LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Cover
Cracks opened in the sky, and dungeon breaks erupted from the ground.
After the great cataclysm, new named areas appeared in various places. The land that hunters ultimately failed to save was taken over by surviving monsters.
Of course, that didn’t mean people didn’t live in such areas. Those who started living in these dangerous lands where death could come at any moment sometimes killed monsters and sometimes killed other people to survive.
The place where I was born and raised. Previously called Dobong-dong before the cataclysm, now known as Zone C-281, this lawless area was the home I had lived in.
‘Even if I hadn’t been kidnapped by the laboratory, I was planning to leave this place anyway, so it doesn’t mean much now.’
Colorful neon signs flickered chaotically in the narrow, damp, and dark streets.
Splash, I walked through the maze-like alleys, stepping in puddles. The sound of laughter and chatter could be heard from somewhere, along with the acrid smell of cigarette smoke.
Sensing all of this, I lowered my gaze. The ‘villain’ I had safely brought out of the laboratory was quietly following me, holding my hand.
I’m used to it, having lived here for over 10 years, but the child probably isn’t. Yet, his face remained as lifeless as a doll as he quietly followed me.
It’s surprisingly fearless. What on earth did he go through in that laboratory?
‘Well, it’s convenient for me.’
I quickly pushed away the curiosity that had unconsciously arisen and composed myself. I had resolved not to care about what the child had been through, but I almost wavered again.
Ha, I’m really too kind for my own good. This kid might look harmless now, but he’ll become the ‘great calamity’ that could split the world in half if things go wrong. Why should what happened before matter?
Stop being stupid and focus on what needs to be done. As we arrived at our destination, I took the opportunity to warn the child again.
“Kid. Don’t leave my side without my permission, and don’t talk to anyone else. Got it?”
“……”
The child looked up at me with emotionless eyes and nodded slightly.
Yeah, even this kind of response is better than nothing. Considering how he completely ignored everything when we first met, this is progress in its own way.
Swallowing a sigh inwardly, I knocked loudly on the huge iron door in front of us.
At the end of the winding alleyways like a maze stood a building so tall it seemed to touch the sky.
It was a place where all the skilled criminals in Zone C-281 gathered, with no particular name. The owner who built this building disliked unnecessary things.
‘It would be funny to give a grand name to a gathering of criminals anyway.’
After knocking on the door, I waited for a moment. Click, with the sound of the lock being undone, the iron door slowly opened.
“Why did it take so long to open?”
As I entered, grumbling, the doorkeeper who had opened the door made an exasperated expression.
“What are you saying, showing up suddenly in the middle of the night? And who’s this kid?”
“You must have seen me coming on the surveillance cameras anyway, so I’m complaining because you opened late. Don’t mind the kid.”
I casually replied while hiding the child behind me. The doorkeeper clicked his tongue with an awkward look.
“A guy who ran away comes back after months with a kid, of course it’s surprising. So what’s up?”
“It’s my long-lost little brother from ancient times.”
“Talking nonsense again.”
“Yep~ Can I come in?”
“You, you disrespectful brat…”
I walked past the curious doorkeeper towards the central hall of the building. The large and spacious interior of the building had almost everything.
Commercial and residential spaces were combined, with elevators and monorails connecting buildings intricately intertwined throughout. The advertising videos projected on the exterior walls and the chaotically flashing neon signs were dizzying.
It was enough to disorient anyone new to this place with its cyberpunk-like environment. If you wander around absentmindedly, you’ll either lose your life or your money.
I firmly held the child’s hand and first took the elevator. We needed to go to the 10th basement floor.
Clunk, whirr.
The old elevator moved slowly with a noisy sound.
While waiting to reach the basement, I recalled the conversation I had with the doorkeeper earlier.
‘There’s probably a limit to how much I can brush things off like that…’
I need to take responsibility and continue living with the child to prevent him from awakening as the great calamity, so it might be safer to come up with some kind of plan. Since he happens to have black hair like me, pretending to be brothers would be the most plausible.
The problem is that I don’t know this kid’s name. I haven’t asked yet, but a guy who just nods at everything I say probably won’t willingly tell me his name.
‘Nothing is easy.’
The more I thought about it, the more I could only sigh. Ding, the elevator finally stopped at the 10th basement floor and the doors opened.
Outside the elevator, a street lined with shops displaying various goods stretched out on both sides. This floor, including all the basement levels, was filled with black markets. It was the perfect place to sell items from the laboratory that the government was probably busy tracking down now.
I entered a small, shabby room in the most secluded corner.
In the dark room with the lights off, I made my way through the clutter filling the space. Soon, I saw the blue light emanating from a monitor and the back of someone sitting in front of it.
“Hm-hm, hum, hm-hm~”
After watching for a moment as the person happily tapped away at the keyboard while humming, I noticed headphones on their ears and forcefully kicked the back of the chair.
Clatter, bang!
“Aaah, shit! What the-?”
The person who tumbled forward with the chair hurriedly took off their headphones and turned around. Then, their face scrunched up in a dumbfounded expression.
“Are you crazy… Cha, Cha Seo-hu?”
“Long time no see.”
I grinned and greeted the person pointing at me from the floor. They jumped up and immediately shouted.
“You bastard, you disappear for months and the first thing you say is ‘long time no see’? Long time no see?! Shit, I thought you were dead somewhere!”
“Were you worried about me?”
“Look at this bastard’s shameless face, ah! I’m pissed!”
Ah, so noisy.
Crack! As I ostentatiously covered my ears with my hands, the other person, apparently enraged, threw their headphones on the floor.
“Fuck!”
The name of this person shouting at me like this is Hyun Do-woon. With his design ability, he’s a top-notch programmer and hacker known as ‘k’.
Like me, he was lucky enough to survive here since childhood, and he was one of the few acquaintances I knew from this place.
“Alright, alright. I disappeared without contact for a long time, right? But I had my reasons, you know?”
I let go of the child’s hand for a moment and casually walked over to Hyun Do-woon, putting my arm around his shoulder.
My purpose for coming here was Hyun Do-woon, so it wasn’t good to provoke him too much. After all, I desperately needed Hyun Do-woon’s help right now.
“Are you going to let go?”
But Hyun Do-woon, already seeming thoroughly annoyed, glared at me with upturned eyes.
What are you going to do by glaring at me like that? Knowing that he always ends up doing what I ask despite acting like this every time, I ignored it and opened my mouth.
“I’m really sorry. It wasn’t that I didn’t contact you on purpose, I had my circumstances.”
“Stop bullshitting and let go.”
“I’m serious. I got kidnapped by some crazy laboratory…”
Bang!
Before I could finish explaining, the room door flew open with a loud noise.
“Cha Seo-hu!”
“Seo-hu, Seo-hu, are you here?”
“Ah, this…”
Familiar women poured in through the open door. Seeing this scene, I sighed with my arm still around Hyun Do-woon’s shoulder.
‘I knew this would happen, that’s why I tried to leave as quickly as possible.’
The women who spotted me looking troubled glared with fierce eyes and growled.
“Cha Seo-hu, you left home without telling us and didn’t even contact us!”
“We raised you and fed you, and now that you’ve grown up, you’re cutting ties? Is that it?”
“You ungrateful brat! You bastard!”
“No, that’s not it. Please calm down, sisters.”
I hastily smiled and tried to placate them. Unlike the manageable Hyun Do-woon, these women were managers of the black market and executives of this building.
They were not only strong enough to kill someone with F-rank physique like me with one hand, but their personalities were also not easy to deal with, making them difficult for me to handle.
If they’re all coming like this, it seems the news of my return has spread properly. I should have come through some back alley instead of the main entrance. If I were alone, I could have come and gone secretly, but because I had the child with me and entered through the main entrance, this commotion broke out.
“Huh? Who’s this little one?”
“Gasp, he’s cute!”
The women who were charging at me with murderous intent suddenly noticed the child standing blankly in the middle and looked surprised. Despite the commotion around him, the child was still just looking at me.
“Oh my, is this a child Seo-hu brought?”
“He looks exactly like you did back then.”
“Where did you pick him up?”
“Sister, don’t talk about him like he’s a stray animal… There are circumstances, and I’m taking care of him.”
“What are you saying? You were a picked-up child too.”
…Well, that’s true.
As I was left speechless, the women excitedly reached out to the child.
“Little one, what’s your name?”
“You’re so pretty.”
“Come here.”
No matter what, knowing the child’s identity, it was too dangerous to let them touch him. I quickly approached and pulled the child into my arms before their hands could reach him.
“Don’t touch him without permission.”
“What’s the big deal?”
“We’re not going to hit him or anything. We just wanted to pinch his cheeks and give him some candy.”
“I endured that treatment from you sisters for years, you think I’d let it happen?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of them looking genuinely disappointed after just meeting the child.
As I answered casually while patting the back of the child in my arms, the child tightly hugged my neck. Surprised by the unexpectedly strong grip, I glanced down and saw the tips of the child’s ears had turned bright red as he buried his face in the crook of my neck.