laugh.
A cocktail shimmering with mysterious colors.
Midnight Spectrum.
Her favorite drink.
“He didn’t seem to place much significance on Tempest itself. He was just surprised that his Solo rank had gone up.”
“Seriously...”
Khalifa trailed off and took a sip of the cocktail.
Then, for a while, she stared silently into space.
Her unfocused gaze seemed to wander through a moment of the past rather than the present.
Eventually, she spoke slowly.
“...Do you remember, Poe? What Jin asked us after completing his first request?”
“He asked us to recommend a gun shop.”
“And after that?”
“You’re talking about the Mana Circuit.”
“Right. More precisely, he asked if making a Mana Circuit would let him learn and use any spell. When was that? Three months ago, maybe?”
Khalifa took another sip of her cocktail.
This time, a bit more than before.
“A distant branch of Zahad? That’s possible. Awakening magic? Surprising, but not impossible.”
The glass tilted again.
A short silence.
Then, her wet lips continued the thought.
“But if it was something accomplished by a greenhorn who’s only been training his Mana Circuit for a few months?”
Khalifa set the now-empty glass down on the table with a thud.
“...Poe, maybe Jin is going to become this city’s new legend.”
A legend of the city.
It was a dangerous statement.
Whether they had been great, vile, or mysterious, those who earned that title always left behind an unforgettable mark.
And it was those footprints that built what is now known as Lost City.
“......”
The android bartender neither agreed nor disagreed.
He merely smiled faintly and cleared the empty cocktail glass.
At some point, Khalifa’s eyes had turned to the window, now cloaked in darkness.
The blurred silhouette created by the city lights shimmered softly, like shadows cast by fire.
The scene was like a heat haze, something you could almost catch, but not quite.
Then, Khalifa softly moved her lips.
“Maybe the greatest reward of this request wasn’t Eanna, but Jin.”
The gentle music wrapped around her words.
***
Over the past few days, Jin had come to a realization.
It was this.
Even if my Solo level reaches 3, not much really changes.
It was like flipping to the next page, still reading the same book, just on a different leaf.
He suddenly remembered turning thirty back in his hometown.
It had felt similar. Probably.
Just because your age starts with a 3 doesn’t make you an adult.
It just felt a little odd, that’s all.
Would turning forty or fifty feel the same?
Hmm. No idea.
In the end, Jin’s days were more or less the same, past or present.
Eat, sleep, take a shit.
Shit, eat, sleep.
Sleep, shit, eat.
Following his belief that rest should be proper, he had taken about three days off completely, but that didn’t mean he spent time without purpose.
Just like right now.
Lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, Jin quietly observed his inner self.
A perfectly formed Mana Circuit.
Swaaah-
The ultra-pure flow rotated through his entire body like a wave, then returned to the heart.
The place where all power circulates.
There was Light Pole.
A violet sphere wrapped in thread-like lightning.
Right now, it was quietly curled up, but if Jin set his mind to it, it was a solid power that could open its eyes at any time.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
Inside Jin’s heart, there was a new resident.
A single, delicate ember.
When he first discovered it, Jin was baffled.
Who are you?
From the ember’s perspective, that was an unfair reaction.
It had been keeping that spot for over two weeks already.
And yet, that was how its so-called master responded.
Of course, Jin had his reasons.
At the time the ember first ignited, he had been crossing the wasteland in a half-crazed state. He hadn’t even checked his Status Window, he had simply kept walking.
Well, anyway.
At first, the ember felt like an unwelcome guest. But after watching it for a few days, Jin gradually warmed up to its gentle, quiet nature.
And that warmth, it felt oddly familiar.
Walter.
The man who had burned his soul to wield Black Flame, his image seemed to overlap with the ember. It couldn’t just be a coincidence.
Could it be something he left behind?
The thought didn’t linger long.
Jin decided to believe this ember was Walter’s.
Simply because he wanted to.
So, with that conclusion made.
So what’s your ability, then?
Jin poked at the ember like a mischievous uncle.
Of course, not with his finger, but with mana.
But there was no response.
If it had been Light Pole, it would’ve gone nuts immediately, but this one, so calm, so quiet. There was no sense of pushback at all.
Jin felt awkward for no reason and checked to see if maybe a new constellation had appeared. But no, nothing there either.
So what the hell is this?
Jin stared quietly at the ember, then decided he didn’t know, and turned his focus outward.
It was already a power he’d accepted as part of his heart.
Sure, it was weak for now, but what could he do?
Just go with the flow.
Besides, it was warm.
So Jin got up from the bed.
Grrrrr-
Right on cue, his stomach growled.
He left the motel and headed straight for the parking lot, where his Manticore was neatly parked, and started the engine.
Bwaaaaang!
He sped down a twilight-covered road and soon arrived in an alley lined with all kinds of food joints.
As he wandered slowly on foot after getting off the bike, Jin suddenly came to a halt in front of one shop.
[Tasty Skewers]
A name couldn’t get any simpler than that.
But the smell coming from inside was the real deal.
Drawn in as if possessed, Jin walked into the shop.
“Oh?”
The exclamation slipped out of him.
No surprise, since plates of various skewers were rotating on a round conveyor belt.
Rotating skewers?
Judging by the different plate colors indicating prices, it was definitely that kind of place.
Didn’t know a place like this existed.
Caught in an odd feeling of wonder, Jin sat in an empty seat and began snatching passing plates.
Compared to the smell, the taste was just passable.
Honestly, he felt a bit betrayed, but still, it was good enough to count as a proper dinner.
So Jin kept eating diligently.
While others with more ordinary tastes only had a plate or two before leaving with a frown, Jin, who could eat anything as long as it wasn’t literal food waste, was left alone.
Looking around, his thoughts were: ‘Nice, I get to eat everything by myself.’
You couldn’t find a more fitting moment for the line, ‘His entire way of thinking is just different from ours.’
And then.
Just as Jin was about to loosen his belt and go all in on his meal.
Step.
Someone entered the shop.
An elderly man with a full head of white hair.
His wrinkled face slowly scanned the interior, and eventually he took a seat, unfortunately, it was two spots to the right of Jin.
Because the conveyor belt rotated counterclockwise, that meant the plates would pass Jin first before reaching the old man.
For Jin, who had resolved himself with the spirit of Zhang Yide at Changban Bridge, “No plate shall pass me!”, this was truly an unfortunate situation.
But what could he do?
If ten plates passed by, he had to leave at least one or two behind for the old man, so he could eat too.
Jin made a sincere effort to toss over one of each kind, so the old guy could try a variety.
Alright, up next, grilled heart!
Every time the old man casually picked up a plate, Jin felt proud like it was a win.
And when the old man ignored it and let it pass, Jin’s stomach ached with disappointment.
This was solo theater of the highest order.
Of course, Jin was completely serious.
When a man gets fixated on something, isn’t it true that nothing else really catches his eye?
So there Jin was, debating whether to let the pork neck pass or the cartilage skewers, when.
“You’ve got quite the appetite.”
A weathered voice reached his right ear, and Jin instinctively turned his head.
And in that moment, disaster struck! He missed both the pork neck and the cartilage skewers!
Ah, no...
His heart ached, but Jin was, at his core, a man born in the Land of Courtesy in the East.
Always carrying the spirit of respecting elders in his heart, even now, with his hands stained in blood, he still held the habit of smiling and answering back when an elder smiled and spoke first.
“Are you not getting enough? Should I leave more for you?”
“No need. My stomach’s not as big as yours.”
“Ah. You should’ve said so earlier.”
As Jin sighed over the plates passing by in vain, the old man followed his gaze and chuckled softly.
Jin found the laugh pleasant and chuckled along.
“Still, you should eat more. You have to eat well as you get older.”
“How? Should I swallow them whole like you do? That, I cannot manage.”
“Aw, come on. No one’s telling you to eat like me.”
Saying that, Jin casually snatched more plates as they passed. Then, picking out only the contents, he stacked the empty plates, already building two towers tall enough to call them monuments.
Colorful and impressively high.
Enough to make the old man shake his head.
“What’s your name?”
“Pardon? Jin Evernight.”
As always, Jin gave his full name.
He paid 35 million credits for that name, after all.
He had to mention it at times like this to make the expense feel worth it.
“Cool name, right?”
To that, the old man laughed heartily.
Then asked another question.
“Where are you from?”
“Downtown.”
Jin thought for a second that this was starting to feel like a census survey, but answered casually.
Wasn’t this how elders tended to show interest? Just like those old men sitting on porch benches in mountain villages during vacation season, asking, “Hey, where are you from?”
“You’ve lived here more than 20 years?”
“Right?”
Strictly speaking, it had only been a year and three months or so,
But if he said that, wouldn’t it make his earlier claim about being from Downtown sound odd?
So Jin just nodded casually and added a follow-up.
“Sounds like you’re not from Downtown yourself, sir?”
“And what makes you think that?”
“Why would a fellow resident ask where I’m from? You can tell just by looking.”
“True, true. You’re right.”
The old man laughed,
And Jin chewed on his skewer, thinking the man’s laugh was wonderfully hearty.
Then, a random thought that crossed his mind made it out of his mouth.
“So, what brings you to Downtown, then?”
To which the old man replied,
“I was tracking down my runaway son and ended up here.”
“Oh dear...”
Jin automatically made a sympathetic face.
At the same time, he felt a quiet surge of anger.
What kind of bastard of a son runs away from home and makes his elderly father wander into this hellhole?
He could only assume the guy must be the worst kind of lowlife imaginable.