Tell Me Your Name
“Seriously, I just fixed everything only for you to go wrecking it somewhere else!”
“Okay, okay. I’ll be careful this time.”
I set aside Scarlet’s scolding and headed straight for Kaien’s office.
“Kang Jinwoo?”
Nyx, who had been staring at her data pad, looked up when she saw me and widened her eyes slightly.
She wasn’t in her usual training uniform. Instead, she wore active cargo pants and a black turtleneck.
“Nyx, is Kaien-ssi not here?”
“Yeah. She went out for a short external patrol and some other business. She’ll probably be gone for another hour or two.”
She answered briefly and turned her gaze back to the data pad, then suddenly looked at me again as if she’d remembered something.
“By the way, the combat rules training is officially over now. Your learning speed was so fast we finished ahead of schedule.”
“Thanks to you. The explanations were so clear I could follow them perfectly.”
At my praise, she let out a small cough and averted her eyes.
“Hand-to-hand or knife fighting… if you want, I can spare some time to teach you. I don’t like my body getting rusty either.”
She sounded as if she was doing me a favor, but there seemed to be a hint of quiet expectation in her voice.
“That sounds good. I still have a lot to learn from you, so please take care of me.”
“Hmph, what’s there to be so polite about.”
Nyx replied curtly, but the corners of her mouth didn’t quite hide a slight upward curve.
A brief awkward silence fell, and after fiddling with her data pad, she suddenly asked.
“You… where were you all day yesterday? No contact all day.”
Nyx’s voice was unchanged from usual, yet there was an edge to it.
“Ah, a sudden urgent request came in, so I handled that and came back.”
At my answer, Nyx stared at me for a moment in silence, then let out a light sigh.
“Yeah… you must be really busy. Well, you do have to earn your pay.”
A feeling I couldn’t quite put into words—something like disappointment—seemed to linger. As if she was sulking that I hadn’t told her first.
“Were you worried about me?”
I asked with a playful tone, and Nyx flushed slightly before snapping back.
“N-no one was worried! I was just… making sure you didn’t get into another accident! Otherwise Kaien-ssi would get tired!”
She said that and stood up abruptly from her seat, heading toward the door.
“I should get ready for patrol too. If you have time, come over for some sparring.”
After Nyx left, I sank deep into the sofa.
Through the window, the bustling, lively scenery of Terminus Station stretched out, but my gaze was fixed on the opaque future beyond it.
‘Happy ending… that’s easier said than done.’
Since I’d fallen into this world, the one goal that had never left my mind.
To avoid all the countless tragic endings of the game Galaxy Titans and create an ending where everyone could smile.
That was why I was alive in this unfamiliar reality, and perhaps the very meaning of my existence.
Stopping Gideon’s fall from Vanze had been the first step.
But the many events still waiting ahead felt like towering mountains.
Endless corporate rivalries, planetary wars sparked by resource depletion, and… an unknown threat that had led everything to destruction.
In the game, it had been just one story line. Now it was a reality I had to face head-on.
‘My strength alone isn’t enough. My mecha isn’t perfect yet.’
Even with my game knowledge and the power Asura had gained thanks to Scarlet’s help, I was far too weak to change the flow of this vast world.
I quietly opened the system window and checked the skills I currently possessed.
[Acquired Skills]
[Kinetic Flow - Lv. 2]
[Data Ghost - Lv. 1] [Upgraded]
‘Still only level 2. Data Ghost is barely level 1?’
The upgrade tokens had made the additional effects powerful, but the skill levels themselves still had a long way to go.
‘Leveling up is slower than I thought.’
But the very existence of this level was hope to me. I could still become stronger.
‘I need to build up my faction. With my own hands, rescue the major figures of this world and create a new future with them.’
I took out the data pad and checked the emergency communication channel information Gideon had given me last time.
My hesitation was short.
‘I wonder if a mysterious research group would know if it’s Gideon.’
With Icarus Technology’s vast information network and his insight as commander, perhaps he knew something about the unknown research group Scarlet had mentioned.
Especially the existence of Knightfall, which they created—that was a dangerous element I couldn’t ignore.
If even the prototype was this dangerous, what would happen if it was completed?
[Commander Gideon, this is Kang Jinwoo. I have a request.]
After sending the message, his reply came shortly.
[You contacted me after such a long time without even saying hello and immediately asked for a favor… Should I be offended? What is the request?]
[Commander, have you… ever heard of an autonomous combat weapon development research group that operated secretly during the old Union Government era?]
[Research group…? Never heard of it. Just some wandering urban legend, wasn’t it?]
His reaction was exactly as expected.
Scarlet had dismissed it as just urban legend, so official records or information would be almost nonexistent.
But I had concrete evidence.
[It might not be a simple legend, Commander.]
I had recently sent Gideon the combat recording video from the battle against Knightfall at the abandoned Sector Gamma-7 mining base.
[This… I’ll look into it.]
A few minutes of silence followed.
[This video, and the events you experienced… I’ll need to investigate thoroughly. Even if I have to mobilize all of Icarus’s information networks, I’ll find clues about that research group and the mecha.]
[I appreciate it.]
[Understood. Contact me when the investigation is complete.]
****
In the Kronos Mercenary Group’s command room, the nauseating smell of cheap cigarettes and distilled liquor filled the air.
Commander Bulldog stared at the holographic report on his desk with a deeply furrowed brow.
The content was dire.
‘7th Abandoned Mining District Scout and Preemption Operation – Failure. Most deployed forces lost. No survivors.’
“Damn it!”
Bulldog slammed his heavy fist onto the desk.
The old desk screeched in protest.
This operation had been part of his ambitious plan.
By securing valuable ancient resources or data from a derelict mine, he would escape the life of a second-rate mercenary band and take a step forward.
But the result had been this.
“Who the hell… who dared touch our Kronos!”
The report stated that an unidentified high-performance mecha had appeared and instantly destroyed the allied forces.
‘They even deleted the data? Ridiculous.’
Bulldog’s mind was in turmoil.
“Commander, visitors have arrived.”
At that moment, an aide cautiously opened the door and reported. Bulldog shot back in an irritated voice.
“Visitors? What visitors at this hour! Send them away immediately!”
“Th-that’s… they said they’re from Nesis Technology and have an important matter…”
“Nesis Technology?”
Bulldog’s eyes narrowed for a moment.
Nesis was one of the major corporations that rivaled Icarus.
Moreover, after failing the previous mission and having no contact since, what business could they possibly have now?
A bad premonition crept in, but he couldn’t turn away a representative of a major corporation at the door.
“…Let them in.”
A short while later, a man in a neat black suit entered the command room under the aide’s guidance.
A small badge on his collar indicated he was a high-ranking official from Nesis.
“Commander Bulldog of Kronos Mercenary Group. I am Naze, representative sent on orders from Commander Luker of Nesis Technology Far East Branch.”
“To come all the way to this rundown place… Do you perhaps have a request for us to handle?”
Bulldog hid his true feelings and asked as obsequiously as possible.
“It’s not really a request… I’m here for some verification.”
Naze sat down and placed the data pad he was holding on the table.
“Recently, our Nesis Technology suffered a regrettable incident of being attacked by an unidentified mecha.”
Naze lightly tapped the data pad.
“By mobilizing our internal information network, we tracked the mecha’s location and found a very interesting fact.”
A holographic image appeared, and a battle recording replayed— a crimson Asura destroying Nesis’s Stinger mechas one-sidedly.
“After tracking, the origin of this mecha…”
Naze’s cold gaze fixed on Bulldog.
He then slid the data pad forward, and the next video began playing.
It was the combat recording from Sector Gamma-7, an abandoned asteroid mining base, leaked from Icarus Technology to Nesis: the exact scene where Cog 7, wielding a drill bit like a hammer on his old Bugbear, shattered the pirates.
‘Cog 7… Kang Jinwoo! How did this guy end up in Nesis records…?’
Bulldog’s face twisted in confusion.
He didn’t know how Nesis had obtained the video, but what mattered next was clear.
Naze displayed the two videos side by side and added comparative analysis data on the mechas’ movements and energy patterns.
“As you can see, Commander Bulldog. Our analysis team’s conclusion is clear. The pilot using the code name Asura is the same person as the former Kronos mercenary Cog 7.”
Flipping through the data pad, he continued.
“Although the mecha has changed, the distinctive fighting style and abnormal movement patterns couldn’t be hidden.”
Naze fixed Bulldog with a sharp gaze.
“This pilot is likely still connected to your mercenary group in some way, or possesses important information about his activities.”
Bulldog tried to suppress the cold sweat running down his spine and licked his dry lips.
The situation was spiraling into disaster. Kang Jinwoo, that damned kid, had become Nesis’s target, and now the sparks were about to land on him.
“Th-that’s… we also have a headache from that Cog 7 guy. He already quit the mercenary group of his own accord a long time ago, and since then, there’s been no trace of him.”
Bulldog rambled with a pathetic excuse, trying to dodge responsibility.
“So… what exactly do you want?”
Naze leaned forward slightly, as if waiting.
“It’s simple, Commander Bulldog. We want to eliminate or capture this pilot called Asura. The same applies to his mecha. That’s why we need your help.”
“Help… specifically what…”
“He probably knows the guy’s information, past actions, or weaknesses.”
Naze paused for a moment, then offered a more tempting suggestion.
“If you help us process it, we’ll reward you appropriately.”
Bulldog smiled without a moment’s hesitation.
“That’s what I wanted.”
“First, I’d like to know his name.”