Chapter 106 : Qualification Authentication
Chapter 106: Qualification Authentication
Seoul Sector 1-8.
A teahouse somewhere, overlooking a cluster of tranquil hanok at a glance.
“This way, please.”
When I entered the room following the attendant’s guidance, I saw two women silently drinking tea beneath dim lighting.
“You’ve arrived, Mr. Diesel.”
Streams of water flowed down from the wall, forming a pond along the dark granite floor.
I strode across the waterway and sat down in the empty seat at the table.
A luxurious leather chair gently supported my body.
“It’s been a while, Madam.”
“Indeed. Did you enjoy your trip to Hong Kong?”
“Well, in its own way.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Isabel smiled, then elegantly set down the teacup in her hand.
“You said you had a job for me.”
“Yes. How much have you heard so far?”
“I only know it’s a solo job.”
At my words, Sis, who had been looking out the window, spoke without even turning her head.
“I deliberately didn’t say the rest. I thought it’d be better for you to hear it directly.”
“I see.”
A solo job, even though it was supposedly meant to prove the Aguiggun Clan’s capabilities.
Just what kind of scheme was this?
“You must be curious. Why I’m entrusting this job only to you, Mr. Diesel.”
Isabel’s gaze pierced into me like an awl.
As if she were boring a hole through my brow and reading my thoughts.
I didn’t avoid that stare and met it head-on as I spoke.
“Madam, I know what you’re thinking.”
“……?”
The moment I heard from Sis that it was a solo job, several assumptions had surfaced in my mind.
‘Right now, the Underground Great Hall is in a situation where it needs the power of the Aguiggun Clan.’
The important question was ‘why.’
Why would the mistress of the Underground Great Hall invest an enormous amount of Qubit into a newly formed clan that hadn’t even been verified yet?
The answer I arrived at was far too simple.
‘Because Isabel doesn’t actually need the power of the Aguiggun Clan.’
To be precise, the clan itself wasn’t what mattered to her.
There was only one thing the Madam considered important right now.
‘Me.’
Only Diesel, the Ghostcatcher.
Then once again, the key question was ‘why.’
Having reached my conclusion, I bluntly voiced my thoughts.
“Because I’m a ‘Seed,’ right?”
“…….”
At those words, a brief silence fell.
The Madam smiled as if intrigued.
And Little Sister slightly turned her head from the window and looked straight at me.
The one who broke the flowing silence was me.
“Madam, you must’ve known already. That I’m a Seed.”
Madam Isabel.
The mistress of the Underground Great Hall and a Fixer known as the Dark Oni.
She was a figure who exerted influence over Seoul and the Korean Peninsula, and even across East Asia and the entire world.
Someone of that caliber had likely noticed it quite a long time ago.
‘I was already suspicious when she suddenly gifted me that expensive motorcycle.’
The winged tiger worth several hundred million, Bear-03.
No matter how promising a prospect I was, no one just handed out a fully optioned, high-performance vehicle like that.
‘She might even know that I’m Lee Hamin’s younger brother…….’
I had hidden my identity as best I could, but there was no such thing as a perfect secret in this world.
“Seed.”
After maintaining her silence, the Madam carefully opened her mouth.
“A term referring to those who possess extremely special awakened abilities.”
“…….”
“And it is also a power that the rulers who dominate this world covet with burning desire.”
“Does that group of rulers include the Madam of the Underground Great Hall as well?”
At my blunt question, the Madam smiled as she replied.
“Of course.”
Not hiding her true intentions.
An answer given exactly as it was.
“I, too, am aiming for you, Mr. Diesel.”
It seemed like an approach she had chosen precisely because she knew what kind of person Diesel was.
And that method of approach worked fairly well on me.
‘This is way better than tiptoeing around and trying to pull tricks.’
As I muttered that inwardly, the Madam continued.
“I said it was solo, but that doesn’t mean you must handle the job entirely alone. If you deem it necessary, Mr. Diesel, you’re free to form a team.”
So she was testing my connections as well.
It seemed the Madam intended to examine everything about me through this opportunity.
“I told you last time, didn’t I? That the northern faction is planning to carry out a terror attack in Seoul.”
“You did.”
“There really isn’t much time left until that day. And this job is connected to it.”
A terror attack involving the release of Monsters to eliminate Fixer River.
At that crucial information, I listened intently.
“The target of this job is this person.”
When she waved her hand through the air, a hologram appeared above the table.
The image of a woman who looked like a snake.
“This woman is…….”
It was a face I already knew.
She was one of the three northern Fixers Sis had previously shown me, saying they needed to be eliminated.
The Madam displayed information beside the hologram as she spoke.
“A Fixer active in Pyongyang, ‘Azula.’ I believe she’s someone you’re familiar with as well, Mr. Diesel.”
“That’s right.”
“But this woman isn’t just any Fixer.”
When I showed a curious expression, Sis, who was sitting beside her, explained in her stead.
“Azula is a Fixer who also works as a Ghostcatcher.”
“A Fixer who takes on jobs directly as well?”
“Right. In the north, that kind of dual role isn’t rare. If she had operated as a Ghostcatcher in Seoul, she would’ve secured a room at Underground Great Hall VIP level with ease. Her publicly known position is Gunner, but in truth, she’s a Transformation-type Specter.”
“Hm…….”
A Transformation-type Specter.
A Specter wasn’t a position that stepped into direct combat, but a support role that flexibly shaped situations from the rear.
That was why I could understand Sis’s intention when she added ‘publicly known position.’
For a Specter specializing in infiltration, having another identity to serve as a cover was always important.
‘If she’s Transformation-type, then she’s a disguise specialist.’
“Azula was someone we’d been paying close attention to on our side. But a while ago, she was last spotted near Kaesong, and then suddenly her whereabouts became unknown. You know what it means when a Specter hides herself, right?”
“So she’s gone into hiding somewhere.”
“Yeah. It means she’s started moving.”
When Sis finished her explanation, the Madam looked at me and spoke.
“Our guess is that she’s in the middle of smuggling. Most likely related to the upcoming terror attack.”
“Smuggling?”
At Isabel’s words, Sis added an explanation.
“For a long time, Azula’s smuggling routes have been a major source of funds for the northern faction.”
“The beginning of the terror will unfold from Azula’s hands. So this will be an extremely important—and very difficult—job.”
I’d heard all the information I needed, more or less.
But there was still one most important question left.
So I looked at the two women in front of me and asked bluntly.
“What about the target’s status—alive or dead?”
Madam Isabel looked at me and answered.
“You are to eliminate her.”
“Hoo…….”
The Aguiggun Clan’s Safe House.
Among them, the ‘Clan Leader Room’ that had only been completed as of yesterday.
I awoke from my personal Electrosphere access chair.
The word ‘personal’ didn’t mean anything grand.
It simply meant that this chair allowed only me to connect to the Electrosphere.
After all, it was an ordinary chair with no cyberdeck installed at all.
‘This is harder than I expected…….’
I muttered as I took out a Cooling Patch and stuck it to the back of my neck.
On my lap, the Electrosphere Spirit Ar was stretching with a low growling sound.
The job Madam Isabel had given me.
To find and eliminate the Fixer and Ghostcatcher called ‘Azula.’
I’d anticipated it, but this job was already high difficulty from the very start.
‘How am I supposed to find a Specter who’s deliberately hidden herself…….’
I could tell why the Madam had entrusted me with this job.
Because this task tested every quality a Ghostcatcher needed to possess.
‘From information gathering to tracking, infiltration, and combat. It’s a full comprehensive set.’
There couldn’t be a better job than this to prove a Ghostcatcher’s abilities.
I’d already been searching for traces of Azula for two days with that in mind.
And all I’d managed to obtain so far was one extremely fragmentary message.
【—/— ‘To Mr. John’】
The result of thoroughly combing the area near the location data I’d obtained from Little Sister.
‘The missing text at the front looks like a date, but I have no idea who Mr. John is.’
How many people in this world went by the name John?
Feeling momentarily at a loss, I cracked open a canned drink and gulped it down.
Then I handed Jjiru to Ar and asked,
“Did you find anything?”
〈Hmm……. It’s not easy.〉
“What am I supposed to do if even you say that?”
At my reproach, Ar chomped down on my hand and snorted.
〈It’s because you banned the use of Flying Squirrels. Do you know how useful they are for information searches?〉
“No. For now, the use of Flying Squirrels in the Electrosphere is prohibited.”
The Flying Squirrels—new Electrosphere lifeforms born from Ar’s abilities.
They were undoubtedly extremely useful, but at their core they carried the nature of Electrosphere Wraiths, which made them far too risky.
If they were discovered by another hacker roaming the Electrosphere in search of wraiths, there was no telling what might happen.
“In the physical world, information control is at least manageable, but that doesn’t work in the Electrosphere.”
〈Then perhaps, Master.〉
“Why?”
〈If I ‘train’ the Flying Squirrels, would you grant permission to use them?〉
“Train them?”
〈I can improve their behavioral patterns so that the situations you’re worried about won’t arise.〉
I didn’t know whether training wraiths was even possible, but it was rare for Ar to boast with such confidence.
〈Please grant permission once that’s done. Leaving perfectly fine Flying Squirrels idle like this is a waste.〉
“Hmm……. Fine, for now.”
On that point, I agreed as well.
There were far too many things in this world you couldn’t obtain if you only pursued safety.
‘Anyway, that’s for later.’
When I finished organizing my thoughts and stood up, Ar asked,
〈What will you do now?〉
“What else?”
I gestured to the Electrosphere Spirit and tucked her into my arms, then headed out of the Clan Leader Room.
“I’ll have to run around myself.”
A large park somewhere in Seoul Sector 1.
Since it was early evening, it was packed with all kinds of people.
Elderly people playing hologram board games, people eating street copy food, canine Beastmen walking their dogs, children flying through the sky on skyboards, couples on dates with romance-purpose androids…….
I blended naturally into the colorful crowd.
Secretly connecting to the Electrosphere, I began hacking indiscriminately into nearby devices to search for the keyword ‘John.’
【Do you keep nodding off during work hours, ‘John’-ding out? Just take one pill! Three days’ worth of fatigue—gone in one shot……!】
【A special policy for those who can’t overcome drug depen‘dence’! We’ll bestow genuine Celestial Realm miracles for only 300,000 Qubit!】
【Are you having ‘existen’tial doubts’? Then it’s time to get a full-body implant checkup right now! Limited-time special sale for first inspections……!】
Most of the information I found was useless marketing flyers.
Corporations were endlessly spewing images and text into the Electrosphere, like dumping industrial waste into a river.
‘At this pace, it’ll take months.’
As I filtered and filtered through the data—
Suddenly, Ar in my arms alerted me to something.
〈Master. Could you take a look at this?〉
〈Did you find something?〉
〈Yes.〉
What the Electrosphere Spirit handed me was a single short line of text.
And it was partially corrupted.
【—— Pain Specialist ———. Lowest price —— guaranteed. Oriental medicine doctor ‘Mr. John’…….】
〈The data code matches perfectly with what you found.〉
〈Hmm…….〉
If Ar said so, there was no chance it was wrong.
Still, the word attached before the name felt very unfamiliar.
‘An Oriental medicine doctor named John.’
But I soon corrected my thinking.
This was a world where nationality hardly meant anything.
Just looking at the people walking around this street, skin colors—and even species—were incredibly diverse.
Whether the Oriental medicine doctor was named John, Abdullah, or Yamamoto, it wouldn’t be strange.
〈What about the location data?〉
〈It was lost, but I can restore it. It’ll take about two minutes.〉
〈Good.〉
I stood up and mounted the parked motorcycle.
〈You’re planning to go there yourself, right?〉
〈Of course.〉
〈Understood. Then please wait a moment.〉
Along with the cry emitted by Bear-03, a piece of location data appeared before my eyes.
‘There are still oriental medicine clinics around.’
As modern medicine advanced by leaps and bounds, alternative medicines—aside from that—had almost faded away.
And now that miracles from other worlds were healing people as well, there was even less room for them.
‘Well, not everyone looks for the most efficient treatment.’
With that thought, I pulled the accelerator.
Then Ar spoke cautiously.
〈Master.〉
〈What?〉
〈I know the optimal route. If you restore my driving authorization, then……〉
〈No. You’re already three strikes out. Do you know how big the fine is for another traffic violation?〉
Recently, Ar’s personality visibly changed whenever she took the handlebars.
Especially when she encountered even a slightly ill-mannered driver on the road, she would immediately turn vicious.
〈Honestly, you should let the last one slide! That guy hurt our Rang-i!〉
〈Even so, unloading a machine gun right away isn’t exactly okay.〉
〈……I’ll really drive carefully this time.〉
〈I said no.〉
〈Huh? Please.〉
Ar peeked up at me from my arms.
Seeing that expression, I let out a small sigh and said,
〈I’ll be watching you.〉
〈Yes! This time I’ll refrain from using weapons!〉
And so, for the first time in a long while, Ar’s steel-fueled dash began.