Chapter 140
Chapter 140
Then Please Enjoy Yourselves to Your Heart’s Content
“Part of Baekdu?”
If one spoke of Baekdu, it was a megacorp at the cutting edge of robot manufacturing. It would not be an exaggeration to say that eighty percent of the androids distributed on the market came from their hands.
As it was closely tied to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, its capabilities were close to first-rate. It would not be an overstatement to say that the very foundation supporting the universal basic income system had been entrusted to them—
“Not bad. No, that’s quite impressive. But why bring that up?”
“Because I’m a member of that Baekdu.”
“A brat like you being among them...”
No, come to think of it, he had heard that Baek Seok-do, the former Chairman, had found one of his illegitimate sons. He also knew a private party had been held. Since he had no desire to become a mere accessory, he had sent Kurtnik in his place.
“Don’t tell me...”
“That’s right. I’m that illegitimate son. At this point, wouldn’t you say I meet the minimum requirements?”
Why would a member of the Royal Family become a fixer when he lacked for nothing?
Rouge wanted to voice his thoughts, but he had no alternative.
“Very well. I’ll recommend you.”
He was a moth trapped in a spider’s web.
---
The registration process was so simple that it almost felt wrong. Not long after Rouge filled out the required form and sent a message requesting approval, permission was granted.
There was no interview disguised as an ideological examination. No casual conversation intended to build rapport. None of that took place.
It was a complete free pass.
It was a declaration that they acknowledged his rights as a member of society’s ruling class and, at the same time, the minimum courtesy extended to a newcomer.
On the other hand, there was also a sly intention hidden beneath it. They did not want to expose their true faces and create unnecessary opportunities. After all, the Gathering was meant to operate in the shadows.
In any case, once someone attended even a single meeting, they would commit an irreversible original sin. From that perspective, it was a wise decision. Even if someone harbored ulterior motives, they would become an accomplice the moment they crossed that line.
There would be no excuses.
‘For me, it’s beneficial.’
There was no need to make contact beforehand and risk startling the snake by beating the grass.
The invitation he had been waiting for arrived several Solweeks later. When he went to the designated location, an android chauffeur was there to greet him. The method of entry was not much different from that of the Black Market.
Care had been taken to ensure the routes of attendees never overlapped, and separate entrances were used so that no one could determine where the others were headed.
No—
‘Did they outright benchmark it?’
For several minutes, Ga-on gazed at the scenery stretching endlessly outside while lost in thought. The vehicle carrying him left the city and entered the outskirts. After weaving through winding hill roads, it eventually arrived at a dead end.
Just as he thought they had reached their destination, the hillside split apart, revealing a small tunnel. How long had they driven through that deep abyss that not even the bright lights could conceal?
Gradually, the outline of the underground facility entered his view.
A vast plot of land.
And standing alone upon it was a single mansion.
Its exterior walls, constructed entirely from concrete and steel without a trace of decoration, looked more like a fortress at first glance.
No, there was a high chance that was precisely its purpose. The passages were narrow, while the center was remarkably spacious.
It went without saying that it had been designed to withstand a siege in the event of an emergency. Ga-on quietly attempted to record the place, but—
‘It doesn’t work?’
More precisely, the resulting video footage was riddled with static. Under such conditions, it would be difficult even to distinguish objects. It seemed a facility utilizing the principles of a Noise Worm had been installed inside.
Did they want to control information that badly?
He had never expected the problem to be solved so easily. Thus, Ga-on followed the android butler into the room assigned to him.
After covering his face with a long white cloth that concealed his upper body, attaching a voice modulation device, and stepping back outside, he began to sense unfamiliar presences appearing one by one.
As expected, when he walked down the corridor, he saw people gathering in small groups.
Spotting a familiar figure among them, Ga-on immediately approached him.
“Mr. Scrooge.”
Perhaps he had never imagined someone would recognize him, because Rouge nearly jumped out of his skin. For a moment, it looked as though he had practically leapt into the air.
After turning his head slightly and confirming the other person's build, Rouge let out a sigh of relief. It was someone he recognized.
“You startled me. How in the world did you identify me?”
The distinctive operating sounds of his powered exoskeleton armor, practically bragging about itself, were enough to irritate the ears. On top of that, he was carrying a cane. They were such striking characteristics that—
“It would’ve been harder not to.”
“Is that so? Someone as observant as you probably wouldn’t have had any trouble.”
In reality, he had identified him without even getting close, but there seemed little reason to mention that.
More importantly—
“The security is a mess. There are so many vulnerabilities that I don’t even know where to begin criticizing it.”
Rouge lacked the relevant knowledge to agree with Ga-on’s assessment. Even so, there was one thing he knew for certain.
“That’s probably because, if an unfortunate incident occurs, the recommender bears full responsibility. I suppose it’s their subtle way of encouraging people to recommend only those unlikely to cause trouble.”
That was also the reason membership approvals happened so quickly.
“Then that makes the two of us bound by fate.”
Bound by fate, my foot.
Laugh all you want now. The moment we get inside, I’ll report you and have your head taken in one stroke.
Rouge had been waiting for this day in order to exact revenge on Ga-on.
But—
As if he had somehow guessed his inner thoughts, Ga-on deliberately issued a warning.
“If you’re thinking of betraying me after coming all this way, put that idea aside for now.”
“What are you talking about? Haven’t I answered every question you asked with complete honesty? Me, betray you...”
“I understand your loyalty, so put it off for now. Waiting a little longer won’t hurt you anyway, will it?”
“......”
“It’ll be worth the wait. That much I can guarantee.”
Leaving behind Rouge, who could not utter a single response as though struck by lightning, Ga-on walked forward and entered the hall.
A chandelier hanging from a ceiling so high it seemed capable of piercing the heavens scattered clusters of light throughout the room, and a round table as massive as a giant ancient tree had numbers engraved upon it.
The number assigned to Ga-on was 27.
There were exactly twenty-seven seats arranged around the table, making it obvious which one belonged to him.
Without hesitation, Ga-on took a seat at the very end, the lowest position available, and observed the faces of those entering.
It was then that Rouge, who had followed him in, sat beside him.
“So you’re Number 26.”
“I’m your sponsor. Naturally, my number comes before yours.”
“Ah, so that’s how it works.”
As they exchanged a few words—
“A Number 27 was added?”
“Did Number 26 invite him? He must have chosen carefully.”
“He seems relatively young. Was there really someone who met the requirements?”
The gathering stirred.
It was neither outright hostility nor friendliness. Rather, there was a lukewarm distance that could almost be felt against the skin.
Right, it had been the same when he first came here.
Standing slightly apart from the group and observing the situation, Rouge let out a bitter smile. They acted special, but in the end, the Gathering was merely another small society. Competition and disputes remained ever-present.
It was then that a strange sense of unease ran down his spine.
He had certainly recommended Ga-on to the Gathering after being forced by his threats.
But unlike before, the number of seats had increased.
What did that mean?
As the hairs on his arms stood on end, Rouge could no longer restrain himself and pressed Ga-on.
“You said you took care of Hudson.”
“I did. That’s the reason this seat was created in the first place. I even showed you the video evidence.”
“Then why—”
“Is Seat Number 25 not empty?”
Someone was even sitting there right now.
If what Ga-on said was true, that should have been impossible.
“If it’s empty, you just fill it.”
“You’re saying they put in a stand-in pretending to be Hudson?”
“Hey. Don’t act innocent after coming all this way.”
“What do you mean...?”
“You enjoyed pleasures beyond anyone’s reach thanks to the benefits of ever-advancing technology. You’ve already stepped one foot into the realm of taboos. Did you really think you could escape?”
His tone sounded almost reproachful.
There was a cold severity in those words that made it difficult to challenge them lightly.
Normally, Rouge would have argued back immediately, but even he vaguely realized there was some truth to it.
The familiar appearance of Shin Yeong sitting in Seat 25 overlapped in his mind.
Yes.
That was not something that could be imitated through mere acting.
Unless it was the person himself.
“......A clone human?”
“A wise answer. Age hasn’t been wasted on you after all. If you’d tried dodging the truth one more time, I was planning to carve it into the back of your head.”
“But the memories? Without the original, you can’t even make a copy, can you?”
A human’s personality and memories were not things that could be manipulated so easily.
One could take measures closer to deletion or erasure, but creating them entirely from scratch was impossible.
Ga-on agreed.
Hadn’t Brigadier General Edwick been the same?
But—
“Do they need that?”
“What...?”
“They went through all the trouble of turning him into a puppet. There’s no way they’d give it a self. Well, having nothing at all would be inconvenient, so they probably scraped together all the traces he left online and recreated something similar.”
The foundation of artificial intelligence.
A product of deep learning.
That explanation was plausible.
But that meant—
“That isn’t even human anymore.”
“In the end, it’s survival of the fittest. There was simply someone flying above those who could only run.”
Meeting Rouge’s gaze, Ga-on spoke quietly.
“That means all of you are just replaceable parts. Who knows? Maybe even you, sitting here right now, have already been cloned.”
“No, I mean, this...”
That was why he could not betray them.
Now that he knew the lifeline he had been clinging to was already rotten, Rouge had no other options left.
As Ga-on looked around while savoring the sight of Rouge’s bewildered expression—
“Number 1 is entering.”
The appointed time had arrived.
---
Megacorp Trian.
Market capitalization: 9,591 trillion Pia.
A giant spanning food production, dining, distribution, delivery services, and genetic engineering.
Its sole heir, Gabriel Trian.
He was the leader of the Gathering and the original Number 1.
Though his face was concealed beneath a white cloth, even that could not hide his noble status.
Every member of the Gathering expressed reverence toward him.
The scene resembled worshippers welcoming a cult leader.
However, Ga-on was the exception.
He had joined the Gathering to save himself the trouble of hunting down and eliminating every member one by one.
His objective was fundamentally different from everyone else’s.
Naturally, Number 1, Gabriel, was unaware of those intentions.
Using a voice so refreshing that even the voice modulator could not conceal it, he opened the meeting.
“I imagine everyone was surprised by the sudden change of venue.”
Apparently it was a topic someone had been eager to ask about, because the moment he finished speaking, a voice immediately rang out.
“Don’t tell me someone picked up our trail?”
“That might actually have been more entertaining. It would have provided an opportunity to test how well we could unite in the face of adversity.”
Looking around the room, Gabriel let out a soft laugh as if reassuring everyone.
“Unfortunately, it was merely a natural disaster. I heard the ground beneath our previous gathering place collapsed. Thanks to that, the mansion we spent so much effort building sank into the earth.”
“So it was nothing serious. Still, that’s a shame. I liked that place.”
“The facilities here produce meat of equally excellent quality, so I hope that serves as some consolation.”
That was the end of the conversation intended to lighten the atmosphere.
When Gabriel tapped an empty wine glass with a spoon, servants with their faces concealed beneath white cloths entered while pushing trolleys.
“Then please enjoy yourselves to your heart’s content.”