Mechromancer (1)
If you had money…
It was an age when you could reinforce your body with mechanical parts.
A man was dragging a heavy carrier behind him.
Whirr—
Then a metal prosthetic hummed as it passed by his side.
The man stopped the carrier and watched the cyborg’s back as it receded into the distance.
That one cybernetic body probably costs as much as a house in Seoul…?
There really were a lot of rich people in the world.
Shaking his head, he started to drag the carrier again.
Yeah, I’m a machine geek, but if I had to choose, what I really want is…
“An Awakened One.”
Why would he replace perfectly healthy arms and legs?
Well…
The catch is that I’m past the usual age for Awakening, and I don’t have the money for augmentation.
The man gave a bitter smile and was just about to pull the carrier forward again when—
“Excuse me, where’s the Awakened measurement room?”
He turned around to find a pretty young woman.
The man pointed with his finger.
“That way.”
When the woman turned toward where he pointed, a holographic sign floated up in the distance.
[Hunter Management Bureau: July 2069 New Awakened Registration & Measurement]
“Thank you!”
As the woman thanked him, she noticed the man’s name tag and raised her eyebrows.
[Machine Upcycling, Im Du-ho]
Feeling her gaze, the man—no, Im Du-ho—straightened his name tag once.
“I’m in charge of collecting, dismantling, and repairing broken androids.”
“There’s such a department in the Hunter Management Bureau?”
“If Abyss management gets neglected, rifts appear. But rifts are random, and the androids that patrol them tend to break down a lot.”
“Ah! So that thing about mana interference affecting even the Bureau’s androids is true.”
“If someone solved that, they’d make a fortune.”
“Hmm. Then I guess I’d be meaningless if I Awakened.”
At her pointed remark, Du-ho scratched his head.
“Sorry. That was a bad thing to say.”
“I’m joking, I’m joking.”
The woman smiled lightly and headed toward the measurement room.
Watching her leave, Du-ho muttered to himself.
She looks so young…
I’m honestly jealous.
Du-ho strained as he dragged the carrier loaded with a heavy box of android parts.
Parts rattled inside the box.
He was twenty-six now.
Statistically, Awakening happened between the ages of fifteen and twenty, and twenty-two was said to be the absolute limit.
And…
It had already been seventy years since the Abyss had first appeared upon human history.
Humanity had split into three groups.
Awakened Ones, cyborgs, and naturals.
Among them, the Awakened Ones had seized the world.
Mana leaking from the Abyss rooted deep underground corroded ordinary humans, but the Awakened were different.
They didn’t suffer from it; instead, they gained powerful magic and extraordinary abilities. That was why people called them the chosen of the heavens.
Thus the Hunter families were born, and to preserve their bloodlines they poured astronomical sums into the process.
I’ve heard there’s even an artificial Awakening procedure at some Awakened research labs…
Du-ho dragged the carrier and wiped sweat from his brow with his sleeve.
“…Still, Awakened Ones aren’t the only path.”
The cyborg who had passed Du-ho earlier was a substitute for Hunters.
Another monster created by science.
Even if their bodies were destroyed, they could live again from cybernetic backups.
Honestly, in terms of raw physical ability, cyborgs are stronger than most Awakened Ones.
That was why even the Hunter Management Bureau kept androids designed to subdue Hunters.
And finally…
The underclass called “naturals,” who couldn’t even receive the common Dive Port procedure.
That’s me. Im Du-ho.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
When Im Du-ho opened the door to the Machine Upcycling department, the inside was a mess.
Damaged android arms and legs hung from wires on the ceiling, and the walls were packed with shelves of parts.
In one corner stood an android, its eyes rolling around restlessly.
It made him think of the miserable end of a debtor who had thrown away his body for cheap.
Thud!
A robot vacuum cleaner collecting dropped screws bumped into Du-ho’s foot.
Just as he shifted his foot out of the way—
“Why are you so late!”
Whirr, clank, whirr. Clank.
A man who looked to be in his early thirties walked toward Du-ho.
Assistant Manager Park Gyu-tae, who had replaced his arms and legs with implants.
Du-ho looked at his arms.
If you were going to replace them, you should’ve spent a little more and bought something decent.
Park’s implants were cheap and nowhere near the level of delicate work.
In other words, they didn’t suit this department at all.
“You little shit, I told you to bring it fast.”
After snapping at him once, Park Gyu-tae began inspecting the parts Du-ho had brought.
Du-ho carefully started to speak.
“Assistant Manager Park.”
“…What?”
“That android, from what I can see, I think the hip connector is damaged.”
Park’s brow twisted as he looked through the box. Du-ho, unaware of that, continued.
“If you look, the left pelvis seems slightly misaligned. That’s what happens when there’s a problem with the hip connector. So if you just replace that part—”
“Hey!”
“Who told you to diagnose it?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“You little shit. And you’re not even well-educated enough to know better.”
At Du-ho’s apology, Park turned away and spat the words out loud, making sure he heard them.
Du-ho felt a bitter taste rise in his mouth.
Six years of experience repairing androids in the field, reduced to nothing because he had only a high school diploma.
In truth, Park Gyu-tae had been deeply displeased with being assigned to this department. So whenever he could, he tormented Im Du-ho.
Park tossed the android parts aside, then immediately activated a hologram and ran a diagnostic program.
He wanted to prove Du-ho wrong.
And a moment later—
The android diagnosis appeared on the hologram.
And the result was exactly as Du-ho had predicted.
“Fuck.”
Park Gyu-tae’s face turned red. He quickly shut off the hologram so Du-ho couldn’t see it.
Then he started barking in blind fury.
“The problem with that android is the pelvis part! That’s the kind of bullshit you get from idiots who think they’re technicians just because they’ve gotten a little grease on their hands. Got it? Then go to Bundang and bring the pelvis part yourself!”
Du-ho was dumbfounded.
If I offered to fix it right here, he’d probably have a bigger meltdown…
Of course, there was also a third option: quitting because he was sick and tired of it all.
But he bit his lip.
Then he thought of his family.
Between his father’s dangerous waste-disposal job and his mother’s cleaning work, they could barely cover the younger siblings’ school expenses.
So…
“…I’ll go.”
“And listen, don’t take one of those shuttle buses. Take a taxi. It’s urgent!”
In the end, the way Du-ho looked at Park Gyu-tae naturally became far from pleasant.
But Park caught the look, and his neck tilted sharply.
“What’s with your eyes?”
“It’s nothing….”
“It’s nothing? Wow, what a damn piece of work you are.”
Clench. Crick…
With his cheap implant hand, Park grabbed Du-ho’s shoulder hard.
Even cheap, it was stronger than a human’s grip.
Ghh…
The pain was so sudden that a groan escaped Du-ho’s lips.
“S-sorry.”
Only then did Park let go, smiling thinly and nastily.
“Mr. Im Du-ho. A person needs to know his place. So don’t get too full of yourself.”
“……”
“You should answer.”
Du-ho nodded reluctantly and left the office.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The doors of the driverless taxi slid open on both sides.
Inside was a seat arrangement with no driver’s seat, just chairs facing one another.
It felt like a little mobile lounge.
Thud.
Du-ho climbed into the driverless taxi.
He could’ve taken a shuttle bus for 2,000 coins, but a taxi cost at least 40,000.
Of course, the fare would be reimbursed.
But the important thing was that the pelvis part Park had told him to fetch would be delivered by a package drone if they just placed the order.
In other words, this was all to give Du-ho a hard time.
Hmm…
I’m probably going to end up working overtime when I get back.
Park Gyu-tae, you’re really something else…
The AI asked for his destination.
“Take me to the Bundang android parts warehouse.”
“Standard.”
The driverless taxi set off.
As he looked out the window, a sigh escaped him without meaning to.
The reason was simple.
Holographic ads were exploding across the windows in all directions like fireworks.
It was a world where if you were poor, your personal information was sold to conglomerates without your consent.
The “premium service” the AI had just suggested was nothing but spam-blocking.
He stared out at the city through the gaps in the holographic ads and fell into thought.
Honestly, this job itself was good.
He was a machine geek, after all.
For six years, his hands had worked on high-end androids, and he’d been able to listen in on the theories of PhDs and postdocs who passed through the department.
He had been lucky.
But since Park Gyu-tae had arrived half a year ago, everything had started to go wrong. As if the low pay weren’t enough, workplace harassment had made life even harder.
Still…
If I just endure it, Park Gyu-tae will probably get transferred to another department.
That’s what he’d heard, anyway. He supposedly had connections.
That was when—
Rift detected. Rift detected.
“W-what is that!”
The alarm kept blaring inside the driverless taxi.
He looked outside and saw sparks bursting in the air as a rift began to open.
Riffff—rit detected…
The holograms inside flickered wildly and then popped off, one after another. It was mana interference caused by the rift’s appearance.
The driverless taxi drew closer and closer to the rift.
“Stop! I said stop—!”
Du-ho shouted, but the taxi’s electronics were already dead.
The vehicle slid forward under inertia and was swallowed into the rift.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
How long had passed?
Du-ho sat inside the driverless taxi, staring into the dim interior of the rift.
Click.
Startled, he looked up to find the taxi doors opening on their own. They were designed to open in case the power was cut, so passengers wouldn’t be trapped inside.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
No matter how he tried, the doors wouldn’t lock.
His mind felt hazy.
Is this mana poisoning?
For ordinary people, simply standing near a rift was dangerous. And he’d been dragged straight inside.
He let out a dry, helpless laugh.
Man, what a life.
“It’s fucking awful.”
Leaning back against the seat, he assessed the situation.
The rift had only just opened.
Even if Hunters were deployed immediately—
I’d be found as a corpse.
Ah!
He pulled a small pen from the pocket over his chest and, with trembling hands, wrote his last will.
To my mother, I leave my kidneys and my eyes. To my father, I leave my heart. Please use six years’ worth of severance pay to cover the surgery costs.
He was just about to tuck the note into the pendant with the family photo hanging from his neck so someone would be able to find it when—
Chik-chik, squeak, squeak….
A bizarre sound brushed past his ear.
When he looked outside the taxi, he saw a humanoid rat, about the size of an elementary school student, walking toward him in a crouched, awkward posture.
Huff…
He quickly dropped to the floor.
Is that… a Ratkin, like I’ve only ever heard about?
His vision blurred.
Kiiiii—
The Ratkin scraped its long, sharp claws against the taxi body.
The metallic screech rang out harshly.
His eyelids kept wanting to close.
His face had gone deathly pale, and every breath sent a stabbing pain through his lungs.
Shk, chik!
It sniffed through the window with its furry snout.
The strength in Du-ho’s hand on the door handle gradually failed.
His father’s laughter, his younger siblings’ chatter—he could hear them in his ears.
His consciousness kept slipping away.
His vision had already lost focus.
Was this it?
Mother…
She shouldn’t cry too much.
He was scared.
And…
“I don’t want to die…”
At that very moment—
A resonance echoed inside his head.
And as the status window appeared, his vision sharpened.
“W-what…?”
A miracle had happened at the very edge of death.
Haha….
Life really was cruel.
Awakening now, of all times.
He didn’t even have time to be happy.
Shkik, ik—
Claws appeared through the crack in the taxi door.
The Ratkin was forcing it open.
Bang!
Du-ho reflexively yanked the handle with all his strength.
Thud, thud, thud! Shrrrk!
The Ratkin’s claw got caught in the door as it screamed, pounding against the vehicle body.
It was only a matter of time before other monsters came running at the sound.
And as if to prove it, another Ratkin was racing along the wall in the darkness beyond.
Crash!
The Ratkin that charged in immediately leaped onto the roof of the taxi and began thrashing madly.
What do I do now?
He had Awakened, but he didn’t know how to fight.
“Even an F-rank could probably kick one Ratkin to death, though?”
He remembered the words of some Hunter who had once visited the Bureau.
Du-ho took a deep breath.
Then he threw the door open with all his might.
Crash!
The Ratkin staggered.
Taking advantage of the opening, Du-ho leaped out of the taxi.
And then…
Boom!
He kicked the Ratkin square in the stomach with all his strength.
Squeak!
With a short, final cry—
Effect:Experience obtained.
Duration:Permanent
Driven by nothing but the desire to live, he spun around and grabbed the ankle of the bastard looming over him from the taxi roof.
He quickly hurled it to the ground, then—
Smack!
He raised his leg and crushed the Ratkin’s skull.
Excitement and terror tangled together inside him.
His head was numb, and his limbs were shaking uncontrollably.
He felt as if he might lose his mind, and then—
Effect:Experience obtained.
Duration:Permanent
He collapsed to the ground and drew in ragged breaths.
Slowly, reason returned, and the job title in the status window caught his eye.
“Mechromancer? …What’s that?”
He was still bewildered by the unfamiliar word when a voice sounded inside Du-ho’s mind.
Oh-ho!