Dwarf Prodigy and Chinese Assassins

Seoul's mountainside.

A massive crow-like beastman stood there. Heukhae from China, the Black Sea of the assassin world and bounty hunter circles.

Beside him was a woman wearing a mask. Baekya, the detection specialist, had begun their full operation.

Pinpointing an unregistered location was known to be tricky even in Korea, but the two exuded confidence.

Baekya first analyzed energy from the surrounding flora and fauna. Assuming the unregistered's position was in Seoul, she rapidly scanned natural data.

Meanwhile, Heukhae summoned crows, extending contact networks nationwide.

"...Hmm. How can there be zero traces like this?"

After poring over data for a while, Baekya was the first to furrow her brow in confusion.

"Pathetic."

Heukhae growled in a low, gravelly voice at the sight, and Baekya's aura turned sharply hostile.

"What'd you say? You non-human birdbrain."

"Show me proof you're human first. You haven't been one so far."

"...Fine. No point talking to you. I'll show you."

With that, Baekya sat on the dirt floor and opened a status window with a unique design. Her specialty: the hacking system. It was filled with Chinese characters.

If she wanted, she could pull even non-classified Pentagon data from the US. Hunter systems had even more impenetrable security, but she could extract 'emails' somehow.

Baekya swiftly infiltrated the Korean Management Bureau's server. Watching her, Heukhae spoke.

"Just kill him. That unregistered guy doesn't seem like someone who'll talk."

"Do whatever."

She'd soon breach the Bureau's emails. Not all, but some outgoing ones. There had to be messages sent to the unregistered.

The same messages appeared as when I drew Jenny. A dazzling light took shape before me.

Jenny was by my side now. "Ooh. Ooh!" She tensed up with me, which helped calm my nerves.

Shoooo...

I'd realistically imagined something like an AI robot agent or maybe an SF or spy movie character this time.

The light gradually formed into a 'person.' Jenny grew more puzzled as she watched.

"Eh? Why is it so tiny?"

Yeah. It was just a smidge smaller than Jenny, who looked elementary-school age. Stocky build, horizontally wide. Not fat, but round and pudgy.

"Is it even human?"

The hair took shape. Not a bob like Jenny's—bushy long hair down to the back.

In its hands: tools. Hammers? Wrenches? Holding several at once. An agent who used those as weapons? With mutual damage immunity, I wasn't worried about that.

"Uh, uh... It looks human!"

I was watching too.

Skin and face solidified next.

Slightly tanned skin. Short stature, round body. Neat mustache on the face, but it somehow looked young.

Extremely short limbs. Adorably compact. A bit pouty expression, but not stubborn. Pure pubescent boy vibe.

"Eh?"

Jenny hid behind me.

The new agent's body was fully summoned. He slowly opened his eyes, looked at me, and spoke calmly—unlike Jenny.

A pre-pubescent boy's voice.

"I finally meet you, Captain! Name's Ollie. I wanna be a great agent! Hehe!"

...A dwarf.

Keywords: science tech, magic-engineering, artisan, creation.

'Community...?'

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Ollie waddled toward me. Small, but heavy footsteps.

Clack!

He placed his chubby fist over his heart.

"I'll work hard at anything helpful, Captain! Dwarves, especially me, don't shy from labor! Confident I'll earn your favor, yo!"

Super polite. Meanwhile, Jenny dashed over with a do-do-do, blocking between us and striking a big X pose.

"Don't get close to Captain!"

"Who're you?"

"Hey!!! How dare you talk casually to a senior!!!"

"Whatcha gonna do?"

What? His speech was weird.

Jenny put hands on hips, chin up. Now I got what that pose meant.

"?"

Without me saying a word, Jenny laid out the 'house rules' for Ollie. No getting close, no making noise...

Ollie stepped back a few paces, fiddling with his mustache awkwardly.

"Sorry. I'll definitely help our hurt Captain. Ollie can make anything—I'll find a way, yo!"

"Loyal to me too!"

"What're you on about?"

"...Urk!"

"Scratch?"

"Aaack! What are you?!"

From what I saw, his specialty was dwarf crafting. Detailed abilities noted 'object-reinforcement mana' next to mana stats. Easy to grasp.

"Wait. No way?"

"Order anything, yo! Hehe!"

"I'll definitely help our hurt Captain. Ollie can make anything—I'll find a way, yo!"

"Savior!!!"

I yelled suddenly, making Jenny yelp "H-heek!" Ollie patted his chest with his fist, urging me to give orders.

Getting it, Jenny looked at Ollie again. "S-Savior...?"

"Lemme show my skills! Anywhere to make gear or tinker with machines?"

I felt it. Not a saint or pope, but a savior had come.

'Where to send him?'

Machines? Definitely the operation room. But not directly tied to protecting my life. Then,

【Research Lab】

Straight there. I took Jenny and Ollie to the lab, opening the crude iron door by the closet.

"Ooh."

Ollie's face lit up. "This is what I wanted!" I thought I'd need a forge, but he genuinely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠loved it—right choice.

Perfect match. Ollie was already wandering, poking holograms, models, complex system windows—getting the feel.

[Max Efficiency] now showed next to the lab status. Could they make life-protection items here?

"Hmm. Facilities are decent-ish, but HP management? Total crap... Er, tough! Mostly attack-direct or support-only research setup!"

Ollie looked troubled. But just his face—he fiddled with system windows, then typed at god-speed.

"Eh, eh?"

Jenny watched timidly. "I-I thought it was super hard..." Pouting.

'What’s he doing?'

Results came instantly.

"No way!"

I stepped toward Ollie instinctively. He backed up to follow house rules.

"Hacked the system... yo! No idea why this wasn't here originally, but Decad has these everywhere. I'll make research gear—parts look easy to source! For real! Hehe."

...Insane.

He was the savior.

Didn't know Decad, but he handled shelter facilities familiarly—probably SF world.

Among them, Ollie Haiban was a genius maximizing dwarf traits in gear creation and repair.

For me with 0% shelter utilization, perfect software. Even Jenny wouldn't struggle alone anymore.

"Goal: Thin 'body-fitting barrier' coating your whole body! But even for me, not easy—costs and materials hefty, yo!"

Savior incarnate. Coat my entire body.

Zero hindrance to life, zero risk—perfect masterpiece needs work. He explained why tough; I didn't get it.

Anyway, aim: 'Ultimate HP defense with only pros, no cons.' Even manages health to minimize freak deaths.

"I'll make it happen. Time to show Captain what Ollie can do... yo!"

"Ooooh."

Jenny gaped in awe too. "Y-You! Junior approved!" "Who the hell are you?" They bickered after.

But not ready yet—Ollie looked bummed. Felt like empty talk.

"...Wanna show more skills."

Ollie was machine-pro too. Next spot predetermined:

【Operation Room】

"Ooooh."

Even brighter face than lab. Like a fun playground. Eyes sparkling.

"This place is real nice, yo! Ollie super shocked!"

He rummaged monitors and systems. Beep. Beep. Windows flew. No clue what.

"Captain's a sniper—this perfect for sniper ops. Wasted till now... yo!"

"?"

Jenny and I puzzled. We'd benefited tons already.

"HUD links to op room for sniping, yo!"

"HUD?"

"Head-Up Display. Can make one, but need parts, yo!"

Sniper gear projecting data in view. Needed parts, so checked sniper shop. Seemed familiar.

"Ooh. There it is!"

Memory right. Parts buyable, but Ollie said if gold enough, buy complete. Parts total near finished price. Key was op room link—HUD itself secondary.

"Good. Ollie. Makes sniping way better, right?"

"Calculates wind, altitude, flight path! For real, yo!"

Training needed to use HUD, but for my precision weakness, must-have.

As I decided to buy—mail arrived.

Ding!

"Fucked."

Unexpected. True, rejected all big powers' offers. But immediate action? China sending hunters for me?

"Eh?" Jenny startled at my reaction.

"What happened, Captain?" Ollie stood from his seat.

Scanning my mail, Ollie's eyes widened.

"Now I can show my real skills! Hobby level, though, yo."

He hammered the op room computer, typing furiously. Burning with zeal.

He'd muttered earlier, 'If there was magic-engineering setup, I'd show proper stuff. For real.' Frustrated without chance to shine.

"What're you gonna show?"

"Track those Chinese assassins' location, yo!"

"???"

Green text flooded black screen.

Suddenly, the Bureau's mailbox appeared before us.

'Why the Bureau?'

"High chance they tried here. Heaviest traffic, yo."

Ollie dug 'Sent – Unregistered' mails, displaying them, breaking down encrypted info for analysis.

'What the...?'

Moments later,

"Got one. Accessing Bureau mail. Now we reverse-trace, yo!"

Typing continued.

Ding! Ding!

"With op room setup, reverse-trace gets position and video, yo!"

Monitor showed a woman. Precise location.

Beside Baekya: massive crow. Confirmed Heukhae. Matched Bureau info.

"This... is what the op room does?"

"Eh?"

Jenny and I exchanged glances.

Ollie shrugged smugly.

"Just hobby-level, but system hacking's rare even in Decad. More to come, Captain, yo!"

Skills absurd, but first—extinguish the fire.

"That woman and crow here for me. Even tried mailbox."

Then, audio from monitor.

"Ha. Fuck."

Not investigation—assassination.

Ollie pulled Heukhae and Baekya's records fast.

"No captures, tons of kills. Even non-hunters."

"Ha... Ollie. Jenny."

"Yep!" "Yes."

Ollie calculated sniper spot. Jenny imaged it.

Time to eliminate quick.

The giant crow Heukhae fully activated Beastmanization, heightening senses to extreme. Small crows gathered creepily on trees.

"Something big tailing us."

Heukhae told Baekya after crow talk.

Baekya made white orb, emitting resonance. Beep—scanned whole forest.

"It's real."

Then, red smoke billowed.

Shoooo...

Shick! Shick!

A woman with daggers and spikes between fingers. Beside her: muscle monster, scantily clad woman, blind swordsman.

Hongmaehwa before the two Chinese hunters.

"Here to catch or kill unregistered? Heukhae. Baekya."

"..."

"Go home."

Seol waved them off like bugs.

But they just grinned sinisterly at her.

Seol grinned back—like at kids.

"Ah, not for unregistered. For you. Botch this, you die here. Time's short. Just leave now."

Then, Heukhae shifted to human form, stepping forward.

Long hair to calves. Red eyes. Long sword at waist.

Heukhae and Seol locked eyes. Heukhae spoke first, slowly drawing blood-red blade.

"Hongmaehwa, huh. First time meeting like this..."

Couldn't finish. Spurt! Blood sprayed from all orifices.

"Urk, uuurk!"

Collapsed, shitting and pissing. Convulsing on back.

Panicked Baekya scanned. Hongmaehwa unmoved.

"Told you. Just go."

'Probably the power that neutralized Hae-dong.'

Seol shrugged like 'Not my problem now.'

Hongmaehwa decided to leave—done. Turned from convulsing Heukhae, tossed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at Baekya.

"You'll be like that soon. Good luck."

"...!"

Red smoke rose from Seol. But,

BOOM!

Flesh exploding. Hongmaehwa flinched instinctively, turning to source.

Heukhae's body burst—no trace left. Just bloodstains, flesh bits.

"..."

Baekya froze, legs shaking. Seol sighed faintly.

"No need to come."

Left Baekya behind.

Due to nonstop foreign gate bursts, Director Baek Moon-seong urgently summoned.

End