Chapter 79: Mage Capture (１)

****

I set down my coffee.

“Aide An. Has Administrator Lee Jihye been released again? Or is she still under investigation? I heard someone was impersonating Ms. Lee.”

Aide An hesitated. The fact that the answer was being deliberated meant something was wrong.

“Ah, Human Resources Department’s investigation concluded it was purely a cyberattack on our systems. Ms. Lee will return to work without issue.”

“Is that so?”

I’ll believe it when I see her tomorrow.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Aide An was a man with a fatherly face. He’d also been someone who’d helped me for a long time. But this man’s loyalty would always point toward the Foundation — never toward me, never toward humanity.

I had no intention of trusting him unconditionally.

That aside, who on earth would try to attack the Foundation’s intranet? Ganymede? Or some other Group of Interest?

****

With a loud crackle, the dimensional probe equipment in the Extended Physics laboratory flickered. In the empty space, yellow lights appeared like fireflies and began tracing a magic circle…

Crackle, crack.

Wires snapped in every direction, sparks flying from the severed cables. Eventually, the damaged core melted and warped the metal around it. From within the smoke, a figure in a black robe emerged.

[Intruder alert. Intruder alert.]

[Initiating lockdow—]

The black figure looked around.

“Fall.”

The surveillance cameras and speakers dropped.

The being in the black robe walked the darkened corridors of the research wing, staff held before it. Beside the robed figure, a shape made of black eyeballs and black tentacles flickered into existence.

The facility’s security force would be coming soon.

Though she had no idea which facility this was.

‘I need to rescue our Hero. I followed the holy sword here, but I don’t know where this is or what this place even does…’

A forbidden sorcery. To find the Hero, Hasti had to borrow the Pitch-Black King’s power and cross even the dimensional wall. She had no idea where this was.

No one could have followed her this far. She’d had to come alone.

‘Who are the ones who imprisoned the Hero?’

Hasti pulled back her hood.

No guards in sight. The Hero was alive somewhere nearby. Hasti was filled with anticipation. It had been a long journey, but she could rescue the Hero!

“Appear, flying polyps.”

Black beings.

The flying polyps that served the Pitch-Black King revealed themselves one by one around Hasti. Bodies made of black mist, with countless mouths, eyes, and triangular feet clumped together.

Monsters shaped like flying slugs.

Monsters with no natural enemy.

“Find the Hero and bring him to me.”

Hasti smiled.

****

Facility 82 was on high alert. A containment breach had occurred in the Extended Physics research wing. The affected floor had been sealed within thirty seconds, but…

Section Chief Choi of the Extended Physics Department looked pale as a dead man. And honestly, he was a man who could drop dead at any moment.

By my hand, that is.

“Section Chief Choi. Are you joking right now?”

“I’m sorry.”

“How does a person pass through your toys and get inside the facility? You said there was no way to bring anything through — what is this?”

With a large-scale containment breach, casualties could reach double digits. If this didn’t get resolved, heads would roll.

Literally.

“I’m sorry. I have no excuse.”

“Just explain the lockdown procedure.”

Section Chief Choi nodded.

“The facility security force has sealed the floor. All doors on the breached level are closed. Guards are standing by outside.”

It was an open secret, but…

The facility security force wasn’t there to fight anomalies. They were there to control facility personnel and carry out necessary tasks.

The guards weren’t equipped or trained to fight anomalies. Going in and fighting would be the task force’s job.

I loaded my weapon.

The Soviet-made laser pistol I’d taken from Lee Seah.

“This is the door to the basement level, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

I hesitated for a moment.

Most of the surveillance cameras were broken, but a few hidden ones still showed the situation inside the floor. Most of the personnel had evacuated.

Flying polyps were sweeping through every corner of the floor. Of course, it probably wouldn’t happen, but… if a humanoid anomaly hostile to the Foundation recovered even one or two of the experimental subjects from the Extended Physics Research Wing…

A major incident happens in an instant.

“…”

“Open the door. I’m going in.”

“Isn’t that too dangerous?”

I shook my head.

“The task force is currently on another operation. Would you like to go in instead, Section Chief?”

Section Chief Choi shook his head. I was the only one who could enter right now. Bringing the security guards along would just be sending them to die.

“All I need to do is turn off the dimensional probe machine, right? I’ll go and turn it off, so when you arrive, guide me over the radio.”

“Understood. Good luck.”

*Clang.* The heavy door shut behind me.

****

Why did I go in? Well. There was no grand reason. I just wanted to see with my own eyes, first, what exactly had escaped.

A flying polyp took notice of me.

Flying polyps are, unfortunately, fairly common beings. They’re a species that dominated the Earth during the Ediacaran period, about 600 million years ago…

They can still be found in the deep sea, underground, or in very deep caves. Physical attacks don’t work on them, and there’s only one way to kill them.

I aimed the laser pistol—

*ZING!*

The laser fired, and the flying polyp let out a horrible shriek. A sound like beating a child to death with a whistle.

As the flying polyp died, eyeballs and teeth rained down as if someone had dumped a bowl of ping-pong balls. I squinted at the gruesome sight. What the hell is that.

And, what exactly had broken in? Flying polyps are too stupid to pull something like this. Someone summoned them.

*Hah.*

Or, I’d like to think they just showed up suddenly like pests. But it didn’t seem that way. Flying polyps began to swarm toward me.

I raised the laser pistol again. Beams took down the flying polyps one by one. Their remains carpeted the floor.

“Hey, is that a person?”

“Director Geum.”

A person in a lab coat stood up.

“Th-thank you.”

“I’ve cleared the path to the door. Run.”

One or two Foundation employees who’d been hiding slipped away, murmuring quiet thanks.

I turned my gaze back toward the center of the facility. Let’s just push forward for now — I want to see what came looking for me.

“The appearance of an adversary!”

I ducked behind cover at the sound of a sharp, ringing voice. The Crystal Clock strapped to my waist ticked loudly.

“What is that?”

[I can’t understand the language at all. It’s not Korean — it seems to be a language forced into comprehension by mixing in telepathy.]

“Agreed.”

[It’s not dangerous, but it does qualify as a cognitohazard. For now, I recommend not listening to it as much as possible.]

Hmm, that makes sense.

I turned the noise cancellation on my tactical headset up to maximum. When I snapped my fingers softly, Popos began to appear around me.

“Check what it is. Jump it when you see an opening.”

The Popos ran off.

“Adversary! Show yourself!”

Did I mention this before?

Humanoid anomalies have a habit of being brutally defeated by people who just carry a gun. Every single time. In a way, it’s only natural.

Humanoid anomalies are usually arrogant. They delude themselves into thinking they’re stronger and more special than other humans. Maybe it’s even true. But still, death is fair to most people.

Superpowers are superpowers, but death can come in any form. Whether it’s gas anesthetic, lead bullets, or a laser beam.

“Impressive, killing the flying polyps. But a mere wretch like you won’t be my match. I am the Tower Master of Pitch Black.”

“Huh?”

“Slayer of the Demon King, the mage of the Hero’s party.”

“…”

Wait, is she a friend of An Yuri’s?

All the strength drained from my body. Poor Returnee. If she hears this news, she might actually kill herself this time. What do I do now…

“There you are.”

An orange magic circle appeared—

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The force devastated the corridor. She must have fired some kind of attack spell—the firepower is absolutely brutal.

I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. I don’t want to kill the Hero’s former comrade, but I also can’t just stand by and watch her run wild in the most dangerous research wing in this facility.

[Just kill her. How else are we supposed to subdue her?]

“You said it.”

I switched my weapon to the pistol. There’s no real way to subdue her, but as long as it’s not a headshot, I can patch her back together with a little stubbornness.

I just need to empty the magazine while avoiding her head. The Foundation’s doctors and the anomalies will stitch her back together and bring her back somehow.

A bitter taste lingered in my mouth.

Once this is over, I should send them both off. Fix the dimensional exploration machine and let them live happily in another world.

For now… First things first—subdue her.

I picked up the bowling ball.

“Wilson. Go break her legs.”