Chapter 5: The First Job
For four days, Diesel did not step even a single foot outside the motel room, devoting himself entirely to gathering information and learning magic formulas.
That had been possible thanks to Ar, the Electrosphere Spirit Guide.
Ar searched out various pieces of information on Diesel’s behalf, since Diesel himself could not connect to the Electrosphere.
However, perhaps because the spirit’s power was not yet very strong, it could only obtain information from the shallow layers of the Electrosphere.
Even so, for Diesel, who had no foundation of knowledge at all, that alone was more than enough to be grateful for.
If there was one real problem to point out, it was the ‘food’ Ar consumed.
‘Looks like my electricity bill is going to be expensive.’
True to its name as an Electrosphere Spirit Guide, Ar periodically demanded electricity.
On the first day, when Diesel hadn’t known that, Ar had completely discharged and failed to show itself for several hours.
〈Motel, poor quality of electricity.〉
Hovering near the outlet and absorbing power, Ar muttered as it swept the floor with its tail.
Yesterday, Diesel had experimentally given it electricity created through lightning-type magic, and ever since then, Ar had clearly disliked the motel’s electricity.
To an Electrosphere Spirit Guide, magically manifested electricity and factory-produced electricity seemed to differ in ‘taste’.
〈Zzir, needed.〉
Somewhere along the way, Ar had learned a new term and started calling the electricity Diesel created with magic “zzir.”
Diesel spoke firmly to Ar, which was smacking its lips while looking at him.
“That electricity coming out of the outlet is your staple food.”
It couldn’t be helped. Fully charging Ar required a fairly large amount of electricity.
Supplying all of that with Diesel’s own mana was more than he could handle.
‘Good things are better given only once in a while.’
He decided to treat zzir as a reward to be given only when there was something worth praising.
〈Not satisfied.〉
Ar slowly closed its eyes and resumed charging itself with electricity.
---
Operation time, Sector 12-6B.
Diesel hid himself within an alley, observing the building.
It was such a secluded place that it was hard to understand why there was even a convenience store there.
Thanks to that, it seemed unlikely that customers would barge in during the job.
〈Ar, scan the Electrosphere.〉
At Diesel’s words, Ar, which had been nestled against his chest, shuddered once and began searching the Electrosphere.
〈Two types of connections linked to the Electrosphere detected.〉
One would be the convenience store’s internal server, and the other the clerk android.
Having reached that conclusion, Diesel asked Ar.
〈Can you hack the server side?〉
To make any job go smoothly, ‘hacking’ was always essential.
It was the easiest way to neutralize mechanical systems.
〈The firewall installed on the server is Grade 2. Probability of hacking success is very high.〉
〈Good. Give it a try.〉
Soon, Ar sent a notification that the hacking had succeeded.
Diesel replaced the store’s CCTV feed with a looping playback and issued commands to disable any alarm systems that might go off.
〈And show me the model information for that android.〉
A file stored in the internal system appeared on Diesel’s smart glasses.
‘Just as I thought, it’s not a simple clerk android.’
The body, which looked like that of a slender woman, had thick ballistic armor built into it.
Moreover, one arm concealed a barrel capable of firing buckshot, while the other hid a sharp combat blade.
〈How about hacking the android itself?〉
The answer he received was not very encouraging.
〈The android’s firewall is Grade 5. High probability of hacking failure.〉
Hacking failure came with a heavy price.
At the very least, it would become impossible to hack the same target again for a while, and in the worst case, related insurance could be triggered, bringing in heavily armed corporate agents.
Therefore, Diesel decided to use a slightly different approach.
“Welcome.”
As he entered the convenience store, a clear voice resonated from the android’s artificial vocal cords to greet him.
The female-shaped android, indistinguishable from a human, wore a smiling expression while gazing slightly downward in front of her.
It was due to a manual instructing her not to look directly at customers.
However, the android’s artificial lenses, which possessed a 300-degree field of vision, were already recording every single one of Diesel’s actions and storing them in the internal black box.
Diesel walked between the shelves, pretending to browse the merchandise.
It was not an ordinary, casual walk.
He infused mana into each step, inscribing a magic formula onto the convenience store floor.
“Where are the copy-food lunchboxes?”
At Diesel’s question, the android smiled brightly and replied.
“They are on shelf B-6 at the far end on the opposite side, sir.”
“I can’t seem to find them.”
When he stared blankly without even attempting to look, the android opened the plastic panel attached to the counter and stepped out.
“I will guide you.”
At that moment, cold frost spread downward, slowly binding the machine’s feet.
It was possible because the android was not a model capable of sensing mana.
Rather than suspecting magic, it would assume a functional malfunction as the reason its movement was slowing.
As soon as the android came to a complete halt, Diesel approached from behind, raising crackling lightning in his hand.
“Sir. The item you are looking for is over there, eeeee—.”
A blade formed of mana stabbed into the android’s back.
High-voltage lightning-type magic burned out all of the android’s circuits.
With an attack of this level, there was no need to worry about something like the black box footage just recorded.
‘This doesn’t feel very good.’
No matter how much it was a machine, stabbing something shaped like a human was not a pleasant act.
‘I need to get used to it from now on.’
If he hesitated to take, someday a situation would come where he would be taken from instead.
Steeling his resolve, he moved on to the next location.
Exiting through the door behind the convenience store, a fairly wide empty lot came into view.
At the far end of the lot stood a roofed warehouse, and beneath it sat the tank that was the target of this job.
‘It’s smaller than I expected.’
With that kind of capacity, an explosion big enough to do the job would probably occur even if he cast magic from where he was standing.
‘Then, let’s see…….’
He had been feeling frustrated because he couldn’t demonstrate magic directly in the motel.
But here was an empty lot with just the right amount of space.
It was the perfect place to practice the magic he had learned.
‘The image you envision is important.’
If miracles were the answer to faith, then magic was the product of calculation.
Whether magic succeeded or failed was determined by how accurately one could express the image drawn in the mind as a precise formula.
He closed his eyes.
What he envisioned was a monster walking atop a pure white iceberg.
More precisely, it was a byproduct that had fallen from that creature.
The scale of an ice dragon.
That was what it was called.
In Diesel’s hand, a single sharp shard of ice began to form.
‘This isn’t enough.’
Taking it a step further, he embedded vivid blue lightning energy within the ice.
Then, with a loud crackling noise resounding in all directions,
a power of lightning that could not be considered a simple lightning-type enchantment was sealed within the solid ice.
Diesel opened his eyes and looked at the target.
‘Grip lightly, then throw with all my strength.’
He took a stance as if throwing a spear.
Then he thrust his arm forward with all his might, launching the ice wrapped in lightning.
Destructive energy cleaved through the air.
When it flew and embedded itself into the steel plating of the storage tank, it produced exactly the reaction Diesel had expected.
Boom……!
Along with a tremendous explosion, massive flames burst forth.
Occasionally, metal fragments that flew as far as Diesel were deflected away by the defensive barrier he had deployed in advance.
‘This should be enough.’
Thinking that, he turned to leave.
But then—
From far away, a peculiar sound drifted over.
Uuuwoooong……!
Like the horn of a massive ship echoing through the air.
‘What is that……?’
It was too unusual a warning sound to simply ignore.
When Diesel turned his head toward where the sound had come from, Ar, who had been in his arms, urgently sent him something.
〈Warning, something is approaching…….〉
Before the spirit could even finish its warning.
A heavy mass of metal fell from the sky with a thunk, spearing into the empty lot.
It was an impact perhaps even greater than the explosion that had happened at the warehouse.
Facing the fallen object, Diesel couldn’t believe his eyes.
‘What the…….’
He heard the hiss, chhk, of multiple cylinders moving.
Uuuwoooong……!
Along with a threatening vibration that made his whole body tremble, the gigantic machine rose to its feet.
It was a military weapon of the absolute rulers of this world, the Megacorporation.
Operated by a high-performance artificial intelligence, with multiple thick metal legs.
It was a multi-legged walking tank.
〈Ar……. Hacking?〉
〈Probability of hacking success…… none. Estimated firewall, Grade 6 or higher. Exact value cannot be measured.〉
Ar trembled all over and burrowed deeper into Diesel’s arms.
‘The thing Boss Kim said was being worked on…….’
Was it that machine?
He had no choice but to guess that.
It wasn’t something you saw commonly on the street.
‘Why did it come this way?’
Was it because Diesel had carried out the diversion job too successfully?
Whatever the reason, that question didn’t matter right now.
Because a monster was moving right in front of him.
Could he run?
The thought flashed through him, but he soon concluded it was impossible.
It was a weapon that had moved here in a single bound from the other Ghostcatchers’ work sites.
Escaping from something like that was close to impossible.
With Diesel’s current experience and skill, it was an opponent he could almost never face head-on.
But.
‘If it’s now…….’
Just once.
If he aimed for exactly one moment while it was still settling into formation.
Even if he couldn’t completely disable it, he might be able to buy enough time to run.
With that thought, he clenched his teeth and drew out his mana to the limit.
He raised his arm upward and unleashed a power that still wasn’t familiar.
A considerable amount of mana surged toward the high night sky.
He controlled each and every one of those countless particles, engraving the mana formula in the air.
Normally, it would have taken an unfathomable amount of time and effort just to sense the existence of mana particles.
But for Diesel, it was more natural than using his native language.
Blue light born of mana brushed past as the power of lightning gathered into one.
Then, a spell only a seasoned lightning-type mage could handle.
‘Lightning Strike’ formed in the sky.
At that moment, the tank noticed the magic and hurriedly attempted evasive maneuvers.
But faster than that—
KWA-GWANG!
The bolt slammed down as if it shook the earth itself.
The tank’s greatest weakness: its upper deck.
And on top of that, it was lightning-type magic, strong against electronic devices.
With this level of force, no matter how monstrous that weapon was, it would take time to recover.
Thinking that, Diesel turned to check his escape route—
And then, from behind him, he heard a chilling sound.
Clack, the friction of metal locking into metal.
The sound of the tank loading its weapon.
‘You’ve got to be kidding…….’
He abandoned any thought of dodging and hastily spread multiple layers of defensive barriers.
Almost at the same time, the tank’s main cannon spewed flame.
A shell spinning in at high speed punched through five layers of barriers.
But perhaps because of the shock from being hit by lightning magic, the attack missed by a hair’s breadth.
‘……!’
KWA-AANG……!
Far away, the ricocheted round exploded with a thunderous roar.
Even through that blast, Diesel forced himself to stay focused and rapidly scanned the weapon.
‘It’s protecting the damage with protection magic.’
He soon found a magic formula engraved on the underside of the tank.
High-performance protective magic carved in while using even special supplementary materials.
‘To dismantle that…….’
He had to get close.
The moment he made that judgment, he forcibly hammered a physical enhancement spell into his legs.
Because his legs were nothing more than plain flesh with mismatched mana, an enormous backlash would crash over him once the spell wore off, but he didn’t care.
Without a moment of hesitation, he sprinted at full speed toward the tank.
Flames flared from its main cannon again and another shell burst out.
But perhaps it hadn’t anticipated the suddenly faster target, because once again it missed by a hair.
The shockwave from the shell that detonated nearby washed over his entire body.
‘Ugh, faster…….’
He shoved more mana into his legs and kicked off the ground.
When he finally reached a distance where he could interfere with the protective magic formula—
He did something ordinary people could never do.
A method every mage had probably imagined at least once.
The primitive act of tearing a formula apart with his bare hands.
Diesel seized the grain of the magic formula and ripped it apart, brutally, by force.
Then, with a bizarre creaking sound, the backlash of the dismantled magic erupted in every direction.
The recoil made the weapon stagger.
That split-second opening might have been his last chance.
A completely different attribute of mana gathered along his right hand.
This time, what he pictured was cold.
In the deep sea beneath an iceberg, the chill of an abyss where not even sunlight reached settled into his grasp.
The cold mana, simply by being manifested into reality, began forming shards of ice in midair.
Diesel drew them together, weaving them into a magic formula.
And when he placed his hand on the ground—
A single line of icicle blooming from the deep sea rose up.
‘Brinicle.’
Cold gathered at an extreme point surged upward, spiraling vertically.
And when it touched the tank’s body—
White frost erupted as if goosebumps were rising across steel plating, and in an instant the entire weapon froze solid.
“Whew…….”
Diesel steadied his ragged breathing and checked the situation.
He had no mana left to squeeze out.
But.
〈Entity……. still active…….〉
With Ar’s warning, the ice encasing the metal armor cracked apart.
Even the sound of the cylinders moving its legs was terrifying.
“Insane…….”
Was a megacorporation’s military weapon really this overwhelming?
The ‘Gale Consortium’ mark engraved on the machine.
Now, he felt like he understood what that name meant—one that stood at the very top even among the world’s top ten Megacorporations.
‘I have to move……. Ngh…….’
As the mana that had been forcibly enhancing his legs drained away, pain surged in.
Maybe the shockwave from the missed bombardment had even battered his insides—his whole body was wrecked.
As Diesel barely managed to stay standing, the tank’s main cannon slowly rotated toward him.
Then.
“What the hell. He’s already in tatters.”
“Step back. It’s still moving.”
He heard two unfamiliar women’s voices.
The first was cheerful, the second blunt.
“Red Spiked Gate.”
With the blunt woman’s voice, a loud bell-like sound rang out.
When he turned around, a red gate appeared in midair and then thudded, slamming into the ground.
Beneath it stood a woman in a black hanbok, holding a bow in her hand.
“…….”
Ears that jutted out like rose thorns.
She was of the race called elves.
“Move. Unless you want your face pierced.”
With that warning in a cold voice, she stretched her empty hand upward.
Then one of Red Spiked Gate’s pointed red arrows shone brightly and was gripped in the elf’s hand.
A kind of miracle he had never seen before.
It seemed like one of ‘Shamanism(巫敎)’—something that had been traditionally passed down in this land.
The elf shaman set the red arrow on the bowstring and drew it taut.
Then she lightly released her hand.
With a distinctive sound cutting through the wind, the red arrow shot out like lightning.
TUKWANG……!
A single streak of red light punched a clean hole into the tank’s upper section.
The weapon collapsed in place with a tremendous noise, and this time it fell completely silent.
“Hey! How could you smash it to pieces like that?!”
“This is Megacorp property. ‘Definitely finished’ still isn’t enough.”
“No, it was already almost stopped…….”
“…….”
At that, the elf holding the bow frowned and looked at Diesel.
“You—what did you do?”
Before Diesel could respond, another woman sprang out beside him and spoke first.
“Sorry. We didn’t expect this thing to come here either. I didn’t think it’d react this sensitively to a simple ammonium nitrate explosion. Originally, we only needed to draw its attention for about two seconds, you know.”
With that, she sprang up onto the tank, then shouted as she skillfully dismantled the machine.
“Grab a few mana supplements from the convenience store and head back! And don’t forget to squeeze Boss Kim for extra pay!”