MTL NOVEL Chapter 27 - No Free Lunch
Chapter 27 – No Free Lunch
Jin has three weaknesses.
First, hunger.
Second, money.
And lastly, affection.
If he had to rank them, hunger was an outlier.
Still, he would place affection just half a step ahead of money.
So his top two weaknesses were hunger and affection.
And the church had exploited both, slipping into his life like a creeping vine.
They offered meals (important), along with warm words.
This sense of physical and emotional fulfillment was something he had never experienced in the downtown slums.
On top of that, he got a free meal, saving money in the process.
That was the real reason Jin kept attending the church, despite it not suiting him.
As for Nephetra? Netfliss?
He could never quite remember the name of that goddess, nor did he really care.
All he knew was that she was one of the Twelve Gods from the glorious past—the so-called Era of Light and Roses—and that she symbolized mercy.
That was about the extent of his knowledge.
It wasn’t hard to see why.
The priest’s passionate sermons about mercy were too detached from the reality of the current era.
Even with an open mind, Jin found it impossible to agree with them, so he let most of the words slip in one ear and out the other.
To him, the Church of Mercy was nothing more than a social space—a place to enjoy good food and interact with people.
No more, no less.
So waking up in a pitch-black basement was a bit of a shock.
“…What the hell?”
When he lifted his head, wondering why he had his arms raised, he saw his wrists bound by chains attached to the ceiling.
Did the esteemed Goddess of Mercy have a fondness for restraint play?
Sorry, but that wasn’t his thing.
Jin, casually committing blasphemy, assessed the situation.
Let’s see.
He had visited the church in the early evening—
As usual, he had filled his stomach, then sat in the back row of the prayer hall, hiding behind others while pretending to listen to the sermon.
But today, for some reason, he had felt particularly drowsy.
His eyelids had grown heavy.
Did he eat too many fries?
Then he noticed something strange.
The usually enthusiastic congregation was also nodding off, as if they had all been collectively invited to dreamland.
Had they drugged the food?
That was his last thought before blacking out.
Now, he was here.
“…Unbelievable.”
Jin let out a hollow laugh.
It was clear something had been done to him.
Otherwise, there was no way he’d end up in this state.
At that moment, a familiar rectangular window popped up, as if to confirm his suspicions.
「(Emergency!) No Free Lunch」─────────
Escape the Factory.
Reward: Perk XP 5,000
──────────────────
Jin frowned.
Not only was this unwelcome window making an appearance, but now it was spitting out hard truths too?
At first, he glared at the message with sharp eyes.
Then, gradually, his expression relaxed.
“…Yeah. Nothing is free.”
He knew that.
Even if he pretended to be fooled, he had wanted to believe—just once.
So rather than feeling betrayed, he felt a deep, hollow disappointment.
Of course.
Of course.
Of course.
“This damn world.”
Muttering to himself, Jin glanced around.
The homeless people he had come to know over the past few days were hanging like slabs of meat in a butcher shop.
Among them, he spotted Jeff, wearing his usual patchwork of bizarrely colorful rags.
Like the others, his head hung low, completely unconscious.
Hmm.
He got caught too.
Good.
For a fleeting moment, Jin had suspected that Jeff might have approached him just to lure him in.
But seeing him like this reassured him—his last shred of faith in humanity remained intact.
Then—
“Hey.”
A voice unfamiliar to his ears.
Jin turned toward the source of the sound.
“Yeah. Over here.”
About ten meters away, a middle-aged man wobbled slightly, making his presence known.
His frame was a bit bony, yet he was scrawny and ragged, his clothes stained with grime.
He looked every bit like another homeless man.
But Jin didn’t recognize him.
Not from the church.
Thinking that, Jin spoke.
“Who are you?”
“Me? Your senior.”
“…What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I was captured before you guys. That makes me your senior.”
Huh?
Jin narrowed his eyes and tilted his head.
He understood the concept of hierarchy, but talking about seniority in a situation like this?
It was like trying to establish ranks in a pool of sewage.
This guy wasn’t in his right mind either.
Feeling oddly amused, Jin smirked.
“Then don’t just flaunt your seniority—explain things in a way I can understand. What the hell is going on here?”
The middle-aged man blinked before answering.
“Beats me. I don’t know either.”
“Wait, didn’t you just say you were my senior?”
“I am. By about… an hour?”
Damn it.
I knew it.
Jin let out a deep sigh.
What did he expect from a guy who was clearly a few screws loose?
Thinking about it that way, he suddenly felt cheated.
In situations like this, wasn’t there usually someone disheveled and on the brink of death, gasping out, ‘This is where we are, and these are the terrible things happening…’ before dramatically keeling over?
Just once, couldn’t things be convenient like that?
Then I could cradle the body and swear vengeance!
What?
Is that too much to ask?
Jin grumbled internally for a moment before deciding he had no choice but to figure things out himself.
“Hey, mister. Mister? Senior?”
“Huh? What?”
“Did you get dragged here while mooching a free meal too?”
“Me? I just woke up here after going to sleep.”
So his face wasn’t familiar for a reason.
It seemed they weren’t kidnapped using the same method.
Nodding, Jin asked another question.
“You’re from Downtown, right?”
“…Downtown? Isn’t that District 47? I’m from District 43—Regitown.”
Wait a second.
That’s different.
He was from another district?
Was this some nationwide kidnapping ring or something?
As Jin hesitated, unsure, the middle-aged man suddenly muttered to himself about needing to pee.
A bodily function, even in this situation.
Well, stress could do that.
Jin was about to jokingly suggest he just let out a little at a time when—
“Shh!”
His sharp warning cut through the air as he immediately shut his eyes.
Step.
Footsteps approached—closer than he’d realized.
Beyond the closed iron door, he sensed movement.
Then, a cold, scraping sound echoed as something unfastened and slid across the floor.
With the creak of an old hinge, the door opened.
Three figures entered.
Each wore robes so long they dragged along the floor.
With their hoods pulled low, their faces remained hidden.
They looked like something straight out of another era.
To Jin, who peeked through narrowed eyes, they resembled medieval monks—or cosplayers trying to imitate them.
A low voice spoke from among them.
“How many?”
“Thirty-two.”
“…Thirty-two, huh. That’s not much.”
“I apologize. This was the best we could manage for now.”
One asked the questions, and the other two took turns responding.
The one who apologized had a strangely familiar voice.
A gentle priest’s face surfaced in Jin’s memory—smiling warmly as he murmured, May the Mother’s embrace shelter you.
Jin’s brow twitched involuntarily, but the robed figures hadn’t noticed.
They continued stepping closer.
“The deal is in less than ten days. We cannot afford any deficiencies. Move quickly.”
“Yes.”
The reply came right in front of him.
In that instant, Jin’s eyes flashed open.
Whoosh!
His body coiled like a tightly wound spring before his legs shot up explosively—snaking around the neck of the monk at the rear.
“…!”
Lightning-fast.
It was less an attack and more a capture.
Crack!
The monk’s face turned a deep shade of red as he was forced onto his toes—his hands clawing desperately at the vice grip around his throat, but it was all futile.
Snap—
Snap, crack!
Jin felt the breath leave his victim, and just as he loosened his grip—
Clatter!
Chains rattled as the two at the front snapped their heads around.
“How—what?!”
“…Oh, shadow of the abyss—!”
The priest panicked, while the superior behind him immediately began chanting a spell.
“You’re not getting special treatment for no reason, huh?”
Jin thought to himself, striking his bound arms down with all his might.
Boom!
The chains were torn from the ceiling, and at the same time, Jin focused his mind.
The mana ritual he performed, a toll for using blink, was sucked somewhere.
In the next moment, Jin’s body appeared behind the monk chanting the spell, with his arm still outstretched toward the ground.
Whoosh!
The chain, swung like a whip, struck the monk’s head.
Though it didn’t break the sound barrier, the power within was enough to crush a human skull like a melon.
Twist…Thud!
The monk collapsed, his face hitting the floor.
Almost immediately, the red pool that had been bubbling beneath his feet stopped, returning to the solid concrete beneath.
Jin didn’t care much about what that pool might have been, immediately using his mana to untangle the chains around his wrists.
Now, only the fake monk remained.
With the bodies around him, Jin stiffened slightly.
As the monk beneath the hood tried to move his lips, Jin kicked him in the shins.
There was no need to use Blink.
The monk was right in front of him.
Scream!
As the monk collapsed, Jin grabbed his hood and slammed the back of his head with the palm of his hand.
The force of the blow was enough to crush the face, and blood and yellow teeth spilled out.
“Ugh…no…”
Jin acted surprised as he slapped the monk’s face again.
Smack!
With a hit to the face, the monk’s dazed mind snapped back, and he spat out blood.
“…Cough, cough.”
“Ah, you’re awake.”
“Y-you…you…”
“You? Was I not your Brother? You used to call me that so kindly. Why so cold now?”
Jin spoke casually as he crouched down, matching the monk’s eye level.
He then tilted his head back and asked, still gripping the monk’s head.
“Where is this place?”
It was a calm question, but fear clearly showed in the monk’s eyes.
The fact that it was the same face that had been laughing and eating every day, so perfectly handsome, made it even scarier.
“Ah, the honorifics just stick to my tongue…”
Jin clicked his tongue and changed his question.
“Forget it. Why are you kidnapping people and bringing them to a factory?”
“Factory…how do you…”
The monk mumbled, still barely conscious, but couldn’t shake off the question.
“What is this place?”
“…Mutation…mutant…”
Half-conscious, the fake monk slumped over.
His face had been smashed in the first blow, and it was a miracle he was still alive.
Jin finally released the monk’s head from his grasp and stood up.
It didn’t matter that the middle-aged man was looking at him with wide eyes.
Jin fumbled through his pockets and reached for his waist, his fingers brushing through empty air.
He frowned at the realization.
“Damn it.”
Then, he growled toward a corner of his vision, where a status screen appeared.
“Why do they keep telling me to escape? I still need to find my Gravis and my money.”
He twisted his neck with a cracking sound.
“I’m going to tear this place apart. If you want raise my reward. If not, just get out of here.”
A gleam of mischief flickered in Jin’s eyes.