Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Virus (4)
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“I'm back.”
“Took you a while. Was the kid scared and wouldn't cooperate?”
“That's not the problem. We couldn't collect the sample.”
“What?”
A tough-looking man scowled and approached Lee Chang-jun.
Then, he grabbed him by the collar in one swift motion.
“Kuh…!”
“Say that again. Are you telling me you failed the mission? Well, look at you all. You're a mess. Did you get into a fight? Huh? Who did you fight with? Don't tell me you got beaten up by a kid.”
Lee Chang-jun wasn't exactly scrawny.
And yet, the man's grip was strong enough to lift him with one hand.
Choking from the grip on his collar, Lee Chang-jun gagged.
“I-It wasn't my fault! A monster came out of the gate!”
“A monster? Ha, seriously. Is that your excuse? Who here doesn't know that gate doesn't spawn monsters?”
“It's true! That man saved us!”
Lee Chang-jun pointed at me, his expression full of indignation.
His acting skills are impressive.
Before the man could say anything, I quickly formed a 'C' shape with my left index finger and thumb.
It was the gesture the Geumeumdal Guild used to identify each other.
“Who are you?”
“I'm from 'the Head.' A number of the recently supplied units were defective, so those of us who know how to make repairs were ordered to visit each branch and fix them.”
“I haven't heard anything about that…?”
“'The Hypocrites' caught our scent, so we've stopped all communication that could be traced and are moving in person.”
“Those bastards? Well, can't be helped then.”
The man clicked his tongue and let go of Lee Chang-jun's collar.
'The Head' referred to the top brass of the Geumeumdal organization, while 'the Hypocrites' meant the official guilds.
If this were a mid-level branch instead of a bottom-tier one, they might have recognized my face and been suspicious, but the grunts would have no way of knowing the members of the top brass.
Especially since I added that we were moving secretly.
“The name's Park Jeong-dae. I'm the leader here. Follow me. I've got them in my desk drawer.”
I nodded and followed Park Jeong-dae.
Though it was one of the Geumeumdal Guild's cells, the interior showed no signs of anything suspicious.
They were acting like a small-time guild on the surface.
“The camouflage is good.”
“Just your typical minor guild. We even deliberately gathered guys who look the part. You know what they say: the best place to hide a tree is in a forest.”
“True enough.”
There was a single door on the second floor.
The Guild Master's room.
Park Jeong-dae walked up to it but didn't open the door right away. Instead, he slowly turned his head to stare at me.
“But… let's just confirm one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“Show me the crest.”
So he doesn't trust testimony alone.
Good caution.
As I hesitated to show it, Park Jeong-dae's gaze grew fiercer.
“…So that's what this is about.”
I sighed briefly and pushed back my shoulder.
A crescent moon crest was revealed quietly.
Proof of my affiliation with the Geumeumdal Guild.
…Or so Park Jeong-dae would believe.
It's a fake, but it makes the viewer believe it's real.
[Forger-Artist's Brush]
Creates a fake that makes the viewer believe it is real.
Performance increases when drawing while looking directly at the original.
I opened the Angel's Shop to buy this, but the item itself wasn't expensive.
For something that drastically lowers the difficulty of the task at hand, less than 2000 coins is a bargain.
“Satisfied?”
“If you had it, why'd you hesitate? Made me suspicious.”
His face relaxing, Park Jeong-dae grumbled as he opened the door and went inside.
He strode to the desk, opened a drawer, and took out two small, gun-like objects.
The 'MV Gun', a small, gun-shaped device for collecting virus samples.
Just as Lee Chang-jun had told me.
‘This isn't the collection method that appeared in the game.’
The device is manufactured by 'the Head' and distributed down the ranks.
The grunts at the bottom had no idea how it was made or even how it worked, nor could they find out.
As it was an item made using Dimension Stones, it didn't exist in the original story.
I need to gather as much information as possible.
‘Does it collect nearby viruses when you pull the trigger?’
I examined the MV Gun from all angles.
That was all I could tell with Extreme Eye.
I couldn't figure out how they were utilizing the Dimension Stone.
My excuse was that I came to service them, so I should just make something up and move on.
“This one's fine. But this one is missing a crucial component.”
“Missing a crucial component? What happens if you use it as is?”
“The collected virus won't stay inside the MV Gun. It'll leak out and infect you.”
“You've got to be kidding me. I almost used that thing.”
Park Jeong-dae shivered and cursed.
He'd said they always carried a glass tube containing a Dimension Stone fragment when using the MV Gun, but its effect didn't last long.
On top of that, they didn't transport the MV Gun immediately after collecting the virus; they had to hold onto it for a while.
They periodically delivered them to 'the Torso,' the level below 'the Head.' If they had used that faulty gun without knowing, this entire guild might have been infected in an instant.
The thought must have struck fear into him.
“This one's beyond my ability to repair, so I'll have to take it with me… Oh, right, do you have enough of those things?”
“The cylinders? Enough for about five more runs? Well, we're being careful, so they should last a while.”
Park Jeong-dae said, tapping a box on his desk.
Through the vision of Extreme Eye, I could see the glass tubes inside the box.
So they call those cylinders.
“Wait a minute. Don't tell me the cylinders are defective too?”
“It's possible.”
“Hey. Our lives depend on those things when we're working. How are we supposed to trust them if they're defective?”
Park Jeong-dae grumbled, his face displeased.
I considered putting on a stern face and telling him not to get ahead of himself, but I decided to stay silent instead. It made his acting more believable.
In any case, Park Jeong-dae had given me the perfect excuse to examine them himself.
“…This one's defective. And this one too.”
“Two out of five are defective?”
“They're not seriously defective. You can still use them without any problems. It's just that they're not in the best condition.”
“U-Uhm.”
Park Jeong-dae narrowed one eye.
He must feel uneasy now that he'd heard they were defective.
That was exactly what I was aiming for.
If I had outright claimed they were seriously defective, it might have raised suspicion.
['Devil Who Mocks the Heavens' is impressed, calling it an amusing trick.]
“No. In that case, take those back too. My life is the most important thing; I can't use something that's potentially dangerous.”
“Well, if you insist.”
I casually pretended to put the two cylinders into my coat, but actually stored them in my inventory.
The MV Gun and the cylinders.
I had successfully secured the items I needed for myself.
Now, I just needed to get one more thing.
“Well, I've got other business to attend to. Head back once you're done.”
Whether his suspicions about me had completely vanished or not, Park Jeong-dae left me in the room and went out.
Perfect timing.
I was just wondering how to handle a matter that was too awkward to ask Park Jeong-dae about directly.
“I've put a Ring of Darkness on Lee Chang-jun and the others, so they won't tell the truth… Ah, is this it?”
The underside of the desk.
Although it was in a hard-to-find spot, it couldn't escape my Extreme Eye.
I smashed the device that would have sounded an alarm if the hidden compartment was opened, then quickly got to work.
‘There it is.’
I saw a document with additional markings drawn on a map of Seoul and smirked.
Normally, organizations like this don't leave information lying around, but that only applies to digital data.
In fact, analog methods like this are more useful for destroying information, so I was sure there would be some physical documents.
And I was right on the money.
‘As I thought, the information wasn't entirely accurate.’
More than half of the data I received from Seong Woo-hyeon was wrong.
Most of the locations were either empty, had already been relocated, or were traps.
He did say the data would include dummies, so I shouldn't trust it completely.
If I had blindly visited each marked location on the map, things would have gotten very complicated.
I chuckled and was about to take a picture of the document when I was hit by a strong sense of unease.
‘…Something's off.’
Back in the original game, when I fought against these low-level cells a few times.
Recalling those times, this also doesn't add up.
Park Jeong-dae may seem like a thug on the surface, but given how he asked to see the crest and the alarm system, he's a more cautious type than he lets on.
There was no way he would have kept such important documents in a place this easy to find.
['Judge of Consecration' praises your composure.]
I focused my mana to enhance the performance of Extreme Eye.
Unnecessary things faded into thin lines, revealing what was hidden.
Unless there was some kind of barrier, nothing could escape Extreme Eye.
‘Found it.’
I immediately moved and lifted a picture frame hanging on the wall behind the desk.
“So this is where you hid it.”
A secret compartment hidden behind a painting.
It felt like I was playing a mini-game with escape room elements.
I carefully took out the documents placed in the secret compartment.
‘Is that all?’
It was what I expected, but there were indeed no traces of virus research in this low-level cell.
Their mission was solely to collect and transport the virus.
Looks like I'll have to go up the chain of command to find what I want.
I searched my memory, recalling the location of 'the Torso,' the mid-level organization.
I just needed more information because I didn't know the exact locations of the low-level 'Feet', but I already had all the information I needed after that.
*Beep.*
I sent a picture of the documents to Seong Woo-hyeon.
Before long, all 'the Feet' would be taken care of.
In the meantime, I planned to block any news of the raid from reaching 'the Torso' and go after them myself.
“So, how bad was it that you guys ended up so battered?”
“Don't even ask. It was a terrifying monster. For real.”
“That's right. If he hadn't saved us, we'd all be dead.”
“You idiots. Tsk, tsk. If something feels off, you should be ready to run. Slow to react, and you die. By the way, what's with the black scarf around your neck? Is that a fashion statement?”
After taking a picture of the documents, I burned them and went down to the first floor.
Park Jeong-dae and a few others were drinking and talking loudly. When they saw me, they raised their glasses and spoke.
“Leaving now? Ah, don't mind the drinking. This is part of the act, you know. Hahaha!”
“…Come to think of it, I still have one last piece of business.”
*Shunk!*
Without any warning, countless spikes of darkness shot up from the ground.
So many that there was no room to even step.
Still in the middle of drinking, the men whose thighs and arms were pierced screamed and went limp.
The angels' favorability might drop, but they won't cut off their support entirely.
That's what the donation was for.
In any case, as long as I maintain just enough favorability to keep the angels from completely cutting me off, there won't be a problem.
['Judge of Consecration' watches your actions intently.]
['Seat of the Blindfolded Scales' quietly gazes at its scales.]
These guys were capable of taking countless lives in an instant if given the chance.
Just look at the child I met a while ago; these bastards had crossed the line long ago.
In fact, the angels who enjoyed judging evil seemed excited.
“W-What is this all of a sudden…”
Being the leader, he somehow managed to avoid death, but he wasn't unscathed.
I could see the left leg of his pants slowly turning red with blood.
Park Jeong-dae's face twisted into a scowl as if he'd realized something.
“Are you trying to cut off loose ends…?!”
“You could interpret it that way.”
Not everyone here had been hit.
Those who were further away doing other tasks had turned pale and were preparing to flee at a moment's notice.
“What are you doing! Hurry and warn the others! I'll buy you time here!”
At Park Jeong-dae's shout, those who had barely regained their senses scrambled for the exit as if their tails were on fire.
I could have summoned the Army of Darkness to stop them, but I didn't bother.
The place was already surrounded.
“Q-Quickly, to the other…!”
*Thwack!*
The moment the person closest to the exit stepped outside, a blood-soaked sword erupted from his back.
Tossing the cooling corpse aside like trash, the sword's owner, Kim Ji-hyeon, scanned the surroundings with a cold gaze and declared.
“Eungryong Unit. Commencing extermination operation, effective immediately.”