Chapter 602

Brielle stretched as she rose from the bed.

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she pulled back the curtains, and dazzling sunlight poured in like a waterfall.

It was an intense sunlight she couldn’t feel in the World Tree village where she had been staying recently. In the World Tree village, the World Tree cast a vast shade, so it was always cool.

Unless one deliberately left the village, there was no chance to face such strong sunlight.

Her skin stung a little, but she didn’t dislike it.

Because this place, bathed in the strong morning sun, was Zeon’s house in the slums. Ever since she had been kidnapped into the human world, it was the only place where she had felt attachment and found comfort.

Zeon’s house, which she had returned to after a long time, was still cozy.

The things in her room were all still there.

Thanks to that, Brielle was able to sleep deeply in her room without feeling any sense of unfamiliarity.

“Nice!”

After enjoying the sunlight for a moment, she got dressed and stepped out into the living room.

Zeon, who was sitting on the sofa drinking tea, greeted her with a smile.

“Sleep well?”

“Yeah! Really well. What about you?”

“I slept well too, for the first time in a while.”

“Home really is the best, right?”

“It is.”

“Hehe!”

Brielle smiled, showing her white teeth.

“Should we go to Old Man Klexi’s place after so long?”

“Sounds good.”

The two immediately went outside and headed toward Klexi’s shop.

Looking around the streets, Brielle said,

“It’s changed a lot.”

“It has.”

Zeon agreed.

While he had gone to the Primordial Forest and the World Tree village to install portals, the slums had changed beyond recognition.

Especially the empty lot where the portal had been installed—it had transformed so much it was dazzling.

The once desolate lot was now packed with tall buildings, and countless people were waiting to use the portal.

Priority access to the portal was given to City Hall and Awakeners from each district. Those who didn’t belong to those groups had to wait a long time for their turn.

Because of that, many people stayed near the portal.

Targeting them, numerous shops and restaurants had sprung up nearby.

In just a few months, the barren lot had turned into a bustling district.

Thanks to that, money and vitality were now flowing through the slums.

Brielle seemed fascinated by the changes, constantly looking around.

“At this rate, your neck’s going to snap.”

“This is nothing.”

At that moment, a translucent figure quietly appeared above Brielle’s shoulder.

It was her spirit, Lili.

—This is amazing!

Lili widened her eyes as she looked around.

Having only lived in the World Tree village, this was her first time seeing such a huge city.

Everything she saw was fascinating.

Tall buildings, vehicles passing by with loud noises, and people filling the streets.

All the bustling things she couldn’t see in the World Tree village captured Lili’s interest.

Brielle stroked Lili’s head and said,

“You can’t show yourself. Lili!”

—Why?

“There are no spirits in this place.”

—Really?

“Yeah! So they might try to capture you.”

—Capture me? What for?

“They might experiment on you for research, or lock you up and keep you to themselves.”

—Ew! I hate that.

“Then don’t show yourself and just look quietly.”

—Okay! I will.

Lili nodded and hid herself.

After walking for a while, the two arrived at the street where Old Man Klexi’s shop was.

A street that was usually quiet now had quite a number of people.

As more people flowed into the slums, footsteps had begun reaching here as well.

Thanks to that, many restaurants were enjoying a boom.

Yet, oddly enough, only Old Man Klexi’s shop had no customers.

Klexi was smoking, looking displeased about something. In front of his shop stood two men.

“Hey, old man! Why won’t you sell us food?”

“It’s my choice, you punks!”

“Fuck! We’re paying you, so why not?”

“I said I don’t need your money, you bastards!”

“This old geezer really…”

The two angry men raised their fists to strike Klexi. But Klexi merely looked at them with an indifferent expression.

At that moment, a restaurant owner nearby approached the two men.

He was so large that it was hard to believe he was just a restaurant owner. The two men flinched at his approach.

“What?”

“Yeah, what?”

Trying to hide the fact that they had been intimidated, they raised their voices instead.

The restaurant owner grinned.

“Our old man is too old to cook now. Why don’t you come to our place instead?”

“What the hell? His shop is clearly open, and he’s not cooking? Does that make sense?”

The men looked dumbfounded.

They were Awakeners from Neo Seoul who had come on purpose after hearing rumors about how amazing Klexi’s food was. But they were furious because he refused to cook despite having his shop open.

The restaurant owner casually draped his log-like arms over their shoulders and said,

“I told you. Our old man only cooks when he feels like it.”

“Ugh!”

“Ghk!”

In that instant, the two men’s expressions changed completely.

An immense pressure weighed down on their shoulders.

‘An Awakener.’

‘Definitely higher rank than us. Why is someone like this here…’

They tried to shake off his arm, but it was useless.

No matter how much they struggled, his arm didn’t budge.

The restaurant owner whispered to them,

“Let’s go quietly. Unless you want to be chopped up and thrown into a pot.”

“Eek!”

“Gasp!”

At his threat, their faces turned pale.

Only then did they notice their surroundings.

All the shop owners on the street were staring at them with fierce expressions.

Feeling the murderous aura coming from them, their hearts dropped.

‘What is this place?’

‘Chop people up and put them in a pot? Is this some kind of human meat restaurant?’

The men trembled at the horrifying thought.

The restaurant owner smiled at their reaction.

Of course, there was no intention of actually killing and cooking them.

It was just a threat.

The men, now completely cowed, were dragged away by the restaurant owner. They sat quietly, waiting for the food he would prepare.

At that moment, Brielle ran up to Old Man Klexi.

“Grandpa!”

“Oh? Well, look who it is. Brielle, isn’t it?”

Klexi’s expression changed completely from when he had dealt with the men.

He jumped to his feet and welcomed her.

“It’s been a while, Grandpa!”

“When did you get back?”

“Hehe! I came last night.”

“Then you came straight here after waking up?”

“Yeah!”

“You must be hungry. Sit down.”

Klexi smiled as he offered her a seat.

The difference in how he treated her compared to the two men was stark.

Zeon sat down beside Brielle and said,

“I’m here too, you know?”

“I know. Just sit quietly and eat.”

“Isn’t this a bit of unfair treatment?”

“Are you the same as Brielle?”

“Tch!”

Zeon pouted, but he didn’t feel bad.

Klexi chatted with Brielle as if she were his real granddaughter.

Perhaps word had spread that Brielle had returned, because elderly people from other shops came over.

“How have you been? Why didn’t you come all this time?”

“I went back to my hometown for a bit.”

“Your hometown? You said it was far away, right? Ah! Did you use the portal?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s wonderful. Now that there’s a portal, you can come anytime, right?”

“Yep!”

“You look even prettier after visiting your hometown.”

“Really?”

“Of course!”

“Hehe!”

Brielle smiled happily at their praise.

She was the only one the elderly on this street treated so warmly.

Attention poured onto Brielle, who had returned to the slums after a long time, like rain.

As a result, Zeon ended up like the two men who had come earlier—completely left out.

While Klexi was busy preparing food for Brielle, he suddenly asked,

“Come to think of it, I don’t see Levin.”

“He went to his office.”

“That fixer office?”

“Yes! He said he was worried since he’d been away so long, so he went there right away last night.”

“That brat is safe, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“Why didn’t you sell food to those guys earlier?”

Zeon’s gaze shifted toward the two men who had been chased away.

Klexi snorted.

“Do you think there are only one or two like them? I don’t know how the rumors spread, but more of them keep coming. It’s annoying. This is all because you installed the portal in the slums.”

“So you don’t like it?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just a hassle. Ever since the portal was installed, more people have been coming all the way here.”

“If it’s that annoying, when are you going to make money?”

“You think I come out here to make money? I’ve already earned enough to last me a lifetime.”

“Still.”

“If you keep nagging, you can go over there too.”

“No, I’ll keep quiet.”

“Tsk!”

Klexi clicked his tongue and shot Zeon a glare.

Receiving his gaze, Zeon pretended to whistle and looked off into the distance.

Klexi didn’t find that annoying or unpleasant.

Though his words were blunt, Klexi was deeply grateful to Zeon.

After Zeon installed the portal in the slums’ empty lot, vitality had begun to flow.

It had been well over a hundred years since the slums formed in Neo Seoul.

For that long, the slums had remained gloomy, as if under a petrification spell.

More buildings had been built, but there had been almost no change in atmosphere or people’s mindset.

A sense of defeat and helplessness—that no matter how hard they tried, they could never enter Neo Seoul—had dominated the slums for a century.

No matter how hard Klexi and the Awakeners of the Goblin Market tried, they couldn’t change that underlying lethargy.

Yet, just the fact that a portal had been installed changed the atmosphere drastically in a short time.

A change that hadn’t occurred in a hundred years happened because of a single portal.

Many people in the slums left for the mana stone mines using the portal to earn money, and Awakeners from Neo Seoul—who had never set foot in the slums—began coming to use it.

Vitality spread throughout the slums.

Klexi welcomed this change.

With that feeling, he served food made with great care for Zeon.

Clack!

“Here! Eat up.”

“Thank you.”

Zeon smiled and picked up his chopsticks.

“You damn brat.”

“Yes! I’ll live long and prosper.”

“Yeah! Live long enough to smear shit on the walls.”

Klexi truly wished for that.

‘Live long and bring change to this entire land, just like you did to the slums.’