Chapter 6: Underground Great Hall
“Strange.”
The shaman Chae Seol-ah muttered as she stared in the direction the mage had left.
“Why?”
Nearby, the woman dismantling the tank, ‘Little Sister,’ let out an interested whistle.
“Seol-ah, take a look at this.”
“What am I supposed to look at? I can’t project the Electrosphere like you.”
Little Sister tapped the head of the multi-legged combat tank, the AT-71, and spoke.
“The moment this heap of scrap switched targets. It was right before the explosion happened here.”
“What?”
“In other words, this thing didn’t come here because of the explosion in the storage tank. It reacted to the Magic that mage cast and moved here.”
At her words, Chae Seol-ah’s pointed ears twitched.
“That doesn’t make sense. Then this thing recognized that mage as a bigger threat than us.”
“Exactly.”
Little Sister jumped down to the floor and approached Chae Seol-ah.
She pulled a hologram projector from her bosom and played something.
“Look. This was recorded in the black box.”
It contained the battle Diesel had fought in its entirety.
Lightning struck down, protective Magic was torn apart by hand, and icicles surged up from the ground.
Watching the footage, Chae Seol-ah was unable to speak for a while.
“It’s only natural that a grand Magic weapon would react sensitively to Magic from a mage like this.”
“…….”
“He’s a double spellcaster, and his instantaneous response ability seems pretty solid too. What do you think?”
“This man……. who is he?”
“I don’t know either. I heard he’s a rookie.”
Little Sister shrugged and continued.
“If you’re interested, ask Boss Kim.”
Then she sprang back up onto the tank and immersed herself once more in dismantling the machinery.
“I heard what happened. Sorry about that. I made sure to add more so you wouldn’t feel shortchanged, so ease your mind.”
A few days later, after resting briefly and recovering his body, Diesel returned to the dumpling shop’s refrigerator.
Boss Kim added extra pay amounting to more than double the original sum, even though Diesel hadn’t asked for it first.
Judging by his behavior and tone, the fact that a Megacorporation’s tank had come after Diesel during the last job hadn’t been part of the calculation, at least not entirely.
“So I failed to recognize a comet-like rookie.”
A mage who single-handedly took down a military weapon from the Gale Consortium.
Boss Kim muttered that and laughed heartily.
“At that point, there’s no need for another skill verification, is there? Then shall we try some proper work now?”
The Dwarf asked, his eyes sparkling.
But Diesel declined the offer and stepped out of the refrigerator.
“For now, there are some things I need to prepare.”
There was one thing he had felt painfully clearly during this job.
No matter how extraordinary his talent might be, this world was far too dangerous to overtrust that alone.
‘Especially that Miracle called the Red Spiked Gate……. its power was incredible.’
Above all, he desperately needed armor to protect his own body from such things right now.
Even setting aside Electrosphere items related to Hacking.
“Is there perhaps an armor shop you could recommend?”
“An armor shop? Hmm…….”
At his question, Boss Kim stroked his beard and spoke.
“Right. You’re a Ghostcatcher now, after all.”
Bukchon in northern Seoul, a tranquil tiled-house district with a small pond.
Located right next to Joseon’s imperial Gyeongbokgung Palace, this place had once made a name for itself as a famous tourist attraction.
However, after global affairs underwent drastic upheaval, it came to be called Sector 1-8 and turned into a private residential area for the wealthy, lined with ultra-luxury hanok.
Now, only two kinds of people came here.
One was the high-ranking individuals who lived here, and the other was Ghostcatchers preparing for jobs.
The reason was a secretive place hidden in a secluded corner of Sector 1-8 called the ‘Underground Great Hall.’
Diesel approached a building disguised as a refined teahouse.
Although above ground it was only about two stories tall, beneath the land he stood on lay a facility of such immense scale that it could be called an inverted skyscraper.
“Identity verification, please.”
A guard in a black suit standing watch at the entrance asked politely.
This place was a facility exclusively for Ghostcatchers.
Conversely, anyone unrelated to Ghostcatchers was not even allowed entry.
When Diesel handed over the chip he had received from Boss Kim, the man inserted it into the port beneath his ear to verify it, then stepped aside to clear the way.
The Underground Great Hall housed a variety of facilities.
On the first basement level was a bar called ‘Count Zero.’ From the second floor upward were various shops and simple operating rooms where prosthetic implantation surgeries could be performed, and below that was even a hotel with numerous auxiliary facilities.
‘Armor is on the fourth floor, I think. If I have time, I should also stop by the Magic supplies shop on the fifth floor.’
Diesel crossed through the bar filled with loud electronic music and headed for the elevator.
〈There is too much information connected to the Electrosphere.〉
Ar, who had been curled up inside his bosom, spoke as if confused.
At some point, Ar had begun to gradually shed its distinctive mechanical manner of speech and started using relatively normal language.
“Don’t worry about it too much. This isn’t a dangerous place.”
The Underground Great Hall had one strict rule.
An absolute peace zone.
This place strictly prohibited the use of force against others, Surreal abilities, Hacking, and the like.
〈Master, Ar does not understand. Ar is a spirit. Even if Ar tries not to worry, Ar worries.〉
“That’s not how you use honorifics, you brat.”
Sometimes it felt like it could do it properly but was deliberately choosing not to.
Soon, as he entered his destination on the fourth basement level, a brand’s logo song played along with a neon sign written in Hangul.
[Reward! Injury! Peddler!]
In Joseon, most retail transactions were virtually monopolized by that logistics company called Peddler.
As he approached the shop, a robot merchant with a large lens attached to its face greeted him.
The metal machine spun the steel satgat it wore on its head in a full circle and spoke.
[Welcome! I am Fuzz, the best pack merchant in the Underground Great Hall! What are you looking for?]
“I came to look at some armor.”
[Yes indeed! Armor, you say! Please choose here! Everything on the list is for sale.]
Fuzz moved its chrome-plated arms in perfect unison and thrust forward a terminal from which a holographic catalog burst forth.
[Brand-new products just in today from the protective clothing company ‘Meot’! Bulletproof material that easily stops handgun rounds, and a tactical durumagi with shamanic rites applied to prevent spiritual projection! A certain level of Magic protection comes as a bonus! A beautiful design handwoven by professional designer 771, combined with practical ample storage space, all for the modest price of thirty million Qubits!]
Faced with a price beyond his imagination, Diesel immediately flipped the screen to the next item.
[Megacorporation ‘Kusanagi’ once operated this reinforced suit as combat gear! It is designed to be bulletproof and blade-resistant, so it is a bit heavy, but its defensive power is absolutely reliable! In particular, it has a high-performance hacking countermeasure program installed, making it excellent at protecting the customer’s electronic prosthetics!]
After looking around several items like that, I stopped in front of one particular object.
At that, Fuzz let out a “Huh,” sound and panicked.
[Oh dear, customer. I apologize. That is not an item for sale…….]
Muttering, “Why is this even here…… Was it the pack merchant?” Fuzz scratched the back of his head.
At that moment, Ar peeked its head out from Diesel’s arms.
〈Master, found something usable.〉
It seemed that this small Electrosphere Spirit had hacked the catalog and pulled out a hidden listing.
From time to time, Ar would read Diesel’s state of mind and, even without being given any explicit orders, would promptly bring him exactly what he wanted.
Each time, as a reward, Diesel gave it magically created electricity, ‘Jjir,’ and perhaps because it wanted to eat more of that, the accuracy and frequency with which it came looking on its own were steadily increasing.
‘Sometimes it really feels like I’m raising an animal.’
Ar spoke as if pestering Diesel.
〈Jjir, need.〉
〈Can’t use Magic here. I’ll give it to you later, so keep hiding.〉
As he conveyed that thought and tried to tuck Ar back in, the spirit suddenly bit down hard on his hand and then slipped back into his arms.
[Uh……. So, you see. This is not an item for sale…….]
“Didn’t you say earlier that everything on the list was for sale?”
[Hahaha……. I certainly did say that…….]
“Then at least explain what kind of item it is.”
[Well, that is…… this is a very special item…….]
While Fuzz was at a loss, a familiar female voice was heard from behind the robot.
“Kantara’s Sixth Molar. A legendary artifact made by the master craftsman Magnus. It’s also an item I’m currently dealing in.”
She was the cheerful woman who had been dismantling a tank during the convenience store job last time.
“Diesel, right?”
“And you are?”
At Diesel’s flat reply, the woman smiled brightly and spoke.
“Come to think of it, we never properly introduced ourselves. I’m Little Sister. You can call me ‘Sis.’ As you saw before, I’m a hacker and a techie.”
A hacker was, literally, a professional who did hacking, and a techie was someone who handled various complex combat machines.
Both positions were relatively easy to get into, but difficult to master.
And yet she was doing both.
‘Either she’s mediocre at both, or…….’
Or she was an utterly absurd specialist.
Which category this woman belonged to was something to wait and see.
“Getting interested in artifacts already, right after debuting?”
“Even so, it seems like I won’t be able to afford it because of the price.”
At Diesel’s words, Sis went “Hmm,” propped her chin up, and said,
“Alright. I’ll give it to you as a gift.”
[W-what? Little Sister! That’s different from the contract…….]
“Stay put, Fuzz. I’ll take responsibility for everything.”
Step, step.
She walked toward Diesel.
“Of course, I’m not just giving it to you for nothing.”
“…….”
She leaned in close enough that he could hear her breathing, then whispered softly.
“The spirit you’re holding, it’s a little interesting to me.”
She then looked at Ar, which was peeking its head out from Diesel’s chest.
‘Can she see Ar?’
If a spirit decided to hide its body, it could not be seen by anyone other than its contractor.
Generally speaking.
At the unexpected mention of the spirit, Diesel slightly furrowed his brow.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’ve got quite an interest in Electrosphere Spirits.”
It was something he learned after summoning Ar, but the existence of Electrosphere Spirits was already known to the world.
Even so, they were mysterious beings with much yet to be uncovered, so many places were eyeing them greedily.
“Relax. I’m not planning to harm it.”
“…….”
“How about we talk details downstairs?”
With a smile, Sis gestured toward the elevator.
“At the VIP level.”
‘This is something else entirely.’
Diesel could not hide his amazement at the scenery visible beyond the transparent elevator.
The ‘VIP level,’ located below a certain floor of the underground grand hall, was an exclusive facility that only high-ranking Ghostcatchers of considerable caliber could use.
Perhaps because of that, its appearance was different from the upper floors from the very start.
Places where waves crashed like a beach, places where stars glittered across the ceiling, places where lava gushed like fountains…….
Floors whose purpose he could not even begin to guess swept past one after another.
The place they arrived at was pitch-dark, without even the lights turned on.
[Welcome, Little Sister.]
As Sis stepped out of the elevator, a gentle voice sounded, and dazzlingly pure white lights came on.
“This is the ‘White Floor.’ My personal floor. It’s a space designed to have especially high resonance with the Electrosphere.”
A personal floor…….
Just as Sis said, this place did seem a bit special.
〈Here, comfortable.〉
Suddenly, Ar slipped out of Diesel’s arms and spun around freely in the wide-open air.
“Oh……. Such a lively spirit.”
Sis observed Ar’s movements with an interested expression.
Diesel asked her,
“So, what is it that you want?”
“You don’t like dragging things out? Fine.”
When Sis snapped her fingers with a sharp sound, a completely new space appeared before his eyes.
There, a creature that looked like a whale clad in armor was sprawled across the floor.
“This child is called ‘Skeljunger.’”
Whether it was still alive or not, its massive body heaved with every breath.
“Just like the cute spirit you carry around, it’s an Electrosphere Spirit.”