106 – Suddenly, the ninjas appeared! #3
Mechanical squirrel.
It burst out with a pop and cried.
—Kree. Lur. Lng!
It was a hard, mechanical cry.
In response to that mechanical squirrel, Kkungkkungi fluffed up his fur.
—Kreeee…!
The two squirrels faced each other.
I thought the situation was not good.
If Kkungkkungi was that wary, then this mechanical squirrel was undoubtedly a very threatening and powerful being.
The mechanic, Gi Seung-jae, spoke.
“Cute, isn’t it? But you definitely shouldn’t underestimate it. It’s made of mana chrome and is mana-friendly. It’s an automatic machine using A-rank equipment materials.”
That meant it was very sturdy.
And when infused with mana, it would start up like the weapons of Awakened individuals.
This method was quite similar to how I enhanced Kkungkkungi the squirrel with mana to make him fight.
“Haildo. I learned this from you. But my mechanical squirrel will be stronger and more ruthless than your Kkungkkungi. That’s for sure. So just surrender quietly.”
“Well, that’s something we’ll see!”
Pop!
I reached out my hand.
That was the signal for Kkungkkungi to pounce on the mechanical squirrel as if he had been waiting for it.
Pababat, Pababat–!
The two squirrels charged at each other.
It was a terrifying sight, and it was no wonder the rebar in Telos Tower was bending or that the ground was caving in from the impact with a thud.
It was truly neck-and-neck.
No—.
Actually, my side was slightly at a disadvantage.
I heard Gi Seung-jae’s Awakened rank was A.
A-rank materials were sturdy, and Kkungkkungi’s attacks weren’t hitting effectively.
“Surprising, isn’t it? I input all the data on the squirrels. My mechanical squirrel can move and fight better than a regular squirrel.”
Boom!
Finally, pushed back by the mechanical squirrel, Kkungkkungi flew towards me.
Pop.
I caught him with my hand like a baseball catcher.
—Kreeee…!
In my palm, Kkungkkungi looked very angry, his fur all ruffled up with many patches burned black.
If I made him fight any longer, he would surely be severely injured.
Crackle, crackle—.
Fortunately, the mechanical squirrel was also making uneasy noises and creaking.
Soon, Gi Seung-jae, holding the mechanical squirrel, spoke.
“It’s stronger than the expected data values. As I thought. The top squirrel is different. But it’s okay. Machines can be repaired, unlike living creatures.”
That was true.
Machines could be repaired.
However, Kkungkkungi was not a machine.
If he got hurt, it could be dangerous in many ways.
This fight.
In many aspects, I was at a disadvantage.
I felt bad on one side.
“Gi Seung-jae. In the past, you used to get mad if your tools were broken or mishandled. I still remember when you got angry after I broke your drone.”
Gi Seung-jae really loved machines.
He loved polishing, tightening, and oiling them and hated to see tools mishandled.
It was surprising to see him using the mechanical squirrel so much like a consumable.
“When was that? We’re in an era where humans also replace and easily discard like consumables.”
Just then.
—Zziii…!
Ahn Ahn, who had been crawling stealthily on the ground, grabbed Gi Seung-jae’s ankle.
Ahn Ahn’s strength was very strong, and Gi Seung-jae was flustered.
“What the hell, you little ant!”
“Good! Ahn Ahn! Hold on tight!”
Swoosh.
I drew my lightsaber from my waist and charged at Gi Seung-jae, aiming to cut his arm and take him down with all my strength.
“Swing of the Moon!”
Zuuuuh—!
No matter how strong Gi Seung-jae’s chrome-like body was, the joints would be weak.
But he clicked his tongue and raised his hand.
Bang—!
What I cut was Gi Seung-jae’s peculiar bag.
It looked like a document case, but it was very sturdy, and instead of his arm, only the bag’s handle was cut off.
Thud.
The document case fell to the ground.
Gi Seung-jae was greatly startled.
“That’s my stuff!”
Gi Seung-jae reached down for the bag.
At that moment, the tiger owl, Kalilnoi, which had been flying around the rooftop, seized the opportunity and dove at Gi Seung-jae.
—Piruurr—
The tiger owl Kalilnoi was strong.
Its pure physicality was comparable to an A-rank demon.
Kalilnoi scratched and pecked at Gi Seung-jae’s body wildly, flapping its wings powerfully.
Pah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah—!
It was a relentless flurry of wing beats.
Gi Seung-jae seemed dazed from taking the hits.
“Aaargh! What’s going on! What kind of owl is this!”
“I guess you didn’t update the information about the tiger owl!”
Taking advantage of the moment when Gi Seung-jae was distracted, I grabbed the bag he dropped on the ground.
It was heavier than I expected.
“Mechanical squirrel! Protect me! What are you doing!”
Gi Seung-jae shouted.
However, the mechanical squirrel just let out a —Kree. Lur. Lng— as if it was being cautious instead of protecting him.
“What are you doing! Is this an error!?”
Gi Seung-jae appeared to be flustered by the situation, but I had an idea of what was happening.
The mechanical squirrel was indeed said to move more like a squirrel than the regular ones.
So it made sense that it would consider Kalilnoi, the tiger owl, as a natural enemy and be wary.
Pop!
Finally, the mechanical squirrel ran away into the distance!
“Tch, I didn’t expect this variable! A squirrel algorithm too perfect is the problem!”
Bang—!
Gi Seung-jae threw something toward the ground.
It was a beehive filled with mechanical bees, and while I struggled against them, I noticed that Gi Seung-jae was nowhere to be found.
“Running away as always, huh.”
# # #
“So this is the bag we got. It seemed like Gi Seung-jae really cherished it. I quickly captured it.”
Morning.
I explained everything that happened yesterday and showed them the bag I had taken.
The bag itself was a precision machine, and its security was quite solid.
It was an item that needed a password to open, and of course, I had no way of knowing that password.
No matter how much I tried to open it, it wouldn’t budge.
“Isn’t this some kind of bomb? What if we open it and end up getting hurt or dying?”
Lee Jin-A said something frightening.
Listening to her, it made sense.
However, Ari shook her head.
“I don’t think it’s a bomb. I don’t hear any specific signaling or beeping like from a bomb device. And there’s no smell of explosives. But it’s definitely something important; just the bag itself…”
Ari judged that just the bag’s price would likely exceed hundreds of millions in production costs.
It was said to be an object concentrated with very high technology.
What could be inside this?
—Hioong…!
It seemed certain that something good was inside.
The slightly timid and gentle Kkungkkungi showed interest in the bag.
“I don’t know what it is, but I feel like I could sell it for a lot of money.”
Since it was an item I had acquired, I had ownership over it.
If I asked technician Kim Dan to hack the bag’s system, I was sure I could sell it for a high price.
Despite his eccentric personality, Gi Seung-jae was really skilled.
I had grown fond of equipment like drones partly because I had used the ones he made.
Then, Seo Ye-rim spoke.
“Anyway, the first-generation Awakened mechanic Gi Seung-jae has turned into a terrorist. He’s trying to team up with Japanese Awakened to attack the corporation. Is he going to destroy the peace he created himself?”
Seo Ye-rim seemed quite angry.
“Are there really people who go this far?”
After all, she was an S-rank Awakened individual who had maintained public security in Korean society, so it was natural for her to be angry about Gi Seung-jae’s acts of terrorism.
“He’s probably thought about raiding our Telos Corporation to raise their name and gain fame. But he thought wrong. Instead, we’re going to catch them all today.”
Swoosh.
Seo Ye-rim glanced around.
There were two Korean S-rank Awakened individuals, Seo Ye-rim and Cha Yura, on this island and also the “S. Ninja” and Tsukki from the Japanese side.
Four S-rank Awakened.
Honestly, if there were this many of us, it would be normal to question the mental state of the approaching terrorists.
However, since they weren’t normal, they must be aligning with terrorism.
“The match will go on as planned. If they raid the scene, then we’ll turn the tables and catch them all.”
Seo Ye-rim made a decision.
Soon, Cha Yura, the other S-rank Awakened, nodded in agreement.
“Good idea. In our country, not negotiating with criminals is the default. How about we make a bet on which country can capture more terrorists?”
It was quite a warlike proposition.
However, Seo Ye-rim seemed to like it.
As time passed in this atmosphere—
Afternoon.
We gathered in a wide field.
On the surface, it was for the final match, the Korea-Japan soccer game, but it was obviously a trap to lure the terrorists into a wide open space.
Pababat–.
After some time, the ninjas began to appear in the field one by one.
The match quickly fell apart, and I evacuated the people.
“This way! Come to the bunker of the field! Inside!”
“Heyek…! This Inoi was really looking forward to the soccer match…!”
“This Coris doesn’t know what’s going on, but it seems fun that ninjas are showing up…!”
The nymphs were quite flustered.
The ninjas, indifferent to this, unleashed flames.
“Fire Release, Inferno Breath!”
Fwooosh—
The blazing fire began to scorch the grass—
Inoi clenched her fist in anger.
“Don’t burn the grass…! All Nymph sisters, use Nymph technique, Hydro Pump!”
“Hydro Pump…!”
“Hydro Pump!”
Fwooooosh—
The three nymphs simultaneously sprayed water from their mouths.
It was a strong water stream like a waterfall, and the terrorist ninjas were astonished to see it.
“Even in this grassless field, they can perform such high-level water techniques!”
