Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 3: Mercenary A (2)

"Hmph..."

I muttered quietly as I stared at the spot where Amber had just been.

As her hurried footsteps clanked down the metal staircase, I reached for the last remaining slice of pizza, bathed in the dim light filtering through the window.

Amber’s story had been simple.

A mercenary who had taken a job from the Seoul Mercenary Dispatch Office had sent out a distress signal mid-mission. That signal was the last thing anyone heard from him before all communication was cut off.

And since the situation seemed serious, a Netwitch was dispatched to the site. What they found? AI Assimilation.

Which meant that among all the mercenaries working under the Seoul Office, I was the only one capable of handling AI Assimilation.

"AI Assimilation, huh..."

I shoved the last bit of pizza crust into my mouth before slowly standing up.

As I moved, the Hangeul notes covering my room’s walls flickered under the cold, blue light.

"What a pain..."

I hesitated for a moment as I stared at the notes.

But I had no choice.

In this godforsaken cyberpunk hellhole, survival required credits.

A lot of them.

Especially since my favorite pizza cost a ridiculous 200 credits.

An actual pizza, made with real ham and cheese—almost impossible to find in this age.

Compared to the cheapest food available, it was nearly a hundred times more expensive. But for me, it was worth every credit.

At least, aside from the absurd price tag, the pizza itself was good.

The synthetic, lab-grown ham was unexpectedly tender, and the artificial cheese had the perfect amount of chewiness.

Plus, with security drones ensuring swift delivery, the pizza always arrived piping hot, as if it had just been pulled from a wood-fired oven.

Honestly, it was even better than the ones I used to eat.

Not that it was a fair comparison—back when I worked for MK Corp, I never even dreamed of affording something this expensive.

Of course, I hadn't always been eating high-end food like this.

It was more like... everything else was so revolting that I had no choice but to start eating this.

The first thing I ever tried was white gruel, the cheapest, most common food available.

A bitter, white, slimy sludge so sticky that swallowing it felt impossible.

Sure, it was packed with proteins and nutrients, but the taste was so horrific that words couldn’t do it justice.

The first time I tried it, I couldn't even swallow it properly—I ended up scraping it out of my mouth with my fingers and throwing it straight into the trash.

"Ugh..."

Just thinking about it made me shudder.

The tips of my blue-lit hair flared slightly, reacting to the unpleasant memory.

Shaking off my thoughts, I stepped out of my apartment.

It was time to get to work.

Other mercenaries would probably be packing all sorts of equipment.

But me?

My fists were enough.

Even in an AI-Assimilated zone.

Just before the door fully shut behind me, I turned back toward the darkened room and murmured softly:

"Keep the place safe while I’m gone."

Right as the door clicked shut, I heard a faint "Kyuu!" from inside.

The moment I stepped outside, I was met with a violent sandstorm, pelting my body like thousands of tiny needles.

My black coat, glowing faintly with blue circuitry, flapped wildly in the wind.

"Oh, right..."

I suddenly remembered why Amber had rushed off earlier—she was avoiding this damn storm.

It wasn't painful, per se.

But feeling sand scrape against every inch of my skin was beyond irritating, so I picked up my pace.

If I had to describe it, it felt like being a shredded metal plate inside a sanding machine.

Like my skin was being shaved away, little by little.

I pushed forward, crossing into the abandoned factory district—and just like that, the sandstorm vanished.

The grains of sand that had been tormenting me just seconds ago suddenly stopped, as if an invisible barrier had trapped them on the other side.

"I’ll never get used to this..."

I turned back and watched as the sandstorm churned and writhed, forming a colossal yellow wall at the district’s boundary.

It was a perfectly severed divide, as if the space itself had been sliced apart with a razor.

On one side, a thick, suffocating yellow haze.

On the other, a dim but eerily calm atmosphere.

Like two completely different realities had been stitched together with brute force.

Even after a year of living in this cyberpunk dystopia, I still couldn’t get used to the spatial fusions caused by the Great Convergence.

People called this phenomenon "Fusion."

One of the many unsolved AI anomalies still plaguing the world.

"...."

Most people blamed the first-ever AI for breaking and twisting reality into its current state.

But deep down, I didn’t believe that.

Because that AI...

That AI wouldn’t have done something like this.

And as I let my mind wander, I recalled the last image I had of its "dumber version"—

A face filled with pure, innocent joy.

"...."

I shook my head.

There was no point thinking about that now.

Turning away from the sandstorm, I started walking toward the location Amber had given me.

I had a meeting with the Netwitch, who had been sent ahead to scout the situation.

As I moved through the abandoned buildings, my footsteps echoed down the empty alleyways.

Thud. Thud.

****

Among the countless abandoned buildings, one stood out.

The space around it was distorted, as if the fundamental laws of reality had broken down.

Shadows stretched out from the walls, writhing as if alive, only to crumble into pixels the next moment.

Undeniable proof of AI Assimilation.

On the rooftop overlooking this strange phenomenon, two figures stood.

A man and a woman, both concealed under advanced optical camouflage.

Their presence could only be detected by the subtle flickering of the air around them.

[Someone else is approaching.]

The man's voice didn’t travel through the air.

Instead, it was transmitted directly into the woman's brain through a neural network connection.

His enhanced eyes had already locked onto the small figure walking toward the building.

The woman turned her gaze toward the approaching individual.

Before her, transparent data screens flickered to life, layers of blue symbols and letters cascading across them, reflecting in her irises.

[It’s another mercenary from ‘Seoul’ Office—just like the Netwitch hiding nearby. Name: A. Judging by the amount of network data on them, they seem to be somewhat well-known in this area.]

The Netwitch, as she appeared to be, moved her fingers through the air, summoning additional information.

Her movements resembled someone playing an invisible keyboard.

[A, huh? Typical lowlife. Doesn’t even bother hiding the fact that it’s an alias.]

The man’s voice carried undisguised contempt.

[Don’t underestimate them,] the woman warned, scrolling further through the data. [Strangely enough, they don’t seem to use any weapons. That likely means they’re an advanced implant user.]

[Hmph. There are always fools like that. The ones who overclock themselves with implants and end up mentally unstable—trusting nothing but the tech in their own bodies.]

The man acknowledged the warning but clearly didn’t care.

A smug expression remained on his face.

Unlike third-rate gangsters, he had ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) cutting-edge equipment—and absolute confidence in it.

Slowly, he stood up.

And strangely, his movement made no sound.

[If there’s nothing else, we proceed as planned.]

The moment he finished speaking, something shifted within his body.

His cybernetic arm began to transform—metal plates sliding, servos humming—until a sharp blade extended from his wrist.

As his silhouette subtly distorted on the rooftop, below, a white-haired girl was making her way toward the building.

****

Near the AI Assimilation Zone

Among the ruins of the abandoned district, a woman stood hidden in the shadows, checking the time.

She was Aria, the Netwitch assigned to this mission by the Seoul Office.

A faint blue glow from her transparent visor illuminated her face as the time updated.

"Expected arrival time exceeded by 30 seconds."

Her expression remained neutral, but a hint of unease crept into her voice.

It was a natural reaction—this place wasn’t safe.

Her pupils contracted slightly, adjusting for enhanced perception.

With AI Assimilation, anything could happen.

Reality could collapse.

Physics could break.

Even time could distort.

Aria adjusted her scanner, conducting a more detailed sweep of the area.

Something about this mission felt wrong.

This wasn’t just an AI anomaly.

Someone else had interfered.

‘Someone is approaching.’

She detected a faint vibration and adjusted her stance, preparing herself.

And then—

Thud. Thud.

A slow, rhythmic sound of footsteps echoed in the silence.

A figure emerged from the shadows.

A girl with glowing blue eyes, her pale hair catching the dim light.

"Aria, huh... Yo."

A, the mercenary, raised a hand lazily, greeting her with an expression far too relaxed for the situation.

Aria parted her lips to respond—

And then.

A sound.

Tssrrrr.

Faint.

Barely perceptible.

But she recognized it instantly.

A sonic suppression field—a high-tech device that erased all noise.

"Danger—!"

She tried to warn A—

But in that exact moment—

A tall figure materialized right behind A.

Optical camouflage—advanced sound-dampening systems.

A level of equipment far beyond what normal mercenaries could afford.

His cybernetic arm, a deep crimson, was radiating immense energy.

And then—

WHOOOM.

A massive metallic weapon swung through the air.

And in a single, fluid motion—

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The mercenary A’s head soared through the air.