Chapter 107
“Hey, kid! What on earth are you trying to buy, camping here for days? You’re making a mess of things—why don’t you go somewhere else?”
“I’m sorry. I’ll just stay here a little longer.”
Levin stubbornly held his ground despite the merchant’s scolding.
The place he was sitting in front of was a general store.
But it wasn’t an ordinary one.
It was a shop that sold items made from the corpses of magical beasts.
For several days now, he had been planted right in front of it.
It was no wonder the shop owner kept complaining.
Still, Levin endured.
He’d been beaten and chased away several times, yet he always came back.
“Ugh! That leech-like brat!”
The shop owner glared at Levin as if he wanted to kill him, then went back inside.
Levin leaned his back against the wall and muttered,
“Another wasted day? Yeah… this isn’t going to be easy.”
He closed his eyes for a moment.
He hadn’t come to the goblin market just to watch people pass by.
‘That bastard definitely bought something here.’
Levin had been tracking the murderer who killed his mother and younger sibling.
Since then, the man had committed several more murders. And as if mocking Levin’s pursuit, he had disappeared.
Whenever Levin grew exhausted from the chase and tried to rest even briefly, the killer would strike again as if he had been waiting for that moment.
Levin even began to suspect that the man might be aware of his pursuit. Otherwise, his movements made no sense.
In the end, Levin gave up directly chasing the murderer.
That didn’t mean he had abandoned the hunt entirely.
He had simply changed his method.
‘Everything he uses isn’t mass-produced. They’re all made from special materials.’
The most obvious example was the knife the killer used.
It was specially crafted to efficiently cut through the human body and drain blood with ease.
Levin had tried tracking the blade through the cut marks left on the corpses, but he couldn’t find anything even remotely similar.
That was how unique the weapon was.
But what caught Levin’s attention wasn’t the knife’s appearance.
It was its properties.
The blood of the victims was unnaturally sticky—its viscosity was absurdly high.
Levin believed it was because the blood had been exposed to intense heat.
Either the killer deliberately heated the blood, or something he possessed emitted high temperatures.
‘What if the knife itself is made from special material that radiates heat?’
That was why Levin had been sitting here all this time.
There were quite a few materials that naturally emitted heat—
bones of flame lizards, firestones, feathers of flame eagles, remnants of flame golems…
But such materials couldn’t be obtained from ordinary shops.
Especially not in the slums.
The only place in the slums—not Neo Seoul—where such materials could be acquired was the goblin market.
That was why Levin believed there was a high chance the killer had used this very shop within the goblin market.
‘After committing that many murders, the blade must be damaged.’
The human body might seem fragile, but it was actually incredibly tough.
Bones, in particular, were unbelievably hard and could easily dull a blade.
After that many killings, the killer’s weapon would surely be worn down—even if it was made of special materials.
‘If he wants to repair it, he’ll have to get materials from here.’
There was no way of knowing when the killer would appear.
He might never show up.
Still, Levin intended to wait until the very end.
This was the only option he had left.
‘I’m pretty good at waiting, after all.’
And so, Levin remained at the shop for several more days.
During that time, countless people came and went.
The items they bought varied greatly.
Some purchased materials that looked completely useless, while others bought materials so expensive it made one’s jaw drop.
Levin carefully observed each customer.
But none of them seemed suspicious.
Then his eyes changed.
His gaze locked onto a man who had just entered the shop.
A man wearing a black robe.
His face was hidden beneath a deeply pulled hood, but the moment he passed by, a thick stench of blood assaulted Levin’s senses.
Levin’s face hardened.
This was the first time he had encountered someone who reeked so strongly of blood.
For a moment, it almost drove him mad.
Without realizing it, Levin clenched his fists.
‘It’s him. It has to be him.’
There was no evidence.
But the moment he saw the man, Levin was certain.
His instincts were screaming at him—
that this man was the murderer.
Levin trusted his instincts.
‘Not yet. If I move recklessly, I’ll alert him.’
He didn’t enter the shop and instead waited patiently for the man to come out.
A long time later, the man in the black robe finally exited.
Judging by how long he had stayed inside, he must have bought quite a lot—yet strangely, his hands were empty.
‘Does he have a spatial storage item or something?’
Spatial storage items were extremely rare.
Even in Neo Seoul, not many Awakened possessed one.
If the man truly had such an item, as Levin suspected, then he was no ordinary person.
“Hoo…”
Levin waited until the man had gone a good distance before standing up.
His whole body ached from sitting in the same position for so long.
Still, he showed no sign of pain and began following him.
The man in the black robe seemed extremely cautious.
Not once did he let his guard down.
He walked calmly, but Levin could sense that his awareness and senses were fully extended outward.
‘About ten meters…?’
Levin found it strange that he could even tell.
It was probably because his senses had sharpened after awakening.
He kept at least ten meters of distance as he followed.
The man in the black robe gradually made his way into deeper, narrower alleys.
Levin was certain.
‘He’s definitely planning to kill someone today.’
His instincts were screaming at him.
Just as Levin tried to calm his violently pounding heart—
the man in the black robe suddenly stopped.
Levin stopped as well.
The man slowly turned around and looked in Levin’s direction.
For a brief moment, their eyes met.
The man spoke.
“What are you? You’ve been following me since the goblin market.”
“How…? I stayed outside your detection range.”
Levin blurted out in shock.
“My detection range is far wider and more precise than you think, kid.”
“Ugh!”
“Now then, tell me why you’ve been following me.”
The man’s cold gaze sent chills down Levin’s spine.
It was as if he could see through everything—paired with the savage killing intent behind it.
His eyes resembled those of a black panther.
Levin unconsciously swallowed dryly.
A faint smile curved beneath the man’s hood.
“If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll tear you to pieces.”
“It was you, right? The butcher who kills people and leaves them arranged like a hydra.”
“A butcher? How crude. You’re a barbarian who can’t appreciate art. This is why I hate the slums—full of people too busy surviving to fill their heads with knowledge. No wonder you lack the understanding to appreciate art.”
“Tearing people apart is art? Fine. Then let me try some ‘art’ too.”
Levin finally exploded in anger.
Seeing that, the man’s smile deepened.
“To get this emotional… you’re not just a tracker. Did I kill someone from your family?”
“Yeah! You bastard!”
Levin shouted and charged forward.
His form blurred like a ghost.
He had activated his awakened ability—Specter.
Seeing Levin, now ghost-like and radiating purple energy, the man was visibly surprised.
He had met many Awakened, but never one like Levin.
“Heh… you’ll be fun to cut. I wonder what it feels like to slice a ghost?”
Shing!
In an instant, a bizarre dagger shot out from the man’s sleeve.
It looked like a grotesque mix of blade and saw, with a nearly invisible silver thread attached.
With a flick of his finger, the dagger on the thread pierced straight through Levin.
It would have been a fatal blow to a normal human or Awakened—
but it did nothing to Levin in his spectral state.
“Die!”
At that moment, a massive surge of electrical energy erupted from Levin.
Crackle!
The electricity swept through everything nearby like a storm.
The man in the black robe was caught in it.
His robe tore apart, revealing his face.
“Ggh—!”
A long, lizard-like face.
Narrow, slitted eyes.
But most striking were the scars crisscrossing his face in every direction.
They looked crudely stitched together, like a patchwork rag—
making him even more grotesque.
“How dare you!”
He was furious.
He hadn’t expected Levin to not only turn intangible, but also unleash electricity.
Though it was called electrical energy, it was essentially the same principle as chain lightning—used only by high-level magic-type Awakened specializing in lightning.
If he had been even slightly weaker, that attack would have killed him.
Having narrowly survived, his rage was terrifying.
“Chaah!”
He swung the dagger attached to the silver thread again.
Levin scoffed.
“That won’t work. You’re pretty dumb, old man.”
“You brat. That’s why you’re going to die.”
“What?”
At that moment, white light surged along the silver thread like lightning.
It was electricity released from the man’s hand.
Only then did Levin realize—the man’s arm was mechanical.
His prosthetic arm was generating electricity just like Levin’s.
Crackle! BOOM!
Lightning collided with lightning, creating a massive energy storm.
The explosion tore through part of the slums.
***
“What the—?”
Startled by the sudden violent tremor, Brielle looked up.
The building shook briefly, as if from an earthquake.
The items on her workbench rattled from the impact.
Fortunately, the tremor quickly subsided.
She hurriedly looked for Zeon.
He was already standing, staring out the window.
In the distance, he saw a fading white light.
Brielle asked,
“What’s going on?”
“Looks like a fight broke out.”
“This damn slum… not a single quiet day. Where is it? Dongdaemun? Somewhere else?”
“Sinchon.”
“What? That close?”
Just then—
BOOOOM!
Another explosion, followed by white lightning, swept through the slums.
The windows of Zeon’s house rattled as if they were about to shatter.
“Who the hell is fighting at this hour?!”
Furious, Brielle jammed her pointed hat down and fumed.
Zeon spoke calmly.
“It’s Levin.”
“What?”
“Levin’s fighting.”
The tall buildings blocked their view of the battle.
But the distinct, powerful energy signature unmistakably belonged to Levin.
“Seriously? Then did he find the murderer?”
“We’ll find out now.”
Zeon opened the window.
A rough sand-laden wind slammed into his face.
Without hesitation, he leapt out into the storm.
“Wait for me!”
Brielle shouted as she jumped out after him.