Spectating the Corporate War Frenzy
Exciting corporate war watching. …………… I wonder if Jenica's okay. They say you shouldn't invest based on others' words. But on the other hand, I get where Jenica's coming from. Earning 1.5 times the daily wage and trying to get citizenship and buy a house—how many decades would that take? It's only natural to want a shortcut if one exists. Still, I'm a bit worried, so I sneak a taste of the clown's emotions.
Hmm. This flavor... it's the taste of lying! ——Nah, it's not. No fishy scammer vibe. Instead, what I sense is rock-solid conviction. This clown uncle guy truly believes in the stocks he's recommending. From the story, it sounds like he's invested his entire fortune. If he'd been a scammer, I'd have turned him into cube steak, but this is genuine.
"What does passing Phase 1 mean, exactly?"
"It means the drug's effective—first verification complete! Just get through Phase 2 and 3, and it's commercialization! A complete baldness cure! It'll make a hundred times more money than some obesity drug!"
"So... it's a way to save money faster than manual labor?"
"Of course! And that's not all—take out a loan, grow your seed money, and you can earn decades of labor wages in one shot!"
Hmm. Borrowing to invest? Well, investments are personal choices. Good luck, Jenica. Clown uncle too. At least, don't end up homeless again.
I hear a mutter, but I let it slide. I've seen enough of Jenica, so today, let's make it a Seoul outing.
……………
Wandering aimlessly around Seoul, it's suddenly afternoon. Drifting without a destination, I end up near the agency. At the main gate, two familiar faces: Han Min-seo and Lee Gyu-rin. Heading home from work, I guess. Once they're a bit away from the building, they naturally link arms.
Ooh.
Last time, I rated it as comrade-like camaraderie, but this feels a tad beyond that. Han Min-seo's emotions have a faint strawberry macaron flavor layered in.
"Wanna come over to my place for ramen again today?"
Lee Gyu-rin's voice carries on the wind, a mischievous smirk on her lips.
"S-Sunbae. Could you please stop putting eggs in the Osori ramen...?"
"So you're not eating?"
Silence. Han Min-seo's steps don't stop. Lee Gyu-rin's arm link doesn't break. In the end, their shadows stretch long in the sunset as they walk together.
The little thoughts chatter away with their signs about ramen recipes. Lately, ramen seems trendy—Jenica too. Maybe drop by Lee Gyu-rin's place later for some. Hold the eggs in Osori.
Time to head home. I shift to slime girl form and slip slurp into the ventilation duct on the building's outer wall. Walking through the main gate sets off alarms and gets noisy, so this is polite consideration. I'm a very considerate entity, you know. Hehe.
Riding the vent down, I decide to hit the cafeteria first. Time to help Oh Deok-hwan with his diet. Wonder what he'll try to eat today. Chicken? Sweet-and-sour pork? Whatever it is, swap it for healthy veggies.
Perch on the cafeteria ceiling. Peer down. Dinner rush—place is packed. Scanning for Oh Deok-hwan—huh. Not here. The guy with the double chin, gut sticking out, glasses, slumped shoulders. Where is he?
Activate Outer God Girl Sensor. Tracks faint marks left on contacted entities. Sensor points—over there at that table.
The sensor spot has one guy sandwiched between two female staffers. He's in horn-rimmed glasses and a suit. Clean jawline, slim cheeks. Looks tall and handsome at a glance.
"Deok-hwan sunbae, you've gotten so handsome lately. How'd you lose the weight?"
"Can I touch your arm?"
The women chatter on either side. One pokes his arm, marveling.
"What kind of workouts turned your body into this?"
The guy pushes up his glasses casually and replies indifferently.
"Lately, forced dieting plus daily card game draw training..."
"Draw... training?"
"Yeah. Training to draw the card you want from under a waterfall. Gotta master that to call yourself a duelist in front of others."
Normally, such an out-of-left-field otaku line would get a straight face or awkwardness, but surprisingly, the women burst into giggles.
"Oh man, Deok-hwan sunbae!"
"You even make jokes fun."
Wait—did they just say Deok-hwan sunbae? That's Oh Deok-hwan? No way.
Not tricked—just lost weight. But this much change? Good he slimmed down. Worth force-feeding him raw carrots and broccoli daily. Still, it's weird. Where'd the sweaty, chubby gamer Oh Deok-hwan go? This feels like a different person.
Hmm. No need for meal swaps today. Honestly, a bit shocked. Mood's complicated.
I'm fine. Oh Deok-hwan getting healthy is good. He'll live longer, play more games. Back to my room. Slurp. Basement level 41, my room. Sit on the bed, grab the remote. Click. Kill time till the other attachment humans clock in.
Flipping channels, news flashes by.
Ooh. Black hime-cut martial artist chairwoman on TV. Hope the snack basket's refilled. Check next visit.
Flip again.
Hmm. Mirae's Heracles looks like a heavy-armor high-firepower robot, but Oseong's Achilles is way more human-like.Click.
Screen switches to aerial footage of armored vehicles blockading Gwanaksan access roads and armed guards.
Whoa. Corporate war. First time seeing one since becoming this body.
A fight? Gotta join. Just spectate, of course. They say watching fights is the best, right? Let's go now. Toss remote on bed, check sub-space. Popcorn, cola, ice cups, etc. Perfect prep.
No mat. Sit on a tree branch. Gwanaksan has plenty of trees, rocks on the peak. Munch popcorn, watch the fight. Best seats. Gotta go—stake a spot early for these things. Pat pat.
……………
Sit on a branch, tear into caramel popcorn. Crunch. The battlefield view from Gwanaksan's ridge is spectacular.
First, Diver forces. Mercs in power suits with oddly insect-like helmets. They leap irregularly between trees using backpack mini-boosters. Shoot high-speed wires to hook branches, zip across the air like spiders on webs—3D maneuvers. Not just ground fire; they dive from above for strikes then bail. Insect tactics transplanted to humans.
Opposing: Cheolung Group. Total opposite of Diver's light-armor high-mobility. Thud. Thud. Thud. Amid pine groves shattering, massive metal hulks advance, trampling the forest. Piloted bipedal robots. Called walkers. About 6 meters tall. Multiple rocket pods on shoulders, gatling gun on left arm, pile bunker on right. Ground shakes with each step. That weight class is violence incarnate.
The sharp-eyed little thought is thrilled by the war. Me too, munching popcorn. Crunch. Spectating fights with popcorn is peak.
Diver insect-suit mercs circle walkers, firing wires from all sides. Railgun rifle shots spark off armor; walkers spin gatlings, unleashing bullet storms. Trees shred to sawdust, stray rockets obliterate rear ridges. Thrilling.
One guy stands out. A Diver merc taking on a walker solo. Walker gatling spins. Tens of thousands of rounds per minute rain like a downpour; trees clear, visibility opens. No cover left. Normal move: retreat. But he charges.
Fires wire mid-air to twist trajectory, grazes the bullet storm by a paper's width. Ooh. Beyond reckless—disregarding life. Swims through the barrage, piercing gaps in trajectories, slips into the blind spot as the barrel spins. Slaps a junction bomb on the walker's knee joint, thin armor there. Boom! Left knee buckles in explosion. 6m metal mass staggers, flattens three pines—and tumbles down the slope.
The mad merc grins. He's nuts. In a good way.
Sharp-eyes cheers, fist pumping. Fun guy, like he said. Get a closer look. Leap from branch, slime form. Ooze through fallen leaves to the ground, sneak toward the merc.
Battle lulls briefly. The mad merc hunkers under cover with others, catching breath.
Another merc crawls up. "Sergeant Cheon, how do you pull that off and survive? Inside gatling range, one hit's instant death."
Sergeant Cheon—still helmeted—adjusts his visor. "I won't die. She's waiting."
Cheon rummages in his power suit, pulls out a smartphone, turns on the screen. Sadly, from my rock crevice spot, angle hides it. Hope it's not that purple sweet potato pic from Yeom Hana's phone. He strokes the phone's edge with his thumb, murmurs low.
"And if we win today... I'll propose to her."
Aaah. That line.