I Thought You Could Even Handle a Saint? (3)
I must have slept like a log for a solid two hours.
When I woke up, someone was waiting right beside me.
It was the secretary who had been trailing the Heron Chairman earlier.
I rubbed my eyes and sat up, and she immediately handed me a state-of-the-art terminal device.
They really must have made bank off those drugs. Handing out top-of-the-line gear like it was nothing.
“To ensure no core secrets leak, every bit of your usage history will be recorded on our servers. Is that acceptable?”
“Yep. I already said it was fine~.”
Once I stepped outside there’d be that insane old man monitoring my entire private life without any device at all, so this level of surveillance didn’t even faze me.
I simply took the terminal and got to work.
Isn’t it possible we’re all just collectively dreaming the same dream of becoming fixers and fighting anomalies together?
This account was brand new to the gallery, so I first baited some sympathy with posts anyone could relate to.
If one of them luckily hit the top of the trending list?
I’d ride that momentum, post again, and casually name-drop the gallery owner.
They say she’s Special-grade, but does she actually run missions?
After getting another trending hit, I spent time replying to comments and dropping various posts until…
Smells like real people in here.
I wanted to post a little before heading out on a mission tomorrow. Everyone, fight hard out there.
That wrapped up roughly three hours of careful reputation-building.
It looked simple, but it was actually an advanced technique that required deep knowledge of the gallery’s culture and how people thought.
Once I had their favor?
It became easy to trend.
And once I could trend easily?
It became easy to steer public opinion.
The presentation the Heron Chairman gave yesterday said they planned to spread Tamma Drink slowly among the public.
But if we triggered a viral wave and let genuine popularity do the work, it would spread way faster.
These days nearly every Korean frequented the gallery, so once the current took hold it would explode.
The Chairman must have expected me to play that role, which was why he issued me the terminal.
If I showed results, wouldn’t his trust in me rise even higher?
‘He’s taken out insurance with the contract, the surveillance cameras, and everything else, but if I don’t actively cooperate it’ll look suspicious.’
Being too eager would be weird, but if I acted like a genuine collaborator, even the Chairman wouldn’t suspect anything.
…Now that I thought about it, the Chairman was nowhere to be seen today.
I’d expected him to show his face at least once to keep an eye on me.
“By the way, where did the Heron old man go?”
“Ah, the Chairman is currently attending a branch manager meeting and stepped away for a moment.”
“Ooh, a branch manager meeting. Is it happening here?”
For a split second the secretary’s eyebrow twitched.
So sharp. So very sharp.
“I was just curious, you don’t have to answer~.”
“N-no, I’m sorry. My expression slipped.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine~.”
Her reaction basically screamed why are you even asking something like that?
Maybe I really should avoid such detailed questions.
‘A random rock that rolled in suddenly claims he can create the key ingredient for an important beverage. Of course they’d be suspicious…’
It might be the Chairman’s unilateral decision, so I had to read the room a little.
Not everyone might be happy about it even if the Chairman was.
‘But they don’t find it weird that their own Chairman has a bird head, yet a human-looking me is suspicious?’
Was it because blood demons were naturally higher predators of humans?
Then what about the giant herons?
Those things ate people these days too!
‘If we’re being picky, a herbivore like me is way safer. Human prejudice really is something.’
That didn’t mean I hated humans.
They were just scared. It was only natural.
“Um, could you take two photos for me to use in Tamma promotion?”
“Photos, you mean?”
“Yes. Please take them with roughly this feeling.”
I sent the prepared requirements to Secretary Park’s contact already registered in the terminal.
“This is extremely important, so please take them ex-act-ly as requested!”
“Understood. I’ll have them ready within one hour.”
Exactly one hour later, Secretary Park returned with the photos I had asked for.
It had also been exactly one hour since my last gallery post.
Time to start beating the gong.
Hey everyone!!!
Ran into a demonic beast by mistake
Looks like I’m about to die
Last words
Thanks to the goodwill I’d built up earlier, the reactions were heated.
Since it would be troublesome if Auntie Lokhee actually came to rescue me, I posted one more thing before leaving.
Now I get why escort missions are so brutal
Really almost died for real
Got rammed by a wild boar while protecting a civilian and flew 20 meters lol
I stopped the post there.
Secretary Park, who had been watching, tilted her head.
“Are you trying to… go viral?”
“Yes~.”
“But even if you promote something that has no real effect, the increase in sales will be negligible.”
“No no no. I’ll promote something that does have a real effect.”
“…? You’re saying you can actually make demonic beasts run away after getting hit by the bottle? Even using the anomaly component from the drugs we distribute, that should be impossible.”
“Aha~ Do not underestimate this True Ancestor!”
I wiggled my fingers, then plunged my hand straight into the center of my chest.
Secretary Park flinched at the sight of my hand piercing through my ribs, but then remembered I was an anomaly and quietly stepped back.
“What are you trying to…”
“This penthouse is protected by a fake barrier, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct… Ah. You knew?”
“Of course. You can’t just let a blood demon suddenly go berserk and kill people. That much preparation is only natural. Though I don’t know why the Chairman himself isn’t isolated like that~?”
“…”
That hit a nerve. Her expression said it all.
Was the Chairman surprisingly handsome for a bird-brain?
Or maybe she just fell for his strength. There seemed to be a quiet fan club.
“Anyway, trusting in this barrier, I’ll create the substance needed for the viral campaign.”
“If you could explain in detail it would be—”
Pop. I pulled out one cross.
Immediately the barrier surrounding the entire penthouse began to resonate with a deep hum.
While the startled Secretary Park looked around, I thrust my empty left hand back into my chest.
“Pulling out two is dangerous. Please step outside first. We can still communicate from out there, right?”
“Y-yes! I’m leaving!”
Secretary Park bolted out, along with the maids who fled squealing.
Soon the heavy penthouse door closed and the room was sealed.
I immediately pulled out a second cross with the hand still buried in my chest.
Dual Cross Release!
At the same time the barriers began shaking violently with a thunderous BOOM!
“Hmm. The barrier is too weak. Must be because it’s fake.”
Maintaining secondary liberation for too long looked like it would shatter the barrier, so I had to work quickly.
Like this, and like that… done!
It was blood from me after releasing two crosses, yet whether examined by eye, by chemical test, or by anomaly wave meter, it registered as nothing but water!
The moment this touched a demonic beast it would burrow straight into its brain and inflict the fear of death.
The exact effect needed for the drink’s viral campaign had been perfectly reproduced.
One might think, ‘If I have something like this, couldn’t I have just covered my whole body in the substance and entered the city pretending to be human?’
But that only showed they knew one thing and not the other.
A human made entirely of water or one made entirely of blood would both look equally suspicious.
Unless I wanted to speed-run an interview with the Wall-Facing Division, there was no need to do something so reckless.
Anyway, with the work finished I pushed the two crosses back inside my body.
Once the resonance died down, Secretary Park cautiously entered the room.
I pointed at the floating droplet I had prepared and said,
“Please test this with the same anomaly wave meter the Food and Drug Administration uses~, put it in a glass bottle and throw it at a demonic beast for a field test~, then we can talk again.”
“……”
Secretary Park swallowed hard and carefully collected the droplet I had created into a bottle.
Four hours later she returned.
“Shocking. Truly astonishing. How. Possible. It is water, yet demonic beasts actively flee.”
She had brought the Heron Chairman with her.
His expression was hard to read, but the slightly open beak and raised feathers made his emotions clear.
Shock. Amazement. And a huge craving for the True Ancestor’s blood.
“Oh, well. It’s possible to refine it like the blood donation trucks do, keeping only the pure blood and discarding the rest, but for this great True Ancestor to stop at that level would be a bit disappointing, wouldn’t it~?”
“Amazement.”
“Besides, Chairman, you brought me here despite the risk even though I’m practically your enemy~. If you take a risk, there should be appropriate compensation, right~?”
“…Ha. Exceeds expectations. Satisfied. Partnership.”
The Chairman asked me a question.
“Heron demonic beast. Blood. The blood we put in our drugs. Can you conceal it the same way.”
“As much as you want~. The anomaly component in the droplet sample I just gave you is far stronger than the one you were using in your existing drugs.”
“Ka- kakaka! Kahaha!”
That heron-like laugh I heard every time.
He seemed to be in a good mood, so I laid out the future plan.
“We’ll proceed in two stages.
First we spread the superstition that Tamma Drink seems to protect you from demonic beasts, thereby increasing sales of the Tamma Drink containing the substance I created.
After some time passes, we move on to the real work you want, Chairman~. Disguising heron blood as water and turning the entire nation’s population into demonic humans.”
“First stage. Soldiers. Soldiers will also take interest.”
“Right, right. The people on the front lines of the anti-demonic-beast front can’t help but be interested~.”
“Food and Drug Administration inspection. Useless. Looks like water. Only water. Excellent.”
Before I knew it the Heron Chairman had approached and placed a hand on my shoulder.
His red hand, unmistakable proof of his demonic-human transformation, wrapped around it.
“From now on. My brother. Treat you as equal. Secretary Park.”
“Y-yes, Chairman!”
“Today rest comfortably. My brother. Starting tomorrow it will be busy.”
Let me reintroduce myself.
I am the blood demon who has now become involved in every drug production line Changro operates, and the sworn brother of the Changro Chairman.
Blood Demon, Anonymous B.
I smiled brightly and bowed toward the Heron Chairman as he left the penthouse.
‘So easy~.’
