047 – Awakened of the Skyscrapers # 2
Makcheon City.
The realm of “unlimited development permits.”
When I looked up at the towering buildings that stretched high into the sky, I felt dizzy as if I were standing on the edge of a precipice.
The nymph Inoi, who was from the ditch waters, remarked that this scene was akin to the mountains of Olympus where the gods reside.
At the time, I simply brushed it off as an interesting story—but upon reflection, perhaps that story held some truth.
21st century.
The power driving the age of the 5th industry was not ideology or nation, but capital. And that capital was embodied in the mega-corporations that expanded to touch the heavens, reaping the benefits of the 5th industry.
And this Makcheon City was precisely where those mega-corporations congregated.
“Jjaj-!”
“I know. The buildings are tall, right? It feels like being a frog in a well.”
It wasn’t just that the buildings were tall.
Corporations installed all sorts of billboards and machinery throughout the urban landscape to showcase their technological prowess, making the streets noisy and dazzling with bright LED displays.
“The best AI is made by Iwamoto. Right now—”
“Insurance that brings life changes with prosthetic limbs—”
A futuristic city.
It seemed that everyone from around the world was drawn here, yearning for this future-oriented city.
Awakened individuals like me were the same.
Crack hunters, like myself, receiving jobs from the state, were paid relatively poorly compared to other awakened individuals.
The real ones were those affiliated with corporations, right?
They felt more like errand boys handling various tasks for the corporations.
On the surface, they would enter cracks bid by the corporations to gather materials, and—rumor had it—they received danger pay because they handled all sorts of tasks.
“Am I really going to be tied to a corporation now?”
Telos, one of the world’s largest IT companies.
It had given me several jobs during the past five years when I was struggling. The tasks were almost menial and tedious, yet the pay was quite good.
“Is this the headquarters of Makcheon City?”
I had worked under Telos for the past five years, but each visit to this headquarters left me with an overwhelming sensation that was somewhat eerie.
Ding-.
As I stepped into the entrance of the headquarters, a cool breeze from the air conditioning welcomed me in the spacious lobby. Soon, I heard a soft whirring sound and saw a round robot approaching me.
“Hello! I am Aibo, the versatile AI of the people-loving company, Telos. How may I assist you?”
An AI robot.
A technology that was only somewhat possible in fiction until ten years ago was now being commercialized in this Makcheon City.
I wondered how much one of these robots would cost.
“Uh, I came to meet someone. Seo Ye-rim.”
Bleep-.
A flamboyant sound came from the speaker, and the AI robot led me somewhere. I stepped into an elevator headed towards the 167th floor.
167th floor.
How many meters high is that from the ground?
Just when I thought I might lose consciousness at the vertigo-inducing height, the elevator doors opened.
I was soon in a room adorned with a white background and furniture.
It was wider than my well house’s yard combined, much cleaner, and filled with paintings and crafts of priceless worth that decorated the walls effortlessly.
Click-clack, click-clack.
Soon, someone approached with the sound of high heels.
It was a tall woman in a suit, her pants and black gloves complementing each other well.
She looked to be in her 40s, perhaps?
“What business do you have on this top floor?”
“Uh, I have someone to meet here.”
Though I had experienced many things, being at the top floor of such a colossal corporation made me feel insignificant.
In reality, I might truly be insignificant.
As I stammered, the woman tapped on her phone and then exclaimed, “Oh—.”
“If it’s a 1 PM appointment, are you perhaps the subject for the internal chip experiment? I was just waiting for you. As I mentioned, it’s a simple experiment—just inserting a chip into your brain.”
“Inserting a chip into my brain?”
I hadn’t heard of such an experiment before.
As I briefly panicked, the woman, who appeared to be of high status, sighed and said, “Oh—. It’s nothing serious. You’ll be under general anesthesia. If the experiment is successful, you’ll be able to project letters or images in front of you. Now, let’s—”
What kind of experiment is this?
I had heard that corporations conducted various experiments on human bodies. I had heard numerous stories of awakened individuals improving their work efficiency with prosthetic limbs and legs.
Kang Cheol-Min, a first-generation student who died in an explosion accident, had Gundam-like steel arms attached with the support of a foreign corporation, and their performance was incredible. The arms extended and contracted through wires.
But to insert a chip into my brain?
Did Seo Ye-rim sell me off for a human experiment?
Pop—.
At that moment, Seo Ye-rim appeared from behind a white pillar.
“Hey! Haildo! Why are you so late?”
“Haildo?”
The woman, who had been looking at her phone’s chart, frowned. Then, she let out a long “Ah—” and finally burst into laughter, “Oh! Ye-rim, this person is Haildo! I thought I was supposed to meet the experiment participant today! I almost caused a major incident. I’m Ye-rim’s mother, Isara. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Isara.
I thought her name was quite sophisticated when she reached out her hand.
“Nice to meet you! I almost ended up implanting a chip in the wrong person. By the way, speaking of which, would you be interested in having a chip implanted in your head? It’s truly next-generation technology—”
“Mom!”
“Got it. Got it.”
Swipe—.
Ye-rim’s stylish mother shuffled away, pushed by Seo Ye-rim, and disappeared somewhere. As I considered her to be a remarkable person for various reasons, Seo Ye-rim returned.
I looked towards where her mother had disappeared and asked.
“Your mother seems very young.”
She looked to be in her early 40s.
To my question, Seo Ye-rim replied, “She actually is young.”
How old could she be?
As I was curious, Seo Ye-rim added, “The first digit is still 3.”
Is it for real?
She was truly young.
In fact, she seemed slightly more seasoned than her age suggested.
Then how young was she when she married and had a child?
I was curious in many ways, but there was something else I should truly be concerned about.
What I was curious about.
Why did Seo Ye-rim call me here—was it about that?
No.
“Hey, how much is this painting?”
In front of me was a painting featuring a single dot plastered on the canvas.
Literally just a dot.
It looked like someone had poked it with a pencil.
Underneath the frame, it read, “Markelran Zolras – Liberation, made in 2023.”
I didn’t know the artist’s name, but I could tell that the painting was titled “Liberation” and created in 2023.
“How much do you think it is?” Seo Ye-rim asked.
I decided to be honest.
“I don’t think it would even be worth a hundred won.”
With Inoi’s sketchbook, I could sketch ten such paintings. In response, Seo Ye-rim proudly stated, “That painting was auctioned off for 1 billion.”
I felt truly dizzy.
“1 billion for just this painting? My goodness. This is something I could have easily drawn with a pencil, and it’s worth 1 billion? Wow, seriously—.”
“Haildo, that’s a really ignorant statement. I feel embarrassed for you. Anyway, come this way. We’ll talk about business. A light wine should be fine, right?”
# # #
Lunchtime.
I unexpectedly had the chance to enjoy a meal.
The dishes I had never seen before were prepared by a top-notch chef and served on the table—each delicious.
I wished Inoi could have come along.
“So what is this work you’ve called me for? Did you bring me here just to feed me while enjoying the view?”
“No. You remember the ‘Bifrost’ crack door opened by Dr. Newgate a while ago, right?”
“Of course. It was truly amazing.”
“That technology was stolen a few days ago. Here, look at this photo. This man is called ‘New King,’ a Chinese employee, and he took our technology and sold it to the gang in Makcheon City. They’re a troublesome bunch.”
Is this for real?
I was somewhat taken aback as I hadn’t anticipated hearing such a story. The idea of stealing technology and selling it to a gang seemed like something from another world.
“So why are you telling me this?”
“I believe there’s a ‘Bifrost’ they’re creating at the coordinates I’ll give you. I would like you to take some pictures. These coordinates are where the ‘Fairy Tale’ gang is located at the tire factory.”
Swipe—.
Seo Ye-rim handed me a tablet PC.
I could see the coordinates marked on the map.
“The ‘Fairy Tale’ gang has all of a sudden risen to notoriety these past few days. I’ve heard they use some extraordinary technology, but I don’t know whose company it is. They’re quite troublesome.”
Is it a problem between the gang and corporations?
I asked, “Why not leave this to the police?”
“How much power do you think the public authorities in Makcheon City can use? Isn’t this area practically lawless? It’s the rule that matters here are ‘solved well’ within Makcheon.”
That might be true.
It was common for teams consisting of awakened individuals hired by corporations to fight against each other.
Corporations prided themselves on possessing strong awakened individuals and advertised it.
Lee Joon-Hun, the prince of the Osa Group, had mentioned this before.
“Hm—.”
“Think well. Bifrost. If that technology falls into the hands of bad guys who only think about abuse, the world will descend into chaos! Just take some pictures. Once we have solid evidence, our Telos strike team, ‘Illuminators,’ will deploy.”
The strike team ‘Illuminators.’
What a cool name.
It’s a private mercenary team said to employ awakened individuals who are at least B rank, right?
“Taking pictures isn’t something that can be done easily. They won’t just let me in if I show up at the gang’s hideout. Why not let that strike team handle it?”
“There are magical detection sensors in the tire factory. So, it’s tricky for B-ranked or higher awakened individuals to sneak in. We need a reliable C-ranked awakened. You’re perfect for this. You have Kkungkkungi and Ahn Ahn with you, right? You could bring them in to infiltrate.”
“Jjaj-!”
But what if they got caught while sneaking in or got hurt?
Then, the existence of Kkungkkungi, the ghost spider whose identity I had just learned about, suddenly came to mind. That guy could change the color of its body to conceal itself.
If I trained Kkungkkungi well, maybe…
While I was pondering, Seo Ye-rim added, “Just take the pictures. You must not get into any disputes or fights. It seems the ‘Fairy Tale’ gang has some highly skilled bodyguards. I don’t know their identities, but they’re said to be at least A rank awakened.”
“Alright. I’ll think about it.”
Swipe—.
I accepted the USB from Seo Ye-rim.
Then I returned home in Seo Ye-rim’s car.
Sitting at my computer, I inserted the USB and checked the files, which contained information about the ‘Fairy Tale’ gang.
It detailed the revealed members and the products they were selling.
“Nymph’s wash water – 10 million won.”
“What is this?”
Why are they selling things like this?
And the fact that Nymph’s wash water costs 10 million won?
That wasn’t all.
“Nymph’s painting – city landscape.”
A seemingly hastily drawn picture with crayons was also being sold for 500 million won.
It was indeed overwhelming.
At that moment, Inoi appeared.
“Master of the house…! It seems I’ve completed the talisman…! Speaking of this talisman… it has the effect of perfectly preventing sneezing and coughing…!”
The effect of perfectly preventing sneezing and coughing?
It seemed both remarkable and quite peculiar.
“If that’s the case, I should gift this talisman to the house owner… Ah! More importantly, this is an incredibly nymph-friendly painting…! This painting must have been created by a nymph…! It’s a wonderful piece…!”
Inoi looked very pleased as he gazed at the painting on the monitor.
Swipe—.
Inoi soon brought over his sketchbook.
The city landscape drawn in there looked similar to the city landscape on the monitor.
“…Does this mean this gang has a nymph with them like I do?”
“It likely means that the nymph sisters are captured by nymph-hating hunters…!”
