Chapter 12: Fake Church (1)

“A rumor has begun spreading around this area… about a miraculous new technology that can cure cybernetic addiction.”

The news ST brought me was nothing short of shocking.

“A miracle, huh…”

Maybe it was just coincidence—but for this kind of rumor to surface now of all times… there was no way I could take it lightly.

It felt much more likely that it was somehow connected to my ability.

‘But how did it leak? Only two people know the secret: ST and Kyla.’

My thoughts naturally turned to those two, but I quickly shook my head.

‘No. Neither of them would gain anything from leaking it.’

[Miracle] wasn’t a proven force. There was no tangible evidence, so even trying to sell the info wouldn’t be worth much.

At best, you might make some pocket change.

But Kyla wasn’t the kind of person to break a promise for such a paltry profit.

Even in the original game, she had stayed loyal to her companions despite being offered much bigger rewards.

I could trust in her sense of honor.

And ST… she wasn’t even a character from the game to begin with, so it was hard to gauge her moral compass based on just a few weeks of knowing her.

But she still had things to gain from me.

Her treatment had only just begun—if something happened to me now, it would be just as bad for her.

She had no reason to leak anything at this stage.

The more I thought about it, the more it felt like I was sinking into a maze with no exit.

‘Where exactly did the secret start to leak from?’

There was no point in racking my brain alone.

In the end, I decided to talk directly with the two people who knew about the situation.

And so, I made my way back to the fixer’s office.

Kyla, who had received my message and was waiting for me, seemed much livelier than before.

“It’s been a while, Eve. How’s the part-time job going? Getting used to it?”

Maybe she was in good health now, but there was a light in her expression I hadn’t seen before.

“Jenny’s treating you well, right? I asked her to be extra nice to you.”

She greeted me warmly—no hint of suspicion anywhere in her behavior.

So I decided to ask her directly.

“Kyla, have you ever told anyone about being treated by me?”

“What? No! What are you talking about? We promised to keep it secret.”

She practically recoiled in offense, shaking her head hard.

“I may be a broke-ass fixer working the backstreets, but I know how to remember a favor.

Especially something like this—someone who gave me a second chance at life?

If I did something that f***ed up, I’d rip my own tongue out!”

Her adamant denial felt genuine.

ST, who had come with me, gave a quiet nod beside her.

It wasn’t just agreement—her ocular implant had scanned Kyla’s vitals.

It was a sign confirming she wasn’t lying.

That helped ease my suspicions a little.

So I told Kyla the truth about what was happening.

“The thing is… lately there’s a rumor going around about [Miracle]. Someone leaked it somehow.”

“What?! Are you serious?!”

Kyla froze in shock.

“Where? How?!”

“We still haven’t figured that out. That’s why I came to ask you…”

But she looked just as lost.

We spent a moment thinking things over together.

Then suddenly, Kyla muttered as if a lightbulb had gone off.

“Ah… no way…”

“Did you think of something?”

She nodded with a grave expression.

“Remember? Back when we first met… You used that ability to treat my Overmodification Syndrome.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“At the time, I couldn’t believe my body was actually healed, so… I went to a nearby cybernetic repair clinic for a check-up…”

“!”

Only then did I remember.

I’d been so sure that only two people knew the secret—but there had been a third.

Someone who had seen the results of the miracle with their own eyes.

Kyla clenched her teeth and said bitterly,

“Maybe that shady-ass doc at the clinic ran his mouth. I oughta go rip that bastard’s tongue out myself.”

“N-no! Kyla, please calm down! That won’t help!”

She looked like she was about to storm out and beat someone to death, and I barely managed to hold her back.

“If the rumor’s already out, punishing one person won’t fix it.”

If anything, stirring the pot now might only fan the flames.

It would make it easier for people to trace the source back to us.

Only after hearing that did Kyla finally calm down, though her face was filled with guilt and remorse.

“I’m sorry, Eve… I didn’t think it through. I was so surprised back then that I just didn’t consider the risk.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t catch it either.”

I tried to reassure Kyla, who was now wracked with shame.

Yes, maybe it was careless—but it’s not like you could foresee everything.

If anything, this felt like an inevitable mistake. It was understandable.

I wasn’t planning to blame her.

But even with my comfort, her expression didn’t soften.

The problem still wasn’t solved.

She sighed and asked,

“So what do we do now?”

“Did you tell that doctor anything else? Like how the treatment worked, or what I looked like…?”

“No. It was just a routine exam. I didn’t say a word about you or how it happened.”

She shook her head—but then added with a grim face:

“But… I mean, some random patient who was basically dying one day walks in fully cured the next… He probably figured something special had happened.
Just comparing the before-and-after results would’ve made that obvious.”

So that was it.

The person who leaked the Miracle wasn’t either of the two I trusted.

It was a third party I’d never even considered.

Now the question was: what do we do about it?

So far, it was just an anonymous rumor drifting through the streets.

But if someone decided to investigate seriously, they might trace it back to its source.

They might question the doctor, follow the threads, and eventually find me.

‘I have to take action before that happens…’

My thoughts were spinning.

That’s when ST, who had quietly listened until now, finally spoke.

“Miss Eve. Do you remember what I told you once?”

“What do you mean?”

“I said that any secret known by someone other than yourself… is no longer a secret.”

I remembered.

Back then, I never imagined it would come to this.

I had assumed that as long as ST and Kyla kept quiet, nothing could go wrong.

But now that this had happened… maybe she had been right all along.

Maybe I’d been too naïve.

But she wasn’t finished.

Her voice remained calm as always, as she added:

“On the other hand…
a secret known by everyone is also not a secret, is it?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

Her golden eyes glittered with a cryptic light.

“Why don’t we do this instead?”

---

Before I could even ask what ‘this’ meant, ST gently grabbed my wrist and started walking.

“I’ll explain as we go. Please, follow me.”

“Huh? Wait, where are we going…?”

“Excuse us.”

Even as I spoke, she kept walking without hesitation.

She gave Kyla a short nod and led me out of the fixer’s office.

I had no idea what was happening, but I had no choice but to follow her.

We headed toward the outskirts of the city, near where my apartment was located.

She guided me past the residential zone where the office was located, deeper into the alleyways.

Where even the lights of towering skyscrapers could barely reach—wet, dark alleyways.

The air was thick with the stench of soot and sewage.

Rotting trash covered the ground.

The kind of place that thugs from the night before would’ve loved.

And in fact, far off, I could see burly, tattoo-covered men wandering around.

But I wasn’t nervous.

ST was with me.

How long had we walked?

Eventually, she stopped in front of an old warehouse.

The rusty, dented steel door looked like it hadn’t been opened in years.

“Boss! You’ve arrived!”

The one who opened it was a man with a face that screamed ‘criminal.’

And inside were more men like him—dozens of hulking, musclebound types.

“Welcome, Boss!!!”

Men with massive chrome cybernetics reinforcing their arms and shoulders all bowed deeply the moment they saw ST.

Their movements were fluid—clearly well-practiced.

ST didn’t respond with words—just a flick of her hand.

That was enough for the gangsters to straighten up and part to create a path.

I stood frozen, mouth agape.

This was on a whole different level from the mild confusion I felt back at Kyla’s office.

“…Boss? ST? What is this… what’s going on?”

The warehouse was dimly lit by a few flickering lights, but I could still see—there were at least a dozen men, all of them obviously gangsters.

And all of them looked at ST—and me—with a mixture of awe and fear.

ST answered calmly, in her usual tone.

“This is part of an active protection initiative.
To ensure Miss Eve’s absolute safety, it was necessary to eliminate potential threats and secure control over the surrounding area.”

“Control… of the area?”

“Yes. We’ve acquired a gang that controls this district and several neighboring blocks.”

So that’s what she’d been doing every night.

Not long after we met, she had completely taken over a criminal organization.

It clearly hadn’t been a peaceful process.

Looking at how these dangerous men were sweating bullets and couldn’t even meet her eyes…

I could faintly imagine how she’d subdued them.

While I stood there visibly shaken, ST got to the point.

“Starting now, we’ll use this group…
to create a fabricated religious organization.”