Chapter 99: When Whales Fight, Shrimp Get Crushed (6)

In his prime—no, even now, it was the same.

The Earth was swept up in an MBTI craze.

Of course, Lee Taebaek was no man to fall for such shallow marketing ploys. Even when the male employees chattered about MBTI types, he stayed out of the conversation.

If they have time for that, they should focus on Laykuns development instead, he’d grumble inwardly, headset with the apple logo snug over his ears. It wasn’t petty. He was just serious about his work.

Even Lee Taebaek, somewhat detached from human society, eventually got swept up in the trend. And as usual, it started with Team Leader Seo.

Looking back now, it was pretty suspicious.

Team Leader Seo had taken an unusual interest in him. It went beyond just work diligence; she even approached him on a personal level.

Not romantically, of course. More like a social tutor. There was too vast a gap in their status anyway, and she was the ultimate social butterfly.

Her beauty could turn even Lee Taebaek—convinced that personality mattered more than looks—into a squid. Anyone around her ended up that way.

Game companies were mostly sausage fests. His own had a new female hire who joined aiming to be the queen bee, but she quit and vanished after seeing Team Leader Seo’s face.

Anyway.

Team Leader Seo, who looked like she could slap an actor and get away with it. She’d pressed in close enough for him to feel her breath and asked point-blank:

“Assistant Manager Lee, what’s MBTI?”

“I believe human personality can’t be neatly divided into sixteen types. It’s a nasty trend that fosters preconceptions and biases about people. Therefore…”

“Aha. INTP!”

“…Pardon?”

“People like you in that category talk just like that. Alright, carry on.”

After she left, he searched on Kwikuwiki. And there it was—written in excruciating detail, like someone had spied on his soul!

Lee Taebaek prided himself on hiding his inner self well, but he’d been arrogant. Shocked, he took the online test.

The results matched Team Leader Seo’s words perfectly.

Impulsive, loves daydreaming, and…

It all fit anyway.

Lee Taebaek lived without plans, indulged in pointless (to others) fantasies, and gamed endlessly at home.

Maybe that’s why Laykuns carried his strong personal color—the hallmark of an INTP.

And though he didn’t know it ‘yet,’ the reason this universe shifted endlessly around him in unpredictable ways was surely the same.

Planless and full of delusions.

That trait was fully reflected in ‘Lee Taebaek of the City.’ Just tilted a bit more extreme than his Earth self.

“What’s your plan?”

The Saintess asked.

“No plan. Things happen on their own, and whatever sparks in the process of dealing with them—that’s the plan.”

“Hee hee hee. So chaotic. I love it.”

She licked her lips and smiled sweetly.

“Good. Too grand a view blinds you to minor details like plans. The Lilith Order will handle those. You just rampage as you please.”

“W-wait a sec—!”

The Saintess’s gaze slid away. Kang Hyeonseong flinched. She was clearly blind, yet he felt her heavy stare.

“Something wrong?”

“N-no. I just don’t get it… You’re saying we’re gathering all the Ten Wings in one place to make them fight? Like with Gdok?”

The Saintess nodded faintly, replying in a chillier tone than with Lee Taebaek.

“You say you don’t get it, but you do. Yes, exactly.”

“Pardon?”

“Hm. Might even turn into a four-way brawl. Chaos grows with more players, after all.”

“H-ha ha…”

Kang Hyeonseong’s pupils lost color for a moment. Info overload short-circuiting his brain.

Tang Jihye was the same, tilting her head back to stare at the ceiling.

“I believe.”

The Saintess smiled at Lee Taebaek.

“That your lack of plan is the plan.”

That instant, Lee Taebaek’s device buzzed.

Kang Hyeonseong and Tang Jihye jolted like water balloons had burst by their ears. Once spooked by a gourd snail, now startled by a pot lid. They jumped at the slightest thing.

“……”

In the commotion, Lee Taebaek stared at his device, then quietly stood.

“Where?!”

“Got a plan now.”

“What? Who messaged you?!”

“That kid from earlier.”

Lee Taebaek waved the device.

“She got kidnapped.”

“……”

“……?”

“Quit freezing. Up. Let’s go.”

Lee Taebaek bolted from the room. Kang Hyeonseong and Tang Jihye peeled off chairs a beat late and chased after.

“May chaos fill you all.”

The Saintess smiled at their backs.

“Eeeek. I wanted to go too.”

Jasbi pouted, propping her chin on the bar. She wagged her head side to side.

“I’m not a kid. Why does Creator always treat me like one?!”

Lee Taebaek had left her at Silver Nose Bar, taking only the two battalion commanders. She’d whined to tag along, but he’d ignored her flat-out.

He figured the Lilith Order was too debauched. Image aside, it screamed cult on the surface.

Dragging a kid there would flag content ratings. As a game dev, he respected those.

“Still.”

Jasbi giggled.

It felt good—like being treated human.

Before stealing her from Siesta, she was just a machine. Input reverse calculations from her owner, output accordingly.

Now it’s different.

Jasbi clenched then opened her fist. Nail marks dented her squishy palm.

Coolant—for heat dissipation—flowed beneath her skin like blood.

A wish formed. Overreaching maybe, but she wanted it.

What’s the divide between human and ape?

Apes prioritize status quo and survival. Humans break it, chase more.

The ideal lodged in her steel heart…

…I want to be human.

Why this seditious thought? No logical deduction yielded answers.

Not quantifiable in numbers.

One certainty, though.

Trailing Creator would make it happen. A hazy conviction, source unknown.

Screeech.

Hinge squeal scattered her thoughts. Hope lit Jasbi’s face.

“Crea…tor… not…”

The entrant was a total stranger. Utterly ordinary.

Constant exposure to Lee Taebaek had jacked her standards sky-high.

“Who are you?”

“Is Hwaryeon here, by chance?”

The man asked politely.

Jasbi nearly blurted, then bit her lip.

Transcendent AI. She unconsciously cataloged scene data every instant.

Hwaryeon.

Arena manager Chae Hakgyun called Goeun that. Fellow sect alumni.

Which meant…

“No one by that name here.”

“No way… she wouldn’t… be absent.”

His staccato speech pegged his origins.

Origins alone? Jasbi ID’d him fully.

Plain features, anorexic wrists peeking from cuffs.

Spider-thin fingers brushing lips—sinister as hell.

“Sharp. Knew who I am at first sight.”

“……”

“Playing dumb’s too late, kiddo. My eyes are damn good.”

He tapped his tear mole with an index finger.

“But off somehow. Bio-signals fainter than human norms. Should be more panicked.”

“……”

“Just to check, kiddo.”

His sclera blackened instantly. Like ink squeezed into his eyes.

He unleashed qi in a burst. Wood-splitting roar echoed. His aura alone shook the whole Silver Nose Bar.

He spoke.

“You’re not human, are you?”

Shwooooosh.

Salty tang heavy with brine, crashing waves.

Jasbi dropped her gaze. Legs dangled like reed tails in the air. Sea breeze teased her peach-fuzz shins.

She watched waves lap vines at her feet. Sand and surf churned below—while she floated at least a hundred meters up.

“Well now. Came for Hwaryeon, but scored an unexpected catch.”

Hae, Illusion Master.

Left Luminary.

“I’ll gift you the Isolated Sea I made to trap her.”

Grinning wickedly, he crooked his fingers down.

Jasbi’s view plunged. A newborn whirlpool gaped like hell’s maw and swallowed her whole.

Lee Taebaek gunned the Red Hare.

Vroooooom.

Left at the Order’s garage for tune-up; they’d added a sidecar. Kang Hyeonseong and Tang Jihye rode along.

First-timers clung white-knuckled to helmets, eyes squeezed shut against the speed.

Couldn’t even speak—wind chilled throats, dried mouths.

“Where’d the kid get snatched? By who?”

Kang Hyeonseong leaned forward, barely yelling over the roar.

“Deep sea.”

“Deep sea? Like, the ocean?”

“Or the Deep Sea tier from Laykuns of the Reed.”

Context clashed so hard, words failed.

“No way. We left Silver Nose Bar less than an hour ago—ocean? Misheard? How’d she message mid-kidnap?!”

“Android.”

“Ah.”

Lee Taebaek added flatly:

“Not real ocean. Probably a unique barrier.”

“Unique barrier… no way…?!”

“Quit jumping. Kang Hyeonseong, you look way different from the start. Too damn timid.”

“You think I look unflappable?! A unique barrier means!!”

“Enough.”

Lee Taebaek cut sharp.

“Gonna drop you and Tang Jihye somewhere. Beggars there. Tell ’em ‘Imugi.’ They’ll handle it.”

“Where’s your plot thread? Worry about the kid first?”

“No need.”

“……?”

“……?”

The commanders exchanged blank stares.

Lee Taebaek smirked.

“Right now, her captor’s regretting it.”

Diving an AI?

He’d pay dearly by now.