Chapter 125: Lawless Zone

Episode 125

Kim Jinsung and Karen drew their swords simultaneously.

However, unlike Kim Jinsung, who immediately assumed an attack stance, Karen gradually retreated.

He knew better than anyone that he wouldn’t be of any help in battle, wearing the hunter shackles Kim Jinsung had given him.

“Be careful! If they’re from Triunfo, they won’t be easy opponents!”

“They’re not.”

“……?”

Just as Karen, momentarily confused, looked at the back of Kim Jinsung’s head,

“Haaaah!”

The enemies, who had already closed the distance, swung their swords at Kim Jinsung with a shout.

But their swords only cut through empty air.

“?!”

“What?”

The enemies looked around, trying to find Kim Jinsung, who had suddenly disappeared.

They soon spotted him standing behind them.

_When did he move behind us?_

…That’s what they wanted to say, but they couldn’t.

Their heads, turned to look at him, were instantly severed from their necks and fell to the ground.

The heads rolled on the ground with a thud.

“Hieeeek…!”

One of the remaining enemies screamed and fell on his backside in terror.

His eyes met Kim Jinsung’s.

“U-uwaaaah!”

He screamed and began to run back the way he came with all his might.

But,

**Thud!**

“Ugh…!”

He tripped and fell forward clumsily, his momentum carrying him forward.

He looked down at his ankles, feeling a strange sensation.

“W-what’s this?!”

Thick spiderwebs were tightly wrapped around his ankles.

As Kim Jinsung approached him and extended his palm, another massive amount of spiderweb shot out.

A moment later,

“Mmm! Mmm…!”

The man’s entire body, including his mouth, was completely wrapped in white spiderwebs.

Kim Jinsung looked back at Karen.

“Do you know a good place to interrogate him around here?”

Karen, who had been staring blankly, nodded.

* * *

A while later,

Kim Jinsung and Karen entered an abandoned building in a secluded corner of the residential area.

They went up to the third floor, where Kim Jinsung tied the captured man to a chair and began interrogating him.

“…Is this true?”

Kim Jinsung asked the man again after a while.

“You attacked us purely for money?”

“…Yes.”

The man replied in a slurred voice, his eyes unfocused and hazy, as if he were drunk.

Kim Jinsung asked again.

“Are you really not related to the Triunfo Clan?”

“Yeees…”

“Look me in the eye and answer properly.”

Kim Jinsung met the man’s gaze at eye level.

—

▶ Using the ‘Hypnosis’ skill. Casting the skill for 5 seconds.

▶ Skill successfully cast.

—

As he used the Hypnosis skill again, the man’s eyes turned green, a sign that he was under hypnosis.

Karen, watching from behind, had a surprised expression.

‘He can even use hypnosis…’

He looked at Kim Jinsung with newfound respect.

“Are you really not related to the Triunfo Clan?”

Kim Jinsung was confirming with the man once again.

“Yes… I really… am not…”

The same answer came back.

Kim Jinsung finally gave up on the interrogation and stood up from his squatting position.

He drew the dagger from his waist and lightly plunged it into the man’s forehead.

With a thud, the man’s head slumped forward lifelessly. Kim Jinsung pulled out the dagger and spoke.

“It seems he really wasn’t related.”

He continued, addressing Karen, who was looking at him.

“Nothing suspicious came out of the bodies of the dead guys either… Above all, the attackers were too weak. If it were me, I would have sent at least someone stronger than Franco’s group.”

“I agree.”

Karen replied in agreement.

“I think we just had the bad luck of encountering a common group of bandits in the B district.”

“Common?”

Instead of answering, Karen gestured with his chin towards one of the windows.

Kim Jinsung walked over to the window and looked down.

A large trash can was placed in the corner of the alley.

He saw corpses piled up inside, covered with black plastic bags.

Arms and legs protruded from between the bags, covered in blood.

“This is a common sight in the B district.”

Karen’s explanation reached Kim Jinsung’s ears as he stared silently.

“It’s one of two things. Either they were victims of robbery, or they were robbers who failed and were killed instead.”

“…I guess there are more corpses from the latter around here today.”

Kim Jinsung recalled what had happened before they entered the building.

He remembered Karen stuffing the bodies he had killed into a nearby trash can.

“They just leave the corpses piled up like that? Isn’t this a residential area with a lot of people?”

“I told you, it’s the area with the worst security in the city. It’s not called the ‘Lawless Zone’ or the ‘Abandoned Zone’ for nothing.”

Karen walked over to the window, looked down, and continued explaining.

“I’ve passed through this alley dozens of times, but I’ve never seen Paladins patrolling here.”

“Never patrolled?”

“That’s why the corpses are openly piled up in the trash cans.”

“They’re patrolling over there.”

“……!”

Karen, surprised, immediately looked in the direction Kim Jinsung was looking.

It was true.

Two Paladins were walking towards the abandoned building where they were.

“…What?”

Karen muttered with a bewildered expression. He seemed quite shocked to see Paladins in this alley.

Kim Jinsung was looking at the left chests of the Paladins.

‘Daehan Clan again.’

The Taegeuk mark was drawn on their left chests.

“Is this area designated for patrols by Daehan Clan Paladins only?”

“I told you Paladins don’t patrol this area… Anyway, we need to run. They’re walking straight towards us.”

As Karen said, the Paladins were getting closer.

Karen looked around.

“We need to escape to the roof. There’s only one way out, and the Paladins are coming from that direction.”

“Wait.”

Kim Jinsung immediately extended his palm upwards.

—

▶ Using the ‘Eye of Surveillance’ skill.

▶ Summoned ‘Eye of Surveillance’.

—

A transparent, single-eyed ‘Eye of Surveillance’ was summoned and immediately flew out the window at high speed.

When the Eye of Surveillance reached the middle of the alley, a good distance away,

—

▶ Using the ‘Teleport’ skill, which can only be used when the ‘Eye of Surveillance’ summon is present.

▶ Teleporting to the location of the ‘Eye of Surveillance’ summon.

▶ The ‘Eye of Surveillance’ summon at the destination will be destroyed.

—

Kim Jinsung and Karen instantly vanished from the abandoned building.

All that remained was the corpse of the man slumped lifelessly in the chair.

* * *

After leaving the alley, the two entered the ‘Exchange Street’ in the B16 district.

It was a street filled with nothing but exchange offices.

“Only those in the know come here. There’s no place in the B district where you can sell trophies for a higher price than on this street.”

Karen didn’t hesitate and started walking, entering only a few specific exchange offices out of the many.

Seeing him confidently navigate the street, it seemed like these were places he frequented.

The places Karen visited were indeed much more crowded than others.

‘…I should remember this.’

There was a reason why people flocked to certain places.

Kim Jinsung memorized the names and locations of the exchange offices he had visited with Karen.

After completing three transactions, they went to a fourth exchange office to sell magic stones.

As Kim Jinsung poured the magic stones from his bag into a basket, the owner skillfully assessed their quality and weight, then began calculating the price.

“So, the total amount is… Huh?”

The owner, who was about to announce the price, suddenly stopped and stared towards the entrance with a stiff expression.

Kim Jinsung turned his head towards the entrance and frowned.

‘…Again?’

It was another group of Paladins who had entered the exchange office.

Two Paladins with the Taegeuk mark on their chests approached Kim Jinsung and spoke.

“Paladins. Show us your ID.”

The following events unfolded exactly as they had in the B15 district.

They shouted at him to stop lying when he said he was from Argentina, then turned away with suspicious expressions after the measuring device showed that he wasn’t a Colosseum participant.

“Whew~! That was a surprise…”

The owner sighed with relief as the Paladins left the exchange office.

Karen asked him,

“Are Paladins patrolling the B district frequently these days?”

They had already encountered Paladins three times since arriving in the B district, which hadn’t been long.

Considering that it was difficult to even encounter one in a day before, Karen couldn’t help but wonder if the Major clans had changed their policies.

“No way.”

The owner shook his head and replied.

“It’s because a Korean hunter on the public wanted list infiltrated the New Continent a few days ago.

So, the Daehan Clan Paladins are especially vigilant and patrolling the entire B district!”

“Ah…”

Karen nodded in understanding, and the owner continued.

“It’s actually a good thing! Crime in the B district has noticeably decreased since the Paladins started patrolling frequently!

Yesterday, there wasn’t a single murder in the B16 district for the first time!”

“Really?”

Karen asked back with a surprised expression, and the owner nodded vigorously.

“It’s true! With the Paladins patrolling 24/7, how can anyone openly commit murder? Don’t you think so?”

“That’s true, but…”

“I wish that wanted criminal would never get caught. Then the Paladins would keep patrolling.”

The owner chattered excitedly.

Kim Jinsung, listening silently, thought to himself,

‘They’re really determined to catch me.’

He recalled Yong Hangil, who had relentlessly pursued him.

It seemed he had no intention of giving up.

‘I should lay low for a while. I need to be careful about using dark energy or skills, just in case.’

* * *

After selling all their items at the exchange office, Kim Jinsung and Karen started heading back to the B15 district.

“…A total of 63 million Blanc.”

Kim Jinsung counted the money in the envelope and asked Karen,

“What’s the value of 1 Blanc?”

“Hmm… A cheap hotel room costs about 50,000 Blanc per night. A hamburger set is about 8,000 Blanc.”

Kim Jinsung nodded.

It seemed like the money he was carrying wasn’t that small after all.

As if reading his thoughts, Karen continued explaining.

“60 million Blanc might seem like a lot, but it’s definitely not a lot for hunters. The cheapest HP potion in this area starts at 10 million Blanc.

Decent weapons and armor start at several billion.”

“Hmm.”

“And don’t take out your money carelessly on the streets. Unless you want to be swarmed by robbers like flies.”

Kim Jinsung put the envelope of money back into his pocket.

He wasn’t afraid of robbers, but he hated being bothered.

“Where to now?”

“The bank first. We can’t keep carrying this money around, can we?”

Karen answered, then glanced at Kim Jinsung.

He looked at the inner pocket where the money envelope was and asked,

“You’re not planning to keep all that money for yourself, are you?”

“Yes.”

“……”

“You still have a long way to go to pay for the life I saved in that cave.”

Karen, speechless, turned his gaze away. Kim Jinsung immediately asked,

“Let’s grab some food after we go to the bank. Are there any decent restaurants near the bank?”

“Yes. You can find almost anything in the B15 district, which is a bustling area.”

“Good. As a reward for kindly providing information, I’ll treat you to lunch.”

“…I’m touched.”

“Don’t mention it.”

They continued walking and talking, then entered an alley.

“…This is the same alley from before.”

“It’s the fastest shortcut to B15. Besides, we saw Paladins patrolling here earlier, right?”

Karen continued as he entered the alley.

“Do you think there are any idiots who would try to ambush us after seeing Paladins patrolling?”

**Boom!**

At that moment, a massive explosion erupted right in front of Karen.

—