episode_0053

His gaze didn’t linger long on the beautiful scenery, instead fixed on the information flowing from his terminal.

A report had just come in: Kang Jin-woo had dealt with all of the Chronos mercenary group.

“Kang Jin-woo… as expected, he’s no ordinary man. His work is incredibly clean.”

A satisfied smile appeared on Valentine’s lips.

His experienced intuition whispered to him.

The man was dangerous, but at the same time, equally useful.

He would be an excellent pawn to achieve his long-cherished desire.

“Now, it’s time to move on to the next stage.”

He immediately gave orders through a secure channel to Gray Wolf, the mercenary he trusted most and had worked with for a long time.

The command was to infiltrate the abandoned mine area Kang Jin-woo had cleared and retrieve the target object there.

Gray Wolf would surely carry out the mission perfectly.

He moved like a shadow, a veteran among veterans who achieved his objectives without leaving any trace.

Several hours passed. Valentine was waiting for a report.

But no contact came from him even after the promised time had passed.

Unable to wait any longer, he finally issued an urgent directive to another mercenary team he had prepared as backup, ordering them to check the situation at the abandoned mine area.

And not long after, an unbelievable report came to him.

[Valentine-nim, reporting on the situation at the site. Inside the abandoned mine, the wreckage of Gray Wolf-nim’s unit and… the wreckage of the target unit have been found. Both units are… completely destroyed.]

The voice of the mercenary delivering the report trembled with shock and fear.

“Gray Wolf… was taken down?”

Valentine doubted his own ears.

Gray Wolf was the top mercenary, who had survived every crisis.

For him to be destroyed as if in a mutual kill.

[That’s not all, Valentine-nim. All combat log data at the scene has cleanly vanished, as if it never existed from the start.]

The mercenary’s voice trembled with bewilderment.

[Not only the black box installed in Gray Wolf-nim’s unit, but even the logs of the surrounding surveillance systems… everything has been erased without a trace. This kind of thing…]

The mercenary’s voice trembled with bewilderment.

‘Data erasure…?’

A deep furrow appeared between Valentine’s brows.

It was a phenomenon that could not be explained by a simple system error or jamming.

Someone had deliberately, and very precisely, erased all traces.

‘What is going on?’

With trembling hands, he attempted to contact Kang Jin-woo.

****

By the time he reached the airspace above Sector 7 of Terminus Station, he had already sent a brief communication to Scarlet, informing her he was returning.

The roof of her workshop came into view.

It was designed with a sliding panel structure made of specially reinforced alloy, allowing for the entry of large units.

Thanks to Scarlet having operated it in advance, the massive panels slowly opened to either side with a heavy sound.

He deployed the landing gear, finely adjusted the booster output, and carefully descended.

Thud!

Asura landed on the lift, making a dull metallic scraping sound.

He managed to land, but ominous smoke was rising from the left leg actuator.

The sliding panels closed again, and I opened the cockpit hatch with a sigh.

“Kang Jin-woo, you!”

Scarlet put down her welding torch from the workbench and spun around towards me.

And as soon as she saw Asura’s disastrous state, her face instantly contorted with shock and fury.

“How much effort did I put into fixing it, working day and night?! How long has it been, and you bring it back in this state again!”

Scarlet clenched her fists tightly and trembled as she approached me.

“Last time you came back covered in blood, do you really have multiple lives? Or do I seem easy to you? Do my words mean nothing to you?”

She shot out the words like a runaway train.

Each time she saw Asura’s crumpled armor, broken left arm, and the energy claw marks and plasma burns scattered everywhere, her voice rose another notch.

“Scarlet, calm down and listen to me…”

“Calm down? Do I look like I can calm down right now, you crazy fool! Do you know how much I worried last time? You promised to lie low for a while, and you do this right after I fixed the unit?”

She rushed at me as if to grab me by the collar.

“I-I’m sorry, Scarlet. This time, really… the opponent was too strong. I couldn’t help it.”

“You keep bringing the unit back in this state, and you say you’re sorry?! Are you doing this on purpose?”

Scarlet’s voice cracked slightly at the end, and her eyes reddened.

“This happened because I was struggling to survive. But I won, didn’t I? Look, I came back alive and well.”

Scarlet sighed deeply and circled Asura once.

“Haa… The left arm needs to be rebuilt entirely, and the armor… goes without saying. There’s a high chance the internal frame is warped too. And how much damage the reactor and energy systems took… just thinking about it gives me a headache.”

She mumbled, pressing a hand to her forehead.

“You…”

She took big steps towards me, then suddenly hugged me tightly.

Her body was trembling faintly.

“Scarlet…?”

When I, surprised, called her name, her voice, muffled against my shoulder, became wet.

“Both last time and this time… you always act as if you’re about to leave any moment. The thought that you might just disappear at any time… it frightens me so much…!”

Feeling the warmth and trembling in her embrace, and hearing her sincere voice whispering in my ear, I couldn’t say anything.

Her hands gripped my back tightly.

As if she wouldn’t let go.

“If you need money that badly, tell me! I’ll find a way to help you! So please… can’t you just… not do mercenary work…? Huh?”

Her voice was pitiful.

Something hot, whether tears or sweat, dampened my shoulder.

The emotion conveyed was not simple camaraderie, but something much deeper, more desperate, and perhaps even precarious.

Her obsession with me.

It stemmed from a fundamental fear of losing me, beyond mere worry.

It was a childlike desperation, clinging on for dear life, afraid that I might vanish like smoke at any moment.

“Scarlet…”

As I softly called her name, her sobs against my shoulder grew louder.

“Don’t cry. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

At my words, she slightly raised her head and looked up at me with tear-filled eyes.

Her reddened eyes and wounded expression were so different from her usual self.

“Lies… you always say that and then jump into dangerous situations again…! I can tell just by your eyes! You… you’re unstoppable!”

She buried her face in my embrace again, whimpering.

Her appearance was pathetic, yet somehow endearing.

“Yes, you’re right. I’ll probably keep living this way. But that doesn’t mean I’m leaving your side.”

I gently stroked her hair and said.

“I’ll always come back to you. Because if it’s not you, there’s no one else who can fix this guy, or make him stronger.”

At my words, Scarlet’s trembling seemed to gradually subside.

Still leaning against me, she asked in a small voice.

“Really… really?”

“Of course. I promise.”

I looked her in the eyes and spoke seriously.

I couldn’t give her the answer she wanted right now, which was a promise to quit mercenary work.

But this much, I wanted to convey clearly.

“As long as you’re here, I will definitely come back. So stop crying now, and please do something about this messed-up Asura. You need to show off your skills once more.”

I deliberately laughed playfully and gently pinched her cheek.

Scarlet looked blankly at my actions for a moment, then let out a small chuckle.

And then she lightly punched my chest with her fist.

Her eyes were still red, but her voice was gradually regaining its usual liveliness.

Scarlet pulled away from my embrace, wiped her tears, and cleared her throat.

“Ah, anyway! I’m going to properly charge you for the previous modifications and repair costs, so be prepared! This time, I’m really going to rip you off!”

“I have a gift, so can’t you give me a discount?”

As I grinned meaningfully and subtly pulled out the blueprint, Scarlet’s eyes widened.

“W-What is this?! You, how did you…!”

Her tearful appearance from just moments ago vanished without a trace, and her eyes began to sparkle once again with a technician’s curiosity and excitement.

This was Scarlet, indeed.

“I was able to obtain it through data files.”

He couldn’t say he received it as a system reward, so he made up an appropriate excuse.

“Nightfall… I’ve heard that name somewhere.”

‘Would Scarlet know what it is?’

The hints about the group that created Nightfall were present in the game, but they were never fully revealed.

Among players, they speculated it was a hook for a sequel or content for DLC, but after the developers cut off post-release support, there was no further news.

So, it was generally treated as what people called a “dropped plotline.”

Since this wasn’t a game but reality, he might be able to find out who created Nightfall.

“You’ve heard of it?”

“Yes, that’s right. Long ago, in the era before the Union Government collapsed, there was said to be a top-secret research group.”

‘A research group?’

“I don’t know if they were disbanded or if they left for another planet. But it’s like an urban legend that they aimed to create perfect autonomous combat units that could judge and evolve on their own, without human intervention.”

“An urban legend, huh. Creepy.”

“Nightfall, that’s probably one of their creations.”

‘Prototype Nightfall… that was its name. So it wasn’t a completed model?’

He recalled the message that appeared when he dealt with the unit.

Scarlet sighed deeply and stroked the spider tattoo on her left arm.

“Do you know why I got this tattoo?”

“…I don’t.”

“Strangely, I can’t remember her face. But I vividly remember this spider tattoo that was on my mom.”

She touched it bitterly, then immediately made a sad expression.

“I got it because I thought if I ever meet my mom, this tattoo might be a way for us to connect.”

‘She knows something.’

There was no reason for her to talk about the tattoo out of nowhere.

It seemed highly likely that Scarlet’s past was connected to the research group.

“Hand over the blueprint, I’ll attach it while I’m repairing. And don’t think about sleeping tonight, you’ll have to help me all night.”

“No way…”

Ring-aling!

A communication tone rang from the terminal.

[Alexander Valentine.]

‘Here it comes, then.’

He wondered how the fox-like old man would react.