048 – Awakened of the Skyscraper #3
These past few days.
I had discovered something about the characteristics of Nymphs.
It was that Nymphs have a strong tendency to form groups.
Could it be because they possess characteristics related to ‘water,’ like ditch water and ice water?
Just as streams flow together to become a large sea.
Nymphs liked to gather together to form one large group, whether you call it a ‘crew’ or a ‘family.’
“Coris!”
“Inoi!”
That was exactly how Coris and Inoi were.
I thought that good affinity was a trait unique to Inoi, but now I could see that Coris was also blending into society without hesitation, just like Inoi.
“This Coris has discovered information about the other Nymph sisters…! It’s clear that there’s a Nymph sister named Illinois in a country called America…!”
It seemed that Coris, the ice water Nymph who had been protected at Lee Jin-A’s house these past few days, had also been searching the internet.
It wasn’t just Inoi who thought of Nymphs when looking at the state of Illinois in America. Of course, upon learning the truth, Coris was shocked.
“Yikes…! This Coris thought that the name Illinois was evidence of the Nymph sisters…! It’s so disappointing…!”
Coris drooped.
Inoi extended a coin that she held in her hand towards Coris.
“Coris…! Let’s play Machinery Snail 2 together…! Since it’s a two-player game, it’ll be enough for both of us! If Nymphs join together, we’ll surely beat the third installment…!”
“That’s amazing…!”
Inoi and Coris attempted to sit at the arcade machine set up in the yard.
The situation felt very natural in many ways.
Seeing that, Lee Jin-A, who was accompanying Coris as a protector, asked me.
“Did you call them to play games with Inoi?”
No.
There was another reason for calling Coris and Jin-A today.
“Inoi, you need to show the drawing you mentioned earlier.”
“Ah…! That’s right…! Coris…! This Inoi has discovered traces of another Nymph sister…! This is real…!”
Swish-.
I handed the drawing I had saved on my phone to Coris.
“Cityscape.”
It was a crude drawing that someone seemed to have drawn with crayons of the scenery of Makcheon City. The twinkling stars and moon in the night sky gave it a bit of a Van Gogh feel, perhaps?
Inoi believed that this drawing was genuinely made by a Nymph without a doubt, but I wanted to get Coris’s confirmation just in case.
“Ah…! This Nymph-friendly drawing is indeed the work of a Nymph…! Looking at the skill in this drawing, it seems she has the potential to evolve into an ink-based Nymph…!”
What is an ink-based Nymph?
As I wondered, Inoi raised both her hands high and shouted.
“Ink-based Nymphs are very skilled at drawing…! This Inoi also wanted to evolve into an ink-based Nymph when I was very young…!”
I see.
Nymphs commonly evolve from ditch water Nymphs to water Nymphs. Coris was an ice water Nymph, right?
For reference, ice water Nymphs are said to possess cold resistance, allowing them to endure even the cold winter without hibernating.
It’s impressive in many ways.
“We’re going to meet our other Nymph sisters…! To ensure that our Nymph sisters don’t fall behind the alien Elf species, we need to unite as one…!”
“This Inoi thinks so too…!”
The Nymphs seemed to feel good about the thought of meeting another Nymph. They appeared quite cheerful, sitting back in front of the arcade machine, inserting a 100-won coin before starting the game.
“Inoi, throw the bomb…!”
“I’ve used them all…!”
It was a very peaceful scene.
Soon, Jin-A, who was watching them, asked me.
“What’s that drawing? Is there another Nymph? Where?”
“It’s just my guess, but Jin-A, you know quite a bit about Makcheon City, right? Not the corporate streets with tall buildings, but the alleys or slums where gangs are gathered.”
Jin-A’s appearance was unmistakably ruffian-like.
It felt like she would swing a baseball bat and hit people.
I wondered if she might know about the gangs dominating Makcheon City, but when I told her the story, Jin-A frowned slightly.
“Do I look like I know about gangs?”
“Don’t you?”
“Actually, you know, a few acquaintances of mine are in gangs. I have a couple of friends in them, and my sister’s ex-boyfriends are quite a few—.”
Bingo.
As expected, those who know about the pine needles are the caterpillars!
It’s no surprise that Jin-A is well-informed about gangs.
Soon, Jin-A looked at me and asked.
“Why are you interested in gangs? Are you planning to join one? You should probably quit. Even if Makcheon City has weak public authority, joining a gang would put your life in danger. People should earn money honestly.”
That was true.
However, hearing such words from Jin-A, who looked the most flamboyant among my acquaintances, was quite unexpected. I’ve felt it for a while now, but Jin-A is rather conservative.
She seems to have dated more than ten boyfriends but is still single. Wouldn’t it be impossible unless she was quite conservative?
# # #
Makcheon City had a high crime rate.
This was because the government had given up on maintaining order in that area after severe cracks had formed in the land of Makcheon City.
After humanity gradually conquered the cracks, the government unconditionally approved the development of new cities in Gyeonggi Province that had suffered severely due to the cracks, in order to lure global corporations.
As a result, a lawless city was born where public authority could not intervene, and the city of ‘Makcheon’ was created, where anything is possible and anyone could have a chance to make a windfall.
It is said to be the first successful case in the global plan of the 5th industry and an unprecedented model even to this day?
However, Jin-A hated Makcheon City.
“I really hated this city when it was built. It’s near my house. Criminals from all over the world came and roamed around our house.”
Blink, blink-.
In the back alleys of Makcheon City, where neon signboards glimmered.
Jin-A skillfully maneuvered through these alleys, where there were unusually many people wearing hoods.
“The main street has beautifully built buildings, but the back alleys are shabby and strange due to the aftermath of development. Naturally, slums formed along the shadows.”
The alley between buildings was indeed very winding.
I heard that there were plenty of people here who would do anything for money.
There were also many suspicious foreigners, and dangerous-looking individuals approached us.
“Pretty good-looking.”
“Are you two on a date?”
“Let me join in.”
“If you don’t want to get hit, get lost.”
Jin-A raised her hand in front of the Arab bearded men. It was a very powerful posture, and I felt like I was in a scene from a movie.
Like “Nymph City 2077.”
“Nymph Runner 2050” might be good too.
“Hey, aren’t you nervous wandering around in a place like this? It looks like law enforcement is completely wrecked here. You might get kidnapped or killed without anyone knowing, you know?”
I asked.
Then Jin-A replied.
“If you show that you’re scared, you’ll get taken advantage of. By the way, do you see that factory over there? It used to be a toy factory that made dolls before the cracks appeared. The person I mentioned is there.”
Swish-.
Jin-A pointed to a fairly large building lot.
Many people were gathered in front of it, holding clubs or blades that looked like knives at their waists, which was quite intimidating.
Are they guards?
“What are you guys?”
“This isn’t a place you can just come to.”
“Which faction are you from?”
As we approached, a group of women vigilantly guarded us. Just then, a woman with purple hair dyed on the left side of her head burst out and shouted.
“Jin-A! My friend! You really came to see me!”
Wham-.
A girl with purple hair that was cut in a two-block style to the left.
When she hugged Jin-A, Jin-A pushed her away.
“Jay. Back off. You smell like cigarettes!”
“It’s not cigarette smoke, right? Anyway, nice to see you. Ah—, everyone is okay. This one’s my friend. I don’t know about the one next to her, but a mutual acquaintance? Regardless, let’s go inside! Inside! How’s Sun-A unnie? I was in her debt a lot back then!”
I entered the factory, reeking of cigarette smoke. It was the moment I realized I had made the right decision in leaving Inoi and Coris in front of the arcade machine.
Inside the factory, which was hazy like a gas chamber.
My throat was very itchy, but thanks to the protective amulet Inoi gave me, I didn’t cough.
What a truly wonderful talisman.
“So, Jin-A, have you decided to accept my suggestion? It’s candy that makes you feel good. A candy with no side effects. If you hold hands with me and sell it, you can become rich! I’ll pay a fair price!”
“Jay. I told you I wouldn’t make things like that.”
“Yeah, yeah, didn’t you say it took a week to make one bag? You said it was a lot of work! So I’ll pay a fair price! How can it not work?”
Traffic light candy.
It seemed like a very rare item.
I thought that might be the case, but Jin-A clicked her tongue and replied.
“Anyway, that’s not why I came today. And it’s not actually me who needs to see someone; it’s the person next to me.”
Swish-.
As I roughly sat on a tattered sofa, the woman known as J.G, or Jay, looked at me with a frown.
Her name is J.G?
She looks Korean, but is she actually a foreigner?
I asked.
“Are you a foreigner? Your name is J.G?”
“No, I’m Korean. Everyone here in Makcheon City has names like this.”
Cool.
It sounds like a nickname.
Should I create my name as 1Do too? Should I just think about making a name like that?
Thinking about that, the purple-haired girl spoke.
“You don’t seem like a person from Makcheon City, and you definitely don’t look like a gang member. What business do you have with someone like me?”
A girl with fascinating purple eyes.
Now that I looked closely, her pupils were artificial.
Were they mechanical prosthetics?
“Jin-A, since you brought him here, I know he’s not a government official or a member of another faction, but there are still procedures. We don’t talk unless we’re siblings.”
Swish-.
Jay pulled something from between her large breasts, hidden under her tank top. It resembled a tool used by asthma patients, and she put it to her mouth and sprayed it.
“Cough, cough! Ugh, that’s good. This is it. Cough.”
Is it a magic enhancement drug?
Magic enhancement items temporarily make the user feel high, which means normal people shouldn’t use them casually.
Swish-.
Jay offered the device to me.
“Have a puff. It’s not illegal or anything.”
Seriously.
Is this a procedure to prove manliness?
I lightly grabbed the device and sniffed it.
The bitter yet spicy smell hit my nose.
It reminded me of gunpowder and brought back memories from the past.
“Looks like it’s made from amber mushrooms that come out of the cracks. It’s effective for temporary magic enhancement, but it’s probably not good for your health. Depending on the case, it can even cause hallucinations.”
“Oh, you recognize it?”
I took the device and took a puff.
It felt horrible, like pouring cool spicy oil straight down my throat, but I had consumed plenty of similar doping agents during my first year, back when they were raw and unrefined.
“That’s what you call Jay? The quality of this enhancement drug is pretty good. Did you make it yourself?”
“Oh, you’re quite something! You took that spiciness down your throat without flinching! With guts like that, you must have some strength too, right? That’s not just a cough you can hold back!”
I heard voices around me praising me in awe.
Certainly, it wasn’t something you could easily suppress without coughing.
But it seemed that the effect of Inoi’s talisman was truly impressive. If this talisman had existed ten years ago, breaking through the cracks back then would have been much easier.
Soon, Jay grimaced and rummaged between her breasts again.
“This is making me competitive as a perfumer. Should I give you something stronger? This time with something illegal—.”
No, illegal substances are a bit too much.
If it comes up later that I was involved in illegal drugs, that would be a big deal.
Fortunately, Jin-A intervened.
“Hey, we don’t have time! If you keep babbling nonsense, we’re leaving!”
“Okay, okay! About the gang ‘Fairy Tale,’ right? They’re giving us a headache too because of those guys. Their leader, ‘IliGirl,’ is really savvy!”
IliGirl.
That was a name mentioned in the material I received from Seo Ye-rim.
Does it mean an illegal woman?
Soon, Jay added.
“I think she’s also called Illinois. Ever since this girl appeared, Fairy Tale has really grown rapidly. Nobody knows her true identity, but she seems to be amazing!”
I see, Illinois—.
Wait, Illinois?
“…….”
This means that the Nymph wasn’t captured by the bad hunters.
The Nymph was the leader of the bad hunters!
