Drone Shadows and the Maze of Truth

The International Hunter Union meeting had concluded.

Tanaka Mitsuo, Japan's Defense Minister, found himself in a true bind. His ashtray had been impeccably clean lately. He hadn't emptied it once; he was just chain-smoking like a fiend.

If we ask Korea for support right off the bat, public opinion will plunge straight into hellfire. We have to beat Korea, not beg for their help.

The clever ploy that had surfaced in his mind was 'recruiting the Unregistered.' Sure, the Chinese had sent over some worthless thugs, but Japan was serious about sweet-talking him properly. And what came back?

It was Director Baek Moon-seong of Korea. Japan had let the Unregistered slip through their fingers forever. He always maintained a mild stance, but he never spoke carelessly. Every word was calculated several steps ahead.

At this point, it's as good as the Unregistered walking right into our hands.

That was Director Baek as they knew him.

"What about the holy relic?!"

"It's... pretty much..."

The ashtray got another thorough cleaning.

At that moment, the atmosphere in China's Management Bureau was incomparably gloomier than Japan's.

In truth, the Unregistered could kill me anytime he wants.

Director Jing Wei's expression had been off the charts for 24 hours straight.

Not content with stealing all his intel, they'd even dug up personal details on some distant relative he himself didn't know about. A blatant threat of wiping out his entire clan.

Baekya's hacking call had tipped them off, but no postmortem analysis could figure out how a short video call had let them breach and ravage China's security network.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Jing Wei repeatedly smacked his pipe against the table as the greetings manager and operations chief came in to report.

"It's true that we effectively need to request support from Korea."

They were saying they should at least partially accept the agenda Director Baek of Korea had proposed at the meeting.

"China has three top-tier gates."

"..."

He knew that. But if asked if it was utterly impossible? No, it wasn't.

China had an overwhelming number of S-rank Awakeners, just like its population. Among them was even the martial artist monk Seon-gwang, whose damage output trait was off the charts, under Management Bureau control.

The problem was that the top-tier gates were popping up across China's major cities.

Out of the question. Absolutely not.

But even he had to admit Korea's help was needed. What a bitter pill. Caught between a rock and a hard place. What could he do?

Especially since China had been the one to push that clause in the first place.

I gathered Power Fragments.

First target: that bastard from the church.

I held off on heading out for a bit and reviewed the Sniper Shop with Jenny.

This was it. The scouting drone Ollie recommended, plus the item I'd preconceived. Jenny found them faster than me.

"Good job! As expected of Jenny!" When I said that, Jenny went "!!!" in shock. I'd noticed it before—she freezes up when praised. She was getting better, but it was still weird.

"Heading in."

"Ready, Captain!"

Vwooooom...

Target: Candidate #1. A church in Jamsil.

I'd bought the drone, but visual confirmation was best, so I'd handle the first few myself.

At that moment, I recalled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the memory I'd seen through the Immortal's Crystal. I remembered the spacing and shapes of the interior pillars, the overall scale, even the altar to a certain extent.

I applied Stealth and infiltrated the church interior. Ollie couldn't fully scout from the ops room, and Jenny's imaging only gave an incomplete view beyond the outer walls, making it possible.

I was about to enter via warp point, but suddenly got cold feet, so I decided to send the drone first.

Decisions always need to be quick and decisive.

"Amazing, Captain! Using just the drone! I never thought of that!"

"Uh, then Ollie'll handle controls from now on~yo! Drones are tricky, and it's a waste of time to learn right now!"

With Jenny's heartfelt cheers and Ollie's solid piloting, what was there to worry about? I just sent the drone in.

Shooo...

Ollie took remote control. We reviewed the drone's feed together on the ops room screen.

There were a few people in the church, but the drone was so tiny and silent that no one sensed anything odd. It scouted freely.

"...But it's a bust."

"Ah, sorry."

Ollie looked embarrassed that his intel was wrong. But I'd never expected a one-shot hit.

Thanks to Ollie's thorough research, the interior layout was vaguely similar... but my verbal description must've ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been lacking. Clearly a different space.

Next one.

Not this one either. Next.

After checking four, we hit the fifth church.

"!!!"

Candidate #5. Something was off here. I couldn't claim my memory was crystal clear, but it matched a key section.

"Scan this one thoroughly."

Ollie piloted it everywhere.

It was a miniature recon drone with near-silent noise reduction, but no invisibility, so detection was always a risk.

The key was 'speedy execution.'

Fortunately, the church interior was empty. No people.

First, I sent it to the section where that Necrophilia exec had been kissing the mural. Then,

"Definitely some heterogeneous energy inside the church~yo!"

Ollie, controlling the drone, spoke up.

"Good."

Thinking about it, the total absence of people was suspicious in itself.

"How's the energy heterogeneous?"

Per Ollie: 'I'm judging based on system-related measures!' Meaning, checking if some 'skill' was applied or not.

"Scan the four walls more closely, Ollie."

"ROGER."

The mini-drone buzzed around. I'd definitely seen a normal church wall turn into a creepy mural. If magic/ritual was involved, something should be on the walls.

"Huh, but the walls themselves don't show anything special~yo..."

Ollie said apologetically. I hadn't expected it to be easy. We were just chasing faster than them.

"Then hunt down the weird energy spots as much as possible."

The mini-drone zipped around under Ollie's control, analyzing the interior. The 'heterogeneous energy' was definitely in a side chamber. But the door was locked.

Then,

Thud!

"Ah,"

The flying drone stopped dead. Looked like one person was in the church after all.

This drone flew faster than a fly. To sneak up silently and grab it barehanded?

Suspicious as hell.

"Keep going, Ollie."

"Yep. Nice of 'em to grab the drone. Doesn't know its place."

Ziiiiiing!

The drone, equipped with a tiny self-destruct, began exploding its energy payload. Only then did a groan come from whoever had grabbed it.

"Quick look before it blows."

Right before detonation, I swung the camera back to capture the perp. A man in faded black priest robes. Not that same priest from before. No necklace either.

But it wasn't a total loss.

"Charge." "ROGER."

The drone rocketed toward the man's body—BOOM! Connection cut.

"Time to start the plan."

Jenny's idea from reviewing the shop.

- Captain! But what if they catch the drone?!?! It'd be cool if there was some clever trick... Ah! Sorry, I overstepped!

"Trick? Sounds tasty." From there, Ollie's proposal branched out: drone self-destruct + spy nano chip.

Targeting the Necrophilia villains' undead-like instant regeneration, implant a nearly invisible nano chip deep into the skin.

"Link up." "Yep, connecting~yo!"

Hope it worked.

......Success.

"Whoa! It worked~yo!" Ollie cheered.

Jackpot. Post-explosion, the 'spy nano chip' embedded deep in the skin. Regenerated or not, ops room link was live.

"Phew. Good. Whether he notices or not, I'll keep tailing."

"You're too cool!!!" Jenny bounced around.

Summary so far: Confirmed similar structure and 'side chamber' at Candidate #5 church. Heterogeneous energy inside.

No energy on murals, so either not that church, or something non-system Ollie couldn't detect.

Would continue church probes later, but on standby for now.

"I figure you two can handle it without me."

Beep. B beep. B beep.

Spy nano chip linking sound. Marked as a ♠ on the map.

...Yeah. Better report quick.

Drone snooping or whatever, that weirdo would report it.

"Good work, Ollie. Jenny. Stand by."

"ROGER!" "Yes!!!"

Phase 1 church recon done. Next moves depend on how that villain reacts.

Next up: the Holy Relic. Second mission for a Power Fragment.

Per classified docs, Jeju. Under Seongsan Ilchulbong, in a dank dungeon interior.

Plenty of attached photos. The inside looked like a literal cesspit. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Problem: how the hell do I get in there?

Cheon Seung-hyuk and Yoon So-i stayed down south. MARK-67 too.

The rest of the high-rankers were dispatched overseas. Some, especially Baek Yeon and Paeng Je-won, voiced unease about leaving Korea till the end, but Baek Moon-seong pushed through.

Some European nations and a few hunter-short countries accepted Korea's proposal. Those places were in dire straits. Notably, Russia was on the verge of accepting.

US, China, Japan on hold. With the agreement clause lingering, approvals would come sequentially. They seemed genuinely torn about swallowing their own clause.

Baek Moon-seong saw value even in their dithering. The longer the delay, the tighter the noose, the bigger Korea's gains.

"Heh heh... people these days."

Baek Moon-seong chuckled kindly. A strange glee flickered in those wrinkles. "...Director." Kim Chun-gyu submitted reports, worried about his condition.

"Kim Chun-gyu." "Yes!"

Baek Moon-seong spoke in the old team leader/subordinate tone for once. The days of weekly pork belly soju binges, crying and laughing together.

"How'd we make it this far?" Baek Moon-seong asked with that mad-genius furrowed brow. His eyes weren't even on Kim Chun-gyu.

"We're just good at surviving, huh. What's up? Can't hold your liquor?" Kim Chun-gyu smirked in junior mode, shoving holy relic docs forward.

"To me, survival isn't everything. No real conscience either." The white-haired elder reviewed the holy relic files.

"...I know." Kim Chun-gyu gazed at his forever-unattainable senior, the extreme merit-first tiger Baek Moon-seong. A sight in ages.

Cheon Seung-hyuk had zero intention of going overseas.

If he didn't protect Korea, who would?

With the Unregistered committed to help, his plan was to improve the war situation domestically as much as possible.

Yoon So-i was core to holy relic probes, so naturally staying put.

Jeju - Seongsan Ilchulbong

They'd spotted the jackal mask barrier rising from below. The source was an even deeper underground altar.

But a thin barrier enveloped the altar itself.

"Pretty weak. Even an unactivated holy sword could handle it."

Good news: accessing the altar wasn't hard. Cheon Seung-hyuk smashed down with Giant's Sword a few times, and the barrier shattered.

Problem: the barrier shooting upward from the altar like a beam projector. No way a holy sword startup would break that. Couldn't risk smashing the altar either.

Center had a socket for some gem-like thing. Yoon So-i's analysis:

"This is the ON/OFF."

Inscribed text too. After deep analysis, it read:

Different script and content from the Cartibes apostles' pedestal last time.

"Doesn't seem like mid-boss apostle stuff. More like a trick."

"A trick? Can you analyze it?"

After poring over the inscriptions, Yoon So-i reached a conclusion.

"Find the 'golden gem' and slot it here. That opens the barrier. Pretty certain."

Then, rustle—

Whiiiish!

Cheon Seung-hyuk charged on pure reflex. Reached the rustling source near supersonic speed. Spotted one hidden Necrophilia exec by the altar. Grabbed by the collar,

Thud! Spurt!

"Grk!" Pierced both thighs like kebabs with the holy sword, pinned to the floor. "Don't move." Crushed arms underfoot, crippling all limbs, then interrogation.

"Not great at torture, but answer and I'll kill you clean."

"Grk! Grk!"

Face already pummeled, jaw caved. Could talk, but just groaned in agony, no answers.

Yoon So-i searched the exec.

"Got a key."

Door to the basement nearby.

"Deviously deep structure." Cheon Seung-hyuk sighed in dismay.

"Yeah."

Cheon Seung-hyuk quickly reported the outpost structure to Baek Moon-seong and Kim Chun-gyu. No fluff, straight email.

Sizzle...

MARK-67, after securing perimeter, stood before the basement.

"Severe internal activity. Structure changes real-time."

The basement itself moved? Unthinkable without seeing. No time to waste. Straight in.

.

.

.

"...A maze."

A maze that kept shifting paths.

Beyond the door, like a 'subspace.' Vast area rumbling with constant gruuumble, like a world unfolding.

High-rise-scale walls swapping positions in real time.

"Max separation distance. Strong energy activity."

MARK-67 analyzed the maze. Yoon So-i translated ancient text at the entrance and scouted with holy orb, yielding:

"It's a trick blocking even Necrophilia execs, not just us."

"Seems like a maxim from the constellation Anubis."

Comparing the maze to life? Poetic for a constellation hellbent on shrouding the world in hell.

"Break the maze, grab the golden gem. Probably for the altar socket."

Cheon Seung-hyuk and MARK-67 immediately hammered the walls. Screw it, smash through.

Gruuumble...

But the walls took zero damage.

"Like the walls are one massive barrier clump."

Yoon So-i touched one; MARK-67 max-analyzed the structure.

"...Endpoint changes real-time."

Golden gem at the goal, but it kept shifting. MARK-67 tracked, but the presumed gem spot moved constantly.

The 'endpoint of life' relocated endlessly. Like it was wriggling away from players.

"Going in now."

Cheon Seung-hyuk and MARK-67 in tank formation to shield Yoon So-i, first entry.

The moment the two hunters crossed the start,

Kieeeek!

Clack! Clatter!

Monsters poured from the walls like mad. Walls like monster factories, spawning minions like Kreupher's bone apostles.

All tough customers.

An email arrived from the Management Bureau. On the Holy Relic, but vague—just keywords:

"Tell 'em to contact direct real-time on holy relic. No security worries."

Ollie started drafting per my orders. From the keywords,

Maze under Seongsan Ilchulbong, relic solution at the endpoint?

Ollie, mid-draft: "If we could just recon inside first, we'd solve this in one go. For real~yo."

"Then send the email like that."

At that moment,

Kim Chun-gyu got the email.

"!!!"

From the Unregistered. First time. He replied.