249 – Awakened of Namsan #1
“It was immensely fun…! I think it would be great to hold another Nymph Day like this year next year…! Let’s meet again next time…!”
Buzzzzz-.
Inoi waved at the departing people and the nymph sisters.
From the reactions of the nymphs, it seemed that the Nymph Day event had been a great success in many ways.
Late at night.
The well house had quieted down.
Inoi began cleaning up with a sense of lightness.
“The nymphs who have safely finished Nymph Day will soon fall into hibernation at the prepared location…! Even this Inoi would have done the same if it weren’t for today…!”
Inoi was a summer nymph born under the scorching sun resembling honey-colored hair. It was said that summer nymphs typically hibernate during the cold winter.
Holding an event to promise meetings with the hibernating nymphs next year was precisely why「Nymph Day」was created.
Of course, in a world with heaters and boilers, Inoi did not necessarily need to hibernate.
I said to Inoi.
“Inoi, I’m glad you’ve become the top nymph.”
“That’s right…! This Inoi will officially be recognized as the top nymph next year…! The top nymph truly means the best among the nymph sisters…!”
Tch-!
Inoi puffed out her chest and shoulders proudly.
As a nymph who loves to show off and boast, Inoi must feel great joy in her rising status.
“Ooh-. Top Nymph Inoi! That’s amazing!”
I congratulated Inoi on becoming the top nymph.
Kkungkkungi, Ahn Ahn, and Bang Bang also spun around Inoi.
Kkungkkungi…!
Zzzi…!
Bang Bang…!
Inoi, now even more proud due to everyone’s congratulations, raised both hands high and shouted as if she couldn’t contain herself.
“Surely no nymph has ever received such congratulations like this Inoi…!”
Kooii-!
At that moment, Pignoi cried.
Inoi grabbed Pignoi, who had been wandering around the yard, and hugged her. She felt quite heavy.
It was said that beings loved by nymphs possessed a certain ‘mystical power’. Surely, Pignoi also had some mysterious power that had yet to be revealed.
Curious about what it might be, I asked.
“So, what are you going to do with your savings now?”
Since the piggy bank had turned into Pignoi and couldn’t split her stomach anymore, it was going to be difficult for Inoi to collect coins and money.
Inoi had a dream of wanting to buy ‘land’ for the nymphs.
Inoi said.
“That is something I will have to think about from now on…! However, I don’t think I’ll be able to save in the piggy bank anymore…! If that’s the case, Pignoi might just keep growing…!”
Anyway.
Nymph Day ended like this.
Although it was a festival for nymphs, I had quite a bit of fun myself.
I experienced many fascinating things.
# # #
The next morning.
Agents dispatched by the state came as guests to investigate the well in our yard.
Wearing black suits, they measured the mana concentration emitted from the cracks in the well with mana measuring devices before leaving in a car.
“Mr. Kwon, we will inform you of the investigation results via text before the afternoon.”
I received the results by text before lunch.
It was T-rank.
A T-rank crack had formed at the entrance in our yard.
“I can’t hunt it alone.”
T-rank cracks were essentially the domain of S-rankers. It meant that I, only ranked 14th in A-rank, couldn’t do much alone.
I sat on a chair in the yard, recalling the mounds of gold coins that Pignoi, Inoi’s piggy bank, was stuck in.
At that time, things were so urgent that I had only brought Pignoi, but thinking back now, I regretted leaving behind those gold coins and jewels.
If I could go back in and get them, I wouldn’t have to worry about money for a while.
“It seems I earn a lot, but I also spend a lot.”
Honestly, lately, I’ve been earning the most I have in the last five years. Just steady visits to A-rank cracks could make it possible to buy a building in a good location within two years.
You see, A-rankers tend to be high-income taxpayers.
But it had turned out that money wasn’t accumulating as much as I thought.
“With the incoming money, spending has increased as well.”
Having a higher income seemed to have changed my spending patterns.
I reviewed the equipment I had purchased recently.
One bag containing twelve explosive grenades.
One bag containing four tear gas, smoke, and flashbang grenades each.
One espionage USB capable of hacking supercomputers.
One liter of bile dissolving solution capable of melting diamonds…
There was a lot of stuff.
“The most expensive item I bought is certainly this.”
I moved a refrigerator-like piece of furniture into my room.
Inside were the items delivered today, a fifth-generation combat suit referred to as the「Superior Suit」.
Originally, I planned to test its performance while filming a survival show with Seo Ye-rim, but many things had become tangled due to a plot hatched by Kang Cheol-Min and his gang.
In the end, I bought the fifth-generation suit by taking out a loan, paying the full price…
I never thought I would become in debt.
That bastard Kang Cheol-Min.
If it weren’t for him, I would have been able to receive the sponsorship for free.
“Is this the instruction manual?”
I glanced at the manual and the product and was slightly surprised.
I thought the suit would be some kind of power suit or battle suit, but the actual equipment was belt-like.
A thick mechanical device was attached to the belt.
But once I put it on and pressed the button while channeling my mana─.
Whoooooom-.
The mechanical device responded to my mana, forming a thin, transparent film around my body within a five-centimeter radius.
In other words, my body was surrounded by a thin protective barrier.
“It feels like I’m wearing a soap bubble.”
The fifth-generation superior suit.
Its official name was ‘Plasma Shield’.
It meant that it was no longer necessary to wear thick leather or armor just because it was a suit.
“The world has really improved. You can just put a shield over casual wear. That’s nice. It’s light. No inconvenience in putting it on and taking it off. It operates on mana that has been stored.”
According to the manual from Telos Defense Industry, this shield operates differently depending on the wearer, but for A-rankers, it was said to be resilient enough to withstand explosions from tanks or fighter jets.
Its performance was astounding.
It was no longer a joke that a high-ranked Awakened could unleash divisional-level firepower.
“I wonder if Awakened wearing something like this would be able to suppress a coup.”
Thinking about that, I shook my head.
They would probably be subdued quickly.
S-rankers, deemed ‘national-level power,’ were mostly cooperative with the government.
That’s why they receive privileges.
Even if the suit I wore was sturdy, if Cha Yura or Seo Ye-rim simply exhaled while channeling their mana, I would likely get frozen solid or burnt to ashes.
S-rankers were extraordinary beings.
But with this barrier, I thought at least it would be able to withstand a couple of shots from their firepower.
That alone would be quite a defense.
It was like having an extra life.
“I want to check the performance.”
I looked at the crack entrance in the well, licking my lips.
There’s a crack but I can’t enter.
If I were an S-ranker…
Teltok-!
At that moment, I received a message on my phone.
# # #
“It’s a splendid tower…! This Inoi would really like to go up this ‘Namsan Tower’…!”
Inoi, who got off the taxi, raised her hand high and waved.
Is Namsan Tower that nice?
It reminded me of the time I first came to Namsan holding my mom and dad’s hands when I was little.
It was a nice memory.
However, Namsan now was very different from what I remembered as a child.
Even the name was different.
“Namsan Superconductor Tower.”
After obtaining materials from the cracks, several buildings in Korea were transformed with a superconductive theme after developing a room-temperature superconductor.
Namsan Tower transformed into a futuristic design and become a landmark attracting many tourists.
But-.
That was a story above ground.
“We’re going underground.”
Deep underground, to the 50th floor.
As the elevator descended endlessly, Inoi quivered.
“It’s incredibly deep…! It feels like entering the kingdom of Hades, known as the land of death…! Even Tartarus, the hell of no return, surely isn’t this deep…!”
I agreed that the destination was unusually deep.
Fifty floors underground.
In some ways, Inoi’s comparison to hell was accurate.
In a place with vague wonder about how it was deepened, there was a prison holding heinous criminals who had committed major crimes against the state.
Not just any criminals, but it was a place that held those known as “Awakened.”
“Namsan Awakened Special Prison.”
Awakened referred to simply as “Namsan Prison” or “Impel Down.”
It was known to be the strongest prison in the world from which no one escapes.
The most heinous, worst, lowest, and strongest.
A place in South Korea where escaping was beyond a dream.
Ding-.
As the elevator doors opened, an attendant waiting for me bowed his head.
He was a warden in a splendid uniform.
“Mr. Haildo, you have arrived. We’ve been waiting for you. This way….”
Prison.
I was invited to a place that seemed unrelated to me.
If I were to ask why─ I could honestly say I was puzzled.
The place I was heading was the most strictly monitored area, the 51st floor of this underground prison.
51st floor.
A heavily regulated area treated as a superstition known as “Level Zero.”
Locked in a space as wide as a soccer field were only three inmates.
Only three, but if they are released, each could cause a national-level disaster.
Honestly, it didn’t feel real.
I was learning for the first time that the 51st floor beneath Namsan actually existed.
However, the moment I saw a man handcuffed like a psychopathic killer, completely bound, with a steel mask over his mouth, reality hit me hard.
That guy was my friend.
“Kang Cheol-Min, you really were locked up here.”
