Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: The Price of Complacency
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National Intelligence Service.
Deputy Director's Office.
The smartphone rang.
The middle-aged man who had been sitting and working brought the phone to his ear.
"Yes. National Intelligence Service Deputy Director B, Kim Min-su."
[Long time no see, Deputy Director. I'm calling about that Chinese spy matter.]
Kim Min-su intuited that the intelligence gathering he had commissioned about a month ago was complete.
China was growing increasingly closed off, to the point where gathering information there was now extremely difficult.
That was why he had requested intel from an information broker with connections—'guanxi'—in that region.
"Ah, that one's done? But you shouldn't be saying things like this over the phone. Why act like an amateur?"
Phones were inherently insecure for such matters, and more importantly, there couldn't be any record of him paying a criminal like that for intelligence.
This was entirely Kim Min-su's unilateral decision for the sake of efficiency.
He didn't expect the higher-ups to understand such logic—not even a speck.
[Of course I know that, but I have one proposal for you.]
The broker on the other end of the line let out an unpleasant chuckle.
"What is it?"
[It's not a national facility exactly, but one funded by the government is about to be attacked by a Villain. Give me a modest compensation, and I'll hand over the information.]
The broker had learned Dark Knight's next target while selling him information.
He hesitated for a moment on whether to sell it but ultimately decided to do so.
They probably wouldn't even know it was him anyway.
"What Villain, when, and where... Is this specific intel? And the price?"
[I've sent the details in an email, so check there. Reply if you're interested. As you know, check it and delete... Good luck.]
"Yes. Thanks for your work. Let's meet if there's a chance next time."
Kim Min-su turned on his external network PC and logged into the 'Black Mail' site.
It was a 100% anonymous email service operated by Black Streaming Company.
Inbox (1)
He clicked the email.
First was the industrial spy information he had originally requested.
It didn't look like a major catch just yet.
'I'll have to assemble a team soon and make arrests.'
He scrolled down to check the attack information the broker had mentioned.
The contents were the 'attacker's identity' and the 'target institution.'
That was it.
"Just this? So when's the attack?"
If he didn't know when, was he supposed to keep defenses up indefinitely?
He grumbled inwardly.
The price was 300 million won.
The P.S. claimed it would be well worth the money.
Deputy Director Kim Min-su couldn't possibly agree to such a deal.
The information was incomplete to begin with, and 300 million wasn't pocket change.
Investigation expenses wouldn't cover it; he'd need to tap the budget, but there was no justifiable reason.
'Domestic institutions fall under Deputy Director A anyway. Duh.'
With that self-justification, he deleted the email.
The broker waited a long time for a reply, but nothing came.
'Did I price it too high?'
***
CK Biochemical Research Institute, deep underground.
Two metal tables equipped in the laboratory.
Lying on each table were test subjects.
A boy and girl with white hair and red eyes.
They were restrained on the tables, limbs bound like lab frogs.
The senior researcher picked up a syringe and spoke.
"We'll start with Omega today."
The girl called 'Omega' understood his words and threw a fit, screaming wildly.
"Nooo!"
She had seen the researchers bringing in surgical tools like scalpels and was terrified.
"Behave yourself."
The senior researcher administered anesthetic to Omega.
Her body gradually stiffened.
The researchers smiled in satisfaction.
"Your ability will place our nation on solid ground."
What they were attempting was implanting an 'ability amplification device.'
But there was no suitable space in the human body for such a device.
The researchers had gone through trial and error, sacrificing numerous test subjects, before finding a method.
Inserting it directly into an organ.
Coating the device to prevent body damage was essential, of course.
This was, naturally, an irreversible surgery.
The researchers sliced open the girl's abdomen.
They inserted a complex lump of metal into the pre-selected organ.
It was a semi-permanent machine fused with magitech.
They bonded it fully with the body so the device could take root.
Soon, the device lit up.
A sign that it was ready to absorb the body's mana and nutrients.
"Success."
The researcher felt not a shred of guilt.
Those who possessed such human emotions didn't last long—they either quit or died mysteriously.
Most of the researchers didn't see Omega as human.
They viewed her merely as a mass of cells.
In fact, they were the ones who had grown her into human form from cells in a test tube.
"Let her go! Don't hurt Omega!"
Alpha, the boy bound beside her, wailed as he watched the horrific scene.
They thought of each other as siblings in their shared plight.
Alpha wanted to use his ability to kill them all, but for some reason, he couldn't muster his power in the presence of the researchers.
It was due to the Awakener control mechanism embedded from the original Chinese DNA sample.
A body designed to be unable to defy pre-designated individuals.
They had simply changed the presets from the Chairman and Party executives to the researchers.
"Quiet down. You punk."
The researcher sedated him.
Next up was 'Alpha.'
Since the same method couldn't be applied to him, a slightly different experiment was prepared.
Beyond the laboratory's glass window.
The institute director watched the surgery with executives, chatting idly.
"The Chinese really are impressive. Mass-producing Awakeners—guess it wasn't just talk."
"We need to develop the technology as quickly as possible ourselves."
The samples were flawed in many ways.
The artificial humans made from them sometimes died mysteriously overnight or suddenly lost their abilities.
The perfected versions had ironclad security they couldn't touch, so they had barely managed to steal early prototypes.
"Director, how much budget can we expect for the second half...?"
"Don't worry. I've handled it, so things won't be as tight this half."
The government side had eagerly shelled out massive funds upon hearing of the obedient 'Awakener legion.'
Of course, they had no idea such inhumane experiments were involved.
The director had explained it as experimenting on brain-dead vegetable patients.
In other words, no different from cadaver dissections for practice.
Unfortunately, to instill understanding of status windows or ability usage, an Awakener's consciousness was essential, as was some degree of training.
They had undergone magically enhanced growth accelerators and aptitude training for a year.
They looked about 12 years old now, but their actual age was 3.
"Whew. That's a relief. So, shall we dispose of Alpha and Omega soon? You can consider the new ones practically complete."
"Hey now, you have to know when to economize. Squeeze every last drop out of them before disposal. Don't worry about spending before the money even comes in. And Omega's decently usable anyway."
"Yes, sir...."
The executive who had been scolded by the director suddenly recalled something and spoke up.
"By the way, did you get a blackmail email?"
"What email?"
"Our institute faces an urgent threat—pay 300 million if you want the info."
"What, can't you tell spam at your age?"
"Well... I thought it was spam too, but apparently the sender's a well-known broker."
"Even so, we have no money. We won't see government subsidies until they come through... For now, tell the security firm to tighten up. At least temporarily."
The security firm guarding the institute was K Shield.
Composed of former hunters, they had a good reputation in the industry.
The executive requested K Shield to bolster manpower temporarily, offering a bit extra pay.
The broker was dumbfounded.
The valuable Dark Knight-related information he had obtained.
He thought it was a goldmine, but no one was buying.
He even offered the institute half price, but they still refused.
'No money? What the hell...'
In the end, he felt it was for the best.
From the info, those guys were truly heaven-defying villains.
Letting scumbags who wouldn't even buy intel taste Dark Knight's wrath was a bargain.
'It was really scary.'
The Dark Knight, known only by rumor, was pure terror incarnate.
Even facing him head-on, the inside of his robe was utterly invisible.
The more he thought about it, the less human he seemed.
'Maybe the monster theory is right?'
The broker dreaded Dark Knight appearing in his dreams.
***
A dark night.
I stepped out of the hotel wearing Hermit's Leather.
Laura, in her robe, was with me.
Naturally, anything distinctive like wings or tail was concealed.
I rendezvoused with Kim Na-hye at the appointed location.
"Da, Dark Knight?"
She stepped back in surprise.
I removed the robe's hood and waved it off.
"It's me. Disguised as Dark Knight. If anything goes wrong, we'll pin it on him."
"Ah, I see!"
I gave Laura a look.
She understood and began casting.
"Invisible."
In an instant, Laura's and my bodies turned transparent.
"Huh, where are you? I really can't see anything."
Kim Na-hye waved her hands around, searching for us.
I snuck behind her and grabbed her shoulder.
"Eek!"
"I'll be right behind you, so don't worry. Just stick to the plan."
I whispered in Kim Na-hye's ear.
She nodded and started walking toward the research institute.