[Joongdok] Omniscient Reader's Path to Nowhere

Part 2 - Chapter 1: Keylan Square

06:20 a.m, March 14, N.F 113

"33...34...35!"

Kim Dokja finally couldn't continue anymore, laid himself flat on the floor. His chest heaved rapidly with heavy panting. Nurse Anne kneeled beside him, her pastel braid fell over her shoulder as she furrowed her delicate eyebrows in confusion:

"I don't get it. With this level of practice, your rounds should have increased, not decreased steadily like this. This shouldn't be happening..."

After that 'leaving the MBCC' incident, his life had gone back to how it used to be, including his workload. So naturally, his training schedule also resumed. Although he still occasionally skipped a day or two, his health steadily recovered, until four months ago, when it slowly declined again.

At first, it wasn't obvious. Kim Dokja just felt tired a bit faster and the number of rounds decreased by a few units. His regular medical checkup also couldn't point out the reason, so he didn't think about it much. But after 2 months, the signs could no longer be ignored, with data clearly showing that his physical condition was deteriorating.

So it ended up like this, with Iron set up a whole set of health monitoring facilities in the training room, while Anne herself supervised Kim Dokja's morning exercises.

A bit further away, Dr. Iron observed the numbers on the monitoring devices. Her stern expression showed that she obliviously didn't like what she saw:

"Did he skip any training?"

"Not under my watch. Kelvin and Harry also reported that he has been eating on time too."

"Hm...Aside from steadily decreasing, all his stats were normal. This isn't the problem with physical anymore. Meet me at my clinic again after breakfast, I'll check again."

Kim Dokja had regained some strength, so he sat up and said:

"Not today, I have a field mission."

"They send you out in this state?"

Dr. Iron's eyes didn't seem satisfied at all, but he could only shrug his shoulders:

"What can I do? Even you couldn't prove that I'm sick, then those guys definitely won't let me rest easily."

Today's breakfast included Kelvin's ice cream as dessert, so Kim Dokja was really looking forward to it. When she had free time, Kelvin would occasionally work part-time in MBCC's cafeteria. The ice cream she made was extremely popular with both the staff and Sinners, so these days, the cafeteria was often very crowded.

As he waited in line, a memorial program was broadcasting on the TV screen:

"...Since N.F. 33, the Keylan Square has borne witness to the establishment, development, and prosperity of the West District, and to its subsequent bankruptcy, decline, and decadence into a lawless zone ruling by the mafia gangs - Syndicate. After a lapse of thirteen years, the city council was ready to reopen talks in the West District. The Legion gang's leader - Zoya, was to participate in the negotiation as the representative of the West District. The venue for the occasion was the former Keylan Exhibition Hall at the center of the square.

It was a closed-door negotiation. Burns, director of the city council and former chief of the Public Security Bureau, attended in person. The whole community was waiting with bated breath for the outcome of the negotiation."

That time, the whole thing wasn't a negotiation, but an execution. Burns used that as an excuse to separate Zoya from her people and came up with a shoddy plan to make people think the Legion sabotaged the 'negotiation'. All was to kill her and cover his track in selling Mania weapons. Needless to say, he couldn't touch a single hair of hers.