Time passes quickly.
After confirming that the side effects of the newly purchased cigarettes were far less severe compared to the previous ones, Lenok rested deeply for several days.
There was plenty to do while resting. Now that he could manipulate magic, it was perfectly possible to study magic while lying in bed. His rapidly growing talent gave him every reason to devote himself fully to magic.
As he continued studying magic, the casting time of spells shortened, and the number of spells he could apply increased.
By combining several electric-type spells he already knew in new ways, he could create entirely new magic. Immersed in this fun — something he could never attempt in the original WORLD game — Lenok focused on his research without any interruptions, stabilizing his body in the process.
Once he felt he had recovered enough energy, he would stop resting and head out for work again.
He would visit Jenny's bar, pick a bounty target, and repeat the process.
Jenny might have assigned him this kind of work simply to test his abilities, but for Lenok, who needed every penny, it was a pretty decent source of income.
As long as he had a trace of the target's blood, tracking them wasn't difficult — and subduing them was even easier.
Although there weren't many targets with rewards as high as the first one he caught, Taylor, the daily income was still considerable for a day's work.
From the time he captured his third bounty target alive, Jenny seemed to hint at giving him other kinds of jobs, but Lenok continued to focus solely on chasing bounties.
Before starting work, he would smoke a cigarette, catch the bounty target, and hand them over to Jordan.
He would collect his reward, return to the hotel, and sleep like the dead. After resting for about three days, researching magic again and stabilizing his body, he would go out for work once more.
Repeating this process over and over, before he knew it, Lenok had managed to save up nearly ten million cells.
It seemed that, in the process, the name "Van" had become known in various places — but as long as he didn't get directly involved, it didn't really matter.
In fact, Lenok thought being known as a capable bounty hunter wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
One day, about a month after he started earning money while researching magic...
"......"
Lenok opened his eyes, feeling the sunlight streaming through the window directly onto his face.
Holding his throbbing head, he slowly sat up.
The two cigarettes he smoked in quick succession while chasing a bounty target yesterday were still tormenting him.
He fetched some water from the dispenser, gulped down an entire bottle, and washed his sweat-soaked body.
Lenok had gotten so used to this lifestyle that he could find the towel hanging on the rack with his eyes closed.
After finishing his shower, Lenok's gaze shifted to a corner of the hotel room. There, piled up neatly, was the ten million cells he had earned from catching bounty targets.
Hundreds of bills in denominations of ten thousand and one hundred thousand cells. Depending on how you looked at it, it was either a lot of money or not much — but it was certainly not appropriate to leave it stacked openly in the corner of the room while requesting housekeeping.
As a result, Lenok hadn't been able to change the bed sheets for over a week.
It was uncomfortable, but better than openly showing ten million cells to complete strangers.
"I really need to open a bank account…"
There was no other way to store the money safely except by opening an account, but for Lenok — who didn't even have a proper identity — going to a regular bank was out of the question.
There was an anonymous bank in Zone 49 for people in similar situations as Lenok, but the outrageous fees, enough to make even beggars balk, had made him give up on that long ago.
In the end, there was only one method left for Lenok.
Buy a new identity with money. Purchase the identity of a missing person and completely rewrite all their information.
The cost to contact a dealer selling forged IDs and make the transaction was 20 million cells.
Jenny had arranged this for him — without her help, it would have cost him an extra 10 million cells, so Lenok owed her a considerable debt.
Especially recently, Lenok had come to realize just how inconvenient it was to be without a legal identity, so the moment he saved up enough money, he planned to create a new one.
After lying in bed all day, struggling with lingering side effects of the drug, Lenok finally got up, dressed himself with difficulty, and stepped outside.
"Phew..."
Without a cigarette in hand, even walking out of the hotel felt unbearably exhausting.
His frail body would break out in cold sweat just from being exposed to sunlight for too long, and walking for an extended period would raise his body temperature and trigger headaches.
Even Lenok himself couldn't understand how he had managed to endure three days at the factory and escape.
His hand naturally reached for the leftover cigarette in his pocket, but smoking on a day without work would not only waste money but also harm his body further.
Even though he had managed to procure a drug with minimal side effects, it didn't mean that his weak body wouldn't suffer from it.
Leading his unsteady steps, Lenok made his way to a small market near the residential area.
Despite the intense midday heat, the market was crowded with people buying and selling all kinds of fresh ingredients under tents.
The reason he came here instead of buying from a supermarket or store was obvious — the price.
While the freshness or storage conditions might be slightly inferior, most of the ingredients were directly sourced or produced by the sellers themselves.
Moreover, since these shops didn't go through distribution companies, the prices were relatively lower — perfect for Lenok.
Of course, back when he was clueless, Lenok had been ripped off by hotel breakfasts costing hundreds of thousands of cells and fallen victim to expensive restaurants without knowing the market prices — but things were different now.
After learning that this world's civilization was a slightly more advanced version of Earth's, he had drastically cut down on wasting money that way.
Sometimes he would buy convenience store lunchboxes or cheap fast food.
But recently, Lenok had been focusing on buying ingredients from the market and cooking for himself.
His body was completely different from before.
While smoking for work was unavoidable, reducing the resulting side effects and managing his basic nutrition was something Lenok could certainly do.
Taking care of his health and managing his body properly within his means was extremely important.
Just yesterday, Lenok had squeezed his tight budget to order a comprehensive set of nutritional supplements online for the first time.
"Auntie, I'll take two gabi onions, three senil green onions, and six bell peppers."
Having visited the market a few times already, Lenok skillfully picked out the ingredients he wanted and requested them from the owner.
The ingredients looked and were named completely differently from those on Earth, but with Lenok's mind, it was absurd not to memorize their names.
"That'll be 34,000 cells."
"Hm?"
Hearing a calm voice completely different from the owner he remembered, Lenok lifted his head to look at the person.
A woman with jet-black short hair was quietly staring at him.
"Who are you?"
"So you're the owner of this stall?"
Could this even be called a store? A flimsy tent, barely strung together near the market — calling this a shop felt like a stretch.
"...And that lady over there?"
"She's someone I hired."
"Then what about all these vegetables?"
"Just a hobby of mine."
These vegetables — stacked up high, covering an entire side of the stall — were apparently grown for fun?
The scale was far beyond what anyone would reasonably call a hobby.
Only then did Lenok take a proper look at the woman he'd been speaking to.
Calm, sharp eyes framed by an emotionless face. A small but defined nose and strikingly red lips made her quite the beauty.
Though she sat crouched down in a loose bomber jacket and jeans, her composed, unflinching aura left a strong impression.
Without a doubt, she felt completely out of place amidst the bustling market filled with people haggling over fruits and vegetables.
"If you're growing this much just as a hobby, you must be ridiculously rich."
"Yeah, I make good money."
"..."
Lenok silently handed over 34,000 sel for his groceries and took the bag from her hands.
He couldn't tell if she was telling the truth or just messing with him.
But if she really did all of this just for a hobby… she must be absurdly wealthy.
Not that Lenok had any intention of digging deeper into her life.
At least, not until she spoke to him again just as he was turning to leave for his hotel.
"That's some unusual mana you've got there."
"...What?"
"What's a mage like you doing in a place like this?"
"I'm not sure what you mean..."
"With mana patterns that refined? I should've remembered if someone like you had been around before. So you've only recently arrived in Balkan, huh?"
Her words, muttered without any shift in her expression, sent a chill crawling down Lenok's spine.
This was something new.
Not only had she noticed that Lenok was a mage — she was openly commenting on his mana pattern.
His mind spun rapidly, piecing together the answer almost immediately.
'...It's the barrier.'
Ever since he'd learned to use various public spells, Lenok had developed a habit of maintaining a constant barrier spell whenever he went outside. It seemed the flow of mana leaking from that spell had caught her eye.
But reading the specific pattern of a spell's mana was an ability far beyond just noticing magic being used.
Normally, only law enforcement equipped with specialized detectors could measure something like that — but she had done it with nothing more than her eyes.
Either she possessed some kind of innate talent, or she was an incredibly powerful mage.
Either way, she wasn't someone Lenok wanted to get involved with.
Casually reaching into his coat for a cigarette, Lenok responded calmly.
"You're right. I haven't been in this city for long."
"I figured as much."
"But how did you know?"
"Hmm? Ah, don't worry about it. It's just part of what I do."
"..."
As soon as her curiosity was satisfied, she seemed to lose all interest in him. She shook her head lightly, then turned to another customer who had approached from behind Lenok, casually recommending them some onion-like vegetables.
Lenok stared at her for a moment, utterly dumbfounded, before walking away from the market.
"Phew..."
The city was vast, and its people endlessly strange.
Who would've thought that a simple trip to buy groceries would leave him feeling like ice water had been poured down his back?
"I need to be more careful with my magic."
The more magic he used, the more his mana naturally increased, and his casting speed continued to improve.
But lately, he had admittedly been neglecting the study of magic itself, relying on the steady growth of his abilities without much thought.
He could use almost every common spell he knew, so he'd assumed there wasn't much else he needed — but here he was, seeing how easily a stranger had seen right through him.
Even if it wasn't immediately possible to learn new spells and become more versatile, there were still ways he could improve his use of magic from a technical standpoint.
Returning to his hotel, Lenok wiped off his sweat and set the groceries down in the kitchen.
Letting out a brief sigh to ease his weary body, he washed all the produce he had bought and stored them in the fridge.
Then, taking out just the necessary ingredients, he placed them on the cutting board and began cooking.
"One spoon of grain powder... two spoons of sugar..."
Beside the cutting board lay a note with the recipe written on it — copied from a cookbook he'd found in the library.
On days he didn't visit Jenny's bar, Lenok often went to the library.
It was freely accessible to individuals, filled with vast books and data, and even had computers available for use if needed.
Whenever he had the time, Lenok studied the world and its magic there — and this time, he had borrowed a book on healthy cooking.
It was his first attempt at cooking, but his face was dead serious.
Lenok understood better than anyone that maintaining his body in a decent state required above-average effort.
Not only because of the pitiful physical stats he had chosen when creating his character, but also due to the various penalties he had taken on to boost his magical talent — penalties that slowly wore away at both his body and mind with every passing moment.
He couldn't remove those penalties directly just yet — but in a world where magic existed, there had to be methods available.
No need to rush.
Lenok quietly urged himself to stay calm as he slowly moved the knife in his hand.
'First things first — I need to create a proper identity and bank account.'
His knife clumsily sliced through a zucchini-like vegetable on the cutting board — crooked and uneven — but Lenok didn't care.
He had never been one to expect much from himself when it came to physical tasks anyway.
'After securing a safe place to store money, I can take my time. Earning money and finding a solution comes after that.'
The road ahead was long, and there was much to be done.
But he had to move cautiously, with care and precision.
The world around him was still unfamiliar, dangerous, and precarious.
To not just survive, but truly live — he would have to be prepared for many things.
And Lenok believed that he was ready for that.
Steeling his desperate will to survive, Lenok reached for the next vegetable on the cutting board.
It was just another evening, as the sun slowly set on the horizon.
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