Chapter 44
"Are you there?"
The lowest layer was as shabby as ever. When I pushed open the creaky door of the rundown church, the kids huddled in the corner perked up their ears.
"Big brother Chang-un's here!"
The place I'd come to was the church in the lowest layer run by Father Jeong Su-han. With my urgent business wrapped up and some free time on my hands, I'd decided to drop by after a long while. And while I was at it, treat these kids to something tasty.
"Our sugar daddy! Our ATM! Our wallet!"
"Big bro, big bro! When you coming next? It's my birthday soon—can you get me the new DX Transforming Mega Hong Gildong #14?"
It didn't feel half bad watching them swarm me with their excited shrieks. Still, Transforming Mega Hong Gildong? #14?
"Isn't that the cartoon that's been on TV since last week? They've already got fourteen combiner robots out?"
"Yeah! You buy random boxes, and you get one from #1 to #13. Collect 'em all and combine, and there's a 5% chance the final #14 shows up at your door!"
Fucking maniacs. Selling kids' toys in random boxes was insane enough, but a complete gacha? I could feel my teeth grinding at the sheer malice of those robot cartoon bastards. How money-hungry do you have to be to dream up shit like that?
"Every time you visit, you bring such generous gifts... I don't know where to put myself, young master."
I'd been playing with the kids when Father Jeong Su-han emerged from a corner of the church and greeted me.
"How could I show up empty-handed? These people got dragged into treason they never asked for, all because of me."
My gaze drifted to the surveillance gear I'd installed all over the church. As I checked that everything was in order, Father Jeong Su-han tilted his head quizzically.
"Treason? What do you mean?"
"...Pardon?"
Was this guy for real? Stunned for a moment, I stared at the bewildered priest and explained step by step.
"Listen up, Father."
"Yes."
"You put up Iron Tiger Commander Yu Sang-hyun and his daughter here a while back, right?"
"That's right. Meeting someone I'd only seen on the news in person—it was a great honor."
"Then you know the nobility sent assassins after them."
"Well, yeah..."
I elaborated to the nodding priest.
"In other words, you've been providing shelter to assassination targets of the nobility."
Silence.
"...Uh, yes?"
"And if those nobles find out? What do you think happens to you, the head of this church?"
At that, Father Jeong Su-han's face finally drained of color. Watching it twist like some abstract painting, it hit me—he really hadn't realized.
"Give it up, Dad. The moment we got tangled up with that young master, our lives were already fucked."
Jeong Yu-rim slowly crawled out from the workshop in the church basement.
"Look at me. Been holed up in the workshop for a week straight, finally dragging myself out... Ugh, so tired."
I tossed a can of coffee to the half-dead Yu-rim, and she chugged it like it was the elixir of life. The dark circles under that pretty face? Nothing complicated. The Palcheon guys working at our casino—their cybernetic bodies were all custom-ordered from here.
"But hey, we're making good money thanks to it, right? The orders this month alone are piling up."
"Then, young master, if you give all that money back, can you cut me out of this revolution crap?"
"No chance."
"Ugh."
Yu-rim and I were bantering—half-joking, half-serious—when...
Thud!
"Ah... ahh...!"
Finally grasping the situation, Father Jeong Su-han staggered back a few steps and collapsed to his knees right there.
"Lord, why have you visited such... such trials upon me...!"
"Ooh! Whoa! The priest is getting possessed!"
I was watching, wondering what the hell kind of possession a Catholic gets, but damn if it didn't fit the bill. He spent ages reciting the Lord's Prayer or whatever to steel himself. When that didn't work, he started belting out some hymn. And in the end, he devolved into these bizarre flailing motions—half prayer, half freakout—before foaming at the mouth and keeling over.
"I... I'm a traitor...!"
With that final wail, the priest hit the deck. Took about five minutes from start to finish. The kids munching on the snacks I'd bought clapped enthusiastically at the show.
"Damn. First time seeing the priest that scared."
"Dummy, that's not scared. He's just in shock—went to meet God for a bit."
"Seeing him like that... guess God really exists. Gotta stop skipping prayer time..."
Whoa, almost convinced me. We watched the newly enlightened priest for a bit, then...
"You punks gonna keep messing with our dad?!"
Yu-rim smacked the giggling kids lightly and pretended to scowl.
"Yu-rim sis is mad! Scatter!"
"Scatter!"
The kids bolted like a storm amid the whoops. They started playing everywhere, munching on the snacks I'd given them.
I was about to yell at the wild ones darting around when Yu-rim saw their beaming faces, softened, and chuckled.
"But as you can see, things at the church are way better now."
She plopped down on a pew and spoke up.
"With the Palcheon guys providing security whenever, no dangers, and Auntie Bok-ja dropping by now and then to play with the kids."
"Auntie Bok-ja... the madam?"
"Yeah."
Come to think of it, she said she was coming here to pray. Her face had looked more relaxed lately—guess faith does wonders.
"From gutter rats to this... makes treason seem kinda doable."
"Well, we'll climb even higher."
This church had a ton of work ahead. Watching the kids romp around, I tossed out casually,
"How's the vibe around here lately?"
"You saw on the way, right, young master?"
Yu-rim lit a cigarette and replied.
"The lowest layer black market's booming like crazy. Weapons, cybernetics, organs... supply's flooding in, buyers everywhere."
"And the reason?"
"What else?"
She pointed a finger straight up.
"Purge up in the top layer. Not just any purge—the Andong Kim Clan wiping out the entire Pungyang Jo Clan. Everyone here's going nuts trying to cash in on the chaos."
"Yeah!"
The kids playing in the corner started jumping and chiming in.
"So now outside's full of scary uncles everywhere! Priest says don't go out!"
"We've been stuck here a whole month!"
"Wanna go play! It's suffocating... Ah! Yu-rim sis stole my snacks!"
Yu-rim snatched a handful of their snacks and crunched away. She grinned mischievously at their scowls.
"Didn't I say no interrupting adults? This is punishment for not listening."
"It's not adult talk! Big brother Chang-un's not an adult!"
"Ooh, sharp one, huh?"
Look at those puffed cheeks. The little witch flailed her arms like a spiky pufferfish in season.
Still, the kids' antics showed things were serious.
"Bye, big brother Chang-un!"
"DX Transforming Mega Hong Gildong #14! Got it?!"
After offering up three more boxes of snacks and five seasoned chickens for same-day delivery to the kids, I waved goodbye to their send-off and stepped out of the church.
My leisurely stroll took me to an old park far from the church. It sat on pretty high ground—the lowest layer's garbage dump sprawled below the railing like a panoramic view.
Click.
Confirming no one around, I pulled the Choraeng-i-tal from Hwae out of my pocket and slipped it on.
My vision went black for a moment.
[Access Level: Grade 1. Authentication complete]
A brief message, and a VR feed bloomed before my eyes.
I was in an elegant pavilion floating in the middle of a lake. Looking up, the sky was filled with countless characters stretching out like the Milky Way—an endless archive.
"Some sight. These crazies were hoarding all this?"
I'd heard my access level got bumped up, but not by this much. What unfolded before me was Hwae's database, accumulated over years: corporate secrets from across Joseon, network access codes, every scrap of intel imaginable.
So how to fish out what I wanted from this ocean of data? I worried for a second, but it was simpler than I'd thought. The moment I pictured what I needed, dozens, hundreds of screens popped up.
Shrrrrk—!
Like flipping through a massive book, footage from reporting drones, articles, reports, op-eds filled the view. Most prominent were docs stamped [CENSORED] and erased—material that didn't pass the court's media guidelines.
"They spout bullshit about Hanseong being safe, but it's a total shitshow."
With the nobility thrown into chaos by the purge, Hanseong's security was cracking. No surprise when one of Joseon's biggest clans, the Pungyang Jo Clan, rose up wholesale. Cannon fire echoed daily from fortified Namyangju, while their subsidiaries and branches unleashed private troops for sabotage on Andong Kim facilities and their allies.
The court threw everything at it: capital guards, Training Guard tactical modules—not enough, so even the Police Bureau's security modules and cops got mobilized.
'The court's AI must've been Kim Jung-heon's doing. He'd want to end this fast for efficiency.'
But focusing all resources on crushing Pungyang Jo punched a massive hole in Hanseong's once-ironclad security. And slipping through that gap? The crime syndicates.
Trash who'd sold hitmen to Jo Seong-hwan—Duggo-seong's relatives or whatever.
'If he'd lived, Hanseong wouldn't be this fucked. Even a low-level syndicate like his had noble backing.'
My past life memories confirmed it. Duggo-seong's outfit had been the kingpin, keeping the syndicates in check. Trash, sure, but they toed the line. Jo Seong-hwan had coordinated with the underworld to keep the filth from bubbling up.
But now, overseer Jo Seong-hwan was a headless traitor, and linchpin Duggo-seong was sewer sludge. With no big organization holding them back, Hanseong's mid-tier syndicates grabbed weapons and stormed the surface—raiding banks, parts factories, crypto mines, whatever they could hit.
The butterfly effect of killing Jo Seong-hwan had rippled all the way here.
"And the biggest problem among them... these guys."
A group of syndicates topped the Police Bureau wanted list. Salban-gae. "Kill-noble pact"—a crew hitting small-to-mid noble families holed up in the mid-layers.
The fun part? Their pattern. Raiding noble houses should net data chips, crypto, valuables—but nothing.
'They ignore that stuff, bolt to the next target right after.'
Like killing nobles was the sole goal. Racing to rack up bodies while the chaos lasted.
I'd seen plenty in my past life.
"Revenge."
I pulled off the Choraeng-i-tal and tucked it away. No sympathy for their grudge, but their skills? Perfect. Serious hate for nobles, unbribable, clean work.
Prime recruits.
"Now, where to find these syndicates..."
Family addresses were listed—should I just hit one up and kidnap? As I mulled routes and plans...
"Hey."
I turned at the voice behind me.
"...Huh?"
The source: a staggering drunk. Messy hair, hollow eyes. Rags for clothes. Shoddy cybernetic left limbs. But clashing with the slovenly look—a sword radiating sharp killing intent.
Matched the profile I'd just reviewed.
Speak of the tiger...
A syndicate thug.
"You, kid—not from around here, right?"
"Nope. Why would I stick around this dump?"
The question came with his blade half-drawn, but I answered coolly, no fear.
That piss him off? He paused, bared his teeth.
"Then where? Those fancy clothes say high-class."
"You bet. From a no~ble house. You'd shit yourself."
"Heh heh, yeah?"
He sneered and cackled—then wiped the grin in an instant.
"Then die."
Next second, a sword too fast to react slashed at my head.
Kaaaaang—!
I clocked the attack only as the blade closed in—but my head didn't split.
"...Tae-woong."
Tae-woong's cybernetic body blocked it inches from my face. Staring at the red-hot, smoking blade, I said brightly,
"Don't kill him. Got it?"