Chapter 48 - Unredeemable Brat
Solo Intranet
As the name suggests, Solo Intranet is a private platform used by solo individuals.
Its main function is to facilitate discreet matching with clients, as well as information exchange and transactions.
Here, 'self-promotion' is a matter of choice.
It's about listing information like, "Who am I? I've done this and that, and here are my accomplishments."
Take Jin's home world's people, for example.
When ordering delivery food, don't they first sort by the most orders or the most reviews?
The psychology of buyers is inherently like this.
They need to see something visible in order to trust.
Therefore, an appropriate self-promotion is a good marketing tool to attract clients.
Many solos offer their information in a visualized data dashboard.
However, there are also people in this world who don't need such things.
They are the "jangling needles in a pocket."
People who stand out just by being themselves.
Jin was like that.
It's a world with no secrets.
A video showing a solo taking down a berserker and then smashing a drug den?
That could easily spread.
In fact, it's quite common.
There are a lot of solos and mercenaries who upload their battle footage for marketing purposes.
But hold on a second.
This time, something's different... It's not just a matter of fighting well, is it?
Moreover, when the berserker was subdued, there was a flash of violet light?
It's Self-Ascension.
A lesser member of the Zahad family has awakened their power!
This is a huge event in Lost City, with downtown turning bloody and RumPumPumPum about to explode again.
The gossips quickly spread.
"Be on alert, Seins. Here comes an extraordinary being wrapped in lightning. This is the rise of the next Solo King!"
—Of course, this didn't happen.
It was just a topic of conversation.
An awakened visionary from the family line is considered a genius, so to see such a person as only a level 2 solo…
Couldn't be true, right?
The AI-based performance analysis system of the Solo Intranet skipped over all the usual evaluation steps.
And so, Jin achieved Solo Level 3!
With a bonus dopamine rush to boot.
Caught off guard, Jin tried to hide his rising feelings of exhilaration.
Then he asked Pou:
"...I'm Level 3?"
"Yes."
"Hmm. Uh, already?"
Jin scratched the back of his head.
It wasn't that he disliked it, but he was just surprised.
To be honest, he wasn't a veteran, right?
Although it may seem simple, Jin was the type to objectively evaluate himself.
Even he thought his growth was pretty rapid.
Should this be happening?
He had his doubts.
But that was brief.
If others thought so, what could he do about it?
He decided to just take it easy.
No?
Actually, he thought he'd go a step further.
Two videos released and already Level 3?
This solo thing's not such a big deal after all!
Fenrir's already caught up with, and Eric, you better watch out!
As Jin thought about the werewolf and the helmet-wearing head, he munched on a cookie.
Then, he suddenly realized something.
The atmosphere around him felt a bit strange.
While some were casually sipping their drinks, a few others were eyeing him with interest.
Hmm, he suddenly felt like he might choke.
So, Jin said to Po:
"I'll eat this and then head out. Also, save my new terminal number."
***
A long time after Jin had left, Khalifa finally made her appearance in the briefing room.
"Well then, good luck."
After seeing off the two solos who had left the room, she walked over to the central table with a slightly tired expression.
She glanced around the now quiet store and then turned to Po, who was approaching her.
"Did anything happen?"
"Nothing in particular, but Jin did stop by."
"Jin?"
"He came to let us know he had recovered."
At that, Khalifa tilted her head slightly.
"...Recovered? Mama was throwing a fit, saying the patient escaped the hospital."
"At least his biometric readings were all normal."
"If you say so, then I'll believe it."
Po, the highest-tier android, made the judgment, so there was no doubt.
However, Khalifa didn't dismiss Mama's skills either.
Despite her rough personality, Mama was one of the top healers in Downtown, and her abilities weren't to be underestimated.
So, the conclusion was simple.
Jin's body had an unbelievably high level of recovery ability.
Just based on this, he had already far surpassed the typical solo.
But what was even more surprising was—
"Did you mention the video?"
"Yes. As expected, he didn't know."
"I figured as much."
Kalifa let out a faint sigh, imagining Jin's face as he calmly went about his business despite being the subject of such a stir.
"So, in the end, we're not the only ones who were shocked, huh?"
With a wry smile, Khalifa took a cocktail glass from Po.
The mysterious-colored drink swirled in the glass.
Midnight Spectrum.
It was her favorite.
"He doesn't seem to place much significance on the self-ascension itself. He was just surprised his solo level went up."
"Unbelievable…"
Kalifa trailed off as she took a sip of the cocktail.
Then, for a while, she silently stared into the distance.
Her eyes, unfocused, seemed lost in memories of the past.
Eventually, she slowly spoke again.
"...Do you remember, Po? What question Jin asked us after completing his first commission?"
"He asked us to recommend a gun shop."
"And then?"
"He asked about mana circuits."
"Exactly. Specifically, he asked if, by creating a mana circuit, he could learn and use any spell. How long has it been? Maybe three months?"
Khalifa took another sip of her drink, this time a larger amount.
"One of Zahad's distant branches? It's possible. An awakening of arcane magic? Surprising, but not impossible."
She tilted her glass again.
A brief silence.
Her lips, now wet, continued.
"But what if this was something done by a rookie who's only been learning mana circuits for a few months?"
Khalifa slammed her now-empty glass onto the table.
"...Po, maybe Jin will become the new legend of this city."
A city's legend.
It was a dangerous statement.
Whether great, ugly, or mysterious, those who earned that title always left an unforgettable mark on the world.
And those marks were the foundation of today's Lost City.
"..."
The android bartender neither agreed nor disagreed.
He simply smiled faintly and cleared the empty glass from the table.
Kalifa had already turned her gaze to the window, where the darkness had settled outside.
The city lights cast blurry silhouettes, which swayed gently like shadows reflected in fire.
The sight was almost like a mirage, one that couldn't quite be grasped.
At some point, Khalifa muttered under her breath.
"Maybe the greatest harvest of this commission wasn't Anna... but Jin."
The soft sounds of music embraced her words.
***
In the past few days, Jin had realized something.
That is:
Reaching Solo Level 3 didn't really change much.
It felt like turning a page in a book, but the story remained the same.
Suddenly, he remembered when he turned thirty back in his hometown.
It was similar then.
Just because the first digit of his age became a 3 didn't mean he suddenly became an adult.
It just felt a little new.
Would it be the same for forty or fifty?
Hmm.
He wasn't sure.
In the end, Jin's days were much the same now as they had been before.
Eat, sleep, poop.
Poop, eat, sleep.
Sleep, poop, eat.
He firmly believed that rest was essential, so he took three full days to relax, but that didn't mean he wasted time.
Just like now.
Lying on his bed, Jin quietly contemplated his inner self as he stared at the ceiling.
A perfectly crafted mana circuit.
Swish—
The pure flow moved like a wave, circulating throughout his entire body before heading back to his heart.
The place where all the power circulates.
Within it, there was lightning.
A purple sphere wrapped in lightning-like threads, curling tightly around his body.
Though it was coiled and still for now, if Jin set his mind to it, it would spring to life in an instant, a reliable force ready to strike.
But this wasn't all.
There was a new presence within Jin's heart.
A single fragile ember.
When he first discovered it, Jin was puzzled.
Who are you?
The ember, feeling somewhat wronged, responded.
"I've been here for more than half a month already, yet my master reacts like this?"
Of course, Jin also had his side to the story.
When the ember first flared up, Jin had been wandering through the wasteland in a daze.
He hadn't even been able to read his status window, just mindlessly walking.
Anyway…
At first, the ember felt like an annoying stranger, but after observing it for a few days, Jin had slowly opened his heart to it.
What's more, the warmth it emitted felt strangely familiar.
Walter.
The man who had burned his soul to ignite the black flame—Jin couldn't help but see Walter's figure superimposed over the ember.
It wasn't just a coincidence.
Could it be that this was something Walter had left behind?
The thought didn't linger for long.
Jin decided that this was indeed Walter's ember.
He simply wanted to believe it.
So, with the decision made...
"Well then, what's your power?"
Jin poked at the ember teasingly, like an uncle playing with a nephew.
Of course, not with his fingers, but with mana.
But there was no response.
If it had been the lightning, it would have thrown a fit by now, but this ember was remarkably quiet.
It just sat there, making it hard for Jin to figure out what to make of it.
Slightly awkward, Jin turned inward, wondering if a new constellation had appeared within him.
He checked again, but there was nothing new.
So what was this thing?
Staring at the ember quietly, Jin finally shrugged and turned his attention outward.
It was already a member of his internal world.
For now, it was weak, but what could he do?
He'd just accept it for what it was.
And anyway, it was warm.
With that thought, Jin sat up from his bed.
Grrr…
Just then, his stomach growled.
With manticore carefully parked in the motel parking lot, he quickly started up the engine.
Vroooom!
Racing down the road as dusk settled, he arrived at a narrow alley filled with various eateries.
After dismounting his bike, Jin wandered through the streets, and suddenly, his feet stopped in front of a particular shop.
[Delicious Skewers]
An unassuming name.
But the smell wafting from inside was all too real.
Drawn in by the fragrance, Jin stepped into the shop almost like he was hypnotized.
"Wow."
The exclamation slipped out without him even realizing it.
And it was no wonder—plates filled with various skewers were slowly revolving on a round conveyor belt.
Rotating skewers?
With different colored plates to distinguish prices, it was clear what kind of place this was.
Well, I didn't know such a place existed.
In this peculiar mood, Jin sat down in an empty seat and swiped a passing plate.
The taste wasn't anything special, but compared to the smell, it was quite underwhelming.
Honestly, it felt like a betrayal, but still, it was acceptable for a dinner.
Jin continued eating diligently.
As he did, the average customers around him, who were satisfied with just one or two plates, left the shop with disappointed expressions.
But Jin, who was happy to eat anything as long as it wasn't trash, remained.
While looking around, his thought was simple: Ah, I can eat all of this myself.
"Their mindset is completely different from ours," was probably the most fitting sentence to describe the situation.
And so, Jin continued his solitary meal, entirely absorbed in the process.
Just as Jin was about to undo his belt and fully focus on his meal—
Tap-tap.
Someone entered the shop.
It was an elderly man with white hair.
His wrinkled face slowly scanned the interior of the shop before he eventually took a seat.
Unfortunately, that seat was right next to Jin, just a bit further to the right.
Because of the counter-clockwise rotation of the conveyor belt, the plates would pass by Jin first before reaching the elderly man.
To Jin, who had already resolved in his mind that no plate would pass by him, this was a most unfortunate situation.
But what could he do?
When 10 plates passed by, Jin could only spare 1 or 2 for the old man.
He made an effort to toss one of each type, thinking that he should at least let the man taste a variety.
"Here comes the liver!"
Every time the old man snatched a plate, Jin couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride, thinking, Did he like it?
But when the old man ignored a plate and passed it by, Jin's stomach clenched with disappointment.
But Jin was sincere in his actions.
Men tend to get fixated on something, and when they do, everything else fades into the background.
So, as he debated whether to pass the pork neck or the oxtail, the elderly man suddenly spoke.
"Quite the appetite you have."
The old voice crept into Jin's right ear, causing him to turn his head unconsciously.
In the process, he completely missed both the pork neck and the oxtail.
A disaster!
No!
His heart sank, but Jin, being born in a land of etiquette, still had the ingrained habit of responding politely when an elder spoke.
Even after all he'd been through, this habit remained.
"Are you not getting enough? Should I save you some more?"
"No need. My stomach isn't as big as yours."
"Oh. You should have said so earlier."
With a sigh as he watched the plates pass by the old man, Jin glanced over at the old man, who laughed heartily.
It was such a pleasant sound that Jin couldn't help but chuckle too.
"Well, you should eat more. As you get older, you really should eat well."
"How? Am I supposed to swallow it without chewing like you? I don't think I could do that."
"Ha, who says I eat like that?"
Jin said this while swiping passing plates and picking out just the contents, stacking them into two towering piles of colorful plates.
They were quite tall.
The old man shook his head in disbelief.
"What's your name?"
"Huh? Jin Evernight."
Jin casually stated his full name.
After all, he had spent 35 million credits on it.
He might as well mention it when he could.
"Isn't it a cool name?"
The old man chuckled, then asked again.
"Where are you from?"
"Downtown."
Jin answered nonchalantly, though the question felt a bit like an odd inquiry.
It wasn't uncommon for elderly people to ask such questions.
It was like the old folks who, during the holidays, would ask where you were from when you visited a remote mountain village.
"You've lived here for over 20 years?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Strictly speaking, it had only been a year and three months, but if he admitted that, it would make his earlier claim of being from Downtown sound strange.
So Jin nodded casually and added, "So, you're not from Downtown, huh?"
"Why do you ask?"
"When people from the same place meet, you don't really need to ask. You can tell right away."
"Yeah, you're right."
The old man laughed, and Jin continued munching on his skewers, thinking to himself how hearty the old man's laughter sounded.
Then, an unexpected question popped into Jin's mind, and he asked it out loud.
"So, what brings you to Downtown?"
The old man replied,
"I came looking for my son who ran away, and I ended up here."
"Oh, dear."
Jin unconsciously made a sympathetic expression.
But at the same time, a simmering anger began to rise.
What kind of rotten kid makes his old father wander all the way into this dump?
He couldn't help but think that the son was probably a despicable, unredeemable brat.