Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Spy (2)
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"Can you handle this on your own, boss?"
Antonio tried bluffing.
He knew the name of the girl standing before him.
Of course he did. She was Yubyeol-ha.
The future talent evaluated as the greatest threat to the society after Lee Gyeo-ul.
An S-rank Psyker born with the destiny to become Korea's third Special-Class Hunter.
To put it bluntly, his 200 years of experience paled against her 18 years of raw talent.
Talent was just like that.
No matter how many years Antonio spent as a painter over 200 years—even if he died and came back—he could never match Picasso's masterpieces. The gem standing before him had already surpassed his own strength.
Like a small animal puffing up its fur to look bigger, Antonio tried to package himself imposingly.
But it didn't work on Yubyeol-ha.
"I'm thinking about how to cook you this time, so shut up."
"If I use my secret 352nd technique, you might lose your life, boss. I recommend retreating."
"We'll only know that after we fight."
"I can't kill a talent like you, boss. Come back stronger. I'm a man who knows his duty."
"Huh?"
Yubyeol-ha stared at Antonio with cold, disinterested eyes.
She had no intention of letting him go, even if she killed him.
Antonio soon gave up with a sigh.
"No helping it. Guess I'll have to use my 531,253rd weapon and kill you, boss."
Even an earthworm writhes when stepped on.
Antonio had no plans to go down quietly to Yubyeol-ha.
He was staking his 200 years of life to teach the girl the terror of experience firsthand.
Antonio revealed his true form.
Lightning swirled around the boy's body, and massive goat horns sprouted from his temples.
The air shifted in an instant. The boy's bright, sparkling blue eyes vanished, replaced by crimson slit pupils.
Antonio's true identity was that of a Devil.
Devils were beings from legends that lured people with sweet words, leading them to ruin.
Among them, Imps—lesser devils—fed on human souls as their staple food and were often depicted as innocently mischievous children who loved pranks.
Antonio, taking the form of such an Imp from legend, flashed a wicked grin.
"Scared yet? Under the moonlight, I'm exactly 32.5 times stronger. I could crush this city with one hand. Like a Super Saiyan. If you get it, run away right n—...!?"
The moment Antonio opened his mouth, Yubyeol-ha manipulated the light.
By the time he snapped back to reality after his explanation, he beheld 58 Yubyeol-has charging at him.
The illusions she created lacked mass or substance, but they were more than enough to deceive Antonio.
Yubyeol-ha shouted in a cheerful voice.
"You've been yapping nonstop! If you've got the energy to talk, move your body instead of your mouth!"
"Fuck, even villains give you time during their transformation!"
And so the battle between Yubyeol-ha and Antonio began.
The outcome was decided before it even started.
Despite his flashy transformation, Antonio was utterly outmatched by Yubyeol-ha in hand-to-hand combat, Psyker abilities, battle IQ—everything.
"Guh... ugh... hngh!?"
Yubyeol-ha beat Antonio to a pulp, literally.
"W-Wait, that hit my bone—gah!? Ow! Hnngh!?"
He took such a brutal beating that even onlookers would pity him, and Antonio lost the will to fight entirely.
"S-Sorry! I'm sorry! Forgive me!"
After ten minutes of one-sided pummeling, Antonio—now a bloody mess—dropped to his knees and bowed deeply.
Covering the back of his head with his hands, the 180-years-older man begged for his life from the girl before him. It was a pathetic sight.
"P-Please... spare me..."
With her etiquette lesson complete, Yubyeol-ha wiped the sweat from her brow and felt refreshed.
She was an experienced monster hunter who had now bagged five kills.
Though she'd suffered an unexpected defeat against overwhelming numbers once before, this victory was exactly as anticipated for Yubyeol-ha, who had trained meticulously from that defeat.
"Yeah. That's it. That's me."
By utterly demolishing Antonio, Yubyeol-ha restored her self-esteem, which had plummeted to rock bottom.
Having vented all the stress piled up from Baek Do-hyun, she spoke into her radio.
"This is A-2. Red target secured."
Finishing her report, Yubyeol-ha leaned against the alley wall and closed her eyes.
The neon signs of the late-night city felt dazzling tonight.
"Things went according to plan on this end... If we fail, we're done for."
Though he wouldn't hear it, she murmured softly to the one who fit this dark, deep night best.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Academy City has something called the Archive.
The Archive is a repository that records all information about Academy City.
Among its contents are top-secret files not exposed to the public, including information on the Queen that the 21st Century Secret Society is after.
The 21st Century Secret Society is likely moving amid the current chaos in the city, using the noise as cover.
To that end, they released Experimental Awakes to stir up trouble, finally creating an environment where they could operate fully in the shadows.
They're probably rushing toward the Archive's location right now.
There were three locations housing the Archive.
The first was the central server room in Noah Tower, the super-high-rise building symbolic of Academy City.
The second was the Academy City General Committee, where directors gathered to discuss judiciary, legislation, administration, diplomacy, and more.
The last was the server room at Cuvette Psi High School, where I attended—divided into these three places total.
One of them hides the information on the Queen they're seeking.
The Goats and the dosed-up humans would be handled by the Federal Guidance Bureau and Yubyeol-ha.
I trusted them with that side and focused on stopping the 21st Century Secret Society from stealing information.
In the original story, even with most of their manpower deployed, the 21st Century Secret Society failed to breach the General Committee's security.
As the city's highest institution, it had formidable guards, and unmanned security systems shredded the monsters en masse. No need to worry about that spot.
Besides, there was no Queen data there to begin with.
Excluding the General Committee left Cuvette and Noah Tower, but I'd sent the perfect person to Cuvette.
Therefore, my destination was Noah Tower in District 8.
Noah Tower.
660 meters tall. Academy City's landmark, towering 26 meters higher than Tokyo Tower, which was the world's tallest five years ago.
A transmission tower built amid the city's many high-rises to ensure smooth radio reception range.
Its top floor featured an observation deck and restaurant for tourists. With a panoramic view of Academy City from the summit deck, it was a popular spot for students and outsiders alike—a famous dating course, too.
Of course, I wasn't heading to Noah Tower for leisure.
The intermediate gallery at 450 meters up.
The Archive was hidden there in the server room, disguised as regular server computers.
Seeing a guard in uniform collapsed at the tower entrance, it looked like they were heading there too.
Confirming the guard's breathing had stopped, my fist clenched involuntarily.
I wasn't scared.
Maybe because I'd witnessed Kim Si-hu's death.
Or perhaps my head was spinning from tension.
My mind felt ice-cold instead. I think the trembling in my fist right now was closer to rage.
These monsters treating human lives like disposable paper—it disgusted me.
Just as humans instinctively loathe cockroaches or mosquitoes, that's how I saw the monster that killed the guard.
Maybe my trait had evolved.
Vampires grow more ferocious the richer the blood.
I'd been an ordinary civilian who'd never properly fought before, but right now, I felt I could kill them easily.
My head was glacial, but my heart burned like a volcano.
Arriving at the intermediate gallery via elevator, two monsters greeted me.
"Hey... someone's here."
"What're you talking about, bro? Who'd come up here?"
These two were hardly human-looking.
One had a human upper body but goat legs below; the other had a goat upper body but human legs.
Both were about twice my size, massive builds.
I wondered how they'd even fit in the elevator.
To the curious monster brothers, I crooked my finger beckoningly.
"What the hell? This guy's not scared even after seeing our faces, bro?"
I inferred from their talk. The one with shaky goat legs was the little brother; the one grinning nastily with the goat head was the big brother.
"Looks like he knows about monsters. Sorry, kid, but you got the wrong address."
The goat-head gripped a man-sized club in one hand, chuckling creepily.
"You saw that punk we wrecked just ahead, right? Gonna make you just like him."
Good. Decision made.
I'll smash that noisy goat-head first.
I didn't reply, just kicked off and charged straight at them.