Chapter 3
“Ahem!”
Father continued to send me dissatisfied glares even after the meal ended, but I didn’t care.
I left the Hotel and headed to the station. I retraced the exact path I had taken.
“Where did that crazy Old Man go, the one who told me to go even if someone grabbed me by the balls?”
I wondered where the Old Man who ripped me off for 10,000 credits under the guise of fortune-telling had gone.
He was nowhere to be seen until I arrived at the station.
“Phew.”
I gave up and boarded the subway.
Max racked his brain as he moved.
“This feels sketchy.”
Father’s actions are suspicious.
The uneasiness is too much.
‘He never cared about me my entire life, yet the position he arranged for me is at Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals. And he’s remarrying a woman from Crimson Howl, which is competing with Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals?’
Father, Layton Steiger, is not a naive man.
Beneath his hot-tempered exterior lies a nature that pursues only practical gains.
‘He isn’t the type to clumsily play both sides.’
It’s either Crimson Howl or Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals. Layton Steiger has already joined hands with one of them.
There isn’t even room for doubt. I was certain of it.
“This is a headache.”
Even so, I only have suspicions and absolutely no physical evidence to make a judgment.
What I ultimately need to secure evidence and reach a conclusion is power.
Max took out his phone and checked his account.
“Current balance: 720,000 credits.”
Plus, I have a few coins in my pocket.
No matter how cheap the rent on the outskirts is, considering the Fixed Expenses, things will look bleak starting next month even if I budget tightly.
There was a reason I was filling out a job application the moment I regressed.
“Money. I need money to do anything. Fucking money.”
There are other methods that immediately come to mind besides getting a job.
I am a Regressor.
But the ensuing problem is efficiency.
‘The Seed Money is too small to do anything. I won’t be able to get much of a loan, either.’
There is an item I need to get my hands on as quickly as possible to increase my growth rate.
It’s such an expensive item that it would take a long time to acquire just by using 700,000 credits.
I close my eyes.
“…”
Past information flashed through my mind like a panorama.
Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals was one of the giant corporations that controlled Haze.
In this city where corruption is a daily occurrence, even information from Public agencies was practically private property as long as you had money.
“All right. This will do.”
I pieced together the data stuck in my brain.
Even though I had finished my business, I passed right by my house. I rode the subway for quite a while longer.
[This stop is District 50.]
It’s my destination. As soon as I got off the subway, I felt the difference from the districts in the 10s.
There was stuffy air and noise, the filthy floor that stuck to the soles of my shoes, and the homeless people.
“How long has it been?”
Exiting the station, Max took out a Lollipop from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
It was a scorched rice flavor.
“It smells like people actually live here.”
District 50 is commonly called the Scrap Forest.
People who don’t know its origin might think it’s called that because of the dense concentration of factories and large junkyards.
‘In reality, it’s a name that stuck because of the illegal body clinics.’
The Scrap Forest originated when numerous small, unregistered Illegal Body Clinics relocated to District 50 en masse, leading to a pileup of ownerless old-fashioned prosthetic arms, prosthetic legs, and broken artificial organs.
Step. Step. Step.
Max headed to a bank in an alley.
It was one of the few places in District 50 with CCTV. Of course, there were no employees, just a single ATM.
‘I’m thankful they at least have the Discretion to know they’ll die if they touch a Corporation’s property.’
I roughly wiped away the dust piled on the machine with my hand.
I withdrew the entire amount in my account in cash.
Whirrrr! Chrrrrr──.
The sound of bills stacking up. I could feel gazes piercing my back.
The presence of people was increasing.
Beyond the window, eyes swarmed, sizing me up to see if I was prey they could devour.
“Then again, the only ones who would withdraw cash so openly are outsiders or famous figures in the district.”
I roughly folded the wad of cash, shoved it into my pocket, and confidently walked outside.
The vagrants of District 50 surrounded me in a semicircle as if they had been waiting.
“These bastards!” At least their expressions, showing they wanted to rob me, were honest.’
Max mobilized his magic power to respond to the atmosphere demanding he spit out the money.
The rusty nails rolling on the ground all floated into the air at once.
Thwack!
The nails flew like bullets and embedded themselves into the utility poles and walls.
The rats that had been loitering and looking for an angle threw a fit.
“M-Mage!”
“Eek!”
“Why is a mage in a corner like this… Run!”
The guys who had flocked over at the smell of money scattered all at once.
They ran incredibly fast to preserve their lives.
Max, however, had no interest in the fleeing humans.
The nails he had shot into the utility pole caught his eye.
“The output is still weak. My magic power is too shallow to utilize my aptitude.”
Frowning in dissatisfaction, Max walked down the now-empty street toward his destination.
He raised his head and checked the signboard.
[Oil & Blood]
“Oil & Blood. This is it.”
It’s a famous bar in District 50.
As if in proof of its popularity, boisterous noise ceaselessly burst out through the cracks of the tightly closed door.
‘It’s still early evening… They must have clocked in here as soon as they got off work.’
The smell of cigarettes wafted out as I opened the door.
A structure consisting entirely of a first floor and a basement.
Two massive men sat like bouncers on the stairs leading to the basement.
Max headed straight for the bartender.
He sat in the seat facing him and stated his business.
“Send me down to the basement.”
The bartender looked Max up and down.
He stacked the still-wet glasses and put a cigarette in his mouth.
“Haven’t seen your face in District 50. Did you come from outside to watch?”
“To compete, I want to earn money by fighting.”
“Where did you get the info?”
He was asking me to enter a referral code.
“District 38, Mermaid’s Song.”
I confidently threw out a lie based on my information.
The bartender blew out cigarette smoke, Hooo-, and jutted his chin toward the stairs.
“Go down.”
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The reason this place is called a specialty of District 50 isn’t that the liquor tastes good or the snacks are amazing.
Its true value lies in the basement.
“Fight Club.”
Max drank sparkling water instead of alcohol as he read the room.
The spectators were gripping the iron cage and screaming at the top of their lungs.
Because there was money riding on the matches, the spectators' eyes were bloodshot red.
Madness swirled around the ring.
“Hey, you fucking bastard! Your jaw is wide open!”
“Th-That retarded scrap bastard…!”
“Fuck! Are you saving your left arm to jerk off your asshole?! Aaaargh!!!”
Rather than cheering, they reacted with a viciousness threatening to kill them if they lost.
It was an everyday occurrence.
Such gambling dens existed all over District 50, but the popularity of Oil & Blood was unrivaled.
They promptly paid out dividends, so their credit was good.
It was the only trusted place in the district that had never been caught match-fixing.
“Burp.”
Having emptied his sparkling water, Max headed toward the Employee sitting at a table.
He was a man with a hunched back. Finn was the name the spectators called him.
“Finn, I want to bet money on myself and compete directly.”
“A high-spirited friend has come from the outside.”
Finn opened a notebook and grabbed a pen.
He seemed to prefer the old-fashioned way.
“Weapon?”
“Fists and magic.”
“A mage!”
“I’m 1st-Tier, so I can only do simple things.”
Max floated Finn’s notebook in the air to prove his magic.
Finn took a monocle out of his pocket, checked Max’s tier, and showed a fishy smile.
“1st-Tier confirmed. But Mister Mage? As you can see, the ring is narrow, so you won’t have the leeway to use magic, will you?”
“That’s for me to figure out. If I fail, it just makes for a good spectacle for you guys, doesn’t it?”
Finn couldn’t deny Max’s words.
A feared mage getting trampled to death in the ring also made for the best kind of match.
“Ehehe! I like that arrogance unique to mages.”
“I don’t care who it is as long as they’re also 1st-Tier. Match me with someone you can put in the ring right away.”
“Good, good! I’ll set it up right away. I’m curious to see if Mister Mage will show skills to match his arrogance or turn into a bloody pulp and beg for his life.”
Max chuckled and took out the meager wad of cash he had.
It was his entire fortune from his account.
“720,000 credits. I’m betting on myself.”
“Without even seeing your opponent? Our Fight Club at least gives you the right to forfeit after seeing your opponent.”
“As I said earlier, I don’t care who it is as long as they’re 1st-Tier. If there’s no one, put me against a 2nd-Tier.”
“Eheek! Ihihik! Save the talk about not minding a 2nd-Tier until after you show your skills.”
Finn laughed, his shoulders shaking, and took the money.
“I want to beat the shit out of his laugh.”
He made a mark in the notebook that only he could recognize, and then asked Max.
“Mister Mage, what is your name?”
“Name…”
There was no reason to use his real name here. There was no merit, either.
As Max stroked his chin and continued to ponder, Finn offered a solution.
“If you can’t think of one, an alias is fine too. Got any Finishing Magic or something?”
“I wouldn’t do something as foolish as using that for a name. Just slap any random name on me.”
“You want me to decide?”
“Yeah.”
“Ehehe… Just get ready to go up to the ring. It won’t even take 10 minutes. I’ll prepare a cool name that will provoke your opponent.”
The ring was currently being cleared of a corpse after the previous match had ended.
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Once the ring was cleaned, a woman went up and grabbed the microphone.
“Has everyone checked the delicious odds? Have you placed your bets? We will proceed with the next match shortly!”
Shouts to hurry up and start crashed like waves.
The Announcer savored the clamor, paused for just the right amount of time, and then spoke up.
“In the red corner! The 1st-Tier veteran Fighter who returned for his beloved wife and rabbit-like child! El~~~dio!”
As the spotlight focused on him with the introduction, the man gave a performance, boasting his steel arm.
He looked accustomed to the ring.
Judging by the cheers, he seemed to have a solid fanbase.
“And facing him in the blue corner! A freshly registered Rookie and 1st-Tier mage! He’s going to kill his opponent and take-take-take-take it all! His name is…!”
The spotlight swished over and caught Max.
With perfect timing, the Announcer announced his name.
“Married Woman Hunter!”
“Ah, fuck.”
Max spat a curse and crumpled his face at the alias Finn had given him.
In the eyes of his opponent, Eldio, a murderous rage flared.