Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Infiltration (1)
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“Do you remember Park Sugwang?”
It was the guy I interrogated on my first mission. No way he’d forget.
Kang Jiwon nodded at my response.
“He was caught for illegally manufacturing and distributing alchemy potions. And as you’ll recall, he was just a lowly peddler, with a larger organization suspected to be pulling the strings behind him.”
I glanced down at the paper in front of me.
The first thing that caught my eye was a photo.
“We asked around his buyers, and they called the group this. Probably named after their alchemy potion.”
A brilliantly glowing crimson potion.
The name written beneath the photo.
‘Red Potion’
I racked my brain for a moment.
Back when I interrogated Park Sugwang, he’d described the potion’s effects.
A doping agent that temporarily boosted physical abilities for about ten minutes.
The side effect was half a day of fatigue afterward, as I recalled.
I didn’t know the exact extent of the enhancement, but the side effects didn’t seem too severe.
Reading further, it had no addictive qualities like drugs, and it was cheaper than doping agents sold by alchemy guilds, so low-rank hunters loved it.
Didn’t seem like much of a problem?
When I asked, Kang Jiwon shook her head.
“It’s not about whether it’s harmful or not. If you develop a new alchemy potion, you have to go through official inspections and get approval before you can sell it. The issue is they’re selling it without any of that.”
My expression twisted oddly.
“Are the approvals that strict? This seems pretty well-made—how could it not pass?”
“The opposite. If they’d gone through inspection, it would’ve passed easily. But they never even requested one.”
That… was definitely suspicious.
The detailed inspection results were there too, and no hidden side effects were found.
If I had to guess their motive, tax evasion was the only thing that came to mind. Were they really taking this much risk for that?
“They used to sell openly before, but after Park Sugwang got nabbed, their activity dropped off sharply. Made the investigation tough.”
But Kang Jiwon’s fading tone sharpened again.
“Recently, we pinpointed a new deal site. Your mission is to infiltrate that spot and gather intel on the group—Red Potion.”
“...Isn’t that too dangerous?”
“We’re not expecting top brass or manufacturing sites or anything critical. Just identify someone in a mid-level manager position who could access key info. That’s enough.”
Even so, I had no clue where to even start.
Kang Jiwon saw my troubled look and slid another sheet of paper over.
It showed a photo of a gaunt man and his details.
“We suspect he’s a peddler like Park Sugwang. Pose as a customer and make contact.”
She handed me a small device too.
It looked like a car key fob.
“Emergency transmitter. Hope you won’t need it, but if things go south, hit it without hesitation.”
Even with that consideration, the danger didn’t vanish.
But I’d already steeled myself for this when I signed the contract.
I hesitated briefly, then pocketed it.
Guro Digital Complex.
Once buzzing with factories and companies as an industrial hub, those days were long gone.
My first impression upon arrival was pure desolation.
Back in the early gate outbreak days, when countermeasures were still inadequate.
Monsters from other worlds had left indelible scars across Korea.
This place was one of them.
Cracked and shattered asphalt, half-collapsed buildings, bloodstains that hadn’t fully faded.
Redevelopment endlessly delayed, preserving the traces intact.
With public authority stretched thin, it naturally devolved into a slum,
drawing criminals and the socially vulnerable who had nowhere else to go.
“...”
Yet as I looked around, I saw no signs of people.
Feeling the eerie atmosphere, I headed to the meetup spot.
I’d gotten the peddler’s info beforehand.
Messaged the contact number saying I wanted to buy potions, and got a reply without suspicion.
At the designated spot, a man was smoking.
Gaunt frame, nervous eyes.
Matched the photo.
Spotting me, the scrawny guy took a final drag and flicked his cigarette to the ground.
“Three vials?”
He’d asked via message how many I needed, and I’d tossed out a casual number.
I stood silently, no reaction, so he spat on the floor.
“30 each, 90 total. No bullshit about not having cash.”
I’d brought cash, sure.
But my goal wasn’t the deal—it was intel.
To him, I was just a buyer, nothing more.
Hand over the money, and the talk ends there.
“What’re you standing there gawking for? Don’t want the potions?”
Kang Jiwon figured posing as a customer would let me probe around.
But I thought different.
To get info, I needed a better cover than just a customer.
No answer from me, and hostility flickered in the man’s eyes.
Soon, the scrawny guy reached into his pocket and—
“What the fuck, we got a—”
“Contact.”
“Huh?”
“I let your people know ahead of time. What’s with the attitude?”
I hardened my face and glared at him with cold eyes.
The scrawny guy reacted like I was full of shit, of course.
But my sheer confidence threw a faint bewilderment into his demeanor.
Pressing the momentum, I pulled a small card from my pocket.
“Take a look.”
His gaze locked on the card in my hand.
Slowly bringing it to his eyes, I activated my ability.
No need to fuss with keywords.
He’d already felt the doubt unconsciously and dredged up the answer himself.
‘The guy I hoped it wasn’t, but feared it might be.’
The light faded from the scrawny guy’s pupils, slowly returning,
and I pocketed the card.
For reference, it was the business card Kim Beomsu gave me at our first meeting.
The scrawny guy snapped out of it.
But his expression was the total opposite now.
Cold sweat beading, eyes wide with terror.
He tried to suppress it, but his trembling was obvious.
“Why are you here... You didn’t say anything back then...”
Here, I needed to scowl and snap irritably instead.
“Do I have to spell it out for trash like you?”
“N-no, sir!”
“You’ve got a guess, right? Lead the way.”
“Yes, sir!”
I followed the now-compliant scrawny guy at ease.
The walk itself wasn’t hard, but…
Maybe to make up for his screw-up, he kept yapping.
I gave vague, shady-sounding replies each time, and my head throbbed.
“...So that’s why it feels different from usual, right? People vanishing left and right lately, so barely anyone wanders the streets now.”
“Hm.”
Not sure how he took my grunt, but the scrawny guy got excited and kept talking.
I wanted to tell him to shut up, but held back in case of useful info.
We stopped at a low three-story building.
Less damaged than others—probably their base.
A lookout guy stood in front.
He glared at me and reached for the bat beside him.
But the scrawny guy whispered something, and he froze rigid.
Wonder who he thought I was.
I hadn’t layered any illusion over my face, so he wouldn’t mistake my features.
Didn’t know my face, but knew he should be tense around someone?
Following the scrawny guy’s lead, I climbed the stairs.
Ran into a few more after that; all stepped aside at his whispers.
He flung open a door and we entered.
Inside sat a burly-faced fat man.
But he didn’t seem to be who the scrawny guy wanted—looked flustered.
“Where’s Brother Deokgyu? Why’s Brother Hyunsu here...?”
“Deokgyu got called upstairs, stepped out. More importantly, who’s this prick?”
“Uh... that group working with the alchemy guild, you know? He’s from there.”
“What? Why the hell are they here?”
Spitting curses right in front of the guy he assumed was me.
The scrawny guy was more scared, kept glancing my way.
Fatty—let’s call him Chubby from now on—was too annoying otherwise.
Chubby scratched his messy hair and eyed me.
“Hah... Didn’t you guys come last week? Why’re you back?”
Tricky words needed here.
My goal: ID the mid-level manager.
By his attitude, Chubby held a pretty high spot.
But this Deokgyu, called upstairs, seemed more promising.
Short deliberation over, I spoke.
“Situation’s changed since then. Nothing for you, so call that guy.”
Silent pause.
Chubby stared at me steadily.
Then let out a low sigh.
He pointed behind him, at the scrawny guy.
“You, come take over what I was doing.”
The scrawny guy walked over.
But there was nothing there.
Confused, he turned his head, and—
Gurk.
Chubby’s hand clamped his throat.
The scrawny guy’s feet lifted off the ground.
Strength beyond normal—a physical enhancement ability user.
“No one’s come this month... Where’d you get the balls to lie, you piece of shit—!!!”
Kang Hyun-su’s eyes gleamed with murder.
Anger surged, grip tightening,
the struggling in his grasp grew frantic, then suddenly slackened.
When it finally went limp, he let go.
Thud.
A cold corpse rolled across the floor.
Han Yujin’s lips stayed shut tight amid the scene.
Kang Hyun-su strode forward.
“Little rat, where’d you crawl from? Curious, but I’m in a shit mood, so... just die.”
A full-force punch from a C-rank physical enhancer.
Han Yujin’s face caved in as he flew backward.
Kang Hyun-su shook the grime from his hand, eyeing the mangled corpse.
Turned to his dead underling, clucked his tongue.
“Useless fuck.”
As he turned back to his seat—
Screeech.
An unnatural grinding sound hit his ears.
“...What.”
The shattered-faced corpse was rising.
Standing just as before the fall.
The ruined face grotesquely reformed, soon back to normal.
“Ha! Super-regen ability? You thought that puny shit’d get you in here—”
Boom!
No more words.
His body slammed to the floor against his will.
Overwhelming weight crushing down.
Barrier creation—Kang Hyun-su’s eyes finally quivered.
“Dual ability user? Where’d a freak like you...”
The man didn’t answer.
Just slowly stepped toward the prone Kang Hyun-su.
At his head, the man raised his right hand straight.
Blue energy rippled atop it.
Aura. Kang Hyun-su’s eyes bulged.
“What the hell?! You saying you’re S-rank?! No way! Never heard of a punk like you!!!”
The man’s hand descended slowly.
Target clear: Kang Hyun-su’s neck.
Sharper than any blade approaching,
Kang Hyun-su thrashed to escape.
“Don’t! Stop! Stay back!!!!!”
The hand moved mercilessly.
No will in the guillotine,
just toward its given path.
Down, and down.
Soon meeting resistance and—
“A—”
Slash!
Execution carried out.
On the floor lay Chubby, collapsed alone, shivering.
I’d panicked at his sudden lunge and used my ability... What illusion was he seeing?
“Hm...”
Not a pleasant dream, apparently.