Shunrai's Demise and the Assassin's New Arsenal
The very next day after Kashi Iliya and Amon's party struck their deal with Recetio Corporation, Recetio got to work. There was one fact Amon's party didn't know: Recetio was the natural predator of the Shunrai Group. They dug up a company's fatal weaknesses, poured capital into it, then sued directly. They raked in profits from the short-selling gains as the stock plummeted. This was one of investment firm Recetio's signature tactics. Using it, they toppled companies too big for mid-tier status but too weak for megacorp power, either swallowing them whole or gifting them to allied megacorps. That's how they earned the nickname "Megacorp Gatekeeper." Shunrai, straddling the line between major corporation and megacorp, became Recetio's prey in an instant.
Corporate tech repatriation measures initiated.
To reiterate, the cyberpunk world wasn't lawless. The law was just applied a bit unfairly. It sided with the stronger, more righteous, wealthier Recetio, and Shunrai couldn't mount any real resistance—they were hunted down thoroughly. The tech Shunrai held from the Saddark Dungeon was deemed illegally obtained and fully confiscated. Shunrai begged for help from other companies that had profited from Saddark Dungeon, but none stood by them. Those firms had bought the tech unaware it came from a fake dungeon Shunrai cooked up, so they hadn't seized anything themselves. Worse, siding with Shunrai could drag them down too. So the companies cut all ties—even subcontractors. They completely severed relations with Shunrai. The closest partner even stepped up as lead plaintiff, eager to prove they were innocent bystanders.
"That backstabbing bastard!"
Word spread that a Shunrai executive in charge of external partnerships had launched a suicide bombing at a partner firm in response. Shunrai was hunted swiftly. Stock crash from Recetio's short-selling. Massive lawsuit settlements piling up. All their tech seized amid the chaos, plus investigations into bomb terrorism charges. No escape. Shunrai's end was sealed.
"Haha... rot in hell..."
The vice president let out a dry chuckle as he swallowed a red pill. The next day, the company spokesperson's suicide delayed proceedings briefly, but the judge's ultimatum—forcing the chairman to show up in America within a week or face default judgment—dragged the old man from Japan. The public read resignation in the Shunrai Group chairman's eyes on the news.
*While Shunrai was being not just dismembered but stripped down to fertilizer, Amon was...
"How's that, Sonia?"
"Mm... a bit higher."
"Here?"
"Yeah."
Pat pat. After sparring at seminary, Amon was massaging Sonia's sore shoulders. For the record, she'd taken first place in the matches.
"Better now?"
"Ten more minutes."
"Gladly."
Amon applied more pressure to loosen her muscles. It had been three months since Recetio kicked off the Shunrai dismantling show. Amon's party hadn't strayed far from home in that time. They weren't the idiots from horror flicks who wandered into dungeons or training spots and got assassinated. They always followed the bodyguards Recetio assigned, sticking safely indoors. Outings were limited to grocery runs, family school escorts, or court appearances as witnesses—and even then, with escorts. Sure enough, Shunrai assassins struck on those occasions, but the guards repelled them effortlessly. Aside from that extra spice in daily life, it was peaceful.
In the midst of that peace, Sonia posed a question while receiving Amon's massage.
"Amon. How much longer?"
"About a month."
"Unemployed till then?"
"Pretty much."
According to the Recetio chairman, four months were needed for a safety margin. Crushing Shunrai beyond recovery took just the first month, but as a major corp, the trials dragged on.
"Four months is more than enough to neuter Shunrai's firepower completely."
Four months covered dismantling their private forces; full dissolution or acquisition would add two more, per the chairman. Thanks to that, Amon had gone three months without training and had another to endure.
Sonia asked, sounding worried. "Not frustrated?"
"I'd be lying if I said no."
It sucked, like brakes on his prime growth window. But it wasn't all bad.
"Think of it as gear upgrade and adaptation time for the team..."
Laundering Shunrai's equipment for transplant and adjustment ate up three months easy. Not heartbreaking if viewed as necessary expense. Plus, Amon hadn't lost out entirely.
"Capital's growth fuel too, after all."
In this world, buying power for gear was a growth factor. And just a week ago, Recetio's tech rights payment finally hit, letting him snag gear he'd eyed. Growth of sorts.
"Should arrive this afternoon."
He'd wanted essence, but his target cost way more, so gear first. Shipping from Germany with layers of security took a week. Speak of the devil—Amon's phone chimed. Excited, he jumped up but calmed himself, contacting the guards first. Precautions against disguised assassins posing as delivery. The all-clear came: driver was safe.
Soon, Amon received the package from an auction house courier clad head-to-toe in black gear. (He didn't forget the tip.) Humming cheerfully, he carried the gear box back to his room. Sonia was curious too.
"What gear?"
"Wait and see."
He opened the box, punched the code into the black case, tossed the manual and bubble wrap aside, and pulled out...
"Crossbow and pistol?"
Sonia tilted her head at the odd combo. Amon, like a kid with new toys, buzzed as he inspected them. Checked the pistol chamber, dry-fired the empty crossbow, nodded in satisfaction. Then he grabbed a belt from his room and returned to the living room.
"That belt from Paul?"
"Yeah."
Paul's old party, indebted to Amon, had retired to run a forge-cum-adventurer gear shop. The belt was custom-made just for him. Amon holstered the pistol on one hip, crossbow on the other. Both one-hand size, he looked vaguely like a cowboy with twin pistols. Belt over his underclothes was comical, but Amon grinned happily. He practiced quick-draws repeatedly.
Sonia, watching, asked, "Didn't you use to throw daggers?"
"Yeah. But fighting Shunrai security, I realized I need a gun and crossbow."
Amon favored dagger throws for power and silence. But Shunrai's helmeted goons exposed the flaw: poor for assassinations. Rear stealth kills took too long. Post-battle, he decided on pistol and crossbow.
"Pistol for standard humans, crossbow for thick-skinned types."
He dry-fired the empty crossbow twice—twang!—string releasing. Amon strained to cock it. If he, who could arm-wrestle an orc, struggled, the tension was unimaginable.
"Double-barrel crossbow from the smithy that made your guns. Rumor has it they got a weird entity in their basement. String's plucked from its whiskers."
After cocking with effort, he eyed the pistol.
"Silencer too—from the same place. Made from that entity's guts. Quieter than a needle prick even firing."
Sonia's eyes sparkled at the explanation. Not your average girl, she was gear-obsessed too, keenly interested in Amon's kit. But she favored overwhelming firepower over his subtle assassin style, so she knew it didn't suit her.
Amon nodded, checking bolt and mag like a soldier prepping for war. Seeing him oil daggers and swords from his room, Sonia was sure.
"Another job?"
"Yeah. Not today—one month out. Gotta handle it covertly, so prepping early."
"Me?"
"I'd appreciate backup, just in case..."
"Grabbing my gun."
"Classes?"
"Break soon."
"Thanks."
"That's why I go to school."
She smiled and started gear checks. A month away, but custom gear meant weeks for repairs or ammo. Sitting side-by-side maintaining weapons and chatting was odd, but they didn't care. Sonia checked a sloshing ampoule.
"Ampoule good. Silencer checked. Target scouted?"
"Yeah. Here."
"A... cathedral?"
"Call it a cult HQ."
The Amon Sonia knew wouldn't storm a quiet cult yelling holy war. He was pragmatic. If he were a zealot purging every heretic and blasphemer, Vatican nukes first. This world overflowed with such foes on every street, yet Amon never drew steel rashly. So if he moved...
"Ah. They mess with you?"
"Kinda... but more like they're about to do something bigger."
That sufficed. Sonia wasn't devout like Amon, but seminary and being his lover gave her some faith. Amon didn't act on hunches alone. She trusted his judgment and prepped for battle.
Meanwhile, Amon recalled why the cult HQ. He'd had no plans to raid it. Thousands of "cathedrals" in this world were root-level heresies; smashing them all was impossible. Kashi's brother chat was just a blip. But a recent call with Kashi changed that.
Megacorp chairmen weren't idiots. Ruthlessly rational on money and power. One uttering "revelation" meant...
Something's up.
Something critical that couldn't be ignored.