Prove and Show (4)
Busan Special City, Suyeong-gu, Minrak-dong. The vast construction site bustled with crowds of people. The only difference from a typical site was that, in place of the steel-frame building that should have been rising and the surrounding barriers, sturdy trenches and defensive installations stood firm.
In the largest trench, inside the command post, a meeting was in full swing.
"Myeong Gi-sa, how long's it been since Nebula last showed up here?"
The man with a kindly, gentle face was Ban Ban-jang. A warm-faced uncle type you'd bump into around the neighborhood and expect a mood-lifting smile from.
"They haven't set foot here since February last year. Exactly a year and four months."
"Well, now."
What they called a meeting room was just a bunker with a single table plunked down in it. Ban Ban-jang stroked his scruffy chin, pondering Nebula's intentions.
"What's left for 'em to gouge outta this place?"
"You and I dug down to 20 meters underground, and there was jack squat."
The man in the hard hat across the table, Myeong Gi-sa, replied without even turning around. Meanwhile, dust trickled from the exposed raw concrete ceiling—probably some monster from the gate kicking up a fuss.
-Rumble...
The two bantered on calmly amid vibrations rivaling a mid-sized quake.
"So why're the desk-jockeys stickin' their noses in all the way out here?"
"Maybe they're here to apologize?"
Ban Ban-jang chuckled softly at that. The wrinkles etched by years folded gently, his smile so warm it made anyone watching grin along involuntarily.
"Bullshit's in season this year. Those bastards apologizin' would come quicker than my old lady turning into a ghost."
The gates of hell cracked open.
"Weme."
Myeong Gi-sa blinked in mild surprise, despite being used to it. He'd seen Ban Ban-jang unleash his good-natured venom plenty of times while working together, but it never failed to feel off-kilter. Whoever Nebula was sending, Myeong Gi-sa thought, that person was in for a rough ride.
"Hm... Well, whatever their deal, HQ's sendin' folks, so that's good. Let's use this chance to hash out every damn issue one by one."
After some deliberation, Ban Ban-jang came to a crisp decision. With zero intel right now, it was the best move.
However...
"Myeong Gi-sa. We still got those files on Nebula shorting our unit prices?"
"Whaddya mean?"
"Huh? The stuff from when they fucked us over on the Soyanggang outer wall?"
"Ah."
Myeong Gi-sa's puzzled face lit up. He'd gotten confused for a sec, but that was what he meant. Ban Ban-jang, misreading the expression, consoled him a bit glumly.
"Tch... Not much left, huh? Figures. Those meticulous Nebula pricks would've scrubbed the evidence clean. Forget it. My bad for—"
"We got tons."
"...?"
Ban Ban-jang looked mildly flustered.
"Heard the knight order's HQ got ransacked last time?"
"Figured those golden bastards would torch the place. The real core docs? I scattered 'em among me and the blasting team buddies."
A former corporate bigwig who'd majored in tech redistribution (read: industrial espionage) at a top firm back in the day, Myeong Gi-sa knew exactly how cornered megacorps threw their weight around. Outfoxing the ironclad Nebula by slicing key files into bits and stashing them with people? That took brains and balls beyond the ordinary.
Ban Ban-jang eyed the middle-aged hard-hatted man anew. Orange helmet, threadbare shirt, face dusted with grit. Hard to imagine this as the elite who'd once suited up in Pangyo for tech transfers. A man whose wife got chomped by a river monster could change this much.
Ban Ban-jang asked awkwardly.
"Lucky us. So whatcha got?"
Myeong Gi-sa rattled off the treasure trove inventory without missing a beat.
"Too much to list without my jaw locking up. Sabotage on the Soyanggang Gate enclosure to blow deadlines and slash rates. Tampering ethanol concentrations in the coolant for our regular mana catalyst buys. Forcing through no retroactive pay hikes when gov policies jacked up costs..."
"Ahem. Ahem."
Ban Ban-jang coughed dryly at Myeong Gi-sa's endless barrage, no end in sight. Truth be told, he'd worried who Nebula might send when HQ announced it. The Heavy Equipment Knight Order was full of hotheads who led with fists over brains.
But watching Myeong Gi-sa? They might not eat 'em alive, but...
"Gonna have to brace for 'em gettin' fucked up good..."
"Pardon?"
"Nothin'."
At least they could lop off a thigh or two from Nebula's dispatched crew.
"Wanna handle the meetin' with Nebula?"
"Leave it to me. I'll gut 'em inside out and make the knight order chief admin grin ear to ear."
"Roger that."
Meanwhile, the bunker's shakes were dying down. Ban Ban-jang and Myeong Gi-sa stepped out, casually scanning the surroundings.
-Groooar...
Forklifts, rollers, grinders, cranes. Amid the heavy machinery you'd see on any big site, one corner had—
-Drip, splat...
—dark-red monster blood clinging stickily.
"Alright, alright!"
"Ow, today's grind was brutal."
Ban Ban-jang checked the unchanging Busan Oncheon Gate vicinity and glanced back at Myeong Gi-sa.
"......"
His eyes burned fierce. Ban Ban-jang deliberately ignored it, slipping into the break room for some instant coffee.
When a woman's grudge chills even midsummer frost, a man's grudge erupts volcanoes in rice paddies.
Left alone after parting from the foreman, Myeong Gi-sa murmured blankly.
"Yeon-seo-ya."
The river where his wife died fell under Nebula's jurisdiction.
* * *
A few hours later.
I arrived at the helipad near the Busan Oncheon Gate. Hopping off the chopper, I searched for the destination.
Not far. Ten minutes, tops?
"Ughhh..."
Kang A-ram staggered out next in miserable shape.
"You alright?"
"I... I feel like I'm dying..."
Team Leader Yu Seo-yeong patted her back a few times. Only then did A-ram start forming words.
Man, our Kang A-ram really took a beating today.
A sudden unease hit me.
First day in the secretary office, and she rolls right out.
What if she hands in her resignation? I'd be stuck solo in cold Nebula again...
"Uh, Secretary Seo?"
I approached the wobbly A-ram and handed her a motion sickness pill.
"Take this. You'll feel better."
"Thank you. But where'd you get this...?"
The bag. I silently jiggled my briefcase. A-ram swallowed it with a nod of acceptance, no further questions.
"...?"
Team Leader Yu, who'd been thumping her back, froze like she'd been hit by a petrifying ray.
What the—
"Any issue?"
"That just now... matter transference? No, never mind. Must've been seeing things."
Poor thing. Makes sense—an elite powerhouse like Team Leader Yu must handle tons daily. Hallucinating from overwork...
Nebula really is an evil org. What's the point of big bucks if they grind you nonstop without downtime?
Gotta grab that wish ticket and bail ASAP.
My inner FIRE burned hotter.
Then Team Leader Yu's communicator buzzed.
"Yu Seo-yeong speaking. HR? What for...?"
She chatted on the device, face darkening instantly.
"Understood. Ending the call."
After settling the suffering A-ram on a nearby bench, I scurried back. Caught enough of the convo—something about the knight order.
I waited patiently for Team Leader Yu to speak.
Sure enough, Yu Seo-yeong sighed once.
"Secretary Seo. Bad news."
Bad news.
For a lifelong otaku whose only loves were 2D chars, was there worse than landing a gig as evil org secretary?
"The Heavy Equipment Knight Order's demanding a meeting."
There was.
I nearly lost it but held on. Panic has limits—past that, it spins 360 back to calm.
I coolly (or so it seemed) assessed.
"What's the agenda? Direct demand from them means it's no routine matter."
My original plan was straightforward. Chairman's mission: normalize Busan Oncheon Gate.
The gate's issue? Blazing heat nearing 50°C! Not lethal to geared-up hunters, but a huge snag for large-scale resource ops.
So: Team with Nebula, leverage the Heavy Equipment Knight Order suppressing gate overload, push inside. Survey and mine resources.
But.
Stuck at step one.
Team Leader Yu continued gravely, as if suspecting something.
"Nebula's debt settlement."
"Debt settlement?"
What debt? A giant question mark popped in my head.
Yu's face darkened further.
"Likely the Soyanggang Gate outer wall mess."
"What exactly went down?"
I asked out of genuine curiosity.
I mean, from the docs I scanned en route by chopper, the Heavy Equipment Knight Order wasn't some profit-chasing outfit. They earned via disaster relief and beast hunts, practically an NGO or civic group.
But when Team Leader Yu finally spoke, hesitant,
"At the time, post-Second Mana Tide Expedition, the knight order was in financial straits. Nebula Finance opted to squeeze 'em dry before bankruptcy. They commissioned the Soyanggang outer wall, then covertly sabotaged to delay."
"......"
What the hell.
"Deadlines slipped, so initial claims got halved. Pinpointed the order's deadline obsession—hit perfectly."
"......"
So, they commissioned the job, sabotaged it themselves to miss deadlines, then slashed pay to pocket the savings?
Whoa.
We're screwed.
Inheriting the predecessor's steaming turd intact. My cool facade held, but inside? Shattered.