Chapter 43: Midnight Alley (1)
[Protected by a Miracle!]
A cheerful voice rang in my ears.
At the same time, blood spewed from the man’s mouth.
“Keheok……!”
When the man who had dropped to his knees tore open his shirt, a single talisman attached to his bulletproof vest burst into flames.
[All remaining Miracle uses have been consumed! If you wish to recharge, please contact a member of the clergy!]
Wiping the blood flowing from his mouth, the man looked up at the one who had attacked him.
“Well, well? I was wondering what it was—so you’d stuck a talisman on yourself.”
‘Even with a Baekho Daesal Talisman, only this much……. Just what the hell is that bastard…….’
A race from another world, holding a round stick in its hand.
‘Was it called a dokkaebi……?’
Its outward appearance was no different from that of an ordinary adult man, but the power and skill it radiated were anything but ordinary.
An even bigger problem was that there wasn’t just one of them.
“Hey, you jingjaebi bastard. You still not done over there?”
From far away, another dokkaebi holding a different stick asked in a mocking tone.
‘To end up like this against just two of them…….’
More than a dozen comrades lay sprawled across the cold ground.
Every one of them was a veteran renowned on the battlefield.
‘And the shaman behind them hasn’t even stepped in yet. This is unwinnable.’
The one who had summoned these two dokkaebi.
An elf shaman wearing a black hanbok quietly observed the situation from within the shadows.
‘If there’s an opening, I should run too…….’
“Taking your sweet time. I’ll drop by for a bowl while I wait.”
“It’s all over now, you janggujaebi bastard.”
As the gaze of the dokkaebi called ‘Jingjaebi,’ which had been fixed on him for a moment, turned away, the man kicked off the ground.
High-performance implants installed in his legs unleashed tremendous explosive force, sending his body soaring into the night sky.
“Hey!”
But before that, the dokkaebi swung its jingchae.
The moment the round stick struck somewhere in midair—
Deeeeng……!
A profound, mysterious booming sound swallowed the silent back alley whole.
“Gaaak……!”
This time, blood poured not only from the man’s mouth but from every opening in his face.
Along with it, the body that had flown high lost all strength and plummeted to the ground.
“Huh! Didn’t you say we shouldn’t kill even one?”
“Yes.”
“Would anyone really die just from Jingjaebi’s rhythm?”
“You janggujaebi bastard, you’ve been at it since earlier……!”
The hand of the dokkaebi called Janggujaebi tapped the empty air.
The two differently shaped sticks emitted a gentle sound as they carefully caught the falling man’s body and lowered it to the ground.
“Thank you.”
Shaman Chae Seol-ah bowed her head toward the two dokkaebi.
The number of people sprawled throughout the alley totaled fifteen.
And they were fully armed agents.
“Seol-ah, why is it that you only ever call us for slaughter like this?”
“I’m sorry. Given the circumstances…….”
“Fine. This time, Janggujaebi is right. I’m sick of the smell of blood now. Next time, call us when there’s pungmul to play.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
With Chae Seol-ah’s words, the two dokkaebi vanished like mist.
Then, from a corner of the alley, River revealed herself.
“There isn’t much time. That man will stop breathing soon.”
At River’s words, Chae Seol-ah approached the fallen man and grabbed him by the hair.
“Who are you affiliated with.”
“Ke, keheok…….”
“Who gave you this job?”
“…….”
Without uttering a single word, the man’s breathing ceased.
After confirming the man’s death, Chae Seol-ah rose to her feet.
“That makes four attacks already. And their numbers keep increasing.”
“That means they’re growing desperate as well.”
“It’s already like this—if that thing is completed…….”
Chae Seol-ah trailed off as she glanced toward River’s arms.
“If that happens, there’ll be nothing left to worry about.”
“…….”
After staring at River for a moment, Chae Seol-ah asked cautiously.
“Are you really okay with this?”
“What do you mean?”
“This port operation.”
When River slowly nodded without replying, Chae Seol-ah continued.
“A Valkyrie that’s only four years old, and a rookie Ghostcatcher who debuted barely three months ago. And their opponent is…….”
“No.”
River said firmly.
“A Valkyrie who’s been through every kind of battlefield this world has to offer over the past two years, and a magician who, not long after debuting, already cut down a ghost.”
“…….”
“With those two, it’s enough.”
She then looked up at the night sky, covered in deep navy without a single star.
“And where could there be a better opportunity than this.”
River’s eyes sparkled like stars.
“A chance to find out whether that person really is a ‘Seed.’”
“Whew…….”
Diesel opened his eyes while seated in the Electrosphere access chair in his workshop.
He pulled out the jack connected beneath his ear, stowing it away with a whirr, and leaned back against the chair.
〈Master, please don’t be too disappointed.〉
Ar lightly fluttered down and sat on Diesel’s knee.
〈It’s an extremely difficult thing to begin with. Even among skilled hackers, only a very few can create a personal matrix directly.〉
“…….”
A standalone Electrosphere space, a matrix.
Using the abilities he had newly gained within the Electrosphere, Diesel had tried to create a matrix of his own.
Naturally, it all ended in failure.
“Yeah. This isn’t something simple after all.”
The matrix Diesel had wanted was a space called ‘Test Chamber.’
A free laboratory that perfectly implemented all the physical and magical laws of the real world.
Originally developed for scientific and magical experiments, it was also used for combat training.
‘Looks like it’ll be difficult for now.’
Diesel looked down at his own hands.
Magic power converted into the force of electricity crackled and leapt about.
‘But I need power right now.’
At present, Diesel had run into a wall.
After absorbing the power of the artifact known as Seolha Thousand-Year Ice, his magical abilities had grown explosively once, but there were limits to strengthening himself alone.
‘The biggest problem is systematic magical training.’
Up until now, he had relied heavily on a cheat-like ability called Surreal Awakening.
With eyes that read all surreal phenomena, he watched others’ magic and imitated it using the power to enact what he perceived, expanding his repertoire of spells that way.
But he was beginning to feel the drawbacks of that approach.
In the end, without the solid foundation of proper magical training, if only the branches spread wildly in all directions, the day would come when everything collapsed at once.
Of course, it wasn’t that Diesel hadn’t trained in magic at all.
It was just that his training methods were limited to extremely basic ones he’d scavenged from the Electrosphere.
‘This won’t do anymore.’
No matter how deeply he could peer into the depths of the Electrosphere, there were clear limits to the information he could obtain there.
Ultimately, the truly essential training methods could only be learned at specialized facilities like magic universities or magic towers.
〈Shall I look into institutions you can enroll in right now, Master?〉
“Well…….”
Trying to clear his stifling thoughts, he flung open the window.
‘Magic towers aren’t places you can just walk into, and magic universities take far too much time.’
Only by recommendation could one enter a magic tower, and a magic university that would take at least six years before Diesel could obtain the information he wanted.
Both were nearly impossible options for him.
‘Isn’t there something like private tutoring that tells you exactly what you’re curious about?’
Thinking that, he absentmindedly looked down at the city’s nightscape.
That was when he spotted a familiar face passing along the street in front of his apartment.
‘Hmm……. That woman…….’
A bad encounter he had run into by chance during a recent job.
A prodigy mage who had graduated early as valedictorian from Yeonhui Magic University and smoothly obtained even a doctoral degree.
Her name was Kang Da-hee.
‘Why is she here? Does she live around here.’
〈She’s our neighbor.〉
“What?”
〈That woman you’re staring at blankly. She lives on the lower floors of this apartment building.〉
“…….”
〈But she’s in a bit of trouble too.〉
“What do you mean by that?”
〈You’re not the only one looking at her right now.〉
Ar displayed information across Diesel’s corneas.
Then he saw three people secretly hiding in a dim back alley.
“What are those guys?”
〈A new-model smart scope from Kusanagi, recoil-control muscles in the upper body, and high-grade subdermal armor. Judging by their other implants, they don’t look like an ordinary street gang.〉
“Hmm…….”
〈Looking at the gear they’ve prepared, it doesn’t seem like they’re planning a kidnapping.〉
In short, that woman was about to die.
Unaware of that fact, Kang Da-hee was heading straight toward the alley where they lay in ambush.
〈What are you going to do?〉
“What do you think I’m going to do. It’s none of my business.”
〈Is that so?〉
Was it an attack targeting a full-time employee of Podvig?
Well, there was no better time to take advantage than now, when the company was in chaos.
Or perhaps it was people holding a grudge against the sector councilman—her father.
Whatever the reason, it was none of Diesel’s concern.
〈Then why are you putting on your jacket?〉
“…….”
Ar fluttered up into Diesel’s arms and asked.
“Just. Going for a little night walk.”
‘Ah…… I want to quit…….’
As the thought slipped out unconsciously, Kang Da-hee shook her head and brushed it away.
‘No. Do you know how hard it was to get into this company? Get a grip, Kang Da-hee.’
For the first time since her first day at work, she had finally found a bit of breathing room and was on her way home after being trapped in the office day and night without a single proper clock-out.
Her company life had been turbulent from the job interview onward.
She had ended up with two rivals possessing mentor-level magic, and one of them had been a half-dragon hiding their identity.
On top of that, that half-dragon had unleashed dragon’s breath in the final interview hall, leaving one of Podvig’s executives nearly at death’s door.
After somehow passing the interview, she then experienced an unprecedented large-scale terror attack at the Moon Base, which even resulted in the disappearance of Yuri Ivanov, her only fellow recruit.
The result was severe anxiety and insomnia.
Yet she was never given time to heal her mind.
Instead, the work of the deceased employees piled onto her like overdue bills.
Even so, Kang Da-hee clenched her teeth.
‘Think about your goal. Up until now, things have still gone according to plan, haven’t they?’
The reason she had struggled so hard to join the megacorporation Podvig.
In order to achieve what she wanted, she ultimately had to rise to a position within the company where she could wield a certain degree of power.
‘So that I can, to Father…….’
With that resolve in mind, the moment she passed through a certain back alley—
Suddenly, a rough hand shot out from the darkness and clamped over her mouth.
“Mmph……!”
“If you try anything funny, you die.”
“……!”
The assailant restraining Kang Da-hee forcibly jammed something into the port plug beneath her ear.
At the same time, strength drained from every muscle in her body, and she collapsed to the ground with a thud.
In that brief moment as she fell, Kang Da-hee desperately racked her brain.
Who was it?
Was her father the target?
Or was it the research materials Podvig had been working on lately?
Whatever it was, she had to hand everything over.
As long as she could save her life.
As long as she didn’t end her life in this filthy back alley.
“Ah, ah…….”
Fortunately, not all her muscles were paralyzed.
Every time she moved her vocal cords, pain like tearing flesh surged through her, but she could endure it somehow.
“W-what is it, ngh……. that you want?”
“Shut up.”
“Anything…… I’ll give you anything……. Money……? Access to company documents……? Whatever you want…….”
“One more word and I’ll kill you on the spot.”
“…….”
Negotiation didn’t work.
Instead, a pitch-black gun barrel was pressed against the center of Kang Da-hee’s forehead.
Along with it—
The fear of truly dying trickled down her spine.
‘No……. No…….’
She couldn’t die a meaningless death in a place like this.
There were still things she had to do.
Someone she absolutely had to save.
‘Uuugh……!’
Perhaps because she had forced herself to speak, her muscles suddenly spasmed, and her head slammed into the ground.
Dirt from the street clung thickly to her face, now soaked with tears.
‘Please, someone help…….’
Contrary to her desperate wish, a chilling command spilled from the assailant’s mouth.
“It’s over. Take care of her.”
“……!”
The instant she sensed the end and squeezed her eyes shut—
“Urghhhk……!”
“What the hell……?”
A blue light illuminated the dark alley.
Somehow welcome, the mana-light emitted by crackling electric magic.