Chapter 452: King's Road (1)

It was break time at the mine. The mine was filled with the smell of dirt and sweat. The workers chewed on dried moss as a snack and started to gather in small groups to chat quietly among themselves.

"That lad sure is something."

"Really. It only took him an hour to go through that route when it usually takes three hours for most people."

"Dammit. I thought he would fold in a day or two."

They were talking about the new guy, Seo Jun-Ho—or rather, Sonny. He displayed such incredible speed from the very first day, so a huge betting pot was created among the workers.

- How long would he last?

Most of the workers had bet their ration tickets on four days or less. But would you look at that? A week had already passed in the blink of an eye.

"Do you really think that what he has been doing is possible because he's young...?"

"We've all been that age at some point, haven't we? That's something you're born with."

"True. He's the spitting image of my younger self."

"Be serious, Johnson. Be quiet and just eat your moss."

"Sure. I bet Sonny would look like your younger self if someone were to beat Sonny's face black and blue."

However, one thing was for sure. The workers' life had become easier ever since Sonny started working here. The role of a runner had always been physically grueling, so the workers here had always chosen their daily runners by drawing lots.

The workers felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from their shoulders since Sonny kept on taking on the burden of being a runner.

"Geez, I need to buy him a meal to show our appreciation."

"That's a good idea. I should give him a ration ticket, too."

Just as they wrapped up their praise of the strapping young man, one of the workers scanned their surroundings and spoke in a cautious voice. "Don't you guys feel like things have been a little chaotic around the site lately?"

"Huh? What're you talking about? When has it ever been this peaceful here?"

"Exactly! Don't you think it feels like the calm before the storm?"

"Be serious, Johnson. Be quiet and just eat your moss."

"Look at him, being all cheeky again..."

Johnson sulked as his fellow workers chided him. Still, he decided to go quiet and chew on his moss in peace.

Surprisingly, many people agreed with Johnson.

"It makes me wonder if life could have always been this easy without the higher-ups' harassment."

"Well, maybe they finally had a wake-up call when those three knights died."

"If that's true, I hope they keep dying off every once in a while."

"Have some empathy. They were still people living at this Farm, just like us."

"...Ahem. It was a slip of the tongue."

An inexplicable uneasiness was starting to take over the commoners. The nobles should have caused a ruckus when the knights died, but they had remained suspiciously quiet.

"Ah, you're here. How are you feeling?"

"Huh? Oh, I feel fine."

"That's good. If you feel tired, don't hesitate to tell us. Your health is important. Go there and rest," the team leader said kindly.

Seo Jun-Ho blinked. It wasn't like he had anything else to do when there wasn't anything to deliver.

"Hey, Sonny! Over here!"

"You lot, get back to work!"

"A-Ahem. Please, it's only been five minutes."

The workers shrunk back. When Sonny came over, they offered him some moss.

"Aren't you tired? At least have a snack."

"At your age, you need to eat a lot. Take as much as you wish."

"Thank you." Seo Jun-Ho smiled awkwardly and scratched his head. It felt strange to be treated like he was still young, considering his real age. In addition, it had already been a week since he started working here, so he wasn't a newbie anymore.

'I still can't get used to it.'

Back on Earth, people often called him 'sunbae' or 'fossil'.

However, the people here were treating him like a young man in his early twenties.

The treatment felt new to him.

'It does feel a bit weird...'

However, it felt nice in more ways than one. Here, he wasn't receiving any special treatment, similar to how people had always been treating him as a Hero. Here, no one had any expectations of him, and no one was looking at him with reverence.

"Thank you for the food."

The workers started talking about something else.

Seo Jun-Ho chewed on his moss as he checked his status window.

[Seo Jun-Ho]

Level: 260

Title: Bringer of Spring (+8 more)

Strength: 845 Stamina: 857

Speed: 860 Magic: 906

His magic stat had been 872 before he came up to the 6th Floor, so that meant he gained 4 stat points here aside from the points that Bringer of Spring had given him.

It had already been a week since he started farming.

'It kind of feels like I'm putting coins into a piggy bank.'

He was used to raising his magic stat by tens of points at a time with the help of potions or Titles. It felt very strange to earn a tiny amount of points over time by working consistently and honestly.

'I wonder if I have already recovered...'

Even though he only managed to obtain four additional magic stat points until now, the presence of magic in his body alone gave him other benefits. Most importantly, Cell Regeneration (A) had become amazingly effective.

'When I had no magic in my body, my bones were healing very, very slowly...'

However, his bones had recovered in just a mere few days when he had obtained the faintest amount of magic.

Seo Jun-Ho closed his status window, feeling satisfied. 'At this rate, I should be able to fill myself up with magic once they come to collect their tribute.'

According to Tess, the demons would come around two to three times a year to collect tributes. 'Until then, I'll recover as much magic as I can and kill those demons, so I can collect more stat points.'

That was Seo Jun-Ho's plan...

So far, he hadn't had any problems fitting in neatly like a cog in a machine.

'...I hope the next two months will remain peaceful.'

Seo Jun-Ho's eyes grew hazy. The king still hadn't made a move even though three of his knights had inexplicably died, and Seo Jun-Ho had no idea about what was causing the hold-up.

***

"Mr. Sonny! Over here!" Tess waved his hand energetically. He had been waiting inside the restaurant, which was located in a suburb on the third floor. He started talking as soon as Seo Jun-Ho sat down. "I heard you've really been on a roll these days."

"Says who?"

"You do know who the workers go to when they injure their backs, right?" Tess said, seemingly proud of his job as a doctor. "They say you're the best newbie they've ever had. Apparently, their life has gotten a lot easier thanks to you."

"That's good to hear."

"Isn't it tiring? It's a grueling job that many workers avoid. Plus, your bones still haven't fully—"

Tess's eyes grew wide as he shamelessly kneaded Seo Jun-Ho's arm. Seo Jun-Ho's bones a few days ago felt soft, but now, they had become as hard as steel.

"T-they're fully mended? That's impossible!"

Normally, it would take at least two months for a broken bone to heal. Tess was shocked to see that Seo Jun-Ho's bone injuries had fully mended in just a week.

Tess looked at Seo Jun-Ho as if he were seeing the latter for the first time.

"I told you. I recover from injuries pretty quickly."

"This isn't a matter of recovery speed..." The doctor looked at him doubtfully, but Seo Jun-Ho just shrugged.

Tess gave a lopsided smile at his nonchalant response. "You have never failed to surprise me."

Seo Jun-Ho was like an onion. No matter how many layers he seemed to shed, there would always be another layer underneath.

Tess decided not to think too deeply about it. "I'm sorry if saying this makes you feel self-conscious, but things have been a lot more comfortable ever since you came around."

"What do you mean?"

"Back then, people were always on edge because the higher-ups were constantly spying on us and whatnot."

However, it all stopped when those three knights died.

Tess had no idea if this was only temporary, but...

"It's been pretty nice these days." Tess smiled warmly before taking a sip of water.

He had never wanted anything grand. All he ever wanted was something like this.

Tess only ever wanted to live a low-key life while treating patients.

"Though, I'll admit that I didn't really enjoy spending all day treating Audrick."

"...Audrick? The knight captain?"

"Yes. The king definitely gave him a good beating. I mean, he was covered in blood when he came to me." Tess chuckled under his breath.

"I'm sure he's feeling a bit guilty because he has been working me hard for the last week so he'll recover as soon as possible. Actually, I just discharged him right before I came here. He has almost fully recovered," added Tess.

"That's a relief."

"Now, I can give my other patients more attention." Tess turned around and watched the people milling around the marketplace. "Can you see it? It's only been a week, but you can barely see the worry on their faces."

Usually, the people would constantly be watching out for the higher-ups who could kill or enslave them had any time. Beneath such a tyrannical rule, just about anyone would eventually become exhausted.

"I want nothing else other than to keep living a life like this."

"..."

All this was nothing in Seo Jun-Ho's eyes. In fact, it was the bare minimum.

And yet, the people were happy.

"I hope your wish comes true," he said with sincerity.

***

It was just like any other day...

Seo Jun-Ho woke up early in the morning to go to the mine and did the same work he had been doing for the past week.

He realized that something was wrong after delivering the day's first batch of demonic stones.

"..."

Seo Jun-Ho was standing outside the office while staring a thousand yards away.

"What are you doing? Come in," said the nobleman inside the office.

He stepped inside and placed the large bag on the floor.

"What are all those soldiers for?" asked Seo Jun-Ho.

There were at least ten times more soldiers than usual at the mine on the 2nd floor.

The nobleman inspected the demonic stones and said dismissively, "I don't know. The upper floor has been especially fussy today."

"...The upper floor?"

The nobles resided on the 9th floor, so there was only one level above them.

Seo Jun-Ho's eyes narrowed. 'The king is finally making a move.'

It was long overdue. According to Tess, the king was an extremely ruthless man. Since he decided to wait patiently for over a week, it could only mean that the king was planning something—for better or for worse.

'But... What exactly is he planning?'

The king hadn't been able to find any leads, and it was the reason why the king had been patiently biding his time. Of course, the reason the king couldn't find any leads was that Seo Jun-Ho had erased all traces that could lead to him.

'He shouldn't have any grounds to do anything.'

The king hadn't found the culprit just yet, so there was nothing he would gain even if he made a move. In fact, if he acted recklessly, his authority would only go down.

'But something's making me nervous...'

He could feel it.

His instincts were screaming at him—something was going to happen today.

"Here, I've stamped it. Be on your way."

"Um. Is it okay if I take the rest of the day off?"

"What? No!" The nobleman's face flushed red. "We don't have anyone as fast as you. Our harvest rate has been going up thanks to—"

"Huh? What's that?" Seo Jun-Ho pointed at the ceiling, and the nobleman looked up.

"Huh? Nothing's—"

Jun-Ho pressed his magic-imbued finger onto the pressure point behind the nobleman's ear, and the latter crumbled to the floor.

He had learned this technique on the 5th Floor, and his knowledge of physiology had also increased while he was trying to create Hart's vessel.

"Man, I was planning to lay low and slowly increase my magic stat."

Unfortunately, there wasn't really anything that he could do in the face of the unexpected. He retrieved the demonic stones from their custom-made container. He had to use them, so he would be prepared for the worst-case scenario.

"There's nothing wrong with taking a shortcut every once in a while."

The room became filled with a brilliant purple light as Seo Jun-Ho simultaneously absorbed the demonic energy of hundreds of demonic stones.

***

"This spot will do."

At the king's order, his subjects put together his extravagant throne.

Here, he would have a full view of the 2nd and 3rd floors. Once his throne was done, the soldiers and knights lined up. In an instant, the peaceful camp was thrown into chaos. The scared people started running away to hide.

"They run away as soon as they see others who are stronger than them. They're like cockroaches afraid of predators," he mused and smiled as people started running all over the place.

The king turned to look at someone next to him. Audrick had received intense treatment over the week, so he had already recovered. Actually, he had never felt better than before.

"Are you ready?" asked the king.

"Yes, I am." Bloodlust raged in Audrick's eyes. He was wearing steel-plated armor that only knight captains could wear. There was only one way for him to salvage his honor and his own life.

"Go ahead and kill them, then."

He had to indiscriminately slaughter the insects until their so-called Hero showed up.