Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: The Spider's Assault
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“Aren’t assassins supposed to be subtle? Or do you just plan on killing all the witnesses?”
Enri cracked a joke that wasn't entirely a joke.
It was a conversational tactic she’d learned from Shin-ju—to maintain an air of composure even in a serious situation.
They had lost their mode of transport, and they had an object to protect.
It was a difficult situation to request immediate backup.
She tightened her grip on the three-section staff, her nerves on high alert.
Beside her, Sharin jeered.
“Hey! How’s the arm?”
“Grrrrrrr.”
Java-Tamao scowled, letting out a growl in her distinctive tone.
Enri chimed in to support Sharin.
“You did that to her arm, sis?”
“Yeah. Met her when I was kidnapped. She was just barely good enough to block my attack.”
Java-Tamao’s lips twisted into a smirk.
“Hmph! Thanks to you, I have been reborn.”
Where Sharin had severed Tamao’s forearm, a sharp, mechanical blade glinted ominously.
“Did you go crawling to Kim Cha-yoon in that short time?!”
Enri shouted.
“Isn’t it more foolish to stay on a sinking ship?”
As if to say the conversation was over, Java-Tamao stepped forward, her six arms flailing.
Enri carefully placed the receiver she was holding on the ground.
*Flick—thwack.*
Enri lowered her body, holding the three-section staff forward as she assumed a fighting stance. It was a pose straight out of a Chinese martial arts film.
“Hey, why?”
“No need to hold back. Let’s end this quickly.”
“What’s gotten into you?”
“The situation’s different, but I’ll take it easy on the power, of course!”
“Alright, alright.”
Sharin already had the Actrazer slung over her shoulder.
She wore a relaxed smile, but a strange sense of déjà vu kept her from getting excited.
*We’re obviously at a disadvantage, so why attack us head-on?*
Sharin glanced at Enri out of the corner of her eye before looking back at Java.
*Does she have an ace up her sleeve?*
Meanwhile, Enri was thinking along the same lines.
There was no reason to so openly challenge an SS-class hero.
There had to be support troops in the rear or some kind of scheme.
She needed to find an opening and call for backup.
The priority was to avoid getting entangled, grab the receiver, and run.
Enri and Sharin exchanged a look, then gave an almost imperceptible nod.
*Shing—*
Java-Tamao took her stance, holding six daggers forward. She looked like Asura from the myths.
*Sssk—*
The daggers began to glow purple.
*Whoosh—*
Suddenly, the distance between them collapsed, and an afterimage flickered.
“!!”
Enri and Sharin’s eyes widened, trying not to lose sight of the afterimage.
Presently, a menacing shadow like a giant spider descended upon Enri and Sharin with tremendous force.
“Hoo.”
The path below was strewn with rocks.
*What in the world is in these mountains?*
Why would a female idol go to the trouble of climbing such a rugged mountain?
Shin-ju pondered these things as he watched Aila’s small figure ascending the mountain path in the distance.
*Bzzzzzz—.*
His phone vibrated.
“Yes. Did you find anything?”
— *I looked into it.*
Hyde’s voice came through the phone.
— *I found a music file on Canyon Fonuel’s hard drive called ‘Home of the Wind’ by Tibee-ra.*
“I knew it!!”
Shin-ju cheered inwardly.
— *However.*
Hyde’s tone faltered, as if something didn’t sit right.
— *They have the file, but there are no traces of it being sent or distributed anywhere.*
Shin-ju listened quietly to Hyde.
— *There’s only a change in the file size.*
“A change in file size?”
— *Yes, which means the content of the file has been altered.*
Shin-ju nodded in understanding as he gazed at the distant mountain.
“Ah, then—it’s possible it was remixed.”
— *Maybe. I haven’t heard the original, so….*
“Of course. It’s an unreleased track, after all.”
Shin-ju’s eyes gleamed.
If the song was remixed for a specific purpose, could it be that Aila was heading to that place now to carry out some scheme with the remixed track?
*But there’s no trace of it being sent?*
*Then how did they move the file?*
Putting the question aside for the moment, Shin-ju asked Hyde.
“You have that music file, right?”
— *Of course.*
“Send it to me, too.”
— *Wait.*
— *For free?*
*Haaa—.*
Shin-ju let out a small sigh.
“Fine. But I’m out investigating a case right now. Let’s wrap this up, and we can talk then.”
A brief silence followed from the other end of the line.
— *Then, as you said, after you finish your investigation! I’ll hand over the music file. If you refuse the deal, please note that I have no intention of cooperating in the future.*
“…Then wait.”
Shin-ju hung up abruptly, as if there was nothing more to say.
*Damn hacker.*
Well, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.
And honestly, he didn’t need the music file right this second.
For now, tailing her was the priority.
Shin-ju resumed his hike.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
Enri’s three-section staff drew wide arcs, covering multiple trajectories.
In a single breath, she blocked the six daggers coming at her from all directions.
Smoke rose from the staff. Behind her glasses, Enri’s eyes narrowed sharply.
*Fwoosh—*
In an instant, she closed the distance and dove deep into Java’s guard.
It was the way to attack an opponent with a longer reach.
She spun the staff and struck Java hard in the solar plexus with the end of the handle.
*Thwack—*
“Keuk!”
*Thwack! Thwack!*
The swinging staff then struck Java’s neck, and the end of the handle came down on her shoulder.
It was a fluid chain of attacks only possible with a three-section staff.
“Keugh!”
*Whoosh—*
“!!!”
A chilling roar made Java’s expression turn dizzy.
A massive, heavy presence was bearing down on her from above.
*Craaaash—!!*
Java barely managed to twist her body to evade Sharin’s Actrazer.
*Sizzle—*
The air beside her vibrated with a stinging heat.
“Krrrrk.”
Java ground her teeth.
She had nearly been split in two.
Meanwhile, Sharin watched Java and marveled inwardly.
*She’s fast. Incredibly agile.*
It made her wonder about the recruitment skills of that Shark Tooth Pirates captain, ‘Sara.’
*Why would someone with this level of skill be in a pirate crew like that?*
Sharin taunted Java once more.
“Hey! I thought you were reborn?”
“Hmph.”
“This is no different from last time, is it??”
Java created some distance and began to calmly catch her breath.
With a composed expression, she readjusted her stance.
*To complete the ‘mission,’ I can’t run.*
*I have to face that monstrous power head-on.*
In that moment, Enri noticed a change in Java’s aura.
“Sis, be careful!”
“I know, I saw it too.”
Java raised her daggers again.
*Shhhk—*
A moment later, her six arms wrapped around her body, and she began to spin like a top.
*Wheeeeeee—*
Enri and Sharin’s eyes widened.
The massive top formed by the six daggers began to generate a powerful wind, like a typhoon, pulling in the surrounding air.
*Fzzt—*
The giant top shot straight toward Sharin.
Sharin scoffed, thrust her Actrazer forward, and slammed it into the ground to defend against the sharp, mixer-like attack.
*K-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-gak—*
The top spun furiously, a fierce vortex grinding away at the Actrazer.
As Sharin’s body was slowly pushed back, the muscles in her arms bulged.
“Hmph!!”
With a short burst of strength from Sharin, a powerful shockwave expanded the air, sending the top flying far away.
*Thud— thud, thud.*
The deflected top bounced two or three times on the asphalt before making a wide arc, its rotation gradually slowing.
A moment later, the spinning stopped, and Java was revealed.
She was down on one knee.
Standing before her were the two female warriors.
Java’s lips twisted into a smile.
“Is it this hard just to buy some time?”
“Still…”
*Wheeeee—*
Java looked down at her two mechanical arms.
The machine arms were vibrating slightly.
As if savoring Sharin’s power.
“The objective has been achieved.”
A frown creased Enri’s brow at Java’s murmur.
*Poof!!*
Suddenly, white smoke erupted from Java’s body, instantly blanketing the entire area.
“Sis, she’s getting away!”
A moment too late, Enri and Sharin charged through the smoke.
Sharin quickly swung her Actrazer.
The smoke cleared immediately, but all that remained was an empty stretch of asphalt.
Sharin looked at Enri, completely bewildered.
“Why did she suddenly run? What was the point of coming here?”
Enri stared back at Sharin, her eyes wide.
“Was the receiver not her objective?”
“Then what in the world…?”
An eerie silence fell over the empty asphalt road, bathed in the light of the setting sun.
Somewhere in the forests of Yongmun-san, Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province.
A bizarre-looking insect, an invasive alien species, was feasting, snatching autumn dragonflies out of the air.
*Rustle—*
Meanwhile, Shin-ju slowly rose from the bushes. Twigs and leaves clung to his body.
“Huh… what is this.”
Shin-ju looked up at something with a dumbfounded expression.
Before an artificially carved cliff.
A white building that looked like a massive research facility stood tall, and above it, a huge satellite dish spread wide.
“Hah… what a waste of money, Kim Cha-yoon…”
Shin-ju gazed up at the research facility with its giant satellite dish.
Just seeing that dish was enough for Shin-ju to confirm his suspicions.
In truth, such antennas were a common sight.
Major world powers had built research facilities with satellite dishes here and there under the pretext of secret research into extraterrestrial existence, spending astronomical sums of money.
The problem was, what possible reason would a current idol have for entering a gloomy research facility hidden away in these mountains?
Shin-ju took out the Old Book, which had transformed into a small notebook, from his pocket.
Given the suspicious atmosphere, security was bound to be extremely tight.
To get inside that building now, he would have to borrow the power of his ‘two alien’ friends.
As Shin-ju chanted the incantation, a blue gate began to open on his right.
Enri and Sharin had just arrived at the U.C.I.D. headquarters in Gangnam.
Carrying the receiver, they immediately visited the Cybercrime Investigation Division.
“Mr. Bid!”
An alien with a head shaped like a computer monitor looked up at Enri, startled.
Bid908, an intangible alien living inside a monitor, revealed himself.
He was a being of pure light with unique electrical properties, an alien who lived by parasitizing home appliances and computer equipment on Earth.
He now had a separate mechanical body, thanks to technology provided by Silverfire, and was working as an officer in the Information Analysis Division.
At her sudden appearance, a flustered emoticon `[O_O;;]` appeared on Bid’s monitor.
Text was then typed onto the screen.
[Wh-What is it, Enri.]
“I need your help.”