Ruler of the Underworld -1-
In some abandoned factory on the outskirts of Cheongang’s southeast district, Laman, the second-in-command of Red Witch, was watching the news while waiting for his subordinates.
In less than half a year, the world had changed dramatically. One of the long-veiled first-generation enhanced humans had appeared, and Eniac had acknowledged their existence. The Cheongang Group, which had grown explosively over the past decade to become one of the three major city-states, had just replaced its CEO due to consecutive drops in performance. And now, lunatics were carrying out terrorist attacks targeting Royal Road.
Yet none of these shifts in the era mattered to Laman. All he needed were interesting stories to tell his boss once she woke up. He couldn’t care less how this damn city flowed.
“Laman sir!!”
A commotion erupted from outside the abandoned factory. His subordinates had returned.
“Aigoo, Laman sir!!”
“Why are you making such a fuss? Catch your breath and speak slowly.”
At Laman’s consideration, the leader of the thug group, Goliath, took a deep breath and explained what had happened at the casino.
“...”
After listening, Laman clenched his rock-like fist. Not only had they failed to collect the protection money, but they’d even been threatened into bringing their boss? If this had been Laman before he met his boss, he would have smashed Goliath’s skull right then and there. But now was the time to endure. There was a greater cause more important than scolding his subordinate for failure.
“You said it was a trio wearing powered suits?”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Gruumsh, Goliath’s right-hand man, answered. Powered suits, huh. Laman naturally thought of the Followers of the Crescent Moon. The only ones who equipped even ordinary combatants with those difficult-to-use and expensive powered suits were those vicious bastards from Yeongwol’s Servants.
“Now that I think about it, a messenger came a while ago...”
Laman muttered to himself. A week ago, a messenger from the Followers of the Crescent Moon had come with a simple message: ‘We know your boss is dead. So stop doing pointless things and quietly let yourselves be absorbed by us.’
But among all the villain alliances, Red Witch had especially high loyalty toward their boss. There wasn’t a single member whose resolve would waver from mere wordplay that wasn’t even a show of force.
It was a headache. The trio in powered suits Goliath mentioned were probably elite combatants from the Followers of the Crescent Moon. In comparison, the remnants of Red Witch who had lost their boss were closer to a ragtag bunch than an actual organization. If they clashed, the worst outcome would be total annihilation. Even the second-worst would be the humiliating end of bowing their heads to the Followers of the Crescent Moon.
Laman recalled the boss’s head stored in the icebox and grimaced in pain.
“Goliath, make the call.”
Laman finally seemed to have made a decision. Seeing his resolute expression, every remaining member of Red Witch steeled themselves with grim determination.
“Oh, yeah! Payment confirmed! I’ll open one line for you, so use it as much as you want!”
“Yes~ Thank you.”
Beep.
Finally, I had obtained a freely usable broadcast line from Arc. I already had an idea of how to use it. Suppressing the laughter that kept leaking out, I reviewed our future plans with my Maker comrades.
“Did we get a message from the remnants?”
“U-ueh… It just arrived…”
A.G.O shared the anonymous email with everyone. It read: ‘We’ll be waiting at the abandoned factory in the outskirts of Cheongang’s southeast district tomorrow night at 10. If you want to talk, come alone.’
“Tomorrow? These bastards must be pretty desperate.”
“It says to come alone… You’re not seriously thinking of going by yourself, right…?”
To the anxious A.G.O, I gave a bright smile. As if I were crazy enough to go there alone. After visiting the casino, I realized one thing: numbers were everything. Still, a little show wouldn’t hurt.
“I’ll go alone. On the surface.”
“On the surface?”
Kim Seokho snorted, apparently catching on to what I meant.
“It’s that again. You want us to follow while invisible.”
“Ah, why spoil it?”
Kim Seokho had already learned far too much about me. At that moment, Naja, who had been quietly listening, asked,
“Little brother, our ultimate goal is still recruitment, right?”
“That’s right, sis.”
“Then how do you plan to recruit them? As far as I know, these guys have exceptional loyalty to their boss. Unless you force them to their knees with overwhelming power, they won’t bend their will.”
As expected from the best brain in our party. She hit the nail right on the head. I pulled out the presentation I had prepared in advance, as if to say I had a plan for that.
Red Witch. A villain alliance and contract killing organization that appears in the second chapter of the original story. Before they took on the name Red Witch, they were just an ordinary, scattered point organization. But someone united those ragtag members and turned them into a proper contract company. And the boss of that company was the enhanced human known to fans of the original as the ‘Fucking Killer’—‘W.’
“Hmm? Their boss was that woman?”
Naja reacted immediately to my explanation. As expected from the mother of nanomachines, she seemed to know about her existence.
“She’s a female enhanced human who uses fire. You know her?”
In the past, W had been one of the hitmen separately managed by the seven families of Royal Road. That’s why she hadn’t received nanomachine implantation from the enhanced human procedure stage. Nanomachines would have restricted her assassination missions.
“Know her? I was in charge of that bitch for a while. She had such a soft heart that I kept telling her not to do assassinations. In the end, it looks like someone ‘dealt with’ her.”
Just as Naja said, the boss of Red Witch appeared dead in the original story as well. To be precise, she showed up with her neck cleanly severed by Athena’s sword, stored inside an icebox. However, enhanced humans don’t die as long as their heads remain intact. They simply enter an indefinite sleep state until they can be combined with a new body.
And that was where the compromise with the remnants of Red Witch came in.
“It’s a bit different, sis. The boss of Red Witch isn’t dead.”
“U-ueh…? What do you mean…? The news clearly said she was killed by Athena’s blade…”
I shook my head slowly, denying A.G.O’s question.
“To be exact, her head is still intact. The remnants must be keeping it.”
“…Now that you mention it, I think I’ve heard that enhanced humans don’t die unless their brains are destroyed.”
“What? Ah!”
Naja suddenly slapped her knee.
“That’s it! I get it! Those guys are planning to buy a new body on the black market and attach it to that bitch’s severed head, right?”
Everyone except me let out a collective groan.
“I-is that even possible…!?”
“I’m not saying I’ve seen someone survive decapitation, but theoretically, there’s nothing stopping it.”
Kim Seokho frowned in disgust.
“Can you even call something like that human anymore?”
“It’s too horrible…”
I agreed with that sentiment. The more one acted distant from humanity, the further they drifted from being human. How could someone who survived having their head cut off be considered a normal human? Even the monsters roaming the surface would usually die if their heads were severed.
I glanced at Naja and Seolhwa.
“The important thing is that we have the power to grant what they want.”
“Hmm… If that’s the case, I don’t mind.”
Naja nodded as if convinced. Kind-hearted Seolhwa seemed to ponder for quite a while. She was probably feeling repulsed by the idea of reviving the boss of a villain alliance.
“…If I try my best, can those people become happy?”
Seolhwa asked me. Not knowing exactly what to say, I gave the first answer that came to mind.
“I don’t know if she’s a person worth saving, but I’m sure they will.”
“…Then I’ll do it.”
“Will you be okay?”
Kim Seokho asked, worried about his sister. Seolhwa smiled brightly to keep from worrying him.
“Yeah! I’m fine!”
…What an enviable relationship.
“...”
No. I thumped my suddenly heavy chest and took a deep breath. That feeling just now wasn’t mine. This bastard. Why does he keep trying to gaslight me?
It expresses doubt.
Don’t play innocent, you bitch. I’m not so starved for affection that I’d feel envy over something like that.
“U-ueh… The mood just naturally moved on, so it’s a bit hard to ask, but…”
At that moment, A.G.O, who had been quiet, raised her hand.
“How did you know that the remnants of Red Witch would be keeping their boss’s head…?”
“...”
I cleared my throat with a loud ‘ahem’ and answered confidently.
“What did I say my ability was?”
“Psychokinesis and electronic device manipulation…?”
“And?”
“Occasionally seeing the future…?”
“That’s it.”
“U-ueh…!!”
I wasn’t lying.