Divine-Class Awakening: I Can Steal From Gods! Chapter 24: Cost of Freedom

Neo ended up paying.

Snot looked far too pleased about that, carrying the last bite of his burger in one hand while they stepped back out into the city. Neo said nothing, but the taste still lingered in his mouth, rich and warm in a way he had not expected. It was his first ti eating one. He kept his face the sa as always, though part of him understood imdiately why people paid for things like that.

The street outside was alive in a different way than Zone 0 ever had been. Cars passed in steady lines. People moved between stores, offices, and walkways with the ease of those who belonged there. Everything looked stable, planned, built for people who expected tomorrow to arrive.

Snot swallowed the last bite and glanced at him. "Right. You’re from a Zone 0. You probably don’t actually know how this place works."

Neo looked at him. "Then explain it, please."

Snot seed happy to.

"The city is under the World Governnt, sa as most major cities. They keep everything organized, regulated, safe enough that normal people can live without thinking too hard about what’s outside the walls." He pointed ahead with his chin toward a distant cluster of taller buildings. "But families still have weight inside that structure. The Duplains, the Mournes, others like them. They have buildings here, businesses, branches, people working for them. Just because the governnt runs the city doesn’t an it owns every piece of it."

Neo listened and said nothing.

Snot kept going. "And beneath all that, there’s the gray market, underground routes, people who move things quietly. Illegal stuff, restricted stuff, favors, information. Since you’re from a Zone 0, I’m guessing that part doesn’t surprise you."

It didn’t. What did surprise him was the scale of it. Even the hidden part of this city sounded more organized than ordinary life back where he ca from.

"There’s more than families too," Snot said. "The Church of Souls has influence in a lot of places. Big institutions operate across multiple cities. And then there are groups like Gray Hand."

Neo narrowed his eyes slightly at the na, but he said nothing yet.

Snot noticed anyway. "You haven’t heard of Gray Hand?"

"No."

"That’s normal." Snot shoved both hands into his pockets as they kept walking. "They’ve got branches in different cities. It’s basically the closest thing to a guild without calling it that. You work for them, they take a cut, and in return you get access to things most people can’t touch on their own."

Neo looked at him. "Like what?"

"Breaches, for starters. Better jobs too. Controlled Godscar Ruins. Expeditions. Wild zones outside mapped territory." Snot rolled one shoulder. "You can grow through them without needing to kneel to a family."

That last part mattered more than the rest.

Neo kept listening.

Snot went on without slowing. "A lot of the world still hasn’t been fully explored. More than eighty percent, or that’s what people say. Could be less. Could be more. Depends who you ask. But the point is there’s still a lot out there. Old places. Dangerous places. Places no one’s claid properly."

That was enough to pull Neo’s attention tighter.

"If that’s true," he said, "then why doesn’t everyone go looking? You could find a Godscar Ruin."

Snot laughed once, but there was no real humor in it. "Because people like us can’t just walk out and do whatever we want. The governnt stops a lot of movent. Families control territory too, sotis more than maps admit. You cross into the wrong place without knowing it, you might not even get the chance to explain yourself."

Neo said nothing because he didn’t like that answer.

Snot either didn’t notice or didn’t care. "And Godscar Ruins aren’t all the sa. So are barely more than broken monunts. Others are castles, temples, fortresses, huge stretches of land left behind from the wars of the gods. So are still being uncovered. So are famous. So are locked down so tightly that normal people never even hear the real na."

Neo’s eyes shifted slightly. "People live there?"

"Near them, inside them, around them. Yeah." Snot glanced at him. "Usually families. Not always, but a lot of them. So build around the edges. So turn parts of them into training grounds or farming zones for Souls. So just hold the territory because letting soone else have it would be worse."

"Why live there?"

Snot snorted. "How would I know? I’m not from a family." Then he added, "But I doubt they get along well enough to leave places like that alone."

Neo believed that easily.

The more Snot talked, the clearer the shape of the world beca. On the surface, everything looked open: cities, streets, work, movent. But the real paths were narrower than they seed. Access belonged to governnts, families, institutions, religions, groups with nas and power already built long before he arrived.

He disliked it imdiately.

It felt rotten.

The strongest roads in the world were already owned. The ruins that mattered belonged to soone. The dangerous places that could change a life were controlled by people who had decided, long ago, who was allowed to step inside them.

That ant strength alone was not enough.

For now, if he wanted real access to the world beyond the city, he would have to enter through soone else’s gate.

Neo walked in silence a little longer before speaking again.

"What about you?"

Snot looked at him. "What about ?"

"What are you going to do now?"

Snot scratched the side of his neck and looked ahead at the street. "I’m not planning to live off small Breaches and random jobs forever. I told you about Gray Hand, right? I want to get in."

Neo kept watching him.

Snot went on, voice lighter than the subject deserved. "It’s not that I love the idea of being under soone. I don’t. But if I want access to better Breaches, proper jobs, controlled Godscar Ruins, all that kind of thing, then it’s the most practical choice."

Neo asked at once, "Can anyone join?"

"There’s a test." Snot shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. "Three months from now. That’s when the next one is."

Neo’s attention sharpened.

"What kind of test?"

"A hunt." Snot glanced sideways at him. "Inside a Godscar Ruin they control. Nothing easy. They want to see if you’re useful, if you can survive, if you panic, all that."

Neo fell quiet, thinking.

Snot kept talking. "No fixed rank is written down, but if you ask anyone with a brain, they’ll tell you the sa thing. It’s better to be at least Vein. Heart is safer. Going in as Ember isn’t impossible, but you’d better have a damn good reason for believing you won’t die."

Neo let that sink in.

Three months. Vein or Heart. A controlled Ruin.

Restrictive, yes, but still a door.

He had no interest in getting close to a family. The governnt did not appeal to him either. The Church sounded worse than both. Gray Hand was not ideal, but ideal had never been sothing he built his life around. Useful mattered more.

Snot noticed the look in his eyes and grinned a little. "Thinking about applying?"

"Maybe."

"Good." Snot sounded genuinely pleased. "Alice is planning to do it too. Marika and Max as well. We could train together now and then."

Neo did not answer right away.

Training with them had value. So did knowing people, learning how they fought, how they thought, and what habits surfaced when things got ugly.

At the sa ti, he was already thinking beyond that.

Gray Hand could be one road. It did not have to be the only one.

There were still governnt Breaches, still places outside the neat parts of the city, still Zone 0. If he needed classes, then he needed chances to kill and take them. Monster classes, human classes, whatever made him stronger. Waiting for one test in three months would be stupid.

"I can co with you sotis," Neo said in the end.

Snot’s grin widened. "Knew you’d say sothing like that."

They kept walking until the road ahead split, each side leading toward a different part of the district.

Snot stopped there. "I’ve got to go. But I have your contact now, so I’ll ssage you."

Neo gave a small nod. "Fine."

Snot turned, lifted one hand without looking back, and disappeared into the flow of people.

Neo stayed where he was a mont longer.

Then his thoughts shifted to the next thing that mattered.

He needed to speak to Richards.

And after that, he needed to find a place to live on his own.

If he was going to start moving for real, he needed space, freedom, and no one watching over his shoulder.