episode_0081

The place where they stepped, after descending a long, vertical ladder through a passage so lengthy it felt like a blue-faced oni might walk down it, was neatly organized.

In truth, it was closer to ‘nothing at all’ than ‘neat,’ but what could one expect from a passage leading to a hideout? However, the *click-clack* of shoe soles hitting the metallic floor echoed, traveling to the end of the corridor, inexplicably sending chills down their spines.

“Just how much do you have to earn to build something like this?” “Well, it’s an illegal structure not accounted for in urban planning, so no taxes would be paid, but even just the cost of secret construction and materials would easily be millions, right?” “They could’ve just built a villa instead. What a waste of money…”

Indeed, what would mercenaries do with a villa? Most of them lived for nothing but taking on deadly requests and accumulating money.

“Chatting is fine, but be careful from here on.” As Shape Shifter unlocked the device through some incomprehensible security recognition, like injecting a needle into their body or drawing geometric patterns, the next corridor appeared. They glanced back and warned them.

“What could happen? The guys here aren’t incapable of handling themselves.” At the very least, they were elite soldiers raised by corporations and equipped with military-grade cyberware. And with Shape Shifter and Johann present, they could surely subdue even a monster of Seven High caliber if one appeared.

“That’s exactly why I’m saying it. The doctor is quite sensitive about security, so if anyone other than me enters, the intruder exclusion system activates even after security is disarmed.” “Damn it. Why is someone so reclusive? You mean they don’t even go outside?” “They don’t. And the reason for such a paranoid defense system… you’ll understand when you meet them.” “Playing hard to get, huh.”

*Whirrrr* Beyond the door, which rotated and opened left and right by hydraulic cylinders, there was a metallic automaton emanating a menacing aura. Mechanical joints, camera eyes with six lenses, and intimidating wires exposed externally. “…An assaultroid?” I’d heard that androids made solely for combat didn’t have human-like exteriors but operated with their metallic skin exposed. Of course, corporations didn’t openly use such things, so I couldn’t be sure if it was truly an assaultroid, but at least I knew they were active.

‘Acceleration.’ My mind sharpened with an electric shock that surged through my body, accompanied by the bubbling sound of combat drugs being injected inside the Cerberus. In the world that had momentarily slowed down, eight throwing knives flew towards us.

‘What speed…!’ The incoming knives were roughly as fast as pistol bullets, so deflecting them wasn’t difficult, but I missed the throwing motion. Most people would have their foreheads pierced and die from these knives coming straight at them in a surprise attack. I raised my shotgun and continuously fired all eight remaining buckshot rounds in the magazine straight ahead.

*Boom-boom-boom-* Dozens of pellets fired, changing aim before the slowly rising muzzle flash had even faded. Instantly, tiny, pea-sized pellets covered my front, spreading out, hitting the sides of the incoming knives, bouncing, sliding, dulling their blades, and forcing them onto trajectories without proper force. And then, acceleration ended.

*Clang!* *Crash!* The incoming knives veered widely off course and scattered, while several pellets heavily struck the assaultroid’s body.

“Huh? What just went past?” “Faster than I thought. Thanks, John. If you hadn’t blocked them, a few would’ve dug into my arm.” “Don’t mention it.”

It would be great if that stopped them, but it seemed they had no intention of doing so. *Click* They aimed large-caliber rifles and prepared to establish a firing line. “Tch. Annoying.” Looks like we’ll have to break through.

“Jun, could you wait a moment?” “What’s suddenly up? If I get hit by that, even I won’t just be ‘a little hurt,’ you know?” “We’ll handle it.”

As I was loading a shell into my shotgun’s chamber, Johann stopped me. “Seira?” “Yes, Johann-ssi.” “Can I ask you to handle this?” “Understood.”

I looked at Johann with cold eyes. ‘Not going yourself, not asking the big guy next to you, but dumping it on this kid?’ As I cursed him with my eyes, Luna and Shape Shifter also started looking at him like he was trash. He made an aggrieved expression, but it was none of my business.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but Seira is one of the top two most skilled people in our team.” “And who’s the one finger?” “Me, of course!” “You’re trash.”

The guy who’d even missed his chance to defend himself was officially appointed trash. Regardless of what was happening behind her, Seira nonchalantly walked forward and placed her hand on her sword hilt. And the steel automaton split in half.

The distance between Seira and the assaultroid was about 20 meters. It was a distance absolutely unreachable by a sword, yet as if to mock such a limitation, the assaultroid naturally fell to the floor with a clean cross-section. Its joints whirred, whirred, trying to process the remaining electrical signals, before finally shutting down.

“…That shouldn’t split like that.” Shape Shifter couldn’t hide their bewilderment, their voice sounding utterly dumbfounded, but Johann puffed out his chest and shrugged as if he’d done it himself. “Ahaha! See? I told you. It’s okay to leave it to her.”

Well… even though that Katana JK was incredibly strong, it didn’t make Johann look any better, but Seira’s skill was indeed at an admirable level. As if hallucinating a phantom before her eyes, like the one encountered after dealing with Bram Stoker, Seira entered ultra-high-speed throwing mode again, quickly lowered her stance towards the assaultroid, and *click* sheathed her sword. She then knelt on one knee, rotated fiercely, creating a silver trajectory.

*Slash!* The rifle split without any resistance, as if it were not steel but straw. Simultaneously, with master-level combat kung fu processes loaded, she swung the empty scabbard of her drawn sword upwards at the assaultroids charging from left and right, embedding it near one’s Adam’s apple. Then, nodding her head, she dodged the barrage of countless punches pouring in from the right, twisted and pulled the embedded scabbard, and slammed the assaultroid’s head straight into the floor.

Next, she spun half a turn, unleashed an upward slash, slicing off an assaultroid’s knee. Then she snatched an incoming knife and threw it back in reverse.

“Insane…” It was a bizarre, almost acrobatic fighting style, different from the efficient and precise movements typically found in combat manuals. Usually, such flashy actions would inevitably create openings, but she covered them with a mastery that seemed like hundreds of thousands of AI iterations of repetitive learning.

‘Can you do something like that?’ ‘Initiate acrobatic combat calculation learning?’ ‘Hmm… no, thank you.’ It’s just more comfortable to blast away with a shotgun than to spin, slash, and slide like that.

All six advanced assaultroids had their limbs severed and were deactivated within three minutes. Seira, who had inflicted a loss of 1.8 million credits in three minutes, trotted back with a face that looked like she’d just swatted a few mosquitoes.

“Haha! Well done, Seira.” “Don’t touch me.” “That’s really harsh…” Laughing at Johann, who awkwardly withdrew his hand at the finicky JK’s refusal, I followed Shape Shifter, who let out a deep sigh, moving forward.

-[“You actually brought strange people here. I can’t live like this.”] At that moment, someone spoke through a mechanical voice modulated by a speaker.

“I’m currently thinking it’s the fault of the one who activated the defense system, even knowing it was me.” -[“Ugh… tsk, tsk. When you were young, you kept quiet, which was a worry, but now the problem is your brazen defiance.”] “Because it’s inefficient not to use an open mouth.”

A conversation that seemed too friendly for that between an experimenter and a subject. -[“Sigh… if you’ve come this far, there’s no helping it. Come in.”] “We’re going in.” “Ahaha! Looks good, doesn’t it?”

The confrontation with the doctor, who was not a researcher from a megacorp yet provided Shape Shifter with equipment comparable to extreme military-grade cyberware that pursued ultimate performance, was just one step away. With a slight tension, we clicked our tongues at the countless security sensors disengaging one by one as we moved forward.

*Whirrrrr─* And finally, the metallic door that seemed to lead to the doctor’s residence.

Through the gap of the open door, an automaton in a white lab coat sat in a chair, facing them with its back to numerous monitors, as if it had been waiting.

“Welcome, everyone. Frankly, I’d have preferred if no one came, but since this idiot dragged you here, there’s nothing to be done.” “Wait… what is that…” I couldn’t hide my bewilderment at the entity that offered a rambling greeting, as if it had no intention of concealing its true nature.

“An android…?” It wasn’t just me; everyone who came along reacted the same way. For sitting in the chair was an old model android, similar to the assaultroids outside.