Chapter 13 - You're a Bug, and I'm an Operator (3)
“Rock, isn't that guy over there Lukaken Junior?”
Fumito whispered in a barely audible voice. Rock, her gaze fixed on a small gap between the containers, gave a short nod.
Lukaken Junior. The president of the Lukaken pharmaceutical company.
Rock's head spun at the sudden appearance of such a big shot. But he wasn't the main reason for her confusion.
The sleazy face, standing with his weight on one leg and grinning foolishly. The man whose body was covered more by pictures than by bare skin. The sight of him speaking familiarly to Lukaken Junior.
'The boss of the Triad, Haiyen.'
Until three years ago, the Triad was just another weak, run-of-the-mill gang you could find in any back alley. But from a certain day, they began to absorb a large number of local gangs of similar size. The ans of unification was, of course, violence.
And so, with their boss Haiyen at the lead, they transford from a group of thugs who extorted money from small business owners into one of the top ten gangs in Lake City. It was an unprecedented rate of growth, so even the regular mbers of the Resistance kept a close watch on them. That was how she had familiarized herself with Haiyen's face beforehand.
But nothing had been revealed as to how Haiyen had beco so strong overnight. There were only rampant, bizarre rumors. Because all those who had engaged in ard conflict with the Triad had ended up stuffed in barrels and sunk sowhere in the docks.
As if determined not to leave any witnesses to his abilities, Haiyen had literally annihilated his enemy forces. Even considering that the rumors were exaggerated, Haiyen's evil deeds were particularly notorious.
It was a rough underworld where knives ca out before three words were exchanged. Even there, Haiyen was branded as soone to be avoided. Because of that, his business dealings were blocked, and stories often circulated within the Resistance that, for their size, the Triad's inco was nothing special.
Rock furrowed her brow, lost in thought. From here on, it was less about analyzing the phenonon and more in the realm of causal reasoning.
'We were never notified that District 7 was going to be locked down. But the fact that Lukaken Junior is here. And there's no way that huge mob could have entered the factory without authorization. Sothing's strange...'
Our inside agent didn't notice anything? Considering his position, that's impossible. Putting the pieces together, it ans our agent intentionally didn't report it.
Which ans...
“Fuck.”
The curse montarily scattered Rock's thoughts. It was Lee Taebaek who had sworn. He was staring at the rendezvous point, his hand clutching the umbrella trembling violently.
Flinch.
Rock's shoulders tensed up with an eerie feeling. Because Lee Taebaek, who had maintained a completely indifferent expression since yesterday, was now shaking with rage. The wrinkles that filled his handso, almost pretty face made him look far scarier than when Kang Hyunseong got angry. A reversal effect, so to speak.
What in the world did he see to make him react like that?
Rock's gaze slid in the sa direction, and at the sa ti, her big, round eyes widened. She had seen it, too.
“......!”
The scene where Lukaken Junior had a subordinate take a sealed pack out of a carrier. The scene where he sliced the side open with a box cutter, and translucent granules poured out. And the scene where he tossed a bag of it to Haiyen as if throwing it away.
Smuggling deals were common. It wasn't sothing to be surprised about. However, the item being traded was truly shocking. Because it was an item that the gacorps themselves had declared forbidden for sale.
“Those sons of bitches… How dare they...”
Lee Taebaek savagely ground his molars. The demonic fire ignited in his black pupils showed no sign of extinguishing.
'Those bastards are dealing poison.'
Lake City.
'Poison that will sicken the world I created.'
The root cause of it all is right over there.
......
From the very beginning stages of Recons' developnt, there was sothing Lee Taebaek had argued for until the veins in his neck bulged. His assertion was to not include drug elents in the ga at all.
Even though he knew that drugs were an inseparable elent of a dystopian world, that's where Lee Taebaek's rebellious spirit kicked in. Why were there no near-future dystopias without drugs? Did that dirty stuff really have to be included?
'I just don't like it.'
Given the social sentint of blaming innocent gas whenever an incident occurred, he thought it would be better without drugs. He would adamantly refuse the stigma of promoting a social evil, even if he couldn't spread a positive influence.
And so, in his early-to-mid twenties, having just joined the company, Lee Taebaek presumptuously opposed in-ga drugs with all his might. To the point where he would even co to work wearing a red protest headband—.
— ...We never planned on putting them in in the first place.
'Huh?'
That's what Team Leader Seo had said with a baffled expression. It was an embarrassing mory. Thanks to that, he learned the aningful lesson that excessive passion could easily turn into childish recklessness.
— But you never know. Since our ga boasts imnse freedom, it's possible such elents could appear in Lake City, regardless of the developers' intentions.
'You think... that's possible?'
— You said it yourself before, Assistant Manager Lee. That Recons isn't just a ga, but another world where all the characters act and interact organically.
'I said sothing that cringey?'
— The bravado of youth. In any case, just as you said, Assistant Manager Lee, since it is another world, it wouldn't be strange for new elents to appear. We can just fix it when that happens.
It was just as Team Leader Seo had predicted. It was almost annoying how she was right about everything she said. Was she a god?
It must have been around the fourth year of developnt. It was a busy ti when the higher-ups were about to announce the launch date, and on the other hand, the developers were squashing bugs that popped up at all hours.
And at that ti, the bug that was giving Lee Taebaek the biggest headache was, in fact, a drug-related bug.
While Lee Taebaek was leisurely exploring Lake City with a test character, NPCs with bloodshot eyes started appearing one by one, and eventually, they ca out in droves. At first, even Lee Taebaek was bewildered.
A drug elent, which had not a single crumb of data let alone any code, was running rampant? He couldn't understand it, but in any case, he did what he had to do.
He rolled up his sleeves to exterminate the bug, as if possessed by an employee of Se-X-co.
Upon detailed inspection—it was a drug called Berserk, and its effect was to lower the brain's cognitive functions in exchange for amplifying physical ability and aggression.
It was a type of doping agent that montarily squeezed out power beyond one's potential. It raised one's level by nearly 10, so you could say its effect was incredible.
Withdrawal symptoms and aftereffects were also a certainty. And they were of all kinds, so many that it was aningless to list them. But if he had to pick one, it would be zombification.
'Zombification'.
Does that need a separate explanation? It's exactly as you imagine, so I won't elaborate.
Anyway.
To get straight to the point, the ga's release was delayed by two years because of Berserk. It took a full two years just to catch that bug. Oh, the youth of my twenties, wasted on a bug...
It was around that ti that a curse slipped out of his mouth unconsciously.
“Fuck.”
Fucking Berserk. Fucking drug-dealing bastards. And the junkies who buy the shitty drugs from the fucking drug dealers and drool with their tongues hanging out like actual dogs.
'Just let catch you.'
The root of the drug dealers. He had vowed, even in his sleep, that he would trace them to their origin and sentence them to data erasure.
'Because I'm going to fuck every last one of them up.'
And yet.
He had finally found them. The ones who had stolen two years of his life. The very culprits who had defiled the Lake City that he had created and approved of!
“Those sons of bitches… How dare they...”
“......”
Looking at Lee Taebaek, Rock swallowed hard as if gulping down gravel.
This guy is scary, I wanna go ho.
The words tickled her throat, but thanks to her mask, she sohow managed to hold them in.
Swoosh.
A light wind blew. Lee Taebaek, trailing darkness behind him, turned his head toward Rock. He t her eyes with a chilling gaze. Terrified, Rock almost hiccuped.
“Got any smoke bombs.”
He suddenly threw out the question.
“Ah! I do! Just a sec.”
Fumito, jumping at the chance to reply, rummaged through his cello case for a mont. He lined up five or six smoke bombs.
“Is this enough?”
“Seems a little short, but it should be fine.”
Tipping his chin in a nod, Lee Taebaek pushed them in front of the squatting Rock's feet. Then he spoke.
“Throw one of those over there every minute. If you get tired of throwing, you can get closer and roll them.”
“......?”
Rock was flustered. Lee Taebaek intended to charge into the enemy camp without a second thought. Even if she wanted to communicate, she couldn't speak for personal reasons.
First, she has to contact Kang Hyunseong and Yoo Da-hee! But it seed Lee Taebaek had no intention of waiting. In fact, that was exactly what he was thinking.
'I'll exterminate the bugs and grab the cash while I'm at it.'
The contents of the carrier the tattooed thugs had brought caught his eye. It was filled with wads of bills. Not cybermoney. Not promissory notes either. Pure cash!
Saliva slid down his throat.
Fucking them up is one thing, but let's grab what's grab-able, Lee Taebaek.
The thought suddenly occurred to him that perhaps the reason he was itching for a fight was the bundle of cash.
I have to take that. And I have to take it secretly. I need to minimize the number of witnesses, and to do that, I'll have to finish the job before Kang Hyunseong and Yoo Da-hee arrive.
Thump, thump.
The red granules raced through every corner of his blood vessels. Blood rushed to his brain, making his forehead hot. Reason hid behind a blackout curtain, and wild instinct reared its head stiffly.
Grasping their fighting strength took only an instant. The gaps in their formation and the blind spots in their lines of sight were clearly drawn in his mind.
It was the effect of the 'Assassin's Swordsmanship (Beginner)' he had unconsciously acquired. Even without being aware of it himself, his combat instincts had overtaken his reason. Around the ti his muscles were sufficiently ward up.
“Can you cut a bullet with a sword?”
He asked, looking at Fumito.
“A shotgun would be tough. Submachine guns? To so extent. Even if I get hit, whatever. Eating beef helps heal up fast.”
“Then you cut them down.”
Replying, Lee Taebaek pressed the button to open the umbrella. Right after a clicking sound, the umbrella spread open as if stretching, scattering the dust from its fabric. In his other hand, a sword had appeared.
Rock and Fumito blinked. Lee Taebaek lifted the round camouflage cover slightly. Only his lower face was vaguely visible. With lips curved in a faint smile, he spoke.
“Because I'll be blocking with this.”
......
“Hey- President Lukaken. The stuff I got last ti was way better than the batch before. It was really fresh!”
Haiyen said, smiling dangerously.
“Thanks to that, I swallowed up a whole neighboring gang in one day last week. Gosh, how can I ever thank you.”
“What's there to be thankful for? I'm selling it for a price. Thanks to you guys, I've secured the funds to donate to ten thousand underprivileged children. It's a win-win, wouldn't you say?”
A faint smile touched Lukaken Junior's lips. His plump cheeks twitched.
“Kekeke, donating to underprivileged children, my ass. Anyway, our President is just not honest. The donations are just a pretext; it's already a widespread rumor that you're spending that money to wipe the asses of city governnt officials with it.”
“There's no ti for small talk. So, what about the offer I made before? Have you thought about it?”
“Ah, that.”
Haiyen glanced behind him and groaned. His gang mbers were visible. So had unfocused eyes, others were drooling. In any case, every last one of them was ssed up. They were each suffering from their own side effects. The only solution was another dose of Berserk.
Haiyen continued speaking, looking at his subordinates.
“It's not a bad offer. In addition to laundering and securing Lukaken's cash... we beco your private rcenaries, Lukaken Junior. And you said you'd provide us with Berserk three tis a month, I believe.”
“Honestly, it's such an exceptional offer that it sounds absurd even coming from . The cost to produce 1kg of Berserk is likely more than the cash you'd be laundering.”
“That's why I'm even more curious. I'm wondering why the great President Lukaken would go this far for re thugs like us. It's just too suspicious, isn't it?”
“What's there to be suspicious about. I need a sword. To climb higher, one needs a bigger sword.”
“Just how high does our President want to fly? If we accept this offer, it feels like our fates will be tied together, so let's hear it!”
Haiyen stuck his hand inside his belt.
“The gacorps.”
But at that one word, he had no choice but to pull his hand back out. His sallow eyes went from bewildered to horrified.
“...Are you sane?”
“Did you think I was distributing this drug without any thought-.”
It was in that instant.
Rattle, rattle.
All eyes turned to the source of the sound. Two cans had rolled like acorns to a spot midway between the two n. It was for a brief, dazed mont.
Tssssssssssssssss-
Pshhh-shhh-shhh-
Two smoke bombs spewed smoke, spinning as if interlocked. The fog thickened in an instant, but its range wasn't wide. A radius of just over 30 ters.
“What... the hell i—......!”
Lukaken Junior coughed. Everything was gray. His eyes watered and the air stung.
Ta-dadat!
SWOOOSH-!
Along with the sound of running, a point of light glinted within the smoke. The dense particles montarily opened into a circle. The point of light that had punched a hole through the smoke stretched out long.
The sound of tearing flesh echoed. A blade, having pierced and split through fat and collarbone in succession, jutted out from behind his shoulder.
“Kuaaaargh...!”
Lukaken shuddered like a broken toy. Taebaek pushed against the bloated stomach with his foot to retrieve the blade.
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