episode_0117

“My acting was clearly perfect, so why did they find out!”

As I looked down at the researchers kneeling under my equal-opportunity punches, I fell into deep thought, wondering why my acting, which could have easily won me ‘Best Actor of the Year,’ had been exposed.

‘Chirp chirp. It really didn’t seem like they’d find out.’

“Exactly.”

Admiring Martina’s excellent performance, now capable of even sarcasm, I surveyed the underground laboratory.

Complex research equipment whose purpose I couldn’t grasp just by looking, and test subjects that bore some resemblance to the monsters outside.

And there, held alone in a cage as if receiving special treatment, was a gigantic bald brute.

From what I heard, he was apparently the former vanguard of the Wild Hunt.

“Excuse me?”

Snap- snap-

I snapped my fingers and called out, but the test subject, called 2563, buried his face between his knees and didn’t budge, as if he were dead.

“This is shocking. I can’t imagine how the leader would react if I told them their former leader is alive and well, turned into a monster test subject…”

Wouldn’t they get enraged and ram into this place immediately?

I couldn’t judge if Wild Hunt was that passionate, but at the very least, if Luna ended up like this, I’d confidently rush to Xenotech’s headquarters to commit an act of terror.

“Is there a way to revert it…?”

“Hah-! H… It’s not a normal modification… They’ve altered everything, starting from the genetic structure, so there’s no way to revert it… My apologies?”

“Argh, fuck! What the hell!”

Startled by the deflated voice from behind me, I unconsciously jumped like a cat and climbed onto the cage.

Truthfully, there was no need to be that surprised, and it was a bit embarrassing, but I shamelessly straightened my back and confidently looked down at the researcher who had stood up, despite clearly having received a face-caving punch.

“How are you unharmed?”

“Heehee… Does this… look unharmed… to you?”

“Well, your face is caved in, your nose is crushed, and you’ve lost a few teeth, but that’s pretty much unharmed, isn’t it?”

I hadn’t hit a vital spot, but with that much force, her brain should have rattled, leaving her with a concussion and difficulty moving for a while. Yet, this woman, merely a researcher, was talking perfectly fine?

As I kept my guard up, sniffing at the foul odor, the researcher stumbled once, then, Crash! She overturned the experimental table and reached for a red button hidden beneath it…

Wham!

She couldn’t press it, instead getting struck by my face-caving punch mk.2 and sent flying.

“Think you can get away with that?”

“Gwaaahk!!!”

The researcher twitched, gushing blood from her torn jaw.

Seeing that she still hadn’t fainted, I could finally be sure.

‘I underestimated them because they were researchers, but it seems Xenotech modifies even its researchers.’

My current strength, even without the assistance of Cerberus’s physical wear, was enough to pummel a mercenary who had received average cybernetic implants with my bare hands.

Considering that, it meant she had an extremely high-performance shock absorption system installed in her face, making it so I didn’t feel the dull, metallic impact.

Such a major surgery was certainly excessive for someone not meant for combat, for mere cosmetic or insurance purposes. This was getting troublesome.

‘They know about me.’

I could ignore other researchers, but this woman bothered me.

When I was just a mercenary, if someone said they knew me, I could just retort, “Oh, you know me? Then die!” But now, I had too much to consider.

‘Should I really kill her?’

Actually, I was just hitting her hard enough not to kill her; if I truly intended to kill her, I could send her to the afterlife before she even registered that she was dead, let alone within a second. But…

“Huuuh..! Hah..! Die, intruder..!”

“Oops.”

Bang!

While I was lost in such thoughts, the researcher who had been feigning unconsciousness slammed her fist onto the red button on the experimental table.

Caught off guard while distracted by the female researcher, who seemed to be in charge of this facility, I furrowed my brow and gripped the shotgun in my arms.

‘Upper-level security has formed a perimeter and isolated the facility from the outside.’

‘So that’s what calls security…’

‘That was a procedure activated immediately after Zuwa-dong assaulted the researchers, and that switch appears to be an execution button for some system operating within the laboratory.’

According to Martina’s explanation, the facility’s alarm itself automatically activates if any harm is inflicted upon the researchers.

Perhaps it’s to minimize casualties from a runaway experiment, limiting the damage to only the researchers within the lab?

“Ah… I really didn’t want to die like this in some backwater place…”

“What the hell did you just press?”

“You’ll know soon enough without me explaining… You look cute, but your hands are rough…”

The resigned female researcher was supported by the subordinate researcher who had pressed the button, and they slowly retreated outside.

I aimed the shotgun at their backs and slowly pulled the trigger, but─

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENG────!!!

A sharp alarm sound ripped through my ears, and my vision flickered red.

At the same time, Rumble! A tremendous amount of bubbles along with liquid of a different color rose from the liquid pods containing the test subjects, and a syringe filled with drugs was injected into the former vanguard of Wild Hunt, trapped in the cage.

“Oh, fuck.”

I had a bad feeling about this.

“We just had a physical altercation, but since your face is my type, I’ll tell you… What’s being injected now is a special neuro-stimulant that induces aggression. You could call it an ‘Up’ type synthetic drug, right? Anyway, those failed experiments will neatly erase me and the research data. Ah, I hope you manage to hold on tightly enough for your head to remain…”

“Hurry up and move!”

The researchers staggered away and disappeared.

“…”

Instead of keeping the gun aimed at their backs, I turned around.

The monsters that had been docilely contained in the pods began to twitch and convulse like mad, Thud- thud- striking the pod walls and starting to shatter the reinforced glass.

But more terrifying than that chaotic sight was the fact that the brute, who had been burying his face between his knees, was now looking at me.

My eyes met his, filled with an unsettling, all-black gaze.

“…Hello?”

The next moment, a sharply splintered cage bar flew towards my face.

* * *

The Wild Hunt’s hideout, filled with the distinctive greasy smell of engine oil.

Jay Q and the Wild Hunt members intermittently checked the silhouette of the Xenotech secret facility, faintly visible in the distance, waiting for Dojun’s infiltration to conclude.

“So, you’re saying we need to adjust the gear ratio here to handle high output?”

“No, then the efficiency for normal flight would be terrible, wouldn’t it?”

“Damn it, think about how you guys run. There’s no need to consider normal output state at all?!”

“Aha!”

Jay Q, who had a considerable knack for specialized drone technology, gleefully tinkered with and improved the Wild Hunt’s drones, even enthusiastically helping with maintenance by oiling them.

At first, those who were skeptical now flocked to Jay Q, creating a bustling marketplace-like clamor, impressed by the improved performance of their beloved drones.

Amidst this, two figures simply stared at the facility.

The vanguard of Wild Hunt and his reserve, Pasio.

“Worried about the kid?”

Pasio chuckled and slapped the vanguard’s back.

The vanguard, still wearing his helmet, turned his head with a look of annoyance, but Pasio merely shrugged as if to say, “If you’re so annoyed, take it off.”

“…I just hope it goes well. I’m not expecting much, but at least if it succeeds, there’s hope that we can finish our work.”

“Indeed.”

If they hadn’t held any hope, they wouldn’t have even considered sending him to such a place as a deal.

Even if he was an Ayakashi, the probability of a mere mercenary infiltrating all of Xenotech’s security alone and safely stealing information wasn’t very high.

However, a faint hope and belief made them rely on that slim chance.

At most, only one more opportunity remained.

In the previous conflict, they had lost their vanguard and many comrades, yet the facility’s defenses had only grown stronger.

“Huhu. I was actually thinking of giving up soon.”

“…”

“I know. You have no intention of giving up.”

It was a reckless operation. As a result, they couldn’t even retrieve the bodies of their fallen comrades.

Of course, it had been a long time, so it was hard to imagine them still being there, but at the very least, if they were preserved, they had to be retrieved. If they had already disappeared, only after offering a moment of silence would they finally earn the right to conclude this matter.

The monster hunters, tormented by the terror of the monsters that appeared in Tonyboni, were slaves to a monster named Guilt.

Pasio felt a sense of melancholy as he lit a synthetic cigarette.

Boom─!!!

With a massive explosion, a cloud of dust surged from the ceiling of the facility, which was disguised as an old building.

“W-what was that?!”

Had he botched the job? The task was to infiltrate quietly, steal data, and return.

Even if he was discovered during that process, there should have been a shootout with the guards inside, but why would the building explode like that? They couldn’t help but ponder.

“Ah, damn it! I thought he’d go quietly, but of course not!”

“Wait, where are you going!”

Amidst the commotion, Jay Q, faster than anyone else, rushed out and boarded the corporate AV he had brought back to the entrance of the restricted area.

Pasio cried out in surprise, but Jay Q clicked his tongue as if it were obvious.

“I’m going to save that kid! Unfortunately, that reckless kid has a death wish with our leader, so if I go back empty-handed, I’ll be beaten to death!”

Then, without hesitation, he stepped on the accelerator, and the AV, reaching maximum speed in 13 seconds, became a dot and disappeared towards the facility that was spewing out enormous amounts of smoke.

The vanguard watched the AV’s departure, then slowly mounted his own bike.

“Spenda!”

“…Now is the chance. If things have escalated like this, Xenotech will begin a massive cover-up operation once the situation ends.”

Rumble- rumble- rumble- rumble- roar─

The exhaust sound, like the pulsating heartbeat of a giant beast.

The vanguard, Spenda, murmured in a low voice.

“Follow me. Become the storm.”

Towards the last chance to break free, the hunters who had dedicated long years to the hunt ran, becoming a dust storm themselves.