Chapter 27

[The reaction wasn't trivial.]

Jenny's voice came through the phone.

Renock was lying helplessly in the middle of the room, listening to her words.

He had come straight home without stopping at a bar, feeling that he had pushed himself too hard.

It would be nice if he could take another 100 million won worth of elixir at a time like this, but unfortunately, the only money left in his wallet was the 20 million cel he had received as an advance for this job.

[It seems that the funds Paul Ackerman had invested in various places were quite substantial. For those who had received investment from him, it's a situation where their money supply has been cut off overnight.]

An incomprehensible echo, said to be for preventing eavesdropping, seeped through the voice.

Jenny's opinion was that if they had to discuss business over the phone, such safety measures were necessary.

Renock didn't quite understand how just playing this background music could prevent eavesdropping, but he had to accept it.

[Of course, the fact that he messed with the Juice Master's subordinate also played a role, but it's unlikely that the drug king would move just for this. The strange atmosphere in Sector 48 is probably due to this.]

“Did Dyke have anything else to say?”

It was a tumultuous event that had happened in just one night.

Two people were dead, one had fled, and one had betrayed him.

If it weren't for Renock, the failure would have been a complete disaster.

It wouldn't be strange if the enraged Paul Ackerman had made Dyke Corporation's life difficult.

In this situation, if Dyke Corporation thought they could wash their hands of the matter with just 20 million cel as a success fee, Renock would have to reconsider.

Thinking of the drone's camera footage he had captured, Renock asked, and Jenny immediately replied.

[Actually, a long message of apology for the operation came in. They must be in a panic. They asked me to visit the headquarters again.]

“What do you think?”

[It's best to ignore it.]

Renock smiled faintly at the answer that suited him.

[How they got into this business is one thing, but it's strange to expect cooperation after planning such a shoddy operation. It's not too late to move after confirming the additional compensation they offer.]

“How much can we get?”

Considering that Renock had salvaged the operation, which had been betrayed by one of the team members directly recruited from Panora, and somehow turned it into a success, the stakes he should claim were not trivial.

With the revelation that the team members hadn't undergone proper testing, it was meaningless to even discuss collaboration in this state.

If there wasn't a clear feedback on this issue, there was no need for further transactions. In fact, it shouldn't have happened in the first place.

[They must know this fact well, so they probably won't let it go easily. Even if it's the minimum, I think we can get a hefty sum.]

“I hope so......”

Renock replied, burying his face in the pillow.

The bedding, which he had replaced entirely after the last time, still had a faint smell of new fibers.

[......It seems you had a tough time this time.]

Although Jenny had already heard the explanation from Renock, the fact that he looked exhausted seemed more real to her than the details of who betrayed whom and who was killed.

Renock had rarely shown such a tired appearance before.

Moreover, Renock had never told anyone that his body was weak.

The fact that he was having this conversation with her today was partly to put on a show so that she could extract as much as possible from the deal with Dyke.

“I am a bit tired.”

[Well, that's what being a freelancer is like. Sometimes it can't be helped. But if you have any pain, you should at least tell Jordan. He used to handle a scalpel.]

“...That's a bit surprising. Was Jordan a doctor?”

[He doesn't have a formal license, but if he says he can do it, he's probably not a quack. I don't know the details.]

“......”

Thinking back, Renock remembered how Jordan had pointed out unusual things just by looking at the body in the bag when he first brought Taylor Evans' corpse.

At the time, he had just thought Jordan was a versatile person, but now, considering his medical background, it made more sense.

“Maybe later.”

[You mean you won't take it?]

Brushing off Jenny's sharp observation, Renock ended the call and buried himself in the bedding.

Market

“Grunn...”

The bruise on his stomach still made his skin look blue.

He had applied some ointment, but it was unlikely that the recovery would speed up significantly.

Lying down carefully to avoid touching his stomach, Renock fell into thought.

‘I should avoid trying to resolve situations this way in the future.’

Using the shotgun's recoil as a booster to escape when his shield was about to break was a reckless choice.

Especially considering how he had barely eaten and groaned in pain for almost a day after the drug's effects wore off.

He had a few contingency plans in case his shield was breached, but in that situation, he had almost been buried in the ground and didn't have time to use them.

Of course, given Renock's combat judgment, it was likely the most rational decision in that situation, but he didn't need that kind of rationality that exhausted his body.

The most important thing was to get his weak body back to normal.

“......”

After thinking about the usefulness of the shield for a while, Renock sighed and straightened up.

He would push the worries aside for now.

There would be plenty of time to think about it after his body returned to normal.

For now, as always, he would focus on the task he needed to do while resting.

Whoosh!

Deploying mana in all directions, he cast a spell in his hands.

Crackle...!!

A blue current of electricity leaped in his hands.

The common lightning spell [Lightning Bound].

Until now, he had only focused on manifesting this flow in his hands and slamming it into the opponent, but Renock concentrated and very slowly moved his mana to stop each strand of the crackling current.

Crackle...Crackle...

Using his extremely delicate mana control, he restricted the range of the lightning and stopped its flow.

The current, frozen between his fingers as if time had stopped, was observed by Renock, who then extracted the inherent mana deployment pattern from within the current.

Whoosh!!

A magic circle suddenly appeared in the air, and the bolt spell in his hand disappeared completely.

Just like in the factory, he had successfully extracted the formula of the magic circle from the bolt spell.

“Hmm...”

Renock, who had been carefully observing the slowly rotating magic circle in the air and the mana pattern flowing through it, took a nearby memo and started writing.

The handwriting was messy because he was lying down, but it didn't matter.

After all, Renock was naturally a poor writer, so it wouldn't have been much different even if he had been sitting up.

“Three large mana surges. Seven rotations. Two compressions... Should I draw the pattern separately?”

Muttering to himself, he scribbled down incomprehensible letters and numbers without taking his eyes off the magic circle.

In his recent personal research, Renock had been focusing on breaking down the common spells he used and quantifying them according to his own standards.

Actually, modifying common spells wasn't that difficult for Renock.

It was possible to refine known spells more efficiently, but increasing the spell's capacity while reducing efficiency was a completely different issue.

The research he was doing now was to take it one step further.

It was entirely possible to increase the power of [Thunder Calling].

It was just a matter of brute-forcing more mana to expand its range and firepower.

But Renock wasn't satisfied with that and was thinking about how to increase the power dramatically while reducing mana consumption.

If he could eliminate the telltale signs of casting lightning spells, it would be even better, but that was a difficult task.

The boundary Renock was grappling with was one of the gateways from common spells to unique spells.

‘Eventually, I might have to create my own spells.’

Renock wasn't stupid and knew very well how difficult and complex it was to obtain a unique spell system.

It wasn't something that could be achieved just by having money or taking on difficult jobs.

To get such rare items, he needed more fame, power, and connections than he currently had.

Climbing higher in this world wasn't a choice for Renock.

He would keep climbing until he could get the items he wanted.

That was all he could do.

‘I can't make a revolutionary improvement right now.’

Refining known spells more efficiently was possible, but increasing the spell's capacity while reducing efficiency was a completely different issue.

Frankly, it was no different from creating a new spell.

But if obtaining a unique spell system became too difficult or if the items he got didn't meet his standards, he might have to focus on this work.

Theoretical analysis based on data might be more helpful than relying solely on intuition and talent.

That's why he was collecting data whenever he had time.

After all, Renock was the only source of common spell data.

“......”

It was frustrating and overwhelming, but what could he do?

It was the path he had chosen, the work he had wanted.

In the gradually darkening room, only the faint glow of mana flickered.

The light that had been illuminating Renock's face for a long time without fading seemed to embody his unwavering hope