Ch.57Chapter 57 – Five Loaves and Two Fish

# “This Route, Huh.”

Past midnight, Shin Jaehyuk muttered as he climbed over the wall of Koscorp.

The Koscorp complex was located in northern Queens, one of New York City’s boroughs, on a deserted lot away from downtown. Despite its vast grounds, the security personnel monitoring the perimeter were surprisingly few, making infiltration relatively easy.

“…Why is this so easy?”

Of course, his experience infiltrating pagan hideouts as an Inquisitor and his work as a problem solver made the infiltration smoother. Still, considering how thorough the online security had been, he couldn’t hide his puzzlement. The offline security was practically a joke compared to their hacking countermeasures.

‘So they were more concerned about information leaks than technology theft?’

What secrets could a company with close ties to Paradise Church be hiding? That’s why he had flown from Korea to New York. Officially, to complete Mr. B’s request by finding weaknesses and collusive relationships between Paradise Church and Koscorp; personally, to uncover the secret behind the suspiciously large potion production and check if it was related to the Four Heavenly Kings.

‘Civilization experience is about 88% now. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Four Heavenly Kings summoning plan emerged anytime. I hope this case has nothing to do with them…’

Shin Jaehyuk carefully made his way onto the Koscorp grounds. Among the eleven companions who had fought alongside him in his previous life was an assassin, and Jaehyuk had managed to learn his stealthy footwork and infiltration techniques. After years of practice, his movements now resembled those of a skilled assassin. Jaehyuk moved, and the darkness concealed him.

***

Koscorp consisted of a large building for general administrative work like accounting and public relations, with an attached workshop beside it. Considering that potion production facilities were typically built in places with cheap labor and convenient demon corpse distribution, this was an unusual structure. It was like having a semiconductor factory next to Samsung’s headquarters in Seoul.

‘Which one should I check first?’

Having planned ahead, his deliberation was brief. He decided to secure physical evidence from the workshop first. As the place where potions were directly produced, it would likely contain more evidence. And considering the security deployment, starting with the workshop before exploring the company building would make it easier to complete the job and escape.

While moving, Jaehyuk suddenly sensed a presence near the workshop.

‘Security!’

He quickly ducked and hid behind an obstacle. A patrolling guard was changing shifts with another guard waiting at the security office near the workshop. Jaehyuk listened in on their conversation. Despite his weak English skills, he could interpret it with the help of a translation app.

“Good work. I’m off to watch the soccer game now~”

“Soccer? Right, there’s a game today! Can’t resist Awakened soccer…! Ah, I think I’ll just skip patrol today and watch soccer here too.”

“Boldly declaring wage theft, I see. But how will you watch soccer here? The company network blocks external internet for security reasons.”

“I’ll use mobile data. I smuggled in my smartphone!”

“Oh! How did you bypass the security check? Let me in on it.”

“For thirty dollars.”

Jaehyuk eavesdropped for about ten minutes. Most of it was trivial chatter, and some local slang was incomprehensible. The mundane conversation continued. Just as Jaehyuk was about to leave…

“This security policy is shit. Why so unnecessarily sensitive? Nothing’s ever happened.”

“Important people visit occasionally. On ‘Holiness Visit Days.’ They seem pretty concerned about their identities being exposed. I heard they blocked the company network because they’re worried about CCTV footage with their faces being leaked.”

“So it’s because of those people? If they’re worried about hacking, they could just delete the CCTV footage. Why make things so difficult?”

“Don’t know. From what I overheard between the security manager and the president, they said something about preserving every moment of the miracle without exception. That’s why the fanatic president personally manages all the CCTV files.”

“It’s my workplace, but what a crazy company… I wish those guys would never come. The already ridiculous security policy becomes even more insane before and after Holiness Visit Days.”

“Haha. Don’t worry. It won’t happen for a while.”

“How do you know?”

“The security manager has been as calm as a well-fed pig.”

“Hahaha! True, he usually gets hysterical a week before. Damn him.”

An unusual term caught his ear. Holiness Visit Day? He couldn’t determine its meaning from that conversation alone, but he could make an educated guess based on what he already knew.

‘Are high-ranking Paradise Church officials visiting regularly? For what reason?’

Several scenarios came to mind: checking potion production status, building relationships with the president, and so on. While the exact purpose remained unclear, it was certain that a secretive connection existed.

‘I need more, just a little more hints…’

He waited quietly for a few minutes hoping for additional testimony from the guards, but unfortunately, nothing important came up.

‘That earlier conversation is quite concerning. Should I keep waiting? …No, my primary task comes first. I can’t waste time here.’

Jaehyuk suppressed his curiosity and reminded himself of his purpose. He made a mental note of the keyword “Holiness Visit Day” to investigate later. Leaving the two guards gossiping about their boss behind, Jaehyuk entered the workshop.

Infiltrating the workshop wasn’t difficult. Unlike outside, there were no security guards inside. With CCTV cameras and security devices everywhere, guards weren’t necessary. This worked in Jaehyuk’s favor.

“Dealing with machines is much easier than people…”

Taking out his equipment to disable the security, Jaehyuk examined the interior. The workshop’s layout matched his research: a warehouse storing demon corpses, an extraction room for drawing blood, a sterilization room for removing toxins from the blood, a processing room for mixing chemicals to create potions, a packaging room to prevent potions from spoiling during transport, and a research lab for developing new formulas—the typical structure of a potion production guild.

“According to the floor plan, this should be the warehouse?”

Following the map downloaded on his smartphone, he headed toward the warehouse. Indeed, he arrived at what was unmistakably a warehouse. Mountains of demon corpses greeted him. Jaehyuk examined the blood-soaked corpses, looking for anything suspicious.

‘Quite dirty. Poorly organized too. Are these recently deceased corpses?’

There were minor illegal activities like failing to maintain FDA cleanliness standards, but that was common. Such evidence wouldn’t satisfy Mr. B, who wanted decisive evidence to leverage against Paradise Church. Jaehyuk headed deeper inside.

It was then that the dagger in his pocket began to vibrate.

Wooong-

“Parma’s rune…!”

The dagger of Parma, which reacts to nearby demons, was vibrating faintly. The vibration intensified as he moved in a specific direction—not toward the warehouse, but in the opposite direction, toward the extraction room. The implication was clear.

‘There’s a living demon near the extraction room! Who would have thought the dagger I brought for self-defense would be so helpful…!’

Jaehyuk tensely moved in the direction the dagger pointed, navigating between corpses toward an increasingly secluded area. There was a spot cleverly hidden between an extractor and the wall. Lifting a shoddily installed screen, he was hit by a hot, foul stench. Behind it was a secret place hidden using classic methods.

‘This is-!’

True to the classic approach, what he found inside was quite comprehensible—a suspicious laboratory or secret workshop. It was a cliché straight out of zombie games or movies, except this was reality, and the test subjects were demons instead of humans.

“Living demons…!”

The room was full of experimental demons bound in chains. Surprisingly, they were all alive.

Nearby, a giant pterodactyl-like demon was restrained, with tubes attached all over its body extracting blood. Its wings had been completely severed, leaving it barely alive and unable to resist. The energy emanating from it was extraordinary, yet it was unconscious as its blood was being drained—a spectacle in its own way.

“Huh- what is this.”

Of course, he felt no pity. Showing mercy to demons wasn’t a virtue for holy knights. Demons deserved to be beaten and torn limb from limb.

However, Jaehyuk felt both disgust and a strange admiration for humans so desperately seeking profit. During his time as an Inquisitor, he had raided many black magician hideouts and seen laboratories, but never had he encountered living demons being exploited like this. It was ironic—demons who deceived humans were now being exploited by humans.

“Are they trying to reduce corpse purchase costs or evade taxes? How absurd. No matter how much they love money, if even one escapes, the entire company would be devastated… Doesn’t the president here have any sense of crisis?”

There was good reason why trading living monsters was illegal—the risk if they escaped was too great. Detection devices throughout the city could only sense the rapid mana fluctuations when gates opened, not individual creatures appearing. Even a B-class mob escaping would be like the Hulk rampaging through the streets…

So many mobs that could spell disaster for civilians. Jaehyuk barely restrained his desire to destroy them all. If his infiltration was discovered, all the evidence he’d gathered would likely become useless. Though Jaehyuk was a holy knight who detested demons, he knew when to hold back.

Perhaps for these creatures, remaining alive like this was more terrible. Convincing himself of this, Jaehyuk set aside his feelings and photographed the illegal workshop while searching for more concrete evidence. Before long, he found meaningful information.

“Work logs!”

A bundle of logs detailing monthly operations. He immediately checked the production volume section and easily spotted the anomaly.

“…This is too little?”

The production and shipment quantities differed dramatically. If the documented production amount was 1 potion, the market sales and Paradise Church supply that Jaehyuk had investigated amounted to about 5 potions.

A supply volume five times the production amount! Unless potions fell from thin air, this was impossible. To find the source of the other four, he read the work logs more carefully.

‘The amount of extracted blood is here. If about 60% is filtered out during sterilization… it’s still ridiculously insufficient.’

He considered various possibilities—lowering the filtration rate, increasing chemical additives. But no matter how he calculated it, it was severely lacking—only about one-fifth of the final supply volume. And five times wasn’t a quantity that could be achieved by squeezing a few more demons. It was physically impossible without some kind of miracle.

“How on earth…?”

Despite trying to uncover the secret behind these mismatched numbers, there was no more evidence to be found here. His intuition detected nothing else, and Parma’s dagger didn’t react further. It seemed he had seen everything there was to see here. Jaehyuk didn’t rush to disappointment.

‘It’s okay. The workshop isn’t everything. I’m sure I’ll find something in the headquarters building.’

With that thought, Jaehyuk finished photographing the evidence and moved to the headquarters building.

***

The headquarters building also had security devices, but Jaehyuk easily infiltrated. Like the workshop, there were no security personnel inside.

“Easy, too easy. Now, where to start…”

He didn’t have time to search every computer and document in the building. Still feeling jet-lagged, he wanted to return to his hotel room as soon as possible to rest comfortably.

Jaehyuk recalled the conversation he had overheard.

“Come to think of it, those security guys mentioned that CCTV footage is stored in the president’s office.”

For this reason, Jaehyuk headed straight for the president’s office. The most important files would be there—Paradise Church’s weaknesses that Mr. B wanted, and perhaps the secret behind the inexplicable potion quantities.

Finding the president’s office was easy, with a prominent nameplate on the door. The interior was decorated with luxury items typical of a businessman’s vanity. Of course, Jaehyuk had no interest in such decor and immediately turned on the PC on the desk. When he inserted his prepared USB, the password was automatically bypassed.

‘All security is neutralized. Now I just need to search.’

With skilled hands, Jaehyuk searched the hardware. As expected of a president’s computer, it contained many important files—financial statements, shipment charts, and more. He opened one of them—a chart visualizing shipment volumes over time. The jagged line graph showed bizarrely sharp spikes at intervals.

“The 5th, the 19th, suddenly the shipment volume increases fivefold…?”

This pattern matched what he had confirmed in the workshop—normal production most of the time, with sudden surges in shipment every few weeks. What happened on those days? There was a useful method for such situations. He opened the calendar app on the president’s computer.

The calendar was filled with business schedules and appointments. Grateful for the secretary’s meticulous nature, Jaehyuk checked the dates of the shipment surges—the 5th and 19th. Sparkling stars marked them as important events. Something special had definitely occurred. Feeling he was smoothly approaching the truth, Jaehyuk happily translated the memo.

‘Papal Holiness Visit Day, an important event so executives should gather in the auditorium…! Holiness Visit Day!’

Jaehyuk felt different clues connecting in his mind, like cogs in a complex machine fitting into place. This clue matched the guards’ conversation. The Pope—certainly not referring to the one in Vatican. It was obvious who it referred to.

“—The Paradise Church Pope came here in person?”

Why? Jaehyuk muttered in puzzlement. Trying to understand the intentions of someone whose purpose he didn’t even know was impossible. How was the Pope’s visit related to the surge in shipments? As he pondered this, an idea flashed.

‘Right! They said CCTV footage was preserved!’

If he could see the footage from the auditorium, he would know what happened. Moreover, footage of the Paradise Church Pope’s face, not publicly known, would certainly satisfy Mr. B. Jaehyuk immediately took action.

After four clicks, a hidden folder appeared. As the guard had said, CCTV video files were stored on the president’s computer.

‘Auditorium… this folder. The 5th, the 5th… found it.’

Double-click. The video played. An elderly man wearing elaborate priestly robes with an inverted cross embroidered on the chest stood in the center of the auditorium. His attire was much more ornate than the other priests around him.

“That old man is the Paradise Church Pope…!”

Jaehyuk focused on the old man’s actions in the video. What was happening in the auditorium seemed like a religious ceremony. Men in suits, presumably executives, were kneeling and praying behind the Pope.

Dozens of jars were lined up in front of the Pope, with red liquid sloshing inside. It wasn’t hard to identify—freshly produced potions from Koscorp…

In the video, the Pope muttered something. He seemed to be reading from a Bible he held. The suited men listening to the Pope clasped their hands as if entranced. Light emanated from the Pope’s hands—a golden glow that enveloped the jars. Jaehyuk recognized it.

‘—A holy incantation!’

It was unmistakably the manifestation of a holy incantation. But what was he doing with holy power? The video continued without waiting for his question. After the Pope finished the incantation, the executives each took one of the blessed jars.

Then they began pouring the contents into empty jars.

It would have been an ordinary scene if they were simply transferring potions to different containers. But as the video continued, bewilderment grew in Jaehyuk’s eyes.

‘..?’

The potions pouring from the jars didn’t run dry.

Replicated by some unknown ability, the potions gushed forth endlessly. Each blessed jar filled five empty jars. In an instant, the potion quantity increased fivefold. Jaehyuk was perplexed by this phenomenon that was hard to believe even while watching.

‘…The potions are being replicated?’

As far as Jaehyuk knew, no such skill existed among holy power awakening skills. Unlike mana-based skills which were numerous and varied, holy power skills weren’t that diverse and mostly resembled Eden’s holy incantations. And Jaehyuk, a Master Paladin, had never heard of such a miracle.

‘Is it not a holy incantation? An irregular skill?’

He replayed the video several times, staring intently at the Pope’s actions. But as is often the case with supernatural abilities, he ultimately couldn’t uncover the trick behind the miracle.

***

Having completed his mission, Jaehyuk returned to the hotel. Leaving was easier than entering—the veil of night had deepened, and the guards’ mental state had grown even more lax due to routine.

On his way back to the hotel, Jaehyuk wrote his report. He organized the infiltration results and sent them to Mr. B. With evidence of illegal monster capture and footage of the Paradise Church Pope, the mission was more than accomplished.

Thus, he secured the VIP grade extension and a wish token as rewards, and also discovered how Koscorp managed its production volume. Yet Jaehyuk still couldn’t shake off his unease.

‘A cult pope knows a holy incantation I don’t? No, that can’t be. It must be just a peculiar skill or artifact…’

Jaehyuk tried to calm his unsettled mind. Although he hadn’t discovered what kind of magic the Pope had performed, completing the mission in just one night was a satisfactory achievement.

‘At least the worst possibility was avoided.’

Setting aside his suspicions about the Pope’s strange abilities, Jaehyuk breathed a sigh of relief. He was comforted that this incident wasn’t related to the Four Heavenly Kings. His holy knight’s intuition had warned him of something ominous in New York.

“Fortunately, nothing serious happened. Let’s book a flight back to Korea for tomorrow. For now, I need some rest… I’m so tired.”

After being tense throughout the infiltration, worried about facing the Four Heavenly Kings again, the sudden release of tension made fatigue wash over him.

Staggering to his hotel room door, Jaehyuk stopped as he was about to open it. There was a Post-it note stuck to the door.

‘A Post-it?’

Was it left by hotel staff? Or a message from Mr. B? Either way, Jaehyuk just wanted to rest quickly. Too exhausted, he carelessly read the note aloud.

“…Status window?”

And that was a mistake.

Three things happened simultaneously:

A surreal window appeared before his eyes, blocking his vision.

Someone hiding in the room pressed a switch upon hearing his voice.

A claymore mine installed at adult male eye level behind the door detonated.

KWAAAANG-!!!!

Steel balls tore through the wooden door like paper and engulfed Jaehyuk. With his most sensitive sense—sight—sealed and his vigilance loosened by fatigue, he couldn’t react.

‘Huh-?’

THWACK-!

The steel balls pierced Jaehyuk’s head.