Chapter 88
Chapter 88
But only for a moment.
Kang Cheolsu nodded with a friendly smile.
“So you knew the name of someone as insignificant as me. I’m honored.”
Meanwhile, Picker was relaying the subtle physiological changes occurring in his body in real time.
[Heart rate: 142 bpm.]
[Micro facial tremor detected. Left orbicularis muscle: 0.4 mm.]
[Analysis result: 98.4% probability of lying.]
[This bastard doesn’t have a shred of sincerity.]
In reality, Kang Cheolsu was far more shaken than his outward composure suggested.
How does he know my name?
He had never revealed it publicly.
He always introduced himself only as Team Leader Kang.
The only outsider who knew his real name… was Pig, who was already dead.
That was how desperately he had hidden his past.
Changing his name meant the original name carried a filthy history.
Even now he claimed to be from the destroyed Aeogae Shelter during the early days of the collapse.
But that wasn’t even true.
“Where is your former teammate Kim Youngjun now?”
At my casual question, Kang Cheolsu’s eyes flickered for a split second.
But he was a veteran raider—and a con artist.
He immediately put on a sorrowful expression and shook his head.
“Ah… Youngjun. Unfortunately, he left us long ago. At the time, my ability was insufficient. I couldn’t present a clear vision.”
His voice trembled.
His eyes even glistened with moisture.
A leader blaming his own inadequacy while mourning a departed comrade.
“But I eventually awakened every remaining team member. If only Youngjun had held out a little longer…”
The acting was so convincing that even Yoon Sungjun and Lee Sea beside him wore solemn expressions.
“Leadership is lonely.”
Even Old Man Park clicked his tongue.
[Wow. Look at this guy’s acting. Academy Award material.]
Despite Picker’s commentary, my expression didn’t change.
Instead, I pulled out a worn ledger.
The secret ledger hidden deep in Do Gicheol’s safe.
I opened to a specific page and showed it to everyone.
Then I read the text Picker displayed on my HUD as if I had memorized it.
“March 12th. One injured male. Kim Youngjun. Purchase price: three Military Awakening Stimulant MK-1, three bottles of whiskey, ten cartons of Marlboro Red.”
My voice echoed in the command room.
The solemn atmosphere instantly froze.
Lee Sea covered her mouth in shock.
Old Man Park pushed his chair back, now wary of Kang Cheolsu.
“That… what does that mean?”
All color drained from Kang Cheolsu’s face.
But he refused to give up.
Instead he raised his voice in outrage.
“Slander! What nonsense is this! You’re accusing me of selling out my teammate? How can you prove that ledger is real?”
He jumped to his feet and protested loudly.
“Isn’t it just a forgery made by someone jealous of me? Or something Pig fabricated to frame me?”
His voice rang confidently.
The gazes of those present began to waver.
Yes.
A piece of paper alone wouldn’t be enough.
“Evidence…”
I slowly stood.
The heavy servos of my exoskeleton echoed through the room.
I walked toward the large bodyguard standing behind Kang Cheolsu.
“You. Come here.”
“W-what?”
The bodyguard tried to step back.
I was faster.
Click.
I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him into the air.
The 100-kilogram giant dangled like a sheet of paper.
“Let go! What are you doing?!”
I flipped him upside down and shook him.
Clatter.
Items fell from his pockets.
A magazine.
A lighter.
And—
Thud.
A red cigarette pack dropped onto the floor.
Unopened.
Marlboro Red.
Once mass-produced endlessly at the Yangsan factory in South Gyeongsang Province.
But now?
Production had stopped ten years ago.
If it were truly that old, the packaging should be faded or crushed.
Instead the bright red box without warning images clearly indicated smuggled imported American cigarettes.
“…Huh?”
The bodyguard’s face turned pale.
I pointed at the cigarette pack on the floor.
I could practically see Kang Cheolsu’s mind racing.
You idiot. You brought that here?
The thought was obvious.
In the next instant, Kang Cheolsu’s expression changed completely.
Shock and fear vanished.
Anger and betrayal took their place.
“You bastard…!”
Spit!
He spat directly in the bodyguard’s face.
“Were you secretly colluding with Pig behind my back?! I trusted you! How could you—!”
“B-boss? What are you—”
The cigarette had been given to him by Kang Cheolsu as a reward.
He tried to explain.
“Shut up, you traitorous bastard!”
At Kang Cheolsu’s shout, the bodyguard’s face turned red.
He realized Kang Cheolsu was cutting off the tail—sacrificing him.
At that exact moment, Kang Cheolsu pressed a small device in his pocket.
Everyone’s attention was on the bodyguard.
“Urk?!”
Suddenly the bodyguard’s eyes rolled back.
Foam spilled from his mouth.
His limbs twisted violently.
Then he went limp.
His heart had stopped.
The sudden collapse shocked everyone.
“Did… did he have a stroke?”
Old Man Park muttered.
That was exactly what Kang Cheolsu intended them to think.
Frequency-Responsive Neurotoxin.
A microbial toxin that destroys the brain when exposed to a specific signal frequency.
Whenever Kang Cheolsu injected awakening stimulants into his subordinates, he secretly injected this toxin as well.
A leash on their lives.
“Sniff… how could this happen…”
Kang Cheolsu collapsed and wept dramatically.
“I misjudged him! This is my fault!”
Amazing.
He killed the man himself and disguised it as a stroke.
Such shamelessness and quick thinking.
That was how someone with his ability had survived as a leader.
But I wasn’t fooled.
Picker had already detected everything.
Including the signal emission when Kang Cheolsu pressed the device.
[Maybe that’s his real trait—not body enhancement.]
Even Picker sounded impressed.
But the play was over.
“Nice acting.”
I said quietly.
“But machines don’t lie.”
“What…?”
At my signal, static crackled from the command room speakers.
Then a familiar voice played.
—That pig bastard is dead. Now we’ve got a problem. Where do we sell these injured guys? We’ll need a new buyer.
—What about Ahyeon Shelter? I heard they’re always short on slaves.
—They pay poorly. We need to reach VIP clients in Gangnam. Lots of people need liver transplants there.
It was Kang Cheolsu’s voice.
Picker had recorded it using Honeybee drones.
After receiving Sungjun’s candidate list, I had investigated him.
An exile group where everyone awakened?
Too suspicious.
That evidence shattered his mask completely.
“…Ah.”
Kang Cheolsu’s mouth fell open.
Excuses were impossible now.
Lee Sea glared at him with disgust.
Old Man Park openly stood up and hid behind his guards.
“Fuck!”
A cornered rat bites the cat.
Kang Cheolsu’s eyes burned with rage.
He pulled a dagger.
His target wasn’t me.
His gaze locked onto the weakest person.
Lee Sea.
That woman.
Through Picker I saw his mana reaction.
Muscles tightening.
Mana gathering in his legs.
I could kill him before he moved.
But I stopped.
He’ll take a hostage.
If he held Lee Sea hostage and tried to escape, it would expose him fully as a villain.
Then my execution of him would become justified judgment.
[As expected of you, boss. Maximum profit decision.]
Picker’s praise made me feel strange.
I was calculating with someone’s life as part of a performance.
Perhaps I really was becoming a monster suited to this world.
Still, I didn’t hesitate.
Crack!
Kang Cheolsu lunged.
Before Sungjun could draw his rifle, the dagger pressed against Lee Sea’s neck.
“Everyone back off! Unless you want this precious purification bitch’s throat cut!”
Lee Sea’s face went pale.
Kang Cheolsu was exploiting the fact that I valued talent.
Dirty—but clever.
“Clear the way! Bring me a vehicle, food, and weapons! Then she lives!”
He grinned.
But my response wasn’t what he expected.
“Sorry.”
I stared at him through the visor.
“I have a habit of crushing idiots who overestimate themselves.”
“…What?”
A faint mechanical sound came from my exoskeleton arm.
Tick.
[Pneumatic Railgun]
A personal anti-personnel weapon developed using Karambit’s combat data.
Projectile: high-carbon steel spike.
Muzzle velocity: Mach 1.5.
For an F-Rank Awakened, the nervous system cannot even process the sound before it’s over.
Before Kang Cheolsu could tighten his grip on the dagger—
A tiny hole appeared in the center of his forehead.
There was no blood spray.
The shot was too fast.
His brain stopped before it even recognized death.
Kang Cheolsu’s eyes trembled.
The dagger fell from his hand.
His body collapsed backward like a puppet.
Thud.
Silence.
Lee Sea clutched her neck and collapsed, trembling.
Yoon Sungjun and Old Man Park stared blankly at the corpse.
They didn’t even understand what had happened.
I lowered my hand calmly.
Failure probability: zero.
A perfect kill.
“Director Yoon.”
“Y-yes, Director!”
Sungjun snapped upright.
“Clean it up.”
The note I handed him contained the coordinates of Kang Cheolsu’s hideout, interior layout, and the number of remaining members—information obtained by Picker.
“Leave not a single rat alive.”
At my cold order, Sungjun saluted sharply.
“Understood!”
He no longer saw me as an employer.
To him, I was now a monarch with absolute power and justice.
Lee Sea and Old Man Park looked the same.
As rumors spread and stories grew, the concept I had designed—
Bomb Maniac
—would become an object of untouchable awe.
After Kang Cheolsu’s corpse was removed, the command room fell into heavy silence.
“Well. Have you decided?”
After witnessing overwhelming force and intelligence, Old Man Park no longer even attempted negotiation.
“I would like to move in.”
“You heard the conditions.”
“Of course. My people are excellent at finding parts. Electronic circuits, motors, wiring—whatever you want, we’ll sort and deliver.”
In truth, the arrangement had already been discussed with Sungjun.
Contracts meant nothing in this world.
The moment Park received administrator authority for Atlas Shelter No.1, he left immediately with his men.
As if staying here one second longer might cost him his life.
Smart.
I nodded in satisfaction.
Only one matter remained.
Lee Sea.
She was still pale, clutching her neck where the dagger had pressed.
Two companions who came with her whispered beside her.
“Director…”
After a long time, Lee Sea spoke.
“I’m sorry… but we won’t move in.”
“Why?”
“…It’s too frightening.”
She was honest.
Yes, the shelter was safe.
But she had lived in a world full of people like Kang Cheolsu.
With young orphans to protect, she felt unready.
“Even if it’s a moldy basement… I think it’s easier living quietly by ourselves. Maybe later, when the children grow up and we’re prepared, we’ll come again.”
A refusal.
But I had no intention of letting her go.
Not simply because I wanted her ability.
When Kang Cheolsu took her hostage earlier, she had signaled her companions to run.
Even with a knife at her throat.
Such character was rare.
And above all—
Purification users are rare.
And I already had an immediate use.
I silently signaled Sungjun.
Understanding my intent, he stepped forward.
“Ms. Sea. Wait a moment.”
“Sungjun… I’m sorry, but I—”
“Then how about joining us?”
“…What?”
“Mapo Police Station is where Atlas’ direct members live. The security level and living conditions are completely different.”
Lee Sea’s eyes widened.
But—
“People like us… we couldn’t possibly…”
“What do you mean no ability? And I’ll vouch for you.”
Sungjun looked at her seriously.
“I saw you raise those children for years in that hell without letting them starve. Your character is already proven. If I recommend you, the Director will not refuse.”
Since Sungjun was handling it, I stayed silent.
Lee Sea was still wary after what had happened earlier.
But her companions understood my silence meant approval.
“If it’s Sungjun, we can trust him.”
Thinking of the children, she couldn’t refuse.
Finally Lee Sea bowed her head.
“…Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
“But.”
Sungjun added a condition.
“You still need to pay for your meals. Nothing in this world is free.”
Lee Sea hesitated, then spoke.
“Actually… everyone thinks my ability is Purification, and that’s what I’ve been calling it too…”
She spoke carefully.
[Mana Erasure]
Rank: D
Forcibly deletes and resets foreign mana embedded in a target.
“It’s similar to purification… but a little different. When I touch poisoned food, the toxicity disappears. But technically I’m not cleaning it—I’m erasing the mana carrying the poison.”
At that moment—
Picker and I reacted at the same time.
[Boss! Did you hear that?! Not purification—ERASURE! I told you she was strange!]
Picker shouted excitedly.
By now I had learned far more about the system.
Enough to recognize the significance of subtle wording differences.
Purification meant cleansing contamination.
But Erasure was different.
It removed the mana itself—the root force shaping a substance’s nature.
If that’s true…
It needed testing.
“Picker. Analyze carefully.”
[Yes, boss.]
I pulled out a bottle of Mutant Bio-Crude Oil from my subspace waist pouch.
“Try purifying this.”
Lee Sea looked puzzled but placed her hand on the glass bottle.
“I’ll try.”
White light flowed from her palm.
White light was unusual.
Normally purification manifested blue.
And the mana response speed was slower than usual.
Strange in many ways.
The light slowly seeped into the black liquid.
Moments later—
Inside the bottle remained no longer a sticky black fluid.
But clear, transparent crude oil.