Neo-Joseon Cyberpunk

Chapter 97: Safe House (1)

-That man of prophecy will appear.

My little older sister’s voice lingered.

The whisper of an unavoidable fate.

-The man who will save us all.

‘…….’

The man in the prophecy.

The man Lydia had foretold was undoubtedly Diesel.

‘I vaguely knew it already, but…….’

An absurd level of spirit affinity.

Outstanding talent toward all surreal phenomena.

And lastly, Lee Hamin’s swordsmanship, known as the ‘Forgotten Technique.’

Diesel was exactly the figure from the prophecy my sister had described.

‘Even if it’s become certain, there’s nothing I can do right now.’

There was nothing a mere mortal could do to interfere with a transcendent force like prophecy.

More importantly, there was something I needed to focus on right now.

‘First, I need to concentrate on the war.’

A conflict unfolding in the underworld of the Korean Peninsula.

There was an enormous amount to prepare in order to brace for that struggle.

‘And we’ve started to get a grasp on the northern movements.’

What mattered most right now was ‘information.’

Information about the monster those northern bastards were trying to unleash on Seoul.

“Whew…….”

A white floor where pristine silence had settled.

Sis, finally stepping into her own space, briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“So, what is it you want to say?”

At Diesel’s question, Sis slowly opened her eyes.

A look of curiosity was visible on the man’s face.

“It’s about what the Aguiggun Clan needs to do.”

“What we need to do?”

“Yeah.”

“I’d appreciate it if you explained it in more detail.”

At Diesel’s question, Little Sister answered seriously.

“From now on, we’re going to fully back your clan.”

“…….”

“But for that to happen, you need to ‘prove’ yourselves first.”

Seoul Sector 19-2A, a place once called ‘Yeongdeungpo.’

A neighborhood that had now become Seoul’s only industrial complex.

Between the narrow alleyways, numerous workshops running on androids stood in rows.

The acrid exhaust pouring out from them lay over the streets like a pale carpet.

‘Is this it.’

A place you could only reach after navigating maze-like paths for quite some time.

Diesel arrived at a dilapidated abandoned factory.

‘Hmm…….’

From now on, this place would be used as the Aguiggun Clan’s safe house.

Stepping into the vacant lot in front of the abandoned factory, a massive steel structure remained, heavily rusted and reduced to its bare frame.

‘It’s got quite the atmosphere.’

An abandoned factory straight out of an apocalypse movie poster.

There wasn’t a single intact part, but that was exactly what gave it a vintage feel.

‘We’re not using the surface anyway.’

The safe house Diesel envisioned was located underground.

As he moved closer to the concealed entrance hidden beside the skeletal building, Betty Barosi, who had been lingering nearby, greeted him.

“Diesel!”

“What is it. Why are you out here?”

“Huh? Oh, just. I thought you might not find the entrance.”

“…….”

This was a site Diesel had personally chosen.

He knew it better than anyone, having gone back and forth dozens of times via virtual road view back when he was in Hong Kong.

Whether she knew that or not, Betty tucked her blue hair behind her ear and continued.

“Follow me. I’ll guide you.”

There was really no need for that.

The words rose to the tip of his tongue, but seeing Betty’s beaming smile, he couldn’t bring himself to say them.

“Watch the stairs there! They broke while bringing in the cyberdeck. Watch your head too! The ceiling near the entrance caved in a bit. There’s rebar sticking out near the railing, so be careful of that too!”

As they passed through the stairs and corridors, Betty called out each dangerous spot one by one.

But her warnings were always a bit late, making them largely meaningless.

Soon enough, they arrived at a filthy room where a broken fluorescent light flickered.

“Ta-da! This is our command center.”

As Betty and Diesel stepped inside, Kang Da-hee, who had been connected to the cyberdeck, pulled out the jack and turned her chair around.

“……You’re here?”

“Were you working?”

Seeing her slightly tired expression, Diesel asked.

Instead of Kang Da-hee, Betty answered cautiously.

“Da-hee unni is a bit busy right now.”

At that, Diesel felt something was off.

‘Unni?’

He had never seen Betty call Kang Da-hee that affectionately.

Had the two grown closer while he was away in Hong Kong?

That curiosity was immediately resolved by Kang Da-hee’s next words.

“Yeah. I’ve been really busy because of someone.”

“Hehe…….”

“What happened?”

“Oh, n-nothing! Diesel, you don’t need to know!”

“……?”

As Diesel narrowed his eyes and stared at Betty, she gave an awkward smile and darted her eyes around.

Then, with a small sigh, Kang Da-hee revealed the truth.

“There was an incident last night.”

“An incident?”

Aside from Betty letting out her breath mid-job and Herja’s shadow being exposed, forcing them to spend money on information control, what else could there have been?

“What kind?”

“Well…….”

“……Unni. I’ll say it.”

Betty Barosi’s face, which had been smiling brightly just moments ago, changed.

Serious, with a trace of sadness.

“There was a minor scuffle yesterday.”

“That was a minor scuffle?”

“Uh…… that counts as minor…… right?”

Kang Da-hee sighed again and shook her head.

“Fine……! Honestly, it wasn’t minor. Cars got wrecked and buildings collapsed.”

The fact that a Ghostcatcher had fought someone wasn’t something worth hiding to that extent.

Of course, there were jobs that didn’t require physical force, but in the backstreets, violence was almost an absolute means of resolution.

If so, the important part probably wasn’t the fight itself.

Having reached that conclusion, Diesel asked.

“Who did you fight?”

“…….”

When Betty hesitated, unable to say it, Kang Da-hee spoke instead.

“Tae-oh.”

“……?”

At the familiar name, Diesel slightly furrowed his brow.

‘Tae-oh…….’

A melee mage who used lightning-type magic, and one of the very few men from a reclusive magic tower who actively operated outside.

“That swordsman from the Brain Dragon Magic Tower?”

“That’s right, but that’s not the important part. That man is…….”

Before Kang Da-hee could finish, Betty suddenly cut in and spoke for her.

“He’s…… my real older brother.”

* * *

“Right. So your older brother, ‘Tae-oh Barosi,’ came looking for you because he was trying to take you back to the Brain Dragon Magic Tower.”

“Yeah.”

“And when you said you didn’t want to go, they suddenly picked a fight?”

“……Yeah.”

“Betty, you need to explain the situation properly.”

“That is proper. What more explanation do you need?”

Kang Da-hee, who had gotten into a small argument with Betty, shook her head and spoke.

“Strictly speaking, Tae-oh Barosi didn’t come to see us because of Betty.”

“Then?”

“That man wanted to join our clan.”

“What?”

At the completely unexpected answer, Diesel’s eyes widened.

“Why would a Brain Dragon Magic Tower mage want to join a Ghostcatcher clan?”

“Exactly! That’s all just an excuse! My brother is just trying to drag me back to the magic tower!”

“From what I saw, it didn’t look like he had any intention of doing that.”

“That’s because you don’t know that dragon-headed bastard!”

“Anyway, Diesel-nim should see it for himself and decide.”

“See it myself?”

“He said he’s coming again today.”

“Diesel! You absolutely can’t accept him! Okay?”

“Hm…….”

A swordsman of the Brain Dragon Magic Tower.

Diesel, whose interest had been slightly piqued, asked.

“When did he say he’s coming?”

“I told you not to be interested!”

“This evening.”

“Oppa Tae-oh’s personality is seriously messed up, you know? You won’t be able to handle him!”

“The location?”

“Here. The safe house.”

“No! Isn’t it weird to begin with that a magic tower mage is roaming around outside?”

“Betty.”

“Huh?”

“You’re the same.”

“Th-that’s true, but…….”

At Diesel’s words, her dragon tail drooped limply.

“……Are you really going to let him join?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Right now, the Aguiggun Clan wasn’t particularly trying to recruit members.

From the start, what Diesel wanted was a small, elite clan.

That said, he had no intention of stubbornly sticking to just this lineup either.

“I’ll decide after meeting him in person.”

“…….”

At Diesel’s firm tone, Betty fidgeted anxiously near her collarbone.

“Don’t worry. If he’s strange, I’ll refuse him even if you tell me to accept him.”

“Okay…….”

“That aside.”

Having roughly wrapped up the matter, Diesel brought up what he had originally intended to talk about.

“We need to start preparing soon.”

“…….”

“I mean preparations for the war I mentioned before.”

At those words, a brief silence fell.

“War…….”

“So it really is going to happen…….”

“Yeah.”

Diesel shared the information he had received from Little Sister with the members.

“Something will probably happen soon.”

“You mean an incident using that monster, right?”

“Yeah. We haven’t gotten details like the exact method or location yet.”

“Then what kind of preparation do we need to make?”

Every war came with gains and losses.

And the ones who gained and lost the most were those with the qualifications and positions to do so.

Diesel recalled the conversation he had had with Sis before coming here.

-From now on, the Underground Great Hall will actively back your Aguiggun Clan. But for that, there’s one prerequisite.

This backstreet had always run on a single logic.

An absolute logic no one could refute.

That was—

“Proving our strength.”

As long as you had ‘strength,’ no one would interfere.

Conversely, it was a ruthless place that didn’t even offer chances to those without strength.

“Proving our strength…….”

“What do we need to do?”

At Diesel’s words, Betty gave a small nod, while Kang Da-hee asked in return.

“The Madam will be giving us a job soon.”

And not an ordinary job.

A task that even high-ranking Ghostcatchers would find difficult to pull off.

“We have to succeed at it.”

“…….”

Could they really do it?

Judging by experience alone, it was absurd.

They were Ghostcatchers who hadn’t even been active for a month yet, let alone a year.

“So until then, all of you train individually, thoroughly.”

“Alright.”

Betty clenched her fist tightly, steeling her resolve.

“Understood.”

Kang Da-hee nodded as well, wearing a similar expression.

The training hall of the Aguiggun Clan’s safe house.

It was the first location to be completed in this shabby facility.

Diesel was looking around the well-constructed space.

‘Not bad.’

From a weather simulation room where one could experience all kinds of extreme environments, to a live combat field where dummy robots poured out endlessly.

In addition, various types of rooms Diesel had envisioned were all completed properly.

‘As expected, Kang Da-hee really does her job cleanly.’

Despite the short amount of time, she had handled everything this perfectly.

That had been possible thanks to the loan funds provided by the Underground Great Hall, but above all, Kang Da-hee’s role in directing the construction had been crucial.

‘Once things settle down a bit, I should give her a bonus or something.’

There was a reason Diesel had built such facilities despite already having a training space called the Matrix, even going so far as to borrow an enormous sum.

It was to test something that could never be implemented through Electrosphere data alone.

‘Arc Blade.’

Diesel pulled out a unique weapon shaped like a sword hilt from his pocket.

Although it wasn’t in perfect condition, he had discovered through his battle with Edwin Silver that it could be used in real combat.

‘There’s a mountain of things to test, but…….’

First, he drew up mana and refined it into pure radiance-type mana.

Then, as he injected the completed energy into the Arc Blade—

Pshhhhhk……!

A blade of brilliant, five-colored radiance burst forth.

‘This is the most annoying part.’

Diesel extended the sword emitting a powerful beam of light forward.

Then he lightly tossed it, as if throwing a projectile weapon.

‘Soul Command.’

As he issued the command in his mind, the sword traced a trajectory exactly as its master intended.

However, the moment it moved beyond a certain distance from Diesel, the mana-formed blade flicked out and vanished.

Even though he had infused it with enough mana to last several minutes.

He couldn’t tell whether it was a problem with the weapon itself, or with the way it was being handled.

‘Anyway, that’s not the important part right now.’

A unique weapon said to house a ‘weak’ ego.

But in Diesel’s view, that so-called ego was anything but weak.

‘The more I use the sword, the stronger that ego seems to get.’

To confirm this suspicion more clearly, Diesel focused his mind and controlled the Arc Blade.

How much time had passed like that?

A change began to appear in the weapon.

‘……?’

He had clearly commanded it to make a full rotation in the air, but the Arc Blade didn’t move in front of his eyes.

Just as he wondered if he had treated it too roughly and broken it—

〈What is this.〉

Suddenly, the weapon spoke to him.

〈You’re not Lee Hamin, are you?〉