NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 10 - The filter
Chapter 10 – The filter
It was early evening.
Jin, carrying a large bundle over his shoulder, made his way through Junk Plaza.
The familiar alleys twisted and turned before leading him to a bar, where a dim light seeped through the entrance.
As he stepped inside, Po turned his head.
“Oh, Jin.”
“Hey.”
There was a customer inside.
A gaunt man sat in a corner, quietly sipping from a glass filled with ice and liquor.
Jin couldn’t tell if the man was just another patron or a solo taking a break.
But given that he showed no reaction to the bloodstained bundle, Jin guessed it was likely the latter.
“Is this a bad place for this?”
At Jin’s question, Po smiled faintly and gestured.
“Follow me.”
Po led him to a spacious room located behind the central shelf.
It was a place Jin had never seen before, filled with strange equipment and tools.
With so much ironware around, the air was thick with the scent of aged swings and old keyrings.
“You can set it down here.”
Poe motioned toward a wide table in the center of the room, and Jin placed the heavy sack on top of it.
Without hesitation, Poe untied the sealed rope, checked the contents, and spoke slowly.
“It’s definitely Edmund Nilsson himself. Did you transport him with the data chip still inserted?”
“Oh, no.”
Jin shook his head and pulled a red chip from his pocket.
“Here.”
Poe naturally took the data chip and ran his thumb over the surface, where a flame emblem was engraved.
“Please wait a moment.”
Turning away, Po walked over to a massive computer with three monitors.
Its tangled wires stretched out like tentacles in every direction.
He inserted the chip into an external port.
Soon, the screens filled with multiple program windows, each densely packed with cryptic symbols.
To Jin, it looked like some three-headed monster was spewing out an incomprehensible visual language.
His eyes instinctively grew tired, so he let his gaze wander around the room.
Before he knew it, Po gave a small nod.
“It’s the leaked data chip.”
“It is? That’s a relief.”
“But…”
Just as Po was about to add something, the door behind them opened.
“You’re back? That was quick.”
The sharp click of high heels.
A smoky yet sweet scent brushing past his nose.
Kalifa had approached Jin before he even noticed.
“Your face is a mess.”
“It was hot. Felt like I was about to get roasted.”
“Oh dear. You worked hard.”
Kalifa smiled faintly, her gaze naturally shifting toward the sack.
“Why’d you bother bringing this? We only needed the data chip.”
“Well—”
Jin resisted the urge to scratch at the blistered spots on his face before answering.
“When I removed the chip, his eyes suddenly went wild, like some crazed lunatic. I’m not sure, but it felt like he got stronger, and no matter how much I hit him, he didn’t seem to feel pain. It was just… weird.”
“…I see.”
Kalifa narrowed her eyes.
She turned her head and spoke.
“Po?”
“It’s malware. Judging by the logic, it’s a berserk virus. A concealed process, cleverly hidden so the user wouldn’t notice anything. My guess is that it was designed to activate after a certain period or when the chip was forcibly removed.”
Jin blinked.
Berserk?
Berserker?
I know that term.
Blood explosion, Guts, Tekken’s Green Rank, rampaging servants.
It was Heracles, right?
That death scene where he got chain-played by Gilgamesh was depressing…
As Jin’s thoughts wandered, Kalifa ran a hand through her hair.
“Berserk… Give me a moment.”
After briefly asking for Jin’s patience, she left the room.
It seemed like an unexpected variable had come up, but Jin wasn’t particularly interested.
His job was already done.
As the two of them remained in the room, Po asked,
“How was your first request?”
“Well… was it doable? Not really sure. It was just… whatever. As long as I didn’t die, I guess.”
At Jin’s response, Po placed the extracted data chip into a ziplock bag.
“Did you know? In the solo world, there’s something called the Three Filters.”
“…Three filters?”
“Yes. The first three requests a newcomer takes on. The term refers to the overwhelming dropout rate during that phase.”
Poe pressed the ziplock bag shut before placing it into a document envelope.
With his usual composed tone, he continued.
“Only about seven percent make it through all the filters. Those few survive… and are recognized.”
As Jin was thinking how tough this world truly was, Po spoke up.
“Congratulations, Jin. You’ve passed the first filter.”
And then, the quest window appeared.
“3rd Filter”───────────────
The third request.
Three filters.
The condition to truly become a solo.
Progress Status (1/3)Failure if you refuse the request.
*Reward: 10,000 XP *(Unknown) Story Unlock ─────────────────────
What’s this now?
Story?
Unknown?
Who’s messing with me?
Jin skimmed through the lines only visible to him, making a face that was a mix of frustration and mild annoyance.
Po tilted his head.
“If my words were unpleasant in any way—”
“No, no, it’s just that I’m suddenly feeling bad. Thanks for the congratulations.”
Jin waved his hand like shooing away a fly, forcing a smile.
Now that he’d seen everything, it was time for Po to leave.
At that moment, Kalifa entered the room.
“Here’s the reward.”
Jin, who took the thick envelope handed by her, was impressed by its weight.
“Two million…” “Three million credits.”
“Huh?”
Jin flinched, surprised, but quickly tucked the envelope inside his clothes.
Kalifa smiled at his lightning-fast actions.
“The extra amount is a reward for finishing the job neatly despite the sudden berserk situation. Keep it up like this from now on.”
A reward, huh?
Jin narrowed his eyes, puzzled.
His understanding of the world was shallow, but he wasn’t some naïve fool who would take everything at face value.
Having graduated from a decent university and experienced the difficulty of earning money, he was a respectable member of society.
There must be a reason behind the extra money the intermediary gave him, and he wasn’t going to ignore it—after all, a silent gesture of trust wouldn’t break a promise made with 100,000 credits.
She wasn’t petty.
Jin raised his opinion of Kalifa by half a notch in his mind.
“I’m going.”
After finishing his business, Jin gave his parting words and turned to leave.
But then, he suddenly stopped and turned around.
“By any chance, could you recommend a good gun shop?”
Kalifa, taken aback by the sudden question, touched her chin.
“A gun shop? Hmm…”
After a brief moment of contemplation, she spoke.
“There’s a gun shop called ‘Good Neighbor’ in Junk Plaza Complex 2. It’s run by an old man named Brof, and he’s reliable. If you’re interested, I can send you the exact address via message.”
“Well, if you send it, I’ll be grateful.”
“It’s nothing.”
Kalifa sent the message right there.
Feeling the vibration of the device in his chest, Jin tapped his chest as a sign of receiving it and turned to leave.
Then, with a squeak, he stopped and straightened up.
“Oh, right.”
“…?”
Kalifa gave him a questioning look, and Jin scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“I actually have one more question.”
***
After Jin left, Po flipped open the bundle and placed the body, once Edmon Nilson, on the table.
The crushed face, the bruised side, and the bloodshot skin.
Po carefully examined not only the visible wounds but also the internal flow that couldn’t be seen with the naked eye and spoke.
“There are clear signs of mana circuit overload. It seems certain that Berserk was triggered.”
Kalifa, who had been leaning against the wall, asked.
“Can it be repaired? BH or whatever.”
“Most of the data was permanently lost due to Berserk, but I’ll still try.”
Po replied calmly, and Kalifa quietly stared at Nilson’s darkened eyes.
“If he hadn’t been subdued, what would have happened?”
“He would have turned the surroundings into a mess.”
“Yeah, I suppose so. A terrorist using family magic… Our fugitive seems to want to throw the city into chaos.”
Kalifa mumbled softly while crossing her arms.
“Maybe the dark magicians have returned.”
“Should we inform the Solard side’s mediator?”
“They probably already know. They’re not fools.”
“Understood. Then, I’ll just deliver the data chip.”
“By the way, Po.”
“Yes?”
“What do you think of Jin?”
Po, who had been absentmindedly fiddling with Nilsson’s neural socket, looked up at the sudden change in topic.
“He’s impressive. Not only did he wipe out the Steel Arms by himself and gain the upper hand over Fenrir in close combat, but he also subdued the berserk magic user. He’s a promising newcomer.”
“Now that you mention it, he does seem extraordinary.”
Kalifa nodded.
She was a well-known linker in downtown and had extensive experience working with solo agents.
But someone like Jin was a first.
As a linker, she naturally did her background check.
The CCTV footage from the club she discovered was still vivid in her mind.
In the video, Jin single-handedly annihilated a gang.
He was beaten, rolled, and stabbed, yet kept fighting.
It was a style that seemed to throw his body into the fray, as if it wouldn’t be surprising if he died at any moment.
Even today, he came with clear burn marks on his body, including a burn all over his torso and distinct scorch marks on his shoulder.
Despite the urgency of his need for treatment, he went straight to Anekdote first, which was surprising.
Yet, he didn’t even try to hide his pain.
All of it came across as incredibly fresh to Kalifa.
Based solely on his physical abilities, he could easily be mistaken for an enhanced human secretly created by some bio-group, but his actions had an oddly unhinged quality to them.
“It’s definitely interesting.”
After Kalifa’s low mutter, Po’s voice followed.
“But what was the last question?”
“What?”
“The one about whether creating a mana circuit would allow him to learn and use any spell.”
Kalifa recalled Jin’s face from earlier, just as he left Anekdote.
More specifically, his face was filled with hesitation, as though he was about to make a big decision.
“I don’t know. Maybe his interest in magic grew after experiencing the family’s vision magic firsthand.”
“Is he planning to undergo the procedure?”
“I don’t know.”
Kalifa shrugged her shoulders.
The mana circuit procedure.
It wasn’t something she would recommend.
Especially if he didn’t want to die young.
Without enlightenment, inscribing the path of mana would drastically shorten one’s life.
If someone carelessly went for the procedure, they would likely meet an early death.
But what else could be done?
A pure mana circuit wasn’t something you could just obtain if you wanted it.
***
Somewhere in downtown.
Drug addicts were frozen in strange positions, and a group of shabby-looking homeless people huddled around a barrel fire in a damp, secluded alley.
Passing through that narrow street, one would see an old, unattended motel.
For 6,000 credits, you could use it for 8 hours.
A small, cheap room barely the size of 13 square meters (142.333 square feet for my american friends).
In that space, with moldy wallpaper that reeked of decay, a brilliant light suddenly flashed.
It was a pure, soft blue light.
And from the center of it, Jin’s eyes snapped open.
He had learned it!
The Mana Circuit.