Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Before Me!
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Jessica and Nangong Yeon, as I knew them, were polar opposites—and it was perfectly fine to call them that.
The young mistress of the tradition-bound Nangong Family, Nangong Yeon.
Jessica, the eldest daughter of Helite Industries, who chased innovation and change.
But romance wasn't about sticking with someone just because they were cut from the same cloth.
Sure, individual differences made it hard to say for certain, but sometimes opposites clicked even better.
That's why marriage agencies didn't decide on a first meeting—they let clients meet several matches over time to find the right fit.
"So, matching those two wasn't weird at all."
"……."
That was my answer to Kim Yang's question as we rode in the police car to the station.
"Even if they seem like total opposites, sometimes that works out great."
"I, I dunno. It's just... a political marriage. Matching them."
"……."
Of course, I'd matched them partly because they both wanted a strategic marriage. It seemed like a perfect fit.
But if that was the case, they should've handled it politically without all the drama.
"What a pain in the ass."
"Oh, heading home early today?"
"Dunno. We'll see. You locked the office, right?"
"Y, yep."
She had a sixth sense for clocking out.
A short while later, we arrived at the police station.
In a holding cell at the far end, a blonde woman with a sleek figure huddled, hugging her knees.
"Ms. Jessica, are you okay? I rushed over the second I heard from the detective—I was so worried!"
"You said it was a pain in the ass."
Kim Yang muttered my earlier words from behind, but I pretended not to hear.
Sorry, but Jessica was a premium client.
Capitalism meant smiling through gritted teeth, even if you griped later.
"President."
Jessica shot to her feet.
Through the bars, she looked fresh as if she'd just done her makeup—her hair and skin gleamed.
Rumors said 6th Floor cybernetics had advanced into beauty tech.
It checked out.
But a shadow hung over Jessica's expression.
"Did I... make a mistake?"
* * *
"……I'm clocking out."
Back at the Meracle office.
I shot Kim Yang a look, and she grudgingly started brewing coffee for Jessica.
Jessica had posted bail and been released.
The investigation wrapped up smoothly, so the cops let her go right away.
During questioning, I'd pieced together yesterday's events.
The unbelievable story of Nangong Yeon turning the Nangong Family's treasured sword, the Serene Moon Blade, into her right arm.
And Jessica—
"Did I do something wrong?"
She still couldn't wrap her head around it.
"I get that the Serene Moon Blade is an important sword. But objectively speaking, it's not efficient."
"What good is giving it to someone like me who doesn't even know how to use a sword? Am I supposed to wear it on my hip all day?"
"A ring or necklace? Fine, whatever. But a sword? Totally pointless. Something precious becomes even more so if it's practical."
"So I took inspiration from the Nangong Family's man-sword unity principle and—"
It felt like chatting with an AI.
Jessica calmly laid out her logical reasoning.
She wasn't wrong.
But she wasn't right, either.
"To the Nangong Family, that's their tradition. Wouldn't you be offended if Jessica's gift got suddenly returned and swapped for something else?"
Kim Yang handed over the coffee and tried putting herself in their shoes, but—
"That's why I give catalog options or credit cards as gifts. If it's practical, they use it often, and frequent use makes it more cherished."
Her response was brutally rational. Time for a quick check.
"Ms. Jessica, what percentage of your body is cybernetic?"
"After swapping my right arm this time, 67%."
"Basically a machine, huh?"
"That's imprecise. I only installed the latest Argos chip in my brain—nothing else."
Tricky.
She'd wanted a political marriage, so I'd overlooked her personality quirks.
Never thought it'd come back to bite me.
"You seem troubled."
"Pardon?"
"I have a built-in emotional spectrum scanner. It reads 71% concern on your face."
Chills.
I'd heard 6th Floor tech was advanced, but this? While I marveled, Jessica glanced at my face and dipped her head slightly.
"He—"
A faint, weary voice leaked out.
"I thought he'd be happy."
"……Ms. Jessica?"
"I was wrong."
Without touching her coffee, Jessica headed for the door.
"Sorry, President. For dragging you into this mess."
"Where are you going?"
She paused at my question, hesitating like she wasn't sure herself.
"Back to Cyber City."
She declared she'd return to square one.
After Jessica left, I stared at the untouched coffee I'd prepared for her, then tossed it.
'Not my fault, but it feels off.'
The match I'd made ending in disaster felt weird.
First time for everything.
"P-President."
Kim Yang called worriedly.
"Th-those two... wh-what happens now?"
What happens?
Obvious.
"They'll fight. Nangong Family versus Helite? ...Hard to say who'd win."
Strictly by martial power, Nangong had the edge.
But Helite's wealth offered more versatile might.
They could hire Cyber City's "fixers"—like 3rd Floor hunters—or even rally a PMC mercenary force.
"L-layer war?"
"Nah, not that bad."
Inter-floor skirmishes weren't rare in the Tower.
Rajesta Continent's holy knights versus Cyber City's devil worshippers were a classic example.
"Layer wars don't spark that easily. That Blue Dragon incident was a freak case."
Just descending could've wiped out all of Seoul.
Without that level of threat, personal or corporate feuds popped up all the time.
"S-so they'll really fight?"
"Yeah. What can you do? Shit happens. We stay clean and mind our business."
Sticking our nose in a giant clash? We'd just get crushed like shrimp under a whale.
"Forget it. Easier that way."
* * *
Three days later.
A massive fire raged through Helite's prosthetic factory on the 6th Floor.
Workers fled in panic as fixer mercenaries shielded them, guns blazing nonstop.
"These antique geezers are hopping around like crazy!"
"They move like that without a single prosthetic?"
Even under a hail of bullets, the Nangong Family warriors moved with graceful precision.
Dodging rounds or batting them away with their blades.
They pressed forward undeterred by the sprinklers' downpour.
To Old Martial World martial artists, reacting to gunfire was basic training.
Leading the charge, naturally, was the Nangong Family's young mistress.
"Charge! Smash it all! We answer those who scorn the Nangong Family with our swords!"
The martial artists advanced like a tidal wave.
Centuries of honed swordsmanship cleaved through tech and machinery like tofu.
"Time's on our side!"
Nangong Yeon raised her sword triumphantly. No matter how advanced 6th Floor tech was, it meant nothing to martial masters.
Pride swelled in her for upholding that tradition—
Until a sharp jolt of electricity shot up from the ground, electrocuting the warriors and sending them into foaming convulsions.
"Gaaaaahhh!"
"Grahk?! Guh-heuk?!"
"Kek! Kweeeek!"
As their bodies charred black amid the screams, the culprit quipped casually.
"Feels like I'm a fry cook making french fries. Or frogs?"
Clad in a thick suit, he was "Buster"—a heavyweight fixer whose name echoed long in Cyber City.
"Urk?!"
"Heard Old Martial World eats frog fritters? Barbarians."
Nangong Yeon crumpled to one knee, electrocuted. Burst vessels turned her vision red; her brain felt like it was frying.
Drooling, she looked up to see Buster grinning, pumping more voltage through his suit.
"This is tech, gramps. Swing that sword all your life in some dusty dojo? One trigger pull, and your head's mush all the same."
"Shut... up—!"
She spat through clenched teeth.
Her mighty swing unleashed a sword beam that severed Buster's leg.
Boom—!
The electric shock halted with a heavy thud. Swallowing her humiliation, Nangong Yeon bellowed.
"Retreat!"
"Kyahahaha! Scram, you fossils!"
Even with his leg gone, Buster cackled. It was cybernetic—just swap it out. That nonchalance fueled his cockiness.
"Kyahahaha!"
His mocking laughter echoed after the fleeing Nangong warriors.
* * *
A few days after the Nangong Yeon-Jessica fiasco.
After my convenience store shift, Reneah dropped by for fun, chatting with Kim Yang.
They were brainstorming Meracle events for the upcoming Christmas.
'No idea why she's joining in.'
I didn't get why client Reneah was scheming, but a 1,901-year-old fox might have ideas. I let them be.
Experience counts.
I tuned out their chatter as white noise to work—until the office door swung open.
"We'll find your mi—"
I started the Meracle greeting, but it was a familiar face.
Hair tied in a neat bun, silk robe over Nangong Family training garb.
And a blunt, massive sword.
Misunderstanding was unlikely—carrying a sword that big through Seoul streets took serious red tape.
You either jumped through hoops.
Or had backers big enough to ignore them.
She was the latter.
"It's been ages since I breathed this air."
Heartless Sword Fairy Nangong Haryeong.
Eldest daughter of the Nangong Family, a master beyond first-rate.
And a prospective Meracle client.
Prospective because Duel Marriage List challengers didn't count as clients.
We only got paid if they showed—and handled business then.
Plain speak: No challenger, no responsibility.
As Kim Yang and Reneah gawked, I thought, Here it comes, and stood slowly.
I pulled an old analog phone from my drawer.
"Here for the Nangong-Helite war?"
I'd told Kim Yang to ignore it, but digging into news showed it escalating fast.
What if someone came begging for help?
I'd prepped accordingly.
"This should solve it nicely."
Straight to the point, no dancing around—
"Not for that."
"Pardon?"
"Just heard an annoying rumor."
Nangong Haryeong crossed her arms, glaring.
"One name vanished from the Duel Marriage Ledger."
"……."
"That pup from Tai Chi Yin-Yang Sect, the Twin Veins brat, dared to—"
"……."
"Beat me to it?"