Neo-Joseon Cyberpunk

Chapter 103: A New Route

One pitch-black incense stick about as thick as a pencil.

The transparent vinyl storing it was thoroughly sealed so that not even a single odor molecule could escape.

“This Mukhyang incense is made by processing a painting called ‘Muknanch’o.’”

In a distant mythic age, when humanity could not even straighten its backs amid the gaps between mighty monsters.

The name of a mysterious orchid that a certain sage was said to have planted to help humanity back then.

‘Muknanch’o…….’

Muknanch’o was not a plant that bloomed from a seed, but a unique relic that grew out of a painting drawn with an ink brush.

‘So it’s incense made by processing that.’

Since even the material itself was extraordinary, its effects would surely be special as well.

“They say that if you burn Mukhyang incense, even monsters a thousand li away will all come swarming in.”

Measuring a thousand li from Seoul, it roughly reached as far as the isolated Ten-Thousand-Li Great Wall in China.

‘And something like this exists in Seoul?’

Diesel guessed why Mr. John had shown him the Mukhyang incense.

It seemed he wanted him to get rid of Azula.

‘If I read the context…….’

Terror the northern side was trying to cause by using monsters.

And a mythic-age relic that lured such monsters.

Finally, even a smuggler who brought prohibited goods into Seoul.

As Diesel fell briefly into thought, John asked with a slightly more confident face.

“So? This job’s pretty good, right?”

“Tell me in more detail.”

“Alright.”

Mr. John carefully put the box containing the Mukhyang incense back and spoke.

“First, I want you to understand my intentions. I genuinely want to get away from that woman. No matter how common drugs have become—so common you can buy them from vending machines—what Azula handles are the worst of the worst. If you get caught, it’s not just this life that’s over; you’d have to do hard labor even in the next life. Especially the drugs made from the ‘Laughing Flower’ she stole from the Seocheon Flower Garden—they’re insanely dangerous. Just how dangerous, you ask…….”

“Stop. Get to the point.”

Seeing the conversation about to go off on a tangent, Diesel cut him off.

“Ahem…… Anyway, the point is that even the stuff Azula used to bring into Seoul was already extremely dangerous. But lately, she’s been throwing even bigger Hail Marys.”

Something more dangerous than flowers managed by an absolute being of another realm.

Something that lured the horrific existence known as ‘monsters.’

“So she’s trying to bring that Mukhyang incense into Seoul.”

“Yes.”

Mr. John nodded and continued with a small shiver.

“If this fact gets out anywhere……. You know what’ll happen, right?”

“At the very least, the Central Investigation Agency would step in directly.”

“Exactly. That’s it.”

The government, one of the three massive powers ruling the Korean Peninsula.

What was called their largest blade, the ‘Central Investigation Agency.’

No matter how much the government’s power had weakened in this world, it wasn’t completely incompetent.

This could even be used as a pretext to expand their influence.

“Azula hasn’t shown her face for the past few weeks. Then all of a sudden, she sent me this incense sample. And do you know how she explained it to me? She said it was incense for bath therapy. Ha! Like she’s planning to get a massage from a monster or something. I’ve been so compliant up until now—does she think I’m an idiot? This crosses the line, and then some.”

“Then why didn’t you refuse?”

At Diesel’s words, Mr. John snorted.

“Refuse? You really don’t know what kind of woman Azula is, do you?”

“…….”

“If you become useless to that cold-blooded woman, there’s only one ending. You either get dealt with, or you get dealt with. And since you’ve already caught me smuggling, I’m as good as useless now.”

Had he gambled on a way to deal with Azula in that short span of time?

No wonder he had spilled information so readily.

Mr. John seemed like a man with extremely quick situational judgment.

‘Well, thanks to that, I got some pretty decent information.’

As Diesel’s expression eased slightly, John smiled and offered a handshake.

“Like I said, I wanted to wash my hands of this long ago.”

A rough hand that hardly seemed to belong to an Oriental Medicine Doctor.

Perhaps he still had a shred of conscience—he hadn’t replaced it with cyberware, leaving it as bare flesh.

Oriental Medicine Doctors kept their hands as pure flesh to sense the ‘qi’ flowing through the body.

‘He’s not someone I can fully trust, but…….’

At least he seemed worth using.

Diesel took his hand.

“What should I call you?”

“Diesel.”

“Good. Dr. Diesel. I look forward to working with you.”

[Hmm…… so that’s how it is.]

A shabby alleyway somewhere in Seoul Sector 1.

Diesel was communicating with Little Sister beneath a utility pole.

[You found the most important thing. I was having trouble since I’d searched through all the smuggling traces and couldn’t find anything.]

A fact that even Little Sister hadn’t known.

It seemed the smuggling line through Mr. John was a route Azula managed with extreme care.

Either way, it was clear the opposing side was no easy opponent.

[You really did something right from the start. We might be able to reduce the damage more than expected.]

As Sis lightly buttered him up, Diesel brushed it off vaguely and changed the subject.

[Anyway, before we really get moving, I want to hear your opinion.]

Given the nature of this job, Diesel couldn’t act alone.

Because right now, Sis was trying to create a ‘justification’ for going to war with the northern side.

‘To do that, we’d need monsters to rampage around Seoul to an appropriate extent.’

For the sake of justification, they couldn’t completely block the Mukhyang incense coming into Seoul.

It was a task that required delicacy in many ways.

Sis seemed well aware of that and spoke carefully.

[There are basically two ways. Handle it quietly, or break through noisily. Which do you like?]

[Hmm…….]

A Ghostcatcher would naturally prefer the former, but the real question was what cost would be paid for that.

No matter how quietly it was handled, if the effort and resources invested became absurdly high, then breaking through noisily would be the better choice.

[I’ll need to hear the details.]

[If we go quietly, we use that ‘Mr. John’ as bait to track the Mukhyang incense routes, then secretly deal with Azula alone.]

It sounded simple, but the substance was anything but.

[That sounds pretty tricky.]

[Yeah. First off, just tracking down a woman like Azula won’t be easy. She’s paranoically sensitive about her own safety. If she senses even the slightest hint that she’s being tracked, she’ll hide herself even deeper.]

If that were the case, this operation would end in total failure.

[What about going the noisy route?]

[That one’s a bit simpler. You ignore all the tracking stuff and just force your way through—meet her and deal with her on the spot.]

[……Is that really okay?]

[There’s no reason it wouldn’t be. The Azula route is probably just one of the many plans the northern side has. Just because that one goes awry doesn’t mean they’ll give up on monster luring. They’re also bound right now by a contract with the Joseon imperial family.]

‘A forceful breakthrough…….’

Judging by difficulty alone, the noisy option didn’t look any easier than the quiet one.

If it were handled quietly, there would at least be the option of an ‘ambush,’ but if they went noisy, there would be almost no chance for that.

[So what’ll you do?]

One of two choices.

Diesel muttered to himself as he thought, then made a decision.

‘There’s no need to choose right now, is there?’

Either way, both paths ultimately led to the same line—eliminating Azula.

They could proceed quietly first, watch how things developed, and change plans if needed.

[I’ll try tracking first.]

[So you’ll give it a shot, and if it goes sideways, you’ll change the plan? Yeah. Not bad.]

There would be the burden of having to prepare for both scenarios, but that was something that could be handled another way.

Namely…….

[Then I can help out a bit too.]

Relying on Little Sister’s assistance.

Right now, Diesel’s objectives overlapped significantly with Sis’s.

In the end, they shared the same grand premise: preparing for a ‘war’ with the northern side.

[What about the whereabouts of the other northern Fixers?]

Diesel asked about the two northern Fixers he had to eliminate.

[The Orc bastard is still killing monsters at the border, and the other one’s still being tracked.]

[But do you even have the leeway to worry about all that?]

[I’ll make time somehow. Still, don’t expect too much enthusiasm.]

Even when told not to expect much, Sis was still Sis.

‘At this rate, isn’t this going to end way too easily?’

The thought crossed Diesel’s mind, but he immediately shook his head to dispel it.

‘What am I thinking. I can’t let my guard down.’

The opponents were Fixers and Ghostcatchers who operated in the harsh and dangerous north.

And ones skilled enough that even Little Sister labeled them ‘high-ranking.’

[Then I’ll contact you again.]

Having steeled himself, Diesel cut the closed communication.

Then he stepped deeper into the dark alley.

The Safe House of the Aguiggun Clan.

A reception room that was now starting to look properly furnished.

All the clan members were gathered around a round table.

Having just finished their respective assigned tasks, everyone looked a bit tired.

“Mukhyang incense, huh…….”

Kali muttered while chewing on some jerky.

“I’ve heard of it. A relic kept as a last resort within the Baekdu Mountain radius.”

“That is correct. Normally it would be used after being diluted to one-fiftieth strength, but judging from the Clan Leader’s description, this seems to be the original.”

Leaning against the wall and listening, Tae-oh Barosi nodded as he spoke.

“Hoooom…… Herja doesn’t really know what incense is, yooou know…….”

“Well then, this is what incense is.”

As Herja tilted her head, Kang Da-hee beside her brought up a hologram and said.

“Ooooh…….”

“Originally, it gives off a distinctive scent through smoke, but this incense’s smell is said to lure monsters.”

“M-monsters……!”

While the two were talking, Betty asked her older brother.

“What happens if you burn the undiluted incense?”

“What do you think happens? The effect spreads out to a thousand li, so it’d reach from Seoul all the way to the Chinese border.”

“What……? The Chinese border……? Isn’t that way too exaggerated?”

“It’s probably accurate. One li is just under four hundred meters, so a thousand li would reach beyond the Amnok River.”

When Kang Da-hee calculated it for her, Betty made an expression of disbelief.

“My god…… They’re planning to burn something like that in Seoul…….”

“If things go according to the northern side’s intentions, how many monsters do you think would appear?”

At Kang Da-hee’s question, Tae-oh Barosi let out a low “hmm” before answering.

“When I was wandering around near the border for a while, there were a great many lesser monsters. Roughly speaking, there would be over a hundred of the lowest-grade Grade-9 monsters, several dozen around Grade 6 to Grade 5, and as for the most problematic Grade-4 monster, I’d expect about one to show up.”

“All that just from burning one incense stick?”

“Little sister, of course not. For that kind of scale to gather, one wouldn’t be enough. You’d need to burn at least thirty of the Mukhyang incense the Clan Leader mentioned.”

“I…… I don’t know if it’s right to stop this or just leave it be. Just how many civilians would die?”

At Betty’s murmur, Kali lightly patted her shoulder.

“If we’re going to provide justification for starting a war, there has to be some level of impact.”

“……You seem unfazed, Ms. Kali. The damage will be enormous.”

“That’s why we’re moving—to minimize it, right?”

Diesel wasn’t the only one who had received an assignment from Madam Isabel.

Everyone was preparing in their own positions for the monster invasion that was to come.

“If you have time to be anxious, chant one more spell instead.”

“I know more spells than you do, Oppa.”

“Anyway, Mr. Diesel. Why did you call us together today? It doesn’t seem like it’s just to tell us about this incense.”

Kang Da-hee asked with a curious look.

At that, Diesel—who had remained silent the entire time—quietly opened his mouth.

“There’s something I need you all to do.”

Everyone answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“What is it? Just say the word.”

“If Mr. Diesel needs help, we should help.”

“Herja’s body feels all tingly toooo……! Ah, was it itchy instead……?”

“You’re obviously covering the fee, right?”

“If it’s a suitably loud job, that’d be nice.”

As all eyes turned to Diesel.

The Clan Leader of the Aguiggun Clan made his first official statement.

“Our business item has been decided.”

“Business?”

At Betty’s question, Diesel nodded, and Kang Da-hee spoke up.

“Is this about the ‘stable source of income’ you mentioned last time?”

“Yes.”

“That’s great. It’d be a shame if a Ghostcatcher clan only ever ran operations.”

“Business…… means making money, right……?”

When Herja asked with sparkling eyes, Kali ruffled her hair and replied.

“You’ve got it right. Little Valkyrie.”

“Hehe…… You taught me, Kali unni……!”

“So then, what exactly is this item?”

A business to keep the cash-strapped Aguiggun Clan afloat.

Another source of income that could be obtained from Diesel’s current solo operation.

This might, in some ways, be an extremely reckless move.

But Diesel had, above all else, the reassuring insurance known as the ‘Ji-Cheon Man-Geum Rite.’

An immense ritual that altered the target’s fate.

With that thought in mind.

Clan Leader Diesel spoke.

“We’re going to run a smuggling operation.”