The laboratory director, alone at his residence, was drinking wine.
He checked a notification on his smartphone and opened the lab management IoT application.
———————————-
<Name> <Status>
Administrator PC ON
———————————-
“What is this?”
The director recalled whether he had properly turned off his PC before leaving.
…
“No, I’m certain I turned it off properly.”
With his obsessive tendencies, he couldn’t overlook even these minor details.
With an anxious expression, he called the security office.
[Yes, this is the K-Shield Control Room.]
“Ah, this is Director CK. Our database is still on, so I was wondering if someone’s accessed it.”
[There’s no particular unusual activity at the moment. Still, we’ll check. Where exactly is the database located?]
The control room was unaware of Kim Naye’s entry since the gate guard hadn’t reported it.
“Research lab basement… no, never mind. If there’s nothing unusual, that’s fine. I’ll visit the lab myself shortly.”
The director refrained from asking the guards to check the underground room, remembering there were too many sensitive items inside.
As the situation became more uncontrollable, his anxiety escalated.
It was a ten-minute drive to the lab. He decided to check it in person.
[Yeah, we’ll inform the gate security.]
Click.
The call ended.
He immediately changed his clothes and left his house.
Meanwhile, the control room, after receiving the call, contacted the gate for confirmation.
[Min-kyu, anything unusual at the gate?]
At the gate security booth, Hwang Min-kyu hastily set aside his idle mobile game and composed himself.
“What? Ah, one researcher did enter, but her credentials were verified, so it’s probably nothing unusual.”
A loud voice suddenly came through the radio.
[What the hell! Are you kidding? That’s unusual! Didn’t they teach you to report anything unusual at the training center?!]
“Uh… Right. Though, the woman seemed in a hurry, and last time Senior Cholsun just let her in…”
[Enough. This is an emergency. She seems suspicious. We’ll call in the others. You hold your position tightly. And since the director is coming, inform him to wait outside until the situation settles down.]
“Got it!”
Though responding crisply, Min-kyu didn’t understand why he’d let the woman in earlier.
‘Why did I do that? I should’ve just asked the control room.’
For him, it was truly inexplicable.
*
As Shinnoda was releasing “Alpha,” an emergency red light flashed, and sirens blared inside the facility.
“This is…?”
“Seems like we’ve been discovered.”
They quickly headed to the control room.
Though it was predictable they’d be found out, the anxiety was inevitable for human nature.
As the ceiling descended with partition walls, Shinnoda immediately shouted.
“Run!”
They sprinted desperately but were isolated right before reaching the control room.
About a ten-meter gap separated the corridors.
‘Dark Knight’ clenched his fists and lightly tapped on the divider.
Thud. Thud.
It felt pretty solid.
He thought through his next move calmly.
‘Of the skills I can use, are there any that could break through this…?’
“No.”
Shinnoda resolved to learn skills capable of unleashing powerful firepower.
He gently tapped Laura on the shoulder and asked for a favor.
“Let me have some of that magic, Laura-san.”
“Are you under the impression that magic is omnipotent?”
“Isn’t it?”
Shinnoda simply nodded.
After all, a utility mage was always useful, and this was precisely why he’d invited her.
“Well, well. Though my spells are nearly omnipotent…”
With an air of superiority, Laura spoke, then forced Shinnoda down to her eye level by gripping his shoulder.
Their eerily identical vertical pupil golden eyes stared at each other intently.
“With the mana produced by the Philosopher’s Stone, it’s rather insufficient. This is merely for recharging.”
And with that, Laura suddenly kissed him.
“Ugh…”
Alpha and Omega covered their eyes with their hands. Though, through the gaps in their fingers, they glanced at the unexpected scene.
“Kiss…!”
Omega’s heart raced, feeling as if watching a TV drama scene.
“Huff… Why such an act all of a sudden!”
As Laura released him, Shinnoda questioned the sudden move while realizing a substantial portion of his mana had been drained.
“I used up my mana earlier while casting the invisibility spell. This is the second most efficient method of mana transfer.”
Shinnoda, slightly flushed, contrasted with Laura’s stoic face.
“Ah, I see.”
Shinnoda smiled lightly, acknowledging her effectiveness. Her appearance, quite frankly, was very attractive.
“Flame Cannon.”
Reaching out her hand toward the divider, Laura began casting an advanced spell.
This was her maximum output. A concentrated stream of heat gathered in her hand.
A scorching beam of flame shot forth.
The underground structure was a straight corridor.
Her magic pierced straight through the first divider, then the next one, and the one after that, destroying all three barriers.
“Wow!”
“Frightening…”
Alpha and Omega shrank back, frightened by the immense heat they felt up close.
“Remarkable. Can I learn magic as well?”
Watching the display of high-level magic, Shinnoda marveled.
“It’s possible, though someone of your caliber would need about twenty years of practice to barely reach the fourth circle. This is only possible because your soul has been altered.”
He muttered to himself.
‘How untalented was I originally?’
Shinnoda straightened Alpha and Omega, who were crouching, then entered the control room.
“Ah, you’re here!”
Upon entering, Kim Naye greeted them with a troubled expression. When the sirens had blared and the partitions descended, she had realized something went terribly wrong.
“Yeah. Did you complete your tasks?”
“All important data has been transferred, and I’ve overlaid the database with dummy information. It’ll take some time, so it’s best to leave it running.”
“Will it proceed automatically?”
“Yes. We can leave now. We should escape quickly!”
‘Dark Knight’ signaled for a USB memory stick by waving his fingers at her.
Kim Naye pulled out the USB from her clothing and handed it over.
They left the control room and headed toward the elevator that led to the ground floor. A biometric recognition system lay on the way, which Kim Naye swiftly authenticated.
With that, she had completed all her assigned tasks admirably.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
The cold voice of ‘Dark Knight.’
Kim Naye sensed something was off.
“Wha, what? I did exactly what I was told…”
An unrecognizable blur was all she saw before the Dragon Sword swung. From the draw to the execution, it all happened in the blink of an eye. Her head flew skyward.
“You weren’t entirely innocent either.”
At first, he thought she was the person planning to expose this lab’s secrets. However, upon reflection, the whistleblower was a new researcher, while Kim Naye was a senior researcher with years of experience. Considering the incident was scheduled to occur a year later, it was likely the new researcher hadn’t even been hired yet. Clearly, they weren’t the same person.
Thus, Kim Naye was both a participant in inhumane experiments and an industrial spy selling secrets to China for money. ‘Dark Knight’ had revealed his identity knowing all this.
“Did you plan to kill her from the start?”
As Laura kicked the corpse aside, she questioned.
“Yes. There were plenty of reasons to kill her, and none to keep her alive.”
Silently, they boarded the elevator to head to the ground floor.
Ding.
The elevator doors opened.
A gunshot rang out.
It was ‘K-Shield’ firing. They were monitoring ‘Dark Knight’s’ movements through CCTV.
A mana-enriched bullet hit ‘Dark Knight’ in the chest.
“Urgh.”
He nearly fell from the impact but managed to steady himself.
“How did they use bullets…”
‘K-Shield’ had brought guns into the facility under the guise of dungeon raid operations. It was a loophole.
‘Dark Knight’ peeked under his robe, revealing the bullet lodged in his scales. The scales were highly resistant to magic, rendering even mana-enhanced rounds ineffective.
“If it were a normal bullet, it would have simply bounced off. Must be a mana-infused round.”
Regardless, confirmed that the bullet wouldn’t penetrate, ‘Dark Knight’ left the party inside the elevator and walked out slowly.
Bang. Bang.
The gunfire continued.
Unfazed by the sniper shots, ‘Dark Knight’ closed the distance. The ‘K-Shield’ guards retreated, attempting to cast skills but failing inexplicably.
“So, it’s true. ‘Dark Knight’ prevents skill usage.”
The team leader bit his lip hard.
“What do we do, Leader!”
“Damn it! Our bullets aren’t working!”
In panic, the team members cried out. The leader made a decision.
“Draw your swords! We’re entering melee combat!”
It was known that engaging an A-class villain would result in certain death for those of lower Awakened ranks. However, fleeing here would ruin ‘K-Shield’s reputation. Who would hire a company whose guards retreat from battle? Doing so would betray Mr. K, who had given them a chance.
“Our numbers are far greater! Even an A-class villain can’t withstand sheer numbers!”
The leader tried to boost morale.
However, there was silence around him. Glancing around, he saw his subordinates ashen-faced.
“Wh-What is it? Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
“Te… Team Leader, behind you!”
‘Dark Knight’ stood behind the leader with a dagger at his neck.
“You seem to be the leader.”
The leader’s eyes darted to see the short sword just short of his carotid artery. A drop of blood trickled down from the blade’s tip onto his neck.
