There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 97

Chapter 97: Chapter 94. Unexpected Predicament

Zein had a new morning routine now; watching the underwater lakes and listening to the sound of the mini waterfall as the colorful fishes fleeting between trees and stone tunnels.

He’d leaned on the bedpost with his morning coffee, watching the scenery in a trance while sipping on his steaming mug. It was twenty minutes of tranquility that he could never imagine before.

That, and taking care of all the plants Bassena left for him there. Watching the water trickling down the sprays and watering can to the plants was funny before--he was so cautious, feeling uncomfortable as if he was wasting perfectly good water. It took time for him to get used to it, and now it became a part of his peaceful morning.

Thinking about watering the plants and feeding the fish got him motivated to clear the dungeon faster. Unfortunately, it wasn’t up to him, but to the espers. And there was no Bassena trailing him in this second raid, since the man had gone to another zone for a charity event or something.

And Zein ended up lashing the guides even more this time. Part of it because he was impatient, and part of it because the guides this time were worse than the first batch, which was the division’s best aside from Zein.

But the three poor guides had seen the footage of the previous raid, and had been warned by the first batch, so they weren’t really surprised by the scolding and berating. It was two B-class and one C-class this time, accompanying the [Isa] squad where Rina Solstice was the Captain. They were a defensive and resistant squad, so their whole strategy lay in being cautious.

Unlike in the previous raid, where Bassena was there to keep him company, Zein had no partner to talk to this time. He ended up being even more observant, noting even the smallest details and criticizing even the tiniest mistakes. The two B-class would be joining [Isa] squad’s raids from now on, so Zein really made sure to get them acclimatized with the whole squad.

During break time, he made sure the guides did the cleansing properly, as usual gave them pointers during the guiding just like what he did with the previous batch. Between that, and instantly guiding Rina after, he seemed to have no break time at all.

Even then, his stamina and mental capacity did not wane. After all, this kind of raid held no candle to being stranded for three days inside the Deathzone where they couldn’t even fall asleep in fear of the beast’s and the specter’s attack while keeping on the move to get back to the unit.

So the guides and espers’ respect for him soared, including Rina’s--who also watched Zein on the field for the first time, and couldn’t wait to brag to Ashur about it.

Those respect and admiration translated well in the way they looked at Zein after the raid ended, and the media ate this up. Especially seeing how cheery Rina Solstice was, and how she latched joyfully to the tall guide.

If the media only speculated before, now they were sure; Guide Luzein was in charge of all the 5-stars in Trinity.

Once again, the new guide became the topic of media highlight, and without the Serpent Lord to shield him, they could take as many pictures as they want before the guide disappeared inside the car, looking as stoic and cold as usual with the black mask that always stayed.

Some even began to question what kind of face was hidden behind the mask, wondering if he was also good-looking like most of the Trinity guild’s members, or whether he always wore the mask because his face actually lacking.

Whatever the case, Zein was the highlight of the media for that day and the next.

The man himself, however, had no idea about it, since he didn’t care enough to surf the news site. And the guild’s management knew better than shoving an interview request for Zein. It was stated within their contract already, that the guild could not impose any publication or commercial venture for the guide without his consent. The PR team already asked him once and he gave them a stare as if he would skewer them if they asked ever again. Any public relations business with the Strike Guide Division would be handled by Alice and the A-class Nadine.

And so, Zein had never bothered himself with news articles regarding him--or Trinity, for that matter--and that ignorance showed when he went out of the guild compound late at night alone.

It was Zein’s habit to go on a run every few days, when he got stuffy with things to ponder. But after more than a month, he was rather bored with the compound view, and decided to venture further, outside the confine of Trinity’s wall. He learned how to use the map through the commlink, and had a night run with his exercise clothes and trusty filtering mask.

Zein rarely got out of the guild compound. When he did, it was either going to Mortix or dungeon business. When he came out to ’play’, so to speak, he only followed the people he went with. He had never roamed the area around the guild compound, and it was an interesting experience on its own.

He found out that most of the buildings around Trinity were residential complexes--apartments and upper-class housing. There was also a commercial district that mainly dealt with esper’s goods and culinary streets.

Zein was taken aback, to say the least. He still hadn’t grasped the notion that random people would recognize him, or that they would see him as someone important. His eyes as he stared back at the cashier were as if asking ’well, yeah...I am, so what?’ and thinking when could he drink his water, since the boy hadn’t rung him.